In a brightly lit room, in the basement of the Royal Castle of Etherea Empire, there stood many hooded figures.
Some gave off the aura of Regality and Nobility, some gave of a sharp aura like that of weapon, some gave off an aura, purely made of bloodlust. Suddenly another figure entered the room, his aura suppressed that of all present. His aura was dominating and suppressing, quickly relieving the suffocating atmosphere of the room.
He commanded, "Begin the Procedure". A few hooded figures rushed to the centre of the room, where a circle with complex design was inscribed. They raised their staff and began chanting in an incomprehensable tongue. Two more figures rushed in from the crowd. They started praying to whatever deity they worshipped. As the chanting and praying intensified, the air began to buzz with power. An incredible phenomenon happened. The magic circle lit up, and began to emit light which quickly switched from one colour to another. It started with Green, then switched to blue, then yellow, then violet. It switched between all known and many unknown colours, as if it was unable to decide on a fixed tone.
Suddenly it stopped and settled down at Orange. The buzz in the air intensified, as ripples in Space was created.
The magic circle flashed with intense orange, blinding everyone present for a moment. As soon as it began, it stopped. Everyone had their senses dulled so they didn't notice the existence at all for a few moments.
She donned Yellow robe, which fluttered in air, she had an extraordinary aura which seemed to broken all chains restricting all beings. She had grey hair, a face and body which seemed to be sculpted from the stars themselves, she lightly floated in the air as the world seemed to bend to her whim. Her eyes seemed to contain the weight of all things, she didn't wear any footwear. Even before the smallest fragment of time passed, her aura changed and became mundane, her appearance became average, her clothes changed into those that the summoned heroes normally came wearing when they were summoned, her eyes became the colour of green and but her hair remained as it is. She floated down and quickly stood on the summoning circle, the light amused smile on her face vanished and was replaced with a face of confusion and doubt.
As everyone returned to their senses after the flash of orange, they quickly looked towards her, who stood on the summoning circle. The figure who have previously entered the room and suppressed everyone with just his aura, rushed forward, and extended his hand, intending to shake her hand. She looked at him with the face of confusion and doubt, and quickly asked "Where am I!? Where is this place!?"
" Ohh, I remember, I was in my room reading a book, when a light suddenly flashed under my feet, where am I now??", she asked questioningly while maintaining a confused and somewhat afraid and pitiful front.
The figure introduced himself, "I am very very sorry for summoning you here. I couldn't help it as it was a direct order from the representative of the association. We are only a small world which is the subordinate of the association. Not even worthy of being canon fodders in a true war. I am the ruler of this Empire, as well as this world, Rutherford II."
He continued, "You will be sent to the nearest branch of the association, where your aptitude will be tested. You will be provided with resources and opportunities accordingly. Even if your aptitude is poor, at the least the association will guarantee that you live out your life safe and sound".
She took on a look of doubt and despair, and asked "Do I have no say in it?"
The emperor replied "Unfortunately not. Even if you choose not to go with the procedure, we won't take any action, but the association will hunt you down as a potential threat. Your only way out is to go through it. I again am very sorry, I had to do it to protect my people. Can I have your name?"
"Oh Yes", she replied with a face of determination, " I am Celestia, Celestia Rutherford. Can you tell me more about the situation". The emperor nodded and said "The situation is extremely complex. A third of the galaxy is ruled by the association. A third is ruled by the Silvera Empire, and the rest is ruled by forces such as the United Magic Frontier, the brigade of light, the cult of fiend god etc. In these, the association is a foreign force from another galaxy which suddenly appeared three centuries ago. They started to quickly amass forces and conquered small planets, then moved to larger and important planets, slowly chipping away at the power of the empire, which was then the strongest force. That's how it currently arrived at the current situation. The loss of power of the empire, lead to the rise of other forces. The association and the empire never had an all out war, as the Empire is very unstable due to civil wars, which happens every few years."
Celestia asked, "Is it alright to say something about the association that way?"
"It is fine, even if they come to know of it, they won't take any actions , as they won't want to offend you if you join them."
"Tell me, what exactly is this hero Summoning?"
"We aren't sure either. I have heard from my Grandfather, that once upon a time the different races of our world used to wage war against each other. At the forefront were the Demon race and the Human race. The human race summoned heroes with the blessing of the deities to fight against the so called demon king. It all stopped after my great great great grandfather formed an alliance with all the other races. There haven't been words of any more Demon King ever since. Once the association came to our world, they forced us to resume our hero summoning practice, as they hypothesised that it worked by summoning people from a currently unknown location in space. Now, I think you should be exhausted. You should rest in the room arranged for you in the castle. The representative of the association will be here the day after tomorrow." He bowed again, and took his leave. Celestia was guided to her room by a maid, she knew it was actually a high grade golem which looked like one. After entering her room, she quickly changed her clothes, took a bath, wore nightwear and plopped herself on her bed. She already knew that the room didn't have any surveillance, but she still waved her hand and created an an invisible, intangible barrier. Better safe than sorry. After that, she shut off the main portion of her mind, and left her body in autopilot. To anyone looking, she looked like she was sleeping. She timed it and let her consciousness fall into a brief slumber.