Prologue: Who, What, Where, Why?

        It’s cold.

        -Huh? …what is this?

        I think this is a dream. An interesting dream though. I can’t move my body…yet I can still see, hear, and feel. Well…ok I can kinda see, but it’s just so damn fuzzy! Seems like talking is off the table too. If I could talk, I would be saying a lot of things right now…most of that being random gibberish from me freaking out. As I sit there, contemplating about what I should do in this situation, I hear two voices. One of these voices belonged to a man while the other belonged to a woman.

        “What should we do? These rifts are getting significantly worse as more time passes. Something must be done or else the future of this world will…”

        “Silence! Such dire thoughts will not come to be, so do not think that way. However…with these rifts…they bring those entities into our world too. This is truly unacceptable and we have been putting this off for far too long. We must take action immediately! The others are not here right now, so we should come up with some sort of plan and discuss it with everyone!”

        Whatever they were talking about…totally had me lost.

        -Rifts? What world? Who even are these people talking right now?? This is so irritating, I would just ask them who they are if I could speak!

        I let my guard down due to my irritation. That may have been a mistake. Apparently since my emotions got the better of me, it seemed to affect my standing in the dream world.

…………………….

        “…Do you sense that?”

        -Sense what? The only thing I sense around here is you two.

…………………….

        “Someone is listening in. I can feel their presence…”

        “They don’t seem like a threat…but…”

        -Huh. Another presence…wait…can they sense me? How?! I’m not even able to speak, It should be impossible for them to know I’m here while I am just doing nothing. What a weird dream this is, feels almost too real. Must be a lucid dream. But still…why do I…

        -No…

        -Something feels…familiar…

……………………

        “Do you believe that- “

        A loud rumble began. This came with the feeling of violent shaking, which made me think an earthquake was happening right now. I could definitely feel that, making the question of “Is this a normal dream?” go straight out the window.

        -Urgh! That’s intense! I can feel the rumbling throughout my whole body! That’s not a normal earthquake!

        As the rumbling continued, I quickly started to notice that my ability to hear and feel were starting to fade. Slowly, I started to go numb and my hearing was beginning to muffle. My already fuzzy vision was becoming even more fuzzy. I must be starting to wake up. I was able to make out the final words of the two before I completely woke up from the dream…

        “The presence is fading…something else is happening as we speak! Before they go, send them the message!”

        -Message?

        I then heard the woman speak.

        “Let the spirit of Finsternis guide you, O presence. In time…you will come forth to heed your calling!”

        -Finsternis? Calling? Wait a minute! Who are-

        The rumbling stopped completely. All the feeling I felt before had completely disappeared, leaving me numb. All I could see was black as the fuzziness engulfed my vision. My hearing was pretty much muffled…until I heard it, a person’s voice. Not the same as the man or woman from before, it was honestly hard to make out what the gender of this person was due to my hearing being nearly 100% blocked off. But all I heard, even through my blocked hearing, I was able to make out one final sentence.

        “Stop….the….Eclipses.”

……………………….

        “Ngh…..GAH!”

        I looked around my bedroom after I had just violently woke up from that really weird dream. I couldn’t make out much in the dream since everything felt fuzzy and I was only able to hear and feel things the whole time.

        -What the hell was all that about? Those voices…and that violent rumbling…

        My confusion was evident in my face. All of that happened so suddenly and way too fast for me to actually process. My breathing was quick and my mind was all over the place. I slid out of the covers and moved to the side of my bed where I sat there for a good minute trying to collect myself and slow my breathing. I was sweating a lot too which gave me the impression that I was getting sick.

        “Tch…fine time for me to be getting sick. That’s probably why I had such a crazy dream. Must be coming down with a fever…oh well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

        That’s what I told myself…however, deep down I know it wasn’t just some stupid fever dream, no. No normal dream could have felt that…real. I know I wasn’t having a lucid dream, I never really gave it a chance to learn how to do it. But those feelings, those individuals, the rumbling, and that last person’s voice hit me way too fast that I honestly wish I could still comprehend what I just experienced.

        “Oh yea…that last voice reminded me of something today. What time is it right now anyway?”

        I looked toward my clock and it showed 6:00 AM.

        “…yea I have some time. Though, after that, I’m not gonna be able to get some sleep. I think I’ll go get ready for the day.”

        I finally stood up. I decided to ignore whatever that dream was and began to change out of my pajamas. I told myself that I would give myself time to think about all that stuff later, assuming it’s not just me going crazy. I really hope it’s just me coming down with a fever or something like that.

        “Shouldn’t I stay home from school then if I feel sick? …ugh…I know I can’t…”

        As I walked to my bathroom to shower, my mind had strayed to a new thought, what was gonna be happening during school today. I wasn’t thinking about it earlier but thanks to that person who spoke to me right before I woke up, I was able to remember why I was exactly so excited for today. Today, April 8, 2024, the day that I circled many times on my calendar hanging on my door, is an exciting day for me personally!

        “Heh. Looks like I finally get to experience it…and in the perfect spot no less!”

        Because today…

        Is the day…

        The solar eclipse comes around…