Awakening: Chronicles of Astra Prime

The crimson sunset painted Aster Star's sky, casting long shadows across the Outer Circle's broken streets. Leo leaned against a crumbling wall, his worn jacket barely keeping out the chill as he watched another gleaming shuttle rise toward the Inner Circle's floating cities in the sky.

"Must be nice," he muttered, envy in his eyes, as he watched the crystal-like buildings shimmer high above. The sight sent his mind down a train of thought. The barrier between circles pulsed with blue energy, rising like an artificial sky, a constant reminder of the difference between the privileged and the rest of the population. Beyond that barrier, people like him were seen as little more than shadows, invisible unless convenient to those above.

Subconsciously, his hand slid under his jacket, brushing against the cold metal of the strange necklace hidden beneath his shirt—a necklace he could never part with, despite the questions it raised. It was given to him two years after his sister's so-called death. He remembered that day vividly: the streets had been crowded as always, gray with dust and decay, when a strange woman pushed past the crowd and into his path. Her face—if he'd ever seen it—was a blur in his memory, no matter how much he tried to recall it. He did, however, remember her trembling hands as she reached out and pressed the necklace into his palm.

"Keep this safe," she'd whispered, her voice urgent and cracking, before disappearing into the chaos of the streets. He hadn't had a chance to ask who she was or why she'd handed it to him. And yet, over the years, the questions only grew. The necklace itself was unusual: smooth, black metal with glowing blue engravings that pulsed faintly, almost like it was alive. There were no answers, just the weight of something important—something bigger than him. Sometimes at night, when the world fell silent, he couldn't shake the feeling that the timing of its arrival had meaning. Why give him something so strange—and so secret—two years after her death? And why him?

A loud crash pulled his attention back to ground level. Two streets over, his childhood friend Mike was struggling with boxes of salvaged pills—the leftovers deemed worthless by the Inner Circle.

"Need a hand?" Leo jogged over, already reaching for the scattered boxes and pill fragments on the road.

Mike wiped the sweat off his brow, his dark hair matted against his forehead. "Careful with those. Took me three days to convince the disposal workers to look the other way."

"Three days? Must be something special this time."

"Maybe." Mike's eyes darted around before he lowered his voice. "Found some 1st-grade pills. If we're lucky, we might get 2nd-tier pills—enough for one of us before the ceremony begins."

Leo's heart skipped a beat. 2nd-grade pills—better than the basic 1st-tier pills they usually scrounged for. Still garbage compared to the 4th and 5th-tier pills Inner Circle kids got, but...

"Don't let your hopes get too high," Mike added, his tone sharp now. "You know how they see us. Even if one of us manages to use them right, it doesn't change what we are to them."

As much as he hated to admit it, Mike was right. The Outer Circle wasn't a place you escaped, not really. But Leo had never been the type to listen to the odds.

Their conversation was cut short by the daily announcement echoing through the streets: "Attention citizens. The Annual Awakening Ceremony approaches. All seventeen-year-olds must register within three days. Failure to comply will result in immediate—"

A shadow fell over them. Looking up, Leo's fists clenched. A private shuttle, bearing the Phoenix Academy crest, hovered overhead. Through its transparent bottom, he could see students in pristine uniforms pointing and laughing at the "grounders" below.

"Ignore them," Mike advised, but Leo couldn't tear his eyes away. One of the students looked eerily like his sister. The memory of her disappearance five years ago burned fresh. The official story claimed that she failed her Awakening trial. The truth? Leo had always suspected otherwise—especially after receiving her ashes. Or what was supposed to be her ashes. Something had felt off, and his gut had never let it go. When he had tried to talk to the other students who'd gone through the trial with her, their nervous evasions only deepened his suspicions.

His hand brushed the necklace again under his shirt, an unconscious motion. It had arrived three years after her disappearance, and though he'd always assumed the two events were unrelated, a small part of him began to wonder if he'd been wrong. That thought had felt dangerous, even then, so he'd buried it deep, trying not to acknowledge the possibility. But now, as he stared at the young faces laughing on the shuttle, he couldn't shake the idea that nothing in this broken world was as random as it seemed.

The shuttle let out a deep rumble as it picked up speed, rising higher until it disappeared into the sky. Leo watched it go, his chest tightening with a combination of longing and anger. The people up there had no idea what life was like beneath the barrier. They didn't care.

"Hey," Mike said softly, seeing him lost in thought. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

Before Leo could respond, screams erupted from the market square. Through the gathering crowd, they glimpsed a teenager being dragged away by Enforcement officers, his crime clear from the authentic 2nd-tier aura stone falling from his pocket.

"Thief!" the officers bellowed as they dragged him down the road. "Attempting to steal Inner Circle property!"

Leo started forward, but Mike grabbed his arm. "Don't. You need a clean record for the ceremony."

Watching the boy's desperate struggles, Leo's nails dug into his palms until a drop of blood dripped to the ground. One day, he'd change this. All of it. He just needed power, and the Awakening ceremony was his only shot.

But what if power was never meant for people like him?

What he didn't know then was that fate had other plans for him—plans that would start with a mysterious rune and a voice that would change his life forever. But that was still to come...

The announcements continued overhead, but Leo had stopped listening. Three days. He had three days to prepare for the ceremony that would either elevate him from the Outer Circle's darkness... or condemn him to it forever.

Above them, the barrier pulsed brighter as night fell, a glowing reminder of humanity's divisions. Somewhere in the distance, outside the Outer Circle, the low rumble of the Abyss's latest attack reminded everyone what humanity was really fighting against... apart from the battles they fought within themselves.