To not clog up my blurb, I'll do it here. Quick disclaimers and stuff and for the peeps who like skipping through things like this, joke's on you.

This is an entry to the Open Novella Contest 2024, a Wattpad Ambassador-run event running from February to May. In a way, this is a standalone and will be understandable without reading any of my other works. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you checked my works as well. They're found at the latter part of this story called Back Advertisements!

Since this is an entry to the ONC, here are the prompts it is based on:

8 - You start singing along to a movie soundtrack late at night forgetting that your window is open. Someone from the outside starts singing with you.

14 - "My Love, believe me, waiting for you has always been a form of freedom." - Alexandra Vasiliu.

33 - A broken heart beats with all its pieces. And it still wants the same person.

42 - "They were sunshine, I was midnight rain."

52 - "And that is how that world was lost and a new one, our world, was born."

80 - "Meet me next life."

96 - "Some days I don't exist, my bed becomes a casket." - Juansen Dizon

98 - When bravery outweighs intelligence, will your army still be able to win the war?

This is an unedited draft. This is not line-edited so you'll see a lot of possible typos, some unflowy sentences, and most likely, some degree of bad phrasing. I see them all the time so don't worry, I'm way ahead of you there. No need to scream about it in my comments section.

This story is set in an alternate past and future of where I am from. Everything comes from my imagination and should be treated as such. I have never experienced war and am only relying on what is available to me at the moment. I do my research and take inspiration from anything and everything, but if there's something you feel iffy about, some themes and details you think should not be there, please tell me so we can sort things out immediately. I will appreciate it. <3

In your hands is a hidden tale, something that has not been disclosed to anyone other than the compiler.

In every world, there is a time for peace, and unfortunately, a time, too, for war.