-- Somewhere on Earth. --
Kaine Smith felt depressed. His always single mom had just passed away due to an accident.
He had to go back to his hometown for a week to attend her funeral. And to take care many other things. And to deal with vulture-like relatives. It was a truly tiring week.
Just now... He was back to the city. Thinking that everything would be better now.
Yet, he found out that... his girlfriend, now his ex, had been doing the horizontal tango with his supposed to be his best friend. He didn't even want to remember their names.
The parental loss and double dose of betrayal hammered him flat. He needed to get away from everything. He needed to refresh his mind. He needed to be alone.
So, he did the first idea that came to his mind. Hiking. Stupid, cliché hiking. But the mountains were there. And he was desperate for any action that wouldn't get him to jail.
He packed a bag, grabbed a tent, and drove north to the Black Ridge Mountains. It would be a solo trip. He didn't want to be with his friends. He didn't want to talk anyone. No other people, just him... and the damn rocks.
He started walking as soon as he parked his car. Some hours later, he found a secluded spot near the top. A small clearing sheltered by gnarled pines.
He set up camp, ate a tasteless protein bar, and tried not to think about his departed mother, or the betrayal.
It didn't work that easy. He couldn't sleep.
Just one hour after midnight, he decided. He would hike to the peak before sunrise.
Watching the sunrise from the mountain peak. It was one more stupid cliché action to do. But at least it was something to do.
He grabbed his flashlight and unzipped his tent. He was determined to reach the summit. Before sunrise. He liked the idea of watching the day break. Alone. At the highest point.
He left his tent and backpack in that camp site. And then, he started climbing again.
However, just a few minutes afterward...
The thick fog rolled in fast. One minute, he could see the faint glow of his flashlight on the trail. The next, he was swallowed by a white, suffocating mist.
The familiar woods vanished. Hidden behind the white blanket of the fog. This was bad. Really bad.
Kaine stopped on the track. His heart was hammering his chest. He cursed under his breath. He should have checked the weather forecast. He shivered, pulling his jacket tighter.
The world was eerily silenced in this fog. Kaine could not hear the rustling of leaves. Or the hoot of an owl. Or even the gust of wind. There was only an unsettling stillness prickling the back of his neck.
And then... he saw it. A shape in the fog. It was indistinct at first. But then, it solidified.
It was tall. Is it a human? No!
It was too thin and its limbs were too long. And then they appeared... glowing eyes that burned through the fog like embers.
Kaine froze. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't obey. The thing drifted closer, silent as death. The air crackled with a strange energy.
It reached out a hand. It was long, skeletal fingers, tipped with claws that gleamed in the faint light. Kaine could only stare. His eyes were wide with terror.
The creature touched him. It was not a grab. Not a clawing strike. Just a simple touch. The tips of its fingers brushed against his forehead.
A jolt of mysterious energy surged within him. It was hot and cold at the same time. Kaine gasped. His vision was blurring. The fog swirled. The creature disappeared. And then blackness.
Kaine died.
...
...
...
... or so he thought.
...
-- Eagledome City, Olwinter 23, 1557 NC. --
Kaine gasped. Air clawed into his lungs.
As he tried to reorient himself...
Memories assaulted his mind. A majestic flying ship with towering masts. Battling against monstrous storm.
He remembered... The rain water spray stinging his face. The roar of the thunderbolt. The shade from the crimson clouds.
He saw the hurricane that defied logic. He saw the space crack that twisted the very fabric of reality. He saw the chaos. The screams. The icy grip of the water. Pulling him down. Down. Down.
Then, darkness again.
...
He regained his consciousness slowly, painfully. The scent of sweet floral fragrance filled his nostrils. A rhythmic beeping pulsed nearby.
He opened his eyes. Squinting against the sunlight from the glass window. White walls. Strange yet fancy machines. And a blurry figure in a white coat.
He was... in a hospital. But it was a very different from any hospital he knew.
"He's awake!" A voice exclaimed, sharp with surprise. Strange language. But he understood it.
He tried to speak. But his throat was dry and scratchy. He managed a croaking whisper. "…Water?" But it wasn't in English. What happened here?
A nurse rushed to his side with a cup. He drank greedily. The cool liquid soothing his parched throat.
As he drank, the memories continued to flood back. The magnificent flying ship, Aurean Victory. The unbelievable storm. He was… Spark Nighthawk.
No. He was… Kaine Smith. He remembered his mother's funeral. The betrayal. His ex-girlfriend and best friend. The lonely hike in the Black Ridge Mountains.
It was overwhelming. Two lives, intertwined and impossibly real. How could he be both?
As the doctors ran tests and fussed over him, the answer began to dawn. Or at least a piece of the answer. The creature in the fog. The touch. The surge of energy. It hadn't killed him. It had… done something else.
Later... after the multitude of tests. And many inquiries he was too weak and too confused to answer. The doctors and nurses finally let him alone.
Light from the sun spilled through the glass window of his ward. The sunlight was… nice. Bright, clean, and vivid. But the landscape outside the window was… impossible.
Towering trees with leaves of deep green colors. Blue sky with white clouds. Those were still fine. But... floating islands dotted the horizon. Flying ships. This wasn't Earth. This wasn't real.
Panic clawed at his throat. He tried to sit up, but his body didn't allow it. His body felt... extremely weak. Without any energy.
What had happened to him? Where was he? Why would he be here?
The last thing he remembered was... the creature, the touch, the overwhelming surge of energy… and then nothing.
As he tried to piece together the fragments of his memory, a sharp pain lanced through his head. Images flashed again behind his eyes. The same images he had seen previously – a flying ship, hurricane, screaming people, terrified faces…
He pressed his hands to his temples. Trying to quell the throbbing. He was Kaine Smith. He was… he was something else too. A boy. A boy named Spark Nighthawk. Twelve years old.
The two memories warred within him. Vying for dominance.
Kaine Smith, betrayed and alone in the mountains. Spark Nighthawk, survivor of a disaster he couldn't quite grasp.
Who was he? Which one was he?
He squeezed his eyes shut. Trying to reconcile the two.
It had not been easy. But, gradually, the chaos subsided. The memories began to merge, to weave together. He was both Kaine and Spark.
He was Kaine, experiencing the life of Spark. He was Spark, now burdened with the memories of Kaine.
And with those memories came understanding. He remembered the Aurean Victory, the magnificent flying ship. He remembered how his parents happily took him aboard the ship.
He remembered the lightning storm, the chaos, the devastating crash on the shores of Avianest Island. The panicked face of his mother as she tried to protect him.
He remembered fall into the sea. And then, being pulled from the wreckage. Barely conscious. Barely alive.
He was a survivor. One of the few. Or probably... the only one.
...
But there was more. Something was different in him. Something… deeper inside of him. It didn't come from either Kaine Smith or Spark Nighthawk.
It was something he couldn't quite articulate. A feeling of… power. Of potential. It resonated within him. A humming resonance beneath the surface of his consciousness.
He closed his eyes and focused. He reached inward, inspecting himself. A technique unfamiliar for Kaine. But it was something basic for Spark Nighthawk. It was a part of his school's most fundamental lessons.
And then... the pieces began to fall into place. The creepy creature in the fog. The mystical touch. The surge of energy. It wasn't just a brush with the unknown. It was a transformation. A blessing, of sorts.
A string of words appeared. Echoing in the depths of his mind. He acquired... Five Otherworlder Blessings.
He got... CHEAT CODES! Five cheat codes!
He grinned, for the first time after so long. This was unfair cheat codes. Definitely unfair. And he, Kaine-Spark, was all for it.