In a strange, dreamlike landscape, a man appeared, crippled and helpless, his lime-green coat soaked crimson with blood. He was struggling to run, or perhaps just to crawl away from something.
This 'something' was a distant, shrieking presence, a sound of screeching, rusty metal that carried from as far as the eye could see. Accompanying the terrible clamor were dramatic violin chords, like those soaring through an opera house.
Despite being terrified beyond measure, the man pushed himself onward, putting every last ounce of remaining strength into his already depleted body to get away from the sounds. Each step became a little heavier, a little slower than the last, until finally, he collapsed. Pure exhaustion had utterly consumed him; there was no strength left to continue.
Lying on the unforgiving ground, his eyes barely fluttered open to a devastating sight: a vulture was circling above him beneath a frightening solar eclipse. Even the effort to keep his eyes open was too much, and as his vision faded, closing for good, all he could hear was the metallic, screaming beasts drawing closer with every passing moment.
And then, suddenly…
"Ha!" Edward's eyes snapped open, tearing him out of the long, deep sleep.
"Wh-what was that?!" he stammered.
"Was it all a dream!?"
As Edward slowly regained his senses, the vivid nightmare left him with more questions than answers. Where exactly was he now, to begin with? Looking around, he deduced he was likely in someone's premium bedroom. The sheer comfort and quality of the bed under him confirmed this. The room was painted a soft, light cream, and a delicate aroma of mixed flowers hung in the air. The windows were cloaked by rich blue silk curtains. This place could never be described as a prison; it felt more like a guest suite in a palace.
"Oh, you're awake," a voice announced.
"You must be thirsty."
Edward's eyes turned toward the sound and found a woman standing near the door to his left. She had reddish, streaky hair pulled back into a ponytail. By her appearance, she seemed older, perhaps in her 40s, and her eyes were certainly not the eyes of a kidnapper.
"Here, let me give you some water."
The woman brought a glass of water and handed it to Edward. He felt a surge of skepticism, but at this moment, resisting was pointless; his fate was clearly in these people's hands. 'It's not like anyone is coming to save or even look for me,' he thought, and he drank the water. It was just plain water, no added drugs.
Soon after, two people in black and white suits entered the room.
"Finally, after all this time, the kid woke up," the one in white said.
"Hmph, what can I say when some idiot uses too much of the sleeping agent?" he added, glancing pointedly at the person in black.
The person in black ignored the remark and focused on Edward. "Anyway, hey. You don't look like someone who's been kidnapped. I don't see even a hint of fear in you. You seem a little too calm."
"I don't think screaming my lungs out would achieve anything," Edward replied, his expression unchanged.
"Besides, if you wanted to kill me, you would have done it a long time ago."
"What is with this kid?" The white-suited man seemed to be getting annoyed.
"Still, you're not a normal kidnapper, seeing as you know my last name. Did my grandfather send you two to bring me?"
"Your grandfather? No, kid, he died a few days ago."
"Oh." The disappointment on Edward's face was clear.
"I really don't want to interrupt your sorrow, but I need to ask you one thing: How much do you know about your grandfather and 'the Owls'?"
'Don't want to interrupt !? you didn't even let me start grieving!!' Edward thought but kept this thought to himself.
"Not much. Most of what I heard was from my father. He told me what my grandfather looked like, how was his behaviour and that we could go and see him sometime, but that 'sometime' never came—"
"Ah, ah, cut the crap, kid," the person in white abruptly cut him off. "Tell me, do you know anything real about your grandfather?"
"Something real? What do you mean? I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Oh, damn. This kid is totally clueless." The white one sounded utterly disheartened.
The man in black started walking toward the window.
"First of all, let me introduce ourselves. My name is Vant. And the person wearing the white suit is Dew. We have worked under your father for about twelve years now."
With that, Vant finally pulled open the thick curtains that had been blocking the light. The scene outside shocked Edward as if he had seen a ghost.
The sun was covered in an eclipse, casting a reddish light over the entire land as far as he could see. There was no way a solar eclipse could happen around these dates, so how was this possible? Moreover, the scenery looked exactly like his nightmare.
"A land of eternal eclipse."
"A land that betrayed its sun."
"Kid, WELCOME TO SOLVEIL."