Twilight had already painted the horizon by the time I stepped off my motorcycle taxi and unlatched the front gate. The porch light was surprisingly on—teaching my chicken to leap and peck at the light switch had not been a waste of effort after all.
Patter-patter-patter…
As soon as I unlocked the door, my chicken fluttered straight toward me, welcoming me with a warm embrace. I had truly missed this little bundle of feathers.
Cluck-cluck!
"Alright, Brahma. How about some kebabs tonight?" I lifted him up. His head bobbed in eager agreement. I chose the name 'Brahma' not just for his breed, but because it signified one who grows and thrives—a fitting reflection of us both.
Later that night, I sat at my study desk, wrestling with a physics textbook under the warm glow of the desk lamp. The sky outside the window had dissolved into complete darkness, and Brahma was fast asleep in his bed.
Unfortunately, as I tried to construct an answer, my mind involuntarily drifted back to that encounter in that strange, unknown realm—and to Nehi's words, just as it was doing right now.
'If a charged particle moves from one point to another across a strong magnetic field, what will occur?'
A charged particle... that was my soul separating from my body.
A strong magnetic field... that was the astral realm pulling me in.
Traversing from one point to another... that was my journey from the mortal world to the astral dimension.
So, what would happen?
I had no idea. The bottom line was that I was lost and forced to confront entities intent on capturing and trapping me there. With any luck, Black Robe would appear to guide me, or at least help me find my way back…
I hurriedly shoved the physics book aside before I could write down such a ridiculous answer. Switching gears, I grabbed my sketchbook and began aimlessly doodling, attempting to divert my thoughts until I accidentally submerged myself in the process.
My hand began to move of its own accord, drawing while my thoughts drifted far away long before my consciousness followed.
Scratch, scratch, scratch…
The sun and the moon stood side by side, radiating contrasting light. Beneath them, a constellation of stars lay scattered, twinkling—some even aligned in neat rows. Specks of light shimmered between the stars like golden dust, all captured on the white paper.
My hand stilled only after etching three tiny, distinct stars on the far left.
I set the black pen down. My gaze sank into the illustration, examining it in a silence fraught with unanswered questions.
"I can grant you day and night," suddenly, that smooth, soft voice echoed softly in my ear, resonating like the whisper of the cosmos itself. "Yet, I can't grant you those stars."
My eyelids grew impossibly heavy. My head slumped onto my folded arms…
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The sound of flapping wings and a loud crow beside my ear shattered the morning silence. Followed by the gentle pecking of Brahma's beak on my arm, I awoke from my deep slumber.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
My eyes snapped open to a pile of textbooks. I was still sitting at my study desk. Sunlight trickled in through the gaps in the curtains.
My back ached, and my arms—which had doubled as a pillow all night—were completely numb.
I was forced to remain frozen in that position for a few minutes until I could finally move it. I glanced at the wall clock. Luckily, it was only six in the morning.
My gaze shifted to the sketchbook I had slept on all night. My eyes widened in shock.
There on the open page, the exact drawing I had seen in my dream was staring back at me. The black pen I had used still lay right beside it on the desk. My fingers reached out, brushing against the paper.
Something felt off, as if a faint trace of energy still lingered in the ink.
This was no mere nightmare or hallucination. It was a physical manifestation. A message.
⊹
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⊹
The next afternoon, I retreated to the quiet sanctuary of the school’s rear garden, away from the chaotic noise of the main building.
Under the sprawling shade of an old banyan tree, Nehi sat on a stone bench, flanked by her usual inner circle—Judi, Shery, and Lenore. They had ambushed me the moment they saw me carrying my sketchbook.
"Ishihara, you can astral project because you're pulled into it, right? What does it feel like? Could that entity pull me in too?" the girl to my left, Judi, gushed. The relentless sparkle in her eyes weighed heavily on me.
"Oh, sure—you'll get pulled straight into the grave!" Shery teased, bursting into laughter.
"Hey! I was asking nicely!"
"Mind your language, sweetie," Lenore chided, before shifting her gaze toward me. "How does it feel, though? Is it like dying?"
"More like a dream you can't wake up from," I answered truthfully, omitting the bouts of severe dizziness, especially upon returning to my body.
"Creepy," Judi muttered, though her eyes sparkled with morbid curiosity.
Shery smirked again. "So, wanna give it a shot? Who knows, maybe there's an astral version of Mingyu over there and you won't even need to come back."
Laughter erupted around the table, joined by Nehi, who had just set down her lunch. I offered only a faint smile, far too awkward to genuinely join in.
Once the chatter settled down, I transferred the sketchbook from my lap onto the stone table and displayed the drawing. "I didn't draw this consciously. It manifested onto the paper last night and… I need to know what it means."
Every pair of eyes at the table locked onto my sketch. A surge of nervousness seized me as they examined the symbolism, their brows furrowing as they tried to decipher its hidden meaning.
"Is this like something off a tarot card?" Judi asked.
Lenore gave a subtle nod. "It looks similar, but no tarot deck looks quite like this."
"I know what this is," Nehi announced brightly, sitting up straighter. "The sun and the moon are twin forces standing side by side—the energies of life and death. The stars represent pure energy, and that faint gleam shimmering between them is you."
Both I and her three companions fell silent at her explanation. Though Nehi clearly noticed our bewildered hush, she simply took a casual sip of her iced tea instead of dumbing it down for us.
"'I can grant you day and night, yet I cannot grant you those stars,'" I recounted verbatim, holding nothing back in my pursuit of a complete interpretation. "That was what the voice told me."
Nehi fixed her gaze on me, her expression turning deeply solemn. "That voice... belongs to a higher authority. It can grant you day and night, life and death—but it cannot bestow upon you... yourself," Her finger reached out, hovering over the cluster of scattered stars. "This is energy—the root of your power. And the glimmer of light among them is your destiny, something no entity or force can hand to you."
I sank back into silence, working hard to digest her words. Okay, so one thing I could gather for now was that it was a message from my God. As for the rest...
"Whoa, Nehi, you're insane! That was so cool!" Judi cheered, as if she had just witnessed a grand performance.
Shery clapped along enthusiastically, their noisy applause drawing glances from neighboring tables.
"Does that mean Ishihara is blessed?" Lenore inquired skeptically.
Nehi shook her head. "It means that even with all His omnipotence, He cannot give you a power that is already inherently yours. He cannot give you what you already are."
The shrill ring of the school bell brought the grand session to a close, dispersing the crowded garden. After offering a quick word of thanks and goodbye, I made my way back to class, my thoughts remaining pinned to that stone table.
As my fingers held my sketchbook to my chest, a strange warmth suddenly radiated from the paper—the sketch briefly glowed softly, stinging my palm with the familiar, icy ache of the black dagger before fading away.
My fingers tightening around the cover. The path was set, the energy was awakening—and there was no turning back.