Steel Heart

I look on in terror as my vision is filled with an outcome beyond my calculations. In front of me is a large group of people in varying states of wakefulness and dress. Why would it be a problem that there are people? Usually it wouldn't be, hell I was hoping to end up near a village or town of some sort. No, the problem is that I recognize these people. Right in front of me is Charles from the fifth floor sitting on his porcelain throne, that looks like its straight up been torn from the wall. Just twenty feet from him, the Chapman's sit at their table with bowls of cereal in front of them. All across the grassy plains are folks from my apartment building. Some are still fast asleep in pajamas, others are standing stark naked with water dripping off their bodies. It's strange... Some people seem to have brought their entire bed while others have only arrived with their clothes. And then all hell breaks loose.

Screams of terror and confusion fill the air as realization strikes the group of displaced city dwellers. Naked people fresh from showers search and beg for anything to hide their nakedness. Those who had been sleeping begin to wake up after the cacophony of noises breaks out. Fear and panic occupy the faces of all those caught up in my little world traveling circle, save for one. Charles stares me down from the comfort of his toilet. The man looks quite formidable even if he's in such a compromised position, his overly muscular body making the toilet look comically small. A menacing gaze gives his craggy visage an even more intimidating aura to it, his buzz cut and the scar on his cheek make him look like a battle hardened soldier. Creepy as hell... I better get away, being stuck with all of these useless and scared people would completely ruin my plans for this new world. God forbid one of them figures out that I'm the one that successfully created the world transfer circle that did its job perfectly while carrying along a ton of unwilling stowaways. No... If one of them somehow makes it to the people of this world and informs them of my feat who knows what would become of me. What nation doesn't want the ability to travel between worlds to establish trade and expand? I begin to walk away hoping to escape in the chaos and confusion of the current situation before they get organized.

My escape is thwarted by a large, strong hand gripping my shoulder tightly. I look back to see Charles glaring at me with a frown, his pants haphazardly pulled up and toilet left unattended. Shit. I put on a look of concern trying to appear unprepared and afraid, perhaps I can pull this off. I was the one who screamed first when we arrived, not that it phased anyone since they were still in shock from the scenery change.

"Ch-Ch-Charles," I stammer nervously. "W-w-what's going on here? H-how did we get here?"

"Thought I'd ask you the same thing, landlord," Charles says in an unamused tone. "Seeing as you're the only one that seems to have remembered to pack for our little adventure."

How do I reply to that... I've got a spear in my hand and a duffel bag over my shoulder. Hell, I'm one of the handful of people dressed in something other than pajamas and as Charles said the only one I can see with baggage. Perhaps I can still feign ignorance... Say that I knew that it was going to happen, maybe throw in something about the tetrad and the prophecies tied to it. Then it wouldn't be a complete lie since the tetrad's third moon played a huge part in this.

"W-well, Charles," I start as I fidget nervously. "I kind of thought something like this might happen, y'know? After all this morning at seven, we witnessed part of a celestial event that happens every couple hundred years. Mind you, it isn't the end of the tetrad but, three has always been a holy number. So I thought maybe...."

"Don't bullshit me, Dylan!" Charles yells gripping my shoulder harder. "You're fucking shooting off silver steam. I was on my shitter in the comfort of my home and all of a sudden i'm staring at you. Usually I'd just call it a coincidence that you seem so well prepared but you were and still are surrounded by the same silver that I saw before I found myself in a fucking field."

Well damn... Should I kill him? No, that would just create a whole new set of problems for me. Sigh, well I guess now's as good a time as any to see if my magic ability works the way my master said it would. Hopefully when I activate it I can knock him over and make a mad dash for the trees. I haven't been able to test it until now due to the lack of energy and unique properties of my mana which made even extending it beyond 3 inches near impossible. My master's ability of divination was one of the few left in the world that could develop techniques to overcome the lack of mana. With it he found the nature of my ability, Steel Soul. Nothing special in a world lacking mana, but in the days of old it was a powerful ability that only a select few were blessed with. A body enhancement type magic giving the user amazing physical prowess. Magic has never been something humans could use more than one type of, and those abilities are determined at birth, only once you successfully determine the nature of your ability can you use it. Thus the reason I needed circle weavers and my masters divination to find my ability. I rein in my mana the way my master had always instructed and forced the same invocation I always had, that up until now never worked, inside my body.

I.. I don't feel different at all. My musings are interrupted as I notice Charles fist making its way to my face. Guess I must have worn his patience thin with my silence. I brace myself for impact, closing my eyes in anticipation of the blow. I hear the sound of the blow making contact with my face, but I feel nothing. I'm not even forced back by the blow, my face still facing the direction it was before the strike. Hahahaha, that old man's predictions are never wrong. I look into Charles eyes to see that he no longer looks angry and intimidating. Fear now dominates his features. The large man who towers over me steps back like I'd retaliate in the blink of an eye.

"What did you do!!" he screams, his booming voice breaking a number of others from their panic and causing them to stare at us. "Why the fuck did you bring us here!"

I guess he deserves answers.. Perhaps if I help him, when they meet up with the inhabitants of this world, my secret will be safe and the possibility of the knowledge being tortured out of me decreased. It's not like I have any other options than telling them or sprinting off as fast as I can. Sprinting off would probably make it more likely that they tell the inhabitants of this world who exactly got them here. Hm, maybe a few lies mixed into the explanation will better my odds of not having an army of magicians on my tail.

"Fine, Charles," I say sitting down in the grass to try and look less aggressive. "First, I didn't bring you here on purpose and second I did it through the use of magic. That whole spiel about the tetrad was true, and the magic circle that I used is designed to travel across worlds. Right now we are the only known people to have ever traveled between worlds in the history of our people."

"Send us home then," he says much calmer now.

"I can't," I reply without batting an eyelash. " That circle was a one way ticket that used up magical resources that might not even exist in this world. Well, perhaps... This world is heavily saturated with magic so maybe you can find it. Okay, lets make a deal then. You find the material I need and I'll do all I can to set it up again.

"Fine," Charles replies begrudgingly. "What is it you need exactly?"

"God's blood," I reply coolly.

Charles looks at me skeptically but, I guess the silver energy surrounded me convinced him since he slumped down to his knees in front of me looking bewildered. There's a mixed reaction from those around us, some look absolutely furious while others look even more terrified than before. Fortunately no one seems to want to make a move on me because, of my spear or the fact I had this gigantic man at his knees before me I may never know. I get up and start casually walking towards the woods closest to me that's a couple hundred meters away from my current position. I walk away in the highest alert hoping I won't get mobbed by the group that had heard my explanation. What the hell am I doing trying to walk away all cool from this! Screw that. I break out into a sprint clearing the distance in under ten seconds, this ability is wonderful!

I break through an opening in the woods and continue my mad dash through the underbrush in an attempt to distance myself from the clearing. After running a few minutes it's brought to a halt as something slams squarely in my side with enough force to deviate me from my course and cause me to slam into a tree. I push off of the tree preparing myself to fight whatever or whomever just decided to assault me. What the hell kind of strength does this being have to know me over in my new strengthened state?! I see the underbrush in front of my moving as I lower my stance. From the bushes appears a small deer no taller than four foot, suited up in intricate armor and looking mighty pissed at me. His eyes seem to be slanted in anger behind his helmet that has an opening for his eyes and pretty impressive antlers that I'm assuming he just rammed me with.

"Drop your weapon, foul beast," the deer says, nearly causing me a heart attack. "Or die where you stand!"

Of course the first sentient being I'd meet in this world, besides my neighbors, would be a disgruntled talking deer. From all around me more of them appear, some without armor, but all equally pissed.

I sit there on my knees watching as our only hope of ever returning home sprints off at unbelievable speeds, leaving all of us alone in a world of magic. All of my life I had hated this feeling. This feeling of fear, of being unprepared, of helplessness. I had first experienced this feeling when I'd been dumped on the streets by my parents at the age of ten. Since then I've trained and fought so that I would never experience that feeling again. Yet here I am again, feeling helpless and weak in a world I know nothing about. Abandoned once again by someone who had brought me into the world. I look around to see the others in similar conditions as myself, save for a few that are trying to drown out their fear by acting tough and starting fights with others like them. Shit, if we're going to survive out here let alone acquire God's blood we're going to have to get it together. If the guy who brought us here can do it, then no doubt there will be stronger magicians who can send us back with the right materials. I stand to my feet and suck in a deep breath for what I'd have to do next to increase our chances of survival.

"Attention!!" I shout out in the most powerful voice I can. "Gather around, I know what's happening and how to get us back!"

Everyone quiets down, choosing to instead whisper as they gather around me. Looks to be around a sixty or so people here altogether. I clear my throat in preparation for what I'd say next.

"We, are now in another world," I say in a loud, clear voice. "The only way for us to get home is to band together and get to civilization!"

The group murmurs their skepticism as they look around trying to figure out where they are. Maybe the truth wasn't the right choice right now... A young man pushes his way into the circle of people with me and glares up at me.

"What the fuck!" the man yells in my face. "You want us to believe we just got narnia'd and not only that you want to lead us on our merry way through the forest?! I admit I don't know how the hell we got here, but I fucking doubt we somehow ended up in another world. That shit's retarded, portals to other worlds don't just appear for no reason and suck people in. Assuming that magic portals are even real!"

I look down on the lightly muscled man standing in front of me in nothing but his boxers, looking small and afraid next to my six foot eight frame.

"It wasn't an accident," I reply, annoyance saturating my words. "Our dearest landlord brought us on his little trip here and sprinted off into the forest over there."

My claim is met with the majority of the group trying to discredit the ridiculous claim while a few who had seen Dylan update me on the situation tried to vouch for me. We can't be divided like this...

"Fine!" I yell. "It doesn't matter, the fact is that we are surrounded by woods, and unless one of you has phone service right now, we aren't getting help."

A few people who are mostly dressed can be seen raising their phones in the air trying to get some kind of signal to no avail. I believe Dylan 100%. There was no sign of him lying when he told me of our predicament and that strange silver energy he was giving off sealed the deal with me. What an asshole to just run off into the woods though. I wait patiently as those with a phone finally give up opting to instead listen to what I have to say.

"No complaints now?" I inquire. "Good, then lets start by pooling our resources and figuring out a way to safely traverse the woods."

This is shot down. The majority want to bunker down here where it's safe and wait until someone comes to get them. Our little democracy decides on staying here but agrees it would be wise to take inventory of what we have. Our little group gathers up all of the strange things that seemed to have come along with us. In all we have a toilet, five beds complete with blankets and pillows, a table, four chairs, two couches, a dresser, six cellphones, twenty-five pillows, several sex toys, four bowls soggy cereal and a fridge. The fridge is off limits though, Harry the man who had brought it is guarding it with a fierce look in his eyes. Standing at six feet and weighing near three hundred pounds the man looked like a fridge himself. Sigh, I'd hoped to intimidate the group into following me but it seems my crazy magic talk turned them off of the idea of following me. Fine, if they don't want to work with me then they can just enjoy their little circle jerk until they get eaten by a dragon for all I care! I start walking in the opposite direction Dylan had, since I think I can hear running water off in this direction. As i'm walking I look back to see two people following me. Behind me is the lightly muscled man who'd defied me and a lad of about eleven that looks very similar to the muscled fellow. The lad is in pajamas and has a huge smile on his face as he looks around in amazement. I raise an eyebrow and stop to see what the man wants from me.

"So what do you want?" I ask.

"I-I'd like to go with you," he replies meekly. Almost a 360 from his earlier behavior.

"What made you change your mind, Mr...?" I inquire.

He pauses for a moment then replies, "Michael, and this is Tim. The sun... It's too close, and it's up in the center of the sky already. Look at it, it's moving too quick."

I look into the sky and confirm that what he says is true. The sun is visibly moving through the sky. God... I start walking into the forest with the man and his quiet son following behind.