The first sound was forged from incertitude, tension, and madness. It was neither word, chant, nor humming but a deep throbbing vibration. It came to his mind like the first water droplet after the drought. His spirit revivified. He awoke from his long slumber.

The crystal sang a first note to the man resting on his body. As if thunder had struck, his muscles contracted, his bones shook, and pain shouted.

The dreadful finger of death surrounded his throat. Her frigid breath rolled on his ears. She was beside him, ready to take him to the forever empty.

However, he would not let himself go. His jaw clenched. He held against the ivory wall of death, refusing her call. The crystal felt his resolve and answered by realising a wave of vermeil energy. The geode pierced the veil, chased the forever queen away and awoke him to the world around him.

A vegetal smell filled his nostrils, and a chill went over his body. Like a bear during the first spring’s rains, he opened his eyes and stared at the renewing green.

A group of teenagers surrounded him. They were all clad in similar clothing, but none were remotely alike. Their visages were slashed with fear and apprehension. Many scrutinised his face with some gleaming hope in their eyes. He couldn’t understand why, so he decided to act as he always did.

He chased away the last shade of weariness from his face and stood in the middle of the circle.

Standing at the top of the hill, surrounded by perfect nobody, he was like a warrior emperor of old. His mere presence was enough to shade any other man. Most of those were a head shorter than him and couldn’t even dream of matching his regalia.

“Where are we?”

His first words were like rolling marble. Raw, yet marked with elegance and dignity. Only the silence answered. No one knew or dared to talk with the waking bear. He slowly stroked his perfectly trimmed beard and looked at his company.

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His companions were of mixed origin, and none was like another at first sight. The only point of connection was their age, as everyone was at the end of their teenage years.

“Exactly.” Said a nasal voice after a while. “That is the question everyone wants to know, and this flock of sheep expected you to answer.”

He, who had talked, was a boy of Asian origin. He pushed up his scarred glasses, shielding the world from his cold stare. Right beside him was hiding a girl looking awfully like him. Only a fool would not understand that they share the same blood. The boy was the elder, and he talked for the two of them.

His sister was hiding in her dark hair, barely visible even under the bright sun. The shadowy girl was like his polite shadow, a place she enjoyed.

“My name is Hideaki. You seem more capable than these rabbles.”

He offered his hand, which the other took after a second of thinking. Hideaki felt his slender finger crushed between the steel grips.

“Darius O’Lowry. Does no one have any idea where we could be?”

As he talked, he turned his head to the side. Nothing was lighting up in his memory. The place was too savage and magical to be in his domain. The heteroclite group surrounding him also indicated the abnormality of the situation. This was not some rapt like he had first assessed, but something much more treacherous.

“Who was the first to wake up? I want a word with him.”

Many stepped back. Others looked at the ground. Only the most daring stared at the girl hiding behind Hideaki.

That last stepped to the side, and with her diaphanous voice, she said:

“It was me…”

Her voice evaporated in the air like winter mist. Very few caught more than a handful of syllables. She tried to continue but kept choking on her words. Tears shone in her eyes. She wanted to vanish in the shadow of her brother. That last had been striking his index on his forearm for a minute, holding himself up.

“Enough!” he yelled. “How can you fail at so little? Her name is Hikari, and she is my damn sister. She was the first to wake up. I followed right behind. It was ten minutes ago, and we saw nothing.”

Darius slowly nodded. He was not more advanced than before. Like everyone, he was lost in the forest, blind to the trap surrounding them. The only difference was that he understood they existed, and to survive, they needed to avoid them.