Chapter I

Falling. Falling.
For what seem like long hours, Akira plunges deep down into an abyss. Some warmth welcomes him there. He slowly enters his Heart.

A huge round glass, in which he is represented, carefully draws beneath his feet. As he lands to this oddly-shaped floor, his eyes point at every edge, curious and not nervous of the place. A voice within him speaks aloud:

"How does it feel to see yourself and not understand what defines you? Finding familiar emotions and still be confused as to how they were rooted in the mind… Has time slipped by and changed you without you noticing?
"Do not let time deceive you. Keep walking forward; learn from your mistakes.
"Granted, be careful with the steps you take. Walking on a treacherous path requires a proper fighting spirit."

For whatever reason, the boy does not question the Voice's nature and wants to follow its instructions until the very end.

"First, let your Heart decide which path to take. Each of these weapons represent a power; you can only truly master one. Think ahead: which is the most suitable to you?"

A sharp rapier and a large water-like buckler appeared properly scattered across the place.

"When your choice has been made, proceed to this door. There, you will know if it was the correct one."

A door appears out of nowhere before Akira's eyes. After some contemplation, he picks his weapon and opens the door. Light blinds his sight as he opens it; he goes through, nonetheless.

On the other side, the glass floor is now representing a girl with short, dark hair, to which Akira glances with a serious and upset look. The weapon of his choice stands floating in the center of the place.

"Do not rely solely in sheer strength. Do not believe it brings you quicker to goodness. Fall in that situation and you will make yourself powerless; you will not differentiate friend from foe.
"And never give voice to your fear: that is when you will most certainly meet defeat."

Shadow-like creatures start lurking around the glass floor and ready themselves to attack.

"Grab your weapon with conviction. Know that you shall use it to aid you and those around you."

Akira is too distracted to heed the voice's orders and observes the creatures. At first, they look inoffensive to the young man's eyes but that is just their misleading appearance. Although he attempts to kick them to make way to the weapon, the creatures prove to be tough just enough to resist his attacks. Their claws are sharp and cut through him fiercely. He begins to get desperate as he finds out more of the things are spawning.

Outnumbered and frightened, Akira quickly heads to the floating weapon. One of the creatures makes him trip but, as he falls, he's still able to grab it. He misses. The weapon slips through his hands as if it's not actually there.
The dark beings get closer still to the young man until they finally grasp onto his limbs and cover his body with a heavy, layer of dark thorns. Akira closes his eyes out of immense pain. He screams, yet no sounds come from his mouth.

He opens his eyes which begin to fade from brown to yellow. When he's about to burst of hatred, the Voice speaks again:

"Do not depend your life on a weapon. They should be just extensions of your body and mind."

Akira suddenly realizes how pathetic he was just a minute before. Now with a better judgement, he calmly closes his eyes and recollects his emotions.
By focusing on pushing his primal instincts away, his weapon of choice disappears from its original place and reappears in his hand. Without wonder, Akira reopens his brown eyes, gets up and fights the beings.

"Never blindly approach your enemies. Advance when the opportunity seems grand and stand back when the timing feels right. Engrave these actions deeply to your soul and only then shall you help yourself with your instincts. When all hope seems lost, bid for the Light to aid you. It is within you at all times.
"And remember: to every Light… is a Shadow."

Upon the last spoken word, Akira defeats the final shadow only to find that many of the same lump into one spot behind him, forming one big human silhouette; Akira does not feel much fear but is rather hesitant as to whether or not he can singlehandedly face this new foe. It's rather titanic, colossal even. A sword would be a mere needle for the likes of this titan.
His hesitation was mistimed as the huge being, with one quick motion, steps on Akira to meet his end.

Cracks are heard under the foot. The silhouette does not show emotion, yet it feels it is satisfied with its action.
More cracks are heard and even seen on the glass floor; suddenly, the foot starts elevate and a monstrous roar comes beneath it, to which the colossal being responds by putting more weight on its leg. It made no difference: Akira, in one push, made his foe fall into the dark abyss.
One good look at Akira would guarantee that he's less recognizable, if at all: he grew bigger in size and mass, his eyes glow a yellowish tone, bears thicker hair, his face distorted similar to that of a beast.

The Voice seems to be talking again but it cannot be understood.

Akira stands in place as if he's waiting for more from his late foe. The floor then begins to tremble; many more of the towers rise in no distinct pattern. The colossal being jumps out of the void and lands over the towers; still as big as before, now with the same shape as Akira but on four feet. A huge roar came from the monster's mouth, though Akira remains motionless, fearless, standing his ground to fight it with his bare fists.

Just as he attempts to defend the dark titan's first attack, in the blink of an eye, he's no longer at the top of the tower in the middle of blackness. The monster also no longer in sight.

All he notices in front of him is a girl, 13 years old maybe, of short black hair with her back turned to him. He shivers recognizing her back. As she turns around to look at him with a caring smile on her face, Akira jerks a tear.
His body is cold. She lifts her arm as if to give him a hand.
His body is colder. Noiseless fire rises from the ground around them. She still stands with her arm stretched waiting for his hand. He drops another tear.
His body is stone cold, even amidst the flames.

He burns. He burns.

He wakes up in his bed. It takes him a couple of seconds to realize it was dream, as unreal as it was. It takes a few more to ponder about the dream but quickly disregards it.

Moments later, seeing that he is unable to sleep any longer, Akira stands up, goes outside with a glass on his hand filled with a peculiar liquid and climbs the roof to gaze at the outnumbering stars that reigned over the sky of Destiny Islands. Alone, staring at these bright lights from great distances, questioning their real nature.

His thoughts are interrupted when a sweet and tender voice of a girl echoes in the mildly windy night:

"May I join?"

Akira turns his head around and gets surprised to see that particular face at the hour.