The Strange World

It was all dark. It was all very dark for a while. Then, Makoto heard something. Something that sounded like a person. A boy about his age.
"Hey! Wake up!" the person said.
'Huh? Who is that?' Makoto thought. Then, he started to panic. 'Wait a second, am I dead?! I can't die yet, I'm only in high school!! I still have a girl to date!!!' Then, he woke up and saw that there were two people above him, one standing and the other right next to him. "Huh? What just happened?" he said, his head still a little foggy. "Who are you?" the person sitting next to him on the grassy hill asked him. "Uh, I'm Makoto. Suzuki Makoto," Makoto replied. "Chihiro," the person standing in front of him said, "Move a bit back, we don't know who this young man is. For all I know," the guy said, "he may be working with the Abyss Warriors' King!" This made the other person, Chihiro, stand up quickly and get defensive, making Makoto even more uncomfortable. "Um, I don't mean any harm or anything, I was just--" Makoto tried to finish his sentence when the person behind Chihiro seemed to, just from stretching out his arm, picked up Makoto! "AH! What are you doing? Put me down!!" Makoto screamed as he tried to get back down to the ground. Then, as he was struggling, the pendant he found on the road fell out of his hand onto the grass. This made the one who had Makoto in the air put him down, and they stared at him in shock, as if he was a ghost or something.

"Y-you," the person said, still in shock, "you bear the Dragon's Blessing!!" Then, they both went on one knee to Makoto as if he was a god. "Forgive our arrogance, O' Chosen One!" the person says. "I, Yamamoto Ryu," he said, "and I, Yamamoto Chihiro," Chihiro said, "humbly ask for your forgiveness, Great Hero!" 'Uh, what's going on right now?' Makoto thought, a little confused at the situation. The two had been suspicious of him previously, and treated him like an enemy, but now were acting like he was a god! "Um, you, you can stand up again, and I uh, accept your apology?" Makoto said, a little unsure of himself. The two of the stood back up, and then Chihiro, turning to Ryu, said, "Should we take him back?" "Yes, of course, we should," Ryu replied. "He might even be able to help us defeat the Abyss Warriors." "Um," Makoto said, "who are the Abyss Warriors?" Ryu and Chihiro look at each other for a second, and then Ryu says, "we'll tell you as we walk."

After a long walk, Makoto, Ryu, and Chihiro arrived at a tall tower. The sign next to it says:
                                                          'The Apex Paladins' Tower'
"What is this?" Makoto asked. "This is the arena where we, the Apex Paladins, train to battle the Abyss Warriors!!" Chihiro said with a big grin. "It's also the place where many have fought the Abyss Warriors but failed, Chihiro." Ryu said with a serious face. "I know, you don't have to remind me, Ry." "Wait, 'Ry'?" Makoto said, a bit confused. "Don't call me that, Chihiro, I already told you I don't want others to hear that nickname!" Ryu said. Then they stared at each other for a second, and then Ryu said, "Ahem! Anyways, let us enter. Oh," he said, looking at Makoto, "and let me do the talking." And so they entered the tower that the Apex Paladins used as a training arena.