LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 4: chapter 4: orion
Theo could tell he was dreaming. But it wasn't just any dream. It was a shared one, a bizarre, kaleidoscopic mess of places and people that didn't quite make sense. One moment, he was standing in the middle of a maze, the next, he was in a recording booth for a podcast. Was it a movie set? Or a library? Or maybe a ship? No—Scylla's lair? A colosseum? Theo couldn't keep up with the shifting scenery, and worse, he was standing in two places at once. There he was, looking back at himself. A doppelganger, unmoving. Mocking him.
His friend, Darien, was tossed around in the dream like an actor in a play. He was an interviewer, a deckhand, prey. In every scene, Darien looked more and more miserable, forced to stand there, unable to break free. His black hair, parted in the middle, framed his face where a wound marred his cheek, just beneath his blue eyes.
And then, the scene shifted again. A castle loomed before Theo, and Darien was ripped away from the dream. Theo thought he saw a ghostly hand rest on Darien's shoulder—just before his doppelganger began to melt into a pool of dark liquid, stretching toward Theo with a terrifying speed.
Before Theo could react, the scene morphed into a dungeon, cold stone walls closing in around him, and then—snap—he was jerked awake.
The blaring sound of an alarm clock echoed in his ears. He jolted upright, groaning as he rubbed his eyes. His arm flung out to hit the off button, but his body was so disoriented that he tumbled straight to the floor. He lay there, blinking, wishing his body to wake up fully. But his memory felt hazy. The mark on his hand—was that supposed to mean something?
He looked down at the deep black crystal in his palm, its shape like a pendulum. There was something strange about it today. A white crystal, almost like a ring of eye shapes, encircled it, the markings strange and unfamiliar. With a grunt of frustration, Theo tried to clench the muscles around the crystal to activate his titan, but it wouldn't work. Nothing happened.
Focus. He told himself. Concentrate.
He forced his mind to focus, channeling every ounce of his will into the strange power. And then, something shifted. For a moment, everything around him seemed to float, as if the world had become weightless. But just as quickly, gravity returned with a snap, sending him crashing back to the floor.
A gasp escaped him. "I can control gravity!" he whispered in recognition, his voice thick with clarity.
His hair shimmered in a deeper shade of purple, the color of his powers fully awakening. And with the memory of all the weeks spent perfecting it came the realization of what he was capable of. He could control gravity.
His heart beat faster as the memories of yesterday flooded back into his mind. He dashed toward the bathroom, barely noticing the time passing. Twenty minutes later, he dashed out of the bathroom, still with wet hair, his body moving with the speed of someone who had practiced it a hundred times.
He leaped out of the third-story window of his door., the ground falling away beneath him. Normally, falling from that height would hurt like hell, but Theo reduced the force of gravity around him to just 10% of Earth's standard. The world seemed to slow down as he floated in the air, the ground moving closer at a pace that gave him around fifteen seconds of air time. A smooth, controlled landing was guaranteed, but as he fell, his gaze swept across the familiar surroundings.
The streets were bustling, but there was a figure that caught his attention—someone he didn't expect to see today: Orion.
Theo's heart skipped a beat. Orion, his camp friend, was standing in the distance, talking to a strange figure. Without thinking, Theo adjusted his gravity to 30%, just enough to let him land softly on his feet. His heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted over to the two figures, lowering his gravity with every step.
Orion was still wearing his usual band shirt, a light yellow one that looked a little worn. His hair was dyed light mauve with pale blue tips, his bright eyes sparkling with warmth and familiarity. Theo was glad to see him, but there was something about the other person with him that made him freeze in place.
This man was... different. He was shorter than Theo and Orion, maybe around 5'5", with pale, almost ghostly skin that made him look sickly. His clothes were strange—he wore multiple layers, even though it was hot outside. A black hoodie, a scarf, and a cloak, all far too much for the heat of the day. But it was the thing peeking out from under his scarf that caught Theo's attention. A spider. A giant, fluffy spider, the size of the man's hand, resting calmly on his shoulder.
Theo's heart skipped in fear, and for a moment, he almost triggered his titan by mistake. His fear of spiders and the surprise of seeing such a creature had nearly overwhelmed him.
No, Theo thought, shaking his head. Focus.
He approached cautiously, trying to hide his unease. The man turned around, and Orion broke into a smile.
"Oh, Theo!" Orion shouted, waving enthusiastically. "It's good to see you! This is Shun. He was just telling me how he used to be a pirate but got separated from his crew!"
Shun turned, raising a hand in greeting, his voice soft, almost too soft for Theo to hear clearly. "Sup," he said, pulling down his hood.
Theo's eyes widened when he saw Shun's hair—a perfect mirror of his own, strewn with a web-like design. Shun's eyes met his, and in that moment, everything around Theo went white.