I found myself sprawled on the solid ground, the cold floor freezing my cheeks as I struggled to crack open my eyes, blasted by lights that could blind a dragon. My head was pounding like it had taken a hit from a metal pipe right at the nape, serving up a new kind of headache I hadn’t felt before.

“What the hell happened?” I grumbled under my breath. The last thing I recalled, I was stuck in my classroom, then out of nowhere, this strange guy materializes and hurls some glowing orb straight at my chest; the damn thing goes right through my chest

I hastily clutch my chest, checking if anything's changed, but all I get is a sweaty shirt.

“You’re up,” said the man, perched contentedly in an armchair, assuming a relaxed posture, crossing his legs with one knee casually propped over the other.

"What did you do?" My voice cracked. The first thing I needed to know was what happened to me. If I was gonna die, I regretted not finishing the books still pending on my table.

"I just gave you a blessing, thank me!" he remarked, all too proud with his sarcasm, while fiddling with my pen on his fingers.

“Blessing what? I didn’t ask for it,” I anchored myself using my elbows as I struggled to go up. Pain was crawling all over my body.

“You didn’t, but you’re gonna need it,” he said.

I managed to sit on the chair just in front of him.

“Clearly, you’re not ordinary, that’s a given, considering you could flick light orbs at people. So, who exactly are you, sir, with all due respect,” I asked, a bit tense but I’d managed to compose myself.

I’m not new to these, especially in this time of changes, where all sorts of magical things happened. People nowadays could conjure the impossible into reality. Demons have appeared, Angels have been sighted, Elves were roaming around Scandinavian countries; we’re all used to it already.

“Like I said earlier, I’m Apollo, the God of Sun, Light, Archery, Poetry, Arts, Medic-“

“Yes, I get it, I know the rest of it,” I interjected. Gosh, this god is talkative, really. Well, that was impertinent of me to cut the words of a god, if he is.

“What’s up with you guys cutting my words! You sound exactly like my sister, it’s annoying!” he whined, oh great.

“Sorry sir,” I muttered quickly. I forgot the fact that this man in front of me is a god, as he said himself, and that I might get blasted into ashes if he’s really the God of Sun.

I knew Apollo like he’s a brother to me; he’s my favorite mythological character from the books I’ve read. I even have a whole set of books about him.

But this isn’t just what I expected from him. Sure, he looks ethereally beautiful, almost impossible, but he seems more like someone from my generation. His attitude was too human-like. Well, there’s that punishment where he got turned into a mortal for a period of time, but does that affect him that much?

“I understand, you must have tons of questions why, what, how, when blah blah blah, but first, I need you to understand what is actually happening here, this whole fiction turned reality thingy. I’m guessing the others are getting oriented like you as we speak, but that’s that.” He said.

“What do you mean others?” I asked.

“The people you call Harbingers or Apostles, they act like god proxies, whatever you call it. They sign a contract with a being from another realm and get their powers, like what we’re gonna do right now,” he smiled at me, and right there, a portion of my chest started glowing through my shirt.

I immediately pulled my collar to check, and a symbol of the sun was imprinted right at my sternum; it was glowing, and a fire crown was positioned right at the top of it, right between my clavicles. I carefully grazed my hand to feel it but all I felt was a slight warmth on my skin.

“That’s a stigma; it represents the blessings of whoever gave you power. The fire crown was Prometheus’, he asked me to give you that as well; he has this weird fixation over humans, he loves your race so much,” Apollo stated.

"So, I'm an Apostle now? I thought Apostles are just crazy strong compared to others. No one spilled the beans about being proxies or the stigma thing," I probed.

Things are starting to get more complicated than they already are.

"Your powers depend on whoever you got contracted. If you got chosen by a powerful being, then you're lucky. In your case, I had my eyes on you right when you were born. It just turns out that Prometheus intercepted me right when I was about to exit our realm and asked me a favor. So, congrats for having two stigmas in one night!" he clapped like a madman.

“I’m not exactly happy about it; I think it will only bring trouble to me… Are you sure I’m the right person for this? I’m just some book obsessed kid; I don’t fight,” I explained.

It was true, It’s not my personality to throw myself at battles where I could potentially die. It’s not wise at all.

“That’s what makes you the perfect person for this role. You have read books about different mythologies; You have a better understanding about us more than anyone that was chosen. You’re the most fitted person to serve as a Realm Keeper,” he stated.

“And what’s a Realm Keeper?” I asked. See? There’s still a lot that he hasn’t told me about; how does he expect me to be on board with this?

“A Realm Keeper is someone who fixes realms in order to prevent a collision. A full collision is irreversible, by the way, so if a realm of monsters has fully merged with Earth, it will be permanent. Not unless you manage to mend the boundaries and establish a proper door, a channel.”

“We can fix this problem?” I said.

“We can, but it isn’t as easy as you think. To stabilize a realm, you need to get to its core. And getting to its core means facing the very foundations of the world. For example, in Olympus, you know where that is, and the gods who you gotta face in order to do that, easy? No.”

“So that’s why you commission humans into doing it, since we’re the center of this, we should fix it ourselves, and the reason you can’t act on your own is that you’re not allowed to enter other realms, am I right?” I deduced. My brain is weirdly working thrice as efficient than normal; is this part of the blessing? It’s like the gears in my mind are new and grinding at a fast speed.

Right, Prometheus was a genius, maybe his blessing is more than just stealing fires.

Still, the thing about being a Realm Keeper was too complicated for me; it’s not some side job where I’ll help with office stuff, or apply as a bookkeeper in the public library, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. But a Realm Keeper? It already sounds complicated just hearing the term, what more the responsibilities attached to it.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You got that faster; see? It comes off very natural,” he praised, “gods of bigger realms don’t want to merge with Earth; that would mean compromising their territories, and we don’t like that. As for the smaller realms, it’s a different case. Take the Vampire Realm, for example. I heard Vlad Tepes, the First Vampire, is running havoc on some parts of Europe,” he shared.

“The news about vampires is true. So, zombies could possibly appear as well,” I said.

“It’s not impossible. Asgard is doing their best not to let any giants break the barrier any further; Zeus has ordered full surveillance on Tartarus, lest the Titans wake up.”

"Ahm, can you give me a minute to process this? Maybe a few days, not really sure. This whole thing is hitting me out of nowhere," I pleaded.

I was feeling pretty helpless, and I knew this situation was gonna ask a lot from me. Like, I'd have to give up some major stuff for the sake of others. I’m not some saint or a superhero who can shield folks from danger – just a regular teen dreaming of hitting college next year.

“Sure, I’ll send someone to your house in three days; if you’re ready, go with him. If not, well, I'll just have to retrieve the stigma from you, which sucks. So, I'll be expecting you," he flashed a soft smile before straight-up disappearing.

I was left alone in the room once again. The sound made by crickets, and the rustling of trees were ringing into my ears.

“Crap, I forgot to ask him to get me out of here,” I cursed. Totally slipped my mind that I'm still stuck in this room, and it's already freaking 10 PM!

Then an idea struck me at that moment.

"Perfect time to test out these new powers, huh?" I mumbled to myself.

I slapped my bag on my shoulder and strolled up to the door.

How the heck do I do this again?

Those Awakeners from Schadenfreude said in those interviews that using their powers is like telling your limbs to move, like it's just a part of your body but in some intangible form.

I laid my palm on the wooden door and pictured a fire popping up.

WOOSH!

A burst of flame showed up on my palm, and the smell of burnt wood started drifting through the air.

I'M BURNING OUR CLASSROOM DOOR!

I took a quick step back, shocked as hell. The flames vanished just as fast as they appeared when I yanked my hands away from the door.

I checked my right palm, and it’s not even burnt.

COOL! I could really control fire like those characters from the books I’ve read.

I took a deep breath and conditioned my mind properly. So far, this is going well.

I placed my palm back on the already charred part of the door and summoned fire again, this time letting it burn. I waited for 10 minutes before the whole door was burnt to ashes. I just hope the smoke won’t get noticed by anyone, so I quickly dashed down the stairs.

All I felt at that time was thrill, excitement, tension, and panic. This is my first time doing something so rebellious. Damn, I might even be the first one to burn a school door – definitely more wicked than Dylan.

It took me a while to realize it, but I was grinning so wide in excitement. For the first time in my life, I felt so different from my usual self. It isn’t so bad after all.

I sneaked out of the building, making sure no one notices me. It’d be weird if they still saw students in the campus, and I can’t let others know I was the one who burnt the door. I don’t want to get any violations because of stupid Dylan.

I climbed the wall behind our building. I had no choice but to use a back door. I can’t go showing myself at the main entrance. When I made it outside, I casually walked through the sidewalk like nothing happened. Luckily, the streets were already asleep at this hour.

Along the way, I pondered more about what happened earlier. Meeting Apollo, getting his blessing, and now being offered to become a Realm Keeper. Humans have yet to uncover the reason behind the weird unexplainable things that happened for the past years until I heard the story earlier. And now, we're entering a new stage.

“Should I accept the offer? It feels like a job that I won’t get paid, though,” I said to myself.

“NOOOO!”

Suddenly, a guttural scream ripped through the alley I'd taken. Chills crawled down my spine as I considered the possibilities behind that scream. Loud footsteps followed, and someone was sprinting my way, picking up speed until a woman's silhouette emerged.

The moon was hiding behind the clouds, casting shadows all around, and the winter breeze added an extra layer of chill to the scene.

She struggled against an electric post about 10 meters away. Her hands were clamped onto her bleeding neck, blood squirting out from a nasty wound.

It was a gruesome sight. Her face was ghostly pale, her hair a mess, and part of her shirt was ripped.

"H-help," she mouthed when she found me, frozen in my spot. I wanted to bolt; I'm more than sure something supernatural was behind this.

She staggers my way, and I can finally see just how messed up she is. Blood's dripping down, creating a path straight to me.

"We got a visitor," a high-pitched, hoarse voice echoed from the shadows, and then this tall creature waltzed in. Two meters of pure nightmare – horns on its head, bat-like wings folded on its back, and in its hand, a torn-off leg, fresh blood oozing down the side of its mouth.

It was horrendous. The creature strolled casually, like it had all the time in the world.

"Want to join us?" he smirked, extending an invitation tainted with malevolence.

"N-no! Run away, kid, c-call someone," the woman, a few years older than me, pleaded hysterically. She knew I wasn't the right person to seek help, given my horrified expression.

But what was I supposed to do? Run and ask for help? Would the monster just let me go? Probably not.

"Why are you just standing there, kid? You seem strong," the monster remarked.

Can a monster sense even that?

Despite fear coiling around me, I needed to defend myself and, if possible, save the woman. I’m no hero, but my conscience won’t let me just run away knowing I do have some power, just not sure if I’m even capable of fighting that monster.

"I can h-help," I reluctantly said to the woman. The monster was still a good distance away, and the woman was only a few steps from me.

Mustering up courage, I walked toward her. Remembering that Apollo is the God of healing, maybe I could also use that power.

I tried to imagine my hands being enshrouded by healing magic; that's all I could think of with my messed-up mind. A green aura glowed on my right hand.

There's no time to wait; I knelt before the woman and helped her lean against my lap. I positioned my right hand over her neck.

"Thank you, but it's no use; that monster would just toy with us," she finally cried, not from pain but despair. The wound on her neck was slowly closing up, and the bleeding was gradually slowing down.

It’s a good sign that my powers are working right, but it isn’t enough.

I’m fully aware that the monster was just playing around. It stood still a few electric posts from us, watching me heal the woman like it’s a circus show.

“I’ll do my best, just hang on,” I stammered, my voice trembling from fear. This isn’t something I can handle alone, but again, I was left with no choice. The woman slowly calmed down, or more like drifted into a trance. Her eyes were fully dilated, and she was breathing slowly. She must have been shocked to the bone that it took her body this long to process the trauma from earlier.

“It’s fine, just stay here,” I said, trying to act like I really have the situation in my grasp.

“Are you done? You know it’s pointless; you’ll just end up inside my stomach,” he grinned, revealing fangs as long as my fingers, coated in blood.

I gritted my teeth as I put all of my focus into strategizing how to survive. Think about my powers. Apollo and Prometheus. The cogs in my head spun faster than usual, thanks to Prometheus cranking it up. It sure was straining, but this is how I could think of a way to get us out of this situation.

I lifted my right hand toward the sky, and a tiny ball of light appeared, slowly blooming. "That it? HAHAHA!" the monster laughed, but his laughter was replaced with shock soon enough.

The small orb expanded rapidly, emitting light like the freaking sun dropped in the middle of the night. It took everything I had to keep it afloat. I made it big enough to draw attention, hopefully from a nearby Awakener or someone capable.

“You’re clever huh, you got me there, but before anyone made their way here, you’ll be dead meat already,” he said, approaching with panic in his eyes.

"You think so?" I replied, not stopping there. If the mini sun was just a distraction, then I must be an idiot. I swung my right arm toward him, and the makeshift sun ball slammed his way. I didn't know if it was enough, but I turned back and hoisted the woman onto my shoulder, running like hell.

A splitting headache hit me; It was a throbbing with each beat echoing like a blacksmith's hammer against an anvil. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping me going. If I stopped, I'd faint right away.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" the monster screamed, a mix of annoyance and struggle. The sun must've messed him up somehow, but I didn't care.

Every step was a battle, but I somehow found our way back to the main highway, where more people were now gathered, thanks to the shining distraction.

A weird sense of joy surged inside me. Did I actually make it out alive? I stumbled, but someone grabbed me just in time, preventing me from dropping the woman.

The last thing I saw was the blurred face of a man with jet black hair; he whispered, “You did great.” I blacked out right there.