Prologue

August's POV

I just looked out the window. My vision has no destination. When I woke up, I thought all those events were just a dream, but I was wrong. I woke up one day in a hospital inside the ICU with a healing stab wound and I've been declared missing for two weeks. I don't know how I only disappeared for two weeks when I was there in Pandora for almost a year. I know it was real. That's not a dream. I'm not stupid enough to think that it's all just a dream.

I don't know how I got home. I remembered, I died. My heart did stop beating but how am I alive? I have so many questions but I don't get any answers. I can't talk to anyone about this because if I ask, I might be mistaken for a madman, and worst, I might be sent to a mental institution. No one will believe me. No one believes in magic in this world.

It was all a mystery. But I couldn't smile no matter how hard I tried to be happy. Now that I am here on earth, I feel that I have lost something big. I am missing someone and I know who I miss. But what can I do? I'm here. I'm back home. Isn't this what I want? Then why am I feeling this way? Why do I feel like I no longer belong here?

I hope that I will overcome this hurdle. I might be questioning my identity now because of what King Laurent said, but the fact that I was returned here on earth only means, I am human.... but still, how on earth did I end up here after my death? Don't tell me this is heaven. Is heaven have air pollution and noisy road vehicles?

"AUGUUUUSSSSTTTTT!" I heard Misha scream. He rushed towards me. "You're just here. I've been looking for you for a while."

"Oh?" I ask here. I was just here on the lanai of Misha's house. I live here temporarily while studying.

"Going to work. Aren't you going to buy things?" It asked me.

I stared at Misha. The good thing about her is that she doesn't pry. One time, he asked me what happened to make me disappear. I have no answer. I came up to lie that even though it was an obvious lie, he accepted it and did not repeat it. She respects my privacy and every human being has the right to remain silent.

"Want to go now?" I ask here. It's been a few years since that incident. This will be my last year as a criminology student. After this, I will take an examination for licensure and take another training for the CIA. This is my dream because office work doesn't fit me.

"Let's go! This will be our final year, and I can't believe that we passed those training." Misha promised. She also likes me. Graduating in criminology, but I am not sure what field she will pursue.

"Yeah. Be proud." I answer here. That training is nothing compared to what I went through at Pandora. Every night, I wished that when I woke up I would be in Pandora again. But several months passed, and nothing happened until I gave up hope. Maybe, that was just a dream, a beautiful but bitter-sweet dream.

Misha and I went to the mall with its driver. We went to buy some stuff because we couldn't leave the Academy for the whole school year. It is also far from the city. We went to many shops in the mall, but I didn't buy anything. Misha bought the most. Clothes, make-up, and more. He can't use that there because our hair is a boy cut, and there is also a dress code there.

"Haist, girls shouldn't be cutting their hair short anymore. Why is it necessary? If I hadn't taken this course, I would have done fashion design." Misha complained. It's always like this. She cried when she cut her hair. Why is there such a policy? That is a violation of human rights.

"I'm amazed because until now, you still haven't moved on." I'll just comment here.

It said a lot more but I lost my attention on it. My attention went to the shop that sells Smart TVs. There are three of them and they show the same thing.

"According to NASA, this disturbance is due to massive electromagnetic force that causes the sky to create a whirlpool and unpredictable lightning and thunder. This disturbance happened earlier this morning in the north valley of Alaska. The civilians already evacuated the vicinity to avoid casualties. It is strictly instructed not to go near the area of ​​the incident."

I just looked at the video which shows thick, dark clouds slowly swirling with scattered flashes of lightning.

"Hey, it's a good thing it doesn't exist in the Philippines." I just stated while I was looking at the TV.

"True, it's scary when something like that happened here," Misha commented while he was watching the news. "NASA doesn't know yet?"

I shook my head. "It's the first time," I answered.

Misha nodded. The news only continued that's why we left there. We went to the bookstore because I wanted to buy new books. There are new arrivals and those who have joined there.

Misha immediately went to the section where the published book of W*****d was lined up. It's like finding a treasure if it can look at that book. I just shook my head.

I looked at the books there where there were students. New is too expensive. At the sale, the books were slightly damaged but that's okay with me because the pages are not damaged, the damage is more on the cover.

"Hellbound........ starry sky.........life in Pandora........" Wait, life what? I looked back at the book. Life in Pandora. I blinked my eyes but the title didn't change. My heart beat faster. I know I'm hoping again but I can't help it. Pandora is not an unknown term here. It's common. Like Pandora's box or titles of stories. It's sealed, but it looks like there are watermarks on its pages.

I read the back to see if there was a teaser, but there was none. Only readers' views are included. The comments were like...

"I hope Pandora is real..."

"It sounds so real..."

"Breathtaking..."

"Endless imagination captivates the heart of the people.."

I was also intrigued by the book so I picked it up. If it's not good, I probably have nothing to lose because it's cheap. Below one hundred pesos. I paid for it at the counter and the cashier wrapped it in a recycled paper bag with the brand of their store.

"Hehehe, I have a lot to read." Misha came to me smiling and carrying the new sets of W*****d-published books that I didn't hesitate to look at whatever they were. For sure, gangsters are the theme again.

"You know, if there is an award for the most W*****d books, you will probably win, your library is all W*****d," I promise here. This is also abnormal, did he put his encyclopedias in the warehouse and then replace them with useless books?

"I hope not. But HIH is the only one there. Three seasons later, there are many books every season. That's how much I spend." He complained that he was still sniffling.

"That's your choice. If you had just bought that food, you would have been full." I promised here and waited for Misha. The cashier is currently wrapping the purchases.

"Well, this is what they call little happiness. Gosh! You, you're abnormal. Everyone our age is crazy about W*****d, but you? Jusko, where are your sweet bones, your thrilling flesh? Are you gone?" This is a sarcastic question to me. It's good to fight.

"Tse! I don't have that! I can't learn anything from that! The stories are just childish." I answer here. Well, I tried to see if I would like it. I read the case, and the author is too childish and too predictable, it's boring, and worst, there's a lot of wrong grammar. I would go crazy if I did the hobby.

"There's R18 there, that's not childish." It made me smile.

I went home here. "I prefer movies," I said here even though I don't watch them. Well, I'm not curious about that. My brain is too busy figuring out how to live.

"Yeeeeeeee! Oh August, you're a teenager!" It promised me with a smile and teased me.

"When were you in Kinder?" I raised an eyebrow at this. "Let's go!" I knew it wouldn't stop, so I left first carrying the book I bought.

I didn't pay attention to what Misha was saying. Its driver followed with Misha's purchases. This girl is a brat. I don't know how he became my friend at the distance between our two living standards.

We just decided to go home because the weather is getting dark which seems to go along with the strange happenings in Alaska. We were both sitting in Misha's backseat and Misha was digging something out of his bag and looking at it. I was just looking out the window and the sky was still overcast. I saw that the swing swayed by itself due to the force of the wind. Somehow, this feeling is a real deja vu until a lighting truck down somewhere far made my heart palpitate so that it almost blew up to pieces.