"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Hear ye, hear ye," I heard in my dream as I clawed at my bedsheets. Somehow, I was awake and still dreaming. Maybe the two had become the same, or maybe my pride kept me trapped between them.
I tried to stay stable as my feelings wavered within my private institute of madness. This should have been the highest honor ever bestowed upon me, so why did I feel so low?
Where was the symphony?
Ah… I understand now.
This is the pain of my training. It's all coming back to me. What I could not see before is clear now: grace is never truly grace. Ink on paper is still only ink on paper.
Ugh… am I truly this disgusted with myself?
My disgruntled past unfolded into my present. I could no longer feel life. I was paralyzed, and the pain felt unreal.
So now I must die.
Die. Die. Die. Die.
Save me from my hour of passing.
The ordinary became special.
Bone cracks.
"My name…" I tried to speak, but my tongue refused to move. No—my thoughts themselves were collapsing.
Save me, Lord.
Wait… which lord?
The devil? A demon? Whatever I saw in there?
Something was spinning above me. Was it a chandelier or a torture machine? Either way, I was going.
I was going.
Gasp.
I shot upright.
The grin on the doctor's face, usually unsettling, had somehow become my daily saving grace. I almost returned the smile without meaning to.
Then a cool hand touched my icy skin.
It was her.
Her eyes, as always, left me unable to think of her as merely an ally. I was not usually so lecherous, but she was no lifeless robot made of clunky metal. Though, perhaps I truly did need help.
She was breathing heavily, dressed in a sports bra and gym shorts. Even now, I still could not fully read her, but something about her felt incomplete, and somehow I felt guilty every day because of it.
Her name…
If only I could remember—
Ugh.
"My Grace."
She blinked.
"Grace?"
I quickly readjusted my composure.
Suddenly, she burst into tears. They streamed endlessly down her face as she whimpered.
"My name is Star Princess Nebula… You were supposed to get it right…"
Now everything was ruined.
Purity was gone.
Caught off guard, I turned toward the doctor for help, but his grin only widened.
I looked back at her.
She was still crying, but now her tears were flooding the floor.
That wasn't normal.
The water level rose higher every second.
Suddenly, the doctor laughed—then burst into hysterical laughter. Water poured through the doorway. I tried to stand, but I was already strapped to the bed.
Her cries grew louder.
Then the windows shattered, and a tidal wave engulfed the room, dissolving everything except me.
Why must this happen to me?
I'm tired…
"You hear me…"
Your call is heard, but heed us: the answer cannot be unheard.
To dive into the soul and tread a new reality is no easy feat, but its reward is great.
You, who are gifted by the grace of unknown power, have yet to bleed.
Know this, mortal: this is not a power of your creation.
What more could you possibly want?
Shed and live by the Rule.
There is a King within you.
Yes…
But who are you?
Heed the Shining—
I woke up.
For real this time… I think.
Thick sweat ran down my forehead.
I grabbed my shirt and hurried to find the doctor and the girl. Something deep inside me told me that what I had experienced was no ordinary nightmare.
I found the girl sitting at a PC in the living room while the doctor smoked quietly in the corner.
"I had a dream," I said. "A nightmare. Something about the Rule… and the Shining."
A heavy silence fell across the room.
Before I realized it, both of them were staring directly at me.
"You met the Shining?" the doctor asked.
"Well… I heard a voice in my nightmare. It told me to shed and live by the Rule… and to heed the Shining. Why? Is it important?"
"Important?"
The doctor's grin slowly widened.
"You just heard the voice of the end. The Trumpeters. The Ringers of Judgment. The—"
"The Keepers," the girl interrupted calmly.
"They deliver prophecies and, at times, glimpses of the future. They are powerful and elusive entities. And you…" she paused, "…have been graced with a visit."
The doctor leaned forward, smoke curling around his smile.
"Either this is a blessing…"
"…or something horrible is about to happen."