After Dark

Pilot

The soft early fall breeze swept over the hill, causing the tall grass to brush against my skin as I laid on my back. The stars shone brightly, and the night was calm. I let my head fall to the side, taking in the profile of the guy beside me. His dusty blonde hair complimenting his fair complexion, starlight reflecting against his dark chocolate irises and causing his skin to nearly glow.

"Next?" His voice, groggy yet dripping with happiness, disrupted the stillness that had fallen upon us.

I hummed, "Something about giraffes.."

"They only need to drink water every few days." He said after a moment.

"You're bullshitting me!" I propped myself up on my elbows as I spoke, peering down at him. His lips spread into a wide smile.

"Nu uh, it's true. Y'know what else?"

"Hm?" I murmured prompting him to continue.

"Their necks are too short to reach the ground." I couldn't help but burst into giggles, imaging a frustrated giraffe trying to reach the grass without stooping down.

"Not possible.." My voice trailed off as the sky suddenly went black. I looked around me, or tried to but I couldn't see worth shit.

"Killian?" I asked, no louder than a whisper. My heart was hammering, blood pulsing so hard it deafened me, everything had gone dark, no fireflies, no light from the stars, no light from the cityscape that once graced the horizon.

"Nal?" His voice mimicked my softness to the point I barely heard him.

"I'm here." I replied, reaching out to feel for him but to no avail. "Killian what's happening?" I croaked, fear suffocating my voice.

"I got no clue just don't move. We can't get lost, we could get hurt."

"Okay." I tried to sound confident as I spoke but my voice threatened to fail me. Mere seconds later all the light was back in the world, yet nothing was as it should have been. You would have thought I'd notice the fact that the sky was no longer black but blood red, that the grass was now soft white and releasing glowing white spores that swirled through the air around us, or that the city I had just moments ago looked at with awe was now ablaze with fire, billows of smoke polluting the night air.

Yet despite my surroundings I noticed Killian before anything. His light hair and complexion had both darkened, but his eyes...you hear people say someone's eyes could hold galaxies but his looked as if they actually did, they were mainly red, but it was transparent so that if you looked closely you'd see various shades of purple and hues of red, billions of stars barely visible behind his dark lashes. The bridge of his nose was painted with soft freckles that pairs well with his now olive skin, but his overall face structure had stayed the same, his hair teased at his eyes and his expression showed a look of shock. His body however had put on weight, like he'd magically spent two years at the gym working his ass off. And when I say that I don't mean he was some sort of body builder, Killian had always been a lean guy, and he was still now, but he was clearly much stronger than before by the way his shirt hugged a fraction of an inch closer to his body, fabric folding in on itself slightly as the tension from his increased muscle mass strained it ever so gently. Kil had had a very boyish charm about him before but now, he looked rather grown up.

"Kil, why're you looking at me like that?" His mouth opened and closed like some sort of goldfish, words failing to escape his lips.

"Uh...Nalia, what happened to you?" Killian stumbled over what few words he could provide.

"The fuck do you mean what happened to me?! What happened to you?!!" I screamed, scrambling to my feet. Here he was looking like an entirely different person and he had the audacity to ask me what had happened?

"What do you mean what happened to me?!" His panic mirrored my own as he rose to his full height in front of me, which was considerably much taller than before. He seemed to notice the difference in height too and wobble slightly

"Killian you look like the protagonist of an anime. What the fuck is going on?" I half yelled, half whispered.

"You're one to talk, you look like you just walked out of tomb raider!" | was cut short from my reply when a red and black text bubble you see in mangas appeared beside us both. The text was much too small to read but an automated voice cleared us of confusion.

"Hello," the voice spoke. It was feminine. "I am Liavan. I will be your companion in this new world. Please hold your questions to the end of the tutorial. Every player has access to my database. You have all been given unique abilities you will fine tune over your stay here in Eirathil. Eirathil is the alternate world you have all been transported to, you may have noticed your appearances have changed and so has the world around you. This is because the timeline you were in has ended. Your souls have all been transported into a backup timeline where you will pick up from the point you left off. Your current goal: Survive. I will check back in 48 hours to help you all complete the tutorial for this timeline. Good Luck!" The voice was friendly but the words it spoke froze my feet to the ground I stood on.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hey loves!! I made a new story, hopefully I'll keep up with this one ;-; I hope the first chapter isn't too confusing but feel free to let me know if you have any constructive criticism! I'd love to make the story more enjoyable.

I don't currently have any sort of idea when I'll upload but the next chapter will be longer!

Thanks for reading ^^