[ Vaseland Castle

D5 Mander

Year 0 ]

Gasped! Jamie caught her breath and opened her eyes. She found herself on a massive bed with no end in sight and was surrounded by nothing but whiteness.

Jamie started to crawl toward the right end of the bed, but she still could not see the end of the bed! I should stand up and run. No way a bed can be that massive, Jamie theorized.

Around five minutes later, sweat poured down her back as she sat back down. What is going on? Maybe I need to run straight down the bed instead?

Five minutes later she stopped. How is this bed this big? I should keep moving though, who knows when that guy would show up? She started to jog again, this time to the left side. She jogged for another 6 minutes or so until she stopped again.

 

Maybe there’s a clue in the mattress? Her hand frantically rubbed the mattress, then she started to scratch at it, and finally, she punched it vigorously.

Nothing! Nothing, this feels like a regular mattress. However, she felt her hand was different somehow. Whatever it was, she couldn’t describe it.

On instinct, she snapped her fingers, and a spark fluttered from her right hand. Holding her hand out, a flame burned from her palm, as if she was a candlestick.

Hmmm....She crossed her arms. I have no idea what is going on.

Jamie started to walk again. Okay, I can somehow create fire. However, if I burn this bed, what if I die from carbon monoxide poisoning or whatever else that fire emits? Could I have other powers? Laser eyes would be cool.

Jamie looked straight ahead, in front of her was white emptiness, she squinted her eyes. After a few seconds. Okay, no laser eyes.

Meanwhile, a man and woman watched Jamie from a mirror within the same castle.

“She picked up fire pretty quickly,” the man said.

“Yes, yes, but if she can’t figure it out, we’ll have to get another,” the woman said.

“Another?”

“There are many in the universe. The old woman can fetch us as many as we need. It is just a matter of time.”

“It has been five thousand and one year Elisa.”

“You’re seriously counting that extra one year?”

Outside the castle, a slender, tall, muscular man took a deep breath. He wore a dark midnight blue General's military uniform with red epaulets. A slight breeze blew his bleached white hair undercut, styled in curtain bands, and he looked more like a crown prince than a seasoned general.

Behind him stood an army of men and women, armed with claymore swords in white armor.

“General Ames, we have confirmed that both the Vaselands are in the castle,” Lieutenant Garland said.

“I sensed another presence just now, they must’ve gone into another universe and gotten another Vaseland,” General Ames said.

“Yes, rumor has it, they’re still trying to find the one,” Lieutenant Garland said.

“Elves live for so long, they have gone senile.”

“Well, we have lived for almost just as long now.”

“With a cost… but I’m not complaining,” General Ames said, looking at the castle while he devised a plan.

“Hmm, do you believe it exists? The one powerful enough to change human DNA back?” General Ames said.

“Ha, well, who knows? All I know is that the King wants these Vaselands and it’s our duty to bring them back,”

Lieutenant Garland said. “What shall we do with the Vaseland they have?”

“Perhaps make her my wife.”

“Absurd, she is an alien, on top of that you don’t know what universe she came from."

“Absurd maybe, but my bloodline is a bit dull. Vaselands are known to be more exciting!”

“Very funny, they do have old magic. I guess that’s what you‘re after?”

“Good looks will do just as well.”

Lieutenant Garlan laughed.

General Ames placed two fingers on his temple, “Put up the shields,” he commanded.

In the first division of the unit, female mages dressed in purple cloaks raised their palms to the sky. A shield made of hard diamond formed around the mages and the claymore-wielding soldiers.

“Are you sure this is the best approach?” Lieutenant Garlan.

“Vaselands are powerful. Instead of entering a lion’s den, we’ll smoke them out like the rats they are,” General Ames said and laughed. He laughed because he always wanted to say something like that and there is no relationship between rats and the Vaselands; an ancient royal house comprised mostly of elves. As logic would have it, the Vaselands have grown weak from nepotism and poor family management.

“When you laugh like that, it makes us look like the bad guys,” Lieutenant Garlan said.

General Ames laughed, a hearty genuine guy kind of a laugh. He raised his hand, his palm facing the sky, and with a determined grunt, began the slow descent, pushing his palm towards the ground with a force that seemed to stir the air around him.

You’ve gone mad this time!” shouted Lieutenant Garlan when he figured out what General Ames was trying to do.

“Incredible, truly what I expected from the Vaselands. Their shield is impeccable, but unfortunately for them, I am here,” General Ames said and grinned while looking devilishly handsome. "I just need a little more mana."

General Ames clapped his hands together. He raised his hands to the sky, and once his elbows straightened, he slammed his hands down on the ground. A ring formed around his hands, it glowed a bright baby blue.

The castle started to rumble and it started to crumble before the army.

Inside the castle, the walls started to fall apart. “This is,” the Vaseland man said, he closed his eyes and then opened them, “what is this? I cannot detect the mana source?”

“It has to be the pesky Veinham, he’s the only one capable of performing magic at this level,” the woman, Elisa Vaseland said. But what is he doing here? she thought to herself.

“Look,” the man said, wide-eyed. The woman looked at the screen, and her jaws dropped.

The bed had disappeared and the girl continued to look around for an exit.

“Elisa, she’s the one,” the man said in disbelief and nearly fell backward.

There couldn't be a worse time. Elisa quickly created a transport portal and the two entered it.

Jamie’s Room

Okay, so I have magic powers and am in this room. This is terrible! I’m so bad at puzzles.

The bed is gone. How did I do it? I only just wished to get out of here. Now, there's nothing but four white walls. Jamie felt the walls with her hands. This feels soft, like the top of a white mushroom head.

Then suddenly the back of her hair stood up, and Jamie turned around.

A woman and man appeared out of nowhere. The woman had an otherworldly appearance that reminded Jamie of an elf. She had a calming presence about her that Jamie never felt before. Her eyes and hair were jade green, her ears long and pointy, her lips as red as ketchup, and her skin a piercing white.

Despite her features looking very middle-earth, her outfit is futuristic. She wore a white skin-tight one-piece, perfectly round boobs almost popping out. Her hair was shaved back almost to the point of baldness, yet she maintained a distinctly feminine allure.

The man, resembling an elf, appeared noticeably younger than the woman. Despite his youthfulness, he carried himself like a Wiseman. Caramel brown eyes, dark complexions like the midnight sky, and like the woman, he had piercing jade green eyes. The man is Hendricks Vaseland.

"You’re our chosen one,” he said. Hendricks and Elisa bowed to her as a piece of the wall started to crumble.

“Is she?” General Ames teased. A black glove hand with an embroidered golden dragon on it appeared out of thin air and reached for the girl.

“Elisa!” the man screamed. He pulled out a long samurai sword from thin air and cleanly sliced through the hand.

With a flash of white light, everyone disappeared from the collapsed room.

Within seconds the army relocated to what was a castle, but now sand.

“Search for anything useful,” Lieutenant Garlan commanded. Everyone looked at each other, there was nothing left, they all thought.

As his scouts pretended to search, moving their swords in the sand to fish for something, anything…

Lieutenant Garlan looked around for General Ames. “Where did he go?

I better not miss this fight too, Lieutenant Garlan thought to himself.

 

[ Earth

Year X ]

 

A white flash appeared with three people, the Vaselands and Jamie.

Jamie looked around the forest. This forest is so vibrant, so lush, so green, like, this is like a fairytale, she thought. “Where are we?” she said aloud.

“We’re on Earth, a few trillion years in the future from where we found you,” Elisa said, despite her state of health.

"Oh, that's right," Jamie said and nodded her head from the shock. Jamie sat down on a nearby boulder, its surface almost entirely covered by green Scottish moss. She held onto the boulder in disbelief, as her mind raced to rationalize the situation... "This is a dream. No, I'm not dreaming. But everything feels so real. But I have superpowers. Yes superpowers, I am insane."

“Elisa, you,” Hendricks said, but didn't continue, he started to cry.

“I’m fine child, you must create a barrier, he’s like no one I ever-”

“Fought? Why thank you Elisa Vaseland. Rogue Warlord of the Districts,” General Ames said.

“How?” Elisa said in complete disbelief. He traced my transportation magic, which not only took us into the future BUT millions of galaxies away, her eyes furrowed as she found herself utterly amazed.

“The girl, I put a tracker on her. Elementary stuff, obviously I couldn’t put a tracker on two Vaselands while a castle was being crushed.” General Ames laughed.

Elisa glared at General Ames. She thought to herself... Does he take me for an idiot? Putting a tracker on someone is easy, but one needs to power stable mana to hold up the transport portals or they'll crush in space. This is why everyone travels using spaceflighters or the more advanced can use dragons if they can tame them. It seems the rumors about him aren't exaggerations, he's on his way to becoming a legend like his monster of a forefather.

Hendricks furrowed his brows. “What is the highest ranked General of the Higher Districts doing here?”

“You will have to ask my King but leave out the part about the girl. You see, I rather he doesn’t know about her.” General Ames winked jokingly while looking devilishly handsome.

The two Vaselands looked at each other and just like that, the two vanished leaving behind Jamie.

“She's decisive, rather charming too,” General Ames remarked as he helped Jamie up from the boulder.

“What is going on now?” Jamie said aloud. “I thought I was with them?"

“Don’t worry, they’ll be back for you."

She looked at him and never felt more confused.

“You know, there is a competition coming up, and we’ve been looking for the last contender. Would you be interested?” General Ames asked.

“That sounds cool and all… but I want to go home, can you help me?” Jamie pleaded.

“That would be challenging. You'll have to find whoever brought you here to this dimension," General Ames said.

“But I heard the woman, she said we’re on Earth, trillions of years later. I came from the year 2024, so can you just-” Jamie stopped because of the painful look on his face.

“Yes, but there is a condition that must be met for me to transport. My mana has to be in the designated location for me to transport there,” General Ames explained.

“What? Then how come they found me? I doubt they had a tracker on me.”

“It’s your blood, your mana, your soul, you’re a Vaseland like those two. That or there is something I'm missing, but I doubt it. I believe you're their chosen one because she bothered to transport you amid an attack. I have never met someone powerful enough to do space travel like that while dragging along two people, especially someone like yourself."

Jamie frowned, and thought, like my weight? Hmm, he must mean since I have no abilities or skill or whatever they're doing to travel through space. This is wild...

He glanced down at this silver watch. "We must get going. I need to return to my army but before that…”

[ Kidnapped Day - Day 1 on Mander

D1 - Veinham Estate - Front Yard

Year 0 ]

A flash of white light appeared in the middle of an expansive elegant Victorian-style courtyard - fitting of a king. Two figures emerged from a transport portal.

Jamie blinked and opened her eyes. A castle! she beamed.

“I need to get you situated,” General Ames said. He placed a finger on his right temple. “Lisaria, are you free at the moment?” A pause. “Yes, please come to the front yard.”

He looked at Jamie, “No one must know where you came from. Speak nothing of it until I’m back,” General Ames said.

A young woman approached, dressed in a flowing white dress. With a womanly figure, plump red lips, and soft, shiny wavy auburn locks, she was a striking bombshell. “Lord Ames, you’ve returned. Shall I-” She stopped talking, she sensed he needed to speak.

“Thank you for coming out here Lisaria. I need your expertise in this matter." He paused and turned to Jamie. "I’m sorry, how rude. What is your name Ms. Vaseland?”

I guess he doesn’t get that I have no clue what is going on and that I have not even heard of Vaseland until today, Jamie thought. “You can call me Jamie,” she replied. 

General Ames smiled. "Please take her to the southeast quarters and ensure Jamie's safety," he said with a serious tone that Lisaria understood to mean, this was a complicated situation.

"I will send Master Adams for her shortly. She might be a contestant in my love contest," he added perkily. "Lastly, please practice discretion. I do not want anyone to know we have Miss. Jamie here as a guest.

“Oh you can just call me Jamie,” Jamie said.

“Jamie," he said and smiled at her.

Keep your cool, you're cool, Jamie said to herself as her face turned bright red. God, he's gorgeous! 

"I shall see you when I am back," he continued, and with a blink of an eye, General Ames vanished.

"Ugh, follow me," Lisaria said, and without looking back to check on Jamie, she walked briskly toward the castle.