Into the Abyss
Darkness enveloped Alex and Mira as they tumbled through what felt like an endless void. There was no ground beneath their feet, no sky above—just a swirling blackness that seemed to stretch in every direction. Alex's heart raced, the sensation of falling never quite leaving him, even though they seemed suspended in place.
"Mira!" Alex called out, reaching for her hand, which felt cold.
"I'm here!" Mira's voice came back, shaky.. She gripped his arm tightly. "Stay close, Alex. Don't let go, no matter what you hear or see." Her voice cutting through darkness
"Where are we?" Alex asked, his voice echoing as if bouncing off unseen walls.
"This is the in-between," Mira said, her eyes darting around, trying to make sense of their surroundings. "A place between reality and the dungeon's core. It's where the strongest of monsters dwell—waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Alex's voice trembled slightly despite his best efforts to stay calm.
"Waiting for someone like you," a chilling voice echoed from the darkness sending chills down Alex's spine
A figure materialized before them—the same shadowy figure that had pulled them into this abyss. Its eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger, and its smile was wide, unnervingly calm. The creature wore a cloak made from the darkness itself, its features shifting and blurring at the edges as if it was made from smoke.
"Welcome to your true calling, Awakener," it said, voice dripping with malice.
Alex's pulse quickened. "What do you want from me?"
"Not from you," the creature said with a sneer. "With you. You're the key to opening the true core—something that even this pathetic world's defenders couldn't manage. You have no idea what power you hold, do you?" It voice calm but resounding with great evil
"I don't care about your riddles," Alex shot back, stepping in front of Mira protectively. "Whatever you want me to do, I'm not doing it."
The figure laughed, a sound that sent chills down Alex's spine. "Oh, you will. You see, every Awakener before you has resisted at first, just like you. But they all came to embrace their fate, to wield the chaos within. I don't see the difference between you and them."
Mira tightened her grip on her staff, her eyes fixed on the dark creature before them. "You're wrong. Alex isn't like the others. He'll fight you until the very end."
"Will he?" The figure's eyes flicked toward Alex with a knowing smile. "What about when he learns the truth about his powers? About why they chose him?"
"What truth?" Alex demanded, fists clenched. He looked at Mira
Before the creature could answer, a low growl echoed through the void. Out of the darkness stepped a monstrous beast, larger than anything they had encountered yet. Its skin was charred and cracked. The beast's multiple heads, each with glowing red eyes, locked onto Alex and Mira.
"Ah, the hound of the core," Mira muttered, fear flickering in her eyes. "It guards the heart of the dungeon. This isn't good."
Everything was strange to Alex as his heart kept racing. Funnily, Mira had the answer to almost everything and know each demons by their names.
"More like it's a welcoming committee," the shadowy figure taunted. "I suggest you make a choice, Awakener. Control your power—or let it consume you while the beast devours what's left of your hope."
The hound lunged, its jaws snapping with a force that cracked the air. Mira thrust her staff forward, sending a wave of energy to push it back, but the beast hardly staggered. It turned its attention to her, its eyes narrowing with deadly intent.
"Focus, Alex!" Mira shouted, desperation in her voice. "We need that power, now!"
Alex closed his eyes, trying to draw upon the energy within him, but all he could feel was the chaos, raw and untamed. The ground beneath him seemed to tremble as he fought to pull the power into his control.
"Let it go," the shadowy figure's voice whispered in his ear. "Stop resisting. Embrace the chaos. Become what you are meant to be."
The hound charged again, and in that instant, something inside Alex snapped. A surge of energy ripped through him, more powerful than anything he'd ever felt. His eyes shot open, glowing with a fierce light as the power exploded out of him.
The blast was like a shockwave, a tidal force that tore through the darkness, hitting the hound with the full brunt of its fury. The beast howled in agony as the energy shredded it apart, its monstrous form disintegrating into ashes that scattered into the void.
Mira watched, awe-struck, as the power surged around Alex like a storm. But when she looked closer, her face fell—there was something different in Alex's eyes, something that wasn't entirely him.
"Alex?" she called out hesitantly.
He turned to her, his gaze distant and cold, as if he were looking through her rather than at her. The shadowy figure grinned, clapping its hands slowly, mockingly.
"Yes, yes! Now you see, Mira," it said with a dark chuckle. "He's more than just an Awakener. He's the catalyst for the core's true awakening. And now, there's no turning back."
As Alex tried to respond, his voice seemed caught in his throat, words twisted into something unrecognizable. The darkness tightened around him again, this time dragging him deeper, pulling him toward the throne from his vision. And just before he was completely consumed, he saw the shadowy figure's face clearly for the first time—a face that was disturbingly familiar, like a distorted mirror of his own.
"Welcome home, Alex," the figure said with a sinister smile. "Or should I say... brother?"
And with that, the darkness swallowed him whole.