A Collision of Worlds

How it All Begins

Joining Asteria

The day after the test, Lily and Rena were taking a well-deserved break and rewarded themselves with a day of fun in Orion City. After sleeping in, the two girls were exploring the streets looking for something to eat. As they walked down the street, Lily tugged on Rena's sleeve, pointing to a hot dog cart.

"Rena! Let's go get some hot dogs!" Lily exclaimed, her purple eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Lily... Do you really want hot dogs for breakfast...?" Rena shook her head in exasperation, but couldn't hide her smile. Lily pouted.

"It's past noon. It's not breakfast anymore." Lily responded, huffing with annoyance. Rena laughed in response.

"Alright, alright. Let's go get hot dogs. We can keep exploring as we eat them." Rena soothed, smiling affectionately at her childhood friend. Lily clapped with joy as she pulled Rena to the hot dog cart. Once the girls got their food, they continued walking through streets, and ended up in front of large iron gates that were currently open.

"Garden of His Royal Majesty." Lily read off of a sign to the left of the gates.

"Open to the Public from 6 am to 10 pm." Rena continued. After a brief moment of silence, the two girls exchanged excited looks. Rena nodded, and together they quickly finished their hotdogs and entered the garden. Inside the gates seemed to be a mini paradise. There was a slow moving river that children were splashing around in. To the left was a small forest, where animals that approached the visitors made their homes. To the right was a small hill that seemed to hold the origin of the river at its peak. Without hesitation, the two girls moved towards the hill together, quickly making the short hike to the top. Lily looked around her eyes sparkling.

"It's beautiful." She breathed in amazement. A small lake was at the top, surrounded by a ring of willow trees that whispered in the wind. Colorful flowers were all around the ground, swaying playfully in the wind. Animals were darting in and out of view, not at all scared by the two new visitors. One curious squirrel jumped onto Rena's shoulder as a young bunny hopped up to sniff Lily's foot. "They're so cute!" Lily squealed, picking up the young bunny and cuddling it. Rena nodded in agreement as she gently bopped the nose of the squirrel. Rena laughed as the squirrel made a look of annoyance before jumping to the ground and scampering away.

"Let's go sit by the water." Rena urged, leading the way to the lake's sandy shore. As the girls approached the water, they felt themselves relaxing more as they looked forward to the day of doing nothing.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. The animals squeaked in alarm as they ran for cover. Lily and Rena looked around in bewilderment.

"What in the world?" Rena cursed under her breath as she looked over the lake seeing the previously clear blue water transform into a dark and swirling whirlpool. She tensed, all but ready to walk away and pretend that nothing happened. Yet, as she looked at Lily, she realized that their day of doing nothing had evaporated. Lily was watching the vortex, her purple eyes glowing with excitement and curiosity. Lily met Rena's orange eyes, and wordlessly pleaded with her.

"Fine!" Rena shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "We'll go into the whirlpool. Nevermind the fact that we might die or something." Rena continued to grumble as Lily smiled and created a platform for them to ride over the water. She knew that even if Rena was grumbling, she was just as curious about the sudden whirlpool. As the platform reached the center of the whirlpool, Lily and Rena exchanged one last glance. Rena gave Lily a determined nod, as Lily reached out to clasp Rena's hand.

No matter where this takes us, at least we'll be together. Lily thought to herself, smiling. With a wave, the platform disappeared and the two girls plunged into the whirlpool. As the whirlpool swallowed the two girls, the lake calmed. It's waters once again becoming a clear, sparkling blue. The ground went still, as the animals started darting around again. The top of the hill became peaceful once again, without a trace of the whirlpool, or of the two girls.

The Dark Queen:

The Vulkens. As if their journey through the Dead Zone could get any worse, they had to be sailing through an expanse of underwater volcanoes too?

Camilla walked over to stand beside Daemien, looking out at the glassy waters before them. To the inexperienced, those waters might have looked serene, calm, even. But Camilla knew better. The stillness was more eerie than anything, and now that she knew the Vulkens lurked beneath, she was going to keep her guard up.

Not that her gold knife could do anything against a volcano.

"Where is the border?" she asked.

Daemien didn't look at her as he said "We crossed it an hour ago."

Camilla blanched. An hour? And he didn't bother to tell her, the Commander Camilla Blackrose?

"And when," Camilla spat through gritted teeth, "will we be seeing the volcanoes?"

"Trust me, if one erupts, you'll know."

Camilla fought the itching in her legs. Pacing would just make everyone more agitated, and it was her job to keep everyone calm. But she hated this; the lack of control. At least with the Serpent's Teeth, she could blast through the rock with her power, but the volcanoes couldn't be fought with force. No, all they could do was hope one didn't erupt.

She stalked over to the railing, peering over the edge into the deep blue depths below. Nope, nothing. She couldn't see below the first meter of water, let alone anything on the channel floor.

Dammit.

The scent of salt and woodsmoke wrapped around her, and the rickety railing creaked slightly as River leaned against it beside her.

"I don't think we'll be able to fight volcanoes, Cami."

She could almost hear the smirk in his voice, and she debated chucking him over the railing for the mocking disrespect alone.

"What about shielding? We can cocoon the boat in-"

The sudden, violent shaking of the boat drowned out the rest of her words.

Even her years of balance training couldn't keep her upright and the ship rattled and groaned, and Camilla stumbled into the railing, her bruised ribs protestesting.

In the background, she could hear shouting, but the creaking and groaning of the hull overpowered their voices.

Was a volcano erupting? Camilla scanned the water wildly, but it was as dead calm as it was before. Then what-

Magic. It had to be.

She wished Commander Dusktaker was here; he could snap his fingers and the magic would disappear. But the only thing she could do was shield them, perhaps use her power to fill any cracks in the hull, just long enough to make it to land.

But just as she was about to throw a shield around the ship, a blinding pain slammed through her head, and she cried out in agony, stumbling backward into somebody.

Pain. So much pain, it drowned out anything and everything. Spots danced before her eyes, her whole body shuddering as every throb sent fire lancing through her nerves.

She was vaguely aware of someone throwing her arm over their shoulder, dragging her...somewhere...

Her knees barked as they hit the deck, and she collapsed forward, clutching her head, her screams joined by someone else's, someone familiar...

All thoughts evaporated from her head as the pain took over.

She was glad when the world finally went black.