CHAPTER 1:THE AWAKENING OF ADRIT
CHAPTER 1:THE AWAKENING OF ADRIT
17TH October, 1960 - DEVDRAUN
We were told of a place called Devdraun, nestled deep within a fortress of towering mountains. It felt as if those peaks weren’t just standing there; they were guarding it, shielding a secret from the rest of the world.
That evening, the mountains were swallowed by a mist, so thick that the world beyond seemed to vanish. Through the dense white veil, a strange, haunting sound echoed—a melody that didn’t quite belong to the wind.
As the mist finally began to drift away, a young boy appeared, humming a tune as he walked. “Lala... I have to go to the other side...” His name was Adrit. Ever since he could remember, he had been possessed by a restless desire to wander, to explore what lay beyond the horizon. He lived in Devdraun, a peaceful and happy village, with his parents and his younger brother.
The sun was beginning to set, and Adrit was making his way home. But then, he heard it—a song, drifting from the shadows of the deep forest. Curious, and perhaps a bit too brave, he followed the voice.
He eventually reached the edge of a hidden pond. There, sitting by the water, was another boy. Adrit froze. The boy looked exactly like him—the same face, the same eyes—but he was dressed in strange clothes, singing a song that Adrit had never heard before.
The boy looked deep into Adrit’s eyes, a gaze so piercing that Adrit’s heart raced with fear. Terrified, Adrit turned to run, but the boy’s voice echoed through the silence, stopping him in his tracks.
"You may leave for now, Adrit,” the boy whispered, “but when the time comes, it is you who must save this world. Only you can unveil the truth behind this secret.”
Breathless and trembling, Adrit reached home. His mind was a storm of confusion. When he told his father everything, a shadow of dread crossed his father’s face. For a fleeting second, it seemed as if his father had been transported to another realm—haunted by visions of a past long forgotten. Suddenly, a deafening roar of thunder shook the house. His father began to shiver, as if a memory buried by their ancestors had suddenly clawed its way back to life.
High above the village, the clouds began to swirl, tearing open a glowing portal in the sky. An eerie, blinding light descended upon Devdraun.
The light grew brighter, consuming the mountains, the house, and the very air they breathed. His father’s eyes widened in realization as he whispered one final word before the world went white: “It’s starting.”
Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the portal vanished. The village returned to silence, but Adrit who stood there was no longer the same boy. The secret was out, and the clock of the Multiverse had finally begun to tick.
At that moment, it felt as if time itself had frozen. The world stood still, and the only ones who could move were Adrit and the mysterious boy in the pond.
At twenty years old, Adrit was no longer the boy from the mountains, but the dreams of that other life—the one where he fought in alien worlds—refused to leave him. He sat up, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, looking around his modern room.
THUD.
Adrit hit the floor hard, the cold tiles of his bedroom waking him instantly. He lay there, heart hammering against his ribs, gasping for air.
It was just a dream. Again.
Life had changed drastically since that fateful day in Devdraun. When the portal had opened all those years ago, it hadn’t just brought light; it had brought silence. In an instant, his entire world had vanished. His real family, his home, his very identity—gone.
The sky was a bruised shade of purple, and the air hummed with raw energy. In this strange, distorted world, a young man moved with lethal grace. He fought with powers that defied gravity, leading a small group of allies through the chaos of a high-stakes mission. Suddenly, a blinding flash of energy—a lethal strike—hurtled toward him. It was a kill-shot. There was no time to dodge. But just as the light was about to consume him, the fabric of reality tore open. A portal appeared from nowhere, its gravitational pull dragging him into the darkness.
Destiny, however, had other plans. A couple visiting Devdraun that day, who had long yearned for a child of their own, found him shivering amidst the ruins. They adopted him, giving him a new life, a new surname, and a new family.
Moving with a newfound energy, he quickly finished his breakfast, grabbed his bag, and dropped Hana off at her school. “Have a great day, Bhai!” she shouted, waving as he sped off toward the University.
As he was riding down the familiar path, a sudden sound pierced through the air. It wasn’t a normal sound—it was a low-frequency hum, vibrating with a metallic echo. Adrit froze. His heart skipped a beat. It was the exact same sound he had heard years ago... the sound of the portal opening.
Driven by an irresistible curiosity, Adrit began to follow the sound. It led him away from the main road, deep toward the edge of a serene, hidden lake.
There, standing by the water, was a girl.
Today was the day Adrit had been waiting for—his first day at the University. The morning air felt different, charged with a new sense of excitement. He couldn’t stop wondering what his first day would be like, the new things he would learn, and the friends he would make.
But Adrit often caught his father staring at old maps with a look of heavy dread—a look that suggested DRO was anything but normal.
Now, his world revolved around them. There was Hana, his spirited younger sister, and his mother, a kind-hearted school teacher who tried her best to heal the scars she couldn’t see. Then there was his father, a man of few words who worked for a mysterious organization known to the public as DRO. Most people believed it was just another corporate giant, a boring logistics firm.
As Adrit stepped through the massive gates of the university, a completely new world unfolded before him. The campus buzzed with relentless energy—crowds of students moved in every direction, flanked by towering glass buildings and vibrant banners fluttering in the wind. High above, a giant board displayed a name that felt both inspiring and intimidating: “THE GRAPHIC DREAMERS.”
The sheer scale of the campus made Adrit feel like a small fish in a vast, uncharted ocean. He spent the next twenty minutes wandering through endless corridors, but the complex layout only added to his growing sense of being overwhelmed.
Searching for a way out of his confusion, his eyes landed on a girl standing nearby. Maybe she can help, he thought.
He approached her, his pulse quickening. “Excuse me, Miss?”
In a flash, the girl vanished into thin air, leaving behind nothing but the silent ripples on the lake. Adrit stood there, breathless and confused. With the mystery lingering in his mind, he shook his head and continued his journey toward the University, unaware that his life had just changed forever.
She was looking directly into Adrit’s eyes as if she had been expecting him. She was breathtakingly beautiful—so ethereal that the world around Adrit seemed to fade into a blur. In that moment, it felt as though he had stepped into another dimension. His heart raced, and for the first time in his life, he felt the overwhelming spark of love at first sight. Time stood still.
But this moment of magic lasted only as long as the blink of an eye.
“Adrit, meet Leo,” Shiru said, introducing the two.
Sitting there was a boy who stood out instantly. With striking, snow-white hair and a sharp, composed gaze, he looked like he belonged to a different world altogether.
As Adrit sat down next to Leo, a strange, inexplicable sensation washed over him—a fleeting feeling of deja vu, as if he had crossed paths with this boy before. It was a cold, buzzing static at the back of his mind, but Adrit shook it off, dismissing it as first-day nerves.
They navigated the crowded hallways together until they reached the third floor. The classroom was spacious and drenched in sunlight. As they stepped inside, Shiru pointed toward a seat right next to her.
A wave of relief washed over him, and he let out a nervous chuckle. “What a relief. Could you help me find the classroom? I’ve managed to lose my way on the very first day.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she replied kindly, gesturing for him to move. “Just follow my lead.”
A warm, genuine smile lit up her face. “Hi Adrit! Call me Shiru. Looks like we’re in the same boat—I’m a freshman too.”
As she turned, the breeze caught her hair, making it swirl softly around her face—a moment that felt straight out of a cinematic masterpiece. Adrit took a breath and found his voice. “Hey, my name’s Adrit. It’s my first year here, and honestly... I’m already hopelessly lost.”
The three of them began to talk, and as the conversation flowed, a somber truth came to light. Leo revealed that he lived with his sister; his parents were no longer in the picture.
“There are instances where we dream of things we have never witnessed, heard, or even imagined in this reality. These are known as Drippler Dreams. Some believe these dreams are windows into a parallel universe—glimpses of another world that exists alongside our own, yet remains scientifically unproven.”
“Why do we dream?” she asked, pacing the front of the room. “The common belief is that our brain processes fragments of things we’ve seen or heard—locked away in the tiny corners of our subconscious. When we sleep, the brain simply activates those dormant cells. However...” She paused, her eyes gleaming with mystery.
Without wasting a second, she dove into the day’s topic: Dreams.
She stepped toward the podium with a graceful confidence. “Hello, everyone. I am Miss Tanya, your Psychology professor.”
Their first lecture was Psychology. A woman entered the room, her presence instantly commanding attention. She was strikingly beautiful with short, stylish hair, looking more like a senior student than a faculty member.
Hearing this, a heavy silence settled over Adrit. The familiar ache of being an orphan resurfaced, reminding him of the parents he had lost to the shadows of the past. After a few heartfelt words of comfort, a silent bond of shared pain formed between the two. In that moment, they weren’t just classmates anymore; they were friends.
As Professor Tanya delved deeper into the enigma of parallel worlds, her gaze suddenly sharpened. She spotted Adrit and Leo, who had succumbed to exhaustion and drifted off right in the middle of the class.
As he walked, an unsettling sensation crawled up his spine—the feeling of being watched. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, but the street was empty, save for the flickering shadows. Shaking it off, he continued, but the feeling only grew stronger. Someone was definitely staring at him.
Once the final bell rang, it was time to head home. Since Leo and Shiru lived in the same direction, they waved goodbye to Adrit, who began his solitary walk back in the opposite direction.
Shiru’s face turned a bright shade of crimson instantly. “Shut up, Leo!” she snapped, embarrassed, before landing a playful yet solid punch—Thwack!—right on his head. The three of them burst into laughter, the moment cementing a bond that felt much older than just a few hours.
When it was time for their next class, Shiru playfully nudged Leo aside and took the seat right next to Adrit. Seeing this, Leo couldn’t resist a mischievous smirk. “Careful now, Shiru,” he teased, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t tell me you’ve already fallen for Adrit?”
Thwack! She expertly flicked her pointer toward their desk, her voice snapping like a whip. “You two! Wake up this instant!
After the lecture resumed and finally came to an end, Adrit, Leo, and Shiru headed to the canteen. Over lunch, the air was filled with light-hearted banter and effortless laughter as they teased each other, the awkwardness of being strangers completely vanishing.
This time, he didn’t turn back. He quickened his pace, his heart beginning to thud against his ribs. Suddenly, a soft, ethereal voice drifted through the air, whispering his name.
It’s just my imagination, he told himself, though his trembling hands said otherwise. Heart racing, he turned away and hurried toward his home, leaving the whispering shadows behind.
“Can you see me... Adrit?”
Adrit spun around instantly, his breath hitching in his throat. He scanned the alleyway, the corners, the rooftops—but there was no one. The silence of the evening was deafening.
When Adrit reached home, he was visibly shaken. His mind was a chaotic storm of questions. The attack in his dreams, the sudden transport to another world, and now that haunting voice—nothing made sense. He was struggling to connect the dots, feeling like a stranger in his own life.
Just then, his sister Hana walked in. “Brother, a parcel arrived for you,” she said, holding a small package.
Adrit frowned, trying to clear his head.
“A parcel? I didn’t order anything.”
“Well, it has your name on it,” Hana insisted, handing it over.
Adrit inspected the package. His heart skipped a beat when he read the chilling note attached to it: “Use this only when you feel your life is in grave danger.”
Confused and curious, he carefully opened it. Inside lay a ring and a pendant. The moment his fingers brushed against them, they began to pulse with a faint, otherworldly glow—as if they had been waiting for his touch, recognizing a connection only he possessed.
Suddenly, a hologram flickered to life from the pendant. A figure appeared, shrouded in deep, impenetrable black shadows, his face hidden.
“Who I am and why I have come to you... that is a secret for now,” the mysterious figure spoke, his voice echoing with a heavy weight. “Time will reveal all. For now, know only this: you are the only one who can save the worlds from merging into one another.”
The hologram began to glitch violently. Through the static, the image shifted—a blurry, horrific glimpse of someone brutally taking the life of the man in the black shadows. Before Adrit could react, the projection vanished into thin air.
Reading those words felt like a tsunami hitting Adrit from within. He was caught between a surge of adrenaline-fueled excitement and a paralyzing sense of bewilderment. Why me? Is the world truly on the brink of destruction? The questions swirled in his mind like a relentless storm, haunting his thoughts well into the evening.
His internal monologue was interrupted by his mother’s voice calling him for dinner. As the family gathered around the table, the atmosphere was warm and filled with the comforting clinking of cutlery.
“So, beta,” his mother started, her eyes twinkling with mischief, “how was your first day at the university? Did any girl catch your eye?”
“No, Mom! Nothing like that,” Adrit stammered, his face turning a shade of crimson as he looked down at his plate. The whole table erupted in laughter.
Hana, sensing his embarrassment, hopped off her chair and walked over to him. “Bhaiya, feed me with your own hands today, please?” she pleaded with puppy-dog eyes. Adrit chuckled, pulling his little sister onto his lap and feeding her a morsel. It was a moment of pure, untainted warmth—a stark contrast to the darkness that had been looming over him.
“Did you make any new friends?” his father asked, leaning in.
"Yes, Dad. I actually met some really great people today,” Adrit replied, a small smile playing on his lips as he internally recalled the hilarious moment when Leo shamelessly finished Shiru’s lunch.
However, the warmth of the evening didn’t last. That night, as Adrit drifted into sleep, the visions from the hologram began to haunt his subconscious again. Suddenly, the ring on his finger pulsed with a blinding light, and the familiar world of his bedroom vanished.
He materialized in a place that defied logic. Adrit gasped, his breath hitching as he stared at the horizon. It was a world of the future—sleek spaceships glided through the air, high-speed trains zoomed across magnetic tracks, and towering skyscrapers made of shimmering glass touched the clouds. Everything felt impossibly futuristic.
Driven by a mix of fear and curiosity, he climbed to the roof of a nearby skyscraper to get a better view. But before he could process the scenery, a sudden projectile whistled past his ear. Someone was attacking him! Adrit dove to the side just in time. The mysterious assailant lunged again, and for a split second, Adrit felt paralyzed—convinced that this was the end.
Suddenly, a figure made a spectacular, high-octane entry. A girl wearing a sleek mask leaped between them, parrying the blow and standing as a shield before Adrit. Without a word, she charged toward the assailant, engaging him in a fierce battle.
In the chaos, someone—or something—shoved Adrit from behind. He felt the sickening lurch of gravity as he plummeted off the edge of the building. He screamed, his voice tearing through the air, when suddenly, his ring flared with light once more.
Adrit bolted upright in bed, gasping for air, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
“Just a dream...” he whispered, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He had experienced strange dreams before, but this felt different. The wind against his face, the terror of the fall—it all felt too visceral, too real to be a mere trick of the mind. Who was that masked girl? Why did she save me? And who was that man trying to kill me?
Before he could spiral further into his thoughts, his alarm blared. It was time for university. Forced to push the terrifying experience to the back of his mind, he shook off the lingering dread and began to get ready, desperately trying to convince himself that it was all just a figment of his imagination.
Adrit suddenly remembered—it was the University’s Fresher’s Party today, and the theme was a Masquerade. Everyone had to wear a mask. On his way to the campus, he stopped to buy one for himself, just to fit in.
Upon reaching, he bumped into Leo and Shiru. The three of them entered the hall where the music was thumping and everyone was lost in the rhythm.
Shiru, always the energetic one, grabbed Leo’s hand and dragged him onto the dance floor. Adrit, feeling out of place, retreated to a quiet corner. He stood there silently, watching the crowd, and whispered to himself, “I wish I had someone to dance with too...”
As he stood leaning against the wall, his mind drifted back to the vivid dream from last night. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice someone approaching. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his.
The moment their skin touched, a jolt of electricity surged through Adrit’s body, and the ring on his finger began to pulse with a faint, secret glow.
The girl pulled him onto the dance floor. Adrit was stunned. She was wearing an intricate mask that completely hid her face, leaving only her eyes visible. As they began to move to the music, Adrit looked deep into those eyes. An overwhelming sensation washed over him—the exact same feeling he had felt when he saw the girl at the pond. For a moment, the world around them blurred into nothingness; it was as if no one else existed in that room but the two of them.
Adrit’s heart was racing like a bullet train. The girl leaned in closer, and before he could process it, she wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug. Adrit froze, paralyzed by a mix of shock and shyness. His face turned a deep shade of crimson, his breath hitching in his throat.
“Adrit! Why are you dancing all by yourself over there? Come join us!”
Shiru’s voice shattered the moment. Adrit snapped his head around toward her. “I’m not alone! I’m dancing with her,” he said, turning back to gesture toward the girl.
But the space in front of him was empty. The girl was gone.
Adrit stood frozen, his eyes searching the crowd in a panic. “She... she was just here. I don’t know where she went.”
Leo and Shiru burst into laughter. “Bro, what happened to you? Has the loneliness finally gotten to your head?” Leo joked, patting his shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. You’ll find a girlfriend eventually. No need to start imagining them!”
Adrit didn’t laugh. He stood there, lost in a daze. Was it really a hallucination? he wondered. But the feeling of the current, the intensity of her gaze, and the warmth of that hug... they felt too visceral, too real to be a fragment of his imagination.
The party had ended, but for Adrit, the world was still spinning. He walked home in a daze, his mind a chaotic battlefield of confusion and lingering adrenaline. The music, the laughter, the mysterious girl—it all felt like a beautiful, terrifying hallucination.
“So, how was the party, hero?” his mother asked the moment he stepped inside, her voice dripping with warmth.
Adrit didn’t answer. He was there, but his soul seemed miles away. Sensing his distraction, his mother playfully swatted the back of his head. “Hey! What happened? Lost in your own world?”
“Nothing, Mom... just tired,” Adrit stammered, trying to regain his footing in reality.
Suddenly, her eyes caught something on his shoulder. A playful, teasing glint sparked in her gaze. “Oho! It seems our hero didn’t just attend the party—he had a very good time with his ‘girlfriend,’ didn’t he?”
Adrit froze. “What? No, Mom! What are you talking about?”
“Then explain this,” she laughed, picking a long, delicate strand of hair from his shirt. ”You clearly danced with someone. A girl’s hair doesn’t just land on your shoulder by magic!”
As his mother walked away giggling, Adrit felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. His heart thundered against his ribs. A hair? A real, physical hair?
He stared at the strand in his palm. I thought it was a dream... I thought my mind was playing tricks because no one else could see her. But if this hair is real, then she is real. She exists. In that moment, amidst the fear, a strange, profound feeling blossomed in his chest. He didn’t just want to find her; he was falling for her. He carefully tucked the hair away, a tiny relic of a ghost he had danced with.
That night, sleep was a luxury Adrit couldn’t afford. Suddenly, the ring on his finger began to vibrate violently, jolting him awake. He looked out of his window and gasped. The sky was bleeding with the same eerie, glowing light he had seen as a child when the first portal opened in Devdraun.
Before he could even shout for his parents, a dark, shadowy figure lunged through his window. A cold cloth was pressed against his face. Within seconds, the world faded into black.
When Adrit finally opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his room. He was chained in a cold, metallic chamber. Standing before him was a group of masked men—the same assassins who had tried to kill him in the futuristic world of his dreams.
It was a Riblazer—a terrifying prehistoric predator with metallic scales and razor-sharp claws, brought back to life through forbidden science.
The battle was a blur of fire and steel. The Riblazer lunged, its claws tearing through the air, but Adrit’s body moved with the grace of a god. As the beast made its final leap, Adrit’s hand glowed with a blinding intensity. With one swift, horizontal motion, a blade of pure energy sliced through the air.
The Riblazer was cut clean in half.
The mysterious leader backed away, his confidence shattered. “This... this wasn’t in the prophecy. How can you be this powerful?” He fumbled with a device, opening a swirling portal behind him. “Enjoy your victory for now, Adrit. But the hunt has only just begun. My Chief does not forgive failure. I will have my revenge!”
“The hunt is on. One boy, a dying ring, and a million worlds trying to collide. You think you’ve seen it all? You have no idea what’s coming in Chapter 2. Keep your masks on.”
***i
