"I'm sure… that wasn't there yesterday."
Aeris stood frozen in the living room, staring at the old wooden chair in the corner. Glowing dust drifted slowly above its backrest like tiny living stars.
Moving.
Breathing.
Watching him back.
His heart began to pound.
"Am I dreaming?"
He stepped closer. Each step felt heavier, as if something unseen was holding him back. But his curiosity was stronger than his fear.
The dust began to swirl.
As if… welcoming him.
Just as his fingers were about to touch it,
The dust moved away.
Aeris inhaled sharply.
"So you can move…"
This time, he didn't hesitate. He reached out again faster.
And touched it.
The world shifted.
The room was the same.
But… not quite.
The air felt heavier. The sunlight looked distorted, bending in unnatural ways. And the dust no longer just tiny particles,
It spun wildly, forming patterns.
Like something alive.
Aeris lowered his gaze.
On the chair, among the pile of old items, something new appeared.
Something that hadn't been there before.
A small box.
Almost invisible.
Yet… undeniably different.
"What is that…?"
His hand trembled as he reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched the box,
A cold sensation shot up his arm.
Then warmth.
Then… both at once.
The glowing dust exploded into motion, swirling violently around him like a storm trapped in a tiny room.
His heart raced.
"What the..."
Gone.
Everything vanished.
Aeris stood still.
The room returned to normal.
The old chair remained. The scattered items looked the same as always. No glowing dust. No box.
As if none of it had ever happened.
He stared at his hand.
Empty.
"Am I losing my mind?"
That day, Aeris went to school like usual.
But nothing felt usual anymore.
Laughter, conversations, footsteps. They all felt distant. As if he were standing in a slightly different world from everyone else.
As if… he didn't fully belong here.
And the strangest part..
That feeling was getting stronger.
During break, Aeris stood in the schoolyard, letting the wind brush against his face.
Then..
He saw her.
A girl standing beneath a large tree.
Watching him.
Directly.
Their eyes met.
There was something in her gaze.
Something… familiar.
The same as the dust.
The same as the strange feeling in his chest.
She smiled faintly.
"Finally found you."
Aeris's heart skipped a beat.
"What?"
He didn't even notice when she had already walked up to him.
"My name is Lyra," she said softly.
"And you… you've started seeing it, haven't you?"
Aeris felt his world crack from that single sentance.
That evening, when he returned home..
The dust appeared again.
More of it.
Brighter.
And this time..
Not just on the chair.
But… all around him.
As if the world he had always known…
Was starting to break apart.
Aeris slowly raised his hand, staring at it.
"If this is real…"
He swallowed.
"Then my life just changed."
The dust swirled.
As if answering him.
And within that light.
The faint outline of a small city began to form.
The dust came back.
Not faint. Not subtle.
It flooded the air around the chair.
Aeris stood still, staring as the glowing particles gathered faster than ever before responding, reacting… to him.
"So you're not random."
He exhaled slowly, steadying his hand.
"Then show me."
That night...
He dreamed.
Golden streets stretched endlessly beneath his feet.
A city bathed in dim, eternal light.
Tall structures shimmered like glass and metal fused together. The air hummed with something alive something ancient.
"Aeris…"
He turned.
Lyra stood at the far end of the street.
Smiling.
But her eyes..
They weren't soft.
They were knowing.
"Your time is coming."
He woke up instantly.
His chest rose and fell sharply.
"…That wasn't a dream."
For the first time..
He was sure.
The next night, he didn't hesitate.
The house was quiet. His mother had already gone to bed.
Only a dim lamp lit the living room.
And the chair.
Waiting.
Aeris stepped forward.
The dust appeared immediately.
Brighter.
Sharper.
Different.
This time, he knelt.
"I know you're connected."
He flipped the chair.
Heavy.
Too heavy.
There....
A square panel beneath the seat.
Hidden.
Perfectly carved.
"Found you."
He pressed the center.
Click.
The panel opened.
Darkness.
Not empty..
Deep.
Wrong.
The glowing particles surged upward.
Not drifting anymore.
Organizing.
Forming.
A grid of light.
A portal.
Aeris froze.
"No way…"
It wasn't his house.
Not an illusion.
A world.
A golden sky stretched endlessly above a vast city.
Buildings towered high, glowing faintly like living structures. Streets shimmered like sand made of light.
And the people...
They looked human.
But not completely.
Some had glowing eyes.
Some had faint scales.
Some had horns.
Some were something else entirely.
Aeris felt his breath catch.
"What is this place…"
The scene shifted.
A palace rose at the center.
Massive.
Dark silver walls.
Flags bearing a circle and cross symbol moved slowly in the air.
Guards stood in formation...
Armor fused to their bodies.
Alive.
Then...
A figure appeared on the balcony.
An old man.
White hair. Sharp golden eyes.
Heavy presence.
He turned.
And looked straight at Aeris.
Aeris' heart slammed.
"He sees me."
The man stepped forward.
No surprise.
No confusion.
Only recognition.
His lips moved.
The voice came through distorted, like passing through water.
"That blood… has awakened."
Aeris stiffened.
"What blood?"
The portal trembled.
The world shifted again forests, soldiers, ruins, symbols.
Alive.
Structured.
Controlled.
The old man appeared again.
Closer.
"That chair," he said, voice now clearer, deeper, "is a connecting relic."
Aeris swallowed.
"I'm just human."
A pause.
Then...
"Not entirely."
Silence pressed down on him.
"There are three bloodlines," the old man continued.
"Mixed human. Creature dominant. And pure."
Images flashed beings of different forms, different power.
"I am the Keeper of the Eyllwe Kingdom Archives."
Eyllwe.
The name echoed.
"I felt the relic activate."
Aeris' fingers tightened.
"Why is it here?"
"Because some of us fled."
A beat.
"Mixed blood is not always accepted."
Aeris' chest tightened.
"My family?"
The old man stared at him.
Long.
Carefully.
"Your mother hid you well."
Aeris' breath stopped.
"And your father…"
A pause.
"Was one of us."
The air turned cold.
"The kingdom is unstable," the old man continued.
"Some wish to seal the path. Others… to conquer both worlds."
Aeris' voice dropped.
"Conquer?"
"If the relic fully opens, armies will pass."
The light flickered.
The portal destabilized slightly.
"Why me?"
"Because your blood answers it."
Aeris looked down.
For a split second...
Lines of faint light ran across his skin.
Then vanished.
"Am I in danger?"
The old man's gaze sharpened.
"Not just you."
The portal cracked.
"Learn control," the old man said quickly.
"The carvings on the chair they stabilize the path. Use them wrong…"
The light distorted.
"And you won't just open a door."
Aeris tensed.
"You'll tear the worlds apart."
"Are they coming here?"
A pause.
Then..
"They're already looking for you."
The grid shattered.
Light broke apart into thousands of fragments.
The panel snapped shut.
Silence.
Aeris sat on the floor, breathing unevenly.
Eyllwe.
Mixed blood.
Relic.
And someone…
Was searching for him.
He slowly reached for the carvings on the chair's leg.
Pressed one.
Click.
Nothing opened.
As if…
Waiting.
Aeris exhaled.
"I don't know what you hid from me, Mom…"
His gaze hardened.
"But I'm done staying ignorant."
The dust began to move again.
Slow.
Alive.
Waiting.
And now he understood.
This wasn't just another world.
It was a kingdom.
Aeris barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, the same images returned too vivid to be dreams.
A city of light.
A sky frozen in eternal dusk.
And a man with golden eyes… watching him.
Morning came too soon.
Sunlight slipped through the window, illuminating the quiet living room. Everything looked normal. Too normal.
Except for the chair.
Aeris stood at the doorway, staring at it.
Dark wood. Tall backrest. Simple carvings.
Ordinary.
"If you're just in my head," he muttered, "then this ends today."
He stepped closer and placed his hand on the backrest.
Cold. Solid.
Nothing.
Aeris exhaled.
"Yeah… just my imagination."
Then...
A tiny cube appeared.
It floated in the air for a second… and vanished.
Aeris froze.
Another one appeared.
And another.
"No way."
They didn't form a portal this time. They drifted lazily around the chair's legs like dust.
Except dust didn't have perfect edges.
Aeris straightened slowly.
"So you're real."
The particles said nothing.
But they didn't disappear.
At school, he couldn't focus.
"You've been zoning out all day," Mika said, nudging him.
"What's going on?"
Aeris hesitated.
"Is it possible for two people to see the exact same hallucination?"
Mika frowned.
"Same details?"
"Exactly the same."
"That's… unlikely."
Aeris looked away.
Because Lyra knew.
He found her under the tree behind the field.
She was already watching him.
"You triggered it again," Lyra said.
Aeris stopped.
"How do you know?"
"The dust changed."
Too fast. Too certain.
"I didn't open anything."
Lyra shook her head slightly.
"It's not the panel anymore."
Aeris frowned.
"Then what?"
"The chair is the relic. The dust is the path."
She met his eyes.
"When one responds… the other follows."
Silence.