Guardians of Reality

CH2 - The journey begins

I stood in the middle of a desolate city. Wherever I looked, ruined buildings stretched high into the dark sky. Some of them have already collapsed, while others barely, but still stood. The building I was once in have been levelled with the ground, debris forming a circle around it.

Turning forward, a strange, familiar machinery greeted, lights flickering, barely with enough power in it. I had to get back, I needed to get back to my family. I didn't want to stay here, in this strange and unsafe place.

Stepping up to the machine, I tried to replicate what those men did to it. While I wasn't sure about this, I needed to do something before I break down crying.

The machine soon flickered again, then all lights shut down. I stepped back, trembling as tears formed in my eyes, fearing that whatever I did, I messed up my last chance of getting back.

A soft rumble of the ground caught my attention, and I looked up as loud cracking came from above. One of the buildings started to break into two parts, and it started to lean towards me!

"No... No, no, no!" Panic filled my mind, as I started to look around, trying to find a safe place where I could run, but there wasn't any way to escape. As I looked up at the building again, a sudden light caught my attention from the corner of my eye.

The portal! It opened up, but from the other side only blinding light and strong heat came through. I looked up again, then dashed towards the portal, screaming from the scorching heat.

"You did this..." Came a slithering voice behind me, which came from a shadow, as I looked back. "It's your fault." I looked forward, and passed the portal, after which everything turned black.

***

My body jerked as I came into consciousness. With ringing ears and pain my head, a groan escaped my lips. But that was not all of my problems, as my whole body felt like it got hit by a big rock.

Slowly lifting a hand to my head, I felt that something was different. The ground I was laying on have become softer, and more humid. A whole army of tiny and thin something tickled my bare skin, which didn't feel too bad. Wind blew over me, and I felt a new rush of excitement, as I opened my eyes. Blinding, warm light shining down on everything have greeted me.

Then the memories of the vision have caught up to my thoughts. Was that a vision? Or maybe it was a memory... Who was that shadow? And why was I there? And that... machine thing. It didn't make sense. Why did it say that it was my fault?

There were too many questions, with no answers to them. I needed to focus on something else, or this would just bug me until I become one with the ground.

As I sat up to look around, eyes wide, and mouth hanging; I watched the beautiful clearing around me. Surrounded by trees with light-brown trunks, with sap-green leaves dancing to the soft melody of the wind, they have given off a strong feeling of safety. They were almost glowing from their own beauty, not caring about how simple they looked.

As another blast of air hit me, I made a futile attempt at shielding myself, however the cool air still seemed to find itself all over my skin, making me shiver violently. The warmth of the sun wasn't enough to keep me away from the freezing temperature of the wind. With the everlasting beauty of the trees and the ground, filled with radiant flowers, came the cold of the wind too. As my body was attacked by the cold from two fronts, I managed to get up.

"Persona!" I called out, hugging myself while looking around. The howling of an animal was the only response I got, as a few wandering clouds have covered the sun, making the forest seem darker. Some tree branches moved as a stronger gush of wind travelled through the clearing, making them look like grotesque hands, stretching towards me. Suddenly the forest has lost its welcoming aura. Fear started to put its icy claws on my heart, as the thought of being left behind crawled into my mind. Persona wouldn't do this, right? The first guardian wouldn't just leave me.