Areal's day was already terrible.
He'd woken up late, missed his bus, spilled coffee on himself, and now—
Now he was being chased through an alley by three masked strangers with glowing tattoos.
Typical Tuesday.
His breath tore out of him in shallow gulps as he sprinted through the narrow brick-lined corridor. The men behind him were fast—too fast for normal humans. Their footfalls echoed like drumbeats, gaining on him with every second.
"Great," he muttered between wheezes. "Of course today is the day I get murdered by glow-stick ninjas."
He skidded around a sharp corner—
—and slammed into a woman.
Hard.
She didn't stumble.
She didn't wobble.
She didn't even react.
Areal hit her like a speeding bowling ball hitting a granite statue. He bounced off her and landed flat on his back, air punched clean out of his lungs.
"Watch it!" he snapped, struggling to breathe.
The woman raised a single unimpressed eyebrow.
"Maybe don't sprint through alleys like a feral raccoon?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Areal shot back, "I didn't realize the universe installed a brick wall with attitude in the middle of the street."
"Brick walls don't talk back."
He opened his mouth to fire another insult—
—but his vision flickered.
Just for a second.
Her hoodie was gone.
Her jeans vanished.
She was suddenly wearing ancient armor—dented, scorched, splattered with blood. Smoke curled behind her. A battlefield stretched endlessly around them. Bodies. Fire. Steel.
She stared at him with eyes colder than death itself and said:
"Areal Devyn… your life ends here."
He choked.
The vision snapped away.
Reality slammed back.
"What—what was that?" he blurted.
The woman stared at him with the same shocked expression he wore.
"You…" she whispered. "You were in my dream. No—my memory."
The glowing-tattoo attackers finally rounded the corner.
Areal grabbed her wrist.
"Okay, whatever this is, we can panic later. Run!"
She didn't move.
Instead she tightened her grip, yanked him behind her like a sack of potatoes, stepped forward—
—and punched the nearest attacker so hard he ricocheted off the opposite wall and collapsed in a heap.
Areal gaped.
"What—are you INSANE? That guy had a sword!"
She rolled her shoulders with aggravating calm.
"He swung too slow."
"I WAS RUNNING FOR MY LIFE!"
"You run slow too."
Areal stared at her, torn between offense and awe.
"Who even ARE you?!"
She finally looked at him directly—annoyed, frustrated, and somehow disgusted.
"Someone who doesn't know you, doesn't like you, and REALLY doesn't want to be in the same alley as you."
A faint light pulsed between their hands.
Areal froze.
"What—what is that?!"
The woman jerked her hand back as the glow faded, like she'd touched something rotten.
"No idea," she said, voice sharp. "But if it's your fault, I'm hitting you next."
Areal threw his hands up.
"Why would it be MY fault?!"
She pointed at him like it was obvious.
"Because everything about today was perfectly normal until you crash-tackled me out of nowhere."
"Oh yeah?" Areal snapped. "Well everything about my day was perfectly normal until some cosplaying cultists tried to slice me into sushi, so forgive me for being a LITTLE stressed!"
"Keep it down," she hissed. "You're loud."
"I'm being hunted!"
"And you sound whiny."
"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!"
"AND I DON'T WANT TO!"
Another attacker staggered to his feet behind them.
She didn't even look—just kicked backward, heel connecting clean with the man's jaw. He dropped instantly.
Areal blinked.
"Okay, seriously—who ARE you?! Some kind of violent superhero?!"
She brushed dust off her sleeve.
"No. I'm someone who was trying to get lunch before you ruined everything."
They stared at each other—breathing hard, annoyed, confused, and mutually convinced that the other person was the problem.
The third attacker groaned on the ground.
Areal pointed weakly.
"Should we… do something about him?"
She sighed.
"Fine."
Her fist hit the man before Areal even saw her move.
Silence settled over the alley.
Areal finally exhaled.
"Okay. So either we're both hallucinating, or something REALLY weird is going on."
She crossed her arms.
"No hallucination makes me this annoyed."
Areal opened his mouth to argue—
But that strange light flickered between them again.
Faint.
Warm.
Unwanted.
Both of them jerked away from each other at the same time.
Areal swallowed.
"Oh. Perfect. Just what I needed."