"Holy shi…" Sami's lips parted in shock, then a large smile tugged at them. "No freaking way… ha! I did it. I've gotten an invitation!"
He stared at the words reading them mentally over and over again, as if they might disappear any second.
Well, his excitement was understandable. After all, an invitation to a sanctuary was what everyone who received the sigil hoped for.
After completing their trial, those who succeeded were invited to a sanctuary in a unique realm, where they would undergo an initiation into becoming a Dominant. No two people were ever invited to the same realm, which meant that the sanctuary one was invited to was different from every other.
The way to accept an invitation was simple: all they needed was to call the name of their sanctuary out loud when their body was in a safe place, as only their soul would be taken, leaving the body behind until they returned after the initiation.
"I need to get home…" Sami muttered, glancing around the alley. He couldn't wait to leave for his initiation. Still clutching his side, he pressed one hand against the wall for support and pushed himself off the ground, groaning.
Then he exhaled loudly as he began walking out the alley; It was going to be a really long walk home.
The narrow dirty streets of district 9 were filled with lots of people even at this hour of the night. Some vendors were yelling at the side of the streets from their old stores, some civilians were smoking in dim corners, and one lady was yelling at a man who stole her phone. Sami could even spot a couple kissing at one side of the street.
He gritted his teeth in irritation and muttered pettily, "Get a room, jeez!"
That aside, it took Sami thirty minutes of exhausting walking to finally reach the aging building complex where he lived. He slowly and tiredly walked up the stairs, then into the corridor that led to his apartment. After which he knocked urgently on the door.
A male voice inside the building immediately yelled in reply. "Yo! Who the fuck wants to bring down my door?!"
Before Sami could reply, the door flung open, revealing an angry, pale-skinned boy in his late teens with dirty silver hair.
At the sight of Sami, the boy's expression softened. "What the…" He reached out, swinging Sami's arm over his shoulder and guiding him into the apartment. "What happened, bro?"
Sami groaned, "I got unlucky."
The boy's frown deepened. "Unlucky? You look like you got run over by a truck."
Sami chuckled dryly. They made their way to a dirty, old couch in the center of the small living area, and he slumped onto it with a groan.
At that moment, a young girl with dark skin, large braided hair, and striking purple eyes stepped out of a room into the living area, wearing a worn and patched nightgown. She yawned and stretched, like someone disturbed from sleep, but froze the moment she saw Sami.
"Sami?" she called worriedly as she hurried toward him. "What happened?"
The silver haired boy turned to her. "Naomi, could you please get me some bandages and some ice?"
Naomi looked at him then nodded. "Sure." She then hurried off to go grab them.
The boy, Kevin, turned to Sami who lay quietly on the couch. Then his brows furrowed as he spotted Sami's tattoo.
"Is it just me or has your sigil changed?" He asked raising a brow.
Sami smiled and nodded slightly.
Kevin's eyes widened. "No way… you completed your trial?" He reached down and took Sami's hand, examining the tattoo. Then a realization struck him. "Wait… is that why you look like shit?"
Sami shifted slightly then nodded again. "Yea."
An expression of awe and respect crossed Kevin's face as his gaze traveled from Sami's sigil to his wounds. Even though Kevin could not read Sami's sigil and Sami had not told him exactly what it read, he could tell that since Sami had taken this long to complete it, it must have probably been a difficult task. Still, when he looked at the wounds on Sami's body, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Sami's task was.
He was still wrapped in his thoughts when Sami's voice pulled him back:
"When do you plan on completing yours? It's been three months since yours appeared."
Kevin let out a nervous laugh as he rub his neck where an inky black tattoo had words written in a language that was foreign to everyone else except Kevin.
Eventually, he looked away from Sami and replied. "Soon. I uh… I just… need some more time to prepare."
Sami frowned. That answer had told him enough.
Even though Kevin was his childhood friend and was one of the people who probably knew everything about him, they couldn't tell each other what was written on their sigils. This was because, the trials were personal and meant to be carried out without help from others. Even just telling someone what was written on yours was enough to cause the trial to fail and thus, the Sigil fading.
The living room was quiet for a bit with the mood down before Kevin finally spoke again.
"When do you plan on journeying for your initiation? You know you've got two days left, right?"
Sami glanced at him then said casually, "Tonight."
Kevin was quiet for a bit, then eventually said, "Well… that's fair. Since it's the soul that travels, you probably won't have to worry about all the injuries you have right now." He crossed his arms. "Still, it's a good idea to make sure you're mentally prepared before you go. You have no idea what you might see in the realm you'll be sent to. I heard from someone yesterday at Old Man Shagg's store that the first thing people see after answering an invitation is their path, and most get traumatized the first time they come into contact with it."
Sami stared at Kevin in silence for a moment. He had a rough idea on what paths were.
Paths were said to be the mystical form or nature of a dominant's soul. They could take the shape of an animal, a spirit, or some other entity. The path a dominant's soul followed after initiation shaped everything about them, including their powers, attributes, and even their weaknesses.
Kevin was right when he said most people were scared after seeing their paths for the first time. Because after accepting an invitation, a person was shown a vision of how their path looked like. Some saw something small and harmless, but imagine being suddenly confronted with a colossal, terrifying creature or entity. Of course, you would be scared.
Thinking about this now, Sami couldn't help but wonder what exactly his path would be or what it would look like. His sigil had warned him that if he wished to take on his path, he should be prepared to embraced danger. That probably meant his path would not be a beautiful one.
Sami sighed and opened his mouth to speak but just then, Naomi's voice sounded from behind.
"You got an invitation?" She had just gotten into the lounge with a large paper box on one hand and a small pack of ice in the other.
Sami glanced at her and smiled. "Yeah."
She walked to the couch and sat on her knees beside Sami then dropped the box on the floor. Then she reached out, grabbed his hand and examined his sigil. But rather than being amazed, her expression grew concerned.
"Did you really have to complete it?" she asked, her voice full of worry as she placed the ice pack on his head just above his eye. "I mean, look at you. I don't need you to tell me what you did to know it was something dangerous."
"Ouch, ouch, ouch," Sami groaned as she tapped the ice pack on his head. Then he looked away and murmured, "I'm fine… it's just a few bruises and some broken ribs." He glanced back at her and forced a smile. "Nothing a few days of rest won't fix."
Naomi scowled, then left the ice pack on his head, which he grabbed and held in place. She reached into the box and took out some bandages, a torn white cloth, and a bottle of alcohol. She then began to clean and bandage his wounds.
While this was happening, all Sami thought about was what sort of powers and abilities he was going to awaken after his initiation.
'I'd like the ability to teleport… or… oh, what if I could turn anything I touch into gold?' He smiled sheepishly. 'That would be craaazy. I'd be rich and never have to work again.'
Meanwhile, Kevin yawned and reached into his pocket pulling out an old phone that had multiple cracks run across it. After glancing at the time, he said over his shoulder as he began walking groggily away. "It's past 2am. So I'm going to bed. I'll see you when you get back."
Sami watched him go, eyes following his retreating figure.
A minute later, Naomi finished patching him up as best she could.
Sami gave himself a quick look, then turned to her. "Thanks, Naomi."
She nodded gently, packed everything back into the paper box, and stood. Then in a low voice, she said, "I'll be heading off to bed too." She paused for a long moment before adding, "Be careful over there… I'll see you when you get back."
Sami nodded.
She turned away and headed out of the living area, leaving Sami in the dim quiet of the night.
He raised his hand and looked at his tattoo for a bit, then murmured, "I guess… this is it." He smiled and took in a deep breath. Then, after a moment, he called out in a solemn voice, "Tiamat's Sanctuary."
The moment the words left his lips, he felt his vision blur, and a wave of drowsiness rolled over him. His eyelids grew impossibly heavy, and he could barely keep them open before finally giving in to sleep.
***
Sami opened his eyes… and then they went wide, his stomach sank and an expression of utter horror crept onto his face…