In Alex's dream, he traveled to an unknown place. It was a place that was hard to describe in words. He didn't even know he was in a long slumber. The cold wind blew through his skin beneath his thin, light-colored pajamas, as if caressing him, making him feel that it was the real world, more than a dream.
The dune was as far as the eye could see. The horizon stretched out in an unknown direction beneath the night sky. Above, the aurora borealis draped the heavens in shimmering veils of violet and amber, their luminescence partially obscuring a sea of stars. A chill wind whispered across the dunes, weaving through the silence like an unseen specter. The rainbow-colored northern lights flickered like curtains swaying in the wind. Apart from the dark sand, there was only silence, without any sign of life. The only sound that could be heard was the breeze blowing past.
"Where am I?" Alex muttered as he scanned the surroundings with curiosity.
He bent down and touched the thing beneath his feet; he understood that it was the sand with his bare hand. It wasn't rough, but crumbly like flour powder. When he pressed it with his fingers, he saw that it crumbled into gray dust.
"Ashes?" He tried to crush it again with his hands and frowned in surprise.
"Yeah... It's ashes..." He let the dust fly out of his hands into the wind.
The questions in his mind kept coming out of his mouth without stopping.
"Where is this place? And how did I get here? A dream? No... Everything is just like reality."
He stood up again and started shaving. "HELLO! ANYBODY CAN HEAR ME?!"
The shout echoed far away, but the only thing that answered him was an eerie silence.
"HELLO! SOMEBODY CAN HEAR ME?!"
He shouted as he walked aimlessly, his bare feet treading on the ashes, making it difficult to keep his balance. Every step he took seemed to sink him. He walked in circles for a long time before he realized that he was now walking in circles, losing his way.
"HEY! SOMEONE... PLEASE ANSWER ME!"
"No one will answer you..."
A voice startled him. When he turned to look behind him, he saw a person sitting down to rest. He wore a long black hooded cloak covered with dust. His body was covered with torn cloth. From the voice he heard, it seemed to be a man.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"You..."
"What?"
"Yeah... I am you."
The man stood up and slowly pulled the hood off his head. On his right hand, he wore a strange-looking ring, a green emerald hourglass insignia. When his face was revealed, Alex fell backwards and landed on the ground, his mouth wide open in disbelief. The person he was facing was himself, looking gloomy and hopeless, with a beard that looked like he hadn't shaved.
"What the hell is this! Are you..." Alex is frightening.
"I'm you, Alex, but not in the same world as you."
"W-what do you mean?!"
"In my world, I'm you. You may not know that your other world variants are fighting each other, including your friends."
"Other world variants?"
"That means you're not the Watcher of your world yet. You'll find out the answer yourself. I don't have much time left. I have to warn you."
"I don't understand..."
"Listen to me, the Great War is about to begin. Now, my variants, no, yours, are rebelling in every world and every timeline to serve their purposes. Not just one variant, but many. Josh, Ivan, Ryan, or anyone related to you or not, they are all variants in parallel universes that will invade your world soon."
"I don't understand anything at all... Parallel world? Variants? I don't..."
"I told you that you would understand when the time comes. Because the world you are in is the Primeniverse, the origin of all timelines. So you must stop whoever invades. Otherwise, all worlds, including yours, will be destroyed and left with nothing!"
"Then who are you?! If you're me..."
"Alex... from the Secondniverse."
"I must be going crazy! Please, wake up!" He breathed heavily, as if his breath was choking him, his eyes filled with panic.
Suddenly, a green warp ring appeared a few steps away from them. The ring on the man's hand glowed with a flickering green light.
"He's here..."
"Who?!"
"You... Another you..."
The man left Alex and walked straight to the warp ring that was glowing in waves like an eye of a storm, the size of a door. Alex could only stare at the scene in front of him, not daring to stand or move for once. It was as if his body was frozen.
Someone stepped out of the warp circle. It was a tall man wearing a black hood covering his face. He came with a sword in his hand, which looked like a Uchigatana in a strange-looking sheath.
"Dimension Breaker..." Secondniverse Alex said in a low tone with gritting teeth, with resentment.
The man known as Dimension Breaker looked at the person in front of him first, then turned to where Alex was sitting in shock, not far away, before speaking.
"Oh... You're all here. That's great... I will handle it all at once." A low, hoarse voice escaped from the hood.
"Run, Alex. Wherever you run, run as fast as you can!" Secondniverse Alex warned.
Alex remained frozen. Not daring to do as the other person ordered.
"RUN!!! NOW!!!" Secondniverse Alex shouted in a threatening voice to follow immediately.
His instincts told him he had no choice but to follow, so he quickly gathered his wits and strength and ran, struggling through the ashen sand, his legs forced to run forward without looking back. After running out of there for a while, he heard a sound like metal clashing. When he turned his eyes back, he saw that the two men were fighting. It wasn't a normal duel, but they were teleporting, blinking back and forth. Green warp rings rose and faded as they moved. One was using a fist covered with something like an iron thing, the other was using a sword, but the blade was still in the sheath.
"Shit! Please, if this is a dream, wake up!" He didn't care anymore. He kept running. There was no stopping.