Chapter two
Orisha City didn't care who woke up screaming.
The trains still howled. Street markets still burned under cheap neon. And the church speakers still echoed false prayers recorded two years ago.
But in the cramped one-room flat that Ayo shared with Tobe above an old robot-parts stall, everything had changed.
Ayo stared at himself in the cracked mirror.
His chest was bare. No scar. No wound. Just a black mark now — like an inked brand shaped like a tribal sun, etched over his heart. It shimmered faintly. Alive.
"What do you think it means?" Tobe asked from behind him, still shaken. "That woman... the floating hair... the place you passed out in…"
"I didn't pass out," Ayo whispered. "I was somewhere. I saw something."
He touched the mirror. For a moment, the reflection flickered — like he wasn't alone.
---
⏳ Flashback – The Vision
A war. Spears made of bone, bullets made of light. Gods cloaked in flame. A woman in red robes screaming Ayo's name. A crown of ash. A machine devouring the sky.
Then — silence.
---
Back to Reality
The knock on the door came like a warning shot.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Both boys froze.
"Who is it?" Tobe called, already backing toward his laptop, fingers twitching.
"Delivery," said a smooth voice.
They hadn't ordered anything.
Ayo crept to the peephole.
Three men. All wearing long grey coats. No smiles. One of them wore no glasses — instead, two small red lights blinked in his eye sockets. Cyber-eyes.
Oba Syndicate.
Ayo stepped back. "They found us."
---
Escape
In seconds, they were out the back window. Down fire escapes. Over wet rooftops. Ayo didn't even question his footing — somehow, his body moved sharper. Faster.
Tobe struggled to keep up.
What the hell did you become, bro?!
Ayo didn't know. But the mark on his chest pulsed every time one of the men got close.
They jumped into a crowded alley market and disappeared into the maze.
Behind them, the Syndicate agents watched, silent.
One turned to the other. "He's waking.
---
Later That Night
In an abandoned train yard, Ayo and Tobe met with a contact — a woman with long silver braids and a voice like gravel.
Her name was Zina. She didn't smile.
You're lucky I owe Renji a favor," she said. You've stirred something dark, blood-child.
Ayo stepped forward. "I need answers."
She raised a small glass orb. It lit up with runes.
"You'll get them. But once you see, you can't unsee."
Ayo nodded.
Zina crushed the orb.
The wind stopped.
Reality bent.
And the next vision began.