Fang never remembered the moment the fire started. One minute he was lying awake on that thin mattress in the corner of his parents' apartment, listening to them argue through the walls like always. Then next, the air turned metallic and bitter. Smoke seeped under the door, lazy at first, then thicker, darker, heavier. Someone screamed in the stairwell, and the whole world lurched into chaos.
He didn't wait to see what burned. Instinct moved faster than fear. He pushed the window open and climbed out onto the fire escape, coughing as the city glowed red beneath him. Sirens wailed in the distance. Heat rolled upward in waves that made his eyes water.
He didn't look back.
Thirteen years in that place. Thirteen years wishing, begging internally for a crack in the cage. It was twisted, maybe even wrong, but the blaze behind him felt like the first stroke of luck he'd ever had. A disaster that finally opened a door.
But freedom was heavier than he imagined.
He ran for blocks, slipping between crowds of panicked neighbors, ducking beneath drifting smoke, dodging the embers carried by the wind. His stomach cramped so sharply he doubled over once, hands on his knees, swallowing air that tasted like ash. He hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. His parents had "forgotten." Again.
When he reached the quieter district, it was just rows of shut stores, their neon signs flickering tiredly. His legs finally betrayed him. His knees buckled, and he sank down beside a shuttered bakery, the metal grate cool against his cheek.
The soles of his feet burned from running on hot pavement.
He curled up, hugging his arms around himself for warmth that didn't come.
Is this it? Really? After everything?
He blinked up at the sky, eyes stinging from smoke. The city lights blurred. Somewhere deep inside, an ache settled
I never saw the ocean.I never rode a train out of the city.I never even saw snow.
The list grew in his mind, raw and pitiful. All the things he had dreamed of, all the stories he read at the library while hiding between the shelves. The books promised worlds that felt bigger, kinder. Places where someone like him could be anything, not just a problem for adults to ignore.
He tried to inhale again, but the breath caught halfway. His ribs felt tight, like someone was pressing down from every angle.
His eyelids fluttered. A heavy warmth flooded his limbs, dulling the sharpness of the hunger and the pain. Even the sounds of the city:
sirens, shouting, the rush of distant traffic...
faded into a soft hum.
Darkness pulled him under.
---------------------------------
Silence.
Then a breeze. Gentle. Cool. Crisp in a way no polluted city air had ever felt.
Fang's eyes opened, and there was light: warm, golden, endless. He blinked in confusion, expecting concrete above him, or smoke, or nothing at all.
But he was lying on something soft… like mist.
He pushed himself up. His palm sank slightly into the cloud, leaving ripples of white like disturbed water. He gasped, scrambling to his feet.
He was standing above the world.
Clouds stretched in every direction, rolling like hills in slow motion. Between them, the faint glow of a moonlit world peeked through. The stars overhead weren't as small as he knew:
They were so bright, actual living sparks, each one large enough to cast a glow.
"What… where…?" His voice trembled.
A presence stirred behind him. Not loud. Not sudden. Simply there, like a shift in the air.
"You show remarkable endurance for someone so young."
Fang spun around.
An old man stood a few paces away, robes drifting around him like part of the sky itself. His long hair looked silver, yet it shimmered faintly with the colors of lightning, lavender and blue adorned his silver hair.
But it was his eyes that froze Fang in place.
The right eye glowed a deep lavender purple.The left blazed lightning blue.
Both radiated power that hummed against Fang's skin.
Fang stumbled back. "W-who..."
"My name is Asu," the man said. "God of Lightning."
The words landed softly, almost conversational, yet they made the air vibrate slowly.
Fang's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Asu's expression softened. "You died on your world. Painfully, I'm afraid."
A lump crawled up Fang's throat. He looked down at himself: whole, unburnt, unharmed. "But… I'm here."
"Yes." Asu nodded. "Because among all those who perished tonight, your spirit burned brightest. Fear didn't chain you. Despite your suffering, you ran toward life. Courage like that is rare. And it caught my attention."
Fang's hands trembled. "You… chose me?"
"I did."
The boy let out a small laugh, disbelieving. "I don't understand any of this."
"You don't have to," Asu replied gently. "You are wise for your age, Fang Herz. Wiser than you realize. A child who runs toward freedom instead of despair is just what I need."
Warmth spread through Fang's chest, fragile but real. No one had ever spoken about him like that.
Asu raised a hand. "And for that, I'm offering you a second life."
Fang's breath caught.
"A second… life?"
"Yes." Asu gestured toward the horizon. "Not on Earth. On a world far richer."
The clouds trembled, parting like curtains. Beneath them appeared a landscape of mountains glowing with bioluminescent moss, rivers of pale blue light, and massive ruins half-swallowed by forests.
"A world of magic," Asu said. "Of ancient kingdoms and soaring dragons. Tomes that rewrite fate. Swords that awaken when held by the right hands. Empires shaped by gods and mortals alike."
Fang stared, lips parted. "That's… real?"
Asu didn't answer with words. Instead, he lifted his palm.
A spark formed.
Not the chaotic crackle of lightning in a storm.
but a precise, bright orb, shaped like a marble of pure electricity. It hovered above his hand, humming softly, casting sharp shadows across his weathered face.
Fang's eyes widened.
The orb drifted forward, floating over the edge of the clouds. It glided across the open sky, toward a distant sleeping city far below.
Asu snapped his fingers.
A brilliant flash erupted.
Light burst across the horizon, followed by a crisp crack of thunder. Fang staggered, heart hammering as the sound rolled through him, vibrating his ribs.
"That," Asu said calmly, "is magic."
Fang couldn't look away. His golden eyes reflected the fading pulse of lightning. "I… I want to go. I want that life."
Asu smiled, slow and warm. "Then accept it."
"Yes," Fang whispered. "Whatever you need. Yes."
"Good." Asu's tone shifted, growing heavier. "Then hear my request, and understand its weight."
Fang swallowed.
"I have many siblings," Asu said. pacing around Fang. "Gods of stone, fire, shadow, storm, chaos, creation… countless domains. Each of us has chosen children:
mortals who carry our spark. Just like you."
Images shimmered briefly in the clouds below: a girl holding fire in her palms, a boy shaping stone with a gesture, a cloaked figure weaving shadows like cloth.
"They are scattered. Divided. Ignorant of each other. The kingdoms fear them, and respectfully, they are right to fear their powers.
We have seen the destruction they bring when they're pitted against each other."
Asu let out a sigh, and he stopped pacing just when he was next to Fang.
"No matter how much we try, it never changes."
Asu's mismatched eyes locked onto Fang.
"I need someone who can stand at the center. Someone capable of bringing these chosen ones together. A unified house of gods forged through mortal hands."
Fang felt the weight of his request, already understanding his meaning.
He wasn't sure he understood all of it, but something inside him knew what he asked of him. Some stubborn spark he didn't know he had rose to meet the challenge.
"And if… I don't?" he asked quietly.
"Then I will remove your soul from the eternal cycle," Asu said simply. No rage. No cruelty. Just truth. "You will not live again. Ever."
Fear swept through Fang. But another feeling rose above it: determination.
He had died once already. He had nothing left to lose.
He lifted his chin and stared directly into Asu's impossible eyes.
"I'll do it," he said. "I swear."
Stars flickered above them as if responding to his words.
Asu nodded, satisfied. "Then your new life begins."
Thunder rumbled gently, like a heartbeat echoing across the sky.
Light enveloped Fang, warm and bright, lifting him off the cloud surface. His vision blurred. Wind curled around him in spirals.
Asu's voice became distant, but steady.
"The world is called Edenia. Magic is its blood. Kingdoms rise and fall with every century. Gods whisper in forgotten ruins. And now… You enter its story."
Fang closed his eyes as the light swallowed him whole.
"Let us go to your new home."
The world tilted:
And Fang fell into his second life.