The school gates loomed ahead, the morning sun casting long shadows as students streamed inside, their voices blending into a chaotic symphony of chatter and laughter. Groups clustered together, exchanging stories, sharing videos on their phones, living in a world Belle always felt just a step removed from.
She walked through the entrance quietly, unnoticed by most. It wasn't that she was invisible—her long silver hair often drew second glances—but people had long since learned she wasn't one for small talk. Her presence neither invited nor rejected interaction; she simply existed on the fringes, content to observe.
The classroom buzzed with morning energy. Desks scraped against the floor, chairs squeaked as students settled in, and the hum of casual conversation filled the space. Belle, however, was lost in the pages of her book. It was a well-worn fantasy novel—a tale of a boy raised by dragons, learning to harness the flames of an ancient lineage. She had read it before, but today, the words carried a strange weight, as if they resonated in a way they hadn't before.
A voice suddenly broke through her focus. "Belle, reading another fantasy novel?"
Mika, a cheerful girl with short brown hair. The only one who tried to pull her into the rhythm of daily life.
Belle didn't glance up, only gave a small nod. "Mm."
Mika leaned over, peeking at the cover. "You're obsessed. What's so great about dragons, anyway?"
Belle ran a finger over the embossed dragon, feeling the textured scales. "They're powerful. Mysterious. And they don't ask unnecessary questions."
Mika pouted. "Hey, that's rude! I was just trying to be friendly."
Belle allowed herself the faintest smirk. "Besides, dragons aren't real," Mika added, crossing her arms.
A flicker of something passed through Belle's mind. A strange certainty, though she couldn't explain why. She closed the book. "You'd be surprised."
Before Mika could respond, the lights overhead flickered. A faint buzz filled the room, barely noticeable. Belle's gaze snapped up, her breath hitching.
For just a moment, a symbol shimmered faintly in the window's reflection—a perfect circle of runes, pulsating like a heartbeat. It was gone before she could fully register it.
"Did you see that?" Belle asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Mika frowned. "See what?"
Belle hesitated, eyes lingering on the glass. The room was normal again. Maybe she imagined it. "Nothing. Never mind."
The teacher entered, signaling the start of the lesson, but Belle's thoughts remained tangled.
That symbol… Why did it feel so familiar?
Belle had always been an outsider. Not because people disliked her—just because they didn't understand her.
It wasn't just her silver hair, though that certainly didn't help. It was the way she carried herself—quiet, composed, as if she were observing the world from behind an invisible wall. While her classmates filled the cafeteria with laughter, Belle sat alone at her usual spot by the window, a fantasy novel open before her.
She didn't mind the solitude. In fact, she preferred it. Books didn't pry or expect her to be someone she wasn't. They offered escape, adventure—worlds where she could belong.
But sometimes, the silence stretched too long. It was worse at home.
Since Lumine had left for university, the house felt emptier. The warmth her sister carried with her was gone, replaced by stillness. No more late-night whispers, no more plates of cookies appearing at her door with a knowing smile.
Belle once loved talking about dragons, magic, and the impossible. But without Lumine's voice answering back, it felt like she was speaking into a void.
She pulled out her phone, scrolling through old messages. The last one from Lumine was short: "Don't get lost in your books too much. I'll visit soon."
Belle stared at the words longer than she should have.
At school, Mika was one of the few who tried to bridge the gap. But even she couldn't crack through Belle's walls.
And maybe… Belle didn't want them to.
The day passed uneventfully, but as Belle walked home, a strange unease settled over her. The streets were too quiet. Normally, she wouldn't have noticed—but now, every detail felt… off. The hum of passing cars was duller. The air had a charged, electric feel, like the moment before a storm. Even the wind barely stirred the leaves.
Her steps slowed. A shadow stretched too far across the pavement, twisting unnaturally.
She looked up at the sky. The sun was sinking behind the skyline, casting warm hues of orange and pink. Normal. Completely normal. Then—a flicker of light.
Belle stopped, her breath catching in her throat.
High above, a symbol ignited in the sky—a perfect circle of glowing runes, intricate and shifting as if it was alive. The same one she had glimpsed in the classroom window.
A deep hum resonated through the air, vibrating in her chest. The ground beneath her feet shuddered.
"What…?"
She turned, heart pounding. The streets blurred at the edges, colors bleeding together like wet paint. The world twisted.
Then the pull came.
It wasn't physical, yet it yanked at her entire being, as if something had reached inside her and taken hold. Her stomach dropped. She tried to move, to run, but her legs refused to respond.
The light grew blinding.
Belle gritted her teeth, reaching out desperately, as if she could grab onto something— anything— to anchor herself. But there was nothing.
A rush of wind swallowed her whole. The scent of ozone filled her nostrils. A faint whisper, unintelligible yet oddly familiar, brushed against her ears.
Her vision blurred, the world spinning faster and faster until she could no longer tell up from down. She felt weightless, untethered, as if she were being pulled into a void.
Then—darkness.
The first thing Belle noticed was the cold. Not just a chill on her skin, but a deep, unnatural cold that seeped into her very bones. It clung to her, numbing her fingers as she lay sprawled on the damp ground. Her breathing came ragged, her chest rising and falling with an ache she couldn't place—like she had been yanked through something that wasn't meant to be crossed.
Her fingers curled into the soil. It was soft yet strangely coarse, as if fine ash had been mixed with moss. A tingling sensation crawled up her fingertips, like static clinging to her skin. She exhaled, her breath misting in the dim, heavy air.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. The forest around her was… wrong.
Towering trees stretched impossibly high, their twisted branches forming a tangled canopy that devoured the sky. The bark shimmered with faint, shifting lines—patterns that almost looked like circuitry, flickering in and out of focus. Bioluminescent plants pulsed with an eerie glow, their soft blue and violet hues casting ghostly reflections across the undergrowth. The air carried a strange mix of scents—damp earth, metallic tang, and something sterile, like the lingering charge of a lightning strike.
A distant hum vibrated through the air, rhythmic and steady. It wasn't the sound of wind, nor any natural force she recognized. It was everywhere and nowhere at once, like a machine running just beyond perception.
Belle sat up, her heart pounding in her chest. The last thing she remembered was the glowing symbol, the pull, the unbearable heat. And then—nothing.
A sharp, guttural cry echoed through the trees.
She froze. It wasn't human. It wasn't anything she had ever heard before. The sound was layered—something primal beneath, but distorted, like it had been warped through static. Another call answered from deeper in the woods. Then another. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
"Where… am I?" she whispered, though the words felt small and meaningless in the vast, alien silence that followed.
She pushed herself onto unsteady legs, her vision swimming for a moment. Everything about this place felt… off. The trees swayed, but there was no wind. The bioluminescent plants flickered, but not randomly—they pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Belle took a cautious step forward, and the glow around her brightened.
Her breath hitched. That wasn't normal.
She reached out and touched the nearest tree, half expecting it to feel like rough bark. Instead, it was smooth and cold—almost metallic. The moment her fingers brushed the surface, a ripple of light coursed through the strange markings, as if responding to her touch. The hum in the air deepened, resonating through her fingertips, up her arm, settling deep in her chest.
Belle jerked her hand back. This… this isn't Earth.
The realization crashed into her like a tidal wave. The trees, the air, the light, the feeling of the world pressing in around her—it was completely, utterly foreign.
Panic surged in her gut, but she forced herself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
"Okay, Belle. Think." She clenched her fists, steadying herself. "You've read enough fantasy novels. What do you do first?"
Survival. Find shelter. Find food. Figure out where you are.
Except this wasn't a story. This was real.
The unseen creatures cried out again, closer this time. The noise sent a chill down her spine, primal and wrong, as if something was watching from the darkness between the trees.
She didn't know where she was. She didn't know what was out there. But one thing was certain—she wasn't alone.
Despite the fear gnawing at her, a strange calm settled over her. This place felt… familiar, in a way she couldn't explain. It was as if some part of her had always known it existed.
The deeper Belle ventured into the forest, the more the world around her seemed to hold its breath. The distant cries of beasts had vanished, replaced by an oppressive silence that pressed against her like an unseen force. The air itself was charged, humming with an energy that sent chills racing down her spine.
She slowed her steps, breath misting in the unnatural cold. The trees around her bore the scars of something massive—trunks charred black, branches splintered as though an invisible blade had torn through them. A faint, metallic hum vibrated in her bones, growing louder with every heartbeat.
A shadow flickered in the corner of her vision. A roar, impossibly deep, split the silence like a crack of thunder.
The ground trembled, shaking leaves from their branches. Belle's heart leapt into her throat. Her instincts screamed at her to flee, but she stood frozen, eyes scanning the darkness.
Then she saw it. The colossal figure emerged from the void like a specter of destruction. Towering and sleek, its metallic scales shimmered with an ethereal glow, veins of pulsing energy tracing along its body like living circuits. Twin silver-blue eyes locked onto her, their gaze sharp with intelligence— ancient, unreadable, and utterly terrifying.
For a moment, time itself seemed to fracture. Belle's breath hitched. It wasn't just a beast. It wasn't just a machine. It was something beyond either.
The hum in the air crescendoed, a build-up of raw power. The dragon's maw parted, revealing an energy core pulsing with deadly intent.
Then, without warning—it attacked.
A beam of raw, searing energy lanced toward her. Belle barely had time to react, hurling herself to the side as the blast struck the ground where she had stood. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the forest, uprooting trees and leaving a crater in its wake.
She gasped, scrambling to her feet. This wasn't just some wild beast. It was precise, calculated.
The dragon lunged.
Claws the size of swords sliced through the air, missing her by inches as she dove aside. The sheer force of the attack split the earth open, sending chunks of rock skyward. Belle rolled to her feet, panting. A flick of its tail sent a shockwave through the air, knocking her off balance. She barely managed to land on her feet this time.
No hesitation. It's trying to kill me.
Another blast came her way. She barely managed to dive behind a fallen tree, her mind racing.
Think! How do I fight something like this?!
The dragon circled, its glowing circuits pulsing in rhythmic waves, as if adjusting, recalibrating. Its tail flicked, a sharp gust of wind following the motion, carrying the scent of scorched earth and ozone.
Belle clenched her fists. Running wasn't an option. She had to survive.
The dragon snarled, frustration evident as it advanced. Its metallic scales gleamed under the faint light, and its glowing circuits pulsed brighter with each step. It was a predator, a force of nature, and Belle was its prey.
The dragon let out another guttural roar, the force of it rattling her bones. It surged forward, moving faster than something its size had any right to. Belle dodged, barely avoiding a swipe that would have torn her apart.
Each attack pushed her closer to her limits. The dragon's energy blasts seared the air, leaving scorch marks on the ground and trees. Its tail whipped around, catching her in the side and sending her sprawling.
Pain shot through her ribs, but she forced herself to stand. Her body felt different—stronger, faster, as if the adrenaline coursing through her veins was unlocking something deep within.
Something was changing. Each attack, each moment—it was as if her body was learning. Her movements were growing sharper, her reactions quicker. She wasn't just dodging anymore.
She was adapting.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, her senses sharpening. When the dragon's tail lashed toward her, she sidestepped instead of leaping away. When another energy blast surged from its maw, she moved before it fired, leaving nothing but air where she had been standing.
The dragon faltered for half a second. It noticed.
Belle's chest heaved. "You're… testing me," she whispered.
The realization sent a shiver down her spine. This wasn't just an attack. The dragon wasn't mindlessly trying to kill her. It was observing her, gauging her reactions, adjusting its assault to match her capabilities.
But why?
The dragon reared back, its entire body crackling with untamed energy. The ground beneath it fractured, blue-white lightning dancing along its scales as a massive energy surge gathered in its core.
Belle's eyes widened. She had no time to dodge this.
Yet—she didn't move.
Instead of fear, something else filled her. A strange, unshakable calm. The hum in the air, the energy crackling from the dragon's body—she could feel it. A deep resonance, as if something inside her was responding, aligning with the very force that threatened to obliterate her.
She exhaled, steady. Why am I not afraid?
The dragon unleashed its full power.
The blast struck.
A blinding explosion of light engulfed her. The forest vanished in the brilliance of energy surging around her, but when the dust settled—
Belle was still standing.
Golden currents of energy danced along her skin, pulsing through her veins. Her silver hair lifted in the unseen force, her eyes glowing—not with fear, but with something more.
The dragon watched, its gaze unreadable. Then—
Its energy surged forward, engulfing her completely.
Belle's breath hitched as something ancient and powerful took hold of her, raw and overwhelming. Her body changed—silver-blue scales flickered across her arms, circuits of light tracing her skin like a mirrored reflection of the beast before her. Her nails sharpened, her heartbeat merging with the energy pulsing around her.
It was too much.
She staggered, vision blurring as the power threatened to consume her. But in the chaos, she heard something—a name, echoing in the depths of her mind.
Aetherion.
It wasn't just a name. It was a key turning in a lock, unlocking something buried deep within her soul.
The dragon's gaze softened, an emotion flickering behind its glowing eyes—
Pride. Relief.
Darkness crept into Belle's vision. The last thing she saw before collapsing was the towering figure of the dragon, watching over her like a sentinel of fate.
End of Chapter 1