Three days earlier.

  Eliana’s eyes fluttered open.

  For a moment, all she saw was light — soft and golden, pouring through crystal fixtures above her. Then the haze cleared, and muffled voices began to form.

  She wasn’t alone.

  Across the wide room, women of every kind were talking quietly among themselves — their laughter light, their tones strangely calm for prisoners. The air smelled faintly of perfume and sea-salt. Velvet curtains hung from the ceiling, and beneath her was a bed softer than any she had ever touched.

  Where am I?

  A glimmer of gold flashed in front of her.

  “She’s awake!” a tiny voice chimed.

  Eliana blinked, startled. Hovering before her face was a small glowing figure — wings fluttering so fast they hummed like a dragonfly’s. The tiny woman smiled brightly, her golden hair flowing like threads of sunlight.

  “Hey there!” she said, her voice cheerful and musical. “I’m Clare. What’s your name?”

  Eliana sat up slowly, her head spinning. Her eyes darted around the unfamiliar room — the soft beds, the curved aquarium at the far wall, the strange women watching her.

  “Who are you people?” she asked. “Where am I?”

  A smooth voice answered from behind glass.

  “You’re on Jabumba Island,” said a woman resting inside the great aquarium. She had long black hair that floated like ink in water, her lower body a sleek, dark tail that shimmered with silver scales. “Far from wherever Koby-Ann snatched you from.”

  Eliana’s breath caught. She stood, walking closer to the tank, her reflection merging with the woman’s as she leaned toward the glass.

  “You… you have a tail.”

  The mermaid smiled faintly. “You’ve never seen one before?”

  From the bed nearby, a Leporid woman — orange-skinned with long blue hair and sharp eyes — laughed softly.

  “Guess she hasn’t seen a mermaid before either. Don’t stare too much, sweetheart. It’s rude.”

  A deep voice rumbled from the corner.

  “Cut her some slack, Hawarin. You acted the same way the first time you saw Flora.”

  Eliana turned toward the speaker — an eighteen-foot-tall Orken woman leaning against the wall, arms folded, her brown skin gleaming under the lights. Shiba. Even relaxed, she radiated quiet power.

  Eliana looked back at the aquarium. “What… race are you?” she asked, half in awe.

  The mermaid — Flora — smiled gently. “I’m a Mermaid, obviously.”

  Eliana’s voice trembled slightly. “Mermaid…? By the gods… how many races are there in this world?”

  A soft chuckle came from another bed.

  A white-furred Lyncan woman stretched lazily, her silver eyes warm. “More than you think,” she said. “So tell us — what happened to you? How did Koby-Ann catch you?”

  Eliana sat back down on the bed, still dazed.

  “His men attacked us,” she said slowly. “One of them took my friend… I followed him, thinking I could save him But I ended up in their base — and that’s where I met him. Koby-Ann.”

  She paused, then asked quietly, “Who are you people?”

  Silvina’s expression darkened. “We’re slaves,” she said simply. “Slaves to Koby-Ann.”

  Eliana’s eyes widened. “What?”

  Clare fluttered closer, her light dimming a little. “You’re one of us now,” she said softly.

  Eliana’s pulse spiked. “No. No, I’m not! I’m nobody’s slave!”

  The words echoed, sharp and desperate.

  She looked at Clare again — really looked — the tiny wings, the glowing aura, the childlike face that seemed made of light.

  “What are you?” Eliana whispered.

  Clare’s lips curved into a shy smile. Her voice was high-pitched, almost a whisper of bells.

  “I’m a Fairy.”

  Eliana stared at her, speechless.

  Her thoughts spiraled. Just three years ago, I thought there were only three races in the world… Elves, Aurellians, and Elvheins…

  ---

  Elsewhere on the endless blue, a blur streaked across the ocean’s skin.

  The sea convulsed behind him — colossal walls of water surged up in his wake, each hundreds of meters tall, rising like titans trying to devour the speck outrunning them.

  But he was too fast.

  A streak of yellow lightning skimmed over the waves — a man with brown skin, wool-white hair whipping in the wind, and eyes that blazed gold like miniature suns. His suit shimmered — a futuristic weave of yellow laced with thin red circuit lines, pulsing to the rhythm of his stride.

  Each step shattered the water’s surface tension and rebirthed it an instant later — like time itself bent around his feet.

  He glanced down.

  Beneath the glassy depths, something vast stirred.

  A leviathan, five hundred meters long, scales glimmering like obsidian mirrors, surged upward. Its mouth opened — a pit of teeth and shadows wide enough to swallow a fortress.

  The beast lunged.

  For a heartbeat, the speedster vanished inside its jaws — swallowed by darkness.

  Then — flash!

  A beam of golden light ripped upward through the creature’s skull.

  The man shot into the sky, air bending violently around him. He hovered for half a second, silhouetted against the sun — then dived back down, slicing through the air faster than sound.

  With a single hand, he chopped downward.

  A sonic boom exploded. The sea split apart for over a hundred kilometers — a canyon of raw ocean peeled open, leaving the leviathan severed cleanly in two halves that collapsed back into the depths.

  He landed and ran again, not stopping. The water crashed back together behind him like thunder chasing a storm.

  But the sea wasn’t done.

  Dozens — no, hundreds — of massive heads erupted from the waves, leviathans of the same kind, each moving impossibly fast for their size, their roars vibrating the world.

  He smiled. A predator’s grin.

  His body glowed brighter, streaking through the maze of snapping jaws — weaving between them like light through shattered glass. As he passed, yellow trails marked the path he’d taken, glowing for seconds before fading.

  They gave chase, an army of oceanic monsters tearing through the waves at supersonic speeds.

  He looked back once — eyes glinting.

  “Catch me if you can.”

  And then he vanished into the horizon.

  ---

  Moments later, he was already at the shores of Jabumba Island.

  Villagers barely caught a glimpse — a yellow blur tearing across the beach, toppling palm trees in his wake. He raced through the forest, scattering flocks of flying beasts.

  Ahead rose the mountain — home of the Tertius Division Base.

  He didn’t slow down.

  When he reached the mountain’s wall, he didn’t stop, his atoms vibrated faster than sound — his form flickered like heat haze — and then…

  phased straight through.

  ---

  Inside a room, where Eliana and the others were gathered, something strange happened.

  The wall rippled like liquid glass, and a man’s head emerged halfway through it.

  Only his head — phasing through matter, glowing faintly yellow from the speed aura rippling around him.

  The women gasped.

  His gaze swept the room — calm, precise, scanning every face until his eyes landed on Eliana.

  He smiled faintly.

  His golden pupils flicked down to her wrist — the faint shimmer of the control band reflecting in them.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Then, as quickly as he came, his head phased backward into the wall, vanishing without a trace — not even a ripple left behind.

  ---

  Outside, he was already sprinting again — across the island, then over the ocean toward Pentagon’s Hole.

  He reached the colossal facility in seconds, blurring past the horizon like lightning chasing its echo.

  He phased straight through the outer defenses, through the reinforced hecko walls, and into the dim labyrinth of corridors below.

  The air reeked of Calethrin.

  He slowed, just a little — enough to breathe it in.

  Then his voice broke the silence — distorted, reverberating with layers of itself, as if time and static overlapped his words.

  “CALETHRIN.”

  The sound alone made the lights flicker.

  He tapped the side of his head. Metal plates folded outward from his collar and sealed around his skull — a sleek yellow helmet, its visor flaring to life with scanning runes.

  He darted forward, a phantom through the prison halls. Guards shouted too late — their words shredded by the shockwaves of his passing. Prisoners clung to their bars as wind tore through the cells.

  Then he stopped — silent, invisible.

  ---

  At Present

  A voice cut through the cafeteria’s din, sharp with disbelief. “Isaac? Is that you?”

  Valtos froze, a spoonful of gray food halfway to his mouth. Did I just hear… dad’s voice? No. It can’t be.

  The call came again, closer. “Isaac!”

  Valtos’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. It is him.”

  He turned on the bench to see a man shoving through the crowd, desperation etched on his face. Valtos stood, his usual swagger gone. “Dad? How are you here?”

  The man—Kevin—closed the distance and threw his arms around his son, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Oh, thank god you’re safe. I was so worried. I missed you so much.”

  For a moment, Valtos stiffened, then his shoulders slumped. He returned the hug, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “I missed you too, Dad.”

  Kevin looked at Valtos, his eyes weary. "You look so young. How are you still a child? You barely aged."

  Valtos shrugged. "Guess I'm a late bloomer."

  Valerius watched from the side, his expression unreadable. He said nothing.

  Kevin pulled back, his hands on Valtos’s shoulders, his face creased with fear. “What about your mother? What happened to her?”

  “I don’t know,” Valtos admitted, a rare flicker of helplessness in his eyes. “I didn’t see any of you when I got here. Did she get transported, too?”

  “I don’t know,” Kevin whispered, his voice thick.

  The man was Valtos’s father, Kevin. He stood 5'11", with thinning blond hair and the soft, weary build of a man with a pot belly, worn down by a life he never asked for.

  Roland leaned toward Valerius, murmuring, “Wow, he met his dad. What are the odds? I don't even know if I have a single family member in this hellhole.”

  Valtos guided his father to sit at their table. Kevin’s eyes flickered to Valerius, and fear tightened his features. “A Yilheimer… What’s he doing here?”

  Valerius didn’t look up from his bowl. “Don’t worry, old man. I’m not your enemy.”

  Roland grinned. “Yeah, he’s gonna help us break out.”

  Kevin leaned in, his voice a hushed, hopeful whisper. “What? Are you serious?” Roland nodded. “Thank you,” Kevin breathed, turning back to Valerius. “Thank you very much, Mr. Yilheimer.”

  Valerius’s spoon clinked against the bowl. “It’s Lerius. Not Yilheimer.”

  “Dad,” Valtos interjected, “how did you get here?”

  Kevin sighed, a world of confusion in his eyes. “Well… I got transported to this world a few weeks ago.”

  Clatter.

  Three spoons hit the metal table at once.

  Valerius, Valtos, and Roland froze. Slowly, in unison, they turned their heads.

  “What?” Roland was the first to speak, standing up, his voice rising. “A few weeks ago? How?”

  The surrounding cacophony of the cafeteria died. Hundreds of eyes turned toward them.

  Roland slowly sat back down, muttering, “Sorry.”

  Valtos stared at his father, his mind reeling. “It’s been three years since we got here. How could you have gotten here a few weeks ago? Did… did it happen again?”

  “Yeah,” Roland pressed, his voice low and intense. “What happened?”

  From a nearby table, an elderly Asian man rasped, “The sky turned red.” All eyes shifted to him. “Earthquakes began to happen all over the world. Buildings were falling.”

  Valerius observed him, a flicker of distant memory in his gaze. “Wow. Haven’t seen a Chinese man in forever.”

  The old man moved with shocking speed, hurling his walking stick at Valerius. It bounced harmlessly off his chest. “I’m Japanese, you idiot!” he yelled, his voice cracking with fury. “If you can’t tell the difference, your eyes must be as lazy as your manners! We are not the same—it’s not complicated! If your brain worked half as hard as your mouth, you’d know that before embarrassing yourself!”

  Roland held up a placating hand. “Calm down, old man. He’s a Yilheimer. He couldn’t know.”

  Then Roland’s eyes narrowed. He looked sharply at Valerius. “Wait. How do you know about Chinese people?”

  Valerius met his gaze, his own utterly flat. “Like I said. I know things.”

  The old man scoffed, still fuming. “Yilheimer? What is that?”

  “It’s what we call people from this world,” Roland explained.

  The old man—Haruto—snorted and sat back down, his granddaughter pulling gently on his arm. “As I was saying,” he continued, scowling at Valerius, “it was just like what happened 12 years ago.”

  Valerius bent down, picked up the walking stick, and placed it gently back on Haruto’s table. The simple act sent a wave of tension through the onlookers. He loomed over the old man, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous rumble. “Wait a minute. Hold up. Did you say… 12 years ago?”

  “Yes, you overgrown brat!”

  Valtos shot to his feet. “No. It’s been three years!”

  “Are you calling me a liar?” Haruto snarled.

  “Yes,” Valtos said, his voice cold. “Yes, I am.”

  “Isaac,” Kevin said, a warning in his tone. “Apologize. Now.”

  Haruto was up again, trembling with rage, hurling insults in Japanese as he tried to push past his granddaughter to get at Valtos. “You little shit! You don’t respect your elders! I’m going to show you respect the old-fashioned way!”

  He took a step, then froze. A spasm of pain contorted his face. “Ugh… Senaka ga…” he groaned, clutching his back.

  The young girl clung to him, her voice pleading. “It’s okay, Grampa, calm down! You don’t want your blood pressure to increase!”

  As Haruto sank back down, breathing heavily, the girl bowed her head slightly to Valtos. “Sorry about him. He has a temper.” She then straightened, her gaze steady. “I’m Yuna, and my grampa here is Haruto. And he wasn’t lying. The first Catastrophe happened 12 years ago.”

  Valerius stared down at them, the pieces clicking into a terrifying puzzle. “How is that possible? It has been only three years.”

  Roland held his chin, his sharp eyes glinting with dawning, horrifying comprehension. “Hmmm. If I’m right,” he said, his voice barely a whisper, “then that means time must move differently here.”

  ---

  To Be Continued...