"…!" Xavier bolted awake, and then he promptly sat up as if he had a nightmare.
In an instant, he felt something extremely soft touching the palm of his hand. Actually, he felt this soft feeling permeate his entire lower body, along with the faint chill of air conditioning!
"Hm?" He looked down and saw that he was lying on a mattress! There were green covers over him, and there was a lustrous modern dark green bed frame surrounding the mattress. He also didn't feel dirty at all unlike before, and he realized he was cleaned up.
Confused, he looked around and saw that he was in a massive and luxurious room. Its walls were coated white. It was being illuminated by the sun's radiant rays to the right of him, which gave the room a slight light purple, almost otherworldly look.
In front of him was a massive flat screen TV, about twice as large as the biggest flat screen TV's that were used for living rooms in the previous Earth. It was turned off, but it appeared to be holographic and floating. Below it were many drawers, and on the side of the drawers were desks and bookshelves. The ceiling had streaks of light that were faintly lit, accompanying the sun's rays.
He looked to the right side of him and there was a dark green drawer, with a few books on top of it. There was a lamp that was turned off which was situated on the side of the books.
In the corner of his eye, he saw another bed and drawer beside it where both were identical to his, but it was white. He saw a woman in white pajamas lying on it with her face toward the ceiling who was sleeping soundly and covered by white sheets. She was a little petite, had brown hair, and had a soft face.
"That's Aria! She's here too!" He looked past Aria and saw multiple very large picture smart windows which were reinforced with a black metallic luster. Past the windows was a forest, and each of its trees were shining slightly under the light of the blue sun and the intense blue-purple atmosphere. The rings were clearly visible, and it seemed as if the sun was setting. In front of the windows, there was a large, black circular table which had 3 black chairs surrounding it, and there was also a large, black rectangular table perpendicular to the windows. There were two sofas parallel to the table, and they were opposite to each other.
He then looked to his left and saw Emilia Rose, in an identical bed with a drawer next to it. However, the color of the bed, sheets and the drawer was a deep matte black.
"I'm green, Aria's white and Emilia is black. Interesting…" Xavier inquired in his mind. Next to Emilia was a big empty closet. Next to the empty closet and adjacent to the TV was a corridor that seemed to lead to the door for the room and bathrooms.
After examining the room, Xavier scratched his head and began to wonder how he got here.
"The last thing I remembered was seeing a middle aged man floating towards us. The only way we could've ended up here was because someone rescued us, or he took us in and this is his house…I have a lot of trouble believing both. But it's most likely the latter since we're cleaned and clothed. Speaking of which, there's little reason to do that..." Xavier let out a sigh.
"What's concerning me more is that message. It said that this world is much better, stranger and bigger. What does that mean? Additionally, this is a new world…it seems like the physics are the same, but what about everything else? Everything about this world is probably different, there's probably even a different language…it's likely that there's a different day cycle also!" Xavier thought to himself.
He then moved the green sheets over to the side, placed his feet on the soft, cold ceramic floor and stood up. He was in comfortable green pajamas.
"I doubt that, in the case of us being rescued, we would be put in such a luxurious room. Plus, we were cleaned and clothed too…If it's true that we were taken in by that man, it's possible that he has other 'guests' too. I don't think we would be the only ones reaping the benefits. Either way…" He placed his hand on his chin.
"It's best for us to act mute and deaf. If he took us out of pity for our acting, then it would be dumb of us to break the act, especially when there's no other means of communication. We have to be careful, because there's a good chance that there's cameras or other devices here. Or maybe I'm being too cautious." Xavier placed his hands to the side and took one of the books from under his lamp.
It had a bunch of symbols on it, and one could see that it was clearly a completely different, alien language.
He read it and it said: The Religion Of Consciousness.
"What? How am I able to read this? Isn't this an alien language?" Xavier creased his eyebrow in confusion. As such, he grabbed the book and flipped through the pages.
Every human has a conscience…
The way we can get closer to the Divine is through 'His' conscience…
His demigod acts on behalf of us…
"No way. I'm actually able to read the pages. And not only that, I'm reading a book about a religion? This planet also has religions? The Divine? Demigod? What?" Xavier's mouth continued to widen while he looked through the pages.
After seeing enough and not wanting to seem suspicious, he closed the book and placed it back to where it originally was.
He then suddenly had a thought.
"Wait. If I remember correctly, when that man came, and when he spoke, I was able to understand it. I didn't pay any attention to it given the situation I was in, so I overlooked it completely. But how was I able to suddenly know the language? Back when my head was hurting when he came, I had a sudden influx of information. I thought that maybe that was due to some weird alien magic, but it was actually due to that information coming into my brain! Was it because of the hologram, or was it because of the unknown supernatural force that magically placed us here?" Xavier inhaled and exhaled greatly, and began to look at Aria, and then at Emilia. He then looked out of the window, seeing the sun set below the trees.
"I'm going to assume the same thing is going to happen to Aria and Emilia. The good thing is that since we're able to understand the language, there's no need to act. In fact, not only is it not necessary, it's probably dangerous. If he's smart, he'd be able to figure it out instantly. Soon enough, when they wake up, Aria and Emilia will come to the same conclusion."
"My skill in this language is still not that good…I have to get better at it." Xavier whispered in Sentaic, the language that entered his head.
Xavier began to wonder about Astra.
"Then once we figure things out, we need to find Dr. Sera. There's still a few things Aria and I have to tell her. And maybe with her help, we can go back, if it's possible. There's still so many things I wanted to do back at home…" Xavier's eyes softened a bit, but he steeled his resolve.
Suddenly, Aria was starting to move. She stretched her arms out, and slowly began to open her eyes as she got up.
"At the very least, she woke up a lot calmer than I did…"
Xavier thought as he walked up to Aria's bed.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Xavier said in Sentaic.
"Huh?" Aria looked at Xavier with groggy eyes since she just woke up. Her hair was messy, and it flowed down to her mid waist area.
Then, she began to look around frantically. She began to absorb her surroundings, and realized how strange everything was, considering her previous predicament!
"Where am I? I'm not dead? Where's that guy? Why am I in a bed? Why do I feel so clean, and with different clothes?" Aria thought to herself, subconsciously pretending to act deaf and mute.
"Relax, you don't have to do that. We're completely fine now that we're in this country now," Xavier spoke Sentaic in a casual voice, catching on to Aria's confusion and choosing his words carefully.
"What in the world are you saying?" Aria asked in Sentaic.
"Wait, what?" She was confused at the words that came in her mouth!
Xavier chuckled softly. "I'll wait until Emilia wakes up so I can explain the situation to both of you at the same time. We'll talk on the sofa."
"…" Aria looked at him speechless, and then looked out of the window.
A few minutes later, Emilia woke up. Her hair was messy and her movements were very sluggish. She had experienced the same reaction as Aria and Xavier. She was confused that she was able to speak and understand an alien language, and she was confused about her surroundings. However, after Xavier explained the situation everything was a little clearer.
The trio got a hold of themselves and sat on the sofas near the window. Xavier was by himself on one sofa, while Aria was on the sofa opposite to Xavier. Emilia, who was wearing black pajamas, sat next to Aria.
Xavier, speaking in Sentaic, told Aria and Emilia his thought process regarding the hologram and the supernatural. He also gestured to them that they were going to speak in Sentaic from now on.
Xavier wasn't afraid of there being cameras or other devices in the room because he was able to communicate with the people of this new Earth. In his head, it should be safe as long as no one is able to hear them communicate in English.
"This entire thing is confusing. So, you're telling me that we're likely in his house right now? Why?" Aria asked.
"What are we going to do now? Now that we're in a completely different place…" Emilia continued.
Understandably, Emilia and Aria were confused.
"Most likely." Xavier responded to Aria. "As for why, we don't know. It's best to assume he did it out of him being sorry. It's a good thing, and we should be grateful for now…" He continued.
"Yeah, we could've been in a much worse place…we were even cleaned and given clothes and top of the art shelter." Aria was referring to the fact they could've magically transported somewhere more dangerous. "But, we still can't dismiss the idea of this being a trap. As for what we do now, we just have to find out how everything works, and increase our skills whenever and wherever we can."
Xavier thought about the book that he flipped through when Aria said this, but decided to refrain from mentioning it.
"We also have to find Astra. If anyone knows how to fix things regarding weird stuff, it's her." Aria said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she knew a lot more about this world, given the fact that she seemed like an alien back then…" Aria thought.
"Plus, she will be able to understand more, and understand those things a lot quicker than us." Aria continued.
"Yeah." Emilia said, as she feels a genius like Astra would be able to solve this situation.
"So, where do we start?" Emilia asked in a soft, low tone.
"The most obvious thing is information. We need to get an understanding of how things work here, and once we get that, we have to get some sort of job using an ID. After that's done, we can then start to figure some more things out, like how in the world we got here." Aria responded.
"It's a good thing we don't have to worry about shelter and hopefully food for the time being…" Xavier said in a casual tone, almost ignoring most of the conversation.
"That's assuming the man taking care of us right now is nice. We don't know him at all. And he seems like a human, after all…"
"…Well, it's best to assume that anyway," Xavier spoke up suddenly. "Even if we don't, we should still try to find a proper understanding of this world and an ID as soon as possible so we can stand on our own. Once we stand on our own, things can fall in place, and we can gain information. Then…" Xavier hesitated slightly, his casual tone faltering, if only for a second. "…We can find Dr. Sera."
"Alright." Emilia said. Aria nodded in agreement. Afterwards, she put her finger on her chin as if she was thinking about something.
"Also, he's a human with magical powers. If we anger him, the worst he could do isn't to throw us out. In fact, he might kill us!" Aria said bluntly, and without any warning. "I just had to put that out there so we can be cautious."
Upon hearing this, Emilia gasped, as if she never thought of such a possibility.
Xavier looked at Aria with slight shock, but he understood that it absolutely was a possibility.
"Hm. You're right. It's definitely something we have to think about. If we ever feel that such a thing can happen, we would have to escape somehow." Xavier said while he put his hand on his chin.
"Then we can worry about the other things, like information, history, job…" Aria responded.
As soon as she did, she saw Emilia with her eyes widened, and her mouth open. As soon as Xavier and Aria noticed her, her eyes narrowed and her mouth closed. She had a seemingly deadpan expression.
"What about our family members? Our friends, and our lives before all of this?" Emilia asked in a serious tone, her voice wavering as she tried to process everything.
"I feel like you guys are acting a little too normal, given our situation. It's like you guys don't realize we might not even meet our loved ones, or see our homes again. This isn't anything like the Hunger Games, because at least we'd have a chance to go back. Maybe both of you have different experiences with your loved ones, but I was actually planning on seeing them again once I was done with my shift…and now there's a chance I may not see them again. I may even die..." Emilia then began to look down, staring at her lap.
Her eyes were beginning to water.
"My entire world just completely changed! You don't even know if any of these people are actually human or good! What if this is a trap and he's just leading us in!?" Emilia's voice got more and more passionate.
"I don't wanna deal with this anymore…I just wish I was having a drunk dream right now…at least with that I could return back to my mom and sister." Tears began to flow from her eyes, with some dropping down to her bottom pajamas.
Aria and Xavier looked at her, their mouths opening as they didn't expect such a change in tone from Emilia.
Xavier and Aria had personally never experienced a moment where someone cried directly in front of them. They didn't have friends that were close to them enough for such a situation to happen. They also didn't have any siblings that perhaps could've made them relate to the situation a little more.
As such, they didn't know what to do in such a situation.
A silence that lasted for 4 seconds penetrated the atmosphere.
Noticing the silence, Aria began to pat her back, her eyes showing some signs of remorse.
"Emilia, it'll be alright. I'm sure we'll figure out a way to go back home. I have family that I'm worrying about too, but there's not much we can do about that…"
"Well, it's only my cousin and my mother. As for friends, I don't have any current friends. Xavier is more of a coworker…" Aria thought to herself.
"Yeah. Once we have everything sorted out, everything will be fine." Xavier softened his tone, trying to empathize with Emilia.
After some time, Emilia began to wipe her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that…"
"It's fine, letting out your emotions is an important part of being human. Plus, I really do like that you've opened up to us so quickly." Xavier said.
"No, I meant that I'm sorry for making you have to worry about my emotions. It's going to hold you two back. I just can't seem to process everything right now. Plus, you both don't know anything." Emilia finished wiping her eyes.
It was natural for her to have a harder time processing things than Xavier and Aria, who were both bolder and more mentally resilient than a former security guard like Emilia.
"Then, you don't even know if we'll be alive for tomorrow, or if that man is nice…"
Xavier and Aria knew that she was right, and thus were silent as they tried to retort.
"You're right, but we have to keep moving forward regardless, right?" Aria asked.
"The fact that we're alive for now is enough knowledge. We know that we're alive now, so we have to do whatever we can to ensure we stay alive now. That's the least we can do for the people waiting for us." She continued.
Emilia looked at Aria, her black eyes showing signs of mixed emotions.
Aria looked back at her, smiling.
"Plus, don't feel bad about the man. I doubt he's going to try and kill us," Xavier tried to reassure Emilia, his voice still soft.
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a metallic, futuristic sound emerged from the corridor leading to the entrance of the room.
"Were you all able to get a good rest?" A deep, old male voice came from that corridor.