Darkness.
Cold, creeping, suffocating darkness.
Why?
Spence Raven couldn't feel his arms. His legs. Nothing but numbness.
Did I… die?
His thoughts spiraled as he drifted deeper into the void — silent, still, and unrelenting. The sensation of losing himself, of being swallowed whole by nothingness, clawed at his sanity.
---
[Flashback]
Just hours earlier, Spence Raven had been a perfectly ordinary sixteen-year-old boy. Slightly above average in class and decent enough at sports — not brilliant, not exceptional, but quietly capable.
That morning was like any other. He rose with the dawn, dressed in his school uniform, and paused before leaving the house. As always, he bowed his head respectfully in front of a framed photograph of his late parents — the only memory he had left of them.
Now living with his uncle, Spence carried on the best he could. Routine was his anchor.
As he walked along the narrow bridge railing on his way to school, the chill in the air clung to his skin. Then — a scream shattered the silence.
He turned, eyes widening. A hooded man barreled toward him, a blood-stained knife glinting in his grip. Panic flickered through Spence's mind. The man was a thief — one who had just botched a robbery and stabbed a store clerk during his escape.
Spence was no hero. In fact, he rarely paid much attention to the world around him. But this time, he noticed — a little girl, no more than six or seven, stepping blindly into the path of the madman.
Instinct took over.
Spence lunged forward, shoving the child out of harm's way. But as he stumbled back, trying to avoid the incoming threat, a sharp, freezing pain exploded in his abdomen.
The knife had found its mark.
The hooded man was quickly subdued by a group of bystanders, but for Spence, the world was already fading.
He collapsed onto the cold concrete, his blood soaking the pavement.
Pain.
Despair.
Nothingness.
But…
Am I dying… or have I already ceased to exist?
Why… why is this happening to me?
Is that girl safe?
The thought struck him like a spark in the void. But then doubt crept in.
Why would I care? Why did I do that? What just happened?
He had never planned to be a hero. He wasn't brave. He wasn't bold. He was just a boy with simple dreams — finish school, land a good job, marry into a decent family, and live a quiet, peaceful life.
Was that too much to ask? Was I really destined to die like this… a nobody, bleeding on a roadside?
And then — nothing.
Spence slipped into a hollow silence. A place with no time, no weight, no self.
Until… a flicker.
A warmth bloomed in his chest — soft, strange, and growing. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt heavy, sealed. Yet he could see the faintest glow pushing through the darkness.
A voice echoed from somewhere deep, soft and commanding:
"Wake up."
With effort, his eyes opened — or rather, he became aware.
He was no longer human.
His form was now a small, drifting cloud — featureless, white, ethereal. No limbs. No face. Just presence.
Around him stretched a boundless white expanse, silent and dreamlike. At the center stood a colossal tree, its trunk ancient and wide, its roots weaving into the very fabric of the afterlife.
From the tree's towering branches, a single leaf detached and floated down — spiraling gently until it hovered before him.
Then it spoke.
"I see you're awake. You sleep a lot, boy."
The voice was warm and lilting — like a young girl's, serene but knowing.
Spence — or what remained of him — hesitated before answering.
"Who are you? Where… where am I? And my body… where's my body?"
The leaf shimmered slightly in the glowing haze.
"You've died," it said softly. "This is the afterlife. But unlike the rest — those who vanish into nothingness — you have been granted a choice."
Spence's essence pulsed.
"I died…? I see. Then… what choice?"
The leaf floated a little closer, radiating gentle light.
"Spence Raven," the voice intoned with clarity, "Will you fade into nothingness like most… or will you join me as a Catalyst Sovereign?"
The words struck like lightning.
Spence felt something stir deep within — a spark, a hunger, a hope.
"I get to… live? I'll do it!" his voice trembled with determination. "I'll be your Catalyst Sovereign. Just… give it to me! Let me live!"
The leaf shone brilliantly, and from her center, a single ray of light pierced through the void, pouring into the cloud that was Spence.
He trembled as energy surged through his being.
The leaf gave a soft, melodic laugh — part joy, part omen.
"Well then…" she whispered, her voice both playful and powerful.
"The pursuit begins."
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