saladlove | Another World: Guardians' Ascension ~ Clash

Sooooo... A thing! This is my backstory/initial chapter madoohickeybobble for Cinna's story. It took longer than I would have liked, and kinda came out a tad confuffling, but... Oh well! Hope y'all enyoy it!

“Son, are you okay?” a deep voice asked worriedly from above me. I groaned, feeling terrible, and opened my eyes to see a man with dark hair, some grey creeping in, and a kind smile. “Son! Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“Huh?” was all I could splutter out, confused about where I was, who this person was, and judging from the way even my own voice sounded foreign to me, who I was.

“You passed out at dinner. We were all worried about you, but now that you’re up, you should probably rest until you leave tomorrow for the academy.” He was saying things that made no sense to me, but, it’s not like I had much to go off of. All I could see in my mind’s eye was… images of a few people, but I couldn’t put any names to their faces. I saw fires, I saw a dark figure walking through the fires towards me, his midnight black eyes reflecting me, or who I assumed I was, in his eyes before a rush of flame overtook the scene, dropping me back into reality, and a feeling of warmth in my fingertips.

“Clash, be careful with your magic, please. Don’t want you to burn the house down when you have less than 24 hours left here with us,” the man said gently, picking up my hands between his and I felt the warmth fade from them, seemingly absorbed into him. I took back my hands and held them in front of my face, reaching down and pulling out the warmth once again, and a spark appeared in them, quickly growing to a respectably sized flame. My eyes widened in the realization that I was creating flames within my own body, and expelling them like this.

“Don’t get too crazy, Clash,” the man, who from calling me son earlier I assumed was my father, said quietly and supportively. “You’re not at your best. Just get some sleep, alright? You can see your mother and your brother tomorrow morning before you leave.” And with that, he got up and doused the candle with his fingertips on his way out the door, latching the thick door quietly.

I tried to argue and get up out of the bed, but a wave of fatigue hit me and I fell backwards into the abyss of darkness, out before I hit the pillows beneath me.

~

I woke up, laying on the ground, completely drenched, a gale raging all around me, lightning strikes constant in my sight. But, besides the strikes slamming against the ground every moment or two, the dark trees held nothing, and the open field I stood in was void of anything but the muddy road I stood on.

“And here you are, the man of fire,” a soft voice whispered behind me, barely audible over the forceful rain falling all around me. I spun around, and all I saw was… me. I saw myself, a carbon copy, every detail the exact same, down to how I felt, being completely drenched by the downpour. I reached out, and so did he, both reaching a solid wall, like a mirror’s face, preventing us from making contact. “Just know, you’re a mage here, with flames, with illusions, with wind, and the power to provide life, hope, calm, happiness. You are to defend the ones around you, the ones you train with, the ones you might not even know, but you also know what else you’re here for. You didn’t live to die like that. And now you’re here, among those who think of you as one of them despite being completely new to their world. Find the ones you know, train, survive the onslaught.”

“W-what?” I asked, pulling my hand away from the surface of the mirror-like barrier. As soon as I did, the image shattered, leaving me alone in the middle of the field, the only sound being my own breathing and the heavy rain all around me.

~

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” a quiet voice said from next to my bed. I woke up looking at another man, this time younger than my “father,” apparent by his dark brown, almost black, hair, very similar to mine, down to even the way it looked. The only difference seemed to be that I had the blue streak in my hair, and his lacked that color.

“Huh? I asked, disoriented after last night’s “sleep” if one could even call it that.

“Time for you to get up. All your stuff is packed and ready to go, so, really, it’s just you saying goodbye to people and then heading out to be a guardian… I know you’ll do great, little bro,” he said, confirming to me that he was indeed my older brother, and he reached over and tousled my hair as he said it.

“Thanks…” I whispered, looking away, still trying to understand what little I knew. But, based off of what I’d heard thus far, this academy was where I’d get the answers I’d need…

“Nervous? Don’t worry, we’ll be fine down here. Go live your dream. Soar higher. Maybe fell a champion at some point,” he said confidently with a wink and then he stood fully upright and headed out of the room, gently latching the door closed.

“Guess it’s to the academy I go,” I commented quietly to myself, getting out of bed and dressing in some travelling clothes for the trip.

~

“Good luck, son,” my father said, his voice steeled against the emotion his eyes showed. My mother couldn’t utter any words because she was in tears over seeing her youngest child go off to fight for their country. My brother was giving me a wide, supportive smile, and when we made eye contact, he tossed me a thin chain with a jewel on it.

“It’s a family thing. Take it with ya, and I’d say you’ll probably get a good deal of use out of it. Storage stuff, ya know? Have fun! I bet you you’re going to show those other first year mages who’s who, little bro!” he called out as I began to walk away, waving back at them, my heart heavy at leaving, despite knowing them for less than a full day. Their emotions were rubbing off on me, something that seemed to be happening now for some reason, especially as the feelings of awe and jealousy reached me from people around the town as they saw me leaving my home and heading in the direction of this academy I was to go to and train.

So, off I went, in search of my past, even if from that dream, vision, whatever it was, I got barely anything, I had to try and make some sense of these things. Hopefully I didn’t screw it up….