Shaula is lying in a bed. She sees light past her closed eyelids.

She slowly opens her eyes.

Her surroundings get clearer to her as time passes in wakefulness.

She is lying on her back on an unfamiliar bed with her head resting under a comfortable, unknown pillow.

Shaula stares at a concrete ceiling for a second and sees a man sitting down to the right of her bed, staring at her.

She doesn’t recognize him.

What... who the fuck is this?

The man is wearing a strange, black, religious garb. She has never seen it before. It is very immoderately decorated.

Shaula is wary of the man, in fact any man who has been watching her sleep. She is under a blanket and wearing clothes but... these aren’t her clothes. They aren’t her pajamas or her school uniform.

“What’s... who are you?”

“□□□□□□□□□□□□”

Shaula doesn’t understand the language--

The man picks up something from his feet.

Shaula sits up from her bed and moves to its edge away from the man, towards the concrete wall right besides the bed.

She doesn’t like being introduced to strange men. She doesn’t like waking up to the faces of strange men.

Her heart rate spikes.

The man holds a small white chest in his hands.

What the fuck is this... I was... I had just burned everything away... Can I... can I burn him awa-- wait... where’s Ajax? We... we were just in the dream and before that... Ahura Mazda... fuck...

The man opens the white case and Shaula lays her eyes on a pure golden cube.

Shaula starts looking around the room and sees... a woman in a wooden chair next to a window streaming light into their room.

A beautiful brunette in a blue dress with a writing implement in her hands and something that reminded Shaula of a clipboard.

The woman has a professional look on her face and...

She is writing something down.

The man asks Shaula to... do something with the golden cube.

What does he... how do I get out of this?

Shaula has no weapons. She checks her ears... her earrings aren’t...

Shaula sits still. She doesn’t breath.

“Where did you put my earrings?”

She speaks sternly to the man before her; slight panic can be heard in her voice. The man fears her abrupt reaction for a moment and then... behaves deferentially towards her.

He bows his head towards her and extends the cube to her, still in its case, without closing his eyes. He cannot take the valuable object out of his sight, at the very least.

The woman in the room has a slightly fearful expression but behaves towards Shaula just like the man. She stops writing and bows her head, eyes closed.

Shaula... is confused. She feels slightly more secure knowing that a woman is in the room with her and not just the strange man.

She doesn’t know what to make of this situation.

...What did Ahura Mazda say about where we’re going again?

Reluctantly, she reaches her hand towards the cube. This seems to be what they want. The man gives affirmation with a head nod.

Relenting to the expectations of these two people, as well as her fear towards them and the situation, Shaula touches it.

Wh... wait... hold...

Shaula feels her consciousness thin while the cube shines brightly.

The cube dims abruptly.

“Are you alright, divine hero?”

“Huh?”

The man retracts the white chest back and closes it, locking it properly.

Another woman walks into the room and the man hands her the case. She behaves in deference towards him and walks out, closing the door behind her. Shaula makes a note of the door’s location, behind the man’s back.

But surprisingly, her escape can wait while she sorts out the unbelievable events here.

“How... how can I understand you? Wait, how am I speaking to you? What language is this?”

“This is the language of Sapiora. The artifact I presented to you is known as a language crystal. It allows anyone who touches it to learn the language of this world. The language of Omicron.”

“How the fuck can such a thing...”

She could even swear, just like in english. The syntax structure was somewhat different and the translation wasn’t perfectly direct but her mind had assimilated everything about a completely different language.

The man lowers his eyelids slightly at the profanity.

“You may not be familiar with the concept but it is a type of lost magic. The artifact presented to you is actually extremely rare. But the important thing is that you are able to speak to me right now.”

“I...”

“Blessed hero, my name is Cardinal Gratia Loqus. May I ask for your name?”

Shaula hesitates to answer... but feels that right now the best thing, in order to most easily secure answers and her safety, is to comply.

“My name is... Sh-Shaula Seikennith... Cardinal of what exactly?”

The word for Cardinal in Sapioran roughly translated to Cardinal in Roman Catholicism.

It’s the position right below the pope, right?

“I am a Cardinal of the Holy Sapioran Federation. This is the nation representing all of humanity on this world called Omicron.”

“Omicron...”

A familiar name.

“Yes. You were living on another world before you arrived here. But, you are now in Omicron to help our people of the human race. Let me explain the rough details for you...”

“Wait, before that... where are my earrings?”

“Your earrings? Oh yes, this is a result of the summoning process. All things that are not implanted within your body, under your skin, are destroyed in the transference. You arrived here without earrings, without clothing, without any possessions at all.”

“Wh...what?”

So... this man has seen...

“Fear not, when you landed on the summoning area, you were clothed by female attendants including the one behind me. You were then carried to this room by them. Normally when a hero is summoned, they are unconscious for a few hours after landing. You arrived with the others about 2 hours--”

“Others?”

“Yes, about 300 other people have been summoned along with you.”

“300!?”

“Yes, thank the almighty Sapiora for helping you in your battle.”

“Sapiora...”

Their... god? Not Ahura Mazda?

“So, let me explain to you now the details. This is the world of Omicron. Right now, you are in the nation of Enkel, a state within the Holy Sapioran Federation. It is... the last state...”

“Wait... hold on...”

Shaula catches her breath for a minute. Even though she has just learned an entire language, the man is moving things as quickly as possible.

She, however, cannot move at such a pace. She recalls what Oromasdes had said to her. About being summoned to this world called Omicron as a hero.

What makes her a hero? Just being from there, from her world?

No... Oromasdes had mentioned a “divine protection of the hero”. Did she...

No, forget that. Where...

“Where’s Ajax? Do you know where my friend Ajax Leonid is?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give details since no one else but you has woken up yet. You are actually the first to awaken so far. Don’t worry, after they wake up and receive the language, we will ask them their names and find the one named Ajax Leonid for you. Nadir, please take note of that.”

The woman behind the cardinal sitting in her chair writes down Cardinal Gratia’s instructions.

Shaula is tense. But... there isn’t a lot she can do, right now. She doesn’t have the opportunity to run out of the room and search for him through this place.

She examines the cardinal before her. He seems to be in his late thirties. His head is covered by a hood. His face is fairly handsome and without facial hair. He is physically fit. Extremely physically fit.

She has seen cardinals on television before around the Roman Catholic pope, but they were all unshapely old men. She doesn’t have any confidence she’ll last in a fight against this man or even be able to escape from him.

What should I--

“Let me explain the situation currently. You are a hero granted to us by our beloved Sapiora, King of the Wise. One of 300 heroes. Currently, Shaula, dear, we are in a battle for our very existence.”

“Your existence?”

Where does Ahura Mazda fit into their theology?

“Yes. This nation Enkel... is the only nation still standing among the nations of the Holy Sapioran Federation. All other nations have been wiped out already. It is safe to say that extinction may await our race.”

“...”

“About 10 years have passed since a race of beings known as the demons launched an extermination campaign against us. They have destroyed the nation of Therea first, then the nation of Reind and finally, Wilhem was successfully conquered about 3 months ago. We have measures to ensure that their army cannot encroach our territory for a very long while. About 8 million humans have died. 10 million humans remain on this nation of Enkel. If they break through our defences with their army, humanity will die out.”

“...oh my God...”

“Child, I do not know your customs but please do not take the name of our Lord in vain.”

“I-I’m so sorry!”

“It is alright. This is not a holy place so it can be forgiven but I am a cardinal after all. Furthermore, please limit profanities if you could.”

“Y-yes. I apologize for that, it was a force of--”

Suddenly, a man bursts into the room. A man in a red robe similar to the one that Gratia is wearing, however less extravagantly decorated.

“Andal!? How dare you enter this room without my permission!”

“I apologize deeply, your eminence. However, this... this cannot wait... oh, another one of the heroes has awoken...”

“Andal...”

“Right, right. Your eminence, I was just with a hero, at least someone who was supposed to be a hero...”

“What do you--”

“Your eminence, the test has been administered. He does not have the grace of God. He is not a hero!”

The cardinal rises from his chair in anger and shock. The chair clatters hard against the ground, making the woman, Nadir, cower slightly.

“Is it a spy then? But... but that’s impossible... they could never have gotten so close...”

Shaula holds her breath. She remembers what Oromasdes had said. A crucial fact. The reason why she was forced to witness her greatest fear, Ajax’s destruction. Their lack of...

“Is his name Ajax? Is his name Ajax!?”

The red-garbed man freezes. The cardinal sees his reaction of affirmation.

The cardinal rose and prepared a defensive stance. His eyes pierce her soul with their ferocity and animus.

“So you’re... with the spy?”