The moon had just risen, casting its pale light onto the world. The occasional twinkle of stars only made the clear night sky more striking.
No neon lights, no loud crowds, just the beauty of the universe above. This was the complete opposite of what all four boys had been accustomed to in their old worlds.
Omari sat on a log near the fire, staring up at the stars in awe.
Jackson sat next to him, eating some of the fish Omari had prepared and seasoned to perfection. He glanced up in the same direction as Omari and squinted.
"What are you looking at?"
"I'm just admiring how beautiful the sky is."
Jackson took a bite out of his fish. "Find anything interesting?"
A faint smile appeared on Omari's face. "Looking up at the sky really helped me realize something."
Jackson raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"It made me realize that I'm really in a different world. I don't recognize any of the stars up in the sky. I couldn't even identify any constellations in that mess up there, even if I tried to."
Jackson stared at his fish with a satisfied smirk and took a bite. "Does being here make you miss your home world?"
Omari's expression hardened slightly as he looked down and rubbed his hands slowly.
"…No, because I have no one left there that's waiting for me to come home."
Jackson shifted his gaze to Omari. "You're lucky you still have a world you could go back to. If I were to go back to my world right now, I would only find an inhospitable wasteland."
Omari let out a small chuckle. "Oh, yeah. Every one of the countries from your world became jealous of your bum-ass country, America."
Jackson frowned.
"Don't ever disrespect my beautiful country again. They started the war, not us. They even launched nukes at us, so we did the same in response."
Omari stared at him for a few moments.
"Maybe they got fed up with you guys constantly glazing your own country."
Jackson smirked in response. "They just couldn't handle us being better."
He reached over to the campfire and grabbed another cooked fish. He munched down on it, and the flavour hit him like a truck.
He turned toward Omari, fish still in his mouth.
"Until we leave thish forest, you shhould be inn charge of cookking food. Thish is way too good!" he managed too mumble.
"I agree," a voice said from behind them.
It was Savien.
He walked past them to a log on the other side of the campfire, fish in hand, and sat down.
Jackson took another bite of his fish, a wave of euphoria flooding his taste buds. "Thish is shoooo good~."
Omari reached over and took a fish as well.
"Just wait until I get my hands on some chicken, you'll instantly fall in love," he said with a smile.
Savien, noticing someone was missing, spoke up.
"Where's Damian?"
"He said he's going to scout the area for a bit. I think he sensed something in the forest," Omari replied.
Savien leaned in closer, the atmosphere around him becoming serious. He clasped his hands and stared at the two in front of him.
"I say it's time we get serious."
Omari raised a brow.
"What do you mean?"
"I think it's time we start planning our next move. Start thinking about how we'll stop whatever threat The Observer was talking about."
Jackson just stared at him.
"So now you want to talk about it? Whenever I brought it up, you guys played it off," he complained.
Omari leaned back, hands behind his head. "Damn, I forgot all about that. I've really been enjoying life here."
"Yeah," Savien said, "Damian and I talked about it and agreed we should start planning now instead of waiting until we're twelve."
Omari sighed, leaning in as well. "FIINE!! Let's hear what you have to say."
Jackson quickly finished his fish and straightened his back, focusing fully now. "I'm ready for the info dump, boss."
"Right," Savien said. "What we know is that the threat intends to cause some problems in this world. Unfortunately, we don't know how it'll do that because Observer was very vague with his words."
"He did communicate some information to us through our minds," Jackson said.
Omari shivered slightly as the memory came back to him. "I never want to experience that ever again."
Savien continued.
"Observer gave us a few objectives to complete that should help us prepare: get into the top academy in the country and become special students, and participate in the Chrisvan Kingdom tournament."
He paused briefly.
"From those instructions, I've concluded that he's giving us a path to follow. We can go about this however we want, but the result should be us achieving the objectives."
He glared at Omari.
"So, I want you guys to be extra focused, got it?"
Omari nodded nervously.
Jackson raised a hand. "What about the information on the country we're in?"
Savien spoke. "The Chrisvan Kingdom is a country ruled by the Chrisvan royal family. It occupies the southern part of this continent and has one of the three best academies in the world, Miller Academy."
"Like a magic school?" Omari asked.
Savien deadpanned.
"Can we use magic?"
"…No."
"So don't ask stupid questions."
Savien continued.
"For us to qualify to become special students, we need to score 95% or higher in the written portion of the Miller Academy entrance exam—one of the hardest exams in the world. That's why you guys should focus more whenever I'm teaching you a new maths or science topic. We have to prepare."
Jackson raised a hand again. "Can't we also become special students by getting into the top 10 strongest fighters in the practical part of the exam?"
Savien nodded. "You could, but that would lead to people not respecting you as much because intellect is more respected than brute strength in a school setting. But just in case it's our only option, Damian has been training us so we can all crack the top 10."
Omari pointed at himself.
"Hold on. You're telling me I actually have to study and train?"
Savien nodded.
"Correct."
Omari looked toward the night sky.
"Observer, I hope the threat wins."
Jackson chuckled at Omari's reaction. "You lazy bum."
Omari shot a glare at him.
"I'm not a bum."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
This continued for two full minutes.
Neither willing to back down.
Savien shook his head as he watched them bicker on.
"Can't believe these are my friends."
Footsteps came from behind him, but he didn't have to look back to know who it was. He kept his eyes on the two idiots in front of him and chuckled at their shenanigans. He threw another log into the fire, its flames intensifying as it absorbed the new fuel.
Damian sat down next to Savien and grabbed a fish from the fire. He took a bite, and his eyes lit up a tiny bit.
"This is pretty good."
Savien glanced over at him. "Did you find anything suspicious while scouting?"
"No," Damian said, taking another bite of his fish.
He glanced at the two who were arguing in front of him. "Did you discuss the plan with them?"
Savien nodded.
"Yep. Now we hope everything goes according to plan."
Omari smirked as he jabbed a finger at himself, a mocking tone laced into his words. "At least I ain't as big of a bum as your bum-ass country."
Jackson let out an exaggerated gasp, clinging to his white shirt as he leaned back. He covered his face as he let out another exaggerated gasp.
Then he leaned forward and jabbed a finger at Omari, his brows furrowed, fury laced in his tone. "Don't speak ill of my country like that ever again! Go wash that insult out your mouth RIGHT NOW!!"
Omari smirked as he crossed his arms. "Or what? You ain't shit, bro."
"That's it!!"
Jackson shot up instantly. He summoned a pistol and aimed it straight at Omari's head.
"You wanna say that again?"
Omari slowly stood up, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"You. Ain't. Shit. Lil bro."
A fish bone hit the side of Jackson's head, pulling him out of his rage.
He turned to see who threw it, only to find out it was Damian, his hand still in throwing form.
"Calm down. Can't you see he's doing that thing he always does?" he said.
Savien turned to him. "You mean ragebaiting?"
"Yeah."
Jackson turned to Omari, who had his hands up in surrender, a sly smirk on his face.
"Ya got me."
Savien and Omari chuckled lightly, playful smiles plastered on their faces.
Omari covered his mouth as he laughed.
"He always be fallin' for it too."
Jackson sat down slowly, his face red with embarrassment. "W-Whatever! Omari's just super annoying."
"Whatever you say, bro."
Damian stood up and walked toward the cave; a yawn escaped his mouth as he reached the entrance.
"I'm going to turn in early today," he said, tone flat.
Savien waved at him. "See you in the morning."
Jackson and Omari waved as well.
They continued talking as the night went on. The moon climbed higher and higher into the sky, its light illuminating the quiet forest.
—
A shadow moved through the forest like a whisper in the wind, hiding behind tree trunks and leaping from branch to branch.
Eventually, it stopped at the foot of a cliff and began climbing it.
It hopped from rock to rock, ascending with unnatural speed.
When it reached the top of the cliff, a hooded figure stood before it. Its presence filled the air with a suffocating bloodlust. The shadow quickly morphed into a humanoid form and knelt.
Its voice was low and sinister.
"I have finished observing the four targets, my lord."
The figure smiled behind its hood. The bloodlust surrounding it intensified as a low chuckle left its lips.
"Good."