Luna did not arrive gently.
There was no tunnel of light. No countdown. No warning chime. One breath she was mid step, and the next the ground slammed into her bare feet with bone-deep certainty.
She stumbled forward, arms flailing, heart detonating in her chest.
"What… what the f—"
The word tore out of her throat as reality crashed into her all at once.
Wind slammed against her skin. Heat surged through her veins like molten metal, sharp and invasive. The stench of rot and wet earth flooded her lungs, primal and choking, while sunlight stabbed her eyes so violently it forced tears free.
Her body locked. Her lungs burned as if she were inhaling shards of glass. Every breath hurt. Every heartbeat felt too loud, too fast, too real.
She spun in place, panic clawing up her spine.
Tall grass brushed her calves. Trees loomed in every direction, trunks thick and ancient, their leaves stitched together overhead into a canopy that swallowed the sky in broken pieces.
Birds exploded into the air at her movement, wings snapping, cries sharp and startled.
This was not a dream. Her feet hurt. Her skin prickled.
Her pulse was out of control.
"I've finally snapped," she whispered, voice trembling. "That's… that's what this is." She slapped her own cheek. Pain bloomed instantly, bright and undeniable.
"Oh no."
Panic surged like a rising tide. Her breath shortened. Her vision narrowed. She pressed a hand to her chest as if she could physically restrain her heart from breaking free.
This wasn't anywhere she knew. This wasn't anywhere on Earth. Her gaze dropped. She froze. Her clothes were gone. Not torn. Not damaged. Gone.
She stood barefoot in the grass, wearing a soft white dress that clung to her skin and brushed mid-thigh, fabric so light it moved with every breath she took. It felt intentional.
Designed.
Her hair spilled down her back in a heavy, glossy fall, far longer than it had ever been before. When she lifted a trembling hand to her face, her fingers brushed skin that felt wrong.
Too smooth. Too warm. She staggered toward a shallow stream cutting through the clearing and caught her reflection in the water. And forgot how to breathe.
The girl staring back at her was impossible.
Her eyes burned an unnatural blue, bright as sapphires soaked in starlight. Her lips were fuller. Her cheekbones sharper. Every feature refined into something both delicate and dangerous.
A face designed to stop people mid-thought.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "I'm… I'm hot."
The word felt obscene in the middle of terror, but it was undeniable.
This body was wrong in the most alarming way. Balanced. Powerful. Beautiful like a weapon. A hysterical laugh bubbled up, sharp and breathless.
"Okay," she said weakly to the empty forest. "So I've lost my mind and upgraded."
The air in front of her shimmered. A translucent pane of blue light blinked into existence.
WELCOME, LUNA.
Her scream ripped through the clearing.
She staggered back, tripped over her own feet, and hit the ground hard, palms scraping against dirt. The glowing pane followed her calmly, hovering at eye level.
INITIALIZING SYSTEM LINK…
"No," she gasped. "No, no, no. I do not consent. I do not want a system. I do not want quests. I do not want"
LINK ESTABLISHED.
Her vision flooded.
Text stacked over text. Numbers. Symbols. Bars filling, draining, refilling. A pressure settled behind her eyes, not painful, but invasive, like unseen fingers pressing into her skull and rearranging something fundamental.
She clutched her head, rocking slightly.
"This is how it ends," she muttered. "This is how people end up on conspiracy forums."
The pane flickered once. Then stabilized.
STATUS: STABLE
ANOMALY LEVEL: EXTREME
PHYSICAL FORM: ASCENDED
COMPATIBILITY: PERFECT
She went very still.
"…Ascended?" she echoed. Her laugh came out thin and cracked.
"Sure. Of course. Why not." The forest remained indifferent, Leaves rustled. Branches creaked. Somewhere nearby, something large moved.
That helped, strangely. The world was too busy being real for her to completely unravel. She forced herself to breathe.
Once.
Twice.
"Okay," she said aloud, voice steadier than she felt. "Okay. Panic later. Screaming later. Right now… right now I'm alive." She pushed herself to her feet.
The system window dimmed, sliding to the edge of her vision like a patient predator waiting its turn. She picked a direction at random and started walking.
Every step felt unreal. The grass was cool beneath her feet. The air tasted clean in a way she'd never known before. Her body moved smoothly, effortlessly, as if it had always belonged here.
Still, her nerves screamed. Something was watching her. She felt it the way prey feels a shadow before it falls.
Ash Pov
The scent hit him like a blade. Ash froze mid-stride, wings half-furled, claws grinding into the stone beneath his feet. The air shifted around him, subtle and violent all at once.
That wasn't prey.
That wasn't beast.
That was wrong.
His pupils slit as he inhaled sharply through flared nostrils. The scent curled through him, bright and intoxicating, threading straight into instinct.
New.
Unclaimed.
Powerful enough to sting. Something had entered his territory. Something that did not belong.
His wings snapped fully open, membranes catching the light as heat rolled off his body in waves. Horns curved back from his temples, dark and ridged, marking him unmistakably as apex. No warning roar. No challenge.
He launched into the air.
The forest blurred beneath him as he flew, speed ripping through the canopy, branches splintering in his wake. Whatever had crossed into his domain would be crushed before it could spread.
That was the rule. That had always been the rule.
Luna Pov
She heard it before she saw it.
A thunderous rush of air. The violent beat of wings. The forest screamed. Luna spun just in time to see him land. The ground cracked.
Dust and leaves exploded outward as a massive, horned figure folded towering wings behind him. He straightened slowly, heat rolling off his body in visible waves, eyes glowing like embers banked beneath ash.
He was godlike.
Tall enough to swallow the sun. Shoulders like mountains. Every inch of him carved from obsidian muscle barely restrained by skin. Midnight wings unfurled behind him, vast and terrifying, spanning the width of three men.
Curved horns like polished onyx framed a face so savagely beautiful it stole the breath from her lungs. Ancient symbols pulsed gold beneath his bronze skin, each throb a promise of violence and something far more dangerous.
He looked at her like she was already dead.
Luna forgot how to think. Her knees nearly buckled.
"Oh," she said faintly. "That's… that's new."
His gaze locked onto her, sharp and assessing. His nostrils flared as he took in her scent. The killing intent faltered. Just for a fraction of a second.
"What are you?" he demanded, voice low and dangerous, vibrating through the ground itself. Her mouth opened. Nothing came out.
Inside her head, the system chimed softly.
WARNING: HIGH LEVEL ENTITY DETECTED.
Her throat clicked as she raised her hands slowly, palms open, fingers splayed wide.
"Hi," she managed, voice barely holding together. "I would just like to state for the record that I did not mean to be here."
His wings twitched. That was not the reaction he'd expected.
And that hesitation saved her life.