THE NEW JOURNEY

That night, I couldn't get any sleep. My mind was racing with everything that had happened. First, some girls transferred to our school. Then, they suddenly told me that I harbor some great power inside me and that "they" are looking for me because my powers are leaking like rice falling from a hole in a rice bag (not the best example, but you get what I mean). It was a lot to digest. Wait a minute, it was like I was starting to believe their nonsense. I couldn't believe I was buying their bullshit. Despite it being a long day, I suddenly felt very sleepy.

Where am I? I was in my room a minute ago. How did I end up here? Suddenly, a giant fireball crashed in front of me. A second later, I would have been buried underground. My legs wouldn't listen to me; they were telling me to run away, but I was too afraid to move. Summoning some courage, I looked around my surroundings. It was pitch black, yet somehow I could see. I was in a forest, half green and half burned. Astonished by the scene, I thought, "What the hell happened here?" With that thought, I moved forward. After some time, I saw something extraordinary. In the other half of the forest, six beasts gathered in a circle, talking to the people inside it. One of the big beasts spoke, "We have managed to drive them out for now, but they will come back for revenge against all living creatures. We have to be ready for them. We divine beasts trust you and your descendants to harbor our power and protect all life forms." A woman spoke, seemingly the leader, but I couldn't hear her. Suddenly, the beast looked at me, his big eyes locking onto me as he slowly moved closer. Trembling, I watched as the beast bent down towards me and...

I woke up with a scream, realizing it was just a dream. Hearing my scream, Mom came to my room. "What happened? Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded and told her it was just a dream. She scrutinized me, then asked me to pray to Lord Shiva and come downstairs for breakfast. I did exactly as she asked. After a bath, I went for breakfast. My father was reading the newspaper, and my brother, Aadhavan, was silently eating his meal, which was weird. Normally, he would only eat after pulling my leg, so I asked if anything was wrong. He gave me a look and said, "Even if I had something wrong, I wouldn't tell you." Hearing this, Dad got angry and scolded him for talking to me that way. Dad favors him the most, but he doesn't tolerate disrespect. After getting an earful, Aadhavan apologized, and I could see the guilt in his eyes. Mom sat down and told us she could feel some evil energy around. She asked Dad to go to the temple with her, and he agreed since he had to go late anyway.

After breakfast, I went to school, completely forgetting about the stupid dream and the nonsense from those girls. On my way, I met my friends and reached school on time. During the assembly, I felt like somebody was watching me. I looked around and found nothing. Everything was normal until I saw those weird girls. I managed to escape the teachers' eyes and went inside the building, sensing something was wrong. I checked every room and found nothing. The last thing to check was the locked rooftop, but I decided to check it anyway. To my surprise, the door was open. It looked like something had chewed the door handle. I went to the rooftop and experienced a strong shock through my entire body. I was about to vomit but saw something even more disgusting. It was a creature I had never seen before, like a ghost but also a monster. It was fighting those transfer students. It looked like a scene from a manga where cute girls ask an ordinary boy to join their team and save the world, except this was real. Seri pulled a giant hammer out of thin air and attacked the creature. Lisa pulled a bow, drew the string, and shot at it. An arrow appeared in mid-air and hit its target. Lisa, getting irritated, plucked the string repeatedly, as if casting a powerful spell. A big circle formed around the creature, and when she released the arrow, a powerful beam struck it, turning it into an ice statue that shattered into a thousand pieces. I rubbed my eyes, unable to believe what I had seen, and thought, "I better not get on their wrong side."

Only after their hunt did they sense my presence. I was shocked but didn't show it. After discussing something, Lisa asked, "How on earth were you able to cross the barrier and still be sane?"

I was taken aback. "Who are you guys? I mean, I thought you were messing with me, but this..." Before I could finish, Seri interrupted.

"Now you know we were serious. If we don't do something, these things will attack everywhere, and we can't stop them. That's why we need your help, your power, so we can protect our family, friends, and other living creatures. Otherwise..." she trailed off.

Lisa looked at me. "Are you ready for this?"

After thinking for a while, I said, "I will come to Kyoto, but only after getting my family's permission. If you came all this way to take me, you must have come prepared to ask my parents, right?" Seri replied that I shouldn't worry about that. After that, we went to our class.