1.
The first and the last thing he remembered…was a dream.
—A long and forgotten dream that happened many decades ago. He was happy back then. He was complete back then. He wasn't gone and broken back then.
It happened over two decades ago. It was the beginning months of the fall season. The leaves had begun to fall, and they covered the forests and woods in an orange and yellow blanket that was made up of said leaves.
Back then, kids would play outside with their friends, and they would crack the leaves by stepping on them. The parents would get excited and would buy items and prepare for the celebration of the blue moon, or also known as the "ICE MOON".
He was not an exception to this rule. I don't think any kid was, for that matter. His grandfather took him, alongside his brother, to the old Maltwood Forest. But by this point, it was tradition for his family. It was a ritual – something they did throughout the generations of his family.
But this day was different. The day that he could only remember in his dreams that happened over two decades ago. On this day, he learned a valuable lesson. A lesson that he wished he could forget but one that had been engraved deeply into his soul.
"What is the purpose of life?" He did not know the answer.
"Can anyone truly control their life?" He also did not know the answer.
"Why is it so hard to let go?" He pondered, and pondered, but in the end, he did not know the answer.
And because he did not know the answer — And because he couldn't find the answer — The outcome remained the same.
To believe one is in control is to believe in a lie. And it was a lie he believed. But it was because he believed in that lie that things turned out this way.
But even though things turned out this way, he still remembered that day.
He chased after his brother in the middle of the forest. Both siblings had gotten deeper and deeper inside the forest, into a part that they did not recognize. The foolish, bold and brave of the two was the one that did not care and kept running despite no longer recognizing his surroundings. And the other chased after him, screaming over and over to, "stop!"
A strange thing about brothers. One could have a relationship with anyone. It could be a friend, it could be a parent, and it could even be a romantic partner. One can trust and show their weakness to the other person — But the relationship that two brothers share is different. And that's because brothers know everything about each other. They know each other's weaknesses. They know each other's strengths. And they even know each other's flaws. Usually, any other person, including a romantic partner or a parent, are oblivious to one or two of the sides of a person. But not a brother. And that's because both share a special bond, an invisible force that makes them transparent to each other.
And that's how he knew that his brother wouldn't stop. He understood why, and it was to annoy him. And it wasn't only the bond that he shared with his brother that told him. But the glances that his brother would give him every once in a while as he ran ahead of him.
And it was because he would occasionally glance back that he wasn't aware of the path in front of him. Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue. Why would it be? The only thing he had to watch out in this forest was the fallen leaves and perhaps even the occasional branches that had fallen from some of the trees. But in this case it was different, and that's because he did not know this part of the forest. And as a result, he—
"WOAH!??"
The boy screamed out. His foot hit a metallic object that was hidden by the leaves. He fell forwards, tumbling onto the ground, and landing face first into a pile of orange and yellow leaves.
His brother, who was chasing after him, caught up to him. He rushed to his side.
"Are you okay?"
He asked, while hiding his face with the sleeve from his sweater. The reason was that he couldn't prevent himself from forming a smile on his lips.
The brother lifted his head from the pile of leaves he had fallen into, then began spitting out the bits of leaves and dirt that got inside of his mouth.
"Bleh! Bleh! …Man it tastes bitter!" He groaned as he stood up from the pile of leaves.
He began to pat down his clothes that were full of dirt, as well as leaves that got stuck on his shirt alongside his pants. Despite his fall being couchoned by the pile of leaves, it still left his elbows and knees scraped.
After patting himself down, he began to stretch his arms and his legs.
"My hands are killing me, and my arms and legs are probably scrapped, but hey! Nothing that a little spit can't fix, right?...Hmm? What's wrong? Why are you making that face?"
He raised his eyebrow, asking his brother that question. He felt awkward at the way his brother was staring at him, or rather, the concerning expression he had on his face.
His face had lost all color, and his eyes had opened wide and he was looking at him as if he had seen a ghost. He couldn't help but to feel a little bit scared at the way his brother was looking at him.
"...Hey, what's wrong?"
His voice began to tremble and his sight was locked on his brother. His brother slowly raised a finger, and he was pointing at him. No, it wasn't that he was pointing at him but he was pointing at something — He was pointing at his clothes.
He lowered his head to look down at his clothes, and he understood what was wrong. He finally saw what had his brother so disturbed.
"Ah…" He gasped.
As he saw what had happened, he lost the ability to speak. Like his brother, his face went pale, and he couldn't think straight or come up with a coherent sentence. The reason why he felt so disturbed, why he felt shaken and why he felt the urge to scream was because he was covered in blood.
2.
When everyone looked at the city, they expected to see a metropolis built of steel and stone. Gigantic towers that reached all the way to the heavens. Roads that stretched all over the city to carry in and out the goods that made this city rich. Ports that made it a regular sight to see boats from all over the country & from other countries too. And the cherry on top was the beautiful pinkish-red sunset that happened every evening.
Beautiful things were expected to be seen in Sunset City, but the panoramic view that was known for, did no longer exist. The towers that reached all the way to heaven had collapsed. The roads were now rubble, and all of the ports had been destroyed.
The cloud of smoke and ash covered the entire city. Although no one knew it, thousands of dead were spread out through the streets, and many thousands more were missing. When the cloud of smoke began to clear out, only two figures remained. Two survivors from that battle. No, calling them survivors was not right, as it was because of them that a lot of people had lost their lives.
—SHUNK!
The rusted blade pierced through his abdomen. Stabbing through him.
"-It's over…" she said.
She impaled him with that rusty old sword. Him, who had been the center of her nightmares for more than a decade. Him, who she could still see whenever she closed her eyes to sleep. Her pale white hands were shaking as she held the worn-out hilt that held the sword in place. But unbeknownst to her, the words that she had told him before now had cut deeper than the blade that had cut through his insides.
He looked down and saw the blade that was now stuck inside of him. Blood began pouring out from his newly received wound, and it began dripping onto the ground below him, forming a scarlet puddle of blood. His blood.
He looked up again to see her, and their eyes met. He regarded her with new found eyes, because his opinion of her had changed. Her eyes were different from the first time he had seen them, and it makes sense. Both of them were different people now than the first time they had met.
He narrowed his burning amber eyes, and it was because the person standing in front of him was no longer a person he recognized. But even though he did not realize it, the feeling went both ways. She also did not recognize him.
He was now a stranger to her. A stranger dressed in red, with a seemingly fitting name. His amber eyes that resembled an endless pit of fire, made her heart tremble but it did not make her heart waver.
She sinks the blade deeper into his body, twisting it to destroy his vital organs. It was a wound that would surely kill anyone, and he was no exception. Anyone would have gone into shock after receiving a painful fatal wound like this, but he remained aware.
And that's because he was not like anybody else. He could not smile. He could not cry. And he no longer could feel fear. He had thrown away all those feelings the moment he threw away his heart. And all that remained was "him".
But even "him" knew that this was the end. He understood it more than anyone that one day he would lose. Like all the enemies he had defeated, he knew that he himself would someday also lose. No one wins forever. Those who live by the sword will also be killed by the sword. But not even he could suspect that it would be her, of all people, that would take his life.
But what disturbed him the most, was not the sword that was still inside of him, or the fact that he would shortly die after this moment. No, what made him feel uneasy was her eyes. They were staring straight at him. Those pale blue eyes. Those cursed damned blue eyes. It made him feel something that he hadn't felt in a long time but he couldn't quite place a word into that feeling.
Her gaze remained fixed on his eyes, the eyes that not even his black mask that protected and hid his face could hide. And she saw the truth, and that truth made her heart waver for a moment.
She struggled to stand still, and it was not because of what she had seen inside of him, but because of the toll that the battle had taken on her body. After all, she is not strong, she is not strong at all. She could collapse at any moment.
As to him, he could hear his own heart getting weaker. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. With every second that passed, the intervals between heartbeats became longer, until eventually, they stopped. But… he was not dead yet.
He saw a familiar sight for an instance. A familiar scenery of the woods around him. He saw this place often in his dream, and he had tried to forget that memory. Because for the man of red, this brought him a lot of reminders.
He did not believe that your life would flash before your eyes the moment you died. He had held the belief that death was absolute and that nothing existed before the moment of your death. He found it hard to believe, after all, he had been the dead of a lot of people and he hadn't seen anything aside from their expression full of terror and fear and desperation as the light from their eyes ceased to exist.
But he contemplated for a moment if perhaps he had been mistaken. Even though his heart stopped beating, he did not feel scared or anxious for what would happen to him next. Instead, he remembered that sight. That dream was important to him, and that's because—
In his short last moments, his brain began to recall a lot of things. Things he remembered. Things he did not remember. All the promises he had made. And all the promises that he had broken. The beliefs he once held did no longer exist, but not even those were exempt from the things he remembered.
But everything and anything that he remembered, he threw away, alongside his heart. And that's because everything he remembered right now would not matter in the moments after he-
She saw the inner battle inside of him, and even though she could not read his thoughts, she knew what he was thinking. She let out a heavy sigh, and her pink lips began to move.
"____"
He remained speechless at the woman's words. She had mentioned that name. The name that no longer held any meaning to him, but a name that still held power.
Looking at the reaction from his eyes, she smiled at him. Looking at her having a satisfied smile full of warmth and compassion, left him puzzled. He did not know why she began to smile at him, or why she was showing compassion at him. But looking at her radiant smile, made him uneasy.
His vision began to darken, and his senses began to get numb. But the woman in front of him still remained radiant. He focused on her features. Her pale skin. Her bright blue eyes that pierced through him. Her compassionate smile. And her beautiful blonde hair that glimmered by the light of the sun.
His future was now uncertain. There were things he wanted to do, things he was going to do. Not all of them were good, but not all of them were bad either. Knowing that, he accepted his fate, and he did not say anything to the woman that was in front of him.
His vision became completely black, and before he lost consciousness, he heard her speak once again.
"...Goodbye, ____."
He could not react to the final word that she said and he had lost the capability to even form a sentence. But his final thoughts remained on that word. But before he could reflect on what that word meant to him, his thoughts ceased to exist.
At that moment, the Red Death died.
3.
Question - Can someone truly control their life?
"Do not be afraid."
—Life in itself should be considered precious. But can anyone actually control anything that happens in it?
"This is not your end."
—Control in itself is something so unnatural. A delusion that a lot of people have. It has blinded them, as it has blinded IT.
"Do not worry…"
—Was he also blinded by such ideals of control? He himself doesn't truly know. After all, he didn't truly believe in that path. But the one who did was "him".
"I'll be with you soon."
—There are three types of deaths. The death of oneself. The death of the flesh. And the death of one's name.
"This time for sure, it will be you! The REAL you."
—He experienced two of the three deaths. The death of oneself, that is to say, an ego death. And the death of the flesh.
"I need you. I want you. I love you."
There are 11 dimensions. To describe everything about them would be futile as no one can truly understand everything about them. But the most important one of them is the fourth one. Time.
This universe, like all the others, is ever expanding. And like all the others, it has parallel dimensions that are both symmetrical and also different from itself. It began as a tiny condensed point of energy. But so powerful was this point that it burst into an ever expanding bubble. It is a marble in a sea of marbles that can be further expanded into infinitum.
He felt cold and numb. And for a singular moment in time, he was nothing. His arms and hands were numb. His legs and feet were numb. He couldn't feel his body or even the injuries he had received. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel, and he no longer had the ability to speak. He was nothing, his life no longer existed.
But then he felt a shiver. Something struck him, a rough jolt. It was as if something had returned life to him. He opened his mouth to gasp for air, but there was none.
His body felt like it was underwater, like if he was drowning. He instinctively moved his hands to his neck, and he began to cough. But there was nothing in his lungs.
He opened his eyes, and they darted everywhere. He looked at his surroundings, trying to figure out what was currently happening to him. He did not know what was happening right now. He was sinking, but he was not surrounded by water. What surrounded him was an empty black empty void.
The Red Death was in an empty space. There was nothing near him, except for the pitch black space that surrounded him. But there was something he could see.
Far away in front of him, there was a tiny point of light. The light was getting dimmer and dimmer. No, it was getting further and further, and the reason being is that he was falling deeper into the void. But except that he wasn't falling. Something was pulling him further from that light.
The light that was in front of him disappeared, and the invisible force pulling him grew stronger and stronger. It turned his body around and he was now facing downwards, in the direction he was being pulled to.
A faint light was in front of him, it was growing and getting brighter. He narrowed his amber eyes, trying to figure out what that bright light was. But in a quick flash, the light engulfed him.
4.
The last thing he remembered was being engulfed in that light. The light was hot, and it was strong, and powerful. He felt like it was going to tear him apart as it dragged him down. But after being blinded by the light, his mind went blank.
The next thing he remembered was his back hurting. He felt like he had landed in something rough, something strong. He was sure he was on top of solid ground now, and he wasn't being asphyxiated anymore. His body wasn't numb anymore, and he would be content with being able to feel again; but that would be if his body wasn't screaming in pain right at this moment.
He opened his amber eyes, only to be hit by a blinding light. And after being blinded by the light, he covered his face with his arm. He didn't know what was worse, his body being in pain or his eyes burning from that blinding bright light.
After some moments passed, his eyes adjusted to the light, albeit his vision was still distorted. He was looking up at the night sky, and he couldn't help but to let out a heavy sigh.
"What happened?"
He tried to say, but only for his dry throat and mouth to prevent him from saying a coherent sentence.
"Wha…hapnd…?
He couldn't help but feel embarrassed by such ridiculous words coming out of his mouth. He put his hand on his throat. He was unable to speak properly at this moment. His throat hurt, and it made him feel a discomfort that he was not familiar with.
His body was facing up and his eyes remained focused on the night sky devoid of any stars. It was peculiar, and that's because Sunset City was flooded with billions upon billions of stars at night. He didn't think much of it, after all, it was not out of the realm of possibilities that tonight, the stars would not be visible.
"What time is it?"
He raised his forearm towards his face, and he pressed one of the multiple buttons on his gauntlet. Upon pressing the button, a digital watch lit up, revealing that it was 7:47 at night.
"Strange…It's night already?"
Looking at the time, he couldn't help but to feel a gut feeling that something was wrong. He was forgetting something important but he couldn't remember what. What had him so anxious? He did not remember, even though he knew it was important.
He closed his eyes once again, and enjoyed this rare moment of silence. To him, moments like this were rare and that's because-
"Where am I!?"
He jumped on his feet and immediately looked around him.
"What is this place!?"
He was standing on solid ground. The ground reflected his image like a mirror, and its smooth surface made the light from this place reflect. He looked around at his surroundings and he remained speechless.
The landscape, the ground, and everything in this place was made out of the same material. It was a silver metal that covered everything in this place. But there were no trees, there was no water, and as far as he could see, there was no life. This place was a desert made out of metal. But unlike any desert, or any other biome for that matter, this place was extremely different.
Mountains made out of metal that reached thousands upon thousands of miles up into the sky. Gigantic chunks of land that were hovering above the ground. And canyons that were everywhere.
Under his mask, he clenched his teeth. He couldn't believe that such a place could exist. As far as he looked, the landscape was the same. He did not know what this place was, or why the hell he was even here. But he understood one thing. Perhaps, the most important thing.
From the side of his eye, he could see a soft blue light reflected off the reflective surface of the ground.
"What-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he turned his body around, and he saw it. Far in the horizon of this place, there was an engulfing bright light that illuminated its surroundings and this place. But this light was not a sun. The light was shooting out two beams of light. One upwards, and one downwards.
Looking at the light, he felt a familiar feeling. He hadn't been to this place before, but it felt as if he had. Feeling nostalgic, he scratched the side of his helmet. He didn't know why, and he couldn't explain it to anyone, but he felt he needed to find the source of the light.
This place was a mystery to him. A giant enigma. But one thing was certain, he was not home. He did not know what his place was, but he was certain that this was not his home.
Knowing that, the Red Death began to walk towards the direction of the light.
TO BE CONTINUED...