The moment my fingers touched the water, everything changed. It felt like a spark of energy surged through me, and then, nothing. There was nothing but darkness.
No—wait. There was something. A deep, weightless sensation, like I was falling, but I couldn't tell where I was falling to. My body felt suspended in some kind of endless void. I couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't breathe. For what felt like hours, I drifted, weightless, lost in the infinite blackness around me. The air—if it even was air—was thick with something I couldn't name, and I felt a coldness seeping into my bones.
What happened? I tried to think, but the thoughts came slowly, as though my brain was trying to catch up with my body. The last thing I remembered was touching the water at the edge of the pond, the strange pulse I felt in the water… and then, nothing.
Was it a dream? A hallucination?
But no. It was too real. I could feel the power coursing through me, the energy that had been inside me for so long, waking up. I could feel it, even now, like a flame smoldering deep within me.
Suddenly, the darkness around me began to shift. Slowly at first, then faster, until it felt as though the very air was bending around me. And then—light. Blinding, sharp light. It tore through the darkness like a crack in the sky, and before I could react, I was falling again, faster this time, like the earth had opened up beneath me.
Then, a sudden impact. A force I couldn't explain knocked the air from my lungs. I gasped, sucking in sharp breaths, my body aching as if I had collided with something solid. But when I opened my eyes, I wasn't where I had been before.
I wasn't in the forest anymore. I wasn't by the pond.
I was lying on a bed of soft, glowing moss, surrounded by towering trees whose trunks were twisted and black, as though the forest itself had been carved from some kind of shadow. The air smelled strange here, heavy with an unfamiliar scent that I couldn't place—something sweet and earthy, but also… dangerous.
I sat up quickly, my head spinning. Where am I? I looked around, panic rising in my chest. The world around me was alien, unlike anything I had ever seen. The sky was not the one I recognized—it was swirling with colors that shouldn't exist, shades of violet and green, like the heavens were alive, breathing and pulsing with some unnatural force.
"Hello?" I called out, my voice echoing oddly in the stillness. There was no reply. Nothing moved. No sound. Just the eerie silence of this strange place.
I stood up, my legs weak beneath me. I took a tentative step forward, my eyes scanning the strange forest. It wasn't just the trees that felt wrong—it was everything. The moss underfoot shimmered as though it was made of stardust, and the air itself felt thick, almost like I was swimming in it. The ground was uneven, shifting slightly with each step, as if it was alive, adjusting itself beneath me.
"Where am I?" I whispered again, more to myself than to anyone. I felt the familiar pull inside me, that connection to the water, the power I had touched before. It was still there, buried beneath the fear and confusion. But it was different here. It felt... amplified. Stronger.
And then I heard it.
A soft rustling sound. A whispering, like leaves brushing against each other, but it was coming from behind me. I spun around, my heart racing. There, emerging from the shadows of the trees, was a figure. Tall, cloaked in a dark robe, with glowing eyes that seemed to pierce the darkness like twin stars.
I instinctively stepped back, my hand reaching for the power inside me. But the figure raised a hand, and I froze. The air around me seemed to still, and the figure's voice was smooth, calm, almost melodic as it spoke.
"You've arrived." The voice was neither male nor female—just... neutral. Ancient, almost. "You are not from here. But you are needed."
I didn't know how to respond. My throat felt dry, my mind racing. Needed? For what?
"I don't understand," I finally managed to say, my voice trembling. "Who are you? Where am I?"
The figure tilted its head slightly, studying me with an unreadable expression. "This is the Realm of Waters. The place where the lost and the chosen meet. You've been brought here for a reason."
"Realm of Waters?" I repeated, my mind struggling to process the words. "What do you mean? I don't belong here. I was just—just at a pond. I didn't ask for this."
The figure took a step closer, and I instinctively stepped back. "None of us ask for the things that find us, Miran. But it is fate, all the same."
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of my name. "How do you know me?"
The figure's eyes glowed brighter for a moment. "I know many things. You are the one who has awakened. The one who is destined to wield the power of the waters."
"The waters?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I could feel the words on the edge of my mind, something I couldn't quite grasp, but they felt so... real.
"You've touched the waters," the figure said. "The waters of power. You feel it now, don't you? The connection to the realm."
I swallowed hard. It was true. I could feel it. The power inside me, the energy that had always been with me, had been magnified here. But I didn't understand what it meant.
"I don't know how to control it," I said, the words coming out in a rush. "I don't know what to do with it."
The figure's lips curved into a faint smile. "That is why you are here. To learn. To understand. And to choose." It paused for a moment, as if considering something. "The path you take here will determine much. You must learn to embrace the waters—and what lies beneath them."
"Beneath them?" I asked, my confusion growing. "What do you mean?"
The figure turned and motioned for me to follow. "Come, I will show you."
I hesitated for a moment, but then something inside me urged me forward. I couldn't stay here, in this strange place, confused and alone. I had to learn. I had to understand. I had to know what was happening to me.
I followed the figure through the dark forest, the twisted trees growing taller with each step. The air around me seemed to hum, vibrating with an energy I couldn't comprehend. The figure led me to a clearing, where the ground dipped into a large, glowing pool of water. The waters shimmered, pulsing with a strange, vibrant energy that I could feel deep within me.
"This is the heart of the Realm," the figure said. "The source of your power. The place where all waters converge."
I stepped forward, my hand almost instinctively reaching toward the glowing surface. As my fingers touched the water, I felt a surge of energy, and suddenly, visions flooded my mind—flashes of images, distant memories, ancient landscapes, and a deep, roaring ocean that seemed to call to me. The water whispered secrets I couldn't understand, but they were so powerful, so overwhelming.
I pulled my hand back, gasping for air. "What was that?" I asked, my voice breathless.
The figure watched me with quiet intensity. "That is the power you are destined to wield, Miran. The power of the waters. You must learn to harness it, to control it, and to understand its true nature."
I looked at the water, fear and awe mixing inside me. What had I gotten myself into?
"You must choose, Miran," the figure said softly. "Are you ready to face what lies ahead?"
I swallowed hard, the weight of the decision pressing down on me. Choose? I didn't even know what I was choosing. But one thing was clear—I had no choice but to find out.