Sudden change

"Go!"

Shina surged forward, her wings cutting through the air as she pushed herself to match Chae's speed. With a fierce cry, she launched a barrage of razor-sharp feather shards, enough to obliterate the entire arena. Thankfully, the Barrier held. Chae stood firm, using her wings as a shield to deflect the incoming onslaught. But before she could react, Shina reappeared behind her. Caught off guard, Chae darted away, crashing into a nearby pillar.

Quickly recovering, Chae surged with energy, her limbs glowing as she propelled herself forward, aiming for a powerful strike to Shina's shoulder. But Shina was too quick, her movements a blur as she effortlessly dodged the attack.

Taking a brief moment to breathe, Shina didn't wait long before launching another offensive, unleashing even more sharp feathers. Chae reinforced her wings with energy, blocking the barrage, but the ground beneath them began to shift.

The terrain distorted. Jagged, spiked structures erupted from the floor, threatening to pierce anything in their path. Some areas rose, becoming tall, dangerous obstacles. Chae nimbly leaped and hopped from one shifting platform to another, her energy enhancing her agility.

Shina, unfazed, took to the air once more. Her relentless attacks came with the precision of a helicopter, swooping down on Chae with unyielding force.

But something was wrong. The heat, the pressure, everything felt like it was bending, warping.

"Huhh?"

"Why is it getting so ho-" I gasped, interrupted by the world around me starting to fracture.

Reality Collision

Suddenly, the air warped. A strange, unnatural energy filled the space as the arena, no, the very world, began to merge with something else. A chaotic force ripped through the environment, distorting reality itself.

The arena was no longer just an arena.

Boundaries between dimensions shattered, causing reality to splinter. Everything flickered between our world and one that felt... off. Wrong.

"What's happening!?" The students screamed, panic rising in their voices as they scrambled to escape.

Spectators, once calmly watching, now fled in terror as the arena began to shake, losing all stability.

Shina and Chae, both realizing the danger, broke off from their battle and tried to flee as the world around them crumbled.

I jumped from my seat, my heart racing as I ran for the exit.

This wasn't just the destruction caused by the battle. This was something worse. A reality collision.

"Is this it?" I muttered to myself, the gravity of the situation weighing down on me.

I glanced toward the stands, my breath catching in my throat when I saw Calestia still sitting there, unmoving. Her eyes met mine, a calm smile crossing her face.

"Calestia! Get up!"

But before I could reach her, the chaos overtook her presence, and she vanished into the swirling mess of reality.

I didn't have time to dwell on it. I turned and bolted, fear propelling me forward.

The world around me was crumbling, and even the animals seemed to sense it. Panic spread as the environment grew darker by the second. Students, caught in the chaos, began to disappear, their bodies either vanishing or collapsing into nothingness. The reality around us was coming undone.

At 15, I had read about this. I kept books on the shelf next to my novels, educational texts that always piqued my curiosity. One day, I came across a book discussing a phenomenon known as Reality Collision. It was something barely believed to be possible, a theory with a statistical chance of nearly zero.

But now, it was happening.

Reality Collision. A rare and almost impossible event, where the fabric of one world crashes into another. Not just creatures or life forms, but the very structure of reality itself. Laws of physics, time, space, they all warped, collided, and began to unravel.

The theory spoke of entire landscapes appearing from other realities. Structures from different worlds materializing side by side. Time behaving unpredictably, gravity shifting, and light warping. It was a chaos beyond comprehension.

No one ever thought it would happen. It was a concept discussed in hushed tones, a distant possibility. But now, it was here.

Everything was falling apart.

I staggered through the wreckage, blood soaking my shirt, the gruesome reminders of the massacre unfolding. The air was thick with destruction, the once familiar arena now a distorted nightmare.

I screamed for help. "HELP!"

But my voice faltered, the fear rising in my chest. The tingling sensation spread across my skin, warm and painful. I felt my strength draining away, my body weakening as the world around me shattered.

And then... I collapsed. My body hit the ground, the world slipping away as darkness consumed me.

Before I knew it, I was floating in darkness. I couldn't tell if I was conscious or simply dreaming.

Sigh. This is bad. To think I'd be floating in the dark like this... I must be dead. But then, I gasped awake.

"Hello?" A soft, calming voice filled my ears.

"Hello?" A girl's voice.

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes, and there she was, a girl sitting beside me, so damn pretty that I couldn't even comprehend how I was still alive. I thought for sure I was dead.

I should sit up. Instead of lying there, I sat beside her, trying to make sense of it all. The world around me was gorgeous. It was full of light, so unlike the chaotic mess I'd just come from. This was a reality that felt beautiful. Everywhere I looked, there were flowers, perfect for any landscape. Trees stood tall, grander than anything I'd seen before.

And... wait, why was I floating? This wasn't the usual kind of floating I was used to. It was as if I was on another planet.

"Um, where are we?" I asked, trying to sound calm despite the overwhelming confusion.

She looked at me, her gaze soft yet firm. "Another world..."

My jaw dropped. Another world? What the hell does that mean? Reality collision isn't about being transported to another world!

She seemed to sense my disbelief and spoke with quiet certainty. "I know this might be hard to understand, but the world you knew, it's gone. Destroyed. Devastated, maybe even wiped out. I saved you, brought you here."

I stood up, still trying to wrap my head around it. "So, you mean you saved me? And brought me to this world? There's a reason, right?"

"Yes," she replied, her tone serious. "Do you know your father?"

Her question caught me off guard. "Father?"

"Yes. Your father," she said, her voice unwavering.

"What about him?"

She stepped closer, placing her hands gently on my shoulders. "He's the one who led you to the academy. Your mother knew about it, too."

She moved past me, standing behind my back. "If you think about it, you wouldn't be here now unless you have some connection with me."

"Connection?"

"Yes, a connection," she said confidently.

She chuckled, her voice filling the entire space.

"About your father, don't you find it strange that your mother won't admit how you suddenly got into the academy? I mean, I don't know why your parents would want to keep it a secret, especially from their own son."

"Maybe they have their reasons," she said, chuckling again.

I looked at her, confused. "How do you even know about that? Are you some kind of guardian angel or something? Or... a stalker?"

She stepped closer, pointing at my chest.

"How rude. You should be thankful I saved you. Well, to be fair, I'd be dead by now if I hadn't," she said lightly. "I would've been punished by your father."

I sighed, trying to stay focused. "Just tell me, what's your connection with me?"

She laughed again. "Fine, I am..."

I raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"Lool, never mind," she interrupted herself with a smile, waving her hand dismissively. "It's a secret. Besides, I'll tell you when the time comes."

"I'll leave you behind now, okay?" she said, her tone teasing and playful, a smile tugging at her lips.

Without warning, she floated upwards, slowly fading into the air, her smirk clearly designed to annoy me.

"Hey, wait!" I called out.

But before I could even finish, she had already disappeared, leaving nothing but the fading echo of her laughter.

What a pain.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now? I'm fucking stuck in this reality."

...

There's no way I'm stuck here alone. And that bitch... to think she'd just leave me like this.

(Hey! I can hear you!) Her voice rang out, playful and annoying.

"Wha- where's that coming from?"

(You dummy.)

"Oh, it's you."

"Show up right now."

(Oh, can't do, sorry) She chuckled, her voice dripping with amusement.

Sigh. So annoying.

(Hey, you know I can hear your thoughts, right?) she teased.

"Just shut up!"

....