A sharp, persistent tugging at my shoulder pulled me from the heavy, dreamless dark.
"Brother! Wake up! It's morning!"
I groaned, my muscles screaming in protest. My body felt like it had been reconstructed overnight, every joint stiff and unyielding. "Morning… Luna," I muttered, shielding my eyes from the thin, pale sunlight that managed to pierce through the grime of the window.
"Morning, brother Helios!" she chirped. She was trying to smile, but the dark circles beneath her ruby eyes told a story of a night spent in terror.
"So… what do you want to do today?" she asked, tilting her head with a sudden curiosity. "Don't you have work?"
Work? I froze. Did the previous owner of this body have a job, or had I fabricated a lie during the delirium of my "resurrection"? I searched the hazy fragments of his memories but found nothing but shadows.
"Yes, I do," I answered, playing it safe. "But first… I have a few questions."
"Questions?" She let out a small, huffy sigh. "What kind of questions can you ask an eight-year-old?"
She had a point. I let out a dry chuckle to break the tension. "Well… I'm a bit foggy after the… accident. I've forgotten things. Like magic."
Luna stared at me as if I'd grown a second head. "Magic? Helios, what are you talking about? There's no magic in this world! How in the seven seas would we have cults running around if people could just toss fireballs?"
I laughed, though it was mostly at my own expense. Maybe I was being an idiot, projecting fantasy tropes onto a grim reality. "Maybe they don't call it magic. Tell me about the cults instead, Moon."
Her expression darkened instantly. "They… I think they're an organization created by one of the Stars of Chaos," she whispered.
Stars of Chaos. The name sent a physical shiver down my spine. No magic, yet beings with titles like that existed? This world was a puzzle with half the pieces missing.
"Stars of Chaos?" I murmured. "You're acting… a bit weird. You mentioned them yesterday…"
I bit my tongue. I couldn't let her know that the "Helios" she knew had actually succeeded in his suicide attempt, only for me to inhabit the shell he left behind. If she realized her brother was truly dead, the grief would finish her.
"Well… brother is just being forgetful," she said, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I have to get going. I'll be late." he opened the creaking door, stepping out into the biting morning air. "Bye, Helios! Be careful… come back home safely!"
If I don't survive this world, Luna… I thought, the knot in my chest tightened.
I stepped out shortly after, nodding to a neighbour. "Morning."
"Morning, Mr. Helios," they replied with surprising politeness. At least the neighbours aren't trying to burn me at the stake yet.
The street was a nightmare of urban decay. The "tiles" were actually jagged, uneven stones that bit into the soles of my feet. The houses were a desperate patchwork of rotting wood, rusted metal, and scavenged stone. Yet, as I walked, I noticed a change. The farther I moved from our shack, the more the buildings began to stabilize. This must be the "area" system she mentioned.
My thoughts were shattered by a frantic shout from behind.
"Leader! Leader!"
I kept walking, assuming they meant someone else. How could a man who lived in a hovel be a "Leader"? But the footsteps grew louder, more insistent.
"Leader Helios! Why aren't you answering?"
Shit. He is talking to me. I stopped, schooling my face into a mask of cold indifference. If I showed weakness now, I was dead. I turned slowly. "What do you want?"
Standing, there was a man wearing a lacquered fox mask. He didn't seem surprised by my tone. "Leader, you forgot… you had work today," he said calmly.
"Stop speaking in circles," I growled, gambling on the "tough guy" persona. "Just tell me the job."
"After you killed the old leader, Neville, yesterday… you took his place. You're the Sovereign now."
My heart did a frantic somersault in my chest. I killed the leader of a gang? This scrawny body did that?
"Oh… and killing that Baron? That was impressive," the fox-masked man continued. "Barons are the most vicious nobles in this district. Most people thought you'd fold and serve them, but you're even more ruthless than Neville."
The stress was becoming a physical weight. I had inherited a criminal empire and a noble's blood feud in the span of twenty-four hours. "Right. The base. Let's go."
"Of course, Leader. The others are waiting. Even the 'Old Man' is eager to see you."
I followed the man—whom I realized was named Nova—through a labyrinth of alleyways until we hit a dead end. A stray black cat watched us with mocking yellow eyes.
"Leader… did you forget the way? Or are you… not the Leader?" Nova's voice turned sharp, a predatory edge creeping into his words. He stepped closer, his hand drifting toward a concealed weapon.
Panic flared. I had to say something that sounded like a command. "Why don't you open the gate?"
Nova paused. The tension bled out of him. "Ah. Testing me, are you? My apologies, Leader."
He stepped toward the wall, his voice dropping into a low, rhythmic chant. "The world beyond the broken veil… the sun and moon swallowed by darkness… open the gate."
A pulse of teal light erupted from the stone. Glowing runes—complex, shimmering symbols—etched themselves into the air. Luna said there was no magic, I thought, staring at the swirling light. I am never listening to an eight-year-old again.
"You did well," Nova said, stepping toward the shimmering ripple. "Let's go."
I stepped through the wall, feeling a sickening lurch of vertigo as the air turned cold and thick. I opened my eyes to a massive hall. Floating doors, glowing with arcane sigils, drifted through the air. The walls were a kaleidoscope of black and blue patterns that seemed to move when I wasn't looking.
Murmurs rippled through the hooded figures lining the hall.
"Is that him? The one who killed a Baron without being a Seeker of the Beyond?"
"I heard he's going to attempt the summoning today… the Crown Beyond the Veil."
Seeker? Crown? I kept my head down, following Nova to a central door that pulsed with an intimidating power. He knocked, and the heavy wood groaned open.
"Finally," a sharp female voice called from the darkness inside. "If you had been any later, you would be a corpse by now."
"Well, you're l'm here now, Sara," Nova replied, his voice echoing in the chamber.
I looked at the centre of the room. An altar stood there, surrounded by candles that burned with a cold, blue flame.
"We have everything ready," Sara said, looking directly at me. "It's time for the summoning."
Summoning? My stomach dropped. I wasn't the Leader—I was the sacrifice. I looked at the dark portal beginning to form above the altar and thought of Luna waiting back at the shack.
Luna… after today, you might lose your brother all over again.