In a dull and grim atmosphere, a faint ray of light, its source uncertain, pierced through the chest of darkness and fell on the face of a young man with brown skin and sharp facial features, bringing him back to consciousness.
He frowned, and with much effort, he opened his eyes, but a sudden, piercing headache forced him to clamp them shut again. Unable to see his surroundings, his already pounding heart raced even faster. His slightly built body, covered in a tattered shirt, felt even more vulnerable as it seemed unresponsive to his commands.
But something deep inside him—the same curiosity that drove human civilization to travel out of the atmosphere and kept it surviving through countless perils—forced him to open his eyes.
Despite the blur, his vision encompassed the surrounding darkness, and a few beautiful words slipped from his lips, "Where the fu*k am I?"
He blinked repeatedly, but it provided no relief. "Damn it." It only worsened his confusion, and his breathing grew increasingly labored as he failed to assess his surroundings.
To calm himself, he closed his eyes and focused intently on breathing but suddenly frowned. "Ohhh...my nose hair... What's with this smell? Am I in a damn shithole?"
Fighting off his panic, Revan forced himself to focus. "Tch.. Calm down, dude, Calm down."
He recalled all those detective movies where the protagonists, using extraordinary intelligence, find and rescue victims from similar situations—or the ghost stories, where someone escapes dire circumstances through sheer willpower.
With determination in his heart, he clenched his fists, though unwilling; filled his lungs with air, and, like a man, screamed, "Help! Please help! Hello? Is anyone there? Can someone hear me? This handsome young man is in danger. Help! Anyone?"
"...." But to his dismay, there was no response, confirming his worst nightmare.
Assured that no help was arriving, he forced himself to sit up. Squinting through his blurry eyes, he examined the surroundings.
In that dimness, he could make out that he was surrounded by huge worm-like creatures, 8-9 feet in diameter, emerging from the ground. Their crisscrossing forms stretched endlessly, with their ends not visible.
The only good thing was that there were no movements, providing hope that they were not alive.
"Hehe...what a strange dream," Rivan smiled. Then, with a straight face, he looked at them again. "It has to be a dream, right?" But not trusting his own deduction, he punched his face, hoping to wake up.
"Ouch!" The warm tickle of blood from his nose shattered his expectations. He wiped his nose with a crumpled piece of tissue that he just noticed was in his hand. Unsure of how long it had been there, he looked at the bloodied tissue strangely. His confusion deepened.
Questioning his memory, he stood up abruptly... Thud!... His head hit something, and he fell down in pain, covering his head with both arms.
"Ah! Damn it! What the fuck is happening to me? Who the hell wants to kill me? How the hell did I end up in this situation?...."
As the pain subsided a bit, he looked up, still lying down.
"Same fucking creature, hmm.....?" Taken aback, he blinked a few times. "Green-colored creature?"
The blurriness in his eyes was gone, and he could see more clearly, but he soon calmed. There was no point in getting worked up; he couldn't make out much in the darkness anyway.
Exhausted by continuous strange and painful incidents, and with confusion only deepening, he closed his eyes in an attempt to recall how he got here. "Wasn't I in Greece with my friend Sam?"
Sigh...
***
Earlier: Region of Achaea, Greece
On a warm, sunny morning in the valley near the village of Kalavrita, three men stood before the Cave of Eurydice. Each had distinct features.
The first, seemingly a local in his forties, had red eyes, an unshaven face, and wore sleeping clothes, as if he'd been teleported straight out of bed. He listened intently to the second man, though his confusion grew with every passing moment. The second man, gesturing wildly while talking with all his strength, was buried under cheap beads, necklaces, and bracelets that appeared to be locally bought. The third man, a tall and handsome young man with blonde hair, wore a helpless expression, as if he pitied one of the others—though it was unclear which one.
Sam, unable to watch the local guide's declining health as he struggled to understand the language Rivan was speaking and insisting it was Greek, decided to intervene. "Calm down, dude. It might not be his fault," Sam said, trying to ease the tension.
"What calm down?" Rivan snapped. "I clearly told him we needed directions to the breeding grounds of the Sylvia Orphea, and he brought us to this cave—a fu*king empty cave!"At that moment, the local guide shouted "#$@&&.....Orpheus...@$#." Rivan, growing angrier, demanded, "What? Are you swearing at us now?"Sam quickly held him back, stopping him from advancing any further.
"Wait, just let me use Google Translate. I think there's some kind of misunderstanding."
Rivan, still fuming, protested, "What? Google? Dude, I told you, Greek was my second language in high school. I can understand and speak it like it's my mother tongue."
"Ofcourse, I know you can," Sam replied calmly, "but it doesn't seem like he knows you can." Rivan stood there in disbelief as Sam used Google Translate to communicate.
He asked, "What is this place? We asked you to take us to the breeding grounds of the Sylvia Orphea bird to study their breeding process."
The local guide, who introduced himself as Giannis, looked sheepish. "Oh, my bad. I thought you wanted to visit the cave related to Orpheus, especially since this guy was making such big gestures like he was leading a choir or something," he said, glancing at Rivan. Sam, doing his best not to burst out laughing, asked, "Is the breeding ground far from here?"Giannis shook his head. "No, not really. It's just two or three kilometers to the right. If you listen carefully, you can even hear the birds from here."
Sam : "Can you take us there?"
Giannis hesitated, eyeing Rivan warily. "Don't worry," Sam assured him. "He won't say a word. I promise."Rivan, grumbling under his breath, finally muttered, "Tch, fine."
Out of curiosity, Sam asked, "Who was Orpheus, and what's the story behind this cave?"Giannis eagerly explained, "Orpheus was said to be the most talented musician of the mythological era. His music could stir the hearts of both gods and mortals. Even the god of the underworld was moved by his melodies, granting Orpheus a chance to bring his wife back from the underworld. This cave is believed to be the entrance from which he began his journey to save her."
As they walked a few steps further, Rivan abruptly stopped and looked around, his eyes wide with sudden panic. Drops of sweat formed on his forehead. Noticing the change, Sam asked, "What happened?"
Rivan, now dead serious, replied, "I'll be back in a minute." "But what happened?" "No time to explain—just hand me the tissue roll."
Taking the tissue, Rivan dashed behind a massive rock, leaving Sam and Giannis talking. But while he was attending to his business, his surroundings started to vibrate and with a deafening roar, as if the sky itself had fallen. A massive crack appeared in front of him—impossible to describe, it seemed as if a tear had ripped through the very fabric of space and time.The meter-long crack began sucking in everything within its reach, including Rivan.
His necklace and bracelet snapped, his clothes tearing as he struggled to resist the pull. But the pain was overwhelming, as if his limbs were being torn from his body. Even his cries for help were swallowed by the void.
And then, there was nothing but silence.
Sam's desperate shouts echoed in the emptiness, "Rivan, are you alright? Dude, answer me!"
But there was no response. When he finally came looking, he found nothing but an empty space where Rivan had been.