Upon opening my eyes, I expected to be in the bed of my room.
Fate, or something else, seems to have brought me here once again: the painting, as I decided to call this white place.
Even though I knew I'd end up disappointed, I still tried to look around for some clue about this place, or about that person.
I kept looking for a while longer, waiting to either wake up on my own or see the figure from the last dream. Before I realized it, something black caught the corner of my eye. I quickly turned to see what it was. To my surprise, it was a hand — but unlike the figure from before, this one was black; no other color but that, a deep black, like the first time I came here and the whole place changed.
The hand stayed still, right where it was. Then, from its palm, a sort of liquid started to flow, the same color as the hand. This substance spilled, but not the same way water would when falling from a glass or a waterfall; it seemed to follow a path, going upward. It kept going until it was near where my shoulder should be. There, it stopped.
Nothing else happened for a few minutes. Suddenly, the substance started branching out like tree roots; it began forming a shape.
My shape.
The substance molded itself, creating the parts of my body. After the hand and full arm came the torso, the diaphragm, the other arm, the hips, the legs and feet, and finally the head. When this strange process ended, I felt unimaginable pain. It was a hundred times worse than Master Aleph's evaluation. It felt like jumping into a pool full of needles. I couldn't bear it, but the worst part was that I couldn't move. I felt the pain, but it wasn't mine... not yet.
That's what I thought.
The pain stopped after what felt like hours, but instead of lingering pain, I felt a huge rush of excitement and joy. I could finally use this body. I moved my arms, my legs, touched myself, but it felt strange. It was like touching rock, metal, or some kind of very hard material. Even so, I didn't care. At least I had a body.
I tried moving through the place, but I just floated, like an astronaut in space. It felt unfair. Why give me a body in a place where it's useless?
It seemed this dream wouldn't end anytime soon, so the only thing I could think of was trying to speak with that person again. I inhaled all the air —if it even existed here— and shouted:
—Hellooo! Is anyone there?! Heeey!
No changes, no signs that anything would happen. I spent more time trying to make contact with someone or something, but nothing happened. When I lost hope, I thought about speaking one last time.
—If someone's out there... could you please help me?
No answer. I closed my eyes, ready to give up. I opened them again, and was surprised to see a light in the distance. My spirits shot up and I tried calling out to whatever that thing was.
—Heeey! Over here! Help! Hey! Can you hear me?!
The light didn't seem to move or do anything. Then it began to blink before disappearing.
What nonsense, I thought, letting out a big sigh. Why does this happen to me?
The light suddenly blinded me. It appeared right in front of me, abruptly and instantly. I closed my eyes and covered my face. Then I opened them just a bit to try and see, and what I saw didn't really surprise me... maybe a little, but deep down I already expected it.
There was that person from before — or maybe not...? This time, they weren't the same color as last time. Now they were blue, but a deep blue, like the depth of the ocean. In the center of their chest, which seemed to be made of water, there was an orb where all that light came from: an orb blue like the sky, even brighter.
I froze. This time I don't know if it was because I had a body or because of some special reason, but I felt fear, anxiety, and nervousness. This person's presence set off alarms in my body. My mind told me it was nothing, but my body didn't agree. I wanted to run. I had to.
It felt like I suddenly touched the ground beneath me, as if there had been an invisible floor all along. I tried to run away, but I couldn't. Now that I had a place to run to, my body refused to move.
—Why now, stupid body?!
I smacked my legs like that would make them respond. I looked up only to find the head of the new being right in front of me. But unlike the other one, this one had facial features. The most surprising and terrifying thing were its eyes: there was nothing there. Then, from those empty sockets, drops of the same black substance that formed my body began to drip. Only this time, when it ended, the substance turned into a bright green color, like an emerald. Their eyes were beautiful.
Before I knew it, the figure spoke.
—Kael Drakewill, the chosen one this time. Hmm... I see you have a body now. Good. Looks like the Lord got someone who's finally worth it.
—Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just wanted to see the guest the Lord brought this time. I didn't have the honor of meeting the six before you, you know? I feel like they exclude me sometimes. Maybe it's because of my rank, but those pests will be at my feet one day, I swear it.
The figure let out a maniacal laugh.
—Stupid, insolent pieces of... Sorry, got a little off track. Anyway, I hope I can see you often. Maybe, if you say I'm the most suited for you, I can come with you. That'd be fun, don't you think? Or do you prefer that hardheaded Anubis? From what I heard, he was a bit rough. Coming from him, not surprising. So if you want someone cool like me to watch your back, say good things about me, alright?
The figure was slowly fading, but before disappearing completely, they spoke again:
—Oh! How rude of me, I almost sound like Anubis... My name is Theia. We'll see each other later, or at least I hope so, Kael Drakewill.
The figure calling herself Theia vanished completely, and from the place where she left, the canvas was painted sky-blue, like the orb in her chest. Then came that impossible speed sensation.
I woke up again under the roof of my room, in my bed.
I tried to process everything that had just happened. Why did I go back there? Is this some kind of bad joke on a kid? Or something beyond my understanding? Theia... sounds nice. And Anubis... isn't that a god or something?
What the hell is going on? Can you talk to gods in this world? Or am I some kind of special case?
Well, from how they called me —the chosen one— maybe I am. But she also said there were six before me. Are there more after them?! What do they want from me?
My thoughts were interrupted.
My stomach growled louder than I thought it could.
—...I'm hungry.
Damn this body.
I got dressed and headed to the kitchen. I tried not to overthink what I'd been thinking. Right now I can't do anything... I couldn't. We're talking about a god! Damn it...
What kind of world did I end up in?