"Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Mystics."

"One day, war broke out between the two races."

"After a long battle, the humans were victorious."

"They sealed the Mystics underground with a magic spell."

"Many years later. . ."

MT. Ebott. 201X

"Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return."

A young child ran along the mountainside, their goal not yet coming to mind. They felt they needed to be there, at the mountaintop. The child didn't understand this feeling, but trusted their gut to help them.

If only they listened to the warnings. As the child ran, their foot got caught on something. They put their hands out, expecting to feel coarse dirt under them in a second, but they didn't.

They had fallen into a hole in the mountains, a gateway to the underground realm of the Mystics. The child blacked out upon finally reaching the bottem.
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[Chapter 1 - Your best friend.]

"..."

"..."

"..gh?"

I looked up, blinking open my heavy eyes. It was dark, so dark I could barely make out the corners of my room.

Wait... this isn't my room..?

"Where.. on Earth?" I was laying on a bed of golden sunflowers, their petals reflecting beautifully against a spotlight shining from above me.

That right! I was on MT. Ebott! But... why? It had felt like it was calling me somehow...

I stared up, marveling at how far down this was. How did I survive a fall like that!?

I got up, slightly unsteady from being knocked out. How would I get home? All the stories say that no one has ever come back from this mountain alive!

I couldn't just stay here and wait for a Mystic to come and kill me. So, I went ahead into the darkness.

A small beam of sunlight greeted my eyes after a while.

And under it, was something I didn't expect. It was a sunflower, it rose to about my waist and looked just like any other flower. Only this one... it had a face! The flower grinned at me before speaking.

"Howdy!" It waved one of it's leaves at me. "I'm EX! EX the sunflower!"

The flower had a guy's voice, but that wasn't the problem here. Just how is this flower talking!?

"H-How are you t-talking!?" I stammered, my gaze never leaving the flower.

The sunflower put a leaf to his(?) mouth and studied me for a second. "Hmm... you're new to the underground, aren'tcha?"

It made me feel uncomfortable, the way the flower was looking at me. "Y-Yeah? I am." I had only said that to make him stop that.

"Golly, you be so confused!" I could hear a hint of amusement in his voice. "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here!" The flower giggled. "I guess little old me will have to do."

"Ready?" I nodded my head, not wanting to anger the flower. "Here we go!"

Then, red light began glowing into front of me. It was dim, only resembling the light of a flickering candle. A small red heart floated before me.

"See that heart?" EX asked. "That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!"

I poked at it, amazed by it's light. It felt like a solid, but at the same time it didn't, like it was made up of some kind of plasma or something.

"Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."

"'LV.?'"

"What's LV. stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!" EX grinned. I shifted uncomfortably, not okay with what was happening. "You want some LOVE, don't you?"

"Um, yeah?" I replied. I took a tiny step away from the flower.

"Don't worry, I'll share some with you." EX winked, and a small, white pellet flew just above his petels. It multiplied until there were five of them hovering in the air.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through.. little white, 'friendliness pellets.''' The white pellets were aimed straight at me, like arrows trying to hit their target.

"Are you ready?" The pellets drew closer. "Move around! Get as many as you can!"

I backed up, not trusting these 'friendliness pellets' one bit. However, I wasn't fast enough, and two or three of them grazed my left arm. Burning pain like never before shot through my system. I collapsed to the floor, hard.

The flower's face had twisted into something fit for a horror movie. "You idiot! In this world, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!!"

The sunflower laughed at my crumpled form. "Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this!?"

He created more of those pellets, surrounding me. "Die."

EX's horrifying laughter filled the room as the pellets closed in on me. I closed my eyes, waiting for my horrible fate.

But it never came. Instead, I felt my wounds heal, and EX yelp in pain. Footsteps approached me, and someone held out their hand to help me up. I gratefully took it and looked up.

It was a woman, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. She had long brown hair and amber-brown eyes filked with light. She wore a purple tunic with a strange white crest on it. Twin horns poked out of her hair.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth." Her voice was warm, motherly even. I found myself drawn to her, like she was my mom and I was a little girl again. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Stress, caretaker of the ruines. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

Stress suddenly had a more saddened look on her face. "You are the first human to come down here in awhile."

"A long time?"

Stress ignored my question, instead smiling softly at me. "Come! I will guide you through the catacombs."

Maybe my question was too personal for her?

Regardless, I took her hand and let her lead me to these large stone pillars, their purple color a stark contrast to the darkness.

As we went in, something caught my eye. A shimmering yellow light. Stress passed right by it, not even looking in it's direction.

So, either she's used to it being there, or only I can see it.

I reached towards the small light, it's golden glow illuminating my hand.

"The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination."

I whip my head around, looking for the source of the voice I just heard in my ear. But, there was no one but me and Stress and this voice sounded male.

"Are you coming luv?" Stress asked, noticing I had stopped.

"Y-Yeah! Coming!" I ran up to her. So far, she was the only 'nice' Mystic I had met, so I wanted to stick close to her.