As Elisa entered the arena, the roar of the crowd washed over her like a wave. Cheers echoed off the stone walls, the sharp clang of weapons from nearby practice stalls mixing with bursts of crest energy that crackled through the air. She tried to steady her breathing, but each step made her heart thud louder in her ears. She had never liked the noise of battle — the shouting, the impact, the violent rhythm of clashing power — but Aurora thrived in it. So Elisa forced herself forward, trying to ignore the tremor in her hands.
When the match between Aurora and Jace began, the arena erupted. Wind howled violently as Jace summoned his attacks, and Aurora's Void techniques tore through the air with a deep, vibrating boom that shook the ground beneath Elisa's feet. Then came the moment Elisa dreaded — Aurora was struck. The sickening whip-crack of compressed air cutting flesh rang out, followed by the murmuring gasp of thousands watching. Elisa's breath caught. The two fighters clashed again, their combined power exploding in a deafening shockwave that rattled the arena stands.
Then she heard it — a metallic hiss, sharp and wrong.
A missile sliced through the air with a shrill, rising screeeeech. Elisa's eyes widened, panic shooting through her chest.
"NO—!"The explosion that followed was thunderous, a violent BOOM that made the ground quake. Dust and heat slammed into her as someone redirected the missile — straight toward her.
Before she could scream, Lokh burst forward, boots pounding the ground. "Elisa!" he shouted over the chaos. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her aside just as the redirected blast detonated behind them with a fierce KRRRSHHHH, sending debris skittering across the arena floor.
Elisa barely had time to gasp before she felt a cold hand brush lightly against her back.
There was no sound at first — only a strange, warped hum.Then the world snapped.
A sharp WHUMMM— like air imploding swallowed her senses as Lufter's power activated, dragging her through a twisting pull of space. The arena noise vanished instantly, replaced by a low, vibrating echo as colors smeared around her.
The sound returned all at once when her feet hit the ground.
THUD.
She staggered forward, dizzy, ears ringing. When the ringing cleared, she heard something else — slow footsteps.
Roy stood only a few paces away.Each step he took echoed in the empty space with a cold tap… tap… tap.His hand lifted, and the faint crackle of sealing energy hummed through the air.
Elisa's breath hitched. The chaos, the noise, the fear — it all crashed inside her at once. Acting on pure instinct, she summoned a Rock Golem with a heavy, grinding RUMBLE, the stone creature rising between them with a harsh scrape of shifting earth.
But Roy was faster. A sharp snap of energy burst from his hand, and he forced her crest into silence. In her frantic struggle, she grabbed for balance — but her fingers closed around the handle of his weapon instead.
The portal behind her roared open with a violent WHOOOSH.
She slipped.She fell.And with one last echoing CRACK of crest energy, she disappeared through the wrong portal.
Current situation
Steve slammed the brakes, and the car skidded so hard the tires screeched through the quiet forest. Leaves burst into the air, scattering across the headlights like startled birds.
A body lay right in front of the car.
Jack blinked hard. "What the f— Steve, did we just hit a person?!"
Steve threw his hands up. "How should I know?! People don't just spawn in the middle of a forest road! She literally fell out of nowhere!"
They both jumped out of the car. The moment they opened their doors, silence hit them—thick, heavy, unnatural. No wind. No insects. No animals. Just the quiet hum of the cooling engine and their own panicked breathing.
The girl was lying face-down on the cracked asphalt, hair covering her face, clothes dusty and torn.
Jack whispered, almost afraid to break the dead quiet, "Dude… what if she's actually hurt?"
Steve narrowed his eyes like he was interrogating a puzzle."No, wait. I've seen this online. This is one of those dramatic scam setups. She's gonna ask for hospital money the moment she sits up."
Jack stared at him. "Steve, we're in the middle of a forest. There's no crowd. No cameras. And she dropped from the sky."
"That's what makes it premium scammer material," Steve insisted, pointing dramatically at her while still keeping a very safe distance. "They've upgraded. Forest ambush scams. Falling-from-heaven scams. Next thing you know, fake UFO abductions."
The forest remained dead silent, which somehow made Steve's whisper even louder:"Miss? Uh… if you're doing a scam thing, don't. We're broke. Super broke. Like—we're-out-here-in-a-forest-because-we-can't-afford-parking broke."
Jack buried his face in his hands. "Bro… she's still not talking."
Steve crossed his arms. "See? That's part of the act. She's pretending to be unconscious so we feel guilty. Classic move. Scam Level 200."
Jack sighed. "Or—and hear me out—maybe she's actually unconscious."
Steve paused. The silence wrapped around them again. An owl hooted in the distance, like it was judging him.
"…Huh."
The boys froze as Elisa slowly pushed herself upright. Moonlight washed over her — pale, silver, soft — turning her tangled hair bright at the ends and making the dust on her torn clothes shimmer faintly. She still looked dizzy, blinking as if the world wasn't staying still for her yet.
Jack swallowed hard.
Not because of anything weird — just because nothing about this made sense.
She didn't look like someone who had been hiding to scam people. She looked more like someone who had fallen out of a dream and landed on the wrong planet.
"Bro…" Jace whispered, barely moving his lips, "I'm telling you… she's not normal."
Steve, of course, whispered back like he was in the middle of a comedy skit,"Yeah, she's a scammer with special effects. I'm calling it."
Jack elbowed him again, harder this time.
"Ow—bro!"
"Shh!"
Elisa lifted her head. Moonlight glinted off her pupils — wide, confused, and unfocused — like she wasn't used to the darkness of a real forest. Her breathing was shaky, each inhale tight like her ribs hurt. When she swept her hair out of her face, her hand trembled slightly.
Jack felt something uncomfortable twist in his stomach. Not pain… more like adrenaline mixed with way too much awe.
Great. Perfect. Exactly what he needed — to look like he was about to faint in front of a stranger.
"She… she looks like she's—our age," he whispered.
Steve squinted. "How do you know? You only saw her from the back before. Per—"
"I'm NOT—dude!" Jace hissed, face heating. "It was just—like—height and… whatever! I wasn't checking anything!"
Steve smirked like he didn't believe a word.
But then Elisa tried to stand.
Her knees buckled, and she almost fell again. The boys jumped at the exact same time — like synchronized idiots — startling even themselves.
A soft, pained noise escaped her throat. It wasn't dramatic, but it hit Jace weirdly hard. Something about it felt real.
Way too real.
The kind of real that made him forget all the jokes he was supposed to be making.
She looked up at them again, eyes clouded with dizziness.
"…Where… am I?" she whispered, her voice fragile under the moonlight.
And Jace's heartbeat did something very stupid.
It sped up.
Not because he "fell in love" — that would be ridiculous — but because he had absolutely no idea how to deal with a mysterious girl falling out of nowhere, glowing under the moon like she'd stepped out of a mythology book.
Steve leaned closer. "Bro. BRO. Say something."
Jace's brain: empty static.
His mouth: even worse.
"Uh—um—hi?" he blurted
Elisa blinked weakly, still trying to steady her breath.
Steve elbowed Jace. "Dude. Say something. Anything."
Jace swallowed. His heart hammered. His brain refused to help.
And then—
Words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them:
"Y-you… you look like someone the moon wrote into the world by accident…"
Silence.
Steve whipped his head toward him."Bro. What?"
Jack's eyes widened."I—I didn't mean— I don't even talk like that, I swear!"
Elisa stared at him, dazed, as if she wasn't sure she heard him correctly.
Jack covered his face with both hands."Oh my gosh, why did I say that out loud…"
The forest fell silent again after Jace's accidental poetic line — so silent that even the wind seemed embarrassed for him.
Elisa blinked slowly, as if pulling his words apart in her mind.Her voice came out soft, shaky, almost unsure:
"…Moon… wrote?"
Jack wanted to evaporate.
Steve slapped a hand over his own face. "Bro, she's confused, not at a poetry slam."
Jack groaned into his palms. "Please. Please let me disappear."
But before either boy could embarrass themselves further, Elisa suddenly tensed.Her head jerked toward the trees, eyes narrowing as if she sensed something they couldn't.
The air shifted.
A cold breeze cut through the silence, rustling the leaves in a sharp, uneasy whisper.
Jace felt the hair on his arms rise."Steve… tell me you felt that."
"I felt NOTHING and I'm already scared," Steve whispered back.
Elisa pushed herself to her feet, still shaky… but alert now.Her gaze drifted past them into the forest, expression tightening with dread.
Her whisper was barely audible:
"…They found me."
Jack froze.
"W-wait—who? What does that mean—?"
But she didn't answer.
The trees creaked. The shadows deepened. Something moved far beyond the headlights.