The Ruins of the Lost Neighborhood
The silence in the house was broken by a strange murmur.
Kaela tried to stand… and fell back to the floor.
— "What... is this?" — she asked, holding her knees. — "My body... feels heavy."
Leandro tried to walk and stumbled. Miro groaned, sitting down as if he had just run a marathon.
Danilo rose slowly. The weight on his shoulders was real — three times heavier than before. As if the air itself had turned solid.
— "Gravity increased…" — he said, voice dry. — "That's it. Part... of the new world."
— "Will it be like this forever?" — Miro asked, panting.
— "I don't know, but I believe so. We either get used to it… or we die."
The children didn't argue. At that moment, the new world had already proven it didn't allow time for questions.
Danilo walked to the door. Opened it.
What he saw… nearly knocked him over.
🩸 The New Street
The street… was no longer the same.
Once narrow, it was now wide like a downtown avenue. The sidewalks were warped. The houses, split in half, as if they had been brutally stretched. Some had vanished. Others fused with pieces of buildings that had never existed there.
And everywhere… bodies.
Blood. Screams. Ruin.
Danilo stood frozen. The children came up behind him. Kaela covered her mouth. Leandro froze. Miro clung to his father's arm.
Bodies of neighbors were scattered.
Mrs. Marlene, the grocer. Mr. Domingos, the taxi driver who lent tools. The Gonçalves family… dead together at their gate.
— "No…" — Danilo whispered. — "They…"
A father held the body of his son, screaming in pain. A girl, maybe six years old, rocked her mother's corpse back and forth in her arms.
In every corner, someone wept for someone else.
No one cried for help.
Everyone knew: no one was coming.
Danilo stumbled a step forward. His legs ached from the gravity. But his mind... ached more.
🚗 The Search
Then a thought exploded inside him:
"My parents."
Panic shot through his gut. His heart pounded. He turned to his children.
— "We're going to find your grandparents. Now."
Desperate, he looked for a car. Most were overturned, smashed, or burned.
But a few meters away, he spotted a gray car with the door open. Maybe the owner had fled… or died.
He staggered toward it, nearly tripping. His legs trembled.
— "Get in. Slowly. Carefully."
The children obeyed. Before getting in, Danilo looked at the Shadow Monarch silently following behind.
— "Return." — he said firmly.
The monster's body shimmered... and vanished before their eyes.
Kaela's eyes widened. Leandro took a step back. Miro murmured:
— "He disappeared…?"
Danilo nodded, out of breath.
— "It's a summoning space. We can store allies there… and summon them when needed. Like… like a living backpack."
— "Is this a game?" — Leandro asked, barely breathing.
Danilo closed his eyes.
— "No, son. This… is life now."
🛣️ The Road of Pain
They got into the car. The engine started with difficulty. The steering wheel felt heavier. The steering was stiff. Danilo's body ached with every turn.
He drove through the new streets — unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.
Sidewalks were deformed. Buildings… broken or transformed. Floating stones hovered in the air. Parts of the ground looked like they came from another planet.
They were traveling through a nightmare.
And even so, Danilo could only think of one thing:
"Mom… Dad… where are you…?"