If there was one thing he wished someone had told him about travelling dimensions, Hugh would have appreciated a warning about how absolutely nauseous one feels when they touch down at their destination.

The moment his feet landed on the cold floor, his body bowed over to upturn the entire contents of his stomach. Not that there was anything in his stomach - he couldn’t remember when he ate last - so he was basically hands and knees on the ground, dry heaving colourless liquid. Eyes watering, limbs shaking, it took all he had to not tumble into the sick he had just regurgitated.

What he learnt second of all was that the room they were in was very cold, and that was likely because he was naked. As he wiped his mouth clean with his arm, Hugh’s stomach settled enough for him to begin taking in his surroundings. He looked up to see a decorative circle on the ground, glowing an ominous purple, with many other people within it in various states of consciousness. Some were in clothes, but most of them were naked just like him - though it became obvious that not all of them were… human. (Why was that odd?) He felt his mind disconnect from the present, reaching into himself for answers that were… not available to be found.

That’s what he learnt third of all: other than knowing his name was Hubert, he didn’t know anything else. Not his parents, not his friends and family, not his school - nothing, no memories.

He was too disassociated to panic from it, but panic about the current situation he did; a rising pressure in his chest, ready to burst out of his mouth in a scream. Hugh gritted his teeth to keep back that scream, instead taking deep breaths and keeping his eyes on that purple glowing star on the floor. He had to keep himself under control.

Suddenly a laugh broke his thoughts; he turned to look at the source of it. A man was laughing, throwing his hands up in the air as if in absolute delight. Hugh found that he could understand this man’s speech. “It worked! It worked! Look, twenty of them! Twenty candidates! Quick, someone get the Categorising Vial and find out which one of them are Wild Ones!” Hugh was close to the outer rim of the circle, so he was first to find a vial shoved under his nose. There was some kind of liquid in it and when near, the liquid began to turn a rainbow colour. At that, he suddenly found his shoulder being gripped tightly - too tightly - and the man holding the vial shouted right next to his ear “This one is a Wild One!” as if he were cattle.

Hugh was too weak to even speak, only able to mutter groans of protest when the same man pulled up and dragged him out of the circle. He collapsed onto the floor as the man let him go to seek out the others. Similar protesting groans begin to surface from them as the others met a similar fate. A simmering anger begin to bloom in his chest and he coughed out a growl as he slowly pushed himself up. Then he reached out and he swiped his hand at a man squatting down near him. Except it wasn’t a hand, it was… a claw? He saw the claw sink into the man’s flesh, and the man let out a scream of pain. Except he felt the flesh’s resistance before a wetness coated the entirety of his hand. His hand was… a claw? The claw? What was going on!?

There was no other moment to think though; a light burst from his right and the sound of doors being kicked open echoed what now clearly looked to be a cavern. There were many silhouettes at the door, and their entrance drew everyone’s attention. The figure at the front was a stern looking old woman, but her voice roared above any other sound.

“Platoon 1 and 2, don’t let even a single one of them get away! Platoon 3, tend to those wounded on the ground and Platoon 4 and 5, secure the summoned. Doron!” At that last part she clearly roared at the man who was laughing before. He was now cowering from the soldiers , blubbering incoherent things. “I’ll be dealing with you personally,” her face was wrathful, that was the only way to describe it, promising a lot of pain in the future.

Unfortunately that was as far as it went because his consciousness began to fade, his head hitting the floor with an audible sound.

And that marks the first few minutes of Hugh’s life in Izgaea.