Chapter 1: Truth
In another world, far removed from the chaos, a young woman with black hair sips her tea in a quaint, sunlit kitchen. The television hums in the background, the voice of a British news anchor breaking through her thoughts. "This is the second-largest nuclear disaster since 1952…" he reports, his tone grim. The screen shifts to a photograph of Sebastian, his face marked with the weariness of a man who has lived on the edge of discovery and madness. "This is where the thought-to-be-dead, renowned scientist was hiding. Perhaps now truly dead."
The woman's hands tremble, the delicate porcelain cup slipping from her grasp and shattering on the floor. Tears well up in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she stares at the screen, unable to believe what she's hearing.
Meanwhile, in the void:
The moment Sebastian stepped into the portal, it sealed shut behind him, the connection between worlds severed as the chain linking him to his own reality melted away. Panic surged through him as he realized there was no way back. He tried desperately to escape, but it was too late. The portal was gone, leaving him stranded in an endless expanse of nothingness.
"I've been here for hours now," he thought, the weight of isolation pressing down on him. "The chain has vaporized… maybe because something doesn't allow inorganic matter." The stillness around him was suffocating. He had never been alone with just his thoughts before. There was always something to do, a task to complete, a theory to prove. But now, there was only silence.
Time dragged on, and his mind began to wander. "I never said goodbye in the camera... I miss the pancakes she made," he murmured to himself, the memory of his wife's cooking a painful reminder of what he had lost.
As the hours passed, desperation set in. "I might have to eat my clothes for survival… although I'll probably die of dehydration first," he muttered, the absurdity of the situation dawning on him. Just as he began to resign himself to his fate, a sound like a roar of thunder reverberated through the void, jolting him out of his thoughts.
"What was that?" he questioned, his heart pounding in his chest. Suddenly, a crack appeared in the fabric of space. A jagged, untamed tear that split the darkness like a wound in the cosmos. From this crack, a fierce, electric light poured out, forming the shape of a lightning bolt. A beacon of power in the void. The light crackled and danced, casting shadows that flickered between dimensions, illuminating the surrounding darkness with a radiant, otherworldly glow.
As the light reached its peak, a figure emerged from the heart of the storm. A man, regal and commanding, riding atop a dragon whose scales gleamed like molten silver. The dragon's wings unfurled, stretching wide as it soared through the void, each beat resonating with the energy of the universe itself. Sebastian stood frozen, speechless at the sight before him.
The man atop the dragon had red hair and golden, almost lizard-like eyes. His skin starting from his neck was covered in scales that shimmered ominously in the ethereal light, He was wearing a golden armor. With a swift, terrifying motion, the man descended towards Sebastian, grabbing him by the neck with a grip so strong it nearly choked the life out of him. He pulled Sebastian close, their faces inches apart, and whispered in a voice that seemed to echo from the depths of the abyss, "I grant you the afterlife."
With a powerful throw, the man hurled Sebastian into the void. Confused and terrified, Sebastian looked around frantically, searching for any sign of the dragon or the man. He turned, and there, looming behind him, was the dragon. its jaws wide open, ready to consume him. In the final, terrifying moment, Sebastian let out a scream, his eyes closed with fear, but the sound was swallowed by the dragon's maw as it devoured him whole.
For a brief second, his scream echoed in the emptiness, and then silence.
When Sebastian opened his eyes, he saw his own body with both arms intact, no clothes and the vast expanse of space stretching out before him. Stars glimmered in the distance, twinkling like diamonds on a velvet canvas. He realized with a start that he was drifting, his body floating away from him as if it were separate, like a discarded shell. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the stars blurred into streaks of light, until darkness gave way to a brilliant white glow.
"Am I warping through space?" he wondered aloud, the sensation both exhilarating and terrifying.
A portal appeared in the direction he was speeding towards, a swirling vortex of energy that beckoned him forward. As he passed through, the sensation shifted. He was no longer in the void of space, but falling, hurtling towards the ground at an impossible speed. The sky above was a familiar shade of blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds.
"Is this Earth?" he thought, just as he collided with the ground in a tremendous impact. The force should have shattered his bones, but instead, he lay there, unscathed yet bewildered. "I should've died," he whispered in disbelief.
Suddenly, a voice echoed around him. A cold, authoritative, and utterly foreign. "You are already dead, Human."
Sebastian scrambled to his feet, searching for the source of the voice, but all he saw were seven colossal statues towering into the sky. The statues were distant but imposing, with one female figure at the center and six identical figures made of white granite surrounding her. Each of the six statues had no facial features, only a glowing yellow gemstone embedded in their foreheads. The central statue, however, was different. Her face was exquisitely detailed, her beauty both haunting and divine, and her eyes' yellow gemstones that seemed to pulse with life opened slowly, fixing on Sebastian.
He stumbled backward in awe and fear, his gaze darting around as if searching for an escape. He looked down and saw his shadow, but there was no sun above him. Only the statues, and the eerie, ambient light.
The female statue's voice rang out again, clear and resonant. "Well done, human. You almost found out the truth."
Sebastian's voice trembled as he managed to stammer, "T-T-T-Truth?"
The gemstones in the statues behind her began to glow, their light intensifying as the female statue continued. "I am Elina, and we are the High Wardens. We are here to protect our Lord. Each universe is created by us for our Lord to rule."
Sebastian, still trembling, asked, "Where am I? What do you want from me?"
Elina's eyes gleamed as she answered, "You are in the gaps between universes. As for what we want… you have been chosen as our Lord." The gemstones behind her flared with light again, and she continued, "Your desire for knowledge was extraordinary, yet what you could learn and what you couldn't was dictated by those superior to you. But you sought to break free and claim your own destiny. This was both foolish and admirable. Because you came close to the truth, we shall reincarnate you."
Sebastian's heart leapt at the thought of returning home. "I'm going back?" he asked, hope flickering in his eyes.
Elina's gaze hardened, and her eyes glowed brighter as she replied, "Unfortunately, our Lord has already been born in your universe. Therefore, you will be sent to another universe, but justice must be served. You will retain all your memories in your next life."
As she spoke, the gemstones of all the Wardens glowed in unison. In the sky above, a circle formed, within which two triangles appeared, pointing in opposite directions. A beam of light shot down from the circle, enveloping Sebastian. He felt his skin begin to burn, a searing pain that coursed through his entire being.
He screamed, the agony overwhelming as he watched his right arm melt away. His vision blurred as the light consumed him, and soon, there was nothing but pain, a pain so intense it obliterated all thought and sensation. He could do nothing but scream in pain.
The next moment,
Sebastian found himself crying. not as a man, but as a newborn baby. The pain was gone, replaced by the warmth of being cradled in someone's arms. As his cries subsided, he looked up into the bright blue eyes of a blonde woman. Her eyes softened, lighting up with joy as she realized he had stopped crying.
Sebastian had been reincarnated.