The classroom was quiet—too quiet for exam day.
Desks lined up, papers crisp, pens trembling in nervous hands.
Except hers.
Natsuki sat frozen, tears spilling onto the page.
She'd forgotten to write her name.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Damon muttered from two rows back.
He stood, ignoring the teacher's glare, and walked over.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked up at him, eyes red. "It's over. They won't accept it now."
"Like hell they won't," he said, snatching a blank form from the corner desk.
"Fill this out. Fast."
"But—"
"Now."
He darted out of the room, paper in hand.
The printer in the faculty room screeched as he made a perfect copy.
Three minutes. That's all they had.
Running back, he passed the hallway where the school bully swaggered by.
Timing, as always, was cruel—or perfect.
Damon stepped forward.
The bully tripped as planned over his foot, crashing into the teacher holding the submission stack.
The bully lifted Damon.
"Watch where you—"
"Kaito!" the teacher snapped, pointing down the hall. "Principal. Now."
Damon slipped the form into the pile and turned just as the teacher faced him.
The teachers hand on his face in disbelief.
"Name?"
He smiled. "Kogetsu."
The teacher sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Your paper's going to be confetti, kid."
"Glad we understand each other."
He walked away before the man could think twice, heart pounding from the rush.
When he found Natsuki, she was sitting on the steps outside.
Her eyes were still wet, but her shoulders were lighter.
"You...didn't have to," she said softly.
"I'm mad at you," he replied.
She lifted her head. "Huh?"
"You should've told me first."
For a moment, she stared at him—then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The warmth of her breath hit his collar.
And just like that—every ounce of anger melted away.
Then the light began to fade.
Not like sunset. Like memory.
The desks blurred. Her arms loosened.
And Damon realised...it's all a memory.
Light.
Buzzing.
A high, mechanical hum.
Damon's eyes shot open from his dream.
A spinning turbine hovered above him, its edges sharp and sleek like a blade.
A thin needle whirred dangerously close to his face, glowing a soft, eerie green.
Instinct took over. He jerked up—ripping a cold, metal restraint from his neck.
"Argh!" The sting burned deep, leaving a faint circular mark.
The room around him pulsed—a black chamber lined with green neon veins running across the walls.
They flickered like veins under skin.
"What the hell…?"
The turbine stopped.
A faint click.
Then—light.
Blinding, white light poured in from above, illuminating the space like a cathedral.
A glass dome stretched overhead—etched with a symbol: a dragon wrapped around a cross.
The light passed through it, scattering emerald rays across his face.
And up there—beyond the glass—figures.
People. Watching. Clapping.
He blinked. "Am I… on stage or something?"
A door hissed open behind him.
Pshhhh—
Footsteps.
A man in black entered, hair slicked back, eyes sharp but curious.
"Ah," the man said, looking Damon up and down. "So you're awake."
He circled Damon like a scientist inspecting an exhibit, tugging at his arm, checking his pulse, even lifting his chin.
"Hey, what do you think you're—"
"Fascinating, just like his" the man murmured, poking Damon's shoulder.
"What?" Damon still confused.
Damon swatted his hand away. "Touch me again and I'll fold you in half."
The man didn't flinch.
He simply tapped Damon's forehead—three quick spots.
Each glowed: blue, yellow, red.
"Can you understand me now?" the man asked.
Damon frowned. "I could've understood you if you spoke normally!"
The man smiled. "Splendid. My name is Dr. Tolrex. It is an honour, Your Highness."
"…My what?"
"Your Highness," Tolrex repeated, bowing deeply.
Damon looked behind him. Empty.
He pointed at himself. "You're not talking to me, right?"
"All will be explained in due time," Tolrex said, adjusting a strange, circular dial on the wall. "But first… listen. Can you hear them?"
"Hear who?"
"The observers."
Damon paused. Focused.
Above the glass—voices murmured. Echoes of words he shouldn't have been able to hear.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I can hear them."
Tolrex twisted the dial again. "Good. Increasing the sound barrier now. Remarkable… the prince's senses are fully awakened."
"I'm not a prince," Damon said, stepping closer, grabbing Tolrex by the collar. "Send me back. Now."
The doctor's eyes widened behind his lenses. "Please, calm down, Your Highness—"
"Stop calling me that!" Damon roared, pulling his fist back—
"Hello, Damon."
The voice.
He froze.
It came from the door—the same hiss, the same silence that followed.
She stood there.
His mother.
The world stopped moving.
Tolrex bowed so fast his glasses almost fell. "Your Majesty."
Damon's breath hitched. "Mom?"
She smiled gently. "Yes."
He took a step back, his heel bumping a metal console.
"No… no, this isn't real. I watched you die."
"She smells the same. She sounds the same. But she's dead...I saw her die. Damon thought.
His chest tightened. "If this is some VR prank Daiki's pulling, I swear—"
"Calm down, Damon," she said softly.
"Stop telling me to calm down!" His voice cracked. "Why are you here?"
Two kids stepped out from behind her—both familiar, both wearing strange combat uniforms.
Damon blinked. "You've got to be kidding me. You twerps again?"
The dog trotted in beside them, tail wagging.
Damon's thoughts blurred. First I learn to fight, now I can talk to dogs, and apparently, I'm royalty. What the hell is happening this month?
The dog tilted its head. "You forgot you're still single."
"When did you even get here?!"
"No clue," the dog replied.
Damon turned back to his mother, voice breaking. "How are you alive?"
She didn't answer right away. Her eyes softened. "You've grown."
"I don't care!" he shouted. "Whatever this is—simulation, dream, afterlife—send me home!"
One of the kids lunged at him.
Damon's hand shot up—grabbing the boy by the throat midair.
"I let you off last time. I'm not feeling very generous now" he said, eyes dark.
The other shouted, "Let go of my brother!" and kicked.
Damon caught his leg—one hand for each.
"I know how you two move, idiot."
A faint buzz.
The kid pressed a glowing, circular blade against Damon's neck—the same shuriken-like device from before.
Damon snatched it, crushed it in his fist.
"You think pain makes this real? It hurts."
He looked up, shouting, "DAIKI!!!"
"Remember when you broke your father's favourite watch?" his mother said calmly.
He froze.
"You hid the broken piece," she continued, "and I promised I'd keep your secret if you did."
His grip loosened. The kids still in his hands.
"That means," she said softly, "if Daiki is controlling this, you broke our promise, Damon."
The dog sniffed its reflection in the polished floor. "Yeah, this is definitely real."
Then, to Damon, "You might wanna drop the kids now."
"We're not kids!" they shouted. "We're ten!"
His mother walked closer.
Her hand brushed his cheek.
The warmth was real. Too real.
"Mom…" he whispered.
He hugged her. The tremor in his arms said more than words could.
"I'm sorry," he breathed. "You died because of me."
Her hand lingered on his back. "No, Damon. Youre alive because of me."
Tolrex cleared his throat awkwardly. "Your Majesty, if I may—"
"I apologize Dr.Tolrex, for any inconveniences my son has caused"
"Oh no you're majesty, I hope to see him again"
"Damon, come with me" she said walking to an elevator like machine.
They rose through the glass chamber, into a massive hall filled with soldiers and nobles.
Every one of them knelt.
"Welcome back, my prince," they said in uneven chorus.
He didn't know whether to kneel, bow or shake their hands so he stood frozen.
Hoping they don't notice the panic in his eyes.
Tiny wings fluttered by his ear.
Two figures no taller than his hand hovered beside him, glowing faintly.
"Hello!" one chirped, landing on his shoulder.
"Fairies? Seriously?" said Damon
"I'm your godmother. Hazel"
"Godmother?" he repeated blankly.
"You'll understand soon," she giggled.
The other fairy zipped past—chased by the dog.
"Get back here, glowing bug!" the dog barked.
Damon sighed. "I'm surrounded by insanity."
His mother led him through another set of doors—past researchers and glowing screens filled with shifting symbols.
A girl shaped light into form, twisting it into what looked like wings before a scientist scolded her.
"Eterna," Tolrex explained. "The essence of creation."
"Magic?" Damon muttered.
"Energy" the doctor corrected.
"It's in all living things, on this plane and yours."
His mother turned to him, standing before a vast stained-glass window.
The dragon-cross symbol blazed with sunlight.
"Sit, Damon."
He did. The godmother snapped her fingers—wood spiraled from the ground, forming a chair beneath him.
The dog climbed onto his lap.
She looked back at him, her voice calm but heavy.
"You need to understand something first."
She placed her hand against the glass, the sunlight outlining her form as a shadow in the light.
"Our worlds are at stake…"
Her eyes met his.
"…and you are the only solution."