Chapter 1: Reality dies.
Selena couldn’t remember a time when her world wasn’t confined to four walls. She had spent sixteen years in and out of hospital rooms, her life defined by a series of limitations imposed by a body that refused to cooperate.
Her condition was rare and complex—a disorder with a name too long for most people to remember, but everyone knew it meant her life would be shorter than most.
At first, when she was little, Selena had treated each hospital visit like an adventure. She’d been too young to understand why she was there or why her parents always looked so worried.
But as she grew older, she began to understand. Every test, every whispered conversation she overheard, was a reminder of what she was missing out on—a life that others got to live freely while she was tethered to machines and medications.
Her days were measured not in hours, but in routines. She woke to the beeping of monitors, a nurse coming to check her vitals and administer medications.
Breakfast came at 8:00, a plain tray with food that lacked flavor but was supposed to keep her “strong.” Then came rounds with the doctors, always the same serious expressions and soft voices.
Their updates had long since stopped offering hope; they were simply part of the ritual.
For Selena, books became her escape. Each one opened a window to a world she could never experience herself.
She devoured tales of adventurers, heroes who wielded swords and magic, who saved lives and fought monsters. In those quiet moments with a book in her hands, she could almost forget that her life had become little more than a cycle of treatments and waiting.
But as she got older, it became harder to ignore the truth. She was dying.
She saw it in the way the nurses looked at her with sad, sympathetic eyes, in the way her parents’ visits grew quieter, filled with a silence neither of them dared to break.
She could feel her own strength slipping away bit by bit, her world shrinking to the size of her bed.
Her parents visited often, but each visit weighed heavier than the last. They tried to bring her joy—a flower, a new book, stories about things they’d seen on the drive over.
But they couldn’t hide the pain in their voices, the quiet desperation behind their smiles. Selena could see how much her illness hurt them, and that knowledge made everything harder to bear.
She tried to put on a brave face for them, to tell them she was okay, but deep down, she longed for something more.
The nurses, too, were kind in a way that only made her feel worse. They brought her small comforts—a new book here, a treat there—but it was always overshadowed by a quiet, pitying look.
She was the patient they felt sorry for, the girl who had barely seen the world but would likely never leave her bed again. It was a life that felt small, suffocating, and yet it was the only one she had ever known.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Today, she knew, was different.
She’d overheard the doctors talking, their voices hushed but filled with a certain finality. They didn’t think she would last the week, maybe even the night.
This was it, they had said. The end of her life was no longer a distant possibility but an immediate reality, and the weight of it pressed down on her as she lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine a life beyond the walls she had known.
A part of her wanted to scream, to demand more time, more freedom. She wanted to see the sun, to feel the wind on her face, to live a life that was more than this.
But instead, she lay still, her hands folded on her chest, waiting for whatever came next.
Then, everything stopped.
The clock on the wall froze mid-tick. The steady hum of the machines silenced.
Her parents, who were sitting beside her bed, became completely still, their faces frozen in mid-sorrow, caught like statues in time.
She blinked, struggling to process the impossible stillness, her heart beginning to race.
Was this it? Was this how it ended? She expected some sense of peace, a soft fading into the unknown, but instead, there was only silence.
And then something changed. The air in the room thickened, a strange warmth filling the space as a figure began to take shape at the foot of her bed.
Light twisted and folded, gradually forming something almost human—almost, but not quite.
She stared, a mixture of awe and fear filling her as she took in the being before her. Its form was beautiful, but not in any way she could describe.
It was like looking at light itself, molded into something alive.
“Am I... am I dreaming?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“No, Selena,” the figure replied, its voice resonant, layered with strange harmonics that seemed to echo inside her.
“You stand at the edge of death, but fate has other plans.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, her voice trembling. “Am I... dead?”
“Not yet,” the being replied, its form flickering like a candle about to go out. “I have come to offer you a choice. Your life is at its end, but this does not have to be your end.”
Selena’s heart pounded, a mixture of fear and hope rising within her.
“What... what do you mean?”
The being seemed to lean closer, its gaze—or what she thought might be a gaze—piercing.
“I am reality—what remains of it. Darkness is spreading, opening gates to horrors that could consume your world. I was once its keeper, but my strength has faded.”
“But... why me?” Her voice was barely a whisper, her mind struggling to make sense of the impossible words.
“You understand powerlessness, confinement,” the being said. “You know what it means to be limited by forces beyond your control. That makes you perfect for this task.”
The words hung heavy in the air.
Selena could feel something inside her stir, a faint spark of determination she’d thought long extinguished.
“What... what do you need me to do?”
“I can only grant you my power—a spark of what I once held,” the being replied, its light touching her forehead, sending a surge of energy through her. “What you do with it is up to you. You must create a way to protect your world from the darkness that grows. But know this—you will be bound by the rules you create. You may watch, but you cannot directly interfere. Only those who wield what you create will act.”
A life of watching, unable to fully live, yet still existing in a way she had never dreamed possible. It was not the freedom she had always yearned for, but it was a chance to make a difference, to be something more than just a patient in a hospital bed.
With a deep breath, Selena met the being’s gaze.
“I accept.”
As the last fragments of the being dissolved, a surge of knowledge filled her mind—vast, endless, and incomprehensible in its scope.
Physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, electronics, engineering, magic, and sciences unknown to humankind now pulsed within her. The complexities of life, the mechanics of reality, the fabric of space and time—all were hers to understand.
It was as though she had been handed the very blueprint of existence, and with it came the realization of how much power lay within her hands to shape, mold, and guide.
The world around her remained frozen, her hospital room suspended in time. Alone with this overwhelming knowledge, Selena understood her task.
She was no longer simply a dying girl in a hospital bed; she was the architect of a new hope for her world.
Now, she was left to build something that could protect the world from afar.