Pain.
Then stillness.
Then… breath.
Rin opened his eyes.
White lights. Beeping. The sterile sting of antiseptic.
A hospital.
He shot upright, chest rising and falling in ragged breaths. His hands darted to his torso,legs, stomach, chest. All there. Whole. He wasn't missing anything. No pain. No bleeding. His body was is in one piece.
"I died," he whispered.
He remembered it clearly. The golden eyes. The command. The emptiness where his body should have been.
So why was he here?
Where is he?
He turned his head,and froze.
The reflection in the glass across the room wasn't his.
The man staring back had long white hair, eyes silver and faintly glowing, skin unblemished. Taller. Broader. Alien.
Rin took a step closer. The face wasn't familiar, but a name was scrawled on a data pad nearby: Rin Solas.
The initial name was his but the body was someone else's.
The door slid open with a hiss.
"Rin!" A girl stomped in, her tone sharp. She had crimson eyes and short, choppy hair. Twin curved blades were strapped to her back, and a faint shimmer of power pulsed around her. "You've been out for two days. Do you even realize how lucky you are?"
He blinked. "I... who are you?"
Her expression twisted. "Are you serious right now? Don't start that again." She marched over and jabbed a finger into his chest. "I should have left you in that Gate. You owe me."
"I don't—" he started, but she had already turned and stormed out, muttering curses under her breath.
Rin stood in stunned silence.
What is wrong with her?
He walked slowly to the window and pulled back the curtain.
The city outside was otherworldly. Towering black structures twisted toward a violet sky. Roads hovered midair, winding like serpents between the buildings. Creatures walked the streets below,some humanoid, others not. Horned figures. Winged beasts. Cloaked shadows. Technology crackled in the air. He was in another world.
It was probably One of the two worlds that attacked Earth.
His stomach turned.
Why me? How did I get here?
He spotted a screen mounted on the hospital wall flickering with news broadcasts. He tapped the surface, and the image sharpened. A woman with bright green skin and six fingers reported in a language he didn't recognize—but somehow, it made sense to him. Like something in his new body understood automatically.
> BREAKING: sazba-born raiders intercepted in Outer Sector 14. All intruders neutralized. Sector remains secured.
Rin narrowed his eyes.
It wasn't about the two monsters from the park.
A group of another planet had invaded this world,and they were killed.
He felt cold all over.
He was worried about his planet, about his mom,dad,brother,sister and his dog. He kept thinking about them
He dropped onto the bed, trying to slow his racing thoughts.
If I'm Rin Solas now... who was he?
Why this body?
He looked at his hands again,smooth, unscarred. He concentrated, thinking about the feeling he remembered watching Awakened use their powers.
To his shock, something flickered along his palm. A pale flame.
He had power now.
His entire life, he'd been powerless. A nobody.
But now, he could feel it thrumming in his bones. Something immense. Explosive. Alive.
He stared out the window again.
This isn't Earth anymore.
I'm in enemy territory. And I'm wearing the face of someone they all know.
The girl had called him Rin like she expected him to act like someone else.
If I want answers... I'll have to become him.
A final thought echoed in his mind:
The ones who killed me are still out there.
And this time, I'll be ready.
It is good that I have powers now.
And since I got the ability to grow stronger I will become the strongest.