Inverted Deck

Inverted Deck (Chapter 1 & 2)

Prologue

Chapter 1

Me and Aylmer ride in the back of a roofless horse carrier, hitting bump after bump, on an early, cool morning, with nothing but eerie fog and a widespread of dewdrops covering the grass as far as the eyes can see. As we head to the sage forest on an urgent quest, this setting, this atmosphere, triggers memories of my... or Finn's past.

On an early morning just like this one, my father took me deep into the sage forest for training. I remember him bringing me up into one of the largest trees I had ever seen before and told me to stand there, as he took his large knife and cut a huge slit into the trunk of the tree, inches in front of my face. Right after he did, a massive wave of transparent energy blew right into my face, but rather than aggressive or harmful, it was more so... refreshing. As if receiving a large splash of water after a scorching day in the sun.

Then my father kneeled down and said to me, "This, my son, is called Aether, the medium of all things. Since there's a mass amount of concentrated Aether in this Sage tree here, even a child would be able to clearly see it, but do not be fooled, visible or not, Aether exists all around us, as well as inside of us." He said as he laid his large dark, burly hand on my tiny chest. "And if you are to defend yourself, or even be moved to protect someone else, you must know how to conquer and control this power, so... I will teach you." He said with a warm smile. I have memories of feelings of happiness and hope at the time. Only thing is... these memories aren't my own... none of them are. Heck, I'm not even from this world.

A lot of my memories have blanks in them now and come back as time proceeds but I know for certain, that I, and Aylmer originated from our own world: Earth. Neither of us exactly remember how but somehow and for whatever reason, we were summoned here in this fantasy world in bodies that look like our own. This world calls them, Alters or better known as doppelgangers, we merely just took the place of the people that had our faces, inheriting their names and even memories as well. We've experienced a phenomenon commonly known back in my world as an Isekai. And one of the weirdest things is, as Alters our lives and their lives aren't much different in many ways. One way, Finn's parents in this world, looks almost exactly like my father and mother, back in my world, same personalities too.

We've been here for almost a month now and for the most part we've gotten use to life here, with the main goal of finding a way back home. I haven't mentioned this to Aylmer or the others but, I'm not completely sure I want to go back home. I mean, as selfish as that sounds, would it be any different? When we first arrived at this world, Charta, it seemed like an utopia, a paradise, every NEET and weeb's dream. Beast people, a crazy power system, adventures, the whole package, but the more and more time I spend here I realize that our worlds, our societies aren't as different as we thought, only Inverted.

There are a couple things that run this world, but one of the biggest things is Aether, or as my father called it "the medium of all things." What was but a theory of existence in my world is a complete law in this world, with its own set of rules. Just like sound waves to air, every type of energy, mass, or even matter in some cases, moves through Aether, Thermal energy, life energy, all of them in some way or form. Aether surrounds nonliving things, but living things soak it up like a sponge. Those were the first two rules I learned about Aether, and I am still learning and have more to learn about Aether.

"Finn, we've arrived at our destination, The Sage Forrest." Alymer says.

The Carriage begins to come to a stop as we jump out on the moist grass. We make our way to the coachman to deliver our individual payments. Aylmer takes off his hood as he ready's his Eu, the currency of this world, revealing his large glossy purple eyes tucked away behind his square framed glasses made out of what looks like gold, his long, dark, pointy ears covered with tiny golden ornaments and rings, and his long silver hair.