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Dark Fracture

Chapter 1 - Emergence

It felt like clock work to me,

Every night after I had fallen asleep I would have this vivid dream.

I would stand upon a high balcony with a plaza that was filled with a crowd of chanting people as several crafts unknown to me flew overhead in a demonstration of power. From where I stood they felt tiny and insignificant, feeling barely worthy of my notice but yet somehow I knew that they were all chanting my name in praise. To either of my sides stood creatures, both familiar and strange to me. I could see that some shared traits to familiar feral creatures native to where I am from, while others looked like something out of science fiction or a fantasy game. I stepped closer to the rail and raised my hands as the chanting got louder so that I could finally hear and understand what they were saying.

“Tavor! Tavor! Tavor!..."

Then I would get dragged back to reality and woken up to the annoyance of my cell phone alarm going off. Quickly finding the device, I quickly turned off the offensive noise and tossed the phone next to me on the bed. Despite just waking up and moving around to turn the phone off, I didn't move from the spot yet. I just laid there on my bed staring at the ceiling as I waited for my body and mind to catch up to each other before dragging myself out of my comfortable bed to continue with my morning ritual.

It was my typical ritual that I did every morning for the last several years. Wake up, use the bathroom to freshen up and wash the night away. Then get breakfast, which was typically a bowl of cereal and then finish getting ready for my job before heading out to my pickup to go to the factory where I work.

I won't bore you with the work day as for me, it was a typical day where I would ask myself 'Why was I even here?' and 'How did these idiots even graduate high school?" I was nothing more than a rank and file factory grunt that had to deal with the dunnage waste of cardboard and plastic that the parts came in and was thrown out to be forgotten by everyone except my department. It wasn't hard work, it was the people that made it hard, both in my department and those departments that I pick up for.It ,of course, would be the dead of night when my shift ended and I got in my truck to drive home. When you work as late as I do though, it's to be expected.

What I didn't expect was how my life was suddenly turned upside down on my way home.

I had chosen to drive the longer way through the woods even though the way through town was shorter. Really, it was a choice of going through town and putting up with the traffic lights or going the longer way but at faster speeds. Each option still meant a forty-five minute drive one way to where I lived, but that night I needed to “get up and drive" without the risk of stopping at every intersection till I got out of the small city.

I never noticed the even darker clouds that came in when I was a third of the way home. In fact, I didn't even register that there was a storm rolling in until a bright flash appeared behind me. It startled me as I had gone into my own little world with my thoughts and seeing the flash had quickly brought me back to reality. Realizing that there was a storm coming on my tail, I just simply steadied my nerves for what the storm would throw at me. Little did I realize that the next flash of lightning was aimed right at me and the last thing I had felt was the sensation of getting ripped from the driver's seat...

. . .

When I started to come back around, my entire body felt excruciatingly sore. I tried to move my arm to rub my face but I had little to no motion so that was out. When I opened my eyes, only darkness greeted them. Feeling myself blink a few times told me that my eyes were working, or at least my eyelids were. So either I was blind or I was in nothing but pitch black. At first I thought that I had been in a car crash and I was now wrapped up like a mummy in a hospital room.

Then I realized something. If I was in a cast, I would be laying down on a bed with a heart monitor attached to me. Not sitting upright, I think.

What the hell was going on?

A kind of answer was soon given to me when an odd, red symbol appeared in my vision. I had no idea what those symbols meant, but I quickly realized that they were some kind of loading information as more and more symbols flashed across my vision. I was uncertain how long the sequence took as I honestly had no frame of reference besides my own mental clock, but it easily felt like a long time before the odd symbols and darkness gave way to a shade of red that forced me to close my eyes from the sudden brightness. I wanted to shield my eyes with my arm, but there was no way that I could force my arm close enough. Not that it would have been any good to do so anyway. When I opened my eyes again, my vision was still filled with that annoyingly bright red light.

'Wish I could dim that light.' I thought as I squinted against the annoying hue.

Something apparently heard my thoughts as the brightness slowly dulled to a more comfortable level and I could start making out shapes in the now red, yellow, and black hues. Whatever I was wearing over my head made me think of a failed gaming proverbial that was supposed to bring about the VR age but instead it nearly killed it because of the device being bulky and the red hues would cause major eye strain after long term use I believe.

Looking down, I believe that I found myself in some kind of armored outfit. Or should I say, stuffed into seeing how it strained every time I tried to move. It was this getup that was restricting my range of motion and was doing a damn good job of it too, some of my limbs were even starting to go numb because of how tight the stuff that I was wearing was.

Movement caught my eye and I looked up to see dark reddish figures that were outlined in yellow to make them more prominent in my vision entering the chamber that I found myself in. I didn't count how many there were as my vision made it too hard to try but I knew there were several of them that had just entered. If I could comprehend what I was seeing correctly, these… new arrivals looked like they were dressed in some kind of B-movie sci-fi attire complete with robes, pointed frills, and helmets so I couldn't see their faces. I think that these were some kind of ceremonial honor guards as they were not only dressed ridiculously, but also armed with weapons that wouldn't be too useful in an actual fight in my opinion. I could see the arriving guards, or perhaps I should say honor guards started to form two lines as three figures approached me. The three got within a few feet of me and then to my surprise, everyone kneeled in front of me.

“All hail the Dark Overlord of Sydion." The leader of the group said. “It is a joyous day to have the avatar of the gods return to us."

Huh?...

What the hell is he talking about? Overlord? Sydion? Avatar of the gods? Did I somehow get transported into some kind of… What was it called... Isekai Anime? And what the hell does he mean 'return to us?'

To say that I was quite confused would be an understatement right now.

“Sir Prukatu." A female voice spoke up. “I don't think he knows what you're talking about."

“Nonsense!" The first voice hissed back. “Of course he would know." his voice was low, probably to try and keep me from hearing him. “He was chosen by the gods themselves."

“What is going on here?" I tried asking. Though I surprised myself as I heard my voice amplified and distorted by the mask. 'Is that my voice?' I tried to raise my hand to my throat on instinct though with the sleeves as tight as they were, I couldn't get very close.

“The Avatar speaks." The one now identified as Prukatu praised as if he had just witnessed some kind of miracle. “Please tell us, how may we serve you?"

I just blinked at this Prukatu character in shock. Was this guy for real or did I have some kind of accident where I'm currently in some kind of coma with my mind having some weird dream. Needless to say if this was some kind of dream, it was a rather vivid one. The clothes that I was stuffed in was getting to me and all I could really think of at the moment was that I wanted out of this getup.

“Get me out of this stupid outfit!" I growled.

While I couldn't see any of their faces under their helmets, all of them were visibly taken aback by my command. The two behind Prukatu just looked at each other as it seemed that I crashed Prukatu's mind with what I said.

“My lord." The third person who had approached me finally spoke up. “I'm afraid that the atmosphere of Sydion has become toxic due to a storm that has settled in the area upon your arrival. exposure to the storm is rather lethal and while it may not seem like it, we are very much exposed here in the temple. Perhaps it's best that we move into the palace so we can clear up any confusion in a more comfortable environment." There was a kind of calm to his voice, one that you might expect from a father or a mediator. However, I couldn't tell if there was any deception in his voice so I had to take it at face value.

“Alright." I said with a sigh. I tried to stand up but with how tight the outfit that I was stuffed into was it was difficult to move or get the right leverage to stand. “Uhm… Help?" Apparently my request was met with skepticism at first as no one moved. It took the second yet to be identified male to snap his fingers before some of the guards broke ranks and came to my aid. Two of them helped pull me up by my arms while two more stood at the ready behind where I sat.

Thankfully, I didn't embarrass myself by falling down at any time but because of how tight the material was, I was quite stiff and could barely walk. Then what probably should have been like a twenty minute walk under normal circumstances, turned into a drawn out hassle because of how limiting the garments that I wore were. With my movement basically that of a rather frail old man and with a migraine that I was starting to develop from the constant red glow from the way my vision was screwed up by what I guess was a helmet, someone came with a chair that was hovering like a foot off the ground. The entourage that I found myself with had to help guide me to be able to sit, but I didn't need much help as I unceremoniously sat in the chair. It bounced in the air as it adjusted to my weight and I was escorted to what I assume was the palace.

Sadly I couldn't see much because the constant assault of the red glow was getting to me and I had to close my eyes. After what felt like an eternity, I felt the chair come to a stop and I risked opening my eyes. I found myself in a grand entry hall, complete with columns and banners with other decorations that I couldn't make out due to the frustrating vision I had to put up with.

“I will return shortly with the armorer/tailor. Do not do anything that will displease our lord." Prukatu hissed at the other two before bowing towards me and walking by. Even though I couldn't see the finer details of things, I could make out the slight bobbing of the female's helmet in what I would assume was a mocking gesture. Soon I could hear great doors creaking open followed shortly by the thud closing behind me.

“So…" I said breaking the silence that had fallen over us. “Who's the nut job?"

At first everyone around me all turned to look at me in stunned silence, then more than a few of the guards started chuckling at my comment. Finally the female approached me and spoke up.

“Heh… glad to know that most of us think that he is." She reached up and popped the seal of her helmet before continuing. “That 'nut job' is Sachi Prukatu, he is the Prime Minister of Sydion and the leader of the Orthodox Occult of the Dominion. He's also your second in command."

“MY second in command?" To say that I was astonished by the comment would be an understatement right now. “Second in command of what?"

“So you really don't know…"

I had to bite my tongue from going 'Well, DUH!' But instead I answered with a more diplomatic comment. “Isn't it obvious?" I said, trying my best to keep the venom out of my voice but I doubt I was really successful. “All I know was that I was driving home when I was zapped to I guess here. Right now all I really want is out of this stupid thing that's cutting off circulation to my body parts and for someone to answer my questions… Who the hell are you guys, where the fuck am I, and what the Fucking hell is going on!"

The woman hesitated before explaining to me what was going on. "You are on Sydion, the capital world of the Dominion. I am Fleet commander Lycia Arruk. And this guy is my brother," she said as she pointed to the other one standing with her. “Force Commander Manraki Arruk. We are in charge of your space navy and ground forces respectively and those around us now are your servants and honor guards, awaiting your orders."

“So…" I know they couldn't see my face scrunch in confusion under the helmet that I was currently forced to wear, but I still did it anyway. “You're basically an Admiral and your brother is a General?" I asked, pointing at each of them in turn. The two siblings looked at each other before facing me again.

“I… guess?" Lycia said with a lot of skepticism. “We are unfamiliar with those terms. Once an officer reaches the rank of Commander, they remain one until the end of their service. With the only change being what they're in command of."

“I see." I said. To me it kind of sounded a bit stupid, but I didn't voice my thoughts. “Well that is all well and good, but what does any of this have to do with me?"

This time the brother, Manraki, spoke up and came a little closer. “You see, the gods have chosen and summoned you here to lead us against the forces of the Alliance of the Four Houses. As it has been the cycle that has happened at least twenty times prior to your arrival."

“Twenty times? What the hell do you mean?" I ask.

“It is a cycle that happens every hundred of our years." Lycia said as she took off her helmet revealing something that rather surprised me, a wolfish face complete with triangle ears and a long muzzle. “The gods choose a champion to lead us so that we may take our rightful place among the stars."

“What the FUCK!?!" I shouted in shock, not really thinking. It was about then that the constriction of that overly tight outfit caught up with me and not only caused me to start gasping for breath, but also caused me to black out…

I wasn't too sure how long I was out. All I knew was that I was finally able to breathe normally and when I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by what looked like several furry faces. From the way my body felt, they must have laid me onto the floor and removed the constricting parts of the outfit that I was forced into. I could still feel something tight on my body but it wasn't as restricting as it was before.

“Are you alright my lord?" The familiar voice of Sachi Prukatu asked. I looked into his face and saw an orangish colored feline face with dark fur around his eyes like a mask. Behind him were two mostly dark furred wolves, one that had some purple like freckles that seemed to be glowing along with her light green eyes with a more masculine wolf face. only he had blue highlights and eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

“You guys are Furry Anthros?" I blurted out as I looked up at their faces.

The three that were standing over me looked at each other before Lycia responded. “Our people each have more unique race names than these… Furry Anthros you have called us. My brother and I are Kei'trin, originally from the Kei'trine Concord. Sir Prukatu is descended from the first settlers who originated from the Fel'nien Sovereignty. We already know that you are a human from Earth, as the information has been passed down from one overlord to the next."

Well, at least that part was easy. They already know what I am, but there's still a lot of questions in my mind. “There are more than just your two races?"

“Yes there are." Manraki spoke up again. “Not only are there the Kei'trins and the Fel'niens, but there are also the Avileans, Aquans, Luxois, Volbions, and the Vulcit just to name a few."

I shook my head in disbelief. “Why me?" I asked as I sat up, my mind nearly on autopilot by now. Apparently getting zapped like I did, didn't affect the fact that I had been on my way home after a long day of work and being exhausted was catching up to me. “With as many races as there apparently are, there should be someone better qualified than me to lead you."

“You were chosen by the gods to lead us." Prukatu said. “There may be others that might be able to lead us, but none would ever measure up to someone that's a chosen champion of the gods."

“And what if I don't want to lead?" I asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and things became deathly quiet as they all turned to me in what I guess was shock. Somehow I knew that I had to diffuse this apparent powder keg of a situation before it blows up in my face. “Look, I'm not a leader. I was actually on my way home from my factory job back on Earth when I was zapped here."

They all looked at each other in silent confusion as they each complemented an answer. Finally, Prukatu spoke up. “But… it was the gods' will for you to lead us as our overlord."

“Uhh… Is there some way to send me back and perhaps try again to find someone more suited for the role?" Again, the group all looked at each other in silent confusion. “Let me guess." I groaned. “There's no way to send me back…"

“Sadly. That is correct." Lycia said simplethedicaly.

“So I'm stuck here." I huffed as my hands came up and covered my face.

“Yes." Manraki simply said. I could have shot the guy a nasty look with the mood I was in, but he was just being honest and none of them really needed my animosity that I was now feeling.

There was a cough that reminded the other three that there was someone else in the entrance hall besides me, the three who greeted me, and a few of the honor guards from earlier. I turned my head to see a griffin-like avian standing off to the side. If I had to guess, it was an older bird, it's bluish feathers looked dulled with age and a small black beak where one's nose and mouth would be. Two smaller black eyes looked at us as paw-like hands fidgeted with each other.

“My lords…" He spoke with a noticeable timidness in his voice. “It is rather late. Maybe I can be excused now and return in the morning so I can get the proper size of our overlord so I can correct the size difference of his armor?"

“No!" Prukatu snapped. “ You need to take his measurements now so he can have his armor as soon as possible!" I think most everyone in the room followed my gesture of rolling my eyes and letting out a low groan.

“Let's get this over with…" I muttered as I stood up. It was about then that I finally noticed how much bigger I was compared to everyone. Being around six foot four, I usually stood taller than most around me but was still able to look people in the eye without looking down that much. their ears had given me the illusion that they were as tall as me when I was on the floor or in the chair but now I could see that the closest person to my size was Manraki, followed closely by his sister but the tops of their heads were still only barely at my eye level. I continued to look around at the others in the room, gauging the size of everyone in the room until my eyes spotted something off to the side on a hover cart.

“What the hell is THAT?" Everyone looked at me confused, wondering what I was talking about.

“What is what?" Lycia asked, mirroring everyone's question of what I was referring to.

“That" I said, pointing to what looked to me like some tasteless statue of an armored figure. I suppose some people might be into it since there were those that like skulls and really flashy, flamboyant things of them sort. But I wasn't one of those people.

“That's your armor my lord."

“My armor?" When I first saw the thing, that was the comment I was afraid that I was going to get. “That thing looks like a Skeletor wannabe reject!" I blurted out. I mean the helmet was very much designed to look like a human skull with sunken indentations and black accents to highlight the jawline and teeth with two blackish-red lenses set where the eyes go. The rest of the tanish and black armor was done up similar to a ripped, muscular body with layered armor similar to some video games I've played in the past complete with a hooded cape adorn with spiked shoulder pad like pauldrons.

“My lord, that's the armor of the Overlord of Sydion." Prukatu said quite nervously. I think he was starting to realize that they had gotten someone who wasn't playing their game. “The last several Overlords proudly wore the armor."

“Well good for them." I snapped. I didn't realize it, but I was starting to straighten myself up to my full height as I crossed my arms. Apparently I can be quite intimidating when I want to be with how the so-called civilian leader was shrinking back. “There's no way in hell you're going to get me to wear that ugly thing. Ever!" I turned to look at the avian tailor who kept eye contact with me despite the obvious fear in his eyes. “Sir, you should come back tomorrow so we can discuss a different wardrobe for me." I'm not sure what was going through his mind listening to everything but I could see the relief when I told him to come back tomorrow. “You…" I sighed as I tried to calm myself down again. “You people have given me a lot of information to think over and not a lot of time to process it yet. So right now, all I want is access to a shower and a room with a bed in it."

“Then I guess I will show you your room. This way." Lycia sighed as she waved me to follow her. We passed several guards, maids, and attendants as we made our way deeper into the palace. I must have seen a dozen different furry aliens that looked very much like those that I was familiar with back on Earth. Everything from the feline, canine, and avian variety to horses, mice, rabbits, otters, and more. There was even a creature that fit the description of a D&D Kobold lizard. Most hurriedly got out of our way and bowed their heads, but some from what I've noticed eyed me with contempt and I had the feeling that they would stab me to death in a heartbeat if given the chance. At this point, I only shrugged it off as being a completely different race than what they were used to.

We quietly walked through the palace. It felt like we walked the majority of the floor inside as well as went up several flights of stairs before we arrived at a set of double doors. Lycia then turned to me and spoke. “This is the Overlord's chambers, yours if you choose to stay with us." She said with a pang of regret in her voice. “I'm sorry that so much has been dumped onto your shoulders so suddenly, but I hope that a good night's rest and with a little bit of time you will make a decision to help us." She hesitated before continuing. “Sir Prukatu isn't… a leader. As I think you've already noticed with your comment about him that he's a fanatic with delusions of how things should be. We need someone to keep him and the others like him in line and the only one they will listen to is the Overlord. Otherwise we're going to have to follow his orders since he's above us in our hierarchy."

“I… Don't know." I said honestly. “As I said before, I'm not a leader. I was a factory worker before coming here. And even then, not one with any authority."

“Please, just give it some thought. Even if it's just to keep the Orthodox Occult of the Dominion in line."

“I… I will think about it." I reluctantly said.

“Thank you." She turned to leave before stopping from remembering something and turned back to me. “With everything, we forgot to ask. What is your name?"

I blinked. “My name?"

“Yes."

I thought for a moment about the question, should I give my actual name or… “Dar." I said. “Dar Tavor." I breafly felt kind of bad not to use my real name, but my instinct was telling me to go with something else, even if it's a character persona that I've been playing around with for the past few years.

She nodded. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Dar Tavor. And please, consider what I've said. It would be better for everyone I think for you to be involved in some way instead of what happened with the last three lords."

“What happened with the previous three?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“The previous three Overlords tended to themselves, creating their own personal harems and treated our troops like little playthings as the Occult took the opportunity to seize more power and control over the populace." I winced at the thoughts of someone like Prukatu being in charge of anything. A religious zealot was never a good idea to have in charge if the anime and games that I've once played were accurate. “I have kept you too long, Lord Tavor." She said with a bow. “There will be a strategy meeting in the afternoon that one of us will come to get you for. Hopefully, you will have your answer ready by then for us." She pressed a panel to the side of the doors which caused them to split open allowing entry into the room. “Until then, please have a good night."

“G'night." I simply said, entering the room as she walked away.

As the door closed behind me, I found myself in a commons room that was like one of those presidential suites that you would see on TV and movies. I could see that the room was furnished with familiar couches and chairs tastefully arranged along with a few tables and desks around the walls. In Front of me was a wall of windows that looked like it went out onto a balcony and had a good view of the night sky. I was tempted to explore the area, but I felt other needs arose and reminded me that I still needed to clean up from my day of work back on Earth. With a little bit of searching, I found the bedroom and attached bathroom down a hallway. The bathroom had all the comforts of home, including a walk-in shower and bathtub that could easily fit multiple people in it.

As much as I wanted to use the bath and soak for an hour or two, I opted for the shower, which I was glad was already set up for use. The difficulty came when I realized that I was still wearing the one piece bodysuit that was doing a good job of hugging my body and wasn't very pliable at first. However, during my stumbling around the bathroom, I discovered an air drying booth and found out that forcing air under the tight fabric actually loosens. So after what I'm afraid to admit was thirty minutes of screwing around, I was able to get the bodysuit off and take my shower. I thought about using the drying booth again to dry off once I was done with the shower to try it out, but I opted to use the regular towels that were available as I never did much care for the hand air dryers that were in a lot of public restrooms back on Earth.

With my shower taken, my only issue was that I didn't have any food as I usually eat when I got home from work while watching some TV before I settled down for bed. However, with everything that had happened and I had no idea what time it even was, I just settled for a glass of water and went to what I thought was the main bedroom. There was an oversized bed there with several pillows, probably so the previous overlords could sleep with their harems. I didn't care much at this point as I crawled under the lone sheet and tried to sleep. At first it was hard not only because of being in a strange environment, but the room temperature was rather cold with me only in my birthday suit and a simple thin comforter sheet for warmth…