Archive Of Potentialities.

Short Story: Dreamer [Prologue]

Yes, I'm aware this fic is marked as completed. But I can't help my whims...

I'll extend a warning now, read at your own risk. I can't guarantee that this will get past 5 chapters, my interest might shift as I'm writing it. So if you know you're wary of reading something that's never gonna see completion then...

If you're a daredevil like yours truly, then enjoy.

Prologue:- Vanishing Point.

The mundane is often taken for granted.

People I knew — friends, family —- always complained about boredom. About how they would like it if they didn't have to do homework, or didn't have to show up to their standard 9-5 the next day.

About how better it would be if life was exciting. I was no exception.

The familiarity of day to day life jaded most people into a sense of comfort that makes them turn around and sneer at the very thing that keeps them sane.

"Life is stale." They claimed.

But a moment eventually comes, a time where one would think back to the days of dreary monotony and wish for it from the bottom of their hearts.

That moment had arrived for me.

I wasn't particularly good at academics, but I had made it through high school. Now it was a tiring repetition of taking entrance exams for different Colleges.

My parents had tried to convince me to find a part time job while I waited, but I didn't feel motivated and usually ignored them.

It was during one of such awkward interactions, standing right in front of my parents as they looked at me with disappointment in their eyes.

I blinked.

And the world around me changed. It almost seemed like I had fallen into a dream.

{Confirmed, Unique Skill [Dreamer] successfully acquired.}

From that moment on, my life became hell.

……

I couldn't see anything, the black cloth that had been tied around my head didn't allow the slightest bit of light through.

“Don't dawdle.” A disinterested voice drawled from behind me as its owner nudged me roughly.

I didn't have any protests to offer as I did my best to muster the strength to walk faster.

I didn't know what was around me, I and the others hadn't been allowed to see anything since we left wherever we were being held.

I thought it was unfair for them to expect the blindfolded person to walk with confidence, but the thought of being subjected to even more unfair violence silenced me.

As I kept walking, doing my best at trying to sense what was in front of me. I couldn't even use my hands to feel around, as they were bound in what felt like manacles.

“To suppress your magicules.” They had said as they slapped the things on me, just hours after I arrived in this godforsaken world. I had no idea what magicules were, and why they assumed I have them, but they didn't really care.

It's been what I assume is months since that moment, that moment that my new unfamiliar reality sunk in.

“Ow!” I exclaimed as I collided face first with what felt like a metal surface.

Snickers echoed around me as my captors laughed at my obviously manufactured misfortune.

“You totally knew that would happen, Talos,” One of them commented amidst sadistic laughter.