Ethan opened his eyes with difficulty. Everything felt wrong. The first thing he noticed was the weight of the black sand—rough and suffocating—covering his body and filling his pockets. The ground, infinite and dark, reflected a crushing emptiness that seemed to whisper. "Where am I?"
Above him, the sky was a static tapestry of fixed stars. There was no moon, only a cosmic silence interrupted by golden lightning tearing through the horizon. It was in one of these flashes that he saw—or no, felt—a colossal silhouette, distant but alive. His mind wanted to deny what his eyes captured, but the chill running down his spine forced him to believe.
He turned too quickly, his head spinning, and then he saw it. A man—or something that looked like a man—hovered in a lotus position. Books floated around him, whispering in languages Ethan couldn't comprehend. His presence was unsettling, almost intangible, as if he belonged to a dream or nightmare. Ethan blinked, thinking, "I've seen this in anime… but nothing has ever felt this real."
The ground trembled. Ethan barely had time to process what was happening before he was thrown aside like a leaf in the wind. He landed hard, scratching his arms on the coarse ground, and what he saw when he got up stole his breath.
A massive, imposing robot was trading blows with what seemed to be a samurai. Their swords—real and deadly—sliced through the air with movements too fast to follow. And between them, a colossal monster with curved horns and muscles that pulsed like living stone was pounding the ground with its fists. The earth shook beneath its strikes.
The clashes between the three created waves of force that made the air vibrate, as if the world was on the verge of collapsing. Ethan tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. Fear was a weight that pinned him to the ground. "Is this how I die? Just like this? Without warning? Without even understanding what's happening?"
Before despair could swallow him, a firm hand grabbed his arm, pulling him up effortlessly. Ethan looked at the hand, surprised. The first thing he noticed was the woman's silver hair. Her eyes were covered by a black blindfold, but there was something about her that seemed to see more than anyone else.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice calm but laced with authority.
Ethan tried to reply, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. He could only nod. The woman observed him for a moment, assessing him, before turning her attention back to the chaos in front of them.
The robot, the samurai, and the monster were still fighting, their blows echoing like thunder. With every impact, Ethan felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. And then, a voice cut through the air like a blade.
"That's enough."
It was a deep and firm voice that seemed to carry a weight beyond the physical. Ethan turned and saw the owner of that voice. An old man was walking slowly toward the battle. He seemed small compared to the combatants, but his presence was immense. His posture was straight, his expression serene, and his dark cloak swayed lightly in the wind.
With a single command, he stopped the chaos. The robot, the samurai, and the monster froze in place, as if something invisible had subdued them. Ethan was dumbfounded. "How…? How can someone do that?"
The old man didn't seem interested in the amazement around him. His eyes turned to the hovering man. "You were awake when we arrived in this place. Explain yourself."
The hovering man didn't respond. Instead, he raised a pale hand and pointed to the horizon. Ethan followed the gesture, and his heart froze.
A sandstorm was approaching, but it wasn't normal. It was alive, golden and black, like a tidal wave carrying something malevolent at its core. Every grain of sand seemed to glow with its own light as the storm advanced slowly, purposefully.
Fear gripped Ethan's chest. He tried to breathe, but it felt impossible. The air around him grew denser, heavier. "This isn't fair. I just got here, and I'm already going to die. Aren't I supposed to be… I don't know, the protagonist?"