Blinking up at the blinding neon glow, I feel a dull ache pulsing behind my eyes. The lights stretch high above, embedded in the towering skyscrapers that rise like cold, unfeeling giants.
Their metallic surfaces reflect distorted fragments of the chaotic city around me—some just featureless slabs of steel and glass, others jagged, like sculptures abandoned before completion. A few don't even have doors, just seamless walls.
[Wa ke u p I n h e r i t o r] The voice wavers, fading in and out, distorted.
"What… is going on?" I ask, but no answer comes.
I push myself up, preparing myself for whatever may come. The street around me is alive with movement—legs brushing past as though I'm invisible. No one stops. No one looks down. They move around me, a flowing river of strangers, their footsteps pounding out a chaotic rhythm that blends with the cacophony of voices, car horns, and announcements bouncing off the concrete.
I shiver as the soaked fabric clings to my skin, the lingering rain seeping through to my jacket. Water drips from the cuffs lined with dark blue trim, the deep red fabric of my jacket darkened even further by the dampness. The bold emblem of Strivers' Row University is stamped on the front of the jacket. My shoes—scuffed and slick—let out an obnoxious squeak with every step.
Then—my jacket vibrates.
I freeze, pulse spiking as I fish into my pocket and pull out a phone. The screen lights up, the missed call notification glowing in bold white letters.
Denny.
I swallow, my thumb hovering over the screen before I lock it and shove the phone back into my pocket.
Whoever Denny is, they can wait.
Right now, I need to figure out what the hell is going on. Where am I, Who am I? And why can't I remember anything?
I look to the nearest window, staring at the reflection in the glossy wall. My jet-black hair, and my light brown eyes are shadowed with exhaustion.
"I look like I got hit by a train."
My gaze settles on the black ring wrapped around my finger. I turn my hand, studying it closely as the ruby red carvings coil across the band.
"Uruk" I read aloud.
The word feels familiar as if it's been branded into my mind. My thumb brushes against the ruby's smooth surface, and warmth pulses faintly under my fingers, but no memories come. My chest tightens. This isn't just some random accessory.
Shaking my head, I take a breath. "Shit shit shit shit, Alright focus. Let's see what else we've got." I step into the crowd of people, waving a hand. "Hey! Excuse me! Yo!" I call out, trying to get someone—anyone—to notice.
But they don't. They move like shadows, faces blank, movements mechanical. A knot forms in my stomach. "Is this some kind of prank? Hello? Anyone?"
Nothing. The crowd feels less like people and more like... something else. Something is wrong. A bitter frost curls around my thoughts, sinking in like claws of ice. My breaths quicken. I clutch my head, willing myself to remember something—anything.
A man in a feathered black cloak stands tall, the wind howling around him. His laughter slicing the air, cold and sharp, a chilling presence that seeps into my bones. Shadowed ravens wheel overhead, a towering glaive gleams, a weapon as dark as the storm gathering behind him. Pain sears my chest, vivid and undeniable,as if some unseen force is reaching into me, sinking deep, pulling something out. The agony is real, but distant—borrowed.
[In heri tor]
The whisper slithers through my skull, colder than death. Ice spikes in my veins. My fingers tremble, my mind drowning in a cold darkness. "Who's there?" My voice cracks, and I stumble back.
[In heri tor]
Frost latches onto my lungs, suffocating me from the inside out. I can't breathe. I can't move. The world is shrinking into this endless, frozen abyss.
Then—
Heat surges up my arm, radiating from my hand—the ring. My chest heaves as fire licks through my veins, burning away the lingering frost. It's presence. A force that ignites, that refuses to be swallowed.The sensation steadies me, pushing back the chaos in my mind.
The voice comes again, clearer this time, woven into my thoughts.
[Jayden.]
I swallow nervously. "I'm… Jayden?" Saying it out loud grounds me, like it was always on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't quite voice it until now. It's the first piece of myself I've grasped since waking in this strange place.
I take a deep breath before I force my legs to move, one step at a time. "Alright," I mutter, sarcasm lacing my tone. "Find out where I am. Figure out who I am. No big deal, right?" Despite the words, a flicker of determination lights inside me, feels warm, feels hot. I'm not giving up—not yet.
[Inheritor.] Looking around for whoever said that I ready myself expecting danger.
"Ugh" The heat starts getting hotter.
[You, Inheritor, are very, very fortunate to be in my presence.] His voice drips with smug satisfaction. My blood starts pumping like fire in my veins.
"Who said that? Where are you!? You think I'm scared of you?" The heat gets stronger
[Pathetic. This is my Inheritor? Stand tall when you're in the presence of awesome perfection.]
"Argh!" Heat flares in my chest. I blink, "Shut up!"
[Oh? So there's some fire in you after all. Heh-haha, Good. I'd hate to be stuck with a spineless worm.]
The heat stops and I calmly narrow my eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
[you must calm yourself.] the voice as strong as ever explains.
The ruby on my finger pulses again, the heat in me subsides and I feel a warmth in my veins. The voice—his voice—is woven into my thoughts, like it's always been there, waiting for me to hear it.
"You're the one that called out my name." Is he the one that brought me here? Probably best to play it safe, get some information, and figure out where here even is.
[I am not the one that brought you here, Inheritor. I just prevented further damage, though it seems your memory is in shambles.]
He answered my thoughts. "You can hear me?"
[Naturally. Your mind is an open book to me now—part of the bond we share through my Artifact.]
I grit my teeth, my eyes locked on the ring. Bonded. Just like that.
"Why do you keep calling me Inheritor? Did I win something?"
[Hah! In a way, yeah. You've stumbled onto a power far greater than anything else in your life. You picked up my Artifact—the ring of the great Gilgamesh! And that alone binds you to me, whether I like it or not.]
"Power? Look man, you've got the wrong guy. You expect me to believe this crap?"
[You cheeky little bastard!] He says under his breath. Before I can even process that, he cuts into my thoughts again.
[[I am no delusion, no trick of the mind! Look around you—do you not grasp the danger you're in? Someone is hunting me—and by extension, you. But luckily for you, you have a strong Myth watching over you.]
Hunted? What the hell is he talking about? My body tenses as flashes of that attack rip through my mind—the searing cold, the piercing pain in my chest, the laughter like a blade slicing through the air. It wasn't just a memory. It was real. It happened to me.
I clutch my chest, expecting to feel the wound, the lingering chill—but there's nothing. Just the fading sensation of ice in my veins, replaced now by the steady warmth radiating from the ruby ring.
[Let me calm your woes Inheritor. I am Gilgamesh! King of Uruk! The golden ruler! The greatest to ever walk this miserable world! Awesome to perfection! And you—] I swallow hard as the weight of the situation finally settles on me.
My gut twists. I can't see him, but I feel him looking down on me. Arrogant. Smug. Who does this lunatic think he is?
[Lunatic? You should be on your knees, groveling for the sheer honor of speaking to me.]
I tense. "Stop reading my mind."
He laughs. [It's hardly my fault you think so loudly.]
I shake my head, trying to focus. This damn jerk, can I even trust him?
[We don't have time for your doubts, Inheritor. You need to move. Now.]
I glance around, the streets feel even less real than before, the people too mechanical, The city itself presses in on me, like a trap slowly closing.
[Find a way out of here or you won't live long enough to question me further.]