CH 02:

(A bright sunny morning, birds chirping and finally alarm ringing *ring**ring*)

Our protagonist Neil wakes up on time. He had set the alarm an hour early which was quite unnatural even for him. Ignoring all these he started his usual routine before opening the door of his room. We have a two-story house and I live on the upper floor getting down the stairs we are greeted by a cosy living room.

The walls are painted in a soft, neutral colour, creating a calm atmosphere. The room is illuminated by natural light pouring in through large windows. The centrepiece of the living room is a comfortable sofa with plush cushions and a coffee table in front of it. There is also a TV mounted on the wall, accompanied by a simple media console. Bookshelves line one wall, showcasing a collection of books, photographs, and decorative items.

He saw his parents sitting on the sofa casually talking to each other while watching the daily news, he greeted his parents.

" Morning Mom, Dad" Neil said only to not hear anything back.

He was instead welcomed by the sight of both his mom and dad with astonished faces, Dad having a little pride shining in his eyes and Mom with a little worry but still happy for what had happened just a few moments ago. Well, ignoring all that had happened I went and sat on the couch in the living room, served a cup of coffee and watched the current affairs being narrated by the news anchor on the television. My parents also soon had their attention grabbed by the television chalking about whatever happened a moment ago as a once-in-a-lifetime event and left it at that.

Suddenly the tv screen glitched showing a band of colours followed by binary digits covering the entire screen and then letters of different languages, even English present on the screen. All of this is followed by just a few sentences written in shining magenta colour.

"THE MYTHS WERE ALWAYS PRESENT JUST

DORMANT"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A FEW HOURS BACK)

{Sonoran Desert, Northern Mexico}

A man could be seen in the middle of the desert. He was an above-average man but was a native of the land. Wearing a dress not suitable for the desert he appeared to be searching for something. but if somebody was to witness the man they could see distant markings on his face and deep red with black marking eyes.

The man seemed to have got what he was looking for as he stopped in front of a Teocalli-God's house. He took out a large coin and inserted it in the gap. This was all it took for a Dark pressure to descend the surrounding destroying the Teocalli. He could see various beings of energy with some shining the brightest like light itself and another being like the personification of night. The man took out another object it seemed like a relic. But the moment it was taken out the night itself came towards him. The man kneeled and raised his hand presenting it he said

"o great God of night, darkness, discord and strife. I your humble servant beseech you to accept my offering to you o mighty God please protect us and strike my enemy with fear itself," He said.

It was eerily quiet for a few seconds and then he heard a chuckle sending shivers down his spine. He saw the dark mist disappearing and in its place stood a man very tall but thin. wearing a demon mask and shining blue eyes with bluish-black hair staring at him with amusement and wonder.

God said, "Oh what a surprise a surprise indeed. a being such as myself forgotten by the world suddenly gets released and is asked to protect instead of offerings being given. An amusing thing you have offered me but do you think that is all it takes for me to offer you protection, ".

An even more heavy pressure descended crushing the already kneeling man. Astonished and not willing to give up he requests God to activate the ruin. God again chuckled, amused by the human beings' will and struggle to safeguard their puny mortal life. Deciding to cater to the man's will as he was the one who released him he directed some of his energy only to be hit by nostalgia. The feeling of comfort and warmth this object gave just like his.

He looked at the man and said," You are indeed a lucky young man for getting me a gift I had been searching for aeons, Lucky indeed. Chicomecóatl(refer below) must have liked you very much. Very well I will cater to your whims and protect whatever u want until I find u amusing," he looked back sensing something and said," Well well if it isn't Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli, well we can talk later as I now have something interesting to do."

The man in question looked towards the gods only to be shocked as he didn't mean to release them before anything was said he vanished from the spot .

The same thing was happening in every mythological hotspot around the globe as all the beings were released from their captive.

As men appear out of nowhere and release these beings of energy only to realise the gravity of the situation later and disappear with unknown people with them and only one thought were running through their mind," where there is evil, good will appear and where there is good evil will appear".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(back to our protagonist)

Neil was staring at the screen in shock as he tried to decipher what is occurring in front of him. an even more panicky situation was the screen present in front of him the moment the words appeared on the television. it had the words [new message !!] written on it. I looked towards my parents afraid to ask them whether they have the same screen in front of them. To my shock, even my parents were looking at me. I mustered up my courage and asked them

"do u have a screen in front of you", only to get asked the same question by both of my parents at the same time. we looked at each other in silence frozen, thinking of what to tell each other and what will the reaction be.

Finally, I mustered up the courage to tell my parents that a screen suddenly appeared in front of me and display a message, only to get the same exact response from my parents. We looked at each other and I asked them whether we should click it or not.

My father said," Let's see what is this new message ". Surprisingly my mother agreed to it. I could imagine my father saying that as he never lets go of an opportunity to enjoy life and loves anomalies. But Mom likes enjoyment but hates variables.

So my father started to move his finger to click on the show new messages screen when the screen suddenly changed before his finger touches the screen. Again surprised by this he went ahead and showed us what is written.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------GLOSSARY:

1:Chicomecóatl-Aztec goddess of sustenance. The number seven in her name is associated with luck.

2: Quetzalcoatl- Aztec god of life, light and wisdom, lord of the winds and the day, ruler of the West.

3: Huitzilopochtli-Aztec God of war, sun and sacrifice.