He was breathing hard. It felt like he suddenly came back to life. He didnt know where he was. He couldn't even open his eyes. But he knew. He felt like he was gone for an incredibly long time.
His pulse returned to him, tears started flowing out of his shut eyes. As if tuning in with his restarted heartbeat, his breath started synchronizing. But as soon as he started breathing, he felt huge amounts of liquid flow inside his nostrils, suffocating him. He could sense all of this but was helpless.
What was it that was flowing in? Was it water? Were the tears his or was it just the water surrounding him? Where was he? Was he drowning? Was he going to die again? ...AGAIN...
As the word again slowly crept up inside his brain, tiny bits of memory started returning to him. Slowly but surely, they were coming back. All he remembered was him..about to die. The bullet was shot. The girl was screaming right next to him. The girl...she loved him? What was her name?... What is my name??
It was a bit troubling for him to understand all this. Even though his memories were returning it was quite cloudy. But for now...he just wanted to wake up. He just wanted to be alive. He wanted to be here. In the present. With that he attempted to breathe. HE attempted to move. He tried so hard just to get his eyes open.
But before he could use the sense of sight, he heard the sound of shattering. Glass. He knew the sound of glass. And in a second , as if the water started flowing away from him, the feeling of being wet slowly reduced. It felt like he was floating mid air, and suddenly gravity caught up. He started falling down as if following the body of water.
With a lot of 'ifs' in his brain, he fell down on his knees to solid ground. It was only natural. He had no idea where he was, let alone who he was. And was also unable to open his eyes.
Then it came to him. All of it. Every single memory of his life. He always thought that memories coming back is a painful experience giving him intolerable pain and anguish. But it didnt feel like that. It felt like he just happened to have remembered it. His name was Max. And that wasn't all. He remembered his family too. Mom, dad, Cassie, Dave, Denise, Katie, Lonnie. He knew them. He could think of their faces now. He can see them. He remembered he had a date. He remembered that unfortunate day. He remembered being shot. He knew he was dead. He should be dead. If He was dead, why was he here? Why was he alive?
He started coughing immensely. The water must have gone to his lungs. He knew stuff like this happened to people in films, although he had no medical knowledge on what it was. It was painful though, so much that it felt like he was coughing up blood. It was only then could he open his eyes. He could see the solid ground , absolutely black at his knees. He was kneeling down with his arms also on the ground. A quite pathetic way to fall, but safer. Shards of glass were visible all over the place along with a huge amount of colorless liquid. He wanted think it was just water, but it didn't feel like it was. His entire body was wet. And so were his clothes. He couldn't feel anything on his left arm though, but before he could investigate a voice called out.
???: Hey you. Eyes up here.
The sound startled Max. He didn't recognize the voice but what took him by surprise was the fact that he didn't notice a person standing beside him.
He slowly turned towards the guy on his right side. He expected to see a man as the voice sounded like a male, but what he saw was a man accompanied by a woman. They both were standing above him. The guy had a mean look on his face and it kinda felt like he was looking down on him. Whereas, as if being contrary to the guy beside her, the woman looked concerned about Max. Her pitch black eyes filled with kindness.
She wore a typical attire worn by women in summer, but it looked expensive. She was wearing black pants which went upto her chest covering everything as if it was a body suit. Tiny straps went from near her chest, to over the shoulder to probably her back connecting on the other side. She was wearing a white jacket above that, which covered her arms and reached up until her waist. She wore something like a bracelet although Max was sure he has never seen something like it. Her face was pretty and cute. Her skin as white as snow, with her pitch black eyes. Although the best striking feature of her face was her red hair. She had short hair that reached up until her shoulders but it was bright red. Max was sure no one back home really liked their hair being Red. They would probably get bullied for it too. So she must be brave to sport this look, but somehow it fit her.
The guy beside her was very different compared to her. He had a mean triangular face. His sharp gaze was looking down on Max, but his eyes was black too, just like the girl and himself. He had long hair, but he had tied it up. He was wearing loose black shirt and pants, but he had huge blue colored armor on his chest which was held in place using straps. He also had the same colored shoulder pads and forearms covers. So this guy seemed like some kinda warrior with all this armour. The blue parts of the armour used the coloured cyan to do some amazing patterns on the armor making it look like something out of a ancient Chinese diagram. Now that he thought about it, the warrior boy looked Asian. He also carried two swords which looked like Kukris to him. Although Max wasn't sure if it was. He only knew what a Kukris was thanks to him watching tons of anime back then.
Wait was he transported to another world like what happens usually in isekai??
Before his question could be answered the man slike to him.
Warrior: So,..who the hell are you? What is this place?
Max was dumbfounded. He didnt know why he assumed these two would tell him where he was, but he did. Him asking this question made Max think everything was bad.
Max: Wait, what do you mean what this place is? You guys don't know??
Max was freaking out. Justifiably so. He had no idea where he was, he was met with a typical princess and warrior looking characters in God knows where and the last memory he had was a bullet aimed at him. This was bad. If even they didn't know where be was.
Warrior: So, he speaks. For a moment I thought you were incapable of human speech.
Girl: Now, now, please be calm Lin. Let's not bully him. He looks as confused as us.
As If understanding his heart, the girl spoke to the warrior. Max felt relieved that she was here, and thankful. Cause it felt like he would have been killed by the dude if it weren't for her.
She knelt beside him and put a hand kn his shoulder making him feel safe. Was she trying to manipulate him with kindness? It was a Trope in films that he wanted to avoid happening to him in real life. But she smiled kindly, and seemed pretty considerate. Max felt weak, and hated it. But she spoke directly to Max now.
Girl: Hello...you must be scared of my friend here, but he is a good guy, just give him time.
Warrior: We are not friends!!
The guy snorted that out in anger. It didnt look like he was blushing or acting like a tsundere. He genuinely was not her friend. But ignoring him, the girl continued to talk.
Girl: My name is Melissa. That guy over there is Xi Fei Lin. What is your name?
She asked that with a kind smile. But it still angered the warrior dude, Xi Fei Lin.
Lin: Who gave you the permission to just hand out my name??
He was angry, but that's when Max noticed his surroundings. The floor was not cement. It was metal. Pitch black steel. He didn't know a colour combination of such could exist. The room was not huge but it was big enough to fit 30 people. There were huge pods with water in them. Huge human sized glass containers were also present. They were currently with no water. There were five of them totally, and four of them were empty without water. The fifth one which was right behind him was a different case however. Water was still flowing out from the broken glass there. And that's when Max realised that he was in there until now. Someone had broken the glass and got him out and judging by the companions in the room, it must've been Lin. He saw strange wires going from the glass containers to the ceiling. It felt like a scene ripped from a science fiction film. He knew of technology, but something like this was not present even during his time in the year 2021. He wondered if instead of being transported to a magical world like the isekai he always sees, he must've been sent to highly technological world.
Max: My name's Max. Maximus Augilleris Steefan.
He declared that with pride and cringed at the same time. He always had trouble saying his full name, so always stuck with Max. But given his situation, he just went for it.
Lin: Haha, and you thought my name was long and weird.
He laughed at Max's name and pointed it out to Melissa. She was already dumbfounded, as if trying to comprehend the name that Max gave.
Melissa: So can we call you ....Max?
Max just nodded in reply. He would definitely prefer everyone just calling him Max. And then as if continuing to ask her question, she resumed.
Melissa: So..umm..Max. Who are you? Why were you in there? What is this place? Why is it underground. Are you somehow related to the Children of Creation?
After this barrage of questions he was confused as hell. What did she mean we were underground, he thought. And what the hell is Children of Creation?
Noticing his visible confusion, Melissa sighed. She kinda felt relieved and turned back towards Lin, who for some reason was tightly gripping the handle of his blade. This sent shivers down Max's spine.
Melissa: Relax. He is sincerely not connected to them.
Lin: Then why does be look scared? He must be hiding something.
Max: That's cause you literally are bracing yourself to probably behead me?!??!?!
Max retorted to Lin's antagonistic behaviour, much to the dismay of Melissa.
Lin: I think you forgot to ask the most important question..
Melissa who turned towards Lin was also confused. Lin sighed releasing his grip on his blade. The air became tense again as he looked straight at Max with a look that can kill.
Lin: Why is your hand like that?
With that question Max let out a "huh?" And looked at his own arm. Starting with his right arm, but he thought it looked pretty normal. He then slowly shifted his gaze towards his left arm. And that's when he realized why he couldn't feel anything there. Cause instead of a normally white arm was pitch black night sky filled with stars as if it were a picture of outer space. He was shocked. It was undeniably his own arm. It was also shaped like his arm, but everything looked like it was asif the universe itself was a part of his hands. He started freaking out. He jumped up and down scared to look at his own hand. He tried touching it, but instead of his soft body that felt warm due to the blood flowing inside it, all he felt was stone cold nothingness. He could still move it like it were his own arm. He was amazed but equally mortified by it.
Immediately without a second thought, he removed his light blue T-shirt and threw it on the ground. This caused Melissa to blush while actively shutting her eyes close with her two palms. Lin was confused on what just happened. Max then saw down and noticed that his entire left arm and left pec of his chest was covered with this "universe". And to add displeasure it looked like it was growing as little lines of the universe looked like roots growing out up until his upper abs.
He immediately noticed his reflection on a glass and walked fast to reach there and he examined his body. He remembered himself being shorter. But now he was tall. He was also very muscular as he had amazingly tuned body. He wondered if it was the case where he got transported to some other body, like most anime. But it was clearly his own face albeit older. A portion of his incredibly long hair was white which amazed him as he didn't remember having white or long hair. He also had a little goatee, which he didn't recognize. But what struck out most to him was that he had eyes of a peculiar combination. Both his eyes were mostly black, but the outer ring of the black iris was of a bright blue colour that almost looked like it was glowing. He was pretty sure he had just a normal set of black eyes until now. He was supposed to be sixteen, but here he looked like he was in his early twenties.
Max: What the hell...?
He muttered to himself under a breath which was inaudible to the other two in the room. Max was about to faint with all this information when something caught his eye. He slowly turned to see a table of sorts in the corner of the room. On top of it was a sheet of paper, a pen and something that seemed like a rock placed on top of it, so that it doesn't fly away. Max walked to it..and saw the letter.
The contents of the letter shook him to the core.
"Hey Max. Sorry, I tried, but I don't think I can be here with you. I'll be out, waiting for you. I'm searching for everyone. All of our family. I'll be there. Come find me. I'm very very sorry...but I hope you wake up one day. And if I'm alive to see it, I'll be extremely happy. Remember. Steefans never let go. I'll be waiting...if you ever come for me - your loving sis, Cassie."
Instantly he started crying. He knew. He remembered all of his siblings. Them sitting in the dining table laughing it out. They were kids, but they loved each other. Cassie was the oldest and she cared deeply about him. She was HERE!!. This wasn't some kind of alternate world where he was transported to. She was here. And that's proof enough. He can go forward. The letter itself looked like it was left here for a long time, but he had no idea how to determine how long. But with the revelation that she is also here made him happy. But what struck him was she said she is going to find her family, as if she was certain they were here too. So were they? Max didn't know. They might be...so he needs to find them. But just knowing that he wasn't dead finally made him let go. He sank to his knees and started crying. Loudly, ugly. Wherever he was, his family was there.
Melissa was confused as she had stopped covering her eyes. Seeing a tall man crying on his knees shirtless might've been a first time for her. But Lin was concerned about something else as he was keenly listening to his surroundings.
Max slowly walked towards his T Shirt and wore it back. He had folded the letter and put it in the pocket of his trousers. He then looked at Melissa and gave a faint smile. She looked kind enough for him to trust her. He was about ten feet away from her but he looked at her eyes and started talking.
Max: Melissa, I'm sorry for that pathetic display a second ago. Let me tell you who I am..Actually I'm from N-
But before Max could continue, Lin went "Shhhh" showing his index finger to Max. Max was angry but he noticed that Lin wasn't even looking at him. He was silently looking at the huge metal door on the opposite side of the room as if hearing something. Max concentrated his gaze towards the door. And he also could hear it. Faint sounds of-
Lin: Footsteps.
Someone was walking towards the door, and it looked like Lin and Melissa were both afraid of that someone. A tiny drop of sweat was visible going from Lin's forehead to his jaw. He looked annoyed and terrified at the same time.
Lin: Shit. He found us. We need to go!!
Even though it felt like he shouted it, he said that in a low voice. Max felt like he was let out of the loop on purpose.
Max: WHO found us? Care to elaborate???
Max also shouted quietly matching the tone of Lin, who started walking to other opposite of the room trying to look for a way to run away.
Lin: It doesn't concern you. We are as good as dead if the Samurai finds us.!
Samurai?? Max knew what a Samurai is. As he was pretty aware of Japanese media.
Max: Samurai? There are so many Samurai in this era too?
Max interrogated Lin who was staring at the ceiling for some reason. He was gripping his Kukris blade again. Lin turned to look at Max with that question, and he looked as if he was shocked.
Lin: What do you mean "so many"?
Melissa: There has always been one weilder of Excalibur every era. So of course there is just one Samurai!!
Confusing Max with whatever crap they said overwhelming. Did they just say that there is only one Samurai...who instead of Katanas wielded the Excalibur? THE EXCALIBUR? That didn't even make sense.
Lin ignored him completely and used both of his blade to do a hurricane type spin and pointed the blade to the ceiling. He sprinted so fast that it took merely a second. The entire ceiling collapsed downward totally destroying the ground. But now a path was opened up for them to run. Melissa suddenly started running and shot white strings from the tip of her fingers. This long string attached themselves to the ceiling and she just Tarzan'd her way up. Lin just jumped almost 20 feet and landed on the ceiling. That was a superhuman feat.
Both Lin and Melissa looked down from the huge hole above them. Max almost waited thinking they would help him too. But to his utter surprise, when Melissa was about to use her strange string powers to lever Max upward, Lin stopped her.
Melissa: What the hell, Lin??
Lin: Do not save him. We don't even know who he is!! And his wailing might be the reason the Samurai found us anyway. He is a deadweight!!
Melissa; But he looks innocent!! Why shouldn't we save him??
Max was hearing their argument from the bottom. He wondered if he could make the jump just like Lin knowing his newfound body. He wanted to butt into their conversation and scold Lin for his bad behavior against humanity. But before he could utter a word..
Lin: He is here...
Lin suddenly called that out and Melissa went silent. Max slowly turned towards the door on the other side of the room. There was the door, made of metal unharmed standing. And in an instant the door was covered in a huge slant slash. And immediately the door exploded and fell to the ground as if another superhuman kicked it down. The huge metal door fell down with a loud thud.
It was followed by smoke covering the entrance . A shadowy figure walked into the room. He was in a traditional green yukata with a navy blue sash used like a belt. He held an English sword in his right hand. He was wearing the old Japanese style sandals when he walked in. He had long brown hair, but most of his face was hidden due to the woven hat he was wearing. The hat was large enough to only cover his eyes. This man was very tall, looked like he was in his mid thirties. But then Max noticed something.
Max: oh COMMMEEE ONNNN!!
Max let those words slip out unintentionally. He had consumed a lot of samurai media in the past. But there was always a Trope in which the most powerful samurai was. It was so common but it always meant bad news. The Samurai in front him, just like the trope, had tilted his head upward revealing that he was wearing a blindfold , making him a typical blind swordsman. They were the most dangerous kind of swordsmen.
And in a second, the Samurai had leapt in the air towards Max with his sword about to cut his head off. The sword...touched Max's throat, and Max was not fast enough to see it coming.