Rude awakening

Victor felt like he was in over his head. There was no concrete idea of how to proceed. one day he resolved to use a more forceful method. In the evening of that very day he set his plan in motion.

. . .

In his half dead state Damian continued to relive his life. He was able to see everything like an observer, like someone who was watching a movie.

A B-Tier, badly written, uninteresting and almost painful to watch movie with a main character who after he wrote himself into deep shit just went belly up and didn't even attempt to get back on his feet.

He didn't even care about the ones who tried to help him. Who actually encouraged him get back what he once had and instead saw them as enemies? As people he had to shut himself away from.

He felt like a disgruntled critic that had already made-up his mind before even watching the movie. Even while watching it this belief only solidified. it was painful to finally see that his siblings we're trying to help him instead of sabotaging him. what stung even more was that he exactly knew how their efforts would pay off.

He saw his parents trying to get him back on track over and over again but failing at every turn. with his current mindset of self-loathing there was no other conclusion left for Damian except that he was the one who should have done better.

The fault lay with him and while watching these scenes play out, he had nothing but hindsight to keep him company. Unending questions of 'why' and 'what if' danced through his head until the recapping stopped.

The image that was frozen in his mind was of the moment his entire world had died. the phone call that informed him of his grandfather's heart attack and passing away.

The pain was still so fresh that he felt like puking even while not actually possessing a physical body. When he couldn't hold it in any longer something burst out of him. what he expelled were the two weeks that separated the time between victor's death and the present day.

It was a foggy, blurry mess no one would have recognized if they hadn't seen it all beforehand themselves. Mostly depicted Damien staring at the wall or the ceiling while curling up in this bed.

The only reason why he even got out of the house and went to receive his report card was that early in the morning there was a big commotion outside. There had been a traffic accident featuring a truck transporting dangerous cargo and a whole lot injured and even some dead civilians.

The noise was driving him crazy and in the same vein drove him out of the house. He had walked the way to his school out of habit and when he arrived, there was no point in going back anymore.

He didn't even really register when his report card was flung onto his desk and just kept staring through it, the table and everything that was in his line of sight to a place neither him nor anyone else would ever be able to see.

Only the bell snapped him out of his stupor and compelled him to stand up and finally leave.

. . .

While he was still digesting what he just saw, a loud booming sound followed by a medium sized earthquake caught his attention. shortly after there was a wave of energy that sent a cold shiver down his spine and woke him up.

He felt like someone had thrown him into a blender, turned it on and just forgot about him for the next 24 hours. he felt dizzy and his vision was blurry but the quakes That were happening repeatedly in a rhythmic cycle forced him to at least try to get up.

"What is happening out there", he asked out loud and almost like an answer to that question the voice of INT rang out. he was sounding even more desperate than the previous day when two higher beings had spontaneously decided to visit.

"For fucks sake. I told you a 1000 times. that's not how it works. You're just depleting my power core. stop this instant."

"Make me", the desperate cries of INT were answered by the voice of a woman that clearly had no intention of listening to him. While Damien was trying to get back on his feet, he was also hearing the laughter of someone that was neither INT nor the woman.

His vision was slowly clearing up and somehow, he made it out of the room and down the stairs until he reached the door that led him outside. he stopped inside the door frame which he used as a support to stay upright.

The scene that unfolded Infront of him was one of the least weird things he had witnessed since coming here but still weird, nonetheless. the glowing silhouette that was INTs body tried to block a woman from coming near the barrier.

She was a 1.85-meter-tall human, with muscles that looked more chiseled then trained. her whole body was a moving symphony of flesh that didn't show even the slightest trace of body fat. Her clothes were also revealing enough to let anyone appreciate her condition but not enough to appear indecent.

Her Raven black hair, black eyes and beautiful features distracted Damien completely from the fact that he was able to see every single feature of hers even with the considerable distance separating them.

She was also the one causing the quakes by simply striking the energy dome that surrounded the house. every time she punched with her fist INT had to dodge to the side to not be hit. it would have probably not ended well for him since massive ripples started to appear whenever the woman's fist's met the barrier.

"I swear, we should get together like this more often. it's always a blast with you too. by the way Karathya, you didn't return any of my calls. were you busy or are you just ignoring me"? Damien was searching for the owner of the voice that had just said that and his eyes fell on a figure standing a few meters away from the squabbling pair.

It was a humanoid wearing a long blue robe with golden and silver embroidery's depicting an anatomically correct skeletal structure. the weirdest thing was that the depiction didn't end where the hols for the arms and the head we're located. they continued into white bones that moved without even a hint of muscles or tendons.

Damien rubbed his eyes and staired again at the weird figure. what he saw didn't change, though. outside the barrier there was a skeleton in a blue robe that was laughing its ass off at the display INT and the woman, who was seemingly named Karathya, put on.

"Shut the hell up and help me. you useless sack of bones. Stop trying to flirt with her and do something. I swear that if anything happens to the barrier, I'm going to send the location of your phylactery to anyone you pissed of this month ".