A Dream?

[Rin Okumura]

"Another duel..." Fortis mumbled to himself as he traveled to the city's arena. He had received a duel request every damn day this week, and it was beginning to get old. Sure, he enjoyed watching people tire themselves out trying to get through his defense, but when you have to do the same thing every day? It's not to fun. As he reached his destination, he looked up at the large structure before him. It was still early in the morning, and the sun was just barely peeking over the top of the buildings, blinding the large man if he looked it's way.

After taking in the sights, he continued into the building to get the duel over with. Something unexpected happened, however.. Just as he took a step, everything went dark. Nothing could be seen besides an endless darkness before him. Did he get knocked out, was someone kidnapping him? The duel must have been rigged, so that the challenger could win while humiliating Fortis in the process. But if he was knocked out, how was he able to think so clearly, or at all? Was this some manner of sorcery?

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

This voice echoed in Fortis' mind as he looked up, only to met by a large, smiling face looking back at him. "What do you want from me? Who do you work for?" These were the questions that would have been asked, if something didn't stop him from speaking. This really was a strange occurrence, so strange in fact, that none of it could be real. It had to be a dream, nothing else could explain a giant face speaking to him from the darkness, while he couldn't move or talk at all.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

This really must be a dream. Creating something from an orb colored like a rainbow? Even in reality, magic is simply a rumor, used to explain things that are unknown or strange to people. And even though Fortis himself used magic to try and explain what was going on, he still knew this fact. Though if this dream continues for a while, it could certainly prove to be interesting...

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn."

Fear death in a dream? That's just stupid, even if this did somehow prove to be dangerous, he can rely on his abilities to get him through. He even has his trusty shield to help him! Oh wait.. No he doesn't, he left it with his squire to take to the arena. So this Omnilium stuff could prove to be useful after all.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

That's it? A whole new world, and those are the only rules? They weren't really even rules, they were just and explanation about how things will work. Maybe this won't be very interesting, though he did say there were others.

With that thought ended, he was suddenly blinded by light and could once more feel the ground beneath him. Fortis covered his face to block out the light until his eyes adjusted, and after a couple minutes, he looked to see where he was. He stood in front of a large fountain surrounded by white landscape. Going from black to white? How nice of Omni..

"Where is this?" Fortis asked himself, not expecting an answer. Off in the distance, he saw many different arks with strange lights, or other things coming from them. Clearly, he would need to investigate and decide what to do afterwards. But for now, he will wait. Thinking over what just happened and figuring out how to use this, "Omnilium."

[Rin Okumura]

"I think that will work for now!" Fortis exclaimed as he stretched. He had taken some time to try and figure out how to use the Omnilium that was gifted to him, and finally found a way to make it compliment his fighting style. Now he was set to explore this new world, even if it was a dream, it would be pointless to just sit around waiting for it to end or something to happen.

Looking back into the distance, he took a better look at the various arches in the distance. They were all very different in appearance, but the two that stood out were the ones in the best condition. One was a massive arch made of smooth metal, something that Fortis would never expect to see. The other arch was clean, well kept stone, which reminded him of the castle in his own world. The other gates seemed to be mostly abandoned, though the one spewing black smoke was a cause for concern..

[glow=brown]"Even if there's something burning, I mustn't intervene..."[/glow] The knight thought to himself. Normally, the black smoke would send him running in that direction to see what was wrong, but this wasn't the same as his own world. Black smoke could mean anything, and there could be any manner of creatures that were dangerous somehow hiding in the white landscape.

Now the only thing that was left to do, was figure out where to go. There were two clear choices in his mind, the gate made entirely of metal, or the one that reminded him of home. Although he very much wanted to see what could've made such a gate, he decided to go to the stone gate first. So off he went.

During the time he spent trying to use the Omnillium, he also tried to make a living thing. His attempt ended up in failure, and now left him mountless. Not that a horse could've held him anyway, most just collapsed under the weight of his armor. Fortis was fine with walking though, it didn't seem like any of the gates were to far from where the fountain was, and he was used to walking long distances.

Even though the walk wasn't a long one, it was certainly boring. There was nothing to see besides the occasional group of people that could be seen coming from the arch that he was headed toward, which didn't happen often enough to keep him interested. All he was left with was the plain white landscape and his own thoughts. The weight of his armor could be felt pulling him down the longer he walked, but he still stood tall. He was a knight, after all, and couldn't allow such a small thing to make him slouch.

After just over two hours passed, he had finally reached his destination. The gate itself was much larger than expected, and left him in awe for several minutes. The only reason Fortis didn't stare any longer, was that another scouting party came from the gate, which surprised him and made him immediately prepare for battle. Yet no battle started, the scouting party seemed to ignore him, which was strange for another country to do this.

Well if he would simply be ignored, then he wouldn't bother with them. Through the gate he went, prepared for whatever monstrosity may come to face him. Or maybe even a kind family to take him in. Whatever awaited him through this gate was sure to be surprising, and Fortis was ready to accept what he saw. Or so he thought..