While Jayden was grappling with the weight of his humanity and relationships—another story was just beginning in a parallel universe. In a world very similar to Jayden's, but also very much different.
...
Earth 1, Milky Way Galaxy, Alpha Realm 001,
In the utopian world of mana cells and magical beasts, a teenage boy lay motionless in a deep mud pit, his body still, his chest unmoving. He wasn't breathing.
He was probably unconscious.
Or dead.
Then, without warning, his eyes flew open as a desperate gasp tore from his throat.
Cold.
Wet.
Smelly.
Those were Henry's first impressions of... whatever this was.
His cheek was pressed into something damp and gritty, the distinct scent of mud and what he could only describe as "questionable life choices" filling his nose. He blinked up at a sky the color of dirty dishwater, framed by jagged walls of dirt rising impossibly high above him.
"I'm in a hole," his brain supplied unhelpfully. "Or a pit. A very deep pit."
