The sky was gray, but it didn’t threaten rain. Just that kind of suspended melancholy that seemed to perfectly reflect Yuri’s soul.

  Sitting on the rooftop of the school building, legs dangling into the void, she watched the city as the wind tousled her dark hair. It was the last day of school, but she felt no excitement. The others giggled, running down the stairs shouting "vacation," as if it were the most important thing in the world.

  She, on the other hand, felt... out of place.

  "Why do I always feel like something is waiting for me somewhere else?" she thought, clutching the pendant around her neck. An old talisman her grandmother had given her before she passed away.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "Never forget who you are, Yuri," she had said with a trembling voice. "Kindness is true strength. And you... you are destined for something great."

  Words that once sounded like the affectionate ramblings of an old woman now, for some reason, weighed like suspended truth.

  The sky suddenly darkened. An unexpected eclipse. No alarms, no forecasts. Just darkness. And silence.

  The wind stopped. The city seemed to freeze.

  Yuri stood up slowly, her gaze fixed on the sun devoured by shadow.

  And then... it happened.

  Her body was wrapped in an intense violet light, the pendant began to shine wildly, and time seemed to break apart. She fell into the void, but felt no fear. Only a deep calling, as if something—or someone—had been waiting for her all along.

  ---

  Darkness.

  Then... a new light. Cold. Pale.

  Yuri opened her eyes. She was lying on a pitch-black field, beneath a starless night sky. The air was freezing, and shadows moved all around her. Not trees, not animals. Shadows.

  "...Where... am I?" she murmured, her voice trembling.

  A whisper answered her. Not from someone. From the world itself.

  Welcome, daughter of Ligh

  t. The World of Shadows awaits you.