As Julian drifted into a deep sleep, his mind carried him into an unusual dream. He found himself standing in the middle of something indescribable.
The place was neither void nor dark and neither empty nor light. It was simply... nothing. The absence of all things.
Julian glanced around, and his gaze met endless nothingness, a sight that seemed to extend infinitely.
He sighed, "What now? What have I fallen into?"
He began to walk but even the concept of movement felt meaningless here. His steps made no sound and left no trace.
He paused for a moment and folded his arms before shaking his head in frustration. "This "space" has no space, no time, no response, and no meaning," he muttered to himself, his voice laced with both curiosity and irritation.
"It's like I have arrived at the very beginning... before anything existed. Before creation itself." The realization sending a chill through him.
As Julian continued to wander through the infinite emptiness, his eyes caught something unusual—a faint spark of light. It was like a flame flickering in the distance.
"Finally... something," he said with the mix of both relief and unease in his voice before deciding to move towards the spark.
However, after walking for what felt like an eternity, he realized something was off. The closer he seemed to get to the spark, the farther away it appeared.
His brows furrowed in frustration. "What is even happening here?" he said aloud, but the next moment, his voice dissipated into the nothingness as if the emptiness had devoured it.
Determined, he focused and forced his legs to move. Then, strangely, he began to close the gap. The spark grew brighter, more defined.
He smiled as his confidence reignited and quickened his pace. But just as he did, the distance between him and the spark doubled, pulling him even farther back than where he started.
"What the—!" Julian stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened in surprise.
He stared at the spark, which was now barely visible, and whispered to himself, "This place is messing with me..."
"What should I do?" he thought, trying to find an escape from this unexpected situation.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts, when a sudden shift in the air made him glance back towards the spark.
It was no longer a faint flicker and had started to expand, glowing brighter and brighter.
"What is happening now?" Julian said, covering his eyes as the light become strong.
The spark's growth was rapid, and it soon transformed into a massive orb.
He watched in awe and fear as it continued to expand, first reaching the size of a continent, then a planet, and finally becoming as enormous and blinding as a sun.
The heat it radiated was unimaginable, and somehow, Julian remained standing, completely unharmed.
"How am I even alive?" he wondered, his voice cracking under the weight of the breathtaking scene before him.
The sun-like entity glowed and pulsed in a magnificent yet terrifying way.
Even though Julian seemed unharmed, he could mentally feel the pain of standing before it. His instincts screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. He stood there, frozen, not knowing what he should do.
Just as Julian thought it couldn't possibly get worse, the massive sun suddenly expanded with an explosive force, its golden light engulfing the entire surrounding.
Everything around him was consumed, replaced by blinding light that seemed to stretch infinitely.
Julian ducked and raised his arms to shield his face, overwhelmed by the sudden change in events. Though his body remained intact, it felt as though every part of his being was being torn apart.
He could feel the searing heat, as if it were melting his skin and boiling his blood. The sound that rang out was deafening, and it seemed to shatter his eardrums.
The blinding light too was unbearable, making him completely blind as if his eyeballs were forcibly being plucked out.
His mind was being pushed to its limit, the pain seeming to bypass the physical barrier and transported directly to his brain.
And just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, his body finally reacted.
With a loud gasp and a desperate scream, Julian jolted awake. "Ahh! Ahhhh... ahhh!" he cried, his chest rising and falling violently as he clutched the ground beneath him.
His heart hammered fiercely in his chest, and he was sweating all over. He shook uncontrollably, his body jerking with painful spasms. Each one hurt more than the last, as if his body was being twisted by an unseen hand.
"Ah... ah... aghhhhhhh!" he continued his shout. The pain wouldn't stop, and it felt like his whole body was burning from the inside.
Dakota, who was sleeping beside him, was jolted awake by his cries, and she instantly panicked. She looked at him with a racing heart, unsure of what was happening.
"Julian... Julian, what happened?!" She yelled, her voice trembling with fear. But Julian's screams didn't stop; they only grew louder and more desperate.
Dakota shook him, trying to bring him back to reality. "Julian! Please, talk to me!" she pleaded, her voice thick with worry.
She quickly brought him to her lap, her hands trembling as she gently caressed his face. "It's okay, Julian. Please, it's okay," she whispered. She didn't know what was happening, but she couldn't just stand there helplessly.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as though she could shield him from whatever nightmare had taken hold of him. "Please, Julian, stay with me," she begged softly.
She tried calming him by running her fingers through his hair. "It's going to be okay. I'm here. I'm not leaving you," she whispered again.
She could feel his tears soaking into her chest as she pulled him into a tight hug. Her own tears fell, but she kept whispering to him. "I'm here, Julian. Please come back to me."
Her mind raced, thinking of what could make someone as strong as Julian scream in pain like this.