When I was quite a bit younger, my world views were set...

Have you ever wondered if what science and media tell us about the world is actually true?

Have you ever wondered if the history of our planet – everything that had already happened, things long forgotten – is as clear as we make it out to be?

Have you ever wondered, if we were really the first great civilization to come into existence?

I wondered about that, once.

I thought long and hard – at least as long as my childish brain could endure – about these things... about the things we perceive as truth.

My mother, before she died, always told me to think about things for myself.

I did.

I also came to the conclusion, that science and media are probably right about all these things. I was strongly convinced that certain things existed, and others simply didn't...

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, the fear of things unknown to man.

When I was quite a bit younger, my world views were set... until I got to summer camp again.

I had been there before, during that hot summer just before the possibly greatest betrayal of my life.

And I went there again.

Somehow, my dad had gotten enough money to send me there again and I, feeling just a little bit guilty about making him pay for it when we didn't have that much money to begin with, took the chance to get away from the whole situation in Brockton Bay for a bit.

There were a few people that had been there with me the time before that, during that hot, traitorous summer.

Most of them didn't recognize me at first.

My pigtails were gone, my clothing had changed and I acted differently.

Gone was the cheerful girl from before.

Betrayal does this to you, I guess.

The first few days of summer camp were pretty normal. I got used to non-hostile social interactions again and got out of my shell a bit, or so I believe.

Then we went hiking and everything went wrong.

I got separated from the group for reasons unknown to even me. Suddenly they were just gone... I really don't remember.

I had no idea how to get back to the camp, so I tried looking for a higher point that would allow me to spot it. I sucked at climbing so I went uphill, hoping the forest would lighten up; the rest of the group was headed upwards as well, anyway.

I came across a rather large clearing, the ground was rocky and it was difficult not to lose my footing.

When I was halfway across the clearing, the ground beneath me gave way and I stumbled, barely able to let out a scream before the ground swallowed me whole.

Something like that just had to happen to me...

I stumbled down through the darkness, barely able to make out any shapes.

Suddenly, the narrow path opened into a large cavern of sorts and gigantic roots broke my fall, my stumbling slowing slowly but surely and my screams echoed in the large chamber.

The I hit the ground, rather hard.

I survived, thankfully.

I looked up and around, grateful that, by some kind of miracle, my glasses had survived the fall.

I was on a relatively small plateau, all around me darkness. The only things I could make out were roots, the path before me, lit by torches, and the colossal, open door before me.

In front of that door was some kind f altar... it looked like it was supposed to hold something and there was a round indentation in it.

The door itself looked insanely heavy and was decorated with all kinds of symbols, these shapes carved into the dark metal were shining in the low light environment, the torches reflecting on the doors surface.

Beyond it?

I stepped through the door and saw the most beautiful and frightening thing I've ever seen.

The landscape was ashen and led steadily downwards to some kind of round, arena-like place.

Dark spires stretched high up as if reaching for the ceiling that couldn't be seen.

The door closed behind me with a heavy thump and my heart started to race. This was just so frightening.

Nevertheless, I made my way downward, towards the centre of the whole thing.

The air was surprisingly clear, though. As if it had been centuries since any alive being took a breath of the air.

I walked for quite a while, walking past a few black rocks on my way downwards, and thought about my situation.

What was this place...

Then I finally reached the entrance to the round structure and the smell of smoke reached my nose.

In the exact middle of the whole place, embedded in some barely glowing embers nourishing a small flame, was a sword with a slightly twisted blade, ash marks all over it.

In the embers of this flickering sigh, though, were four bright sparks, seemingly flames of their own.

Not knowing what else to do, I stepped towards it and touched the handle of the sword...

And my world erupted in flames.

A/N: And this is the first chapter... more of a prologue, really. I've been rather busy these last few days and, quite frankly, I'm just extremely lazy. Between schoolwork and a trip to Milan there wasn't a lot of time... and whatever time I had was rather spent on playing Overwatch. There might be a short-ish story for that as well.

Anyway, I'm submitting this under Worm stories for now, mostly because I want to see who can guess right what crossover this will be. With the recent boom of the franchise, I expect there to be many quick and correct answers but whatever.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me.

-Azralan