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TRIALBOUND ASCENSION: Becoming the World's Hidden Causality

FallenDreams
7
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Synopsis
The world has ended before. Damian Reign Sovereign remembers every failure. Every sacrifice. Every future that led to ruin. In all those timelines, one truth never changed—Ethan never awakened. Until Ethan Kyle Sovereign vanished. When the apocalypse begins, Ethan is torn away from reality and acknowledged by the SYSTEM, assigned to a mysterious [Trial] that exists beyond regression and recorded fate. Inside the Trial, survival grants power, skills are earned through blood, and rewards are given to those who endure. But some rewards are different. Alongside strength, Ethan gains causality points—a resource that allows him to glimpse the world he left behind and interfere with it from afar. Messages can be delivered. Events can be nudged. Outcomes can be altered—at a cost that grows heavier with every use. The SYSTEM recognizes him, yet cannot fully classify what he is becoming. As his brother fights destiny on the surface, believing he understands the future, Ethan grows in the shadows of another world—bound not to outcomes, but to causes. He was never meant to save the world directly. He was meant to become the hidden reason it survives.
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Chapter 1 - Dawn of Apocalypse

The once serene, quiet place within the penthouse of the Sovereign Family, now in a turmoil.

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"Mom! Dad!" Ethan Kyle Sovereign, who now slumped to his knees, reached his hands to the barren living room.

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It was but a while ago they sat and locked gazes to their movie when a sudden impact destroyed and crushed the area to smithereens.

'This must be a dream—! What the fuck— is happening?!'

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Beyond the wrecked edifice, revealed several ruptures in the sky— oh which swirled dark, thunderous clouds and spat out monsters he'd never imagined.

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His body never moved an inch, only grabbed tight on his messenger bag, and in any minute the cracks reached his feet.

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"Ethan! No!"

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Fortunately, his oldest brother, Damian Leigh Sovereign, grabbed him in a nick of time.

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A sudden tug of his shoulders— with great strength— he groaned from almost a dislocation.

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"Shit! Now it's happening too early!" A glance on his surroundings as though spotting a fiend on sight.

Yet the youngest remained at loss. A single hug and a pat on his back was all he needed, and tears came along. 

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"Brother, they—! Mom, Dad—!"

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"I know, I know... Right now—!" Then comes another round of blast, shaking and the ceilings gave off a few speck of dusts over them. "We have to go now!"

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With the remaining strength, he stood and followed close to his brother's back. "What about the others?"

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"I've already asked our eldest, Arlene, to go get Oscar."

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"Bro Oz? What about Elle?"

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"She's safe, for now."

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"For now?" A furrow on Ethan's brows came but bumped his head. "W—What's wrong—?" He clasped his mouth.

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A wolf— of larger build and with a jagged, protruding horn, chomped on a dismembered torso with arms hanging greeted them.

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'No shit! What in the—!' A sudden churn on his stomach; then an onset of vomit came.

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Meanwhile, it stopped tracks with a growl as Damian unsheathed his sword and a pulse came, clearing Ethan's mind. 

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Without any delay, he released several attacks that sliced the walls towards its flesh.

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'Brother Dee—?! How did he— powers?! What's this?!'

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A swat off his blade from his blood before he sheathed. "I know you have a lot of questions. Trust me, from now on things will get real and dangerous."

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For he could only gulp hard with now trembling limbs from what awaited them.

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Few meters beyond found about three wolves cramped the hallway. Which their growls trembled louder as they got closer. 

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'Oh no! That's Sis Ar's—!'

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A sudden blast came, with raging flames devouring the shattered walls and leaving the group of wolves earlier whimpered. What left on top of the brick was wolf in cinders.

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"Let's go." Damian tugged his wrist. 

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Peeking, there would Arlene Ruth who had her ash blonde hair smeared with blood as her head trickled also to the eyes down to her chin.

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Moreover, there are unknown shapes & symbols, floating and glowing in red, around her and to her palms.

"...She finally awakened..."

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'What did he say?'

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Ethan caught the sudden upward twitch of his brother's mouth before he cleared his throat.

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"Sis, are you alright?"

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"I'm okay— I'm okay..." Soon as Damian approached, her heaving chest calmed as arms anchored near the nightstand. "The two are safe here."

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Oscar let out a groan as Eleanor wrapped gauze around the claw marks on his leg and back. 

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"Bro Oz!" Ethan rushed to their side. 

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"Stay down, Than." Eleanor blocked him with her dainty arms, and then tucked a lock of her jet black hair behind her ear as she put first aid. "I'd appreciate if you don't interrupt me."

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A nod came from him. "Sis Ar, let me help you."

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"So unlike you, helping me, you brat." 

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"Don't joke about that." He locked his brown eyes to hers, a tad gray, before picking up a roll of dressing to her arm. 

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A sudden ruffle of his jet black hair went his way. "Alright, my bad. You act more like your twin now."

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Eleanor only rolled her eyes.

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While at it, Damian leaned against the wall in arms crossed, as he gleamed his brown eyes to a blue hue beyond the hallway.

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"Damian."

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"Yes, Sis Ar?" He remained in his trance. 

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"How about Mom and Dad?"

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Now, Damian stopped his tracks, became unwilling to face her. 

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Ethan fumbled on the gauze before he replied. "They're gone, sister..." Then a sniffle came.

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All of them stunned.

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"What?"

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"Yes, it's true." Ethan hugged Arlene tight. "I'm sorry! I couldn't do anything—! I turned around and they're gone." Now his words after that muffled as she hugged back.

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No movement between Eleanor and Oscar.

The former who stopped from the last wrap on the latter's leg before she continued. 

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The latter shot up, twinged, and slumped his back and head.

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Both sniffled with backs shaking.

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Meanwhile, Arlene pressed her red lips to thin while holding his wrist from punching the floor a couple of times.

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The sudden loss pained the youngest more than the throbbing pain emerged from his knuckle.

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"Let me go, sis…"

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"Don't hurt yourself."

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"... How are you so strong?" Ethan's nudge wouldn't make her budge. "Right, you two have powers now—! How did you get powers?!"

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"I don't know."

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For one, he knew their oldest sister and the eldest of the family was never one to lie. 

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Stubborn as he was, his brown eyes shifted to the bed. "Bro Oz, this looks like they all have powers now! Don't tell me you too—?"

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A click on his tongue heard without turning around. "Idiot. Do you think I'd be miserable if I have one?"

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"You will."

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All of them now shot up, looking at the one standing near the broken doorway. 

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"How'd you know? Wait! Earlier, you said the same thing to sis—"

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"This is like a game now, if that helps you." 

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Everyone now looked at each other, as uncertain as one would happen from now on. They had to rely on one another.

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'He knows something for real…' Ethan squinted his eyes at Damian.

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Dusts fell before them as the ceiling gave quite a shake.

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Prompting Damian, holding to his scabbard as he dusts off his beige polo shirt. "We need to get out of here."