Ding.
The world shifted back in fragments.
The smell of alcohol. The feeling of cold metal against his skin. The bright ceiling lights above. These were the first sensations he felt as he resumed consciousness.
Dominic's breath caught. He jerked upright but it was too fast. A needle ripped free from his arm. The monitors blared. Medics lunged to hold him down.
"Vitals spiking," one barked. "He's awake."
He lay on a gurney in a sterile tent. Gray walls. Medical personnels surrounding him. Scanners humming.
He could still feel the phantom roar of pain in his spine, taste of blood, and bones broken that remained only in his memory.
But his body? Intact. No scars. No bruises. The trial had ended in that otherworld.
As he sat up slowly his vision shimmered.
[DEATH OF TEENAGE TARRASQUE DETECTED]
[SACRIFICE ACCEPTED]
[YOU HAVE BEEN BOUND]
[IDENTITY: DOMINIC SOLARI — STATUS: BOUND BY FLAME AND GRIEF]
[EIDOLON DESCENT: PHASE I INITIATED]
"Ishhh…"
A sharp breath hissed between his teeth. A cold and nervous breath.
"That was just a teenage Tarrasque?" he muttered, cold sweat now beading along his brow.
"What does an adult look like? Mount Everest with claws?"
Damnn
A chill ran down his spine.
"If Mama Tarrasque finds me… I'm dead."
He shook his head, trying to push the thought away.
[EIDOLON DESCENT SYSTEM — ACCESS GRANTED]
• Name: Dominic Solari
• Species: Human
• Age: 17
• Eidolon Name: Veil of the Shattered Star
• Eidolon Form: Dual Sword
• Curse: Forever lonely
• Power Tier: Mortal Descent Initiated
• Power Phase: Phase I – Awakening)
• Soulmass Saturation: 0 / 100
• Skills Gained: None
• Eidolon Ability: Unknown — Will reveal upon activation
The text burned across his vision.
He stared at the curse line. Long moment. Tried to make it show more.
Then—
A voice, or something like it, sounded in his head:
"The boy's face turned goddesses envious. Aphrodite wept. Venus spat. Hathor cursed. So fate was written:
'No heart that loves him may glimpse his face. Beauty draws longing. And longing brings death. If love sees him, death binds them both.'"
Dominic touched his face. His reflection in a steel tray showed him "ordinary", "unremarkable", handsome face.
He let out a bitter, breathless laugh.
"A face to die for.
Aphrodite must've gagged. Venus shattered a mirror. Hathor cursed me out of spite.
Too ordinary to live. Too loved to survive.
Honestly… didn't sign up for this. My future harem plans? Gone. Down the drain.
The only thing left? Get stronger. Show those chicks who's boss.
For now… I'll innovate."
He grabbed a bandage roll and wrapped it around his lower face. It wouldn't protect anyone but it let him lie to himself for a while.
He paused, shock and realization settling in.
His breathing slowed not from peace.
There was a hole inside him. Not a wound. Not pain. Something essential was missing.
It gnawed at his mind. Sharp. Constant. Like teeth on bone.
The boy's memories lingered, just out of reach. Faces, laughter, hope were blurred and broken, like cracks in glass.
He reached.
A face? Gone.
A laugh? Gone.
Hope? Gone.
But the bruises stayed.
Cracked ribs.
Piss-soaked alleys. Rats crawling.
Hunger biting like acid.
The system carved away the boy's core. Left the cuts. Stole the cures.
A bitter laugh escaped.
"So that's what you wanted," he rasped. "Kept the wounds. Took the stitches."
Nails dug into his scalp.
"I gave up my memories… but why these? Why not mine?" he muttered, low and bitter. "Bug… or point? Doesn't matter. I'll figure it out as I go."
The monitor beeped steadily. A nurse hovered, pretending to log vitals, eyes flicking to him.
Dominic caught her gaze.
"Careful," he rasped. "Stare too hard and I'll charge."
She snorted, heart racing.
"I've seen prettier faces on broken data-pads."
"Sturdy pad, then?"
"Yeah. Survived a two-story drop. You?" She tilted her head. "Not sure you're still working."
Dominic chuckled. "Well, I'm not sure if the jealous gods would agree."
A medic scrolled through scans, frowning.
"Mental state unstable… lower third percentile," he muttered.
The nurse whispered, "That low?"
The medic nodded. "Alive, technically. Four layers of hell in the brain. I'm surprised he's not screaming yet."
Dominic shrugged, shoulder stiff, muscles aching
"Then I'm ready for layer five. I doubt it can get worse. Am I discharged?"
The nurse nodded, checking her slate.
"What was it like in there?" she asked as he stood.
Dominic's bitter smile didn't falter.
"A place that should never exist. A living nightmare."
The monitor beeped again, as if agreeing.
The hall stretched long and dim. Flickering panels sputtered overhead. The air smelled of antiseptic, bitter and sharp.
Dominic's boots scuffed on tiles, hollow echoes marking each step away from the med-bay. He could hear voices murmuring from somewhere far.
At the hall's end, a technician waited. Thin, pale, eyes flicking over Dominic's face. Fingers tapped a data pad. Scanning and logging details.
"Identity Confirmed," he said flatly, hesitation hiding beneath the surface. "Mental instability flagged. Clearance pending therapist review."
Dominic rasped a laugh. "Look at me. Would someone as strong as I need a therapist?"
The man's lips twitched. He didn't know whether to laugh or not at the scrawny figure in front of him
"When you leave register your eidolon descender status" annoyance tangled in the technician eyes as he spoke.
Dominic caught it, nodded then chuckled, and walked on.
Past the med-bay, the sun setting looked almost comforting compared to the bloodbath hue of that nightmare. Ah so refreshing.
The buzz of life footsteps, murmurs, distant slamming doors.
Leaning against a bulkhead, half-grin, relaxed posture, the guard waited.
The same guard who had questioned him before the trial looked softer now, camaraderie faint beneath his eyes.
"Well, look who made it out," he said. Nod, smirk. "Didn't think you had it in you. My speech must've worked."
Dominic met his gaze. Unamused. Screaming in his mind. There is no way that twenty dead bodies then twenty dead prisoners were a coincidence. This dude jinxed me.
The guard smiled awkwardly. "Thought you'd hit the academy, right?" His voice light, probing.
"Is it necessary?" Dominic asked, rough but steady.
Guard chuckled. "Definitely. Hands-on experience, resources… even more if you got a true name. You got one yet?"
"True name? What's that?" Dominic asked.
The guard's smile faded slightly. He weighed Dominic with his eyes. "Never mind. If you join the Academy, you'd learn more. Carry on. My second shift is almost here."
"Alright then," Dominic said quietly.
The guard clapped his shoulder, half encouragement, half warning. "Stay safe, ghost."
Dominic walked on. Each step a claim against the fractures inside him and the broken world that lay ahead him.
Outside the reinforced glass, Terra's Sunset city buzz hummed low and restless. The Monolith cut the skyline like a jagged blade.
Hover-rails glided overhead, engines roared. Neon signs flickered on rusted scaffolds. Shadows moved with it's owner. Children were weaving through.
The smell of smog clawed at his throat. Dust and decay stuck to the recycled air. The slums.
Machines beeped. Lights buzzed overhead like insects. Distant sounds blended with the setting sun. Another day in Terra's endless pain is coming to an end.
The muscles remembered exhaustion even though the flesh didn't.
The gears of fate turned and churned, teasing the mystery of the future.
Would it be Redemption or Disaster?
Only time would tell.