What is happening…
What kind of place is this…?
Why can't I feel anything?
Not my body… not my hands… not my legs… and I can't even see anything.
I don't know how long I've been here.
Here… time wasn't moving.
Or maybe—
it was moving… just not for him.
After every thought, a strange echo rose—
as if this place was waiting for him to think.
As if…
he himself was awakening the silence.
Slowly, the scene began to clear—
What is this… so much darkness everywhere…
Whether his eyes were open or closed—it made no difference.
He couldn't even tell whether he was standing, sitting… or lying down.
He couldn't feel the weight of his own body.
He could see everything…
yet—
seeing and not seeing felt the same.
After a while, the view before his eyes became completely clear—
There was a sky in front of him.
But it was pitch black… as if someone had stolen all the light from it.
Countless stars were scattered across it…
yet there was no light.
Looking at them felt as if someone had painted white spots over a black sheet…
as if the stars were pretending to shine—
but in truth, they had no life.
Is this… the sky?
"No… this can't be the sky…"
"I haven't seen a moon anywhere…"
His thoughts questioned themselves.
This place…
this emptiness…
this silence…
Am I dead…?
Is this the place after death…?
But if this is what comes after death—
then why is no one else here?
Why is there no sound…
no shadow…
no movement…?
Countless questions ran through his mind at once.
Raijin couldn't understand what was happening.
How long he had been here… or why.
He kept asking himself again and again—
Since when am I here…
Since when am I here…
Every time he asked—
it felt like the answer was very close.
Yet very far.
As if something didn't want him…
to find it.
He tried to move forward.
But his body felt bound by something invisible.
He couldn't do anything—
only think.
He still had the ability to think and understand—
but it felt as if the life had been drained out of his body.
He stared at the stars before him.
His gaze fixed on one star—
brighter than all the others.
After a while, he tried to raise his right hand to reach for it—
And in that instant—
all the stars vanished.
"What…?"
"Did I lose my sight as well…?"
he muttered softly.
Raijin panicked.
He quickly tried to open his eyes—
and look ahead.
But he saw nothing.
"Suddenly—"
his eyes widened.
"What is this…?"
"Is… this my hand…?"
Joy and fear clashed within him.
My…
my hand came back…?
And I didn't even realize it…
He tried to look at his hand carefully—
but he couldn't see it.
It existed—
but it wasn't visible.
As if it had completely merged into the darkness.
Then he began to feel his fingers—
his wrist…
his arm…
and then his shoulder…
He tried to feel his body.
At first, nothing…
then a faint tingling…
then—
blood rushing through his veins.
He could feel it—
his body was returning.
Not just returning—
it was being rebuilt.
Every vein…
every muscle…
as if some unseen force was shaping him again.
As if he wouldn't return the same…
but become something else.
He tried to turn his head to the left.
He saw nothing…
but he could feel—his neck had returned.
Then his chest…
then his legs…
Slowly, his entire body began to take form.
Except for his left arm.
He felt disappointed…
but not completely.
Because most of what he had lost—
had come back.
And then—
he realized something…
He wasn't wearing anything.
He panicked and looked around—
But no one was there.
"There was no one here from the beginning…"
He let out a breath of relief—
but a painful smile appeared on his face.
And at that very moment—
his left arm returned as well.
Now he was whole.
He began moving his limbs—
like a child learning to walk for the first time.
But when he looked closely—
nothing was visible.
His body existed—
but couldn't be seen.
As if it had completely merged into the darkness.
Raijin let that go.
The question inside him had changed—
from "Why am I here?"
to "How do I get out of here?"
He tried to move forward—
but he couldn't walk.
He moved his limbs—
but nothing changed.
After a while, he realized—
he was floating.
Below… above… forward… backward—
none of it meant anything here.
Directions didn't exist.
He was nowhere—
and yet…
everywhere.
Finally, he calmed down.
Before his eyes were countless stars—
some dim…
some fading…
and some so dark they stood out even in darkness.
But among them—
one star was different.
It shone the brightest—
as if it was the source of light for all others.
As if that star… was watching him.
As if it recognized him.
Raijin stared at it.
"I wish… I could go near it…"
He imagined himself beside that star—
its light…
its warmth…
its comfort…
And—
in the very next moment—
he was there.
His eyes widened.
"This…?"
It wasn't imagination.
He was truly beside the star.
"It's… beautiful…"
With trembling hands, he touched it.
The moment his fingers met its light—
for an instant—
his heart forgot to beat.
And the next moment—
that heartbeat…
came from the star.
Warmth…
soothing… comforting.
That warmth spread from his hand through his entire body.
As if lost energy was returning.
"Maybe… I'm still alive…"
"And only because of this…"
Then—
everything began to shake.
"What…?"
"What is this sound…?"
His body trembled.
"No… I'm not shaking…"
"The whole place is…"
The star began to crack.
The warmth increased—
no longer comforting—
but burning.
"No… no!"
The star shattered into countless fragments—
and those fragments began entering his body.
Each fragment—
fire.
His veins weren't burning—
they were bursting.
As if something was making space inside him.
Something—
that had never been there before.
His scream echoed—
but there was no one to hear it.
Slowly, the entire star merged into him.
And then—
silence.
Now—
he was the one shining the brightest in the darkness.
He looked at himself—
"Can… I see myself…?"
Then—
something fell onto his hand.
A warm drop.
It landed on his skin.
Raijin touched it—
Is this… blood?
He pressed his nose, feeling something wet on his fingers—something completely different from before.
He tried to look at it, but the glow was too bright to see clearly.
Then he covered his eyes with his hand.
Tears.
He whispered to himself,
"Am I… crying…?"
Warm drops kept falling from his eyes.
They wouldn't stop.
And then—
a sharp pain struck his head.
He clutched it tightly, screaming.
Something burst inside his mind.
Memories.
His own memories—
rushing through his mind like blood.
His first meeting with Sora.
Their first argument.
Then friendship.
Sofiya, Ishan, Kade—
laughter, fights, moments shared.
Each memory flowed through him like blood.
Slowly, he calmed down.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
But then—
his eyes widened.
There was something else.
Memories… that weren't his.
Children running around a figure—
shouting, "Teacher! Teacher!"
That figure stood calmly, a gentle smile on their face—
but the face itself was hidden in dense smoke.
Another image—
people surrounding someone, laughing loudly.
Their faces too—covered in thick smoke.
Another—
a figure dressed in white, tied with a blue sash at the waist.
Their face hidden in dense smoke.
They held a staff—
moving it in circles…
and along with it, water swirled in motion.
Scenes flashed—
a fight between two people.
someone chasing a child.
someone in formal clothes giving a gift.
Yet none of their faces could be seen.
"These… aren't my memories…"
His head throbbed again—
as if countless hammers struck it all at once.
"Who… are they…?"
He staggered.
Suddenly, his elbow struck something cold.
He turned.
A small… blue… cold star.
It glowed—
but its light wasn't warm.
It was calm. Cold. Still.
Like fire trapped inside ice.
The moment his skin touched it—
it shattered as well.
But this time—
there was no heat.
Only cold.
A freezing cold—
as if he had been laid upon a slab of ice.
His body trembled.
Slowly, that cold star too merged into him.
Now, the light of his body dimmed.
Not as intense…
not as wild.
And then—
another pain struck his head.
But this time, it was different—
a bitter memory flowed through his mind like blood.
A child falls while playing.
His knee gets scraped.
Tears fill his eyes.
That child… was him.
Confusion was clear in his eyes.
He looked around.
He realized—
there were many such stars around him.
Some shining like morning light.
Some so dark they could be seen even in darkness.
And some neither too bright… nor too dark.
And then—
in the darkness…
something moved.
It wasn't a star.
It wasn't light.
It was…
something else.
Raijin felt it.
.
.
.
Thank You For Reading This Chaptar.
Author: Mohammed Zaid Saifi