Chapter 2 - I

I am in the park with my friends. We thought of hanging out since we don't have anything to do back home. We are walking along with the grasslands when I noticed a guy sitting under a tree with a guitar in hand.

His back is facing me but whatever he is playing, it sounds very familiar. His hair is brown and his skin is pale. He is sitting on a small stool that looks like about to be ripped by his weight. He was playing a very familiar song and it made me want to tally more. 

We passed by him but my eyes are still on his. I paused by a second when he looked my way, I looked at his face very carefully when I thought that, 'Isn't that the guy?' the same guy that I longed to see.

The guy that I always see in my dreams. The guy who I thought I knew from the first time that I saw him. I want to see him. I want to know more about who he is or where he came from. 

I want...

But when I tried to approach him, he disappeared. All of them, even my friends, and I am the only ones there. The park suddenly becomes a dark place and I cannot see anything. It's like a cycle. 

It always happens whenever I want to approach the guy who is sitting by the stool with a guitar in his hand. 

I suddenly woke up from my slumber. 'A dream?' I thought to myself. I sigh and sit up from my bed as I yawn loudly. I looked outside and the sun is shining brightly in the heavenly skies. I smile to myself as I look at the alarm beside my bed. 

When I see what time it is, my eyes widen, and my smile falters. 

"Oh no! I am late for class!"

I immediately grab my towel and ran to the bathroom. After washing up, I wear my school uniform and ran outside forgetting to eat breakfast since I am already running late. The school is not far from where I live.

Some of my classmates say that could be the reason why I am always late or I am just in time before the teacher comes in. I just laugh it off because it is true. 

When I got to my classroom, everyone is in chaos. All of them are so noisy. As if they aren't seeing each other every single day.

I sat in my seat, pulled out the book that I borrowed from the library, and quietly read the pages.

"Sartilliane: The Broken God" is the title of the book. I love reading thrillers, mystery, and adventure types of books. Romance? Not so much. They made me cringe and if that happened, I wouldn't be enjoying the novel itself.

It ruins my mood.

"Have you considered that maybe there is a parallel universe out there? That when we open our eyes, the things we see do not exist at all. Have you considered that maybe me you know is a different me from what this world should be?

Have you imagined if maybe the gods we know and the religions we build do actually exist? A world without chaos, a peaceful paradise, and an extraterrestrial being humans are. And everything starts because of what we call the tree of life."

I read this story too many times already but I can't still get enough of it. This story felt so real that even I ask if there is such thing as fairies, demons, gods, or angels who live amongst us. The adventure of the main character and the obstacle that she needed to face.

Everything felt so real. I could still remember the first time I read this novel. I thought it will just be one of those novels that will have a happy ending at the end. Or another fantasy novel with a lot of romance in it.

But I guess, I was wrong.

The novel is different from everything that I just read. The adventure was awesome and the character build-up was great. The author already knows what she is doing with her characters. It also made me cry when the main character needs to kill one of her friends for the others to survive.

It is a story of friendship, betrayal, adventure, and magic.

As I read the book, I felt as if someone is watching me from somewhere. I am too scared to look their way. I heard the bell rang an indication to seat properly and put everything away because the teacher is coming.

Ms. Cortez is our adviser and she will be teaching Science to us. I hid my book when I heard squeals from my female classmates and groans coming from the males. Out of curiosity, I looked at the source as to why they are squealing when I saw this guy standing beside Ms. Cortez.

A pale, brown-haired male stands beside her with a black mask on. He bowed to us and removes his mask as he smiles at us as if he just came in late. Far too late than me. He looks familiar but I can't pin-point where I saw him last.

I looked at him and his eyes fell into mine. Soon, my brown eyes and his muddy brown eyes looked at each other, and long after, he gazes away. I felt a tiny blush creeping in my cheeks as I drop my head on my desk and looks away. 

I saw Daisuke frowning at him and I chuckle, as I try to muffle my voice using my arm. 

'Oh, this guy.'

I sighed and felt the strong gaze from earlier be more piercing than before. I felt shivers up to my spine. So, I gather up my courage to look around when I saw nothing or no one is looking at me.

Maybe it is just my hallucination.

Xhien Han is the name of our new weird classmate. Aside from his name, he said nothing else. I suddenly remembered the time when I introduced myself to class. I almost spill every single bean in my system at that time. It was truly an embarrassing experience.