The sound of a camera’s shuttering, the same shuttering sound that my personal camera made, going off made me open my eyes. I was greeted by the sight of a printed photo of myself being dangled just inches away from my face. I had my eyes as well as having my mouth clenched awkwardly in the photo. It wasn’t the most flattering photo I’ve had taken of me, but it still hadn’t been the worst either.

  “Yikes. This would make for a terrible senior photo, even by this school’s standards. I suppose that’s the reason why you always chose to be the one behind the camera instead of its subject.”

  Standing, or rather, sitting behind the camera on top of the teacher’s desk, was a girl in what looked like a private school's uniform. She had her long orange hair tied into a ponytail and her blue blazer wrapped around her waist on top of her checkered skirt. She wore a loose tie while having the top three buttons of her collared shirt unbuttoned.

  I had no idea who this girl was, but it seemed she knew who I was for she gave me a soft little smile before reaching into her breast pocket and fishing out three more photos.

  “That’s-”

  “Mirasol, Lucas, and Christian. Though they also weren’t prepared, they were at least more photogenic than you, no offense. It just goes to show you picked the right people for the right roles in your film.”

  “I’m sorry, who are you and where am I?”

  “Hmm? You don’t recognize your homeroom classroom? How odd? Perhaps my meddling had an effect on your memory. As for who I am,” the girl said before hopping off the desk and grabbing me by my hand, “guess.”

  The moment she said 'guess,' the room we were in disappeared and we found ourselves in the hallway outside the school’s main office.

  “Reality warping?"

  “Who said this was reality,” she said with a playful chuckle.

  “The way you’re just messing with me and shifting reality-”

  “Again not reality,” the girl corrected me as she wiggled her finger at me.

  “Fine, shifting my perspective of what feels like reality.” The girl gave an acknowledging nod. “Then are you a god or something? One of the big four?"

  The girl smugly chuckled. “There wouldn’t be any fun if I just answered honestly and completely, that said, I guess it would also be just as annoying not having a single hint or clue. Let’s just say I’m well acquainted with the beings that the Kingdom of Sultra consider to be their gods and leave it at that.”

  Our surroundings changed once more, morphing into the school’s front entrance.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Ugh, you’re just like your friends, wasting time on things and questions that don’t matter when you should be asking why I brought you into the other world.”

  “That was you?”

  “Finally we’re getting somewhere, yes I had a major hand in your transport.”

  I was very conflicted in how I should have felt towards the person. On the one hand, being ripped away from all you know is never a favorable experience, and yet, without that experience, I would have never met men as wise as Sir Nathan and Father Albert, never met individuals far more mature far beyond their age like Zoe and Kat, and, worst of all, I might have never met the one person I could no longer see myself living in a world without.

  The girl squinted her eyes at me while pouting. “Here I am trying to warn you of future calamities and you keep on thinking about your teen romance, focus, Noel.”

  “So what’s this big calamity?”

  “It's the Empire, Kenneth was only the start, far worse events from the past have been leading up to the terrible situations the other world now finds itself in. If nothing is done, then only a truly undesirable future, all of which is being influenced by House Thornewell, awaits that world. You must aid the lands in the North and West if you are ever to overcome the terrors the Empire harbors and the further horrors they wish to bring to life.”

  “If such terrible things are going to happen, why don’t you do something about it?”

  “I am doing something, by getting you four heroes ready to deal with it. I’m sorry that it isn’t fair to the four of you, but if I have to choose between fairness and the lives of my people, it's not a difficult choice.” The girl slammed her palm into her chest, staring intensely into my eyes until her face broke with great confusion. “That’s odd, I can’t sense anything from you… maybe it's because-”

  The world shifted once more, sending both of us to the last spot I had visited in my world before being teleported to the other world.

  “It must be because of that. In that case, you will take much longer and that's only if you can reach an acceptable level,” the girl muttered, still groping my chest with great interest and concentration.

  “Uh, miss?”

  “Miss Rea,” she said as she placed her other hand on my chest as well.

  “Miss Rea, this is getting to be a bit much.”

  “Well, Mister Noel, if you want to have even a chance of reaching your full potential, you’ll shut up and let me work in silence.”

  The sound of a large vehicle blaring its horn in the distance made Rea start sweating profusely. I tried to turn my head towards the horn but she grabbed me by my cheeks and forced me to continue looking forward.

  “Don’t focus on the noise, focus on me. If you have any last questions, now would be the time to ask them.”

  I had a million thoughts and questions I wanted to ask and share, but I knew there was only one question I truly needed to ask.

  “If we deal with that world's calamity, will we be able to return to our world?”

  Rea shifted her gaze away from me, gritting her teeth as she took a deep breath. “Yes, your friends will be able to return should you all be successful in dealing with the darkness hidden away in the Empire.” Rea lowered one of her hands off my chest while giving me a wry smile. “That should do it, I wish I could do more but even I can’t completely stop the passing of time between two worlds at the same time.”

  “Wait, you said my friends can return, but what about me?”

  Rea shook her head. “You can’t go back Noel. After all, once you truly die in a world you can never continue with that same life.” The blaring horn was no longer in the distance but rather just a few feet away. “All I can do for you now is allow you to live what remains of that life in the other world.” With those final parting words, Rea shoved me away from her and towards the blaring horn behind me until the world, just like it had when I first left my Earth, went dark and I found myself once again in the other world inside the Sanctum.