"Have we arrived?" I asked, my heart beating too fast for no reason.
The station was the same as always. Loud. Crowded. Messy.
But something felt… off it is still really there.
"Almost. Platform 15," Akira said, her eyes bright with excitement.
Too bright.
"Okay."
We pushed through the crowd. The smell of oil, smoke, and fried food hung in the air.
everything was Normal.
Until it wasn't.
The moment we crossed Platform 14, everything shifted.
The noise dulled, like someone had turned the world down. The colors faded. Even the air felt different—cold, metallic i was processing this change.
I slowed. "Aki… do you feel that?"
She didn't look back. "You're overthinking. Come on." it was almost like she knew what it is but she brushed it off i kept thinking she is best friend and she would not harm mme?
My stomach tightened.
We're still in Banot.
But I didn't argue "lets move on" i thought to myself.
The students around us were different too. Older. Calm. Too calm. Like they knew something I didn't.
A few others looked like me—confused, unsure.
Good. At least I wasn't the only one.
"Platform 15," Akira said again.
I stopped.
"Aki… that's not possible."
There was no Platform 15.
There never had been.
But the wall at the end of the station was gone. In its place, a long, dim platform stretched forward, the air around it slightly distorted, like heat waves.
"What… did they do?" I muttered.
Akira turned to me.
She smiled.
It wasn't her usual smile.
"Something like that." what?
Then I saw the train.
It didn't look real.
Smooth. Silver. Silent.
Its surface moved—like liquid. Shapes flickered beneath it. Animals. Shadows. Things that didn't stay still long enough to understand.
I felt my throat go dry. "What is that?"
"Isn't it beautiful?" Akira said softly. "Coach seven. Let's go."
She grabbed my wrist.
Too tight.
"Aki—wait. That's not normal. None of this is normal. What kind of school or college is this?"
"The best kind," she said, pulling me forward.
I stumbled after her, my thoughts racing.
This wasn't a school.
This felt like a mistake.
A bad one a really bad one.
We found our compartment. I dropped into the window seat, my legs unsteady.
Akira sat beside me.
Too close.
Blocking the aisle.
I noticed it immediately.
The train started moving without a sound. No whistle. No jerk.
Just… movement.
I looked outside.
The city faded too quickly. Buildings blurred, then disappeared.
In their place—
Forest.
Dense. Dark. Endless.
That wasn't possible.
Then Akira took my hand.
Her skin was cold.
Too cold.
I pulled slightly. "Akira… what's going on?"
She didn't answer right away i was still thinking processing.
Instead, she said, "Do you remember my grandma's chant?"
My chest tightened. "Yeah… why?"
"I should say it. For the journey."
Something in her voice made my stomach drop.
"Aki—"
She started speaking.
The words weren't familiar. Not any language I knew.
Low. Slow. Wrong.
They filled the space around us, pressing into my head, into my chest.
My thoughts blurred.
"Aki… stop…" My voice came out weak. "What are you doing…?"
My body felt heavy.
Too heavy.
Like I was sinking into the seat.
The lights flickered—
Then everything turned gold.
Not bright. Not soft.
Heavy.
It pressed in on me, pulling me away from myself.
From the train.
From everything.
The last thing I heard—
"Stay with me, Mira."
Akira.
But I couldn't.
I woke to the smell of rain.
Cold earth beneath my hands.
Grass.
I pushed myself up slowly, my head spinning.
This wasn't the train.
This wasn't anywhere I knew.
The sky—
It wasn't a sky.
Colors moved through it. Deep blue. Violet. Green. Stars pulsing like they were alive.
My chest tightened.
"Where… am I?"
You are destined for more than this.
The voice wasn't around me who was that
It was inside my head like what is going on at this point.
I scrambled back. "Who's there?!"
A figure stepped out from beneath a silver-lit tree.
A man.
Tall. Still. Not… normal.
His hair looked like moonlight. His eyes—
I couldn't hold his gaze.
"Welcome, Mira."
My breath came fast. "Where am I? What is this? Where's Akira? what the hell is even going on"
"You are safe," he said. "This is a place of awakening."
"I didn't ask that!" My voice shook. "I got on a train. That's it. I didn't ask for any of this!"
He stepped closer.
The air shifted with him.
"The power within you has been asleep for a long time," he said. "It is time for it to rise."
"I don't have any power," I snapped. "You've got the wrong person."
A small smile touched his lips.
"No. You are exactly where you are meant to be."
The ground beneath me trembled.
The sky warped, colors bleeding into each other.
"No—wait!" I shouted. "Tell me what's happening!"
His form began to fade.
"All will be revealed."
"NO—"
The world shattered.
"Mira! Can you hear me?! Fight it!"
Akira.
Her voice cut through everything.
I was falling.
Darkness everywhere.
Reaching for something I couldn't see.
Couldn't hold.
Then—
Nothing.