A random voice sounded in Natsume’s head, or so she believed. When she opened her eyes, there was something strange in front of her. She thought it was some kind of light from a street lamp, but it was actually a light ball floating on her face.

-Good night, Natsume! Do you have a minute?- said the floating ball.

Natsume was shocked, trying to process the situation. After a while:

-Aaaaaaaaaaah!

Natsume screamed loudly and jumped away from the bench and the floating ball. Taking a better look, it wasn’t just a “ball”, as there were two triangle shapes rotating with the ball at the center. However, that “thing” just bounced around like flying and got closer to Natsume.

-Hey, don’t be scared! I’m not here to harm you- said the floating ball innocently.

The girl looked at the thing confused. She felt her eyes heavy and a bit blurry, so she rubbed them a bit, hoping that the thing would disappear… but it didn’t.

-OK, Natsume, calm down- said Natsume to herself. -This must be an… illusion from my lack of sleep. Yeah, that must be. There’s no way that thing is real.

-Hey, I’m not a “thing”! And I’m very real! You wanna check it?- asked the floating ball, who swiftly approached Natsume and pulled a bit of her hair. It hurt, making Natsume grab the ball. It was true: she was actually touching that strange thing.

-What the? What are you?- asked Natsume confused and shocked.

-Well, I am an “autonomous magical intelligence”, or “AMI” for short. My name is Blitz, pronouns it/they. Nice to meet you, Natsume- answered the ball introducing itself.

Natsume couldn’t process what the ball was saying. What intelligence? And why pronouns? But most of all…

-Wait, how do you know my name?- asked Natsume.

-Well, one of my roles as an AMI is to deliver messages, and I have a special message for you- answered Blitz. -Natsume Kumojima, you have been invited to take part in the Guardian Clash Tournament!

A weird silence filled the ambient. Even for an illusion from her imagination, that was way too much for Natsume, who turned around and walked away from Blitz.

-Wait, where are you going?- asked Blitz surprised.

-I’m going home- answered Natsume. -It’s obvious my head is doing this. Haven’t been sleeping well, OK? So I’m leaving.

-Really? Then, I understand you are not interested in making that wish of yours come true?- asked Blitz.

Those words made Natsume froze in place, her eyes wide-opened. Slowly, she turned around to face Blitz.

-What do you mean with that?- asked Natsume.

-Well, if you let me explain, you would have a better idea- said Blitz. -Wait a sec, I have this somewhere… inside me…

A weird “hole” opened up in Blitz’s “body” (if the ball could be considered that) and, like a bank machine releasing money, a rolled scroll came out of Blitz. Bouncing a bit, the creature signaled Natsume to pick it up. The girl took the paper, opened it and read it aloud.

“Dear Natsume Kumojima,

In the name of His Majesty, the King of Gat-Erol, you are cordially invited to take part as a contestant in the Guardian Clash Tournament, a unique competition that takes place in the world of Gat-Erol every 10 years (time measures adapted for your sake) and reunites creatures from all kinds of dimensions to show their strength and dexterity in friendly battles. If you defeat all your rivals and claim the title of Highest Guardian, you will receive the highest honor possible in all planes of existence: the original Guardian Sphere will grant your most desired wish.

Please confirm your attendance to the AMI that delivered this message to you. Good luck!”.

Natsume stopped reading the letter. It was all very strange, there’s no way she could believe it but… she was touching the letter, and she touched Blitz before. If all that was real, maybe…

-Is this true?- asked Natsume. -If I win this thing, do I get a wish?- asked Natsume.

-Yep, that’s right- answered Blitz happily. -The battles will be hard though, but if you win every rival, you get it!

-Any kind of wish?- kept asking Natsume with serious tone.

-Well, “any”, “any”… there are some limitations- explained Blitz while floating in circles. -For example, you can’t wish to change your whole world, no matter if as a whole or one specific thing, but you can change what world you want to live in. You can’t either wish any kind of “power” that would allow you to control your world nor directly harm any other living creature. Also, you can’t wish for a power or skill that doesn’t technically exist in your world. For example, you can’t ask for teleportation because there isn’t that in your world yet, but you can gain the ability to fly as there are creatures that can fly, even if you don’t have wings. But most rules focus on what I said before: your wish can’t be used to intentionally harm others.

Natsume remained silent for a while, processing that new information in her mind.

-So… as long as my wish is not against those rules… will I get it?- asked Natsume to make sure she understood.

-As long as you win, sure- exclaimed Blitz.

Natsume kept looking at the paper. If she could get her wish… if she could make it true… everything would be OK. That thought resounded on her head. But what if it was all a lie and got into trouble? But that thought produced another one: did that matter? Nobody would miss her if she went missing… or something worse. In her situation, she didn’t see any cons about accepting the proposal.

-Let’s say I believe you… What is this “tournament” about? And what is Gat-Erol? I don’t understand it- said Natsume.

-Well, Gat-Erol is the world I come from and the tournament is… well, it’s the tournament!- innocently answered Blitz. -It takes places every time our two satellites line up in the sky. It’s a show, really! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance, you shouldn’t miss it!

That was not that much information, but the girl didn’t care. Somehow, she already made up her mind.

-OK, I… I accept- answered Natsume. -I’ll join this thing.

-Great! You won’t regret it, promise!- exclaimed Blitz. -Then, shall we go?

-But how?- asked Natsume.

-Give me a minute, I have to prepare the door- said Blitz.

Blitz floated far away from Natsume until it reached an open area in the park. Natsume looked at it with dubious eyes. Then, Blitz began shaking and… becoming bigger. The sphere that was its body increased in size as the triangles broke and lined up forming a giant rectangular shape. As the ball became bigger, it also turned thinner and adjusted its shape to fit the “frame” formed by the former triangles. At the end of the process, in front of Natsume there was a giant light portal. The girl could feel how the door sucked a bit of air that surrounded her.

-What the...- murmured Natsume astonished.

-Come on, get in!- exclaimed Blitz’s voice coming from the door. -I can’t keep this shape for a long time, you know?

Natsume remained in her position for a few seconds, overtaken by the surprise. However, she remembered what they talked about and what she was promised. The other side of the door had the answer for her problems. Natsume looked back at the sleeping town. It seemed nobody had noticed all the ruckus, but she didn’t care. An outsider would believe that Natsume was merely looking at a blank wall. The girl turned around and said:

-All right… let’s do this…

With firm steps, the girl walked towards the portal and jumped into the unknown.