The area around was pitch black, there wasn't a wall, window, and even a floor to be seen. The place was empty, yet he felt like she was falling in the abyss.
There wasn't sound, nor a sign of anyone besides her. She wondered to herself, but her mind was empty. It felt like she was conscious and at the same time not. There wasn't a trace of emotions swelling in her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. At first glance she saw the usual darkness that expanded endlessly. Unable to move her body freely, she turned her head around. Even if her mind was empty, shifting her head sideways made her head ache.
This was an odd situation she found herself in, even remembering the incident before was impossible, somehow she lost her memories. She felt like uttering a word, but nothing came out of her mouth, she tried again but failed.
Suddenly, at the corner of her eyes a bright appeared, she turned her head towards the faint light where she was met with an unfamiliar silhouette standing far from her. She couldn't tell who it was, the figure just stood there staring at her, she couldn't see the eyes but it was a hunch. There wasn't a sign of malice, but her heart begun pumping so loud that she could hear it. What exactly was happening to her?
The figure took one step forward, but she kept falling into the darkness. Immediately, the figure changed pace and sprinted towards her direction. She widened her eyes in shock, trying to run away, but her body was motionless without change.
It was wierd, the figure just walked in a straight path while she kept falling. She silently sighed in relief, it seems the figure won't be able to catch her. But where exactly is she at? It felt like being inside a dream, worse nightmare.
Her heart continued pumping loudly.
"visio nocturna..."
She heard a whisper, it was unclear what it said, but she couldn't simply ignore it. "visio nocturna," the mysterious voice whispered again, but the words were still unclear. If she could say something it would have been, "this place is just hell, if it's a prank then it isn't funny. A nightmare? Just release me!" Sadly, she couldn't mutter those words.
The figure she previously saw mysteriously vanished in a blink of an eye, relief or fear, she couldn't decide what to choose. Her heart just kept going like it was going to burst out, she had a bad feeling something was behind her.
She chose to follow her instincts, a logical choice. She turned her head behind, where she was encountered with a purple figure. The figure had a body shape of a female, but the entire body was purely purple, without a face. She couldn't shape the feeling to run away, they were two completely separate figures in this place, a dark figure and a purple figure. Everything felt like a dream, one thing after the other kept coming, was it trying to kill her?
"I'm not done yet. She'll parish, just keep fighting. If you don't, she might—" The red figure calmly spoke out, the voice was peaceful and heavenly.
Her hand randomly stretched out, it wasn't her doing the command, her head had a mind of its own. Her hand reached for her own neck, slowly it started closing like it was strangling him. She couldn't resist or fight the urge, it felt like the body wasn't hers. The purple figure reached close to her, she could hear the purple figure say something. "No..."
As chaos kept piling up like rocks, a faint light appeared at her neck. The light brighten so strong, turning the entire darkness into a field of light. Her hand stopped moving, and the purple figure disappeared after the light washed up the entire place. "Ahhhhhh!" He could scream, Arthur was finally able to scream again but in pain.
Seconds later, his vision blurred and turned dark. Arthur was unconscious after the impact of the light, he didn't have a second thought besides screaming after what he had witnessed.
"Arthur...."
As what seemed to be a nightmare, Arthur finally woke up. His head was fuzzy after the experience with the nightmare, he could only remember seeing a bright light, and feeling pain at the process. Luckily, the effects were all happening inside the dream and not the real world, he sighed with relief and watched his surroundings.
Arthur found himself sleeping in a strange room, there wasn't much inside the room but a bunch of wooden swords scattered throughout the floor. There was a book besides him on the bed he was resting at, the book titled, "first generation." The title woke his brain, he was inside his room.
"What happened...? Hold on! What happened to the villagers?!" Arthur panicked, and quickly jumped off the bed.
The pieces were all coming together, previously, he fought against a random bandit that wanted to kidnap the villagers, alongside his friends, Iris and Blake. He challenged the bandit, as they were in an intense clash, Arthur used his trump card thereafter passed out from exhaustion. His mother probably put him in bed, he wasn't sure, but his priorities were on the tied up villagers.
"Meow!"
Sprinting towards the door, he was caught off guard by a sound he was familiar with, "Storm?" He called out, turning behind. A brown cat with a ferocious look—Storm was sitting by the window licking his paws, as both their gaze met Storm leaped over at Arthur's head while letting out another, Meow sound.
"Storm! I'm glad you're alright. How's the villagers? What happened while l was asleep? What happened to the bandit? Iris, Blake-" Arthur kept piling up questions after the other, he was overloading with unanswered questions that it made his head ache.
Storm licked his paws and calmly replied, "humans love panicking without first understanding the current situation, and for someone as young as you worried this much...you creep me sometimes." Storm continued with his discriminative replies, each and every word uttered by this brown cat were just teasing Arthur, but who exactly was the weird one?
Storm's reply was logical, Arthur got tensed without thinking. After letting out a very deep sigh, he asked again. "Let's talk about what happened, cover me with as much details you have."
"That's much better, Meow."
"What's with the wait? Answer already."
"Meow. First things first, you managed to successfully defeat the bandit and rescued the villagers. You were heavily injured so the village chief carried you home, he was the one that healed you of your wounds. Secondly, the bandit you defeated was tied up so one of the villagers could report him, as we were escorting the bandit to the nearest station, something happened."
"....."
"The bandit uttered something before taking his life."
"One's deadly eyes, hating the other, cursing the other. Let your power dwell on my right eye, and curse my existence."
"After that his body decayed. It was a strange occurrence, and so random. We still don't know where he's from, judging from his saying, he probably belongs in a shady organisation." Storm concluded as he leaped over Arthur's bed.
"That's nasty, and creep."
Arthur finally calmed down a bit, knowing his friends were okay gave him a sense of relief, he let out a faint smile after hearing that, then his smile disappeared after the last statement. A mysterious man, committing suicide after being caught did sound like something out of a cult.
Arthur was familiar with cults, he could describe them as being devils for how much chaos they cause, terrorising cities, committing mass murder, and other evil activities you could think of.
But, all those facts about cults and the bandit killing himself wasn't something he will put much into, it wasn't business to think about it, so he brushed the thoughts off his head. "Nonetheless, l'm glad everyone's safe."
"Was going to say same, but l don't know those bozo. Either ways, GUYS! ARTHUR HAS AWOKEN FROM HIS DEEP SLUMBER!" Storm dashed at the window and let out a scream, telling people about Arthur, although outside was empty.
"What are you doing?"
"Three, two, one—" Storm counted, as he reached on the count of one, he hit the floor with his paws making a bang sound.
Thereafter, Arthur heard multiple footsteps approaching his room, they were loud, he took steps backwards waiting for what was going to embrace him. Maybe the villagers came to thank him, it was an achievement he loathe. The footsteps stopped, seconds later the wooden door opened, and it was—
"Don't thank me... huh? Seriously, it's just you guys?" Arthur whispered weakly, with a sense of disappointment.
Revealing at the entrance of his room, there were three people. On the right side a boy about the size of Arthur with black hair that reached his eyes, golden wheat eyes, and a gloomy expression—Blake. On the left side, a girl slightly shorter than Arthur with long white hair, skin as snow, and beautiful ocean blue eyes—Iris. Finally in the middle, a middle aged man with a sleepy expression, his long black hair reaching his legs, and wearing a brown short. Alongside leather shoes.
"Sorry for intruding, my name is Ember Wars, the chief of this village. Unless you know who l am."
"No, l didn't know this village had any sort of hierarchy, thought it was a place of freedom." Arthur immediately replied, placing his right hand on his chin.
"Now that's making me cry, kids these days don't know anything."
After hearing Arthur's savage response, Ember's expression dropped, it was like the world betrayed him. He wanted to disappear, not really.
Ember immediately shook his head, and let out a weak cough keeping a straight posture. Then, he lowered his body, and muttered few words. "Thank you for protecting the villagers, young warrior. I'm at your great debt."
"Whoah! There's no need to bow, Ember. You're an elderly, saying while you stand is just fine by me."
"No! There's nothing l can give you besides bowing in respect, please accept it."
There was no shaking Ember from what he was doing, he didn't even raise his head while muttering those words, it was a sign of respect in this village. Arthur gave up trying to stop him, he walked towards him and tapped his shoulder. Ember met his gaze and let out a tear. Arthur was growing annoyed, l mean he said it was fine and needed nothing more, grown ups were difficult to understand.
"Someone noticed my hard work, l feel happy about. Someone praising me for what l've done, appreciating my hands. Ah! It made me giggle." Arthur whispered to himself, his smile spread wide. "I accept it, Ember. It was my duty after all, l held a sword used to cut my enemies, and protect my surroundings. I'll keep getting strong." Arthur declared a strong statement, there weren't sacarsim but genuine phrases.
What Arthur had done was completely different from his old self, in his old life, he had resources that he could use to share with others but chose not too, all he did was watch others fall on his knees begging for assistance he couldn't give. It wasn't like he wasn't capable, he chose not too. It was a selfish act, prideful at most. His sinister act was a nuisance to society, people didn't want to be around him. Getting a second life, he realised how much irreversible damage he has done, he learns to move on, understanding his mistakes. Wishing to turn everything around, even if he protects others with his own hands, receive blessings, and live a happy life without regrets. That didn't mean his soul was purified, it was still engulfed with darkness. Removing that personality wasn't a wall in the park, it would take much time, but Arthur wants to trust the process.
Even now, he doesn't know why he was given another life regardless of his past, he thought he'd receive hell. But there wasn't changing the past, no one knew about his old self. He has to let the world know about 'Arthur Zephyros' not 'Ethan Carter'
"Hate is temporary, people wouldn't wish to stand by your side, the world keeps rotating while you rot alone. It's like throwing a stone in the ocean, you never know how deep it is. Love is permanent, painting the world with colours of joy can create a brighter future, nothing is possible alone, but learning to appreciate others, showing humility, using your hardwork to push forward, then people will connect with you. Knowing full well you won't be alone."
Lessons learnt: Your achievements are determined by your hardwork, not by the help of an imposter.
There was more Arthur wanted to learn, the world is bigger than he thought. There was a lot in store, pushing forward was his top priority. It's difficult trying to live a peaceful life than living a horrible life.
"Alright! Blake, Iris, and Storm. I'm feeling excited today, let's train till we bleed out!"
"Ahhhhhh! Why blood?!" "Okie doki Arty, but who the hell is Storm? You talking about the chief?"
"I just introduced myself earlier, how did you forget that easily?!" " Meow! Humans enjoy a decent conflict, atleast try maintaining peace."
"Whoah, a cat spoke."
"I don't think l fully healed yet, these people are making so much noise. I'm off to bed, made that tough talk for nothing."
"Meow!"