My eyes were blank, my body felt numb, and all I could hear was a quiet, deep silence. Then suddenly, a voice rang out as if calling my name, but... I was still dazed, still thinking about everything I had done, and in between that, the voice vanished into silence.
I felt my heart still clinging to that old silence beating, which I used to hear whenever I was alone, sitting in deep thoughts, and the only thing I could see was my computer and me.
Gulp...
"Huh..? What was that sound...?"
I tried moving my head, trying to open my eyes, but everything felt heavy. Even moving my arms felt like moving stones. My sense of time had also vanished as I kept floating in an empty void, but then a cold sensation touched my face.
"Is this water?"
My eyes slowly opened to the view, and what I saw left me confused. In front of my eyes was nothing, just complete emptiness. I was floating deep in the water, no light nor any sense of life. The sensation was cold, and my body was still, hard to move.
"Where... am I?"
Many questions rose like wildfire in my mind, but it didn't left me stuck for long as i tried recalling the events, connecting every dots I could think off.
"I collapsed beside that girl as I was also injured. Did I die?"
"No. It don't seem like it."
After some contemplation and reorganizing my thoughts, I came to only one conclusion — it's a dream world or some kind of space I got sucked in maybe.
I tried calling Arc, but there was no response, so I decided to act on my own and find out where I am.
I forced my numb body to move as I felt the chilling pain and soreness all over, but still, I paced my way further. The sensation of rubbing water and the bubbling air through my nose, all of the feeling felt unrealistically real as if I was in a different dimension.
I stretched my neck, looking forward. In front of my eyes was a complete abyss of darkness, like the sense of direction had merged into one single point with no end nor a start.
I swam upward, leaving the sense of time behind. Hours went by, or maybe more, but the water kept growing like a void, like a never-ending stream. My breath seemed to have taken a stop, my stamina was running low as I panted, questioning and thinking.
Huff, huff, huff...
"I think there is not an end to this endless stream of water."
"Ahhhh... why am I stuck in a place like this?"
"I'm a coder, not an explorer!"
I vented out my frustration as if I had finally lost my mind, and started looking around in desperate need — in search of anything by which I could escape, but nothing seemed to be in my favor.
Everything seemed blank to me. No answer for what is happening and what I have to do.
Looking lost, I closed my eyes and used my mana perception, which surprisingly worked. I put a little more pressure, increasing the range of my search, and soon I sensed a faint presence of mana — of something big, something which I was not even able to comprehend at my level.
"Wh—what is this?"
I swam forward, as if finding a little hope, reaching toward the structure I had just sensed.
After a minute, I soon reached somewhere — a place where I saw nothing, just complete darkness. But trusting my senses, I stood still, gathering my thoughts, and used the light spell.
But to my surprise, nothing lit up, just me and the light ball floating in the water.
"Why ain't this working?"
Still keeping my hope, I tried everything, anything by which I could light up the area, but nothing worked until something clicked in my mind.
"Do I have to use that?"
A mere thought of altering reality itself — I refused to believe it, as this was also the thing I had tried before but didn't work and ended up severely injured.
But feeling stuck between two roads, I spoke with determination,
"I guess I have to give it a shot again..."
I closed my eyes, using my mana perception to the smallest micro level I could, to see the code of the world.
I focused all of my senses and calmed my breath.
"Let's go!"
"Yahhhhhh!!"
Mana surged out of me like leaking water. The surrounding vanished into the blue hue of the world as 0s and 1s appeared like popping bubbles. Each and every linear binary string covered the whole space as the world glitched as if breaking apart.
My hands moved within the rhythm, as code lined up against me. Slowly, I swirled my hand, moving closer to its starting point, but what I saw left me stunned — a gate binded by the world code itself. Seeing that, I hesitated a little but I still moved closer, touching the very fragment that was holding the door, and at its center, was a keyhole. I moved my hand closer, touching the lock holding it all together, but then I felt a sharp sensation in my head and before I could do anything, my breath became rigid as a mouthful of blood came out of my mouth. My senses and focus faded, almost collapsing from the mere pressure, as a vast amount of information flooded my mind.
"Ahhhh... eughh..."
I screamed through my throat. Blood fell down from my eyes as well as my nose. I grabbed my throbbing head like it would burst any minute, but the pain didn't stop. It kept increasing, agonizing my body until I collapsed.
***
"Haa—! HAAAH—!"
My eyes wide shot open, still adjusting to what happened just now. Gathering my breath, I scanned my surroundings as I came to notice the same girl standing in front of my eyes. Seeing me awake, she ran forward, her eyes welled up in tears, hands trembling, as she came rushing and hugged me tight.
A slight warmth filled my body as a sense of relief calmed me down. I stretched my hand, and with a calm gesture, I also held her.
After a minute, she sat beside me, looking at me with the same gaze like she did before; worried and scared.
I looked at her with a calming expression. And broke the silence, asking,
"For how long I was unconscious?"
The atmosphere was heavy, filled with an awkward silence I wasn't expecting. I tried to change my question, but to my surprise, she replied.
"A week…"
She looked at me with her red eyes, her gaze unsure — like she was deciding whether to tell me or not. Then she finally spoke again,
"Your heart… when you collapsed was not beating."
That one line left me stunned. Leaving me confused by what she meant. Her voice trembled as she continued,
"I tried everything— everything I could… but. Your body kept dying it was cold, and you showed no response."
She stopped mid-sentence, as if something was stuck in her throat. Her cheeks turned red, tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice cracked before she broke down crying like a child.
"I— I thought you'd never wake up. Do you know how scared I was? I wouldn't be able to bear the guilt— if you had died!"
Seeing her whining and crying like that, a strange warmth filled my chest. I looked at her quietly, trying to calm her down. In the end, I found myself taking care of her instead.
***
Minutes passed, everything calmed down, but now she was just crouching meters away hiding her flushed face from me.
I looked confusedly and tried calling her, but she refused to respond; clearly drowning in embarrassment. There were many question I wanted to ask but having no way out to her behavior, I did something pretty bold
I moved forward, picking her up in a princess carry and opened a portal before she could react.
Her face became even more flushed, red as a tomato as I leaped forward in the air carrying her in my arms, The sun shone brightly and its bright vibrant colours filled up the sky. I stood in the air for a sec before we both started to fall.
A loud scream escaped from her lips as I kept holding her, the sun set between the clouds and just before hitting, I opened the portal again teleporting back to my house.
I landed safely back on my feet dropping her in the bed she looked at me all flustered hot as red she still avoided any gaze still conflicted in her thoughts but she spoke her voice carried worried expression.
"Your body isn't healed yet."
Her concern sounded so cute; like a puppy that I couldn't help but chuckle.
With a snap, a few blue string emerged covering my entire body and slowly my wounds vanished as if they never existed, she looked at me in awe, but before she could even react.
I stepped closer to her face and spoke, looking straight into her eyes.
"So, can you speak now?"
As if her world had crashed, she froze for a second, then fell back on the bed with a thud, leaving me completely baffled.
"Ahh... did I overdo it?" I muttered, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.
After a while, she finally woke up. I quietly brewed some coffee for her.
She quietly sat up, still dazed, her eyes followed me closely. But there was this weird intensity in her gaze that made me a bit awkward, but I ignored it and handed her the cup.
"Here."
She slowly extended her hands, her fingers brushed against mine as she took the cup, her face still red but nodded faintly, slurping a little before lowering it back down.
"I guess I surprised you a bit,"
"So... sorry for that. But, uh, would you mind if I ask your name? I know it's kinda late to ask but..."
I laughed softly, trying to make the situation less awkward, but she didn't responded. The silence stretched for a while. For a second, I thought maybe I said something wrong.
But then, she finally whispered, "Amelia."
She shifted her gaze, her hair fluttered from the coming wind, her red eyes glimmered in the dim light, and for a second, I felt like time had stopped. My heart skipped a beat, my mind went blank. As I kept looking at her, mesmerized in her beauty. But I quickly snapped back to reality when she spoke again.
"What's your name?"
I startled a bit but quickly composed myself and replied.
"You can call me Ren,"
A faint smile rose on her face, which left me a little confuse, but ignoring that, I slipped back into my usual tone, steady and curious, and asked,
"So now, tell me what really happened while I was unconscious."
Her expression shifted instantly as she spoke. "When you went unconscious, I dragged you to a nearby cave and treated your wounds. After a few hours, your bleeding slowed down, so I used my spirit spells to heal you... but because of how bad the damage was, it barely worked."
Her tone wavered slightly, but she kept her composure as she continued,"After a few days, you were recovering well — until suddenly, your heart rate dropped. I panicked for a moment and tried everything I could, but soon... your heart stopped and your body went cold."She looked down for a second, her fists tightening on her knees. "For a moment, I thought I lost you. But right after that... you woke up."
Her words lingered for a moment before she turned away, her face growing red as she muttered, "A-and then... I might've... cried a little."Her voice trailed off as she hid her face behind her hands, embarrassment flooded her again.
"Y-you just woke up out of nowhere, what else was I supposed to do!?" she added quickly, her cheeks puffed up as she flopped back onto the bed trying to hide her face.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, alright... I get it,"
"You don't need to cry again."I said mockingly, She peeked at me from under her arm, still red as a tomato.
Once she finally calmed down, I shifted my tone back to serious.
"So, did you notice anything strange before that happened?"
Amelia blinked, thinking for a moment, then shook her head slowly.
I stayed silent, my mind ran wild, just something about that didn't sit right. I tried calling Arc through my mind.But... no reply came.
A panic surged in me, I tried to keep my calm outside.
But behind that calm mask, my mind was racing.
Why isn't Arc replying? Could this be connected to that dream... or the moment when my heart stopped?