After the museum tour ended, Ethan walked silently behind his dad through the expansive lobby. The polished marble floors gleamed under the overhead lights, and the quiet hum of conversation surrounded them. Outside, the sky was overcast, the gray clouds hinting at rain later that evening.
They reached the car, an aging sedan with a slight dent in the rear bumper. Jonathan unlocked it with a chirp, and they climbed in. Inside, it smelled like his morning coffee as usual.
"You're awfully quiet," his father remarked as they pulled into the driveway. "Still mad about the truck?"
Ethan shook his head. "No, just tired." He flexed his fingers absentmindedly, trying to shake off the strange tingling sensation that had clung to them since he touched the crystal at the museum. It felt like static electricity, but deeper, as though it had settled beneath his skin.
He convinced himself it was nothing—just a reaction to the crystal's surface, perhaps some charge it had held over the years.
The drive home was quiet except for the low hum of the sedan and the occasional sound of tires splashing through shallow puddles.
At home, Ethan shouldered his backpack and dragged himself to the front door. The moment they stepped inside, the smell of garlic and herbs filled his nose. His mother, Lisa, stood at the stove, stirring something in a large pot. Without turning, she asked, "How was your day?"
"Dad picked me up in a museum truck," Ethan said flatly.
"Jonathan!" Lisa exclaimed, turning to her husband. "You didn't."
"What? It was on the way!" Jonathan defended himself.
Ethan sighed and made his way to his room, letting the conversation fade behind him. He tossed his backpack next to his desk.
Dinner passed quietly. Ethan barely noticed the rich flavors of his mother's cooking. The odd tingling sensation had now spread up his arm, a faint vibration that seemed to echo his heartbeat.
"You okay, sweetheart?" Lisa asked, her concerned gaze settling on him.
"Yeah, just tired," he replied. "Can I head up early?"
His parents exchanged a brief, worried glance but didn't press him further.
In his room, Ethan lay on his bed, still fully dressed. The tingling had become an almost rhythmic hum coursing through his body. Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance, and rain began tapping softly against the window. He let the sound lull him, his thoughts drifting until sleep overtook him.
Ethan lay in bed, listening to the distant rumble of thunder and the soft patter of rain against his window. The storm outside was oddly soothing, and he let his thoughts drift as he stared at the ceiling. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy, and the sounds of the rain seemed to fade into a soft hum. Gradually he slept.
In his sleep, "The Curse of Ammit. Supposedly, anyone who touches the mummy dies within a day. Spooky, right?" Those words, spoken by his father in jest, echoed in Ethan's mind with chilling clarity, each syllable crawling through the void like a shadow.
Ethan woke with a start. Something was wrong. The faint smell of sand and the tickle of grit against his skin jolted him fully awake.
He sat up, coughing, as grains of sand slipped from his hands.
"Sand?" he muttered. "In my room?"
His confusion deepened as he looked around. His room was gone. Instead, he found himself in a strange landscape under a vast, dark sky filled with countless stars, their light shifting and shimmering. Lightning crackled across the heavens, illuminating the surroundings in bursts of red and blue. The faint glow revealed jagged cracks in the ground and the looming silhouette of a mountain, creating an otherworldly scene where only the intermittent flashes allowed glimpses of the desolate terrain.
Ethan's first thought was that he was dreaming. He pinched his arm. The sharp sting told him otherwise. "Okay... not a dream."The landscape was surreal. The ground glowed faintly with the same red and blue hues as the lightning, the cracks in the earth pulsing softly. In the distance, a still lake mirrored the strange light.
Ethan tried to piece together how he'd ended up here. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his bed. As he tried to recall the day's events, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
"User has met the requirements to unlock the Heka. Confirmation: User has touched Void Stone."
Ethan froze. "Who said that?" he called out, turning in every direction. The vast emptiness offered no answer. But the voice returned, calm and emotionless.
"User No: 2003 is ready for the trial."
"Trial?" Ethan repeated, his voice trembling. Before he could process further, glowing text appeared in the air before him, shimmering faintly against the darkness.
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[SYSTEM: TRIAL INITIALIZATION]
Objective: Survive.
Duration: 8 Hours.
Threat Level: Easy
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"What in the—?" Ethan muttered, backing away. His voice echoed endlessly, as though the void was listening.
Ethan's breath caught in his throat. His eyes darted across the glowing words as more appeared beneath them.
[RULES]
Subject must survive for 8 hours in the designated environment.
Death in the trial results in death in the real world.
Damage sustained does not affect the real body.
Reward: Awakening.
Ethan stared at the glowing panel, his brain struggling to process what was happening. He glanced around the void, half-expecting his dad to pop out from behind a corner and say, "how was my prank."
It looks too real to prank.
"Okay, that was definitely not static electricity," Ethan muttered.
Ethan's thoughts raced. Survive? Death in the real world? This couldn't be happening. He backed away instinctively, but the text followed him, hovering like a ghostly reminder.
Suddenly, the voice returned. "Trial begins now."