Ethan opened his eyes and found himself in an unknown place. Suddenly, he straightened his back and surveyed his surroundings.
Ethan's heart pounded against his ribs as he peered into the gaping maw of the cave. The air hung heavy, thick with the scent of damp earth and something else, something ancient and unsettling.
A single, malevolent beam of golden light sliced through the oppressive darkness, illuminating the depths of the cave like a predator's eye. Each drip of water from the cavern ceiling echoed through the stillness, amplifying the pounding of his own blood.
The cave seemed to breathe, its rocky walls pulsating with a life of its own.
'Where am I? The last thing I remember is going to sleep, but...'
Ethan took a hesitant step forward, his boots crunching on the loose gravel, the sound swallowed by the cavern's insatiable maw. He was drawn in, a moth to a flame, despite the chilling premonition that this was no ordinary cave, but a gateway to something far more sinister.
The Temple, a monument to forgotten nightmares. Carved from obsidian and granite, it was a colossal structure, its stone surface slick with age and glistening with a malevolent sheen. Jagged spires pierced the sky, casting long, skeletal shadows across the desolate landscape.
Inside, the air was thick with the scent of decay and the faint, metallic tang of iron. Torches flickered erratically, casting dancing shadows that writhed and contorted like living things. The walls were adorned with cryptic carvings, depicting scenes of unimaginable horror – creatures of shadow, writhing figures, and faces contorted in agony.
The temple was a labyrinth of corridors, chambers, and stairwells, each turn revealing a new vista of desolation. Fallen pillars lay strewn across the floor, their shattered remains creating a treacherous obstacle course. The silence was deafening, punctuated only by the drip of water from unseen sources and the echo of Ethan's own footsteps.
As Ethan ventured deeper into the temple, the air grew heavier, the shadows more pronounced. A sense of dread, cold and insidious, seeped into his bones. The temple itself seemed to breathe, it's very essence pulsating with a malevolent energy.
Then he finds a hidden door that appears to lead to the underground structure of the temple, and he can hear growls and cries from underground structure. Ethan, of course is a boy smart to recognize danger, so he prepares to leave, but before he can do so,
"Wait, you scoundrel."
"I believe we can find a way to escape if we go underground."
Ethan shivered he began to hear the voices, but he could not locate their source.
"Strange, now I have started hearing voices as well."
"what" voice 1
"He actually heard us" voice 2
Ethan, however, was shocked. 'What is happening?'
"I know this is very sudden and creepy for you to hear, but we been inside you for the last few days" said voice 2.
"What? You are saying that you two are inside my body?" Ethan asked skeptically.
"We are in your brain, not your body, dumbass," Voice 1 added.
"Wait a minute, could you two control my body when I was unconscious?" Ethan suddenly asked.
"Yes, so what," Voice 1 challenged
"What did you say, you have control over my body?"
Seeing that their first meeting was getting out of hand because of voice 1, Voice 2 said, "Calm down, this is not a place for distracting."
However, Ethan insisted he needed answers, asking,
"My ranking?"
Voice 2 said, "It was me."
"My bruises and body pains."
Voice 1 said, "Well, I just want to see the city at night, but I can't control it perfectly so... there were few accidents in the process you know..."
Ethan now fully understood the mystery behind the rankings, bruises, body pains, and eye bags. but his query has not ended yet. "How did I arrive here?"
"Both of us planned it as we saw the blue color when the creature's head exploded, we are curious, so we want to check it, but... ahem," Voice 2 trailed
"Now, if the stupid questions are over, then let's go underground," voice 1 eagerly added. However, Ethan's words poured cold water on the situation saying, "I will not go, and I do not trust you guys just because we are in the same body."
"It is understandable, I suppose," Voice 2 said, "but be aware that we do not fully control your body. We can only do so if you are either asleep or unconscious, and if you die, we will die as well."
voice 2 continued "if my analyzing is correct, then we can talk only in ruins, and we may be one soul with 3 different conscious since that adventure guy and I do not have any memories, so the logical conclusion I come up with is due to pre-effect of awakening the soul conscious divided into 3 parts- patience, curious and intellect."
"So, we do not have any desire to take over the body since you are the main soul," the voice 2 concluded his reasoning.
Ethan pondered for a moment, thinking, 'Everyone who about to become awakened gains many strange abilities, and these two are my powers or something? no, it's a goddamn curse'
'Three voices… one soul. One life, yet three of us.
I'm the main consciousness, the one in control… most of the time. But the others, they're waiting, watching. When I sleep, when I let my guard down, there's a chance someone else will wake up. Someone who isn't me.
And yet, they're not strangers. They're a part of me- We share this soul, but each of us walks a different path.
Here, in the ruins, I can hear them, speak to them, know them. They're like shadows cast by the same light, reflections in a broken mirror.
What choices are they making with my life?
This isn't just about me anymore. If we're tied together, then their decisions, their actions—they're mine to bear. If I fail to control this, I'll become a puppet of my own existence, my destiny torn apart by forces I can't contain.
But I won't let that happen.
My soul may be fractured, but I am its core. If I have to wrestle for control every night, if I have to bargain, fight, or plead with the other pieces of myself, so be it.
We may be three, but this life is mine. This destiny is mine. I'll find a way to unite us—or, if that fails, to bind them to my will. The ruins may hold the answers, but I will walk through fire and shadow to reclaim my soul entirely.
and this is my path'
Ethan decided to name them. The arrogant voice was named 'Jasper,' and the intelligent voice was named 'Silas.' And so, their crazy adventure begins.
...
Ethan began to enter the underground structure and saw a text in an ancient language. Students in schools need to learn this ancient language to graduate. Though little hard, Ethan was able to read the text "divinity quec," but he was immediately interrupted by Silas.
"Here lies the tomb of Divine Queen Seraphina"
"Good heavens, are we a tomb?" Jasper exclaimed.
"I think we need to find a clue to leave this place." Silas conveyed.
Interrupting their thoughts, a creature emerged from the shadows. Ethan, who was already mentally prepared for a confrontation, readied himself to fight the monster.
But an arrow emerged from the shadows and struck the creature's heart, piercing through its body.
Ethan was shocked is an understatement, he slowly turned towards where the arrow emerged, standing there was two knights.
Then the unexpected happened as the knight's bowed deeply to him, which left them dumbfounded.
'Holy hell' Ethan was dumbfounded.
The knights gestured towards a door upstairs, as if indicating that this was the way to proceed. Ethan complied, of what the deceased knights might do if he chose a different direction.
"Tch, they stole our first kill" jasper was irritated
"We don't know anything about our powers Jasper, it was a good thing the knights seemed be protecting this room, and we got spared," Silas said slowly.
Ethan was silent as he goes back upstairs and entered the dark room that knight gestured towards.
It was a lady's chamber with crumbled wooden bed and a table beside it. He found a book in the middle of the table beside a burning candle, but the peculiar thing was that this candle could burn for eternity.
Ethan examined the book's contents, most of the contents were lost to time, except for the last few pages and the tale they read was .... Ancient war between Divine kingdom and Supreme kingdom, how was Supreme kingdom had overthrown Divine kingdom by .... A SINGLE WOMEN.