Arising Flame of The New Phoenix

Prologue, Part 5: Strange events

"It's already late?"

Annie glanced at the clock, which showed 22:47.

She was in her room sitting on her favorite desk, writing on something that seemed like a diary book.

It has been several days since the wedding party, nothing much has happened since then. She continued living her daily life, mostly relaxing inside her room. She is not a closed person or a neet, it is just that nothing much has caught her attention lately. Other than going to work and hanging around with Mia, she found passion in writing to spend the rest of her time. Maybe she should find a new hobby, something that involves the outside world more. Maybe adventuring? Being a journalist? Storm chasing? Or investing into fishing? Or maybe a nice warm bath at night at the end of the week would be nice, she thought so while stretching her arms.

She settles her desk, putting everything back in its place. She then stands up, doing another stretch to regain a small amount of energy back.

The window stands wide open, the moon can be seen glowing brightly in the sky, showering moonlight to her window and reflecting into the room. The moon looks especially lovely tonight, now that the weather has finally settled, she can see the moon in its usual glory again. One cannot resist the urge to relax and indulge in the moonlight along with the beautiful night, she thought so while acknowledging that she has fallen victim to the beauty of nature.

She left the room, closing the door on her back. Footsteps echo around the house, as if there were more than one person living inside.

She arrives in her kitchen, opening the fridge to grab a box of milk and a cereal cartoon. She thought it would be a fine night snack before going to bed, even though knowing consuming sugar isn't optimal before sleeping.

She then sat on the couch in the living room, grabbing a TV remote and turning on the TV. Without saying a word, she stares at the screen while eating the cereal.

Annie stared at the screen without looking down on her food so intently that not a single noise was generated other than the television's speaker.

Rightfully so, whatever the channel is currently broadcasting is catching Annie's attention to be really interesting, it seems to be broadcasting news about a strange phenomenon that is occurring near her area.

"Currently, we are not sure how to explain this situation, but our field inspectors have reported that even though it touches the nearby landscape, it does not seem to have any effect on them. Scientific research suggests that when gravity becomes high enough, it would distort lights around and sorta make this weird lensing centered on whatever object the affected gravity is on. These strange strikes of light, or should we call them rifts? Rifts... Yeah. These rifts possess similar lens distortion as the theory suggests, yet, it does not seem to affect gravity at all. There is currently a team of research scientists surrounding the area, aiming to understand this unknown phenomenon, and as well if it poses danger to nearby environments, civilians, or maybe even the world?"

The news broadcast shifted attention from the reporter to the cameras capturing the phenomenon.

On the screen appeared a small, approximately a meter wide, floating streak of white light that illuminates the ground below. It resembles a crack on a glass but instead it is the sky. An accurate representation of bending light as described earlier can be seen surrounding the rift-fluctuating in size and intensity, creating a blanket effect.

Bzzt!

Annie's phone suddenly buzzed, but she didn't pay any mind to it. The phone buzzed with a notification, the screen showed that Mia had sent her a message. The content of the message can be slightly seen from the notification bubbles.