A sliding glass door slides open as Markus makes his way into a fairly large kitchen. He wipes his boots on the mat at the kitchen entrance before banking left into the next room over. In the center of the white-walled dining room stood a rather long mahogany table that measured roughly ten or so feet across. On the far end of the table sat a dark-skinned man with neatly-groomed white hair dressed in a black suit.
He stares coldly at Markus as he takes a sip from the glass of red wine in his left hand. "You are three and a half minutes late arriving home. Would you care to explain that to me?" he asks as he swishes his wine around in his glass. Markus tenses up as he sits down in the seat directly across from him. "Yes, Father... I do apologize and I do request your forgiveness as I had a very good reason for missing my curfew... I was walking a classmate home tonight as she had missed her shuttle home. She lives in the southwestern corner of Sector 2, so it naturally took me quite a while to arrive back here in the northeast portion..." Markus keeps a straight face as he lies through his teeth, slowly taking a sip from his own glass of wine.
The man narrows his eyes. "It is not your responsibility to attempt to alleviate the struggles other people may bring upon themselves, Markus. I thought I taught you that much... Let the plebeians solve their own problems. You will be better for it." Markus interjects. "Yes, but I-" The man's stare grows even colder, causing Markus to freeze up. ... "Y-Yes, father... I under...stand...," he says as he nervously begins to eat the chicken alfredo on the plate in front of him, a look of raw intimidation in his eyes.
...
That night, Markus lay in bed as he stare up at the ceiling above. He grunts. "What'd I do to get stuck with an elitist prick like that for a father?..." He sits up in bed. "High-profile or not... The least he can do is show some humanity..."Markus sighs as he begins to rummage through his nightstand. After a bit of fumbling around, he pulls out a rather dusty picture frame. The photograph inside displayed a toddler-aged Markus sitting in the lap of a raven-haired woman with bright blue eyes. A saddened expression begins to creep onto his face. "I miss you so much, mom... Why'd you have to die?..." He shakes his head. "H-Happy thoughts... Happy thoughts..." He lays in place for what felt like moments as he attempts to calm himself. He then allows his eyes to slide shut, drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
...
(Markus's POV)
I was falling... Falling through the endless void that seemed to stretch endlessly in each direction... Silence. Pure, unrivaled silence... As my eyes slowly open, I catch sight of a faint light in the distance below... It grows gradually brighter as I descend until I find myself completely blinded by it. After several seconds, my vision recovers. I am shocked to find myself standing upon what appeared to be a pillar of sorts, a stained glass mural standing at the top. A look of bewilderment rested on my face as a took a few steps back, taking in the details of the mural below my feet. It depicted myself dressed in my day clothes, my eyes shut as I lean against the mural's left side. In the violet-tinted background behind my depiction rested a cluster of skyscrapers, a full moon hanging high in the night sky above as a large number of dots that appeared to represent stars filled it. Along the dark-purple perimeter of the mural were yellow crescent-shaped symbols. As I stare down at this work of art in awe, a masculine voice calls out to me from all directions. I jump, startled, as my eyes begin to dart back and forth. "Who's there! Show yourself!"
"To accept the light that shall enable you to persist..."
"Or to allow yourself to be devoured by never-ending darkness..."
"Two paths rest in front of you at this very pivotal moment..."
Two spiral staircases suddenly manifest to both my left and my right. While both of them led upwards, the doors that they led to differed wildly in appearance. The door atop the staircase on the left was a sleek white in coloration with a golden frame, a large, curved golden handle on each side while the one atop the staircase on the right was ash-colored with a single crimson doorknob resting on each end. The frame surrounding this door was the same shade of red as the doorknobs, thick thorny vines wrapping around it.
"The choice is yours to make..."
"Your heart is the greatest compass of all..."
"And if you choose to follow to your heart, then you may find the answers that you seek..."
"Follow... my heart..." I stare intently at each door for what felt like moments, my chest pounding the entire time as I did this. I then take several steps forward, The space in front of me glowing brightly as a third staircase began to manifest in between the other two. As this one fully manifests, a third door appears. This one was a brilliant orange in coloration with a violet frame surrounding it. Unlike the previous two doors, this one had no knobs or handles to speak of. I slowly ascend this staircase, coming to a complete halt just a few feet away from the door. I exhale softly before I begin to dig my fingers into the thin gap in-between each side of the door, huffing as I attempt to pull it open. Within only a couple of seconds, I succeed. Both ends of the double-sided door creak open. I stand there for several seconds following, staring straight into the twilight abyss within. I then take several steps forward, the door closing behind me as i enter the void. I am blinded my another bright flash of light.
"So you have chosen to walk the middle road..."
"The path of the neutral..."
"The road towards equilibrium..."
Once I regain my vision, I find myself standing on yet another pillar. This one had a different stained-glass depiction on it. This one featured Lightning as she hung upside down against the mural's right side with her pistol in one hand and her sword in the other. The pink-tinted background behind her featured an orchard of cherry blossoms, what appeared to be a thunderstorm brewing in the sky above. Along the pink perimeter of this border were repeats of the same lightning bolt symbol.
A number of shadowy creatures suddenly begin to appear all around me. I jumped back, instinctively reaching to where I usually kept my rifle only to freeze in place as I came to recall that it wasn't there. As I stand there unarmed, the creatures begin to swarm me. They then lunge toward me as I raise my arm in front of my face in a fruitless attempt to shield myself. I am suddenly blinded by a bright flash of light as I hear several agonizing hisses come from the creatures around me. Several seconds later, I regain my vision to find that something had appeared within my left hand's grasp. A three-foot-long weapon of sorts now rested in my grip. The blade was bronze in color with a a protrusion resembling the teeth of a key with a crescent-shaped indention attached to the side of its upper portion. Surrounding the golden hilt was a circular, violet-colored guard from which hung a bronze chain, and from that chain hung a bronze crescent-shaped token. The shadowy creatures appear to grow even more hostile with me as I hold the weapon outwards, almost as if its mere presence triggered some sort of reaction within them.
"The power of the keyblade..."
"The power to call upon your heart in order to fight your battles..."
"A power that these creatures of the dark very much fear..."
The creatures begin to swarm me once more as I hold this "keyblade" tightly in my grasp. swinging it towards the first creature to launch itself towards me, it disintegrates into a puff of dark smoke as soon as the weapon made contact. I repeat this process with the ones that followed, slaying each and every one of them until I was standing in the center of a slowly-fading dark fog. Another door resembling the one I had just entered not too long ago appears at the mural's center.
"You have displayed your ability to fight..."
"Your capability of quelling the shadows that lurk..."
"You have proven yourself able to face what lies ahead..."
The door suddenly begins to open all on its own, both ends parting to reveal a space of pure darkness within. I stare at it intently as I slowly approach, a hint of fear in my eyes as I approach the void. I inhale before pressing onwards, allowing myself to pass through into the darkness.