Flashing back to the white void, Rethrea''s rustiness when it comes to reincarnating people causes a malfunction. In a blast of blue light Rein and Hailey aren''t teleported with the others but thankfully unlike Logan and Rayna they aren''t teleported high in the sky. They are teleported in the middle of a street. They both hear screams and things breaking but the two are in awe at the architecture and the colors in display. Tall buildings covered with huge panes of glass towering over the sky. In the sky, small blimps hover in the thick humid air. Steam valves protruding out of every machine. Bright orange lights, mixed with vibrant metallic walls surrounding them give a cozy atmosphere. The warm colors contrasting with the night sky, the smell of gunpowder being omnipresent, and the sound of gears turning make a constant background noise. After observing their entourage the loud sound of a gunshot wakes both of them up. Rein turns around while Hailey decides not to look, hoping the sound wasn''t actually a gun yet fearing the possibility. Rein sees a decrepit old man hunched over and robbed with nothing but a piece of cloth on.
“Give me all that you have!” the old man screams at a polite looking young mistress.
Not a single person seems to want to help. Everyone stays in their own corners. The woman slowly pulls out a bag of black coins and gives them over while trembling. The elderly swiftly grabs onto the bag and walks away and just as he is about to leave he turns around and shoots an energy bullet at the cashier. The bullet makes a loud explosion sound that can be heard by everyone. Rein sees this and runs to tackle the man after the shot has already been fired. Rein pins the old man that was surprisingly even shorter than Rein was and holds him down.
“Get the authorities!” Rein shouts. He didn''t realize that his face was being brightened by a blue light.
He looks to his side where he sees dim blue light appear but it wasn''t just light it was a force field protecting the girl.
Hailey, now back to her senses, goes to help the distressed employee. The shield slowly disintegrates and Hailey asks “Ma''am are you okay?”
“Yes I am fine. Are you the one who protected me?”
“ No we don''t know where that came fro–”
Before she could even finish her sentence a stream of blue light rushes through and captures the old man and just disappears.
Rein goes to Hailey and with excitement “Did you see that?!” Hailey relatively as excited says “Well I didn''t see anything besides a blue light but I think I know what that means, THERE''S MAGIC IN THIS WORLD”
“Or just high tech sci-fi but no matter what it is it''s a 10/10”
“This place is definitely more steampunk than cyberpunk so I''m calling magic’’
As the two geek out about the new circumstances that they find themselves in, a streak of blue comes back and this time stops at the entrance of the shop. A tall girl decked out in leather clothes, goggles and very bright dyed blue hair appears floating on some jetpack shoes. She talks in a fast and high pitched voice. “Hi guys! How are you?! I’m good! You guys were a real help, even though you technically didn''t do anything I appreciate the attempt! My name is Veek!. What are your names?!Oh I want to take you somewhere!”
Without even letting the two even say a word, she attaches a soft metal chain on both of their waist and flies off. The wind gets blown on their faces as if they were on a rollercoaster. Their screams were so loud the pain of screaming was starting to kick in. Veek is taking sharp turns where they almost hit buildings every 2 seconds. After their wild ride, they end up in her house. It''s a complete mess. Books everywhere on the floor, clothes too and some things the two don''t even want to think about what they could be
“Ignore my mess of a house, I promise there''s a structure but you wouldn''t understand but I came here to bring you to my basement.”
Rein and Hailey look at each other and both say “Are we getting kidnapped?” Without an answer, a trapped door opens under them. “It''s time for another rollercoaster experience” Rein thinks
Rein who is wearing jeans is getting his butt literally set on fire thanks to the friction of the tube . At the end they see a bunch of small blue elephant machines everywhere. They seem to be just for decorations.
After all of this Rein stops all her shenanigans and screams “Veek or whatever get down here and explain what the hell is going on and can I get a new pair of pants cuz they are so bloody burnt so bad.”
Veek appears behind him, scaring the young boy.
“What do you wanna know? I love talking to friends !”
Rein whispers under his breath “I can tell you like talking”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. But where are we?”
“In my house”
“Ok but like be less specific like the city or country or anything”
“Oh you''re in the city of Limburg and the country of Brahm. Now my turn to ask questions who are you and where are you from”
“One question at a time. My name is Rein”
“I’m Hailey. Could you please tell us why you brought us here”
“Because you feel different, I thought maybe you could be elves or beasts in disguise”
Rein shocked questions “Beasts and elves?”
“Yeah so my turn where are you from?”
Before either of them answer the two huddle up and talk to each other
“Rein, we can''t just tell her where we came from,can we?”
“You’re right but we aren''t familiar enough with this world to lie about it so lets be extremely vague”
Rein turns around and answers “We are from a land far far away. Beyond your wildest comprehension”
“That’s too vague, plus I can understand anything.I''m really smart. I was answering you guys truthfully and honestly.”
Hailey goes up to her and says “We’re sorry but we can''t just tell you everything about us we just met you”
Veek perks up “You''re right you did just meet me but you guys are special. I should bring you to the Rex”
“The Rex?”
“Yeah he''s the most trustworthy person in the whole world”
Once again a metal chain gets attached to their waists and they three fly out one of the tubes. As they fly they can spot a giant building with a giant swirl symbol on it. Getting used to the feeling of all this turbulence Rein and Hailey discuss in the back what they should do
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“Hailey, I think we''ll need to tell this Rex the truth, he seems really important”
“I agree, but let’s try to only answer what they ask.”
A short journey later, they fly through a window and enter a room. Well kept and with more machines than you can even imagine. Veek softly speaks as blue magic words appear.
(Divide it into another chapter, too long)
Rex regum descende
Those words fly onto the wall where a timer appears saying 5 minutes. During the count down everyone is quiet, not a word spoken. Rein’s ADHD and hatred of silence tries to talk and stir up conversation, but before he could even open his mouth Veek puts her hand over his mouth making sure he won’t speak. Unfortunately, the slight noise by Rein attempting to speak was enough to trigger the magical effect of the room. The environment starts getting filled with black smoke filling the air. Rein’s the first to faint, then Veek and finally Hailey whose eyes slowly shut down and the last thing she sees is the countdown to a bright scarlet red.
As Hailey woke, she found herself back home. The familiar warmth of the house wrapped around her, and a sense of relief washed over her. They were about to celebrate her brother’s birthday. Smiling brightly, she approached him and said, “Happy birthday!”
She sat down, savoring the moment. But then the faces around her began to melt. Skin and smiles dissolved into thick black goo.
Her mother’s distorted, melted visage glared at her. “You abandoned us,” she spat, her voice venomous. “Left us for dead. We were finally a happy family, and you walked away!”
Hailey stumbled backward, her heart pounding. “It wasn’t my choice! I didn’t want to leave—I swear!”
Her father’s voice joined the chorus, booming like thunder. “FAILURE! How could you do this to us?”
Backing into the wall, Hailey’s knees buckled. The heat in her head was unbearable now, her thoughts spinning wildly. “I’m sorry!” she cried. “It won’t happen again! It wasn’t my fault—I wanted to come home! Please, believe me!”
“LIAR!” her father bellowed, his face twisting grotesquely. “You hate us! You left because you think we’re bad parents!”
“No! No!” Hailey choked, tears streaming. “You’re wonderful parents! I’m grateful for everything you’ve done—please, I’ll be better! I promise I won’t leave again! I’ll take school online, anything!”
Then her brother stepped forward. His movements were slow, mechanical, like a marionette on frayed strings. Hailey’s breath hitched. Something wasn’t right.
“Are... you okay, bro?” she whispered, her voice trembling.
He didn’t respond. His arms reached out, fingers dangling lifelessly, black goo dripping from his hands. Panic rooted Hailey in place, her legs like lead.
The hug came suddenly, his cold arms wrapping around her. Fear gripped her, but as she felt him trembling, she hesitated. Was he scared too? Maybe he understood.
She relaxed slightly, hugging him back. Tears welled in her eyes. “I didn’t choose to leave,” she whispered, clinging to him. “I wanted to come back. Mom and Dad don’t understand, but maybe you do...”
His grip tightened. A weak, ghastly voice rasped from him: “You betrayed me... You left me with them. Why did you leave me with them?”
Shock stabbed through her. “No!” she gasped, pushing against him, but his hold was unyielding.
Her feet sank into the black goo spreading beneath her. Panic surged as she struggled, clawing and screaming. “Get off me!”
The darkness rose, swallowing her inch by inch. She took one last, desperate breath as the blackness consumed her entirely.
,
A gasp of air was taken and Hailey was sweating and visibly disturbed. Freaking out she looks around and sees Rein awake with a stern and emotionless face meanwhile Veek is flailing around in seeming agony. Hailey looks up and sees a man sitting on a golden throne. With a loud yet gentle tone she asks “Sir, do you mind telling me where I am and who you are ?”
The man gets up, illuminated by a giant golden light source behind him. He slowly walks down as his imposing figure starts to truly show. Once down the flight of stairs he goes up to Hailey kneels on one knee and his black eyes stabbing daggers into her, his beard showing a frown and not a hint of joy comes off from this man. Yet he starts smiling at her.
“Who am I? I’m the Rex of this country. You can just call me Druk. I rule over this section and you my dear are quite impressive. You did far better with that test of will then I thought a normal human would. What is your name?”
“My name is Hailey and I would like to know what was that vision and dream all about please”
“Those were our K-Mon. They activate upon the slightest sound made by people. It’s to make sure no other races like those horrid elves come and try to assassinate me. The rule of no talking is only known here.
Which is why I''m curious how come you guys didn’t know the rule”
“We are not from around here, Sir”
“Then where are you from ?”
With a slight pause she reflects on what Rein and her said. She ask “Is anyone else listening or here besides us 4”
“No, no one else is present during Rexly meeting”
“You may not believe of but we are from a place called Earth and it doesn’t seem a part of your world”
“My world? What do you mean by that”
“My world earth is a lot different, for example we don’t have elves in my world. Well not true, people have thought of the concept but no elf existed. And we didn’t have this steampunk aesthetic.”
Suddenly Rein gets up panting exhausted. He looks at the king looking fella.
“What’s happening? GET AWAY FROM HER!”t
Hailey looking at Rein reassures him “Rein, it’s okay, he’s not a bad guy. I think?”
“Then who is he?”
“I don’t like your tone. This girl was much nicer than your oafish behavior. Though I will still comply. I am Druk and I’m the Rex of Brahm. I’m assuming you also come from another world”
Rein looking at Hailey “You told him?!”
“I had to plus he’s really scary”
“Fair point.” Changing his attention to the leader of Brahm “What do you want from us ?”
With a very confused face Druk proclaims “ You guys order a meeting with me. Did the fumes affect you that much cuz you sound like you smoked something before coming here”
Rein stunned nods because he makes a fair point. Veek wakes up and happily starts jumping around and speaks quickly. “Hey Rex look what I found. Aren’t they super interesting? I think I did a good job. So what will you do with them?”
“Well first let''s ask them. Do you have any plans now that you are in this new world”
Rein looks at Hailey and goes up to her. “I don''t think we have any plans. I was going to say go find Rayna and Logan but they could be anywhere.”
“Agreed and no matter how much I’m mad at Rayna right now I know she''s going to be looking for us or at least traveling so if we stay here she''ll eventually catch up to us”
Rein declare to Druk “We have no plans but we would like to learn as much about this world as we can”
“That is a valid answer. I will put you guys to work directly under my commands and I have just the best missions for you. That will be for another day. I hope you guys can find a hotel to stay at. Veek, you are their temporary supervisor. Since you found them you''ll take care of them. Is that clear ?”
“Rex, yes, Rex”
They all stand up after the ropes that were holding them disappear. As they get up the three let out a long sigh of relief after being stuck there for god knows how long.
This time Veek calmly walks and escorts them out, which seems surprising for someone of her personality. Hailey slowly walks up to Rein and tells him “I don''t know about all this. He said he had missions for us but we don''t know anything about this world, we have no money, we aren’t…or at least I don''t think I''m qualified for this much importance”
“It’ll be okay, we got this. Just think about how life could be much worse. We could have encountered a giant frog instead, or a bear. It’ll be great.”
She softly smiles even though that did not quench her worries at all.
Veek brings them to a small yet cozy hotel room.
Veek speaking fast as always “Okay this is where you''ll be sleeping, I don''t know for how long but I hope you''ll like it. If you want, I have places to sleep at my house but I don''t think you want to hear my experiment hehehehe. So goodnight, have a nice nap or sleep I guess, don''t let the S-groks bite.”
Hailey smiles, “Thank you for all your help.” Veek nods and zooms away on her jet shoes.
“You know she didn’t do anything, right? And good lord, I will get a headache from her speaking too much . Does she ever breathe?”
Both of them look at their respective beds covered in pillows and they look at each other. Instantly they jump on their beds and have a pillow fight till they get exhausted and both go to their beds to sleep.