“The world was different before the cards came, all those years ago. Humanity struggling to survive against the beasts, towns being ravaged and cities burned by demons. humanity clawed to fight back with sharp stones and slings.
But one day, the cards arrived. Some say they were a gift from the gods. others, a reward from the world. but what can be truly defined from them is that they turned the tides of war. Granting their wielders magical abilities that could damage and defeat the monsters of the world, the cards led to a golden age of prosperity….
I coughed as the last bit of strength in my lungs gave out. looking around at the destruction that laid around me, “heroes” they called us, “the strongest of humanity”. “USELESS!” i roared internally, we were no heroes, not before those… those things. The Strange beasts that arose from the rifts 10 years ago were devastating on a level not seen since the dark ages before the cards came to us, demons that towered over mountains, dragons that spewed hellish ice and plagued flames and so many other creatures. We tried so hard to resist, humanity pushing itself to its best, sending in heroes from every nation, every city, even every little village and we all fell, one by one. I was the last of us, and i’ll curse my formation card to end of my short days for that, I mentally pulled up the interface window to review it one last time:
INTERFACE:
FORMATION CARD: fates rejuvenation (Mythical)
EFFECT 1: Grants the user a nigh endless regeneration ability, capable of surviving nearly any wound and recovering with no lasting effect.
EFFECT 2: HIDDEN
That was my formation card right there, the “fates rejuvenation” much help it did me other than prolonging my suffering, allowing me to see my companions fall and be able to do nothing about it. I couldn’t even save them, My deck had no attack cards, just more abilities to keep others safe and myself alive.
I watched the last of my life force fade away before me as the masked figure held out his hand, coalescing it all into a little ball he absorbed right then and there. The world seemed to slow as he laughed , and i felt my body grow cold. I cursed him under my breath, not having the strength to yell obscenities at him out loud, and then everything faded away…
DING!
EFFECT UNLOCKED!
FORMATION CARD: fates rejuvenation (Mythical)
EFFECT 1: Grants the user a nigh endless regeneration ability, capable of surviving nearly any wound and recovering with no lasting effect.
EFFECT 2: (NEW) sends the user to a new timeline as chosen by Fate, this card cannot be regained and they will instead gain a new formation card chosen by @&ERR#%R,
WARNING: EXTERNAL INFLUENCE DETECTED! “Higher Being Harbinger: Sanguinis” Has interacted with your soul, Placing a permanent debuff within your soul, Tread cautiously…
The world shifted around me, plunging me into darkness, and then… that familiar ding! echoed, resonating with a strange finality. I’d lost everything. But somehow, here I was, caught in some twisted game of fate that refused to let me rest.
The void around me began to warp and twist, and memories flashed past me—scenes of battles, of my allies, of every horrible moment leading to my last breath. It seemed as a showing of my life, from when i received the blessing of my formation card all the way to my death. The void had a sense of expanding as if i was falling through time and space itself.
My eyes flew open as my senses were assaulted by the smells and sounds of a bustling village, i reeled as the overload from pure nothing into vibrancy rattled my mind. My heart raced as I realized I was… alive. Whole. And somehow, back in the past. My scars were gone, my body felt strong, free from the agonizing wounds that had defined my last days. But I barely had a moment to process it before a new interface window materialized in front of me.
INTERFACE:
FORMATION CARD: Chained by Fate (Trash, Growth)
EFFECT 1: Allows the wielder to weakly manipulate metal chains around them.
EFFECT 2: Locked—Requires Growth
EFFECT 3: Locked—Requires Growth
EFFECT 4: Locked—Requires Growth
EFFECT 5: Locked—Requires Growth
EFFECT 6: Locked—Requires Growth
EFFECT 7: Locked—Requires Growth
Growth requirements-Unknown
Awaken? YES/NO
I stared at the description in disbelief. My “reward” for everything I’d endured… was this? A card barely worth a scrap, limited to bending chains. A bitter laugh escaped me, a harsh reminder of fate’s cruel sense of humor.
But this card was… strange. “Growth” implied potential, something that could be nurtured, unlocked. It was a rare modifier only found on the rarest of beast drops, but i’ve never heard of it being in a formation card. It wasn’t powerful now, but maybe it could become something greater. Maybe, by proving myself, I could evolve this weak formation into something that could stand against the rift-beasts that had brought humanity to its knees.
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Clenching my fists, I gazed around the square, determined. This time, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes. I would train, I would grow, and I would unlock whatever hidden power lay within this card.
The future wasn’t set. Not anymore. The chains of fate might bind me, but now, I’d find a way to turn those chains into something that could change everything.
“Theo?!” I heard a familiar but long forgotten voice from my childhood yell out across the town square, “Theo, where are you?” Tears welled up in my eyes as memories of her funeral and the realization that my mother was still alive in this timeline. I walked to the voice, barely fighting tears when I saw a sight I thought had been lost forever. Dark auburn hair flowing down her shoulders, a strong look in her eye as she looked fiercely for her child, for me. I froze when we made eye contact, tears threatening to fall down my face.
“Mother…” i whispered, barely audible amongst the sounds of the square. She seemed to react immediately, as if she could hear the faintest sounds. She rushed over to me and wrapped me in her arms, as warm as i remembered. “Theo! Why is it taking so long to get your card and come back? Everyone’s worried sick!.” she said in that tone only a concerned mother could produce.
“I’m ok…” my face fighting to break composure as I struggled to think of a good excuse why i didn’t run immediately back. i couldn’t tell them i was from the future and returned to my old body. They would call me crazy or worse, they wouldn’t heed the warning. I need to find a way to garner more influence before revealing the threat of the oncoming rift beasts.
“I just got distracted looking at my formation card, my apologies i didn’t mean to stay away long.” I lied through my teeth to throw her off the trail. Her eyes narrowed in on me as if she could tell something was wrong. “Theo” she said with a pause, “is everything ok? you never used to talk so… formally.” I panicked but worked to hide my nervousness as i felt an ache in my heart, “Yeah, everything’s ok, Mom. Just a little nervous to come back to the party.” i told her, my thoughts reeling as i tried to remember my 16th birthday from the original timeline. She scrutinized my face, eyes hunting for any hints of a lie. However after a few moments she seemed to relax and pushed me along the way to our house, “Come on Theo, we need to get you to the party! Your whole family is there, waiting to hear about your formation card.” She said as we walked alongside the market street.
The view of merchants crossway was an assault on my memory. The familiar smells, sights and clamor of merchants selling wares and haggling were exactly as i remembered them, all the way down to the way the butcher cleaved through meat and summoned the power of his ember-weave card to surrounded them in a web of flames. We continued walking down the street and waving to the shopkeepers. “it’s all just as it was, i really must have returned” i muttered as quietly as i could, still astounded i was actually alive. It made no sense, the tragedies caused by the rifts still hadn’t happened, the horrors from the timeline i remembered still yet to occur. I looked off to the horizon, a memory surfacing as if the world was disappearing around me.
“Theo Run!” heard my fathers voice, this memory was one i had long buried, the day the first rift appeared. And the day my parents disappeared in the fight against it. The deep crimson red mist that suffused my worst nightmares surrounded me once more, showing that the rift was seeping into our world for that first time as beasts emerged. The first rift, appeared with a shatter that resounded across the plains, as if someone had smashed in the veil surrounding our reality. The dark tear slowly released the Harbingers, some of the few sentient rift beasts and the strongest among them. They walked forward, their twisted visage appearing as a mockery to the natural world, they released a bestial call and that was when my world shattered. The scene shifted as if time wound forward, my memories avoiding the agonizing portion that followed the beast horde destroying my village and my parents giving their lives to make sure the next generation could make it far enough for the reinforcements of the Sigilhaven kingdom.
“Theo, are you sure you’re ok?” My Mother said as we neared the house, seeing the haunted look i wore as i shook myself free of the memories. “Yes i’m…” i paused, trying to collect myself, “I’m doing good, Mother. Just anxious for the others to see my formation card” I said as I let out a small sigh of relief. They weren’t dead in this timeline, my friends and family are all still alive and i would do everything to make sure they stayed that way this time.
We continued walking down the street and approached my childhood home, it had been years since I’d seen it as anything other than a ghost of my past. But seeing it now, so full of life and vibrancy as excited chatter and light music played from inside. The house wasn’t a grand affair, being on the outskirts near the forest, but it was home. The clay walls and wooden support beams spoke to the years of use, the slight peel of the paint and the chipping in the wood we used to measure heights with. I felt the smile form on my face as the realization that those memories could be continued, even if only for a little bit. The door creaked as we walked in, my expression shifting into a mask of joy, hiding my concern about failing to behave as i once did.
“THEO!” My little brother called as he rammed into my legs, pushing me back a bit as i tried to embrace his small form. “What’s got you so riled up Kiki? Excited to know your big brother has magic?” I said as my tear ducts fought against me to release tears of seeing little Kael once again. He’d grown so much in the original timeline, but he was never the same after he formed his formation card-No, i won’t let that happen this time. “You have magic?” His eyes grew like saucers as he connected the dots of why i left and returned on my 16th birthday. “What’s it do, What’s it do!” He bounced up and down, barely holding back his excitement, “Have you formed a deck box yet?” He chattered away with questions, always a curious child when it came to the cards. “You’ve gotta show me, Theo! Is it strong? What’s it do?” He was practically climbing up me to ask these questions right in my ear when my father picked him up. I froze for a heartbeat, but it felt like days as i took him in. Strong, steady, with his brown beard and warm smile as he picked up my little brother. I’d forgotten how much i missed his smile, it lights up a room and makes it truly hard to not share a smile with him. “Now, now, Kael. Give your brother some room.” He said with a light chuckle while trying to wrangle the young bundle of energy. “Making a formation card and unlocking magic is a tiring thing, we don’t want to make your brother too tired before the celebration, right?” He eyed me knowingly, A glint of understanding in his eyes as he winked and took my brother to the other room.
My head was reeling as I tried to collect myself. Seeing my family alive after all these years was like a shock to the system. It was harder and harder to keep up the act of a carefree 16-year-old who hadn’t seen the horrors of war. But one thing was certain—this smile wasn’t a facade anymore.
My fists tightened as I prepared myself for the most difficult part of any teenager’s 16th birthday, whether they were current or time-traveled: the formation card reveal. A celebration amongst families when someone forms a formation card on their 16th birthday, acquiring mana and a unique formation card based on personality, actions, and latent potential. In my previous life, revealing my mythical rarity card was a time of great celebration, being one of the few in village history to ever have our soul form such a powerful card. My mind tried to draw me back to when that Emerald colored card appeared for the first time, surrounding my body in the vibrant green mana of my soul, the cheers of my family echoing in my mind. This time would be different, i had no mythical card, and my mana certainly wouldn’t be that verdant shade of emerald this time. I wouldn’t even know the color of my mana until i revealed my card to the family as was customary of every coming of age card mage.
The laughter i heard coming from the other room snapped me from my memories. This time would be different, it had no choice, my soul had changed from fates intervention and with it, my formation card. “Chained By Fate”, my ability to manipulate metal chains weakly, would be revealed
I walked through the door as the room went silent except for my little brother. I chuckled as the other little ones tried to tamp down Kaels endless enthusiasm, a small reprieve from the struggles of my mind. “So? Care to share Theo?” my father teased lightly, looking at me expectantly. “Yes, Father. One moment” My voice steady, even as my hands trembled at the thought of awakening a second time. I called my interface to appear, being met with the most important question someone would ever receive.
AWAKEN: YES/NO?
“Yes”
