Jolting awake, Alex immediately felt that the world around him was wrong. There was no bed, no room, no walls. Instead, his vision was covered by endless suffocating blackness. It wasn’t just dark; it was the absence of everything. No stars, no sky, nothing to anchor himself to. He felt like he was floating, suspended in an infinite void.
He spun in place, desperately searching for something, but nothing greeted him back. For a while, he stood frozen, the deprivation of senses numbing his thoughts and panic.
And then he felt it, a soft, cold presence pressing against his neck. He slowly turned around. There, floating in the void, was a familiar sight. A knife – Helena’s knife. The very one he’d used in the forest. Its blade gleamed faintly, the only source of light in the abyss. It hung in the air, motionless, as if waiting for him.
For minutes he stayed there, questioning whether to touch the knife, yet it felt like hours. Not able to hold on any longer, his fingers shakily approached the tool’s handle. His appendages clenching, there was a momentary second where nothing happened.
Unnoticeable, a drop of blood escaped from the tip, before making its journey to the ground. And then another, and another, until a stream of blood steadily made its way down. In horror, he tried to release the hilt. Yet heavy and wet, it clung to him.
No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t let go. Some of the fluid fell directly, others still flowed down his wrist covering his arm in a bloody mess. It began pooling beneath him on the invisible floor. Each drop splattered with a sickeningly loud sound. The puddle of blood grew wider and deeper.
With trepidation, he looked down onto the floor. From within the crimson depths, a shape began to form. Two small eyes. Lifeless. Staring. The distorted, matted body of a rabbit stared back at him from beneath the surface, its fur soaked in red.
Its mouth hung open, in an eternal silent scream. Its small form warped, as Alex’s stomach twisted. He stumbled back, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He tried to yell, yet nothing came out.
Just as he thought it couldn’t get worse, a growl, deep and guttural, echoed from behind him. Shaken to his core, he turned just in time to see the burnt, charred body of a fox emerge from the darkness. The boy failed to notice the dissolving knife in his hands.
Its fur was scorched, its eyes hollow pits of black, smoke curling from its still-cracked skin. Its jaws opened wide, revealing teeth stained with soot and gore. Another snarl finally activated his mind, comprehending the danger the thing represented.
Without further thinking, Alex turned and ran. But it felt like his legs were dragging through mud. Every step was a struggle, the weight of the darkness pulling him back, slowing him down. The growl rumbled again, closer now, vibrating through his bones.
The fox was gaining on him. Its breath felt hot on the back of his neck. Just as he was about to lose hope, in the distance, a faint light flickered. His only chance of escape.
The boy forced himself forward, his muscles screaming in protest. The burden of the darkness clung to him, threatening to pull him under. But he couldn’t stop. Not now. Not with that thing behind him.
The light grew brighter, a small beacon in the endless void. The beast continued to follow, hunger and hatred radiating from its gaze, relentless in its chase. It felt like swimming against a raging current. The thought of giving up had entered his mind a countless number of times. Regardless he continued to persevere.
His goal was now within reaching distance. Every fibre of his being had only one goal in mind. To live. Just before the fox’s teeth could tear into him, Alex leapt forward, plunging through the light and into a different world.
The darkness vanished, replaced by the warmth of soft golden light and the smell of home. Alex blinked, the room around him seemed familiar. From the depths of his subconscious mind, in an area even he could not willingly reach, a single memory floated to the surface.
It was his home. His old home. His parents stood with their backs to him, gently rocking a baby in their arms. Their sight all but made him forget the previous nightmare. His mother hummed softly, his father chuckling under his breath. For a moment, everything felt right. Like he had travelled back in time, to a place where nothing bad had ever happened.
But then, their bodies still, his parents’ heads twisted, slowly, unnaturally, until their faces were staring straight at him. Their eyes were gouged out - dark, empty pits that oozed blood. It dripped down their faces.
Their mouths were stretched into horrific grins, the red liquid bubbling from their lips as if they were drowning in it.
“Alex…” They whispered, their voices gurgling through the blood. “Why don’t you join us?”
He stood frozen, his breath catching in his throat as the twisted, bloodied bodies of his parents lay before him, their eyes hollow and accusing.
He wanted to scream, to run away. To make them leave him alone. But his body wouldn’t listen. The weight of it all - the guilt and the fear - it was too much. He stumbled, his legs giving out beneath him. The twisted faces of his parents came closer, their bloodied hands reaching out to him.
As their claws poked his skin, a sharp kick to his side jerked him awake. Alex gasped, sitting up on his bed, his breath ragged and his skin slick with sweat. Archie stirred beside him, fast asleep, his foot still resting against Alex’s side.
The boy sat there for a few moments, letting the last vestiges of the dream fall away like dust. His hands trembled slightly as he rubbed them across his face, trying to rid himself of the nightmare's images. Yet they still clung to him, vivid and terrible.
The pressure to protect and to survive. The remorse for things he couldn’t change. They were getting to him, taking root even when he thought he had outlived it. The more he believed he progressed, the stronger they came back.
‘It’s not real.’ He reminded himself.
It didn’t help. Not when the faces of his parents lingered in his mind.
***
The hall was drenched in opulence. Massive chandeliers floated just below the ceiling and every wall gleamed with gold trimmings. Intricate carvings of her family’s ancient insignia adorned the marble surfaces, and the occasional portrait of a respected ancestor lined the sides.
Kella stood in the grand chamber; the full force of her family’s legacy being presented to her. It was a room that reeked of wealth and power, a reminder of the expectations placed upon her.
In the centre of the room sat a large magical orb, resting on an ornate pedestal, its surface swirling with faint, ethereal light. The thin lines snaked their way through the floor, touching the pedestal. Powering it so that it could achieve its task.
This was the tool used to awaken - what every child of her age used to harness their element. But to say that all awakening orbs were the same would be dishonest. Even the cheapest would cause a poorer family to declare bankruptcy. And among such a precious object, the one in front of her was amongst the highest quality.
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Kella moved toward it slowly, her steps steady, and her heart quickening with anticipation. From behind her, many important figures observed quietly, Alda among them. It would be an impossible task to find them in one location normally, yet here they were. No doubt they had skipped important events just to witness this one.
Reaching the orb, it felt like even the portraits were staring.
“The others have been disappointing. I pray that she succeeds.” At the front of the spectators, Arthur stood regally.
He had done everything he could, the rest was up to her. For most people, the only way to awaken was the public ceremony held by the educational institutes. But with his means, doing so earlier was a mere trivial matter.
It was risky, for the timing set by the schools was not randomly selected. Rather, the age was such that a child’s body would be sufficiently developed to take the burden. And not too late, such that their body lost its flexibility, and thus didn’t integrate the newfound power as well. But Kella was among the oldest and most diligent of her peers.
She reached the orb and, after a pause, placed her hand on its cool surface. Her breath hitched as she closed her eyes, feeling the connection form between herself and the crystal. The world around her faded, the grand hall dissolving into nothingness.
Suddenly, she was standing in a void – dark and endless. Only a sole blue flame burning in the centre was her company. No one knew quite what it was. Some thought it was a person’s soul, others their consciousness, a few their memories. It didn’t really matter, as one thing was certain. It was necessary for survival, its extinguishment signifying death.
The silence was absolute. Her pulse quickened, and her senses heightened. She had been told constantly times to remain patient. Don’t seek the elements, let them come to you. This was the moment she had been preparing for her entire life. Every lesson and every test, it was all leading up to this. She wasn’t going to fail now.
As time continued to ebb away, she finally felt it. It was a small presence at first, a dot of light far away. But it continued to approach, slowly and hesitantly at first, but then rapidly picking up speed. As the distance closed, it pulled her towards it. She resisted and began to make out its shape.
It was an orange ball, though its surface was by no means smooth. Rather, it felt like it was made of a single string woven together in an exquisite shape. The lace reminded her of the Northern lights, which she had seen through pictures. The sphere flowed like water, yet sometimes erupted like fire.
Upon seeing its colour, she had immediately realised her affinity. The same as the generations of her family before. The birthright of her bloodline. The element of Gravity.
As it arrived next to her, she had to shield her eyes from its brightness. It did a few twirls around the girl, inspecting her. Seemingly satisfied, it went over to the flame, slowly rotating around it.
Subsequently, as Kella prepared to awaken, she found herself unable to do so.
‘Strange, you should be able to leave immediately after getting your element.’
At first, she thought nothing of it, but as time kept passing by, her worry grew. Before it could crescendo, she felt another presence. It made her shiver with discomfort.
A light approached, more slowly and collected this time. Unlike the orange glow before, reminiscent of the setting sun, this was more aptly described as soft cyan. The same colour as her shocked eyes. Its brightness was no less inferior.
A cold arrogance befitting its brilliance, it flew past Kella towards the blue fire, not sparing her a second glance. Henceforth the two elements danced around in perfect harmony, revolving around the small blaze like planets do a star.
Her time spent pursuing knowledge not wasted, she knew of its power. Another advanced element, this time Ice.
With that over, she felt a gentle force pulling her away, now an Emerged Vigil. Allowing it to consume her, the void returned to its previous way. Nothing suggested someone had been here, except the new pair of globes.
Meanwhile, observing outside, Arthur had calmly watched the proceedings. As soon as the girl touched the crystal, the ground around her cracked under an invisible load. The abuse not enough, it proceeded to freeze over in a thin layer of ice.
A device in his hands had two bars appear, filling up at a rapid pace. Upon reaching completion, they blinked a few times before two letters appeared.
‘A double S huh? And the second one in ice?’
Though his face remained stoic, his eyes refused to hide his unbridled joy. Around him, people looked on in a mixture of awe and uncertainty. In front, seconds after touching the crystal, Kella had opened her eyes. Backing away from the orb, the girl was ambushed by two adults. They seemed impatient to squeeze her to death. His son and daughter in law.
‘Where the others in her generation failed, she succeeded. No, she far exceeded. We no longer have to sit back in misery.’
Without greeting Kella, the girl now swamped by family members, he retreated from the hall. He had to tell his father the good news.
***
Days passed in a blur. The dread from the nightmare still lingered, but Alex pushed it to the back of his mind, focusing on work and study. Or at least he tried, to the best of his abilities.
In school, Cortez’s laughter became a familiar sound, though his teasing sometimes made Alex want to run away from Inops. And Austin’s quiet strength offered a strange comfort. Alex had never been one for friendships, but these two… maybe they weren’t so bad after all. Aquilo was as steady a presence as ever.
He thought back to one of the days.
Cortez was leaning against a locker, smiling mischievously.
“You know, Alex, for someone who likes to say very little, you sure are very expressive when annoyed.”
Alex shot him a look, shaking his head.
“It’s not my fault that I have to put up with you.”
“I will never understand that. You should feel blessed to be showered by my attention.” Cortez pestered.
Austin, standing silently nearby, chuckled softly.
“With you here Alex, I can finally feel a semblance of peace. Sorry, but not really.”
At home, he became stricter with Archie’s behaviour, adamant not to let him waste his younger years. With their parents gone, he had to take up the mantle. And not in a superficial way, but one that would make his parents proud as they looked down on him from the afterlife.
And maybe they would get off his back in his dreams. That thought made him give a wry chuckle. His memories drifted back again.
“Archer, if you don’t start taking your studies seriously, you’ll regret it when you’re older.” Alex said firmly, sitting across from his brother at the small kitchen table.
Archie rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
“I know, I know. It’s just… I don’t want to, it’s not fun.”
Alex sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“If I don’t push you now, no one else will. You’ve got potential, Archie. Don’t waste it.”
For some seconds, Archie was quiet.
Then, he nodded, his usual playful smirk replaced with something more thoughtful.
“Okay. I’ll try harder.”
Only Lumen knew for how long he could stick to that.
Zara had watched in the background, a smile on her face, and dark rings around her eyelids.
Oddly enough, in the mines, Cautes had been absent. His ominous warning made him seem like he was planning something insidious. Alex was not naive enough to dismiss his threats, no matter what Noel had to say about it.
He had tried to ask Uncle Sam, but he just warned him to stay away. Regardless of what he thought, Cautes had disappeared, leaving just a gnawing unease in the back of Alex’s mind. With that contemplation, Friday had arrived. He had gained no new crystals, and it was another day at the mine for him.