Cold.
Why is it so cold?
Itsuki Naoya's eyes snapped open to darkness. Not the comfortable darkness of his bedroom, but something deeper. Emptier. A void that pressed against his chest like water filling his lungs.
He tried to move. His arms wouldn't respond. His legs felt distant, disconnected, as though they belonged to someone else entirely.
Am I dreaming?
The thought drifted through his mind like smoke, impossible to grasp. He had experienced nightmares before, those half-awake moments where the body refused to obey, but this felt different. Wrong.
Wake up. I need to wake up.
But the darkness held him. And somewhere in that emptiness, something whispered.
Not words…
Just the suggestion of sound, like wind through a canyon or water over stones. It pulled at the edges of his consciousness, trying to drag him deeper into that freezing void.
No…
The trials were today. Zenkai Dojo. His friends were counting on him.
Itsuki focused on that thought, using it like a rope to pull himself toward consciousness. The whispers grew louder, more insistent, but he pushed against them with everything he had.
Move. Just move.
His fingers twitched. Then his hand. The darkness shattered like glass, and suddenly he was gasping, sitting upright in his bed with sweat cooling on his skin.
Morning light filtered through his window, painting everything in shades of gray and gold. The familiar sight of his small room greeted him...the desk cluttered with training notes, the wooden practice sword leaning against the wall, the pendant his mother had given him hanging from the bedpost.
Itsuki pressed his palms against his face, feeling the warmth of his own skin, the rapid beat of his pulse. Just a dream. Another nightmare. They had been coming more frequently lately, always that same sensation of drowning in freezing emptiness.
He swung his legs out of bed and stood, his body protesting the sudden movement. Through the window, he could see Mistfall waking up. Smoke rose from chimneys, and in the distance, the sound of the morning bell echoed across the rooftops.
The trials would begin in a few hours.
Strong enough, he thought, remembering the words he had spoken to his reflection yesterday. I need to be strong enough.
But strong enough for what? To pass the trials? To join the Beyond Order someday? Or just to stop having these dreams where something cold and vast tried to pull him into nothing?
"Itsuki?" His mother's voice drifted up from downstairs. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah." His voice came out rough. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm awake."
"Come down when you're ready. Your father made breakfast."
Itsuki moved to his wash basin and splashed cold water on his face. The shock of it helped clear the last remnants of the dream. When he looked up at the small mirror above the basin, his reflection stared back...black hair in disarray, blue eyes still heavy with interrupted sleep, the thin scar over his left eyebrow from a training accident two years ago.
Just a normal seventeen-year-old. Nothing special. Nothing that would explain why his dreams felt like drowning in the void that existed before Vilaris was born.
He dressed quickly in his training clothes...simple black pants and a gray shirt that allowed for easy movement. As he descended the narrow stairs to the main room, the smell of fried eggs and fresh bread made his stomach growl.
His father sat at the small table near the window, already dressed for the day in the dark clothing he favored. Kaito Naoya looked up as Itsuki entered, his expression unreadable.
"You look tired."
"Couldn't sleep well." Itsuki slid into his usual seat. "Nervous about today."
His mother appeared from the kitchen area, carrying a plate. Nina set it down in front of him with a gentle smile, though her eyes held that knowing look she always got when she suspected he wasn't telling her everything.
"Eat," she said simply. "You'll need your strength."
Itsuki picked at his food, trying to shake off the lingering unease from the dream. His father watched him for a moment, then spoke.
"Second thoughts?"
"No. Just..." Itsuki paused, trying to find the right words. "What if I'm not ready? Everyone else has been training at proper dojos for years. I've just been learning from Sensei Laen in Silverstone."
"Laen Neves is one of the finest instructors in this domain," Kaito said quietly. "His students may be few, but they're well-trained. You know this."
"Knowing it and feeling it are different things."
Nina sat down across from him, her white braid falling over her shoulder. "Your ability troubles you."
It wasn't a question. His mother had always been able to read him too easily.
"I don't understand it," Itsuki admitted. "Yesterday when I was training with Father, I touched his practice sword and made it lighter. At least, I think I did. But I can't explain how. I can't control it. And the other candidates..."
"The other candidates have flashier powers," his father interrupted. "So what? Takumi can make fire. Impressive to watch, easy to understand. But that doesn't make it stronger than what you have."
"But I don't even know what I have."
"Then today is when you start finding out."
A knock at the door cut off Itsuki's response. Before anyone could answer, the door swung open and Takumi Leo burst in, practically vibrating with energy.
"Morning!" His voice was too loud for this early in the day. "Is Itsuki ready? Are we doing this? Because I've been awake since before dawn and I think I might explode if we don't leave soon."
Small sparks danced around Takumi's hands, his hair seeming to catch fire in the morning light. His eyes were bright with barely contained excitement.
"Breathe, Takumi," Nina said with amusement. "You'll set yourself on fire before the trials even start."
"Sorry, sorry." Takumi tried to calm down, but the sparks only dimmed slightly. "I just...this is it, you know? Everything we've been working toward. Today we find out if we're good enough for Zenkai."
"Or if Zenkai is good enough for us," came a new voice.
Kairo Huisiji appeared in the doorway, his ember-orange hair spiked in its usual chaotic pattern. Unlike Takumi, he moved with calm precision, his eyes sharp and assessing as he took in the scene.
"How did you..." Takumi started, then waved his hand dismissively. "Right. Teleporting. Of course."
"Just a short phase-shift." Kairo stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Wanted to make sure you weren't saying anything stupid about me."
"I wouldn't do that," Takumi protested.
"You absolutely would."
Itsuki found himself smiling despite his earlier anxiety. This was familiar...the easy banter between friends who had trained together for years, who knew each other's strengths and weaknesses as well as their own.
"Where's Shion?" he asked.
Kairo's expression shifted slightly. "Still at home. You know how he gets before big events."
"Lost in his echoes again?"
"Probably." Kairo pulled out a chair and sat down uninvited, snagging a piece of bread from the table. "His ability makes him see too many possibilities. Sometimes I think it's harder to have visions of what might happen than to just face what does happen."
Nina moved back to the kitchen, returning with more plates. "Sit, both of you. If you're going to drag my son off to the trials, at least do it on full stomachs."
"You're the best, Mistress Naoya," Takumi said, already reaching for food.
As they ate, the conversation turned to speculation about what the trials would actually involve. Takumi was convinced there would be one-on-one combat demonstrations. Kairo thought they would focus more on tactical scenarios and teamwork. Itsuki stayed quiet, pushing his eggs around his plate.
"You're doing it again," Kairo observed.
"Doing what?"
"Getting lost in your head." Kairo's tone was matter-of-fact, not unkind. "I can see it in your face. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just thinking."
"About?"
Itsuki hesitated, then decided there was no point in hiding it. "Had another nightmare. Same as before...that feeling of falling into nothing."
Takumi's enthusiasm dimmed. "Again? That's the third one this week."
"Fourth," Itsuki corrected. "But it doesn't matter. Just stress about the trials, probably."
"Or your ability trying to manifest properly," his father said quietly. Everyone looked at Kaito, who had been silent since the others arrived. "Abstract Shift is not a common power. We don't fully understand what it does or how it connects to Essence. It's possible your subconscious is processing things your waking mind can't grasp yet."
"You think the dreams mean something?"
"I think everything means something. Whether we can understand it is a different question."
Another knock at the door...softer this time, almost hesitant.
Nina opened it to reveal Shion Enther standing on the threshold. His silver-blue hair was disheveled, his eyes holding that distant look they got when his visions were particularly troubling. He clutched his ever-present notebook to his chest.
"Sorry I'm late," Shion said quietly. "Lost track of time."
"You're not late," Itsuki assured him. "We were just about to leave."
Shion nodded but didn't enter right away. He stood there, staring at something only he could see, and Itsuki recognized the signs. His friend was trapped in echo-visions, seeing fragments of past events or possible futures bleeding into the present moment.
"Shion." Kairo stood up and walked over, placing a hand on Shion's shoulder. "Come back. We're here."
Shion blinked, and focus returned to his eyes. "Sorry. It's worse today. Too many possibilities."
"What do you see?" Takumi asked, his earlier enthusiasm replaced with concern.
"Outcomes." Shion finally stepped inside, moving like someone walking through water. "So many different outcomes. Some of us pass. Some of us fail. In some visions, we're all together at Zenkai. In others..." He trailed off, his grip tightening on his notebook.
"In others what?" Itsuki pressed.
Shion met his eyes, and for a moment, Itsuki saw genuine fear there.
"In others, something goes wrong. Something changes. And by the end of it, we're scattered. Separated. Looking for each other across distances I can't even measure."
Silence settled over the room. Even Takumi had no quick response to that....