Chapter 1 - Enter: Caufree Canentem

"Almost there!"

I struggled to keep up with his elegance. Ren was a man of few and many words. He always had a goal in mind; at least that's what I thought. Maybe he was just really good at acting like he knew what he was doing. Ren and I are a part of the Canentem bloodline, so the color of our powers is gray. I wouldn't say I'm the hugest fan of gray. It feels cold. A fairly dark color that has subtle hints of light. The meaning of colors is different around the world and I find that to be very interesting.

Ren and I were heading to our "secret spot". The roof of an abandoned building that looked onto a regularly inhabited port. I still remember the distinct brown of the sky and the calming blue of the sea. The commotion of the workers. I always wondered what they had to worry about. Being late? Their sandwiches getting cold? I was around fourteen back then and I looked up to Ren, as well as my Mom and Dad. Ren is an independent person and he wanted to leave the house to "tour the world", to my dismay.

"Why are you leaving?" I asked as Ren looked at the sunset.

"To see the world outside of my constricted view!". He patted me on the shoulder, wore a reassuring smile on his face, and then said "Come on! I think it's time I show you what's out there!".

From that smile alone, I knew exactly what he was talking about. My Dad would read me bedtime stories about the "worlds beyond our comprehension". At a certain age, we gain the ability to traverse these worlds. The stars can flood the land in darkness, the snow can leave a ferocious wildfire in its wake. Voices can hang in the air like fog. It was a scary thing to think about, but Ren kept on telling me that things were going to be okay. Since we were a part of the same bloodline, we could travel across those different worlds together.

I opened my eyes and saw a long, illuminated path before me. I followed Ren through that path. I was in awe of everything that was entering my line of sight, but there was one thing that I didn't tell him about and that was the voices that I heard. It was screaming. No. Crying. They sounded familiar, yet indescribable. Ren could tell that I was afraid, so he smiled and once again told me that everything was going to be alright. I smiled back and we ran through that path with determined feet. The sky got further away from us and luminous, vibrant stars started to populate it. It was beautiful, but what did it all mean? As we kept on running, I started wondering why Ren was showing me all of this. Maybe he wanted to create a final memory before he left.

Around a year before a phenomenon that took away my family, Ren finally left the house to forge his path. There was one night before he left where I saw him sitting on the floor of our kitchen, silently crying. I couldn't muster the courage to form any words. Eventually, I whispered his name and he turned around, frantically trying to wipe away his tears. He smiled. "Why are you up?". He gave me a long hug and told me to go back to sleep. That was the last hug he ever gave me.

A year passed. It was night again. This time the cries were distant. All I could remember was this unique flash of light that had every single color imaginable in it, followed by a terrifyingly beautiful sound, then nothing. Then there were screams that started to multiply. The ringing in my ears harmonizing with it. I went downstairs. Nothing. My Mum and Dad were gone. I called Ren. Nothing. I looked outside and I saw people panicking. The fear that I felt at the time was incomprehensible. I was alone. I didn't want to be alone.