Souta looks around him
"What the hell?!"
Souta jumps up from laying in whatever 'bed' he's found himself in
"Did those freaks really not give me any information on what they were going to send me to?!"
Something feels eerie..
He takes another glance around him and notices his surroundings, A fireplace sits in the corner of his room lighting it in amber and crimson, A Tan couch and coffee table sit comfortably beside the fireplace. Something glistens - a small silver key with a diamond shaped handle sits upon the coffee table though he quickly disregards it.
From the right of the fireplace is the front door of the unknown room he's found himself in.
He stands up and heads toward the bathroom entrance which is directly right of the bed he was in.
He reaches toward the handle of the bathroom entrance and notices something familiar
"Wait.. MY RING!" Souta adjusts his ring to examine it
"Out of all the things that happened, why would they want me to keep my fathers gift?"
He twists the doorknob
"Well whatever… I need to take a leak" Souta enters the bathroom
He glimpses an unfamiliar reflection in the mirror..
"ARE THOSE TWO OUT OF THEIR MINDS!"
Souta drags his hands over his face as to confirm he's not seeing an illusion
"No.. Wait-" Something in his brain clicks
He slowly remembers what Shizukame said reiterating what she said in his head
"Well.. Souta.. You are going to be someone entirely different, and be somewhere entirely different'
"Oh… right-" he groans
His reflection resembles a teen boy with medium length black hair, his skin is pale as a sheet and his eyes are carmine and are somewhat bestial- his pupils resemble that of a predator.
"It's gonna take a while to get used to this.." he sighs
Upon exiting the bathroom he decides to explore the room a bit more and upon doing so he notices that the room is extremely small no more than 12 square meters it has no windows and yet the furnishings are all impeccably made and quite luxurious.
"How strange…" Souta mutters to himself before heading over to the silver key he noticed earlier, before picking it up and inspecting it-noticing that it has quite a simple design and seems to be completely ordinary.
After his examination he decides to put it in his pocket and bring it with him just in case
"Well. it's time to see just where I am" Souta says to himself before heading towards the door
Arriving at the door he feels nervous. After all- who wouldn't. Steeling his nerves he grasps the door handle and opens the door, fully expecting something crazy to appear. But to his surprise beyond the door was just an ordinary hallway with many more identical doors to both his left and right side. The fact that the hallway was normal, was simply unforeseen by Souta.
"Helloo!" Souta calls down the hallway. -there was no response from the dimly lit hallway.. All he received was just the reverberation of his first failed attempt of trying to understand where he even is.
He hears noise, something far off to his right he belives the sound is coming from. Souta has no idea what it could possibly be but seeing as he has to go somewhere he steps out of the safety of his room into the hallway and immediately feels colder.. his hairs stand on end.
He Feigns this feeling excusing it for him just feeling alone and unfamiliar.. All he knows is that he has to move forward and so he begins walking.
tap* tap* tap*
His feet progress further against the wood floor as he slowly walks forward, as he does sounds escalate.. no he only hears one sound.. almost like a large lumbering beast is walking around- and when these unknown footsteps stop. The noise is instead replaced by what sounds like the rustling of a cloth.-
The sound slowly mutes itself, Almost like he avoided a tragedy-
"I have to get out of here!" Souta stutters in his own mind
Fear grips his heart fearing the worst, yet he knows that he must continue forward for that is the only way out of this strange place. Ahead of him he sees the end of the hallway, it seems to open up to a large room noticing that the new sounds he hasnt been hearing are joyful and are only growing more vibrant.
He hardens his resolve before exiting the hallway and entering the room
Immediately he is hit by a much brighter light than what he was ready for, causing him to try and shield his eyes from the light- in less than a moment a large silhouette engulfs him.
Looking up in dismay he sees an enormous man with dark brown hair drawn into a bun and a scruff ragged beard looking down on him. The man has rough features and is wearing a nice button up shirt with brown trousers and an apron that covers only his legs.
The man appears to be at least 3 meters tall and upon coming face to face with the man Souta can't help but tremble in fear.
He stares at the man for a few moments before the man grows a large smile and says in a most cheerful tone
"Have you come to turn in your room key?"
"Huh?" Souta exclaims suddenly losing all the fear he just had instead being replaced with utter confusion.
"Your room key.?" the man repeats almost expectantly "You know, the silver key to your room."
"Oh. sorry." Souta exclaims before pulling the silver key out of his pocket and handing it to the exceedingly large man
"Thanks" the man says before going to the bar counter at the end of the room placing the key on a rack that has only a few other keys
Upon seeing this bizarre sight Souta snaps out of his confusion and scans the room, noticing that there are two double doors to his right. Seemingly the exit. And sees many tables in the room and to his right there is a large bar at which the large man is still at and at the far end from Him there is a staircase that presumably leads to a second floor.
'Wait a minute' Souta thinks to himself 'this seems to resemle a tavern or an inn. Like the ones in games and anime.'
After realizing just where he most likely is he goes up to the bar that seems just a tad too high for a normal person and sits down before saying "excuse me, but where exactly am I?"
"That's quite a strange question kid" the barkeep says inquiringly "have you lost your memories or something" he says jokingly
"Something along those lines" says Souta sheepishly
The man starts laughing "if you dont wanna tell me your situation that's fine but at least come up with a better excuse after all some people might think you were involved in something bad if you give such a shitty excuse for a question" Souta stares at the man with his mouth slightly agape for a second before speaking
"So are you gonna tell me where I am?"
"Sure kid i'll tell ya' just promise not to go around saying such stupid things otherwise people might think that you got mixed up with those fanatics that have been passing through here"
"Fanatics?"
"Don't tell me you haven't heard?" says the barkeep astonishedly "recently those fanatics that worship that crazed deity Kazeyami have been bringing their circus through our holy land"
"Fanatics?.. Kazeyami?.. deities?.. What are you talking about" says Souta feeling more confused than ever-
"Wait.." He thinks- This might be good information to get him on track to obtaining some knowledge about to world he was suddently thrown in..
"Gosh kid you must have lived in the mountains or something your entire life if you don't know about the 9 deities, but- to keep it simple you're in the land of Shinsei the goddess of life and sacred divinity. Recently those heretics that worship that devil Kazeyami have been coming through the city warping the minds of our youth and sowing chaos throughout the city" the barkeep says with an obvious tone of disdain towards the worshippers of Kazeyami "But-- if you wanna know more about our quarrel with them and about the other deities, it would be easier to just go to the library and do your own research. There's a large library called 'Scrollhaven' not too far from here if you just follow the street we're on you should find it easily"
"Try not to get into any trouble!" The Barkeep roars at Souta as hes leaving
"Thanks for all your help!" says Souta as hes rushing out the door of the tavern
Souta looks back and notices the sign posted up above the enterance 'The Tavern of Vaeloria'
"Hmm so I must be in a city called Vaeloria, Good to know."
Souta picks his pace back up and heads westbound following the trail to the library.