Wait For Me, Once You're There...

Part 0: Backstory

          "Daigo, c'mon, wait for me! I hate your stupid long legs!!" I yell.

          "You can catch up, you got this, Avery! Wait.. Avery???" Daigo cries out.

          "Avery?!?!"

          "AVERY!!!!!" 

          That's.. all I heard before I blacked out. Daigo. My brother. He wanted to race. I tried to catch up. Did I fall? Did I die? Did I hit my head on a branch? No.. no it couldn't have been. What happened? What happened to me? Where am I??

          "Boy, get up. Wherever you came from, it's no excuse to step upon such ancient, powerful land," a man with a scrawny and slightly British sounding voice says out loud.

          "Daigo.. Daigo, where did you go??" I cried out.

          "Who is this 'Daigo' you speak of?" the man asks.

          "My.. brother.. my brother.. what happened? This isn't my home.. did you kidnap me??" 

          "Kidnap you? Please, I'm a man of integrity, I would never lay a hand on a child. Let alone troublemakers like you. I tend to want to keep my hands clean," he said in quite a disgusted tone.

          "Then where am I??" I shouted at him.

          "You're.. in Nazukare. The nation. Bonso City to be exact. Why are you acting like you've never heard of this place before? It's big enough to be the capital of the world," he questions.

          "Nazu.. what? That doesn't exist. Do you mean Japan??" I asked, shakiness in my voice.

          "Child, calm down. You must've hit your head good. Here, let me take you to a doctor."

          "No, I don't wanna see a damn doctor, I wanna go home!" I yelled out in frustration.

          "I'm afraid thats not all that possible at the moment. At least let me lead you to a place to stay for the night. Follow me," the man said.

          "Fine.. whatever," I grumbled. I reluctantly stood up and waddled alongside the man. I had no clue who he was, or what he wanted with me, at least not until he started talking.

          "I'm the Informant. I've heard of people from the likes of you, coming from different worlds and such. Against your will. Daigo's your brother, is he not? From Earth?" the man explained. I was baffled. Everything he said was true. How he knew this, I wasn't sure.

          "How.. did you know all that???" I asked hastily.

          "They call me the Informant for a reason. The source of my information isn't known, even to me or my assistants. But seeing the information is true, you should trust me, don't you?" the Informant asks.

          "No that.. doesn't help at all. I'm so confused, does that all mean you can get me home??"

          "Not at all. I'm unable to do anything to get you back. Not without the help from the leaders of this world. The 4 of them to be exact. Though, this proves complicated because half of them haven't been seen in centuries," the Informant explains.

          "I'm actually going to go insane. There's no way back home. No way.. back.. home," I said in somber. My eyes leaking tears as I wiped them out.

          "This is going to be a long journey for you. If you want to get back home, you will first need to meet the leaders, gain information, and then find a way to get them all to cooperate and send you back home."

          "Fine.. I'm doing it. I want to be with my brother again," I said reluctantly.

          "Let's get you equipped then."

          "Equipped..?" I asked.

          He bought me swords, daggers, armor, and even taught me how to use it all. Soon after, I found out I had been given special abilities, carried by a special part of my sword. I was told it was supposed to have been linked to a specific element, but it appeared to have them all. I was unable to control all but one, so I must stick to that for the meantime. The Informant taught me on customs of each nation, and to first start off by meeting the leader of the nation of Nazukare, before leaving me to the start of my journey. He was easy to find, and easy to talk to. So, I did. I went to his office. Only to find he wasn't there. 

          I was greeted by his assistant as I walked in the door. 

          "Hello! I'm sorry, if you're looking for Azukami, he's out handling a commission. Is there anything I can help you with?" she asks cheerfully. 

          "Uhm.. hi, I'm Avery. I don't know if the Informant has—" 

          "AVERY?! Oh my gosh I need to contact Azukami right away, please, stay here and give me one moment," she rushed out in a hurry, immediately looking for a man named "Azukami." I assumed he was the leader of Nazukare. I stayed put, waiting patiently in the wooden, rustic feel of the office, sunlight beaming into every corner of this room. It was warm. Inviting. Similar to the feel of my house back on Earth. Just as I was reminiscing, Azukami bursted into the office, seeing a wave of sentiment across his face as he saw my tear filled eyes. 

          "My.. so it's true. Someone all the way from Earth, here on Anaropa. And he's so young. I'm so sorry, dear boy," Azukami said to me. 

          "You don't know how to get me home, do you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

          "I.. don't, no. The only person I know who does is Mana, but she's been gone for over 200 years. Along with her nation. I'm sorry." he replied, his hand on my shoulder.

          "I knew it. It's worthless staying here then," I walked out, shoving his hand off my shoulder. I ran and ran and cried as I did. Feeling such large waves of hopelessness, I went into the forest. Deep. I knew how dangerous it was as the Informant had told me, but I didn't care. I wanted to be away.

          And just as he told me, beasts of every kind had found me and targeted me. They charged, and they attacked. They landed many blows on me, leaving cuts all over my body. I fought back, using my element-charged sword to my advantage. Still new to the world of swordfighting, I was.. embarrassingly clueless. Only thing I could do was stab, and sometimes block minor attacks. There were only two enemies, but it took me half an hour to even defeat one. During combat I was able to injure the beasts with newfound techniques, and I managed to land three severe blows onto the second enemy. It was the weirdest sight, seeing a defeated enemy crumble right in front of me, joining the loose dirt below my feet. 

          "I'm gonna die here. I am 100% dying here. Well, might as well enjoy life while I'm here," I told myself, finding a ledge off by a cliff and sitting down, basking in the moonlight and the clear view of the galactic belt, bandaging my wounds as I was doing so with the gauze that the Informant had bought me.

          "I really need to train."