Chapter 01 The Awakening
The asphalt shone beneath the streetlights lining the road. Engines roared, filling Friday night with the sonic pollution of the modern world. Alex accelerated his scooter as if he were either being chased or chasing someone invisible on the road. The traffic was turbulent, but he could think of only one thing.
***
A sound even louder than the roar of the engines filled his ears. The lights along the avenue flickered for a moment, and Alex felt as if gravity had failed. The handlebars slipped from his hands, and time seemed to distort before his eyes.
Before him, reality tore apart like a painted canvas. He saw himself standing in a ruined field, deformed creatures crawling through the abyss like insects. A solitary man cut through them with his sword, which overflowed with power. His eyes radiated a violet glow, and his golden hair flickered like living flames.
The warrior stopped and looked at Alex through the torn rift, recognizing him in the blink of an eye. His cold gaze remained fixed on him as the sword descended.
Alex's head was severed from his body in an instant.
He watched his body fall as the warrior's voice somehow entered his ears.
"Wake up. I can't hold them for much longer... Some have already entered the dream."
After defeating a beast that tried to cross the veil, the warrior spoke urgently.
"The Earth will be invaded."
***
Alex blinked his eyes.
A truck was coming straight toward him.
When reality returned to normal, he instinctively yanked the handlebars, narrowly avoiding a collision on the highway. His heart raced, beating violently in his chest.
Ignoring the people staring at him strangely with their phone cameras pointed in his direction, as well as the truck driver who burned with fury while cursing what had happened, Alex decided to continue at a slightly slower speed this time.
After a while, Alex reached his destination. He left his scooter in a nearby alley, but a strange feeling remained with him.
The visions of battles between the blond man and terrifying beasts had constantly haunted his dreams, but this time, he had been awake.
"Today is important. Today, everything changes."
Alex repeated the words constantly in his head as if they were a mantra.
Tonight was his two-year anniversary with Tiffany. The plan was simple: sneak past Marcão Weber's guards, surprise her, and finally become a man both in her eyes and in his own.
He easily climbed over the walls as if he had practiced the feat countless times before. Once inside, he used the codes Tiffany had previously given him.
As he walked, he noticed that the place looked different from what he was used to.
Alex wondered if changes had been made. The strangest thing was that there was not a single employee in the house.
A damp cold embraced the place, and a somber atmosphere hung over everything.
When he reached the third floor, Alex found himself standing in front of a door. He knocked three times in a previously agreed-upon rhythm, as he always did when they met under these circumstances.
The door opened from the other side.
She smiled.
Tiffany was beautiful as always, her eyes bright and her purple hair tied in a ponytail that reached her waist.
"You forgot the flowers, didn't you?"
Tiffany spoke in the sweet voice of someone who had already forgiven him.
But something seemed out of place.
Alex was not proud of this fact, but he had never offered her flowers and had not intended to bring any today. At least, the thought had never crossed his mind.
Alex entered the room, glimpsing a beauty that was both familiar and strange at the same time.
The LED lights that used to blink with a warm tone now glowed with a cold blue light. The creaking chair was still there, but in a different position.
There were small details that did not fit.
Tiffany closed the door behind him and enveloped him in a passionate hug.
Alex smiled, but a restlessness slowly gnawed at him from within. Somehow, her perfume seemed to change every time he inhaled.
Alex kissed her, and she reciprocated passionately, feeling the heat and taste of his tongue.
He slowly pulled away, wanting to tell her about what had happened to him that day: the near accident, the vision of the blond warrior.
But before he could say anything, Tiffany smiled sweetly as if everything were normal.
The LED-lit speakers began playing music in response to Tiffany snapping her fingers, drawing Alex into a dance to the song they loved so much.
"I can't believe it. It's already been two years since the day you gathered the courage to ask me out."
She whispered the words into her boyfriend's ear while making the dance more sensual.
"Love, did you bring the ring?"
As she said this, she lightly bit her boyfriend's ear.
"Of course. If I had let you, you would probably have grumbled, saying I came running here only thinking about that, along with a bunch of other nonsense."
Alex released his girlfriend's waist and reached for the ring box that had always been in his pocket.
Alex knelt, trying to look as romantic as possible, and placed the ring on his partner's finger. She laughed happily.
To celebrate the achievement, the couple shared a passionate kiss.
System Alert!
Starting the awakening process.
The User is now lucid.
Unlocking Gravity Authority.
Moving the user to the God's Dream.
Unfortunately, Alex cannot see the system window during the awakening process, and even if he could, he would most likely think he was seeing things.
---
Reality turned gray and distorted for a second. Then the world regained its color.
Tiffany violently pushed Alex away.
"Who are you? What do you think you're doing? I already told you to stop this. Help! Someone help me!"
Tiffany's scream made Alex freeze in place.
"Tiffany, it's me! What kind of joke is this? What kind of tasteless prank?"
She visibly trembled, fear and anger filling her eyes. Without realizing it, her body became enveloped in a green-colored light.
"Help! Someone help me... Stay away from me," she said in terror.
A gust of air released from her trembling hands threw Alex against the bedroom wall.
The pain arrived a second later.
Lying on the floor and groaning in pain, Alex could not understand anything.
The alarm went off, and Tiffany's scream echoed through the night. Two men entered and immobilized Alex in the blink of an eye with considerable brutality.
"Tiffany, my love! What's happening?"
"Take your hands off me! Tiffany, tell them we're dating!"
She hid behind them, ordering the men:
"Hurry. Call the police. This man tried to assault me. Quick, quick... Don't just stand there. Do something. Get rid of him!"
---
Alex woke up with his head throbbing as if he had a severe hangover.
Looking around, he saw the white lights of a police cell. His wrists were restrained with handcuffs.
His mouth was dry.
Looking around, he tried to remember what had happened. His mind was blurred. Screams echoed in his memories, along with Tiffany.
A broad-shouldered man entered the room. He seemed like a police officer, perhaps a detective or something of the sort. His voice was heavy and quite frightening.
"Alex Wellny. Age nineteen. Son of Thomas and Anastácia Wellny. Your father disappeared in a dungeon, and your mother is in a coma. You currently live with your sister, and both of you have dropped out of college."
"Officer, you're mistaken. This isn't me."
Alex tried to stand.
"I don't have a sister or a mother."
The officer, who looked more like a detective, pressed him against the wall.
"You broke into the Weber house and tried to attack their daughter. Are you going to say that is wrong too?"
Alex was having trouble breathing.
His memories seemed scrambled, as if something or someone had rewritten them.
The officer drew a gun and pointed it at Alex's forehead.
"Tell me who ordered you to kidnap Miss Tiffany Weber."
Alex then stared into the void.
He was in a daze. He didn't even know what he was doing there.
Was he going crazy?
Or was it something else?