Astel stood at the entrance of what looked like a village. Dark stone houses rose from the deep ebony cliffs surrounding him. People walked around, seemingly enjoying their day. They were all dressed in the same kind of clothing, yet somehow each looked distinctly different.
Scanning their expressions, Astel noticed that they all looked… happy.
A group of women walked past him, laughing as they talked, paying no attention to the disheveled boy standing at the entrance.
The sun shone down, illuminating the stone village.
Vibrant colors entered Astel's vision as he noticed a farm in the distance by a small pond of translucent water.
The air wasn't cold despite the snowy landscape.
Taking a deep breath, Astel stepped forward, finally entering the community he had heard so much about. As he did, a small smile slowly formed on his face without him realizing.
The people around him finally seemed to notice him. They approached one by one, asking questions — but for some reason, he couldn't form answers. His spirit burned with the joy of human connection, but his mind lingered. There was something… weird about it all.
Suddenly, a familiar hand patted his back.
Quickly, he turned around and saw Sev smiling at him.
Astel felt a shiver run down his spine, but his expression didn't — couldn't — change. A heartbeat later he forgot about the sensation and embraced Sev in a hug.
He tried to speak, but no words came out. Oddly enough, Sev seemed to understand and looked like he was responding, laughing as he did. Yet again, Astel heard nothing — something, maybe, but nothing he could understand.
His mind was warping his perception of reality. Everything felt unreal. The colors a little too saturated, the air a little too warm, the faces a little too friendly.
Turning back, he expected to see the crowd of people — but there was nothing. The snow-covered streets were empty. His heartbeat quickened. He spun around, but Sev was gone too.
The sky dimmed, as if a large cloud had covered the sun. His surroundings turned cold.
Astel walked through the empty streets, periodically glancing over his shoulder. His steps echoed against the tall rock formations and crude houses. The snow crumbled beneath his feet with a hollow crunch. Each breath he took released a visible puff of white smoke that clouded his vision.
His head was spinning… or maybe it was the world around him.
Then he noticed something — in the distance, past a haze that suddenly appeared, as though it had always been there, he saw a light. A small, flickering warm light. It glimmered from behind a small stone building.
At first, he walked slowly, carefully approaching the anomaly. Glancing back, he noticed the world behind him disappearing, turning into complete darkness.
His heartbeat quickened, threatening to burst from his chest. He sped up. His walk turned into a jog, then into a full sprint. He wasn't just running toward something… but away from something else.
Sweat poured down his face, drenching the clothes he hadn't realized he was wearing. The longer he ran, the farther the light seemed. The corner of the building just kept getting further away.
When he glanced back again, his foot caught on a small rock causing him to slip and fall face-first into the soft, cold snow. Oddly enough, there was no pain. Even the snow didn't feel like snow, it wasn't cold — it felt different — more like… grass?
Remembering that he'd been running, he tried to get up, glancing back as he did. But the darkness that chased him was no longer there, instead there was what looked like an alleyway. One that felt a little too familiar.
He looked ahead and noticed the ground beneath him was a mix of washed-out green grass and ash-gray concrete. Two tall walls flanked him on either side, lined with pipes and strange metal boxes that climbed upward into a bright blue sky.
The flickering light behind the corner was just ahead.
He took slow, measured steps, noting that his heart was beating calmly — yet there was a strange lingering feeling, like his stomach was lifted, weightless.
With a deep breath, he took a step beyond the corner, peeking at what had been calling to him.
As he did, his eyes were filled with life.
Before him stood a city lined with buildings of all shapes and sizes. The streets were overflowing with people in modern clothing. Ads plastered every surface that could support them.
The air was filled with the scent of fear, masked by the fake smiles of joy.
He looked down and realized he was wearing different clothes — deep brown cargo pants and a red shirt with some sort of white design spanning the entire front. Letting go of the fabric, he stepped onto the crowded street. The alleyway had already disappeared behind him.
He walked for a while. The world seemed normal, just as he remembered it. But something was off — he just couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Instinctively, he looked down at his hands, feeling a strange relief when he realized he still had his fingers.
The world shifted around him without him noticing. Before long, he was standing in front of his family's home.
He hesitated at the door, unsure whether to knock — afraid his family wouldn't recognize him. He raised his hand, ready to knock, when suddenly he turned his head.
Something was calling him.
In the distance, he saw her — his sister, walking down the street straight from his childhood, away from him.
Stumbling, he took off without hesitation, running after her. He tried to scream her name, but no sound came out. Worry filled his chest as he tried his best to catch up.
Weirdly enough, she turned around.
Astel stumbled again, slowing down slightly, seeing his sister's face — cute, familiar, smiling. She was a bit shorter than him, three years younger. Her light brunette hair bordered on blonde, tied neatly into a small bun. Her eyes shone with innocence and a brilliant, deep blue color.
But she didn't stop.
She turned and disappeared behind the corner of the block, her gaze slowly drifting in the direction she walked.
Steeling his resolve, Astel ran as fast as he could, reaching the corner with incredible swiftness. But when he turned it, the scene had changed.
He now stood in the middle of an abandoned park. The few trees that still stood were already decaying, stripped of leaves. The ground below was cracked — lifeless.
The air was cold; the sun had already dipped below the horizon, darkening the sky. There were no streetlamps to light the scene.
Astel scanned his surroundings and noticed he stood in a small crater. Around him were mangled, twisted metal pipes — remnants of a children's playground.
He looked down and realized he was wearing something different again — tattered rags that barely functioned as clothes. His body was covered in a myriad of scars, each of varying shapes and sizes.
Looking up once more, he saw his sister — but only for a moment — before her figure vanished, swept away by the wind.
Astel desperately tried to move, but when he did, he fell face-first into the ground.
The air was freezing. The shrieking wind assaulted his ears. The ground beneath him was like ice. He tried moving his body, but he could barely feel his muscles.
With a small push, he managed to roll onto his back.
Finally able to breathe, he slowly opened his frozen eyes.
Astel was back in the mountains, lying in the snow at the top of the cliff, alone — with nothing to protect him from the cold. His hair was white, covered in a layer of snow and frost. His shallow breaths came out as thick white clouds. His skin was a deep reddish hue, slowly turning blue.
Above him stretched the vibrant night sky of the Land Within. Endless color filled his desperate eyes as a tear slowly formed.
With great effort, he raised one of his hands toward one of the twin moons, closing it as if grasping the celestial body.
His spirit burned. His resolve reignited as he muttered the words:
"I'll… find you… Melo… -dy."