1 Harbinger of disaster

Location: unknown place / year (???).

(Thunder) ... (Thunder) ...

The bright blue sky, the one that adorns life with picturesque colors, full of joy and vivacity. Or at least it almost always does, but not this time, the one that was the color of the clear sky, was painted a deep black. Great and long meters tinged with dark darkness, guided by the sparkling crackle of thunder, dancing freely throughout the place, freely shaking the earth under its powerful presence, the rain like a blanket covering everything in its path. A strong torrent trying to reach the ground with its contents, under all this the image of a forest was calmly drawn.

Everything would seem normal, if it weren't for the sight of a strange wake. Circular in shape, parked in the middle of the road with a brilliant flash of milky white, a portal created by a force beyond human understanding. And right in front of him, the back of a boy in the rain stopped in his advance, he did not seem too big, 12 to 13 years old perhaps, short with a thin body, his gaze overshadowed by the strands of his hair. He seemed mesmerized by that strange voice whispering things in his ear.

You just have to decide ... there are more things than you can imagine ... Does it hurt, doesn't it? .... hurts .... betrayal ..... weak? ..... yes .... it's true ..... power? ... I need .... yes ..... there is nothing for me ..... in this world ..... to ascend .... yes ..... I ... . I .... want to ascend .....

Imperceptible whispers, accompanied by echoes. Held in inconsistencies due to the strong lightning, little by little the boy turned towards the portal, his meek and dejected gaze completely lost. Eyes cold as ice, eyes lost, lifeless in them, lifeless inside, he began to walk towards the white trail of light, faint but steady. Clumsy movements in your walk, days? Maybe weeks? from walking without rest, a weak body, without eating or sleeping, just walking, what pain could even a child return in this way?

Finally, in the rising sound of thunder. As if announcing the arrival of the change, the boy approached the front of the stele, his right arm with effort raised it, trying to touch that strange circular light and just when he managed to reach it, a massive increase of light enveloped the entire forest. Frightening the animals, they ran frantically in all directions, as the brightness dimmed, the wake had disappeared, and with it the child.

It was weird, the background noise stopped. The thunder in the sky seemed to be silent, the rain did not taste like sound when it fell to the ground, for a few seconds everything was, simply in total silence.

Until.

A voice whispered from the dark abyss softly but hoarsely, an ethereal melody that gave way to the end of the silence.

Participant ... number 3.897 ... Raiden Nishimura ... Picked up .....

After that, the voice trailed off and the sound returned to the scene, as if nothing had happened. The last selected had decided.