Perspective: 3rd person with some story translation for clarity

Liam is a barely teenage boy that belongs to a loving and caring family. What is not immediately obvious, is he is neither a teen nor human. At least not in the typical sense. In reality he is an existence almost as old as recorded history that had lived in a parallel dimension. An existence closer to what might be considered an elemental spirit. He had fought tooth and nail to stay alive on the other side of the wall between dimensions called The Veil. Those beings that had existed for a really long time and had high wisdom were aware of it but had never been able to safely cross to the human version of earth. No humans lived on that side. Only the monstrous and the human adjacent existed. Liam had been human adjacent and immortal in life span. He had reached a semi apex position in the world through a mix of wisdom and power. He was tired. Power had bought survival but also attracted constantly more powerful enemies looking for his position. For everything looked at higher power as the answer to its plight. What he really seeked was true peace and belonging.

In a gamble he had to spent all the energy he had gathered over eons at once to puncture through The Veil. Anywhere else had to be safer. He had managed to send his very essence through at the most basic level. His appearance formed itself in the likeness of the nearest loved recently dead being. It was a predetermined plan and safe bet. To his great luck it had been a terminally ill child. Very quickly the parents noticed him. This was not surprising since he had formed in their living room. Instead of being thrown out or killed like he expected, he was soon embraced by both crying parents. They were aware that he was not the son that they had lost but did not question it either. It was almost as if they were worried that questioning it would cause him to vanish. Instead he was claimed as their child in the place of the one that they lost. A fated addition. He was given the name Liam and for the first time was given love that did not stem from a place of weakness or superiority. It was confusing to him.

At first Liam kept his guard up because of the new place and the limitations he was now held to. Going from incredibly powerful to almost powerless was terrifying to someone used to pure survival. He held just the smallest amount of magic now. All of his reserves had been spent on his desperate ejection to the new world and, what he did have left, was used to hold his physical being together. Something could not come from nothing and needed direct intervention of power. Further power failed to grow. It was something that was from the other side of The Veil and did not belong. The best he could do was maintain the amount he arrived with. He played the role of a typical child. He attended school and helped with chores. He even made friends of the appropriate age. At first these acts were just out of blending in and cautious curiosity of the world. Slowly it became something else. The fear in Liam’s heart had been softened. It had started to come from a place of love. These were now his parents and he cared for him in return. He was now completely human even if only superficially. A strange duality of existence. Living in peace was beautiful and more gentle than he could have ever imagined. It was all he could have asked for and more.

Unfortunately, it was not long before Liam’s new existence was disrupted. A few years had passed and he looked almost adult. The age he reported if asked was now 18. He was on the way back from the store after a day during his senior year of high school when something happened. A wave of nausea hit him and he sensed power beginning to build up in himself faster. The general sense of something being very wrong with the world also settled in him. He sensed The Veil but should not have been able to. The side of The Veil that humanity was on was very fortified and hidden. That was partially why it was so difficult to cross. He was glad that he felt more magic but dread settled in him. Something felt horribly wrong and Liam hoped that he was wrong. Almost immediately, people from his city and the surrounding ones began going missing. Space itself felt distorted in areas and people that knew the area well started getting lost for no apparent reason. Liam focused his new energy into his nonhuman senses. To his horror he realized what was happening. The Veil had been forcefully blown open all over the place. It was the type of shotgun pattern damage to the walls between both realities that only a great power, incredible planning, or both could accomplish. He felt more power because the laws of the other side were bleeding through unnaturally. In areas realities were sharing space completely and were melded together. The bad part was humanity had yet to notice. He was positive that the other side side already had. It was only a matter of time before his peaceful life was invaded by the very beings he had tried to escape from. Worst still, he was in essence a different being from when he had last had to fight. Incomparably weak and defenseless. The bottom of the food chain.

Liam had to gain power. Not only did he have himself to protect now but now his parents, friends, and hope for a better future. It could not be lost to chaos and death. The first thing he realized was reality was now littered with shredded ribbons of The Veil. Furthermore, they were very very similar in compatibility with his current essence. He drew them into himself and found that they became one with his very core. No longer did he have to expend energy to maintain his form and he now had the ability to freely cross through the distorted zones between realities. His ability to hold power was also increased though he would have to do so himself. He knew what he had to do next though he hated it. The fastest way to grow in ability and power was to kill and conquer other holders of power from his old reality. He would once again have to put his life on the line and work his way up the ladder of power while using his eons of experience as a guide. Only then would he be able to make a difference.

Liam had to succeed. Reality depended on it no matter the challenge and what was behind it.