Everything seemed so far as he was dragged into the hole. His body felt as if it was slowly being dismantled only to be rebuilt repeatedly. His vision went dark.
This is it? Death?
It wasn’t as bad as he expected. There was no “Life flashing before your eyes”, there were no loved ones to think back to, and no fairy-tale princess he could whisper the words “I love you” to. It was just… warm. The thought of his boring life finally ending was pleasing.
The end… right?
Sadly, whether his ‘amazing’ luck or a greater entity had decided it, his death was not meant to be. He was plunged back into reality as his entire body was slammed into a solid concrete wall and fell to the ground. He was sure he had broken at least a few ribs.
He groaned under his breath. He opened his eyes and immediately felt as if the sun had poured blazing acid into them.
The sun?
He jolted upwards, sending several mysterious barrels rolling over. He looked around and questioned his sanity.
Where am I? It’s daytime?
He found himself in an alleyway, one he most definitely hadn’t gotten himself into. As he looked around, he caught a glimpse of very antique discarded furniture, empty liquor bottles, and broken glass. He almost gagged. The smell of rotting garbage and animal waste overwhelmed him.
It was no time to whimper about his situation. He needed answers to his questions immediately: Where the hell am I? What happened to Lynn? Was this some sick joke? A well-elaborated reality TV show, maybe?
The more he thought about it, the more it perplexed him, but he wasn’t in a position where he could just sit around feeling homesick. He had to figure out what was happening.
To his surprise, he stood up fairly easily.
Now, where do I start? If this really is some back street alley, there should be a road nearby.
He made it his priority to find a road, more or less to escape the unbearable stench of the alley. As he wandered aimlessly, he couldn’t help but notice the rubble walls, the type you’d expect to see in an old European city—weathered by time, with ivy creeping through the cracks, but he decided not to ponder over it.
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After being faced with multiple dead ends repeatedly, he finally found an exit. From a distance, he could barely make out the figures and their muffled voices.
People.
Jake slowly made his way out of the alley. He cringed at the thought of having to be social and it didn’t help that the closer he got, the less it sounded like a small group and more like a crowd. He squinted his eyes as the full sun came into view. And there they were… people? What followed next could only be described as the most confusing moment of his life. And that said a lot, considering all Jake had been through so far.
When he stepped out of the alley, what he saw was something he never thought he’d one day have to wrap his head around. The unmistakable tiny sizes, Dwarves; the green figures, Goblins; and of course, the humans. All living in perfect coexistence.
Out of sheer confusion, he caught hold of a nearby pedestrian. A middle-aged man wearing old and soiled rags. “Excuse me, sir, where are we?”
His breath reeked of alcohol. “Huh?” The man gave him a look as if to ask, Isn’t it obvious? “Well, my friend, we’re in the marketplace of Esterrosa.”
“Este-Esterrosa?”
The man raised his hands to the air.
“YES!” He laughed. “THE MIGHTY CITY OF ESTERROSA!”
The man staggered away, barely keeping his balance. “More like the mighty city of crap,” He then said over his shoulder. “I suggest you get the hell out of here, kid.”
***
Asariel’s desk tumbled over. His heart was throbbing. It felt as though it’d rip open his chest at any moment. He could feel its presence. Anxiety like none other began welling up inside of him. Get a hold of yourself, he thought to himself.
The door flew open as the city’s warden barged into the chancery. “ASARIEL!”
“I know,” Asariel replied as he regained his composure. “Calmly evacuate the area and gather every troop in the city.” He walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed his sword. “I’ll kill it myself if I have to.”
***
Meanwhile, as he stood before the tiny glass window of a shop, Jake stared at his own unrecognizable reflection. He slipped his hand through his hair… his now blue hair. It was completely different from his usual black, scruffy hair. Not only had it inexplicably changed into a vibrant blue, but it was also tied back into a short ponytail.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier…
After initially getting lost in the marketplace, he wandered back into the alley where it all started, and for the following hours, he did what he loved most: Nothing. The truth was, he had no clue what to do next, and still had no idea how or why he was even there in the first place. It didn’t seem to matter how many times he pinched his cheeks or smacked his head against a wall, he just wouldn’t wake up. While he lay there helplessly, curled in the fetal position, his mind slowly strayed back to his time on Earth.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. He chuckled nervously. At Least I had a bed, right?
His forehead was doused in a sheen of cold sweat as reality settled in. From now on, this was his reality, wasn’t it? His heartbeat raced and chest tightened. At that moment, whether he truly found humor in the situation or whether his mind had finally snapped and submitted itself to insanity was unknown, even to him. But for some reason, he couldn’t help but laugh. It was, without a doubt, the most genuine laugh he’d ever had.
