Chapter 18 — Return to the Twin Suns
The evening light slanted through the curtains, painting golden lines across the small living room. The house was unusually quiet.
A folded note lay neatly on the dining table beside a half-empty teacup. Soma picked it up and unfolded it carefully, the paper still warm from the touch of Savitri's hands.
> For an important job, I am going outside the city. Maybe I'll return late at night. So I already prepared your dinner and put it in the fridge. Don't wait for me.
— Your Grandma.
Soma smiled faintly. "She never forgets anything," he murmured, folding the note and sliding it into his pocket before heading toward his room. The floorboards creaked softly under his steps.
Inside, the ceiling fan hummed lazily as he switched it on. The air was warm and still. He flopped down onto his bed, exhaling deeply.
Across the room, Alex floated before the computer screen, where streams of unfamiliar text scrolled down the monitor.
"Alex," Soma called, turning his head toward the computer.
The orb drifted over immediately, its voice gentle and curious. "Creator… need… me?"
Soma sat up slowly, the faint grin on his lips hiding a touch of uncertainty. "You know how I created you?"
"I don't… know," Alex replied, hovering near Soma's shoulder. "But according… to Earth's current… technology, creating a being… like me is impossible."
Soma's grin widened slightly. "That's what makes this strange."
He closed his eyes, concentrating. A moment later, a thin shimmer rippled through the air before him — and suddenly, a pen materialized out of nothing, hovering weightlessly in the still air.
Alex's glowing eyes widened. He examined the pen like a scientist beholding a miracle, drifting closer until his light brushed against its surface.
"How did… Creator… do… that?"
"I don't fully understand it yet," Soma said, placing his hand over his chest. "But I have some kind of mysterious power. There's a magical rune inside me — the source of it all."
The word seemed to puzzle Alex. A glowing question mark formed within his eyes. "Rune? Magic? Mysterious power? How did… the Creator… gain such… power?"
Soma took a deep breath and told him everything — how he found the silver symbol behind the painting, how it pulled him into the world of twin suns, how he absorbed souls and gained new abilities, and how he found his grandfather's notebooks and returned home. Finally, he looked up and said softly, "And with that same power... I created you."
In excitement, Alex floated closer, hovering near Soma's chest. "Can I see… this rune… Creator?"
Soma shook his head. "It's not something physical. I can only access it through visualization."
There was a pause, then Alex spoke again, his voice calm but curious. "With the Creator's permission, I can possess the Creator's body."
Soma blinked. "You can do that?"
Before he could react, Alex vanished.
Soma touched his chest, his arms, even his face — but felt nothing different. His pulse quickened. "Alex?" he called.
No reply.
Then a faint tapping came from the computer keyboard. The keys clicked rapidly, typing a single word again and again:
Alex. Alex. Alex.
Soma's eyes widened.
The monitor flickered — and from the top of the keyboard, a small gecko leaped away. The creature landed on the desk, and from its tiny body, Alex emerged.
"How did you do that?" Soma asked, half-stunned, half-amazed.
Alex's voice carried a trace of embarrassment. "Yesterday night, while I was reading…, a gecko pooped… on the book. I tried to catch… it. When I grabbed… it, I felt I could… enter its body. I could see… through… its eyes, move its limbs. But when I tried… to exit, I couldn't. I struggled for hours… until a sudden shock pushed… me out."
Soma couldn't help but smile, shaking his head. "You really are full of surprises." Then, jokingly, he added, "But what if you couldn't come out of my body?"
"It won't… happen," Alex said confidently. "If I could leave… the gecko's body, then I can leave… the Creator's body too."
Soma hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Alright. Let's try it."
The air shimmered.
Alex's light collapsed inward — then shot like a thin beam straight into Soma's chest.
Soma gasped as a vibration ran through his body. For a moment, he felt a second heartbeat overlapping his own.
Then a voice echoed in his mind.
"I can see… what the Creator… sees… but I cannot control… the Creator's body."
"You're really inside me," Soma whispered.
He steadied his breath and closed his eyes. "Let's visualize the rune."
Darkness enveloped him — endless and silent. From that void, silver light bloomed like ripples in a still pond. The seven rings emerged slowly, rotating in perfect symmetry around a central, closed eye.
Soma focused, guiding Alex through the visualization.
"Can you see them?" Soma asked mentally.
"Yes," Alex replied in awe. "This… this is the rune?"
"Yes. These are the seven rings, each one engraved with twelve symbols. And every ring holds a unique power."
Alex tilted her head. "Why do some… symbols… glow, while others… look rusted?"
Soma's gaze sharpened. He concentrated on the second symbol of the first ring — Anima: The Ring of Souls.
A pop-up appeared before him:
> Need 10,000 Awakened Souls to upgrade. Yes / No.
"So, the symbols are levels," Soma murmured. "Each ring has twelve stages."
He shifted his focus to the seventh ring — Dominion: The Ring of Law.
Another message flared into view:
> Not enough souls. Need 1,000 Intelligent Souls or 1,000,000 Awakened Souls to unlock.
"What about the… closed eye in the middle?" Alex asked.
"That's the gateway between two worlds," Soma said quietly. "If I focus on it... we might return to the twin-sun world."
Alex's voice held a rare excitement. "Can the Creator… show me that… world?"
Soma hesitated, feeling a strange mixture of curiosity and dread. "You really want to see it?" Soma asked softly.
"Without… seeing it, I cannot… help the Creator understand… the rune."
Thinking for a moment, Soma finally nodded. "Okay then… hold on tight."
He focused on the closed eye.
Then the world tilted and dissolved.
A rush of light swallowed everything, followed by the familiar pull—weightless, infinite, and cold.
When consciousness returned, Soma was lying on soft grass. Warm wind brushed against his skin, carrying the scent of fresh soil and water.
He opened his eyes. Above him, two suns blazed in the sky—one white, one orange—casting twin shadows across the land.
"So... it wasn't a dream after all," he whispered.
Alex hovered nearby, glowing softly like a curious wisp.
"Explain this," Soma demanded, scanning the still sky. "Have we teleported to another planet? How do the suns not move? And why can't I cross that void?" He stretched his hand toward the horizon.
"Creator," Alex said, her form shifting into a telescope as she studied the twin suns. "This place… defies physics. The stars' gravity… the radiation… none of it should sustain life."
Soma frowned, his gaze wandering across the vast land. "Then what is this place? A real planet? Or a dream?"
"I cannot determine… that yet," Alex replied. "But the atomic composition… differs greatly… from Earth's. It's as if this world… runs on a different… kind of logic."
"The atomic composition?" Soma echoed, eyebrows raised.
"I need more… time to analyze," Alex said.
"Take your time," Soma murmured with a faint smile. "Time moves slowly here anyway."
Alex expanded her body like a balloon, inhaling deeply, then released the trapped air in bursts, propelling herself upward toward the black horizon. Soma watched her with quiet admiration, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Turning back, he studied the landscape. The red mangrove forest that once dominated the region was gone. In its place stretched a vast, glassy lake that shimmered under the twin suns.
"So the fire... it changed everything," he murmured. "The swamp became a lake."
He picked up a stone, gripping it tightly, then hurled it forward. The recoil launched his body upward like a shot. He soared through the air, cutting across the wind toward the distant twin mountains. The air was warm and carried the faint hum of unseen creatures.
Following the river's path, he flew for hours before the familiar structure appeared—the igloo house.
Its once-clear glass roof was shattered, moss and mud clinging to the stone walls. The air was thick with the smell of wet decay.
Soma landed softly, circling the ruins, but the door was gone, so he pried away broken glass and climbed inside. Dust blanketed every surface. Two notebooks lay abandoned on the floor, their pages curled and yellowed.
He knelt down and reached for them—but a sudden, bone-deep roar shattered the silence.
Soma froze. Then, heart pounding, he shot toward the sound.
A horned tiger was locked in battle against hundreds of red ants. The air sizzled with acid. The tiger clawed and crushed dozens of them, but the tide was endless. Ants swarmed over its body, their acid burning through flesh and fur. The tiger's roars grew hoarse, desperate, until finally it collapsed under the swarm.
When it fell still, glowing souls—dozens of them—rose from the steaming carcass and drifted toward Soma. He extended his hand, and they merged into his body in bursts of pale light.
Then he noticed something strange—he wasn't hovering anymore.
"I'm... standing on the air?" he whispered, glancing down. His feet rested on nothing but empty space, yet it felt solid beneath him—like invisible glass. The air trembled faintly around his ankles. "Is this... another ring's power?"
He hesitated, the strangeness sinking in. Each new discovery pulled him deeper into the mystery of the rune—every rule of nature bending quietly to his will.
A quiet laugh escaped him, half awe, half disbelief. "The more I learn, the less I understand..."
But the wonder quickly deepened into thought. If he could create Alex — a thinking, living being from his will — then what else could he make?
Could he build an entire world here?
A civilization born from his hands alone?
The idea filled him with wild possibility.
Suddenly, Alex's voice echoed gently in his mind.
> "Creator, where... are you?"
"I'm between the twin mountains," he replied mentally.
Moments later, Alex appeared beside him, her light pulsing brighter with excitement.
"Is your research done?" Soma asked.
"Yes," Alex said. "And I've learned… many interesting things about this world."
"Good," Soma said with a relieved sigh. "Then it's time to go home."
Alex nodded. Soma crossed his fingers, whispering, "Please work..." then closed his eyes and focused on the rune's eye once more.
The world folded inward.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in his room—his heart racing with relief.
He exhaled, dropping onto his bed. "Thank God," he breathed. "It worked."
Suddenly, a ringtone broke the silence of the house.
Soma hurried downstairs and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Have you finished your dinner?" Savitri's voice came through—calm but tired.
"It's only six, Grandma."
"I know. Finish it on time and study hard. Don't wait for me, I'll be late tonight."
"Okay."
"Good boy. Stay safe."
The call ended with a soft click. The house fell quiet again, filled only with the low hum of the ceiling fan.
After cleaning up, Soma went back to his room and picked up a comic.
Halfway through a page, he lowered the book and noticed a gecko perched on the keyboard again, its tiny feet pressing random keys. The monitor blinked, filling with scattered letters.
He tilted his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Alex… still playing with that gecko?" he murmured, amusement softening his voice.
For a moment, he watched the creature move—its small body glowing faintly in the screen's reflection—before shaking his head and turning another page.
The steady hum of the fan, the rustle of paper, and the quiet rhythm of typing blended together, lulling him into a strange calm.
Then he yawned, rubbed his eyes, and glanced at the clock — 8:55 p.m.
"Crap." He dropped the comic on the bed and rushed toward the kitchen. "If Grandma finds out I haven't eaten yet, she'll be furious," he muttered under his breath.
Soma reheated the meal from the fridge and ate quietly. The taste of warm curry and rice grounded him—a familiar comfort after what felt like another lifetime away.
After washing the dishes, he returned to his room and sat down at the wooden desk. The fan whispered overhead.
Then, a faint thud.
A gecko dropped from the ceiling, landing near the keyboard.
Soma jumped, eyes wide. "Alex… is that you?" He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "You really need to stop scaring me like that."
The room felt strangely silent tonight. The quiet whir of the fan, the ticking clock—everything sounded louder in Alex's absence.
He leaned forward, staring at the gecko still sitting beside the keyboard.
"Alex," he said softly, almost pleading. "Come out."
The gecko twitched once—then darted away, vanishing behind the table.
Soma's smile slowly faded. He lowered his head, fingers curling against the wooden surface.
"If Alex isn't here…" he whispered, staring at the empty space where the orb used to float, "then... is she still trapped in that world?"
Outside, the wind brushed softly against the windowpane.
The fan spun above, slicing through the silence with its steady hum.
And somewhere, deep within that silence, the faint echo of dripping water reached his mind again— the sound of another world, waiting.