Gates of Realms

The day was nothing extraordinary; nothing beyond the usual routine of Earthly monotony; all was work with the occasional illusion of play, yet nobody dared deny that the world was just as they both wanted and expected. To chance fate and work against the grain of breaking the routine of work, school, play, sleep would only cause great distress and so the world turned, the sun rose and set and the days and nights continued in their cycle. As it so happens James West, an ordinary school boy with nothing to truly contribute to the betterment of the world in which he had found himself living (thus contributing greatly to the continuation of the endless cycle of monotony), had walked the same route to and from school for the better part of 12 years and had never strayed from the path in all his 17 years of life. On this day of all days he found himself walking this very path, changing not a single detail of his regular routine of travel... until that moment when everything he had known crumbled and shattered to utter dust. The disrupting sound of a cry of emotional agony sounded far above him, supposedly falling from the sky to his ears. The sound was so unlike anything he had ever heard that his body simply chose to commit mutiny against his already established program of protocol; stopping on the footpath he turned and rose his head to the source of the sound far above his head. To his astonishment he spied a glimpse of a girl standing on the ledge of the enormous building beside him. Instinctively his body, once again, chose to rebel against all he had known and experienced for the the duration of his lifetime thus far.
         All reason had fled his body the very moment he glimpsed the girl he could only surmise was awaiting the moment of her inevitable plunge into the depths of the pavement below. Each racing step up the endless stairs proved ever more urgent yet painfully exhausting. The wheezing, panting James was not deterred, however, by the perpetual stairs that would not permit his ascent any easement. As the adrenaline pumped its way throughout the system upon which his body was built and from which it functioned he pushed ever onward and upward, drawing closer and closer to the roof door that would permit him to fulfill his irrational body's desire to save the girl that stood alone on the ledge of the roof. With his final panting breath he lunged forward thrusting the door open to see the sunrise he had never been able to appreciate from his regular routine; a sight unlike anything he had ever seen painted across the canvas before his eyes; a glowing golden sky of fire framing the silhouette of a short, petite girl with long pink and purple hair that flowed out behind her in the elusive wind. As suddenly as this orgasmic site of true beauty was witnessed did the mysterious girl then lean forward to examine her surroundings below. James wasted no time to race to her assistance for his voice had failed him as he was left speechless from the breathless beauty that befell his sight.
         The following seconds seemed so surreal that James could not believe, nor could he ever have prepared himself for what occurred; the sensation of falling through the sky, plummeting towards the footpath below. As he dove towards the girl, his hand outstretched to grasp her hand before she could commit to the plunge, his feet slipped from beneath his body and he, too, was lost over the edge of the skyscraper's incredibly high rooftop. falling faster and faster with every passing second James couldn't help but think of his past life as though witnessing it for the first time from an outside observer's perspective. In all his 17 years he had maintained an existence of laborious monotony, doing nothing and being no one worthy of notice or attention within the world; his life amounted to nothing of merit and, as far as the world was concerned, his death would mean just as much... And then one day his body chose to rebel against the systems of both his programmed routine and the expectations of the world in which he lived; he raced to the rescue of a girl whom he didn't even know. As his mind processed the facts and the fiction of his fantasies he had come to one undeniable truth: this very moment in time in the entirety of his lifetime, however short that may have been, was the single best, most important, happiest and most noteworthy moment of all he had experienced.
         The ground grew rapidly closer and closer as time vanished from his life which was mere moments away from vanishing itself. Yet, as his imminent demise was ready to greet him with open arms a bright light appeared at what would have been the point of impact of the footpath if he had not passed through it entirely and entered a dark place of nothingness, devoid of all but a scarlet light that painted everything with a faint glowing outline of that same sanguine sky. James was more than thoroughly confused, however, he was still unsure if he had survived the fall or if death was a sensation not to be feared after all.
         "Who dares enter the Dead Space without achieving true end?" asked a dark figure, hooded and cloaked in a shroud of the purest black.
         "Idris of Iris, the Ygdrasil." came another equally mysterious figure with piercing red eyes escaping the shroud of darkness that was their owner.
         "You have chosen to commit treason? Is that it?" asked the first voice again.
         "I chose impatience for my end. I know the penalties for using the Gates in public. Let's just say I don't much care for playing by the rules by this point in my so-called life. I want to end it now." the enigmatic pink and purple haired girl spoke with decided forcefulness. She knew exactly what she was talking about and she most certainly meant every word.
         "You seek your demise? Why?"
         "My reasons are my own and no one else's business." her assertiveness knew no bounds.
         "And who is he?" asked the second voice.
         "He is no one. He simply got caught up in the journey here."
         "Then he is your responsibility. Should the guardians learn that he knows of the Gates and the power of travelling between the realms he will become a target of the most dangerous of forces. We cannot allow your demise, not until your duty to this one is fulfilled."
         "So be it." her voice was nothing short of reluctance, laced with malice. She would do whatever she deemed necessary to get her wish; to die and no longer be burdened with guarding the Gates that she now had no choice but to assist one that she almost had killed. Her selfishness was her own undoing... for now.