Chapter Text
Michael couldn’t believe how bad his luck was that day. Half an hour ago, he was in the office playing a few games with the boys. Now he found himself running around a forest with no fucking idea of where he was or how he got there. Everything between playing in the office and waking up in the middle of a dense forest was a blur. And thinking back to those memories just hurts his brain.
Passing the last few trees, Michael couldn’t help but shield his eyes from the sunlight. Beyond the thick forest were acres beyond acres of grasslands. But as Michael was about to lose hope on finding any sign of civilization, he saw a small village outline maybe an hour away from him or two. Grinning, he took one last look at the forest and started walking towards the village.
But before he could even reach get anywhere, he started hearing the sound of heavy footsteps coming from where he came from. Taking a quick look back, he saw a giant running towards him. It looked a few inches taller than him and had plated scales as skin. Scared, Michael ran. But running wasn’t helping him. He took another glance behind him and Michael noticed the giant getting closer and closer. Pushing it, Michael placed everything he had to run faster but the giant managed to outrun him.
Michael was just dumb founded. As much as the giant looked like he was ready to kill the lad, the way he ran pass him made it look like he was running away from something else. Something worst.
The giant stopped after a few minutes and turned around. The red head watched as the creature waved his arm up in the air like he was motioning the lad to run faster. When he got closer, Michael could have sworn the creature shout, “What are you standing over there for? Run, you fool!”
And with that, he continued running.
Michael was about to reply but before words could even escape him, a loud roar echoed behind him. Taking another look behind him, Michael noticed the flocks of birds flying away from the forest. Not waiting to see what made that sound, Michael closed his eyes and ran as fast as his lungs could allow him.
Halfway from the town, Michael could feel the ground start shaking. Fighting the urge to look back, Michael urged his body and continued running. The giant in front of him took out what looked like a metal canister and aimed it into the sky. Smoke shot out of the device and it slowly filled the sky. Michael could feel tears building up on his eyes. Was he going to die?
Another loud roar echoed from behind and this time it felt so much closer. The giant running in front of Michael looked back and shook his head. Stopping and turning around, the giant prepared his sword and shouted at Michael to run faster.
Michael wanted to shout that he knew that but his lungs were burning from running so hard. The giant started running back towards Michael. The red head watched as the giant took a huge swing with his sword and it clanged as it met its target that Michael just realized was only a few feet back. Unable to resist it any longer, Michael took a look back and felt all of his blood run cold. Standing a few feet away from him was a dinosaur that towered over both him and the giant. Its frills hissed as it growled at the giant for inflicting a huge gash over its purple scales.
Taking deep breathes and swallowing hard to calm down, Michael took a step back and ran with what strength he still had left. The town wasn’t that far now but his body was starting to give up. Michael felt like he could pass out any minute yet it wasn’t far off because with every step he took from there, his vision blurred and the pain started to getting too much to handle.
After two last steps, Michael finally collapsed from fatigue and fell flat on the ground. Gasping for air, Michael knew he was going to die there and then. As his sight blurred more and more, Michael prayed one last time before completely passing out.
Michael groaned loudly when he woke up with a really bad headache. He swore to God that he would never go out drinking with Gavin and Geoff again if the hangover was this bad. Rubbing his eyes for a few seconds, Michael sat up from bed and looked around. And what he saw made the headache worse.
First thing he noticed was that the room he was in wasn’t his own. Honestly, it wasn’t any he has seen in his entire life. Everything was made out of wood but it wasn’t like any design he had seen before. From the blue and white lines painted on the walls to the huge red chest resting a few feet from the bed, everything made Michael’s head spin
Moreover if he was seeing these things, did that mean he survived? What happened to that giant then? And with that dinosaur thing, what the fuck happened to them? Cringing, Michael sighed and groaned. All he could ask then was what he did to deserve all of this.
As he lay there contemplating on what had happened, the door opened wide and a girl who looked to be in her twenties walked in, surprising the red head and making him sit up on the bed.
“Woah,” the girl cried out. “Please lie back down.”
“Who are you,” Michael whispered. “And where the hell is this place?”
The girl stayed silent for a few minutes before replying, “I’m Iliana and this is the Town of Toric. Two of our hunters found you unconscious outside of town when a Great Jaggi attacked two weeks ago-”
“WAIT!”
The girl took a step back, shocked.
“Two weeks ago? Are you telling me I was asleep for two whole weeks?”
“Y-yes,” she stammered.
“What happened to that giant that fought against the thing? Is he okay?”
“You mean the hunter, Eris? He was lucky. Lin and Owen were able to save him in time. But the amount of injury he got out of that fight might leave him unable to work as a hunter anymore.”
Michael heaved a sigh of relief from the news. He wanted to thank whatever saved him from that dinosaur. And seeing his talking to a human right now, that giant back then should definitely be human.
“Anyway, I should go. I just brought in the spare clothes you were supposed to wear when you wake up. If you’re feeling better, please come downstairs. If not, then you can stay here and rest up for the day. I’ll bring you up some stew later in the afternoon.”
Michael nodded and gave the girl a quick thank you before watching her leave the room. Looking at the ceiling, the red head sighed again and again, wondering what the rest of the idiots were doing. Where they looking for him? It had been two weeks, so the people at the office should at least be worried, right? But could they even find him here? None of these even looked like anything from Planet Earth. With an aggravated shout, Michael banged his fists down onto the bed and tried his best not to cry. But the fatigue and headache proved too much for him and he soon drifted back to the comfort of sleep.
Michael woke up an hour later, feeling better. Standing up from the bed, Michael took a better look at the room. It wasn’t that big but maybe 20 to 25 feet larger compared to their office back in 636. There was a single window to the left of the bed. On the opposite end rested a single table that was big enough for two to three people to eat off it. And lastly was the large rest chest that caught Michael’s attention when he first woke up. It was at least half as long as the bed and twice it’s size. Whoever needed such a big chest sure had a lot of things to keep.
But that wasn’t important right now, Michael thought. Walking towards the table, he took the clothes resting on top of it and changed into them. Michael took note of the interesting color scheme of the blue and white tunic they gave him. It wasn’t too big on him and it wasn’t like anything he wore before. Both the tunic and pants he wore felt like they were made of some sort of cotton but twice as soft.
“Ah! You’re awake,” greeted the man sitting on the table. “Please take a seat. Come, come.” Michael walked over, looking around the house. Like a small apartment building, there were barely any partitions separating the rooms. The kitchen where the table and what looked like a huge stone oven were located was connected to the living area where a huge tiger rag sat. Aside from the table, the only furniture he saw were the benches on the walls near the door and cabinets full of weapons like the one he saw two weeks ago.
Taking a seat on the table, Michael took notice of the scars that decorated the old man’s arms and face. The man only grinned when he saw this and gave a hearty laugh. “First time seeing scars, boy?”
“First time seeing that many. But that’s beside the point. Thanks for taking me in, sir. Swore I thought I died back there.”
The old man shook his head. “Think nothing of it. I just did what any decent human would do.”
“Either way, thanks for saving me again.” Michael broke out a small smile. “I’m Michael Jones by the way.”
“Ah! Introductions, almost forgot about that. I’m old Logrinn, chief of this fair town.” Iliana walked towards them and handed a cup of water to both. “And you must have already met my daughter, Iliana. Quite a fine girl if you ask me.”
“Father!” Iliana shouted, earning a laugh from the older man. “Ignore my father, Mister Michael. He tends to make unwanted comment. But it is nice to see you’re up and about.”
“Just Michael is fine,” the red head smiled. But his smiled didn’t long. Looking back at the chief, Michael only had one thing he wanted to ask ever since he woke up.
“Say your piece, son.” The old man prompted and returned the younger one’s seriousness with his own.
Michael nodded and took a deep breath before starting. “I don’t know how to start but is there by any chance I’m still in America?” Logrinn and Iliana looked at each other confused and Michael could only gulp. “But there is still an America, right?”
The two stared at the red hair for a few minutes before Logrinn shook his head. “I’m sorry, son. But we have never heard of any place called ‘America’.”
Michael’s hopes plummeted with that one statement.
He tried asking if the two knew of other countries or continents but they gave him the same reply. He tried asking about animals such as different kinds of fishes and birds. And this only made Michael’s confidence worse and worse.
“We really are sorry, Michael. But none of those things you said exists.” Iliana patted the young man over the shoulder. “Maybe you’re just imagining them. If you need he-“ But before she could finish, Logrinn interrupted and shushed his daughter.
“Quiet, Iliana.” The girl flinched and Michael, who now looking at the table, looked back up at the scarred man. “You aren’t mad, right son?” Michael simply shook his head. “And you didn’t make any of those up.” Michael shook his head again. Logrinn nodded. “I believe you.”
“But father!”
“I said, quiet. Iliana, what Michael just said might not seem real. But the way he believes in them are far from those of a mad man.”
Iliana looked like she wanted to protest but quietly nodded.
“Do not worry, daughter.” The old man gave her a smile. “When you come to my age, you will be able to see through many things. But Michael, what my daughter said is also true. None of those things truly exist in Teraria.”
“Teraria,” Michael repeated, his face darkening
“Yes, lad. Teraria. That’s what our world is called.”
That proved what Michael feared the most. This explained why everything looked so different. He wasn’t only not on America but he wasn’t on Earth at all. Michael felt fear and anger creep up inside of him and he could only hold down the tears that where threatening to show. Michael lightly slammed his fists on the table and uttered.
“Fuck.”