We had set up camp the night before. Waking in the morning, I rolled over, finally able to get a good night's rest. No one was after us; no one could get us, making it easier to sleep in peace rather than stay on guard all the time. I shifted my eyes toward the sleeping Leah. She was in a deep sleep, despite usually not even resting. I watched as she breathed in and out slowly, her chest rising and falling. I had noticed that when she sleeps, she usually grips my hand. I was uncertain why that was, but now I kind of understood: it was an escape—well, it wasn't escape exactly, but it was so she wouldn't feel alone.
All that time she had spent in solitude, despite having a family, I understood now from my perspective. Even losing my friends was hard, but when I saw her in my dream, when I saw everything repeat itself, I couldn't unsee it. I acknowledged that, despite everything, she was a lonely girl, looking for love, wanting to be loved, and her family never gave her that. I was uncertain how I gained all of this knowledge, but watching her body language and how she treated me when I was sad and lonely, I kind of picked up on the cues. Behind the mask was a broken girl—a girl with nothing, a girl who tried her hardest but was never acknowledged. I pieced that together myself, and that's what I believe.
I decided I might as well get up and start breakfast. As I was about to pull my hand away, she gasped, screaming. I began to panic—something was wrong. She never screamed like that.
As she opened her eyes, she flung her arms around like she was fighting something that wasn't there. For a second, I was confused, but then I noticed it—however far we went, there were still things that followed us, even ghosts.
"Leah, I don't want to do anything. Take my hand; I'll deal with this," I said, reaching out for her to grab.
"What do you mean? It won't do anything—I'm physically hitting it," she replied.
I shot back, explaining that hitting it wouldn't do anything since it didn't have a physical form. Her cockiness began to fade. She sighed, "Ahhh, come on. At least let me have some fun; these damn days aren't any fun." She began to pout. I reassured her that there would probably be more things to fight today, so she shouldn't be so hard on herself.
---
After dealing with the ghost, we found ourselves in the middle of the forest. As we wandered, time seemed to move more slowly here than anywhere else. Even our footsteps were slower than intended—moving felt limited, almost as if some supernatural force had been enforced to slow time.
How unfortunate that we would run into a man cloaked in black. It was almost as if he hit a hard spot for Leah. When she looked directly at the man, she gasped. I didn't understand why, but she gasped. She warned me to stay back. I had no other option but to listen. Her eyes began to tremble as her body started to transform. She became something so different that I didn't recognize her—her hair cascaded down below her knees, a blade formed in her hand, clouds swirled above her head, and on top of that, her eyes were now red. This was the first time I had seen Leah like this.
I had begun to question everything. She went from lonely to powerful in seconds. Her gaze—like that of something not human. I backed away as it was just about to get intense. I heard a voice once more; it called to me, beckoning me to go further into the forest. I didn't comply, but it grew louder and louder until it was the only thing I could hear. I no longer saw her. I no longer felt the world around me—just the forest, deeper into the forest.
---
I had awoken, but I wasn't where I began. I looked around; I had no idea where I was. I plundered through bushes and peeked through cranes, but I didn't know where I was at all. No sign of Leah, no sign of anyone—just me, alone, desperate to get out, desperate to find Leah, desperate to get back.
At that moment, I felt like an anime protagonist—one who had lost their way and was looking for their team. But it was reversed. I hadn't lost her before losing consciousness; I was sure I heard a voice, and wondered what could have happened. Had it dragged me here unconsciously? My eyes began to search the premises as I looked for any way to get back, but no pathway led anywhere—there wasn't even a path to follow.
It looked like this was going to be hard, but I couldn't give up. I had to make it back to Leah in one piece. I only wondered what Leah was up to right now. Maybe she was the one who had dragged me away—I didn't understand anymore. I began to make a path, but all was mud and dirt. Despite my attempts, I couldn't find a way out. It was like I had been isolated from the world, only until one pathway appeared. If I had my guesses, I had been pulled away from the other worlds, though I wasn't sure.
---
Tension had risen as the fight had just begun. Leah looked Death in the eyes; she had told him to stay away from her, yet he had not listened. Now she was toe to toe with him in what seemed to be a never-ending battle—every strike could most certainly end the war. Her daggers were handy, and in these types of situations, she was able to maneuver them to block her enemy's attacks while simultaneously counter-attacking.
Her blade was able to reach lightning speed; however, the wind flow could affect how much damage it did. Although she had never fought like this, it was as if skill had shown up without being learned. Essentially, it was being loaned to her, and she was borrowing the experience. Her eyes shot open as an attack landed from the back, knocking her forward. Her back was in pain; she felt her body begin to spasm, but she continued to move.
Despite the injury, she was able to dodge multiple attacks before another landed, knocking her to the ground once more. Her eyes faded in and out of consciousness, but she pushed herself to keep going. If she didn't, who would be there to protect Celine? But as she looked back, she noticed Celine was no longer standing there—she had disappeared, out of all sight, nowhere in sight.
Death began to strike again as the words echoed: no matter the length, no matter the strength, no matter the cause. I can break it, I can take it, I can make it, I can fake it. I won't lose. I won't depend on everyone else.
They were old words, but they still held meaning, even in these dark times. I twisted my body to land a kick on Death. Death flew back but got up instantly, almost like it hadn't affected him. Apparently, from what I had grasped so far, he was not affected by physical interactions, so I would have to take this elsewhere. Somewhere that did not exist here—somewhere I had been before.
I had a feeling the reason Death wanted me to say his name and acknowledge it was because he physically couldn't kill me. The same goes for me: if I'm in the physical realm, I cannot kill him either. I began to invoke a name that I hadn't spoken in years. The name was forbidden in my family, but even so, once I invoked it, we were elsewhere—not in the physical plane, but now in the spiritual.
My eyes, now the color of hazel, I called forth my angel. In all red, he appeared like a knight, gallantly answering the call of his ruler. I commanded him to strike down Death, which he obliged. Seconds into the battle, Death had begun to lose his edge—the edge that kept him going. He tried to continue to fight, but weak, he struggled to even stand. Though in that moment, as he was about to pass out, a bright light came over him—like a dazzling sunrise. But no, it became darker and darker and darker until his body just disappeared.
He wasn't dead; I could tell he was retreating. I began to lose consciousness as my form started to fade. I reentered the physical realm. The fight was over—at least for now. My eyes closed as I sank into a deep sleep.
---
No matter how long I tried, I couldn't get past the wall that was keeping me here. A while ago, I had mentioned that something was holding me in. Now, as I look back on it, I suspect that there's a wall—every time I get close to the edge, I'm always sent back. Either that, or I simply can't move. I had tried so many ways to get past this, but no matter how many times I tried, I was always sent back to where I began. Nothing worked. The sanctuary was right in front of me—I could see it, but I couldn't physically touch it.
Although I was where I began, I was somewhere else completely, no longer able to touch or physically interact with the real world. I began to trip as my legs gave out from beneath me. Although I couldn't make any physical interactions, they could interact with me. Despite how it worked, it was a strange way of showing me that even ghosts feel.
As I took a breath in, I tried to take a step—but even that wouldn't come. So what now? What could I do? At this point, I physically couldn't move or interact. What was I supposed to do? I didn't exist on a cellular level. I couldn't physically do anything. So what could I do?
I thought for a second. Although my mind was hazy, I came up with an idea. What if I focused on moving? My thoughts weren't blocked, even if everything else was. If I concentrated on moving, perhaps I could. It was a gamble, but I would try.
I tried to muster up every thought I could about moving. Eventually, thoughts ran through my head: Move… move… continuously. Slowly, I was able to move—but only for split seconds. Every time I repeated the word move, I could advance one step, but only for a fleeting second.
It had been more than an hour since I had found myself in this situation. I had wondered how Leah was doing, but I couldn't fully focus on that at the moment, for I could not move as much as I would have liked. My head was aching, now constantly repeating the word move over and over again. Each time I took one step, repeating it, I slowly made my way toward a pathway I hadn't seen before. I questioned whether that was the way out. And as I reached the pathway, my body began to stabilize. I could finally move—but only briefly. I didn't have to repeat the thought move anymore.
---
I had finally made it back to the sanctuary, where I found Leah asleep. Gosh, she must have had a really big fight—after all, she was sleeping like a baby, even without gripping my hand. I decided I would crash too. Besides, today was a big day—neither of us expected to be thrown into a fight, and neither of us expected to be cut off from reality. But it happened, so I guess sleeping wasn't so bad. I just hoped there was no one around who would chase us in our sleep. I grasped her hand and began to sing myself to sleep.