"JULIE. JULIE.. JULIE-" I yelled out her name but it came out thin—more a child's whimper than a shout. Ash stung my nose as it drifted deeper into the house.
A burning wooden pillar almost fell over my head, I laid my hand over my mouth as hot smoke clawed at my throat.
Everywhere I could see was engulfed in fire, behind me lay the hall separating the main house and entrance, in front the living room -
a table now slowly turning into dust on the left while seven chairs around it already burnt to the ground,
two windows on the side both broken while one radiator just below a window had its pipes overflowing with air, its water bursting out.
I realized soon it could explode, but just below it a figure appeared to be kneeling, dressed in a red elegant coat, a yellow scarf around her neck waving amidst smoke and fire with brown boots catching glimpses of ash.
It was my sister, her small figure knelt in front of the old and worn radiator
"J-JULIE GET AWAY FR-"
As I yelled out I tried approaching her, but something caught my arm pulling me back.
As I turned my head slightly, my heart slammed against my chest almost as if racing with death itself.
I looked at a figure of horror and sorrow holding me back, it had three pairs of black wings each hiding part of a body.
From behind his ribcage a pair of wings hid away its legs and feet, one above it its waist, and the closest to the neck had the face covered.
But under the tiniest of tiny slips - my eyes caught the glimpse of jittering red eyes uttering the words of utter demonic shit without a single word said.
Knowing the layout of the room by heart, my arm instinctively reached out to pick up a small wooden chair just beside me, "Let go of me- You—.... Wretched..-"
I strengthened my left foot hoping to swing the chair at full force towards the black smoke, just as I finished preparing - a pain striking scream burst from my right side,
"J-" then I bursted forward heavily gasping, grasps of sunlight crept upon my face as my heart stabilized.
I was back where I had come from, the illusion or whatever it was disappeared.
Immediately I fell my face into opened palms filled with sweat and slight shakiness.
"What in the world.. Was that?" I stuttered into my own beard "Was that..?"
"Have you survived?" the System asked, making me flinch slightly, the dry rustle of its voice now laced with genuine, hungry curiosity.
I raised my eyes slightly looking through gaps of my fingers,
He came out of the kitchen with a bag of chips as relaxed as before.
Just this time instead of being a black mass of nothingness he appeared to be…
Dressed in an elegant red coat, a scarf around its tin childish neck, eyes of deep blue and blonde precious hair waving slightly over her white skin.
Her, the girl I saw earlier in the illusion.
My eyes twitched as I slammed my fist against the table "WHAT'S THE IDEA!? ANIMA?"
I called it Anima, when deep down I had no idea why it called so itself in the first place.
Anima, believed to be the feminine side of the soul of a male human - but it also called itself the epitome of the system.
Her lips slightly parted into a childish almost mocking smile. "Wouldn't you like to know, elder brother?" It slightly laughed mockingly in my face as I stood up.
"!?"
My ears couldn't believe it, "What.. In the world?" The earlier older, raspy almost devilish voice turned into a sweet, low and warm voice of someone I thought..
"J-Julie?"
'Impossible… She, J.. Julie no.. I-'
The mocking laugh stopped as her hand entered the bag of chips again "Stop spouting nonsense, player. It is obvious I'm still the Anima - your system."
'Player..?'
I shook my head realizing whatever this was in front of me was wrong, after all I lost that person many summers ago.
"What.. Was that? A trial?"
It nodded "You catch on quickly, good. Let me explain a bit more thoroughly. But-" Her eyes twitched to the wall clock behind me "We appear to be running out of time, player. Soon enough and this trial version of yours shall disappear.."
I took out my phone, it was almost nine am.
A system window appeared next to it -
[ TRIAL VERSION EXPIRES IN - 32 MINUTES, 43 SECONDS AND 22 MILISECONDS - ]
It quickly ticked down, 42 seconds, 41, 40..
"STILL!" I looked towards it, "You can't. YOU… You don't need to tell me, you need a body? Is that it? Still. I don't know how or why, but you can't. Immediately transform into the black mass.. IT IS AN ORDER-"
I could feel cold air push me slightly back, my hand grasped the thin edge of the table instinctively as my brain feared its body will be sent flying.
"Order? A mere human, like you?" He, she.. It. It laughed again, covering its face with a slightly orange dirtied left hand from chips. "Don't make me laugh."
The bag of chips was thrown onto the ground, now completely emptied. "It appears this was the only food you had."
It tilted its head a bit.
"You already accepted me, did you not?"
Then turned for the doors.
"Let go of the wretched past you had, it'll only weaken us. You passed the first trial, and ensured me a body from your memories."
The burst of air normalized again as he took a step forward towards the doors.
"Now, let us go. Unless, you'd like to stay pathetic as you are to your only living blood in the future as well?"
Its words are slightly harshened on the last words,
'Past, future and only huh...'
"Can you not turn into a mass of blackness and still-"
"No. Impossible."
He swiftly answered me, the system continued ticking - I had already called it, somehow gave it a body, all for sake of money.
Now wasn't the time to stop.
I took a step forward "..."
Fixing my hair I couldn't even force a grin to appear cocky. My face, I could sense it - it was as pale as it could be, grasping the forehead as I fixed a stand of hair I felt how cold I just was.