Badum! Badum! Badum! Badum! 

The pain in my ears subsided. I could open my eye again and see. I was still in that endless void. Darkness surrounded me, but I could somehow walk on it. The light in the distance reflected around me. I was standing in some kind of tunnel, transparent as though made of gla.s.s. 

"You're not Omega," a voice, ancient and cracked, spoke. 

"Wh? Who's there?" I screamed. My voice echoed, carried away by something that wasn't wind. 

The voice didn't answer. 

I was floating in darkness. Below me, marbles rotated around a gigantic ball of fire. It was a breathtaking scene to say the least. Dots, similar to stars, shone in the darkness that surrounded me. Was I in the sky? My head hurt just from trying to figure it all out. 

"Why do you have Omega's Fragment?" the voice asked. 

I jumped in place when I heard it. It sounded like it came from behind me. I turned around to see a kid staring at me. He had peculiar eyes. They were but two s.h.i.+ning orbs. One of them was golden of color, the other was crimson. 

"Where am I?" I asked. "Who are you?" 

The kid was wearing a black and white striped s.h.i.+rt and shorts similar to them. He c.o.c.ked his head aside and inspected me. I didn't know if he was looking at me because of his peculiar eyes, but they were directed at me. 

"You are a peculiar creature," the boy said. "Blood of a Tyrant. Flesh of a Mortal. Spirit of the Ancients..." The boy put his hands on his mouth and started shaking. A rumbling made the invisible tunnel around me crack. "Most peculiar indeed," the boy went on. 

Was he just chuckling? 

��I don't understand your riddles," I said. "What do you want from me? And why am I here?" The happiness I experienced after surviving was short lived. I didn't know where I was in more danger, against my grandfather, or in front of this peculiar child. All I knew was that he gave off a completely different aura from the old man. 

This one's aura felt somehow ancient. It's the same feeling one gets from meeting an old man whose life was full of stories. I could also feel power in there. That kid had more power than grandfather and the Pontiff combined, maybe even more. There was no end to how far his aura stretched. 

"You are here because you broke a sacred law, little one," the boy said."When I first sensed you absorbing others' time energy..." 

The boy stopped talking. The boy's eyes got extinguished then silence came again. The kind of silence where the only sounds you hear are the ones of your breathing, your heart beating, the sound of blood running through your veins. 

"h.e.l.lo?" I tentatively called out. 

No answer. I waived my hands before the boy's eyes, to no avail. I walked around him, inspected him. He was but a lifeless sh.e.l.l. 

'I told you not to go with your stupid plan!' my grandfather, the one trapped in the fragment, reached out to me. 'Now you've gotten Minsec's attention, and Omega's.' 

'Minsec? That was the G.o.d of time?' I asked. 

'I always wondered where you'd gone when you escaped me that day,' grandpa said. 'If I'd known you'd lead me to Minsec... You f.u.c.ked up kid!' 

'What are you talking about?' I asked. 'I only tried to undo my wrongs. What's the harm in using the powers I was given?' 

'Given?' Grandpa asked. 'Who gave you that Fragment? Why didn't Minsec send his bird down to train you? How did you come upon this Fragment anyway?' 

'What does it matter how I got it?' I asked. 'If the Fragment didn't belong to me, why would I even be allowed to use it?' 

'That's the very same question Minsec will ask you,' grandpa said. 'That's why I never found you after you disappeared. You got us both killed, you freaking brat!' 

'What are you talking about?' I asked. 'You don't even make sense!'

"Ah... You're not Omega, you're not supposed to be here," the boy spoke again, startling me. 

"What?" I looked at the boy. He was smiling, as though he was greeting an old friend. "You brought me here," I said. 

What kind of f.u.c.ked up dream have I found myself in? Did I fail? Did grandpa knock me out, and this is me dreaming? Did I die and this is h.e.l.l? 

"Ah yes," the boy replied. He sounded tired. It sounded as though he regretted bringing me here. He started walking in circles around me. His strange eyes inspected every inch of my body. 

"Absorbing time energy from living beings is prohibited," he went on. "The only one authorized to use such power is Omega. I don't know how you ended up with his Fragment, but I will not allow you to have it any further." 

'Oh f.u.c.k me!' grandpa swore. 

 "I will have the Fragment back," the boy said. 

It was the only warning I received before the Fragment of time was wrenched out of my soul. It felt like losing half my body. My energy levels dropped down. My limbs became heavy, as though filled with lead. 

"You did not seek this Fragment. I shall not kill you for it," the boy said as my body collapsed. "I shall punish you for it." 

The boy was still circling around me. I was on all fours, out of breath, out of energy. My conduits were shrinking at a rapid pace. The boy suddenly stopped and crouched. His eyes emitted a strong light as well as soothing heat. When I locked eyes with him, I felt warmth spread through my conduits. 

"I shall give you a test," the boy went on. "In this vast, endless labyrinth, there is a way out of here. Find it, but beware the wraiths. They don't like those who meddle with time." The boy smiled then stood up. He turned his back to me then started walking away. 

"Omega will hear of this," the boy said. "I suggest you leave this labyrinth before he arrives." 

Just like that, I was alone in an endless, dark void. It took me a long time to regain my strength and stand again. The giant marbles below me kept circling around the even bigger ball of fire. I could tell where I was by the light reflecting on the tunnel, but I couldn't tell how long it extended for.

"How did it all come to this?" I found myself asking. My voice echoed through the tunnel. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to process all of it. I started walking nonetheless. I decided to follow the echo of my voice. Wherever it was carried, I bet it was the place I had to reach. 

Despite the stunning view I had from that tunnel, I couldn't enjoy it. All I could think of was how Raiya had tracked me down and duped me. The last questions grandpa asked me also raised some important concerns. 

How did I get that Fragment in the first place? If grandpa didn't know about it...

Was it Raiya's doing? Was she pulling the strings all along? 

It was frustrating. I was running in circles, unable to find the crux of the matter. I b.u.mped into something as I walked and tried to sort out my thoughts. When I looked up, I realized I'd hit the end of the tunnel. With its invisible walls, navigating this place will prove very difficult. 

The tunnel split in two, and I was standing at the junction. 

"f.u.c.k you Raiya!" I screamed. My voice traveled right, so I followed suit. "f.u.c.k you, Raiya O'Cheran!" 

At the mention of her full name, a rectangular fissure appeared on the invisible wall before me. It looked like a door. Sure enough, a gla.s.s handle appeared at the middle of the shape. It looked like a snake, coiled around until it bit its own tail. 

I pulled the handle and the door opened. A blinding light came out, I had to s.h.i.+eld my eye until I got accustomed to the light. 

"Raiya O'Cheran," I heard a familiar voice say. "I hereby announce you Warlock of the Arsalan Order. Rise." 

I opened my eye to see Raiya, dressed in a long emerald skirt and a sleeveless blue blouse. She was kneeling before my grandfather. They were in some kind of valley. A dozen soldiers stood behind my grandfather. It was sunny that day, midday by the look of it. 

Grandpa looked as old as the man I ran away from. He was holding a golden scepter in his hands. He was smiling, not his usual despicable smile, but a happy one. Raiya rose and met my grandfather's eyes. She smiled in turn and curtsied. 

"To commemorate this day, I offer you this." Grandfather produced a purple jewel from his pocket and handed it to Raiya. "May it offer you protection when you most need it." 

Raiya accepted the gift with a happy smile. 

They both turned to look at me. Dark clouds immediately formed in the sky, obscuring the sun. My grandfather and Raiya's faces started transforming. I saw their skin turn dark blue and their fangs elongated. Their eyes disintegrated, and only their sockets remained. Then their legs vanished. 

Their clothes lost all color, and the creatures they became glided toward me. When they screamed, a foul breath penetrated my nostrils. I remembered what the boy told me earlier. These were wraiths! 

I shut the door then ran right. The creatures slammed against the door. I heard banging behind me then a loud crash. I looked back to see the wraiths rus.h.i.+ng out of the hole they made in the invisible wall. One of them pointed at me, and they both wailed. Then they flew toward me as the door repaired itself. 

I couldn't outrun them, I knew it. I stopped then turned to face them. They were still wailing as one of them pointed it long, bony finger toward me. The finger instantly turned to a sharp blade. Just like that, the wraiths had blades instead of fingers. I clutched my sword and got ready for the worst. 

If I didn't die, then there is a way out for me in here. I just had to figure it out. I'd kill these wraiths at all costs, and if I couldn't harm them with my sword, I'd find a different way to destroy them. I wouldn't die as my grandfather predicted. I will not leave this world before I avenged all their deaths.