The classroom buzzed with low chatter, but Ryu sat in silence, staring at his notebook without reading. His pencil hadn't moved in minutes. Alice, sitting a few rows away, glanced at him. She could feel it—his energy was unstable.
For three nights in a row, Ryu had dreamed of shadows.
They whispered to him. Mocked him. Called to him.
That night, he closed his eyes and immediately descended.
The dream dragged him to a barren wasteland beneath a blood-colored sky. The air was heavy, and ash drifted like snowflakes. From the darkness emerged a broken creature—tall, thin, trembling with every step.
Its form flickered between humanoid and monstrous, as though it couldn't decide what to be.
"I found you," the creature rasped.
Ryu tensed. "Who are you?"
"You carry what is mine," the being said, its many eyes twitching. "Give it back."
Ryu narrowed his eyes. "You're... the one who gave me this power?"
The creature—Zarkhiel Noctareck, though the name never left its lips—growled. "I didn't give you anything. I lost it... and the universe threw it into the first weak soul it could find."
Ryu clenched his fists. "Then it's mine now."
"You think you can contain it?" Zarkhiel hissed. "Fool. You will burn. You will beg to give it back."
The shadows around Ryu thickened, but he stood firm. "I won't let you control me. I'm not your vessel."
Zarkhiel screamed, but instead of attacking, it faded into smoke. "Then the others will come. The true ones. And they will rip you apart."
Ryu woke up gasping.
He stumbled to the bathroom, turned on the light, and looked in the mirror. Another black mark had appeared, curling like a tattoo around his upper arm.
He stared at it.
"What are you turning me into?" he whispered.
At school, Mizuki passed by him with her usual smile.
"You slept well?"
Ryu didn't answer.
She leaned in slightly and whispered, "The voice is getting louder, ¿verdad? Qué divertido…"
Alice watched from across the hall, her gaze sharp.
Something was happening.
Something was waking up inside him.
And the abyss... was watching.