Descending from Ordinary

Chapter 1

Instead, his hands went clean through the glass as if it was air. His heart skipped what seemed like a thousand heavy beats as his body dropped down through the sky. His hair flew back out of his face but the sharp wind forced him to squeeze his eyes shut, leaving him blinded as he flailed his hands and feet frantically, trying to grasp something...anything. But there was nothing. A long, helpless yell escaped his throat as he managed to pry his eyes open, only being welcomed by the view of the nearing ground below him, making him panic even more than before.

Before he could register what was happening, dozens of branches simultaneously slapped Jacob's face as he fell through a large tree. One after the other, his elbow then his rib suddenly came in harsh contact with a far larger branch, making him let out another yelp of pain that echoed around him. After what seemed like ages, Jacob landed on the ground, finishing on his hands and knees. His wrists gave out below him, and he toppled to the side, fortunately, landing on his good rib.

"Agh..." Jacob groaned painfully, pushing himself up. Looking around, trying to clear his vision, he held his throbbing ribcage, a break? He felt around, but it was as if the pain had evaporated faster than a blink.

Jacob took in the scene around him. Creasing his eyebrows, he noticed he was definitely in a different forest. A much different forest. Trees more alive and colourful than he'd ever seen surrounded him, towering over his body enough to make him feel tinier than ever. Vibrant leaves swiftly glided through the air from the tree he fell out of, one landing in his lap. He looked down, letting his hand fall to the deep green grass that was so soft that it felt almost unreal. Scattered throughout the green silkiness lied coloured flowers with an odd, yet beautiful platinum tint that shined in the warm sunset light that—wait, sunset?

Jacob stood up as he looked at the setting sun, perplexed. He could've sworn it was around 3 in the afternoon, if not 4 after the walk. Why was the sun setting? His heart pounded heavily in his chest with a steady beat. The scenery was overwhelmingly beautiful, but where was he? Why was it suddenly almost night time? What had just happened??

Unable to do anything else, Jacob just stood, his mouth half open and a thousand questions running through his head. Snapping him out of his shock with a violent flinch, a voice came from behind him. "Hey!"

In a flash, Jacob swung his body in the direction of the voice. His eyes were met by a dirty-blonde kid, not too far off, jogging in his direction. Jacob took a hesitant step back but decided to stay put. Maybe he could help...

The boy reached Jacob in no time, letting out a small huff while leaning down on his knees. As he stood back up, Jacob let himself take a good look at the new face: his eyes were big and green, forest green, and knowing... He was only a bit shorter than Jacob and wore a tattered baggy long sleeve shirt with some black pants. And why the hell wasn't he wearing any shoes?

"Are you okay?" he brought Jacob's attention from the ground back to his face that was covered with a polite smile.

"W-what?" Jacob stuttered, still dizzy from the fall.

He pointed at the tree. "I saw you fall from the tree so I came to see if you were okay."

"Oh, that..." Jacob looked from him to the tree, then back to him. "It hurt, but I'm fine."

"That's good!" the guy smiled again. He then took his turn to examine Jacob himself, scanning him. When their eyes met again, the dirty-blonde tilted his head. "You're not from here, are you?"

Jacob shook his head, silently, not sure what to say. How was he supposed to tell a random kid that he'd just fallen through a mirror, into the sky, and landed in some freaky, colourful forest? No thanks, he'd been embarrassed enough, considering he'd already seen him fall out of a tree and probably break a rib.

Jacob rolled his wrist in his hand. "How'd you know?"

"Your clothes," he pointed. "I can tell you're from Earth."

Jacob's eyes widened in surprise. What did he mean by that? Of course he was on Earth! Where else would he be? "What?"

The guy shrugged proudly. "I do my research! I know the different styles of beings from the different dimensions, and everything- "

"Different dimensions?" Jacob cut him off. "What are you trying to get at?"

The look on the blonde's face quickly turned into deep confusion, almost resembling a young child as he raised his brow and tilted his head. "Didn't you come through one of the portals?"

Jacob shook his head instantly. "I definitely didn't come by choice. And if somehow falling through a mirror and into the sky counts as coming through a portal- then yeah." He decided it didn't matter if this guy thought he was crazy anymore. Jacob thought it would be best to just explain it all.

Dropping his jaw, the stranger's eyes widened with shock before they bent into a deep eye smile as he almost exploded with excitement. "Woah! Do you have any idea what this means!?"

Confused, Jacob looked at him with creased eyebrows. "um... no.?"

"Come on, I'll tell you!" he grabbed Jacob's wrist in a flash.

"Wait!" Jacob protested as he was dragged along without much choice. The blonde chuckled and continued on without a word, pulling Jacob to some other, probably colourful, place.

In all reality, Jacob knew he shouldn't have been letting it happen. Being pulled around by a complete stranger to some unknown destination. But what else was he supposed to do? All those glowing smiles made the guy seem too innocent, and what would he possibly want from Jacob? Besides, if he didn't explain what was going on, then who would? Jacob made up his mind: he was going to follow the stranger until he got some answers.

Shaking off his self-debate, Jacob lifted his gaze upwards, his eyes settling on where the stranger was taking him- a village. Taking his first steps onto the stone roads, it felt as if Jacob had gone back in time to medieval ages.

It was like those villages in the fairy tales, but somewhat weirder. There were wagons being pulled by horses, kids playing with marbles and so on. But the part Jacob couldn't help but notice was- some people weren't human. As soon as they entered the village they came across a plump, red-eyed, somewhat green-skinned woman that earned a gasp from him as he hid on the other side of the blonde. Oddly, it wasn't that she was necessarily scary or ugly, but very unsettling. Next, he caught sight of a child with a literal cat's tail and an older man casually floating in the air, meditating. Blinking hard, Jacob attempted to register everything he was seeing. His head felt heavy as his brain juggled all of his thoughts he couldn't manage to make room for.

Suddenly, the boy came to a stop and Jacob found the two of them standing in front of a large, two-story stone building with roaring customers, drunken men, and loud music flooding out of every door and window. Jacob looked over to the smiling blonde guy with a raised eyebrow. "...a pub?"

Blondey nodded and the pair made their way inside. Pushing through the crowds of flailing, laughing drunks, the two managed to quickly find a quiet booth in the corner on the second floor that was a decent distance from the music and alcohol- induced euphoria. The boys sat on either side of the table and Jacob kept his eyes glued on the stranger, waiting eagerly for answers.

"For starters," the boy said, putting his hand out with a smile. "My name is Jason, but I prefer Jace."

Jacob took Jace's welcoming hand in his and gave a gentle shake. "I'm Jacob."

"Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise." Jacob retracted his hand as he returned a smile. "So...tell me what's going on? How I got here? How I arrived through a- a portal?"

"Ah, yes!" he nodded. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty good in this stuff. I've been researching other dimensions for years! Not that I've been able to travel to one yet, though..."