Chang Nayun had barely begun to adjust to the weightlessness of his return to Earth. His body, once a powerhouse of cosmic energy and manipulation, now felt weak, foreign even. He was in a place that seemed so familiar, yet so far removed from the celestial planes he had once ruled. He hadn't expected to be overwhelmed by the feeling of fragility—yet here he was, standing on the precipice of his old world, unsure of how to proceed.
As he slowly took in his surroundings, his senses reawakened to the dullness of Earth. Gone was the vibrant energy that filled his world in Navryth; here, life pulsed at a slower, more mundane pace. The air tasted different—less charged, less potent. The noise of traffic, the distant hum of city life, and the quiet rustle of trees in the breeze made him realize how much he had taken for granted before.
He stood in a park, not far from the place he had once called home. The city of Seoul sprawled before him, bustling and alive in ways that felt almost too fragile after the boundless scale of Navryth and Onalon. For a moment, he thought he had made a mistake. The immense power he had accumulated, the ability to control everything around him, had been abandoned. He felt like a stranger here, stripped of the extraordinary.
Yet there was something undeniably comforting about it. This was his world—his home. The people here were real, not creations of his making. The food, the buildings, the interactions were organic, not born from his own desires or will.
But why do I feel empty?
His eyes drifted across the familiar skyline, a mixture of nostalgia and sorrow filling his chest. There was so much that had changed in his absence, but the core of humanity—its relentless drive to move forward, to strive for more—had remained. He couldn't help but wonder how much of it had been the same when he left.
Where is Miya?
The thought came unbidden, a sharp stab of longing in his chest. Miya, the woman who had unknowingly become a part of his world—a simple model, yet someone who had embodied everything he had yearned for during his reign over Navryth. He hadn't realized until now how deeply her absence had affected him.
He had to find her.
But where would she be? She had been the reason for his descent into madness in Navryth. The thought of her, or rather the idea of her, had made him realize what it was he was missing. Real emotions, real connections. Not the hollow offerings from his celestial servants.
He took a deep breath, grounding himself in the reality of Earth. He would search for her, find out if she still existed in the same form he remembered, and perhaps find a semblance of normalcy amidst the ordinary.
But just as he was about to move, his senses flared.
A presence. Powerful. Unyielding.
He turned swiftly, instinctively reaching for the energy he knew so well, only to be greeted by nothing. His power, the immense power he had once commanded, had been sealed, restricted.
He frowned.
There was someone—something—here that could affect him, something that still resonated with the energies of Onalon, even though the world felt so mundane.
"Who's there?" he asked, his voice betraying the uncertainty he felt.
A figure stepped out of the shadows, shrouded in a cloak of darkness. The air seemed to distort around them, and as they emerged fully into view, their presence almost drowned out everything else.
The cloaked figure raised their head, revealing a pair of glowing, violet eyes that flickered like stars. A strange, unsettling smile twisted across their lips.
"I've been waiting for you, Lord Chang Nayun," the figure said, their voice smooth, yet carrying an undeniable force.
Chang Nayun's heart skipped a beat. The name—Lord Chang Nayun—sounded so foreign now. A title, a mantle that had long since lost its meaning. And yet, hearing it spoken by someone who knew him so well sent ripples of recognition through him.
"Who are you?" Chang Nayun demanded, his fists clenched, though he still couldn't tap into the boundless energy that had once been his.
The figure tilted their head, as though considering his question carefully. "You have already forgotten, haven't you?" they replied with a knowing grin. "You are not as powerful as you once were, but I am still here. Watching. Waiting."
Chang Nayun's brow furrowed. He had encountered countless beings over the course of his existence, but this presence... it was different. Something about this figure made his mind race.
"What do you want?" he asked, now sensing the unsettling energy that lingered in the figure's wake.
"I want what was promised," the figure said cryptically. "You will learn soon enough, Lord Nayun. But not just yet. For now, consider this your first trial."
The figure vanished before Chang Nayun could respond, leaving him alone in the park once more, the silence swallowing up his words.
He stood still for a moment, his mind reeling. The cloaked figure's words echoed in his ears. He had been given a trial? For what purpose? And who had sent them? The more he thought about it, the more disoriented he became.
And yet, there was one thing that stood out amidst the confusion: This wasn't just some random encounter.
Someone, or something, had followed him from Navryth to Earth. And it seemed they were not done with him yet.
A chill ran down his spine. Whatever had been set into motion wasn't finished. It had only just begun.
His journey, though now on Earth, would not be as simple as he had hoped.