I woke up abruptly, my head pounding from the lingering pain of my earlier ordeal—an odd vision. I struggled to gather my thoughts, but they remained jumbled and foggy.

Was it all real, or merely a dream? Had I truly met Aion? The answer became evident as I glanced at my small, fingerless paws. What on earth had I been transformed into?

Observing my surroundings quickly, it too became indisputable that this place was not Earth with its unusually red and blue vegetation, and shifting landscape.

So many questions stirred in my mind, yet answers were scarce. What did that other being mean when she spoke of "witnessing my demise"?

And what did she imply by calling me "a contender"? How could I make sense of any of this? How could I find my way back to my own world, to reunite with my remaining companions? I longed to see them so badly. But the one who would have suffered the most from my absence was my brother, the closest person I had to family.

More than a decade ago, I found him wandering alone in the devastation. We both were survivors who had lost everything. Yet...

I had to find a way back.

It wouldn't be long before something terrible happened, and the thought bothered me. What if I returned and...

I shook my head vigorously. Entertaining such thoughts would ruin me, hindering my eventual quest and weighing me down.

Despite that, I had no clue how to escape this prison. I was trapped, utterly lost in this mysterious realm, and all I desired was to return home, even though the chances seemed slim. And if that "angelic" creature intended to follow through on her threat, I couldn't predict what would come next.

As I peered around once again, I discerned that I was in a dense forest, a tropical one at that. 

Towering trees with glassy bark loomed above me, their branches swaying gently in the breeze. The ground beneath was covered in soft, red moss and scattered with crystals of various colors, absorbing the blue sunlight and drifting particles. 

The air carried a sweet fragrance of flowers, earth, and an unsettling undertone. The scenery was stunning, yet it also made me uneasy. I had no idea where to start, and I was clueless about the dangers that lurked in this strange new world.

But I was still alive, at least. That had to be worth something, right?

With a sigh, I settled down beneath an overhanging tree. Perhaps I could figure out my next move later, after I calmed down a little.

I reminded myself that I was a survivor. I had fought against the machines in my own world, and I could do the same to whatever existed here. Possibly?

"I need to keep my wits about me," I said quietly. "There may not be much hope for me, but I will find some way back home."

With a half-hearted resolve, I rose to my feet, brushing off the dirt clinging to my… fur, and decided it was time for me to explore. After all, I had nothing else to do—or so I believed.

As I stepped onto the path through the woods, a noise rustled from somewhere behind me. I froze, listening intently—my new ears pricked. Was someone trailing me? I swiftly turned around, scanning the area, but there was no one in sight, save for the trees that covered the path ahead. 

Resuming my walk cautiously, I remained attentive, my new ears alert for any sign that I was being observed. But as I kept moving, the rustling stopped. Perhaps whoever was following me just wanted to be left alone. I couldn't imagine that anyone would follow a tiny little monster like me anyway.

Alert and vigilant, I proceeded down the path, my eyes scanning my surroundings with curious anticipation. There was nothing familiar to me here, except for the trees that were reaching out for me. It was all foreign and strange to me.

Wait. The trees were drawing near me?

I jerked my head back at an unusual sound—one that resembled footsteps, but more akin to the scraping of branches brushing against each other...

Upon closer inspection, I realized they were indeed moving towards me, as if some unseen force compelled them into motion. It happened in an instant, as one tree started swaying violently, soon joined by the others. Their branches intertwined, and their roots extended from the ground, attempting to grasp my legs.

Nope! Nope! Nope!

Reacting swiftly, I nimbly lurched away from them. With a soft plop, I landed on a bed of plush moss.

The trees had pulled themselves inwards to enclose me in a dome made from their trunks, branches, and roots. Each tree opened a single eye, revealing a pair of tiny red orbs fixed upon me. It resembled something out of a nightmare!

They looked at me with unblinking stares. I felt my blood run cold as fear began to grip me. I had heard tales of such peculiar creatures in stories. Myths! Fables! But no matter how I examined them, these creatures resembled the Treants from those tales, devoid of any trace of humanity behind their eyes. There was nothing there but a soulless hunger for prey, staring at me with ravenous hunger.

I had only seconds to act, and I knew it. I had to move and flee this area, before they devoured me for lunch.

With that realization, I sprang from beneath their reaching branches, leaping into the air and landing on a woody limb. I continued this agile process, leaping from limb to limb, until I reached the ground—freed from their enclosure. It was unbelievable how fast my new form was compared to my old body.

Decisively, I fled deeper into the woods as my small legs carried me as swiftly as they could, desperately trying to escape. However, the tree creatures pursued me with surprising speed, and it wasn't long before they closed in. Yet, the tree creatures suddenly stopped, their attention diverted, as they surveyed their surroundings. They gave up the chase, startled by something in the environment.

And then, before I could even think twice, I found myself being attacked by some sort of flying creature! As soon as I saw its wings flapping wildly, I knew I had little chance of surviving if I let it catch me. So, I did the only logical thing–I ran for it.

I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me, refusing to glance back as I plunged deeper into the woods. The wind tugged at my fluffy body and unfamiliar tail as the monster chased after my ass for a short while before it flew, vanishing from sight.

As I fled carelessly through the forest, I noticed how much brighter everything was than it should. 

My vision blurred slightly at first but once I adjusted my eyesight, I realized that I wasn't seeing things correctly either—the trees were glowing brightly now, casting a soft glow over me as I passed beneath their branches. But despite this strange phenomenon, my senses told me that this world still felt normal enough. 

That is, until a sharp pain pierced my shoulder, sending searing agony throughout my body.

Moments later, another jolt of pain hit my side and then one more struck my leg before finally taking my breath away.

A new creature had latched onto me!

It had a tight grip on my tail and ears—useless appendages!—and was dragging me forcefully towards its gaping maw. I struggled with all my might, thrashing about within the creature's grasp.

I kicked, swung, and tried to use my own momentum to shake the creature off. I even reached out to try to scratch the monster's eyes, but all my efforts came to naught.

The creature persisted, dragging me forward like bait on a fishing line. This only worsened my situation as its saliva dripped down my back, coating my fur in its viscous substance.

Just when it seemed hopeless, a projectile whizzed past my face, followed by a bright pink light that flew into the monster's mouth and struck its tongue, causing its head to split open. In an instant, my ears and tail were freed from the creature's grip, and I crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Who and what had blasted the creature?!

I heard a screech, and my head turned abruptly to my former assailant, still alive somehow, as it got up and shook itself with a substantial chunk of its body missing.

I refused to dwell on the horrifying image, redirecting my thoughts to escaping from the creature that had assaulted me. 

It took all my strength just to keep going forward but eventually the creature gave up chasing after me, allowing me to breathe freely again. With vigor and forced omission to my pain, I kept moving forward towards the horizon–wherever it was–knowing full well there was no turning back now.

Promptly, my mind flashed back to what Aion had said to me earlier; that he hadn't brought me here to this place to help or save me in any way. 

He'd simply done so to correct his mistake and send me to a world. The thought made me sick with anger. What kind of monster would do something like that? And why would they even bother trying to fix a mistake in such a way?

With those thoughts churning inside my head, I began to wonder if there was a reason why Aion had brought me into this world besides fixing his error. Was this another one of his cruel jokes to me? It didn't make much sense, considering everything else. Why go to such lengths to save a random stranger, only to let them perish in another world later on?

Perhaps it wasn't Aion who bore responsibility for what had transpired. It truly seemed as though Aion had been coerced to bring me back, especially considering the vision I had experienced moments ago...

It was evident that I wasn't Aion's initial choice.

I desperately tried to push these thoughts aside and continued my journey through the woods.

It felt like an eternity had elapsed since I was hauled along by the creature that sought to devour me. Eventually, my legs grew weary, and I realized it was time to rest.

However, my mind was so consumed with scrutiny towards Aion’s actions and my current predicament that I paid little attention to my surroundings. Consequently, I stumbled, tripped on an overhanging ear, and tumbled forward—directly towards the edge of a cliff.

"Oh, snap!" I shouted and rolled onto my backside. I couldn't halt my momentum until, instinctively, I utilized a pair of my bunny-like ears to stretch and catch myself, preventing a further descent.

As I glanced up and down the steep rocky slope, I realized it was impossible to climb. I quickly assessed the situation, realizing that a mistake in my ascent would result in a rapid drop down the rock wall.

"Oh, come on! Why am I suddenly so clumsy? This form! It's this form!" I grumbled to myself as I scrambled up the landscape, searching for anything that could assist me in getting up. Finally, I spotted something that seemed promising: a small tree with a sharp-looking branch jutting out near its roots.

My arms and paws were too short to reach it, but with a twitch of my longer set of ears—the bizarre addition to my new body—I stretched them outward.

Using my retractable ears to grasp the small tree, I neared it and braced myself against it. I managed to climb up the slope a few feet before my body slipped and nearly knocked me off my feet again. I quickly grabbed the tree with my ears, using it like a crutch, and continued to inch my way along the cliff face until finally I made it safely to the bottom. Surprisingly, my retractable ears proved to be quite handy, serving as makeshift ropes.

I had to give credit where it was due—there was some usefulness to this body...

I stood there for a moment, trying to catch my breath and release some built-up tension. When I was certain I was okay, I decided to explore the area. At first, it seemed like any other rainforest, but I noticed several different things that gave it something unique; like the plants were all oddly shaped, as if they were designed to serve some kind of aberrant purpose.

Considering my situation, it made sense that the wildlife here was unlike anything on Earth. 

However, dwelling on them wouldn't do me any good. In fact, I started to wonder why Aion hadn't given me any warning about other dimensions and their inhabitants. 

I had no clue where I was or how to travel between dimensions, so simply saying it was dangerous didn't help much. It was frustrating, especially after being attacked three times since my arrival.

Everything felt so random and bizarre that it seemed no amount of preparation could ready me for it, except maybe experience. 

I began to question if that was Aion's intention—to test me, to give me time to adapt to my situation and figure things out on my own before lending a hand?

Yeah, right… that seemed like wishful thinking to me.

I continued on, far more exhausted than before, but the area... it just did not feel safe.

My new form still didn't feel right as I traveled, but I soon got used to it bit by bit as I explored the forest around me. 

I was small enough for the trees and undergrowth to brush past my fur without much difficulty, but I couldn't help but wonder how I could possibly survive out here if this is what I looked like now! 

I certainly wouldn't be able to take down any of those monsters I had encountered—not unless someone taught me some magic spells or something…

Speaking of that... that blast... I could not help thinking back to that pink blast that struck the monster that got very close to devouring me. I should not have felt hopeful, but… was that... fired by a person?

I contemplated that thought as I wandered off the trail to explore other areas of the forest, and after several minutes I stumbled across a large cave in the middle of the forest. 

Scampering forward, I moved closer.

I could hear water running somewhere inside the cave, but when I tried to see inside, I couldn't. 

It was too dark to even tell if there was any light shining through at all. However, an ominous feeling of something watching me from within the cave began creeping into my mind.

Before I knew it, I could feel my muscles tensing and a cold shiver run down my spine. I was suddenly struck once more by the realization that—despite all logic—I had no choice but to be afraid in this place. In this god forsaken foreign dimension where I was alone, small, and in a far more vulnerable form.

My instincts screamed at me to run, to get away from this place as quickly as possible, while my rational side reminded me that I was in an unfamiliar world that was filled with things that were bigger, stronger, faster, and probably even "smarter" than I was.

I turned and fled from the cave entrance, back towards the path I was traveling on. As I made my way along the path, I saw another small tree, like the one I had used earlier to climb down to my current area, jutting out of the ground. 

The moment I got close, I felt a sudden sense of danger and instinctively jumped away from the tree, only to have it brush against me, sending me flying several feet through the air before slamming me face first into a rock hard object. It crumbled into pieces upon contact.

I landed dazed; my vision blurred for a moment—then slowly started to clear up.

As I rose achingly to my feet, I could see what had hit me: it was the tree I had neared—it had risen right up to where I was standing, and resembled the tree monsters that attacked me before!

And judging by how fast the tree monster spurted from the ground, I could only assume that there were others just like it, which meant I didn't have long until they would surround me. That meant I was either going to be eaten or killed. Screw that!

Without a second thought I dashed away, running as quickly as my small body allowed as I sought refuge in the nearby forest. I had no idea where I was or what dangers might await me here, but the moment I heard the howling of something in the distance I knew that I couldn't let them catch me.

I ran as quickly as my legs would take me, trying to reach the next landmark without falling into a pothole in the forest. After I managed to pass a few landmarks, I slowed down and stopped when I saw some kind of stone structure up ahead.

It was thin, but with my new form I snugly slipped into it and soon enough I found myself on the other side of it.

It took me a minute to process what had just happened, but when I did, I understood that once again—for the hundredth time—I was in an unfamiliar and seemingly weak form... yet somehow, I had withstood the blow from the tree monster.

Maybe it's because I'm an eldritch creature now? I thought to myself while rubbing my jawline which still stung slightly from landing and rupturing through the hard rock. 

Despite that, my vision slowly returned to normal, and I could see that I entered a clearing after exiting through the crevice of the stone structure. 

I made sure to be more cautious now that I was outside again and started to explore the area around me.

I continued walking forward into a clearing; one filled with tall grasses and flowers in bright hues that seemed so alien—similar to everything else within this world.

I noticed a pond nearby—an oasis nestled amongst all the red and orange foliage surrounding it. And on closer inspection, I realized it was brimming over with crystals shimmering about within it. I caught sight of my reflection in the water as I walked by it, but I was startled when I saw how different I looked now compared to before.

Staring into the pond, my heart raced with both wonder and fear. I couldn't believe what I saw, my reflection staring back at me was no longer human. Instead, I saw a creature that resembled a mouse, yet it was so much more than that. It had soft, fluffy fur and not one, but two sets of ears—one of which could stretch out far from my head. Its large, expressive eyes were adorable, yet I noticed there was an odd symbol on my forehead that seemed out of place. And there, at the end of my thin tail, was a spectral flame that flickered with a phantasmal energy.

My mind raced as I realized that I now had these features. I couldn't help but feel like a stranger in my own body as I analyzed my new form.

I poked and prodded at my small, furry body, trying to make sense of it all. But as I took a couple of steps back and looked at myself again, I felt a sense of warmth and comfort wash over me. Despite the strangeness of my new form, it somehow felt right.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't supposed to be this way. "I am" a human, after all, not some strange little creature. But as I looked into the pond once more and saw my new reflection, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of adventures lay ahead for me. 

How was I supposed to survive in this foreign world in the form of this critter? Flee and hide from all danger? But for how long? And what was I supposed to do when I got into a situation where I was unable to do so?

As I continued walking along the pond's edge, I couldn't help but stop and stare at all of the glowing crystals that filled the water. My new form seemed to resonate with them. I wanted to take them out, hold them close, and absorb their light and energy into myself. And as a particle drifted towards me, I reached out for it and held it close to me.

It felt warm against my palm but as I closed my hand around it, I suddenly felt a surge of power fill my body.

Suddenly, my vision blurred, and a throbbing ache began in my head. A voice echoed in my mind, even as my sight remained fixed on the image reflected in the pond. I instinctively brought a paw to my head, trying to ease the discomfort.

 

─ INHERITED SKILL UNLOCKED: G.A.I.A.'s - GUIDANCE ANALYSIS INDICATOR ABILITY:

"The existence known as Aera has achieved a skill that allows her to sense other beings, places, or things based on auras given off by organisms and objects," The feeling subsided quickly but the ringing in my head didn't as the voice continued, "allowing her to better process and interpret incoming information, but she may experience some sort of side effect such as nausea or headaches."

 

CURRENT STATUS:

─ Name: Aera

─ Species: Merecritt

─ Class: Common

─ Rank: F

─ Skills: Call of the Abyss (Lv 1), G.A.I.A. - Inherited Skill (Lv 1), Critical Observation (Lv 1), Craft - Inherited Skill (Lv 1), Nexus - Inherited Skill

─ NATURAL SKILLS:

• MereSphere
• MereEar Slash
• MereEar Aero Slash
• MereEar Elongation
• MereSwiftness

─ Techniques:

• ???

─ Connections: NONE

 

"What in the world...?" I muttered, staring down at the shimmering particles floating around me. It wasn't just the pond; the particles seemed to extend throughout the entire realm.

They were everywhere, even within my own body—I wanted more of it...