I began to wake up, not knowing what had happened to me after the battle. My eyes slowly opened, and I found myself in a room I recognized—the new training room that Atlas had created. Confusion clouded my mind as I stretched my right arm, only to grab something soft and squishy, a sensation that was strangely familiar. I looked and saw Flora smiling at me, her cheeks flushed. To my embarrassment, I realized I had grabbed her breasts. Still disoriented and behaving as if I were drunk, I unintentionally squeezed again.
Flora's blush deepened, but she didn't pull away. In my haze, I mumbled, "Have your boobs gotten bigger? I swear I was able to grab the whole thing before. Now they feel... different."
Flora giggled nervously, her blush spreading across her face. "You really are out of it," she said softly, placing her hand over mine to gently move it away. "You need to rest. You've been through a lot."
I blinked, trying to shake off the remnants of grogginess. "What happened? How did I get here?"
Flora's expression turned serious, though the warmth in her eyes remained. "You fought Kai. It was intense, but you managed to hold your own. Atlas found you and brought you here to recover."
Bits and pieces of the battle began to come back to me—the overwhelming darkness, the clash of powers, and the desperate struggle to stay on my feet. "Did we win?" I asked, my voice rough.
Flora nodded. "Yes. We finally won."
I let out a sigh of relief, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. "That's good to hear."
Flora smiled again, her blush fading. "Now, you need to focus on getting better. We can't afford to lose you."
I nodded, appreciating her concern. As I was still out of it, I looked back at her boobs, staring at them and even got a nosebleed. "Wow. You're so pretty." As I looked back at her face, our eyes meeting with intimacy.
She laughed lightly. "Thank you, your quite handsome yourself."
As my mind was getting cleaner, with my dizziness finally fading away, I looked back at where I placed my hand and blushed, with my eyes widened, I quickly got up, with my nosebleed still going and said, "I'm so sorry for groping you." I said loudly. Atlas wasn't there and it was only the two of us, the intimacy in the atmosphere was slowly closing in; it felt as if everything around us, slowly faded away, locking in on the two of us. All I saw was black, with Flora in front of me, and something inside me felt as if she was also feeling the same way.
"Nova…" she said, her voice just like a goddess, both are minds pensive, as our lips got closer and closer, are eyes slowly closing and our bodies feeling aroused. I wanted to wait, before I did the deed with her, but fiber of my being was longing for every fiber of hers. I couldn't resist, and neither could she.
As our lips narrowed the gap between fiction and reality, a noise had appeared; a loud strident noise, almost as if someone had been seriously injured. The noise had ruined our moment, so went to go investigate.
There was a door near some of the equipment that Atlas used to strengthen my body; or one could say, used to show me what near death felt like.
Flora opened the door, and we encountered a whole new room, with Atlas standing in front of an unknown person, tied down to a chair. As the individual opened his eyes, his eyes were in a state of utter panic, his face worried about what would happen to him, the chair was old and was making too much noise.
"Please let me go, please I beg you." Looking at his face, he had some sort of fluid dripping down from his nose, it was green and had the same properties as blood.
Atlas through the corner of his eye saw it was us, and then waved as we approached him. "Welcome, to my little interrogation." He said, his face having a little smile. Then his gaze went towards the prisoner, his smile fading away. "This guy was spying on your fight, Nova, so I thought I should capture him and bring him in your questioning, like those human cops."
"Huh. Has he said anything?" I asked Atlas.
"Nothing. So, I accidentally hit him too hard, and he was briefly knocked unconscious. Well, you know how the story goes." He chuckled a bit.
I shifted my gaze from Atlas back to the prisoner, feeling a bit cynical, as his blood wasn't the same as ours, while his body was the exact same as a human. There were also nothing otherworldly about him, like an extra limb or two, some sort of hidden power; pure nothing.
"Who are you?" I asked him. My eyes were focused, my head was slightly tilt; I was very curious.
I remembered seeing people when I was ten years old outside of the solar system, beyond the Oort Cloud, I had to magnify my eyes were see if I wasn't hallucinating, as that had happened a few times before. But this creature was nothing like the ones I saw, they were different, they were interesting.
"I'm Jinvolo Jinlo, from planet Lohto. I was ordered to find other living beings close to our planet, and I saw some high-level halo activity coming from your solar system, so I quickly took a peek, and was captured by this tall thing." He looked at Atlas with pure fear, his eyes were shaking, his body was nervous, he was tense, as if expecting Atlas would strike him again, which he might. The sweat was slowly covering his entire body, he was sweating way too much.
Atlas shifted uncomfortably but remained silent, his towering figure casting a long shadow over the prisoner. I studied Jinvolo Jinlo closely, searching for any sign that he was more than what he appeared to be—a simple, humanoid creature from another world. But there was nothing unusual, nothing that set him apart from any other human we had encountered before.
"So, you came here on a scouting mission?" I probed further, my voice measured, betraying none of the curiosity or suspicion swirling in my mind.
"Yes," Jinvolo replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "We've been monitoring your solar system for a while now. Our scientists detected unusual energy signatures, something we've never seen before. I was sent to investigate, to see if there was any threat to our planet."
"And what did you find?" I pressed.
Jinvolo hesitated, his gaze darting between me and Atlas, as if weighing his next words carefully. "Nothing… Nothing that I can understand. The energy—it's like nothing we've encountered before. It doesn't match any of the known patterns, and it seemed to be emanating from multiple sources within your system. But before I could gather more data, I was caught."
I narrowed my eyes, sensing there was more to his story than he was letting on. "And what do you plan to do now?"
Jinvolo looked at me with a mixture of desperation and resignation. "I just want to go back home. I've completed my mission. I have the data I need. Please… let me go."
I exchanged a glance with Atlas, who remained stoic and unreadable. There was something unsettling about Jinvolo's simplicity, his lack of any extraordinary qualities despite coming from a distant world. It made me question whether he was truly as harmless as he seemed, or if there was something deeper, something we hadn't yet uncovered.
"Perhaps," I said slowly, "but first, we need to understand exactly what you've found—and why you're so afraid."
Flora was behind, pulling my clothes. I turned my gaze towards her and her expression was filled with boredom, so she told me she was going to go home, and I nodded as I continued my investigation.
Jinvolo's eyes widened at my words, the fear in them becoming more palpable. His hands trembled slightly as he clasped them together, as if trying to steady himself. "I'm afraid of what I've discovered."
I leaned in closer, my curiosity piqued. "What exactly did you discover?"
He swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to the floor as if he could avoid the truth by simply not looking at us. "The energy signatures I detected… they weren't just random fluctuations. They were concentrated, intentionally, like they were being directed."
Atlas finally spoke, his deep voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "Then where were they coming from?"
Jinvolo's eyes slowly lifted, meeting mine with a look of pure dread. "From you." I was stunned, I didn't know what he meant.
"Elaborate." I said, my voice low and insistent.
Jinvolo hesitated, then finally seemed to gather the courage to speak. "On Lohto, we had encountered similar halo patterns, that I detect from you, from an entity that the known Universe is fearful of. This entity had caused utter turmoil amongst civilizations, during the Great Dark. Our scriptures gave us all this information, but didn't mention the name of this entity, it did give us that this entity was a male, like you and I, but with a female by his side, kind of like a wife. The same exact halo energy that our scriptures talked about, is also in you, as if you are an heir."
The room seemed to shrink around us as Jinvolo's words hung in the air. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, my mind struggling to grasp the implications of what he was saying. Atlas's gaze shifted toward me, his expression hard to read, but I could sense the tension in his posture.
"What are you saying?" I demanded, my voice steadier than I felt inside. "I'm not some ancient entity. I don't even know what you're talking about."
Jinvolo's eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and pity. "You may not be aware of it, but the energy signatures I detected—they're unmistakable. They match those described in our scriptures, from the time of the Great Dark. The entity that caused such devastation was believed to have three heirs to the throne, two girls, and one boy. The boy being the youngest."
My mind raced, struggling to keep up with Jinvolo's revelation. "Three heirs?" I echoed, my voice barely more than a whisper. The idea felt absurd, like something out of an old legend, not reality.
Jinvolo nodded, his expression growing more intense. "Yes, two girls and one boy. The boy, the youngest, was said to have inherited the greatest portion of the entity's power, though he was also the most vulnerable, least aware of his potential. The scriptures say the entity and its heirs were feared and revered across the known universe. They brought both destruction and creation in their wake. But when the Great Dark ended, it was believed that all of them had gone into a deep slumber, haunting every civilization in existence, their power fading into myth."
Atlas's gaze bore into me, searching for something—some sign that what Jinvolo was saying could be true. "If you're the youngest heir… that would mean you're connected to something far more dangerous than we ever imagined."
"I'm not an heir to anything," I protested, shaking my head. "I don't have siblings; I don't have any ancient power. I'm just—"
Jinvolo interrupted gently, but firmly. "You may not know them, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The heir's identities were kept secret, even from themselves, as a way to protect them from those who would seek to exploit or destroy them. The power was believed to be dormant, only awakening when the universe needed it most. And if you've begun to show signs of it now…"
I felt a rising panic, the walls of the room closing in around me. This couldn't be true. It was too much, too surreal. But there was a small, gnawing part of me that remembered the strange occurrences, the inexplicable moments when I felt something stirring deep inside me—something I couldn't explain or control.
Atlas took a step closer, his voice low and serious. "We need to figure out what this means, and fast. If you're one of these heirs, we have to understand what power you have and how to control it. Because if Jinvolo's right, and these entities are drawn to you, we're all in a lot more danger than we thought."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "And what if I can't control it?"
Jinvolo's gaze softened, though the fear in his eyes remained. "The scriptures spoke of the heirs' potential for both great good and great evil. The path you choose will be yours, but it's said that the influence of the other heirs—your siblings—would be crucial. Together, the three were meant to balance one another, to keep the power in check."
A cold realization settled over me. "So, if I'm the youngest… then there are two others out there, somewhere. And if we're meant to keep each other in balance… what happens if we don't find each other in time?"
Jinvolo's silence was answer enough. The implications were clear: without my siblings, without understanding the full scope of this power, I could become a threat—either to myself or to the entire universe. The balance was delicate, and the stakes were unimaginably high.
"We have to find them," Atlas said, his voice resolute, his eyes reflecting a depth of concern that sent chills down my spine. "Before the entities do. Before this power spirals out of control."
I nodded, though fear still gripped me like a vice. The search for my siblings had to begin—if they even existed. The thought alone was daunting, a spiral of uncertainty. Yet, with it came the knowledge that I was stepping into a past I never knew I had, into a legacy I never asked for but could no longer ignore. The Great Dark was more than just history; it was now my reality, and the fate of countless worlds might hinge on what I did next.
For the sake of Flora, I had to make sure I didn't accidentally destroy the Universe. I needed her to be safe, to secure her future from the chaos that was brewing. The weight of it all bore down on me, yet I knew there was no turning back.
As Atlas untied Jinvolo, his hands steady, he seemed more composed, more trustworthy. Perhaps it was the gravity of the situation that had settled his nerves. But just as the last of the ropes fell away, a sudden, violent noise erupted. It was as if some sort of fireball had been hurled into the room, the sound of it slicing through the air with a deadly precision.
A thick cloud of smoke engulfed the room, making it impossible to see. Jinvolo's terrified sobs pierced through the chaos, his cries betraying a vulnerability that I hadn't anticipated. He was still bound to his chair, his frail body trembling. I couldn't shake the feeling that he was the wrong person from his planet to be sent on this mission. He had no magical traits, no halo energy signs—nothing that suggested he was anything more than a simple, normal being. The sheer normality of him was disconcerting in a world where nothing was supposed to be ordinary.
As the smoke began to clear, I noticed something terrifying—a giant crack had formed in the dimension itself, like a gash in the fabric of reality. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly turned to find Atlas, only to see that he had been caught up in the blast. Panic surged through me, and I leaped toward him, desperate to help.
But before I could reach him, a figure appeared in the dissipating smoke, materializing with an almost ethereal grace. It was a girl with striking red hair, hair that matched mine. As our eyes met, a strange familiarity washed over me, as though I had seen those eyes before, in a dream or a forgotten memory.
"Sorry for the chaos," the girl said, her voice calm yet laced with a hint of amusement. "That idiot Jin had to be captured. He wasn't supposed to leak so much information, so soon, but here we are."
"Who are you?" I demanded, my guard up, even though something in her eyes made me hesitate.
"Oh, that's right," she said with a smile that was both warm and mischievous. "You don't know me." She took a step closer, and I could see the resemblance more clearly now—her features, her aura, everything about her felt eerily familiar.
"I am your sister," she continued, her voice softening. "Your elder sister."
The revelation struck me like a lightning bolt. My mind raced, struggling to piece together the fragments of my past that suddenly felt like they were being reassembled against my will. The reality I had known was unraveling, and in its place, a new truth was emerging—one that was as terrifying as it was undeniable. My sister was real, and she stood before me, a living testament to the legacy I had been thrust into.
But there was no time for questions, no time for the reunion my heart ached for. The crack in the dimension was widening, the very air around us humming with an ominous energy. I had to act, had to find a way to stop the impending disaster. The fate of countless worlds was at stake, and now, more than ever, I needed to understand who I was, who we were, and what this power meant.
Atlas groaned, struggling to rise, and I knew we had mere moments before everything spiraled out of control. I reached out to my sister, a mix of desperation and hope in my voice.
"Why did you destroy the dimension? And how did you even do that?" My words came out in a rush, disbelief coloring my tone. The sheer magnitude of her power was staggering, far beyond anything I could comprehend.
She smiled, a hint of amusement in her eyes as if my astonishment were somehow endearing. "It was easy, like a piece of cake," she replied nonchalantly. "All I had to do was use my halo. You know, the Void Whisper Halo."
"What?" My confusion deepened. I had never heard of this Void Whisper Halo, much less any halo system. The more she spoke, the more I realized just how vast the gulf was between us in terms of knowledge and strength.
Her expression shifted to one of mild irritation. "What? You've never heard of it? I thought I dropped off a book explaining the halo system so you could get stronger faster, but apparently, that didn't happen. And I'm guessing Atlas here," she gestured toward him with a dismissive wave, "didn't bother to tell you about it either. Great."
She walked over to Atlas, who was still trying to regain his footing, and gave him a light, almost playful kick. "Thanks a lot, Atlas," she muttered, though her tone carried no real malice—just frustration.
"Void Whisper Halo?" I repeated, trying to wrap my mind around the concept. "What is it? How does it work?"
She turned back to me, her expression softening slightly as she realized the extent of my ignorance. "The halo system is more than just the Crimson Halo. Each halo is basically an extension of the next, but my halo is one that only a few have." Then she looked up, as if her chin were holding something and leaped into deep thinking. Then she said, looking at me with a rough estimate, "I think there might be only twenty of so beings in this entire Universe that have the Void Whisper Halo."
I was about to press her for more details when she abruptly changed the subject. "Anyway, now that we've been introduced, it's time to pack up. You and your girlfriend," she said with a teasing wink, "are coming with me. We're going on a little round trip across the galaxy. You need to see what the rest of the Universe looks like, comprehending the bigger picture."
"Wait, what?" I felt like I was being swept away in a whirlwind. "We can't just leave—there's too much happening here, the dimension is collapsing, and Atlas—"
"Atlas will be fine," she cut in, her tone firm but reassuring. "He's tougher than he looks. Besides, he can't do much more for you until you learn how to handle your powers. And that crack in the dimension? It's not a big deal, the dimension is useless to you anyway."
I looked over at Atlas, who had managed to sit up, clutching his side but giving me a weak nod. His eyes met mine, filled with pain but also a silent trust. He believed in my sister, and by extension, he was asking me to do the same.
"But Flora—"
"She'll be safer with us," my sister insisted, her voice softening as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in, but this is the only way to protect her, to protect all of us. We're running out of time, and you need to be ready for what's coming."
I hesitated, torn between the overwhelming urge to stay and fight the chaos here and the undeniable truth that I was woefully unprepared. My sister's presence, her knowledge, and her power were like a lifeline in the storm. If I was going to have any chance of saving Flora, of stopping the forces that threatened us, I had to learn—quickly.
"Alright," I finally said, the weight of the decision settling over me. "I'll go with you. But you have to promise me—no more surprises. I need to know everything."
She smiled, this time with genuine warmth, and nodded. "No more surprises. We'll get you caught up. Together, we'll make sure you're ready for what's ahead."
Then she walked towards Atlas, piercing him in a single strike. I stood frozen, disbelief and horror twisting through me as she plunged into his chest and after a couple of seconds removing her weapon. The smile that had reassured me just moments ago now sent a jolt dread through my core. The world seemed to slow, every detail sharp and surreal—her hand, glowing with a dark, ominous energy, a twisted halo I hadn't seen before; the look of lock and pain in Atlas's eyes as he gasped, his body convulsing once before going limp.
"No!" The scream tore from my throat, raw and filled with anguish. This feeling I had was unbearable. I never knew that aside from Flora, I would have these feelings of sadness, of anger, of near hatred. I never liked anyone other them, but I didn't know if I would have cried if Atlas had died. This moment proved that I would have. Atlas's lifeless body slumped to the ground, and a pool of dark energy began to spread around him, the air thick with the stench of death and betrayal.
My sister pulled her hand back, her expression unreadable, the warmth and familiarity from before wiped away as if it had never existed. The blade she held, forged from the dark energy of her halo, dissipated into nothingness, leaving no trace of the lethal weapon that had ended Atlas's life.
"Why…?" My voice trembled, caught between a sob and a demand. I felt the world crumbling beneath my feet, everything I thought I knew shattering in an instant. "You said…no more surprises. You promised!"
She looked at me, her eyes colder now, devoid of the sisterly warmth I had so desperately wanted to believe in. "This wasn't a surprise," she said calmly, as if she had just done something trivial. "It was necessary. Atlas was the man I was ordered to kill as my main mission, before he regained more memories of what he was capable. He was a relic of the past, and you—" she stepped closer, her tone softening just slightly, as though she were offering comfort— "brother, are the future."
I stumbled backward, my mind reeling, unable to process the reality before me. "You killed him… He trusted you… I trusted you."
She sighed, almost as if she were disappointed. "He would have never trusted me if he knew what I were. So, before he could end me, I ended him." She wasn't remorseful, she was far from it. Her expressions also indicated a sense of control, as if someone or something was perhaps controlling her.
But in that moment, I didn't pay attention to my intuition, the betrayal cut deeper than any weapon could. I had been so desperate for answers, for guidance, for anything, that I blindly trusted her, and in return Atlas—my friend, my protecter, my mentor—was gone. Forever.
"What kind of monster are you?" I whispered, my voice shaking with a mix of fury and grief.
"A monster?" She tilted her head, as if considering the term. "No, not a monster. I'm your sister, and I'm doing what needs to be done. You'll understand in due time, after you have seen the bigger picture. Sentimentality is a weakness we can't afford."
I clenched my fist, every fiber of my being screaming at me to attack her, to make her pay, for what she'd done. But deep down, a part of me knew she was right about one thing—I wasn't ready to see the full picture yet. My anger, my grief, they clouded my judgement. But even so, I couldn't accept what she'd done, the cold-blooded murder of someone who had shown me nothing but loyalty.
"Understand?" I spat, the word bitter on my tongue. "How could I ever understand something like this? You killed him, and for what? Orders from some shadowy figure pulling the strings? Is that all you are now—a puppet?"
Her eyes flashed, a brief flicker of something—pain, regret, maybe even doubt—but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "I'm doing what's necessary," she repeated, her voice hardening. "You're too emotional, too tied to the past, to see it. But one day, you'll realize that sacrifices have to be made. Atlas was dangerous, brother. If he had remembered who he truly was, what he could do…he would have destroyed everything we've worked for."
"Worked for?" I echoed, my voice breaking. "I never asked for any of this. I just wanted a family, a real family, not…not this."
She looked at me, almost pitying, as if I were a child who didn't understand the rules of the game. "Family is more than blood, more than sentiment. It's about survival, about doing what must be done, no matter the cost. And that's something you'll have to learn, sooner or later."
I shook my head, backing away from her, from the cold logic that had taken the place of the sister I knew. "If that's what family is to you, then maybe I don't want to be a part of it anymore."
For a moment, there was silence between us, heavy and suffocating. Then she nodded, as if she had expected my response all along. "So be it," she said softly. "But remember this, brother—no matter where you go, or what you do, you can't escape your past. And you can't escape who you are."
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, lost in a sea of confusion and pain. I watched her go, my heart breaking all over again, knowing that the sister I had originally met was gone, replaced by someone—something—I could no longer understand.
And as I stood there, alone, I realized that the future she spoke of, the one she claimed was my destiny, was one I didn't want any part of. But I also knew that, like it or not, I was now a part of something much bigger, something that had the power to destroy everything I held dear.
And I was powerless to stop it.