[Nova] Chapter 1 Version 1: The Not-So Dark Lady of Astra (Patreon)

Synopsis:

Nova Verity was a seemingly ordinary young woman from Earth who paid her bills and worked an average office job just to get by. Except— she wasn’t actually from Earth and she wasn’t actually an ordinary young woman.

Once upon a time, she had been called the Dark Lady— a great evil that threatened the magical world of Astra— only to be defeated and forever sealed away by a Hero chosen by the Gods. And when Scarlet, a devout follower to the Dark Lady, breaks the seal, Nova Verity is finally returned to Astra after ten thousand years.

Things have changed greatly since then, yet Nova Verity still stands at the pinnacle of power. The world will try to oppose her, a new Hero will try to stand in her way, but it matters not. She is back on her throne, and it is time for her to exact her revenge on the Gods who robbed her of her powers.

Unfortunately, there is one problem: she actually enjoyed having an ordinary life.

Version 1: The Not-So Dark Lady of Astra

“Nova!”

I jerked up as I heard Maddie calling out my name. A stack of papers scattered off my desk, and I hurriedly scrambled to gather them back into a neat pile. I stopped a pen from rolling to the floor just as my supervisor came to a halt.

Crossing her arms, she addressed me with a raised brow. “Were you… taking a nap?”

“What? Me? Taking a nap on the job? Of course not!” I tried to give her my most convincing smile, but her gaze bore straight through my lies. I shied back as she let out a tired sigh.

“Nova…”

“Come on, Maddie. You and I both know that half our hours spent on this job is literally just sitting around and pretending to be busy.” I gestured at my cubicle neighbors. “At least I’m not browsing social media like everyone else, right?”

They both discreetly logged off Twitter as Maddie’s eyes darted their way. She resignedly closed her eyes. “First of all, please address me by my proper name—”

“Weren’t you the one who asked me to call you Maddie?”

“Not when we’re at work.”

“Fine. Madison, happy?”

“And secondly,” the supervisor said in an exasperated tone, “if you’re going to take a nap, at least try to do it quietly. You were snoring so loudly I could hear you from my office.”

“Oh.” I gave my cubicle neighbors an apologetic look. “Oops”

Madison patted me on the shoulder and spoke in a softer voice. “Look, I know that sometimes… you don’t get enough sleep at night. Things happen. Whether it’s an emergency or something else. So, you want to take a quick nap. I understand that. Just try to be more mindful to your co-workers, alright? ”

I nodded slowly. “That's my bad. Sorry about that.”

And that was that. I apologized to my co-workers, and my supervisor returned to her office. I wasn’t reprimanded by HR, nor was I fired. Because, contrary to popular belief, most people weren’t assholes.

“Hey Maddie,” I caught my supervisor once the work day was over, “Cody, Lucy, and I are grabbing some dinner at the sushi place down the street. Wanna come?”

“Sorry. I’d love to, but my husband’s cooking for me tonight.”

“That’s fine. Tell Jason and the kids I said hey—”

Sure, there were always the one or two assholes in a group of ten or twenty, but they were in the extreme minority. I just stayed away from them if I could and stuck close with those who were nice.

“Did you guys hear about that new game everyone’s talking about?” Lucy, a co-worker from a different department, said as we settled into the restaurant.

Cody perked up. “Do you mean—” He was our IT guy and a massive gamer.

“Yeah! That’s the one! My roommate spent all of last night playing it. It honestly looks like so much fun but—”

I glanced between the two of them, blinking. “Isn’t that the really hard game that was made by that famous author?”

“He collaborated with a game studio for it, yeha,” Cody said excitedly. “You should check it out. It’s funny— a character in the game has a name that almost sounds like yours.”

“Loads of game and movie characters have names that sound like hers, Cody.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Seriously. Nova Verity is such a badass name. It sounds like the main character of some fantasy novel.”

“Nah, it sounds more like what I’d call my RPG character—”

“Haha… that’s so funny…” I shrank back, nervously sipping on a glass of water. A bead of sweat ran down my back, but the conversation shifted away from my name and I sighed in relief.

It was harmless banter. I wasn’t offended by it in the slightest. Yet, I didn’t like talking about it because… I wasn’t actually from Earth. I was from Astra.

This secret was something I held since I woke up in this world ten years ago. I was actually from a fantasy world. Something straight out of an RPG. There was no technology there, but there was magic and monsters. And I had reached the pinnacle of power there.

Nations bowed before me. I had a vast empire that sprawled across the sea. My power rivaled that of the Gods, and that was why they’d sealed me away.

Here, on Earth, there was no magic. I could use only a fraction of my power, and the more I used it, the less I had. So I lived an ordinary life, working a regular job, and going about my average days.

“Seriously, you should check out the game! It’s super good!” Cody said to me after dinner.

“I’ll check it out!” I waved goodbye to both him and Lucy, leaving the restaurant behind. Walking on my own, I pulled out my phone and searched up the game. It was fifty bucks, which was kind of expensive, but I had enough saved up that I could afford it.

Back in Astra, I never found myself wanting like this. Magic alone could fulfill most of my needs , and if I had wants, I could always obtain it with my own power. The only price I had to pay was being responsible for the lives of so many others. Being a ruler was not all that it was made out to be.

Meanwhile, here on Earth, it was fun having no responsibilities. It was great, being allowed to just lounge around and watch a TV drama all night like I did yesterday. I didn’t have to stress on the daily over my citizens' needs. That was why, even though I was in another world that was not my own, without my magical powers that rivaled that of Gods, I was happy.

I liked this.

Smirking, I pressed the ‘order’ button— and stepped through a magical portal.

* * *

“Hurry, hurry!”

Scarlet sprinted faster, urged onward by her friend’s voice. She looked up, seeing her destination just up ahead. But a blast knocked her off her feet.

“[Grand Fireball],” a woman said. “This is the end of the line for you, heretic.”

“I’m so close...” Scarlet gritted her teeth and got back up. She spun around, facing Elainia the Elf. “Take this— Ring of Darkblast!”

Darkness shot from a metallic object on Scarlet’s right finger. Elainia’s eyes grew wide before she leapt back, and Scarlet was off running for the clearing in the trees. There was a shimmer— the barrier around the cavern flickered, falling as Damien’s figure came into view.

“I got it!”

Scarlet waved the Dagger of Incansiun above her head, and Damien stared breathlessly at the diamond encrusted blade. Then his smiled vanished. He leapt forward, shouting.

“Scarlet!”

“Wha—” She spun around just in time to see a sword flashing for her arm.

The blade clashed into a shield as Damien stood before her. He glared at the figure clad in knight’s armor looming over Scarlet.

“So, even the great Hero of Kaelan has come to stop us, huh?” Damien mustered up a grin, but the armored figure simply knocked him back. He glanced at Scarlet as she stumbled forward. “Go! I’ll hold the Hero off!”

“Damien!” she called out to him as he continued his clash with the Hero.

Yet, she pressed on. The sound of fighting echoed throughout the forest as Scarlet reached the cavern. The barrier closed behind her, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Damien…”

Her voice came out a whisper. She was glad she got back safely, but she had to leave her friends behind. Not just Damien. The others had been captured by the forces of Kaelan, and she was all that was left.

She glanced back through the barrier. The fighting died down, and she bit her lower lip. “I need to finish this,” she said and tightly gripped onto the Dagger of Incansiun. “It’s the last piece. It’s all that’s left.”

Scarlet walked down the cave tunnel, alone. The ground shook as a blast resounded, striking the barrier. But she didn’t falter. A circular chamber expanded around the girl as she approached a fissure in space.

The world bent and twisted at this crack, threatening to rip apart reality itself. But ethereal chains kept it from fully breaking open, and a lock held it all together. A ritualistic altar was placed before this seal, laid down by the Followers of the Dark Lady.

Scarlet lowered her head and placed the dagger at the center of the altar. There were runes inscribed along its surface, covering other potent ingredients and precious artifacts. With a drop of magic, Scarlet activated the ritual.

The spell circle shimmered. A bright glow overcame the room as Scarlet stepped back. Closing her eyes, she whispered under her breath in the quiet cavern.

“Dark Lady of Astra. Scourge of the Gods. The First Heretic. I beseech you, return to this world—”

Her chanting grew louder as the light increased in intensity. The chains rattled, and the ethereal lock cracked. The dimensional rift opened wide as the barrier shook once again

“—and with your greatness, please save us all from the wrath of the Gods.”

A figure emerged from the rift. Scarlet caught a glimpse of a flash of golden locks. Deep blue eyes. Her eyes widened as Nova Verity, Dark Lady of Astra, was finally returned to the world.

“It worked…”

There she was. A woman with blonde hair. She wore black, as expected, although there was a layer of white garments hidden beneath the odd blazer. And in her hand was a rectangular shaped object. One that shone with light, even though Scarlet sensed no magic from it.

Nova Verity placed one foot on the dirt ground… and blinked.

“This is—”

“Welcome back,” Scarlet said as she spread her arms wide. “To Astra!”

The blonde stared at Scarlet. At her surroundings. And dropped the object she was holding. “You… can’t be fucking serious right now. Am I really back in Astra right now?”

“Yep!” Scarlet exclaimed, beaming.

For some reason, Nova Verity groaned.

Author's Notes:

I've been wanting to write slice of life recently, so... I'm writing this. This is the first version of chapter of this story. I'll probably be writing multiple versions with multiple different synopses. Let me know what you think of this story!

I'mma sleep now.