The first thing I noticed was the wind.
It brushed against my hair, cool and unbothered, as I slowly pushed myself off the ground. My back ached against the rough concrete beneath me, but the moment I sat up, the strange stillness of the world hit harder than the fall.
I looked around.
The rooftop I was on stretched wide and high — at least fourteen floors off the ground, maybe more. But it wasn't just the height. It was the silence.
The buildings around me were tall, white, and glassy, rising like frozen towers in a dream. There were no people. No cars. No birds. No sound. Just… stillness.
It felt like I was the only person left in the world.
Then it came — a voice from above, echoing like it was raining down from the sky itself. Deep, calm, detached.
"This is your trial.
The test to determine whether you will become one of the creators of the world—
Or one of its destroyers."
The sound didn't shake the air. It pressed down on it.
"Everything you see here… is a part of you.
Whatever happens in this place will become your reality—your destiny."
As the voice spoke, something began forming in front of me. Black flames rose from the ground, silent and slow, crawling from the floor upward until they shaped into figures.
Two silhouettes emerged, shaped by shadow and fire.
And then I froze.
Letisha.
Edward.
Both stood just near the edge of the rooftop — no more than two steps away from falling to their deaths.
Their eyes were cold. Faces empty. Unmoving.
And in each of their hands… was a gun.
Pressed to their own heads.
The voice came again, heavier than before.
"You can choose only one.
The other will die.
Unless you make your decision, you will remain in this place forever.
Not even power can free you from this space.
You have fifteen minutes."
It repeated itself twice more.
Letisha didn't blink.
Edward didn't flinch.
And I stood there… caught in silence.
Elsewhere, in different space entirely...
The wind was colder here. Rough beneath her feet, glassy steel behind her — Letisha stood atop another high-rise, far from Noa, yet eerily similar in design. White towers loomed all around her in every direction, silent and frozen in time. No cars below. No humans. No birds. Only silence.
And then, a sound came. Low at first, then louder — like a voice echoing straight from the sky.
"This is your trial," it said.
"You have been placed in a corner of your own mind. Everything you see here is part of you. And the choice you make today will become your destiny."
Letisha narrowed her eyes as the voice rang again.
"To leave this place, choose one to live. The other must fall. The time to decide: fifteen minutes."
A circle of smoke bloomed at the center of the rooftop, black flames rising up like a curtain being pulled. And from the dark—two figures emerged.
Noa.
And beside him, an unknown figure.
Letisha didn't flinch. Her expression didn't shift. But something in her eyes hardened.
Both of them—Noa and the stranger—stood before her in complete stillness. Each held a gun to their own temple. Their faces unreadable. A beat of wind tugged at Letisha's coat. Her boots clicked softly as she stepped forward.
The voice repeated again:
"Choose one. Only one may live. This choice will shape your fate."
Letisha clicked her tongue. Looked up at the sky like it insulted her.
"Choices, huh?" she muttered. "You're giving me choices… to decide my destiny?"
Her expression sharpened — not panicked, not emotional. Just… insulted.
She walked up to the two without hesitation, hair swaying with every step, eyes steady.
And then, smiling coldly, she firmly:
"Then let me give you the option."
In one fluid motion, she stepped up and pressed her hands against both weapons.
Bang.
Bang.
The sound cracked through the still air. Both figures collapsed in slow motion, and Letisha watched them fall like pieces in a rigged game. Her lips curled into a smile — not satisfaction, but defiance.
"Try writing that into my destiny," she said, turning her back on the bodies.
"try your stupid illusion on someone else" rasing her hand waving it.
The voice fell silent. The sky above her seemed to pause. But Letisha didn't wait for applause.
She dusted off her coat and walked forward.
Back on the rooftop...
The voice repeated, calm and cold:
"Only one may live. The other must fall. This will be your fate."
Noa looked down.
Then looked at both of them.
Then… he placed a hand beneath his chin.
"Hm," he muttered casually, as if watching an interesting game, "So this is how the ring bearers are chosen?"
(...)
No response. Not even a flicker of the wind.
He dropped his hand and stepped forward. His boots made soft sounds on the rooftop as he walked toward them. No hesitation. No fear. Just... a calm defiance that didn't fit the scene.
Now standing between them, he gently reached out and touched both of their cheeks.
Letisha.
Edward.
His voice was low.
"Since when," he said, "did I start taking orders?"
Another step closer. The sky above rumbled faintly.
"I've been bullied... hated... punished for never following what i have been told."
He gave a small smile—tired, quiet, real.
"And now you want me to choose who dies? My sister? My unc— father?"
He stopped himself.
He stepped back. Then leaned down and slowly took both guns from their hands.
His expression didn't change.
"If someone out there wants to decide my fate," he said, raising the guns to his own temples,
"then go ahead."
His voice sharp and clear with a smirk:
"But you'll be writing it without the main character."
And with a soft exhale—
He pulled the triggers.
Bang.
Bang.
The sound echoed across the lifeless city like a god had been shot.
Noa fell.
And everything went white.