When Alyson returns to her grandparents' house to help settle what's left of it, she finds herself standing inside seventeen years of memory; both tender and unkind. The walls remember her laughter, the air carries the rhythm of her grandparents' routines, and every object seems to wait for her to finally notice what's changed. In her dreams, Joe appears softer and attentive in the ways he never was when they were younger. Waking up from them feels like forgetting a language she once knew by heart. When they meet again by chance, the conversation feels less like reunion and more like reckoning. Paint Stains is a quiet story about home, inheritance, and the parts of ourselves that remain even after we've outgrown the walls that shaped us.

Hundreds of years ago, humanity stood at the edge of extinction. As the planet withered beneath environmental collapse, a miraculous discovery changed everything: a primordial force hidden deep within the Earth. It healed the sick, restored dying lands, and ushered in a new era of prosperity. But every miracle demanded a price. Exposure to the Arcane unleashed a devastating pandemic that reshaped the world. Civilizations fell. New species emerged. Creatures once thought mythical began to walk beside humanity. Science and magic became one, bound together by a mysterious energy known as Aetheria. Generations later, Aetheria is the foundation of civilization itself. Empires rise upon its currents, and humanity has reached heights once reserved for the divine. "We are the gods," they declared. Yet even gods are merely living things struggling to adapt. And Aetheria is far from finished with them.

A story of different fools fighting for the same goal