On that fateful day during their trip, Dave and his friends found themselves in Saudi Arabia, a land still healing from the aftermath of a devastating war. Thankfully, the reconstruction efforts were speeding along, aided by the powerful Izigans whose abilities were revered by all.
The group had checked into a local hotel, each member settling into their respective rooms for the night. Dave, being an Izigan, was particularly well-liked, which wasn't surprising since Izigans were known and loved for their remarkable skills and abilities. However, as the night deepened, the atmosphere shifted, and things began to take a strange turn.
In the dead of night, Dave was jolted awake in his room. Rubbing his eyes, groggy with sleep, he noticed the room was nearly empty, the last of his friends sleepwalking out the door. "What's happening? Are they calling us yet? What's going on?" Dave muttered to himself as he scrambled out of bed, confusion clouding his thoughts.
Following his friends out, Dave was shocked to find that all the kids from the hotel were marching outside in a trance-like state, headed in a singular, mysterious direction. The hotel staff was nowhere to be seen; it was as if they were the only souls left in the building. "Guys? Where are you all going? Are you guys okay?" Dave called out, reaching to tap one of them on the shoulder. The boy didn't respond, his eyes fixed forward, completely unresponsive.
Growing more frightened by the moment, Dave's confusion escalated into fear when he began to hear a faint voice. "Help, help me," it whispered, sounding as if it were inside his head, making his skin crawl. What was this eerie call?
Instinctively knowing something was terribly wrong, Dave, who had always possessed maturity beyond his years, decided to follow the source of the voice. It seemed to be emanating from a colossal alien ship that loomed over the heart of the city. The hypnotized children, including his friends, marched determinedly towards it, seemingly controlled by an unseen force.
As Dave continued to follow, he discovered that the road bizarrely veered down as if leading to the edge of a flat earth. Those controlled under the unseen force walked this path, defying gravity as they reached the edge and then miraculously regained their balance, continuing their journey on the suspended road.
From where he stood, Dave could see that to keep following, he'd need to traverse this gravity-defying path himself. With a deep breath, bolstered by his Izigan bravery and determination to uncover the source of the mysterious call, Dave stepped forward, preparing to face whatever lay ahead in the alien ship.
After a moment of hesitation, Dave stepped onto the path, feeling an unusual gravitational force that seemed to stabilize him on the other side. To his amazement, everything appeared normal despite the strange approach. Most shocking of all, he found himself standing at the base of the vast alien ship—a structure he had only seen from afar was now towering directly in front of him.
Dave paused, his heart pounding as he took in the scene. The others, still under some spell, were gathered at the base of the ship as well, walking slowly towards it. Around them, huge metallic structures jutted out from the ship's base. The ground was rough and uneven, covered in patches of mist that made the dark night seem even more sinister, like death itself was whispering through the air.
With the eerie voice still beckoning him, Dave walked between the enormous metals, his footsteps echoing softly against the cold, hard earth. As he drew nearer to the ship, he noticed parts of it were torn open, revealing dark, gaping holes like wounds from a fierce battle. Compelled by the voice, now clearer and more desperate, Dave ventured inside the wreckage.
The further he ventured, the louder the voice became until it transitioned from a voice in his head to one that filled the air around him. Navigating through twisted metal and debris, he finally came to the source of the calls for help.
What he found was not a human, though its form was vaguely similar. The creature before him had pale, almost luminescent skin and wore remnants of what seemed to be dark, battered metal armor. It was slumped against a metallic wall, its stance one of utter exhaustion and defeat. The creature's large, black eyes were the most striking feature, filled with an undeniable pain and sorrow that pierced Dave's heart. Yet, the entity was unlike anything Dave had ever encountered or learned about.
For a moment, Dave stood frozen, caught between fear and fascination. His initial instinct screamed for him to run, to escape the unknown that lay before him. The creature's gaze met his, a silent plea for understanding—or perhaps assistance—emanating from its sorrowful eyes.
After a tense pause, Dave's legs began to move, but not back the way he came. Despite his fear, something within him stirred—he still felt what was in front of him needee help, after much hesitation he then decided to leave the place.
"Please wait, don't leave," echoed the voice inside Dave's head once again. This time, he paused, turning back to face the source. Moving closer, his curiosity outweighed his fear. "Are you the one doing that, the voice in my head? You need help, don't you? Who are you?" Dave asked, his voice a mixture of concern and awe.
"I never expected you to be so young," the figure replied, his voice filled with a mixture of surprise and respect. "Your species, humans—you're usually much younger, a child, but your understanding seemed so mature when I first contacted you. My name is Uria, and I am the last of my kind, the Arath clan, from a distant planet. If you heard my voice, then you must be the reincarnation of Lord Kan. There's much I cannot explain—it's for you to discover. I need your help; the entire universe is at stake, and you are the only one who can save it. Understand, child, nothing is as it seems. I don't have much time left. He will come for me soon. Take this." Uria's weak hand extended, offering a black orb adorned with blue markings.
"I know you don't understand, child. The true purpose of this object is unknown to me. Before my kind was erased, Zelon sent me to give it to you, saying you are the first complete reincarnation. Lord Kan's reincarnate, right now I see him in you. You will need this object. Please, take it—it's safe. Hurry, before it's too late. Take it and run; he is already here to stop me," Uria urged, the tension in his voice palpable.
Dave quickly took the orb, his hands trembling as he grasped the mysterious object and ran like he was been chased. No sooner had he taken it than a figure dropped menacingly in front of Uria.
"Where is the Orb of Meston? Do you think you can play games with me? Oh wait, that sense of calm—I suppose you found the reincarnate then. You're trickier than I expected. Now, those children under the ship's hypnosis will all have to die if that's what it takes to find the one with the orb, not even just that, the reincarnate himself. You cannot hide him forever," the stranger snarled before savagely stabbing Uria.
Dave, orb in hand, fled the ship, the sounds of Uria's struggle fading behind him. He ran, driven by a newfound purpose and the heavy responsibility now placed upon his shoulders, his mind racing with the magnitude of the task ahead. The weight of the universe's fate seemed to anchor the orb in his palm, as he disappeared into the misty darkness of the night.
The mysterious figure, cloaked in darkness, clenched his fist in frustration. "I guess I will just have to go back in my time again," he muttered, attempting to perform a time reversal technique. To his dismay, the technique failed to activate. His identity was obscured by a hoodie, and the thick darkness of the night enveloped him further. "This can't be, I underestimated him," he said bitterly, glaring at Uria's lifeless body sprawled on the ground. "He sealed this reality to be a fixed point in time. How could I have not foreseen that he had the ability to rewrite the laws of time itself?"
As he stepped outside, his gaze fell on the alien ship and the children still under the influence of the alternate dimension technique. "Lord Kan's reincarnate is still a child. I should find him in no time," he reasoned confidently.
Approaching the group of children at the base of the ship, he spotted one holding an orb. With ruthless efficiency, he ran forward and eliminated the child. He continued this brutal pattern, mistaking each child holding an orb, killing one after another until a chilling realization dawned on him. "Something isn't right," he muttered, his voice laced with irritation.
"I am trapped under Uria's construct reality even after his death. I should have cut off his head; his brain is still functioning. I can't believe I fell for that. His merge in reality is using a fourth dimension phase. He's moving the boy still in the construct reality, correcting his side while he interrupted mine."
The unknown assailant paused, scanning his surroundings with a predatory gaze. He studied each child until his eyes locked onto Dave. The cosmic energy emanating from Dave was unmistakable. Fueled by desperation, the attacker began to deploy black cosmic rods as markers, a part of his dark powers, planting them each time he spotted Dave to trace his path.
Pursuing the trail of rods, the attacker closed the distance rapidly. With a black rod gripped tightly in his hand, he prepared to strike Dave from behind. As he raised his hand, ready to deliver a fatal blow, the silent night air tensed, bracing for what would come next.
As the assailant prepared to strike, he glanced forward and realized that Dave had vanished once more. "You dare?" a voice echoed from behind. Suddenly, a blinding light explosion erupted, engulfing the entire area in a fiery blaze that consumed everyone present, including the children from the hotel.
Unbeknownst to the outside world, this devastating event unfolded within a construct reality. From the moment the children had left the hotel, they had been pulled into an alternate dimension, isolating them from their surroundings. This manipulation meant that the explosion, though massively destructive, was silent to the external world.
The following morning, the site was swarmed by police and onlookers. Among the charred ruins, every child was found reduced to ashes—every child, that is, except for Dave. Miraculously, he emerged without a single scratch, his survival a mystery that shocked everyone there. Dave himself was dazed, with fragmented memories of his encounter with Uria and a mysterious orb, which was now nowhere to be found.
Rumors and suspicion quickly surrounded Dave, leading to accusations that he was somehow responsible for the tragedy. The apparent evidence was damning: a sole survivor, unscathed amid the destruction. The incident baffled authorities; it seemed like a powerful explosion had occurred, yet there had been no sound reported the night before. Some children who had not ventured out that night remained safe in the hotel, further complicating the story.
The aftermath was harsh for Dave. Upon returning to school in Washington D.C., he faced a changed atmosphere. Whispers and stares followed him through the hallways; his peers looked at him differently, a mix of fear and suspicion in their eyes.
One day, after returning from the tragic trip, Dave discovered the orb in his backpack. Initially thinking it was all a dream, the sight of the orb reignited his memories of Uria. Holding the orb, the weight of his next steps lay heavy on his shoulders. He was unsure of what would come next, but he knew he had a purpose to fulfill, driven by the enigmatic legacy of Uria and the mysterious powers of the orb. With no clear path forward and the eyes of the world warily watching, Dave's journey was just
Dave felt the weight of every gaze as he walked through the school corridors. The murmur of his classmates swelled around him—some whispered behind hands, others stole furtive glances filled with a mix of curiosity and fear. The news of the tragic incident during the trip had spread throughout the entire school in Washington D.C., and the way people looked at Dave changed fundamentally. No longer just another student, he was now shrouded in mystery and suspicion.