"Ugh, my head," he grunted as the sun's rays caressed his face.
"Didn't I sneak out last night?" he murmured. Dazed, he pieced himself together, tardily getting out of bed. A throbbing ache burst behind his eyes as his feet touched the cold floor, and his palm rubbed his eyelids gently. He groaned softly, opening one eye at a time.
"Yeah, that's my walls, and my closet, alright." He double- and tripled checked, making sure he wasn't delusional.
He mustered the energy from his drained body, and he slowly arose from the edge of the bed as it creaked momentarily. Everything felt heavy, not just physically, but his perception of things around him felt slow. Then it hit him, a flash of a blurred memory: a girl covered in silver hair, draped in a dress.
He tumbled back onto the bed with all his body weight as it shifted, and the legs of the bed made a jarring sound as it dragged on the tile. He gripped his jacket that was smeared with slight dust, but not dirty enough to be noticeable, as his heart raced.
"What was that? It had to be a dream," he panicked as he tried to calm himself down from the race of flowing thoughts.
He exhaled slowly, "Just a weird dream. I really need to put this jacket to wash when I get back home, though."
A vibration from a slight distance sliced the quiet. Vireo glanced over at the desk where his phone lit up.
"7:42 AM, crap, I'm gonna be late even on my birthday, not like it matters. It's a normal day anyway."
His hand dragged downwards on his face, and he swung his legs off the bed. He stood upright, stretching slightly, and paused. Something felt weird… just wrong in a sense like walking into a room and forgetting why you were there. Vireo frowned as he analyzed his room. Everything looked the same, but it didn't feel the same. The only thing out of the ordinary was the open window that he immediately closed, thinking not much of it.
"Whatever," He shook his head, brushing off the feeling.
He soon grabbed his phone, and a faint, almost imperceptible chill ran up his arm. He froze momentarily, turned the phone over in his hand, and stared at the screen. Nothing but a blank phone screen, but something felt wrong.
"I'm just tripping most likely."
Still, his body quivered as he hesitated before unlocking it. The screen lit up; the normal homescreen, apps, and notifications were in order. Vireo exhaled a sigh of relief, as he was about to put it down, something shifted on the screen, not visually but subtly, as the screen lagged for a fraction of a second. His thumb stopped, and he swiped again; everything responded normally. Then he noticed it, at the very bottom of the screen. A notification that had a star-shaped icon, no app name, and text.
[missed call]
"From who?" he murmured to himself.
He tapped it, but there was no call log and no number. In a split second, it vanished as if it weren't even there in the first place.
"That was weird…" as he stared at the screen for a second longer than he should've, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.
A knock came from his door.
"Vireo, you're going to be late! Get up!"
He flinched slightly, returning to reality. He slipped the phone into his pocket and stepped out of his room as the aroma of eggs and toast filled the house. The sunlight slipped through the curtain, caressing the peach walls of the interior; it felt much warmer than his room.
"Morning…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes as he jaggedly walked to the kitchen.
His mother stood by the stove, back turned, flipping the pan.
"You're up late, mister Vireo Vale," his mother said teasingly.
The soft crackling of the eggs and toast, the hum of the refrigerator, and the faint radio in the background; everything felt distant. It felt like he was watching his life instead of being in it.
"You okay, honey?" his mother asked, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Just tired, I guess," he quietly replied.
His mother didn't respond as she turned back to the stove to prepare his meal.
"...You sure?" concerningly turned around with teary eyes.
Vireo hesitated to respond. Momentarily, again the memory flashed; the girl, the light, the feeling of something gripping his hand.
"I just had a weird dream, is all.." he sighed.
"Was it about your father again?" as she held back tears, looking at a photo near the counter surrounded by incense that had an earthy aroma.
She plated the food and sat down beside him, as she reminisced about her late husband.
"He would've loved to see the boy you've grown up to be. I know you don't like me mentioning your birthday because of it, but even if he died seven years ago, you made wonderful memories and friends. So happy birthday, son," as she hugged him with a tear creeping down her face, kissing the top of Vireo's head.
The phone buzzed, breaking the moment between the two. He froze.
"Mom, it wasn't a dream about dad, but I got to go, I'm getting late."
She smiled faintly, "Seventeen, huh?" under her breath.
He arose slightly shaken while he turned over his phone; it lit up, not the lock screen, but for just a second, the same faint star-shaped symbol appeared; cracked, glowing softly beneath the glass. His breath caught, spontaneously, and it vanished back to normal.
He looked up quickly again, realized that his mother's face was gazing at him concerningly. She didn't push an answer out of him and stayed quiet as she walked away, preparing herself for her own day.
Momentarily afterwards, Vireo excused himself to organize for his day of school. He did the usual routine. Glancing in the mirror as he finished dressing into his uniform, plaid pants, and a white shirt with his jacket over, he smiled, "Hey, Dad, I'm doing great today. I just can't forgive myself." A shock ran through his spine, seeing a girl with silver hair and blue eyes staring over his shoulder. Swiftly turning around, there was no one there or anywhere in his vicinity, as he blamed it on the lack of sleep for his hallucinations.
The front door clicked shut behind him, and the cool air met his tired and worn-out face. He squinted his eyes while taking his time to go to school, as the morning light was too much for his vision. The streets were already alive; cars passing by, people walking, the usual rhythm of the city moving without him. Everything looked normal… too routine. He adjusted his bag and started a quicker pace towards the school's gate.
Something felt off, not obvious, it's just a step too quiet, a sound slightly delayed, like the world wasn't quite lining up as it should be.
"It wasn't a dream…" as the words left his mouth before he could stop them.
A bell rang in the distance, sharp and jarring. Students began moving around him while they passed through the school gates in small groups as they talked and laughed, as well as complained about homework that was overdue.
The crowd kept moving along, as students kept swarming to get to class on time.
"Hey, watch it," as a student brushed against his shoulder.
He didn't respond. That feeling crept back up to his throat, suffocating him. The same quiet pressure from before, not fear… just something, wrong. Vireo glanced at the school's building, the entrance door, and the hallway; he imagined just walking in, sitting down, and pretending everything was fine. For some reason, that felt unnerving. His grip tightened around his phone, a subtle vibration, not loud, not urgent, but just enough. Enough for him to realize that something was waiting for him to notice.
"If I go in…" he didn't even have to finish his sentence, didn't need to.
Something would happen.
He didn't know what, he didn't know why, but the certainty that sat in his chest was undeniable.
"Yeah… I'm not going in."
To everyone else, he was just another student who lingered around the school gate. No one hailed him nor noticed him turning away, going towards the opposite direction. The noise faded gradually with each step, the crowd, the voices, and the normalcy, until it was just him, the street, and the phone in his hand. He slowly began taking off his shirt with the school's emblem, leaving his zipped hoodie over a plain jersey and plaid pants.
It pulsed once softly, as if it were pleased.
Vireo slowed his pace, "So what now?" he sighed. The question came under his breath; he hadn't thought this far ahead, and didn't have a plan other than waiting for the time till school was over so he could go back home without worrying his mother.
His phone felt heavy in his hand… not physically, just present. A soft vibration, he stopped momentarily.
"Again?" he looked down as the screen flickered to life on its own, not his homescreen either, a map; simple, minimal, and dark. A single point pulsed near the center, his location, and another point, close… too close.
The second point moved; it was neither fast nor erratic, just deliberate. Towards him. The air felt heavier, and his body went into a state of panic once more, but he didn't understand why; that same feeling he couldn't explain settled in again.
He looked up, and the street was mostly empty. There was a silhouette of someone standing across the street; he couldn't quite see their face properly, just a figure. Backlit by the morning sun.
His phone pulsed again.
[TARGET]
His grip tightened around his phone. "There's more? It wasn't a dream then…" shakeningly coming to the realization.
The figure stepped forward, slow and measured. The phone began to vibrate sharply, stronger than before, as the screen flickered, the star symbol appeared again, and this time it didn't disappear. Cracks spread across it like vines, the thin lines branching outward like fractures under glass. The air around him warped like a black hole. Subtle at first, then undeniable as the sound around them dulled as light bent. The world… Shifted.
The pressure around the figure began to do the same, slowly walking towards him. It felt as if two hurricanes were creating the Fujiwhara effect.
The person stopped a few feet away. Close enough to be seen properly. A guy, around his late twenties, maybe a little older, with messy brown hair and tired eyes. Something was off with the way he stood; it was too still and too focused. His gaze dropped to Vireo's phone.
"So you got it too? As he pushed the messy hair out of his vision.
Vireo didn't respond immediately.
"Got what?"
The guy lets out a quiet laugh, as if he were relieved.
"The app, stupid."
Vireo's grip tightened around his phone.
The guy's expression shifted, as if annoyed. That wasn't reassuring. For a second, none of them moved.
Then the guy raised his hand as his phone burst into light. The air crackled as light burst from his device, a dagger of sorts; very jagged edges, thin but lethal. The stranger winced slightly in discomfort as if it brought him pain.
"Still not used to it."
Vireo took a couple of steps back, shocked.
"Use to what?"
The guy looked up; he instantly locked eyes with Vireo.
"Doesn't matter."
A faint smile, not friendly at all.
"Only one of us gets out better."
[DUEL INITIALIZING]
The ground beneath them fractured into glowing lines that ran across buildings in the surrounding area and on the street. There wasn't anyone other than them, not a single car on the road either. The space around them twisted, separating them from the rest of the world.
The phone burned into Vireo's hand as his blade began to form; unstable, violent, and different.
The man tightened his grip on the dagger and lunged forward, his lifeless eyes portraying a chilling resolve to kill.
"Don't hold back," he said.
Vireo steadied himself for what was to come. He positioned himself defensively, heart racing.
"I wasn't planning to," Vireo replied.
Both weapons clashed, letting out a blinding stream of light particles.