I found myself in darkness.
Not the kind of dark that came with night. Not the kind that came with sleep, or even death. This was something deeper—an infinite void, stretching in every direction, humming with energy older than the world itself.
No ground beneath me. No sky above. No weight. No sound. No breath. Only… presence.
Mana. Pure, unchained, overflowing mana pulsing around me like I was the eye of a storm.
It didn't burn. It embraced me. Like it had always been waiting, patient, for me to wake.
Then a voice pierced the silence. Soft. Teasing. Feminine.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
From the blackness, a glow shimmered, delicate and cold. She appeared like moonlight draped in lavender—long, flowing hair the color of twilight, eyes brighter than stars, radiating energy that thrummed against my chest.
"Who… are you?" I asked, though my voice didn't echo—it just… existed.
She floated closer, her violet aura coiling around me like smoke, wrapping tight and heavy. Mana. So potent I could taste it, heavy on my tongue.
"The name's Lyra," she said, smirking. "And you, my little mana storm… are very interesting."
I was still frozen, suspended in the void, but she moved lazily around me, inspecting me like some rare, fragile creature. Then, without warning, she hovered above me. Her hand slid to my cheek—cold, electric, alien—and leaned in, her breath brushing my face.
"Why don't we go on a little trip?" she whispered.
Before I could react, the darkness tore apart.
We were falling—no, descending—into a world that was broken. Crimson sky, earth cracked and smoldering, towers twisted like teeth, ash drifting like snow. A dead world.
Lyra floated beside me, silent for a long moment, letting the devastation stretch around us. Then she spoke.
"This was my home." Her voice had no teasing now. Just… hollow. Empty. Pain.
"My parents were nobles. My mother bent lightning. My father froze blood in veins. They raised me for power. Not love. Every smile cost something. Every lesson—blood. If I failed… I was beaten. And when I became strong enough?" She looked at her hands. "They tried to kill me. So I killed them first."
I said nothing. There were no words heavy enough for that.
She continued.
"Then I met a man—the one who turned my entire world upside down. He was the first I ever gave my heart to, the first I ever believed in. Strangely, some of the details about him slip through my memory now; his name feels distant, like a word I once knew but can no longer grasp. And yet, I cannot forget the warmth of the love we shared, nor the children who came from it—the proof of what we once were. But just as vivid as that love are the shadows that followed... the things I wish I could erase. Maybe it's better I don't remember everything. Some truths are too cruel to hold onto."
We moved past the ruins, silent, until she suddenly smiled—sharp, unpredictable, teasing again.
"You know, you remind me so much of him?" she said. "I bet you were the kind of boy who stole hearts at school."
I blinked. Caught off guard. "What? I… never been to a school."
I told her everything.
The races with my father. My sister's giggle. My mother's warm smile. The day I awakened my mana core. The princess slapping my face. The castle. My father… torn apart before my eyes.
Lyra didn't speak until I finished. Then she placed her hand on my shoulder. Not teasing. Not mocking. Human.
"You've lost more than most ever will. That fire inside you… it's pain. But it's also power."
I looked down. A thousand emotions collided in my chest—grief, rage, guilt, confusion. But underneath it all… purpose. A mission. My family, ara, and my mother. They had to be here too. I never seen there bodies. And I will find them.
Then the world began to shake. Red cracks split the sky. Thunder rolled—not from clouds, but from inside me.
"What… what's happening?" I gasped, clutching my chest.
Lyra smiled—not kindly, but knowingly.
"You're finally waking up."
Power surged through me, unstoppable. Red lightning danced along my arms, etching my skin with fire. Shadows recoiled. The void became blindingly red.
And then… I opened my eyes.
Red. Glowing. Alive.
I was awake. And I will not stay down.
Because my world—my Earth—my family—my everything… depended on me.