He stood there shocked.

Bulan knew his problem and as expected of a Fallen also knew of a cure. The thing he had dreaded was close to coming to an end. But there was something he didn’t know. How and why the nightmare kept plaguing him.

“Is it the eye bags?” Zach asked. Yet that knitted brows were far from being a casual question.

“Unfortunately, not,” Bulan said.

“Then how?”

“At first, I thought you were one of the Fallen’s followers, but entering my domain I had a clear look on you,” Bulan said.

“Wait, what? Do you mean this nightmare is because of some fucking Fallen?” Zach asked as the flame in his heart grew.

“I’m afraid so,” Bulan said. “I can’t tell who is it that tries to seep into your mind, but I can tell you one thing, sooner or later, it will invade your mind and soul and once it happened, I doubt you are yourself anymore.”

Zach frowned. This revelation was bigger than he expected as he did not expect an enemy as big as a Fallen right out of the doorstep.

“But something doesn’t make sense. How could a Fallen find me? And plagued me with those damnable nightmares?” he asked. “It’s only been a few days after the white dimension and I…”

He realized something. He couldn’t sleep right at the get-go as if the nightmare had always been there since the beginning.

“You realize it, don’t you?” Bulan asked. “Whichever Fallen this is, it had found you right at the very start.”

“But why?”

“Why else, Zachary? You are a Classless and yet your skills set are not of those of a Classless. You are a prime candidate for any Fallen that are lying in wait to find their most suitable successor to take up the big stage once more,” Bulan said.

“And sending nightmares while trying to invade my mind is his or her attempt of making me their chosen one?” Zach asked.

“Some of the methods of the Fallens are quite peculiar,” Bulan said.

“Peculiar?” Zach said, not understanding the reason behind such acts. “Not letting me sleep and trying to invade my mind is a hell no for me to whatever fucking Fallen that is.”

“I understood your rage, Zachary as some of these Fallens are notorious and ill-fit for their standings,” Bulan said. She scowled just thinking about those Fallen with bad reputations known to her.

“Do you know who it is that tries to hijack my mind?” Zach asked.

“Apologies. I have more than just a few names that could do this, and narrowing to one would be difficult,” Bulan said.

“Fuck!” Zach said. He found the nearest wall and punched right at it with all his might. His bones cracked with a bit of the wall crumbling down. Whoever that bastard was, he wasn’t going to let this issue slide.

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His chest heaved up and down as Zach tried to calm his nerves. Getting mad right now would be pointless not unless he knew who the culprit was.

“But why invade my mind?” Zach asked. He turned back and locked eyes with Bulan.

“To submit your will whole-heartedly to the Fallen or worse…” Bulan sounded gravy.

“Pardon my rudeness, my lady Bulan, but speak of it,” Zach said.

“The aforementioned method had been done countless times by notorious Fallen, but one exact method that had not been seen in eons is frowned upon even by the ‘sky’,” Bulan said.

Zach waited with his fist clenched tight.

“The making of an avatar. Splitting a part of one’s essence to conquer a lesser being’s body. A taboo that will face the wrath of the ‘sky’ itself,” Bulan said.

“And what of my soul?”

For the first time, Bulan the Fallen sighed. “You will cease to exist,” she said.

Despite his best effort, Zach couldn’t control his rising rage. His face contorted like the face of a wrathful demon. The talk of him dying completely fanned the growing flame in him, and he could not help but channeled it outwards.

He cursed in a deafening shout, kneeling on the ground as he sent fist after fist to the floor. The tile floors broke. His skin was cut by the fragments and his fists were drenched by his own blood. It went on as Bulan watched from the side with pity in her eyes. After a while, he stopped. He panted for his breath, staring in a daze at the dented ground he had made with broken tiles all around the place. He had been a target of a vile Fallen right from the beginning, and his fate would have led him to death if not for the beauty standing by his side.

Zach looked up and met those beautiful eyes. The rage in him had been quelled as he looked at Bulan with glistening eyes. “I accept. I’ll protect Savreen in the prelude realm and even after in the new world,” Zach said.

“Do not sorrow, my pitiful child,” Bulan said. She knelt on the ground in front of him, embracing him with her holographic arms. He felt her warmth and it made him remember his dear mother. He tried to hug her back. But his arms went through as if she wasn’t there.

She parted away from him and her fingers brushed the tears from his cheeks. “Sleep now, Zachary, and rest for the future,” Bulan said. She kissed him on the forehead, and drowsiness took him to his dream.

Zach fell and was caught by those slender holographic arms as Bulan lay him gently on the floor. She watched him sleep with a smile as an orb of light hovered beside her.

“A kind child with a terrible future that awaits him,” Bulan said. Her expression grew solemn. “May this gift of mine be of worth to your journey, my Zachary the Classless.”

The orb flew to him and seeped into his left chest. Then she was gone.

* * *

In a domain with dead trees, ruins, and graveyards, a throne sat on top of a giant boulder. A silhouette sat there still with his head resting on his fist. Then its eyes opened. Golden bright eyes with flames encased every inch of its visual jewels. Its lips parted, releasing a grating voice that had not been heard for eons.

“Who the fuck is it? Who is the one that dares mess with what’s mine.”

It sat back straight as his fists slammed on the armrests. The whole domain started to quake. Ruins started to crumble, the dead trees falling one after one another, and the ground began to split and crack.

Anger welled in this being as someone dared to mess with its plan. Yet it did not falter. It plucked a hair from its sideburn and flicked it into the air, sending it flying into the horizon.

But as if its action was not condoned. A thunderbolt came hurling from the pitch blackness of the sky, striking the flying hair, and burning it into nothingness. Its fists clenched tight as its lips twitched. Despite its attempt having been blocked, it never once rose from its seat. Its flaming golden eyes stared at the pitch-black sky as it cursed on the inside.

The figure sitting on the broken-down throne would not give up. Its horrendous-looking nail scraped the flesh of its palm. A thin film of his skin as it then flicked it flying into the sky.

This time, the thunderbolt did not come. The skin vanished into pitch blackness as the figure smirked, waiting once more as it wouldn’t be long before its time to rise again under the sun.

“Whoever Qaisar or Fallen it is, you’ll be the first that I will eat.”