It was around mid-morning when Merlin woke up. Sunlight lights up his bedroom and he could hear the sounds of birds chirping and cars driving by down below. Inside the apartment, Merlin could hear his parents talking, but he couldn't make out what they were talking about, and the smell of freshly cooked breakfast hits his nose like a small wave.

Merlin didn't want to get out of bed yet, even though the smell of food is enticing. He just didn't want to be in the same room as his parents, since he knew that they very likely wouldn't even spare him a glance. It has been like that constantly for the past several months. Before, he and his parents talked to each other almost constantly, but now that they have gotten busier they rarely even said one word to him.

Not a minute later, after being in deep thought as Merlin makes the decision as to whether or not he should actually get up, Merlin decides that missing breakfast while it was still hot just wouldn't be worth it. And so, while still being just a little bit groggy, Merlin slips out of bed and opens his bedroom door.

Just before Merlin took a step out the door, he checked the clock: 8:00 a.m. it said. Merlin usually woke up at 10:30 or 11 a.m. on the weekends, but he supposed that the smell of food probably had something to do with it. At the thought of food, Merlin's stomach lets out a soft rumble, indicating that the teen is indeed hungry. With that, Merlin makes his way down the hall to head to the kitchen.

At the end of the hallway, there is a wider space. To Merlin's left is the living room and to his right is the kitchen, which also has a door that leads to the balcony. The door straight ahead leads outside the condo. Merlin turns to the right to walk into the kitchen, where his mother and father were currently deep in conversation. Merlin ignores whatever it is they are talking about, it sounds like it was about their work anyway, and Merlin instead goes to open a cabinet to get a plate.

After getting his breakfast, which consisted only of pancakes and bacon, Merlin sits down on the couch. His parents were still talking to each other, but had now gone out onto the balcony so they could smoke while they talk. While that goes on outside, Merlin thinks about what he could do today. He had heard that a new game was supposed to be coming out today, so he figured that he could go to the game store to take a look. Nowadays, Merlin usually bought games off of STEAM, but occasionally he may buy it physically if he didn't want to wait until it was available digitally.

It didn't take very long for Merlin to finish his breakfast. Once he did so, after he put the dishes he used in the sink, Merlin went into his room. From there, Merlin gets changed out of his pajamas and into some actual clothes. He decided to put on a black pair of pants, a black t-shirt with some kind of anime design on it, a black beanie hat, and a large red jacket. From there, he grabbed his phone, a bag, and some cash. He also decided to stuff quite a few manga in his bag, just in case he wanted to stop by the library to read. After that, Merlin checks the things he grabbed one last time to make sure he had everything, and then sets out of his room to walk out of the condo.

Merlin shields his eyes from the sun as he walks out of the condo building, though it only took his eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness. All around him, the ground and trees are covered in snow, which would make sense since it is October. And due to living in the city and state of Denver, Colorado, it isn't uncommon to see snow during this month. Merlin shoves his hands in his pockets and starts walking towards the game store, knowing the way there by heart. He knew the way to the library by heart as well, which shouldn't be very surprising since the game store and the library are the only places that Merlin ever goes to. Some would say that it is too dangerous for a teenager to walk to places far from their home on their own, but Merlin never did care about those opinions. He knew when to cross the road, he knew to avoid talking to strangers, and he always had his phone on him in case of an emergency. And plus, Merlin actually enjoyed walking to his favorite places, at least he wasn't contributing to the pollution that cars produce.

Several minutes later, Merlin arrives at the game store. He hears the familiar dinging of the bell hanging over the door as Merlin opens it to walk inside. Right now, the store looked like it only had four customers in it, something that Merlin was happy about. He never minded too much when the store was busy, but he enjoyed it when there was a small amount of people in the building, it made Merlin feel like he had the entire place to himself.

Merlin walks up and down the isles, trying to decide if whether or not he really wants to buy a game from the store. So far, he hasn't found a game that interests him, most are games he had either played or just heard bad things about. Eventually, Merlin goes over to the section that has the newer releases to see if they had the new game he had heard about. Merlin looks through the shelves in search of the game, but he is unable to find it, much to his mild disappointment.

Deciding that he wasn't going to buy a game today, Merlin walks out of the store, only to be met with something that he would classify as both weird and impossible. Outside the game store, time seems to have completely stopped. No cars were moving, people had stopped walking. There is no wind, no sound, everything has just completely stopped. Merlin peeks back into the store, only to find that time in there has stopped also. Did it all happen while he was looking through the games? He was sure he would have noticed if it did.

What the hell is going on? Am I going crazy?, Merlin thought as he runs his right hand through his long, black hair. However, no sooner as the thought ran through his mind, something even crazier began to happen. Slowly, a purple and dark blue mist began to appear in front of Merlin. It swirls slowly at first, but then starts swirling faster before it forms into what would appear to be a wormhole. Merlin, too in shock by this, can't even move. He could only stare at the swirling vortex in a mixture of confusion, shock, and a little bit of fear. And then, Merlin could feel himself being pulled towards the wormhole, his feet unconsciously moving towards it despite his mind screaming for him to stop moving. And then, as Merlin puts one foot into what he had determined to be a portal, he gets a feeling of lightness. It was like the feeling that one gets when they are in a plane that is about to take off on a runway. Then, it's like he is falling straight down, and suddenly everything goes black.