Lorien flicked his head before walking towards Lyra and lifting her.
"C'mon, let's go to the dining hall, I'm hungry."
Cale puffed, dragging a hand through his sweat-damp hair. "I'm starving."
He turned around only to notice that all three of them were walking without him.
"Hey, wait up! Don't abandon your team leader!"
"No one agreed you were the team leader," Lyra said, sauntering beside him.
Ren didn't say a word as they exited the simulation hall, heading down the clean white corridors of the academy towards the dining sector. Several students moved around them, most wearing casual uniforms or training gear. Conversation buzzed in the background, mostly about the sparring sessions, new monsters being encountered in upper rank simulations, or gossip about the ranking board.
As they entered the grand dining hall, a wave of noise and warmth hit them. Long rows of enchanted metal tables filled the space, each with trays of food appearing as students selected from the menus.
Lyra scanned the crowd as they sat at a table. "We're late. Most of the good stuff is gone.
"I already input our orders before we started," Lorien said, leading them to a table near the edge. "Should arrive in three...two..."
A faint chime sounded, and four steaming trays of food materialized.
Lyra raised a brow. "Smart."
"Thank you, I am aware I took the smart gene from our family," Lorien said, sliding into his seat.
Cale sat across from him, digging into a mountain of noodles like his life depended on it. "Genius. Beautiful. My favorite teammate."
"You said that to me yesterday," Lyra said, biting into a bread roll.
Ren quietly took his seat, delicately using chopsticks to eat his noodles. His face was calm as usual, but if you looked closely, you'd notice his eyes had a storm of emotions.
"Hey Ren, you've got a lot of admirers." Lyra nudged Ren out of his trance-like state while also pointing in a direction.
"They're not looking at only me, they're looking at us, especially you, twin."
"That's because we're pretty," Cale answered with his mouth full.
Lorien just rolled his eyes.
While they were talking, a group of second-year students passed by, one of them slowing down by their table. The crest on his chest showed he was of high standing in the academy. His eyes briefly settled on Ren before flicking to Cale and then stopping on Lyra.
"You're the team that cleared the two levels in the simulation this morning, right?" This time, his line of sight was on Lorien.
Lorien looked at the other three members of his team before responding. "Yeah, why?"
"Nothing, I'm just surprised, is all. Usually, no first-year team clears both levels in record time. Y'all didn't get sponsored yet?"
Lyra shook her head.
"Well, that's a first."
Cale shrugged. "We're not flashy enough, I guess."
The upperclassmen, ignoring Cale, turned to Ren, then gave him a long, thoughtful look. "You're new, aren't you?"
'What kind of stupid question is this?"
Ren nodded.
"Hmm, I'll be watching." The upperclassman simply said and then walked away.
"Ah, creepy," Lyra muttered, rubbing her shoulders.
Ren set his chopsticks down. "Looks like we'll be attracting more attention now."
"Well, that's good," Lorien said.
"Speak for yourself." Lyra said while Ren stood up, "I'm going back."
"You're not finishing?" Cale stared at his half-eaten tray.
"Wasn't hungry," Ren replied, heading towards the dorms.
Lyra watched him leave, then nudged her brother. "He's off again."
Cale rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know... he felt off a few minutes back."
Lorien and the twins stared at each other for a while before Lorien spoke up, "We'll check on him later."
Ren's room was silent. The moment the door sealed shut behind him, the noise of the academy melted away.
He undressed mechanically and stepped into the bathroom, letting warm water wash away the simulation's sweat and monster blood, even though none of it remained physically. Still, the feeling clung to him.
After drying off and pulling on a black sleep shirt, he slid into bed, staring at the ceiling.
He wasn't tired, but sleep took him anyway.
The sky burned.
Ren stood amidst the ruins of shattered buildings, crumbled walls, and a battlefield painted in blood. His boots were soaked in it. Mangled bodies, human and non-human, lay strewn across the cracked earth.
There was no wind.
Only silence and the sound of.....void.
Above him the sky swirled violently, and at its center was a massive black portal, ringed in ancient runes he didn't recognize. In the middle of the portal, an eye watched.
A single, unmoving eye, neither blinking, just observing.
All around him, debris, weapons, torn flags, everything not anchored to the earth was being pulled into the portal strangely though the bodies remained. Not a single human corpse lifted from the blood-soaked ground.
Only Ren stood.
Blood streamed from his eyes as tears that trailed down his cheeks, his irises were the same blood red, glowing faintly as he looked up, unmoving.
Suddenly, it was like all sound resumed, and the wind howled; screams echoed deep within the portal.
The portal had sucked every last bit of object before finally it pulled Ren into it.
The portal widened, and the eyes grew wider. A blinding light burst from the center, and in that final moment before he was fully in the portal, Ren whispered something.
But no sound came out.
And then he was gone.
Ren woke up with a start, eyes wide, breath ragged.
His room was dark.
He sat up, clutching the sheets.
The details of the dream... were gone. They slipped through his fingers like sand. All that remained was a crushing sense of wrongness, familiarity, and despair.
He pressed a hand to his face, his heart racing.
His fingers came away wet, stained with sweat.
"...Tch."
He swung his legs out of bed and stood, crossing to the window. Outside, the academy grounds were quiet, the moonlight providing a faint light.
Watching the quiet grounds, he felt a sense of wrongness, but he didn't know what exactly it was.