A World Beyond Reality
This place is neither dark nor cold, but simply the negation of every feeling. Outside time, outside language. No past, no future—just a silent void swallowing meaning without digesting it. Transparent specters, shapeless, without beginning or end, flow in a direction no one knows. Those who stare long enough notice their movements are uncoordinated... as if each specter carries a melody only it can hear.
From time to time, a faint flicker pulses within them and then fades, as if trying to remember... then forgetting.
No above, no below, no direction. Everything is still, except time, which collapses and freezes simultaneously. A moment may be an eternity... and an eternity may be a fleeting instant.
Then, from nowhere, a massive blood-colored specter glows with an ominous redness. It doesn't flow; it surges forward. It crashes into a group of specters, tearing them apart. Some are erased, some are distorted... and some never flicker again, while others affected by its powerful pull break away from the path.
When the specter reaches an invisible barrier, it pierces through like a baseball breaking fragile glass. It passes through, and the others race behind it. Some follow, some lag, some shatter... then the barrier returns to its former state.
After an Indefinite Time
Elsewhere... a black, unnamed planet, many times larger than Earth. No greenery, only continents that look like dormant coal. Its ground does not pulse with life... but with doom.
Inside a cell, a thin boy opened his eyes. He appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. His hand moved involuntarily to his head to feel it. The boy quickly regained consciousness and jumped up as if bitten by a snake. He stood, surprised that his body could support such a sudden movement. Something he had long forgotten because of illness.
Alfonso's eyes scanned the place. He barely saw in the darkness but noticed a movement as an old man with gray hair limped toward him.
"Kaisis... what's wrong? Do you still feel pain from the wound?" the old man asked. Then he added, "Go back to sitting, boy. You're exhausting yourself like this. The wound could reopen at any moment!"
Alfonso was still shocked by everything and felt like he was in a surreal dream. He didn't respond but quietly looked around to examine the place more closely.
"Hehehe! Old man, leave the fool alone and take care of yourself first! Who knows if you'll live past noon or not? Haha!" A thick sarcastic voice came from the corner of the cell.
Alfonso turned toward the voice.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Karol... coal-black, chewing on a small stick eagerly, like a child nursing for the first time.
"Oh... it's you, Karol. I didn't see you there for a moment."
Alfonso's mouth moved automatically with a sarcastic smile: "I started to fear losing you in the darkness one day. Who else will light up our gloomy cell?"
"...!?!" Alfonso realized his body and mouth were responding without his permission, like a spectator.
Karol laughed roughly and said:
"Ha ha ha... very funny! One day, I'll turn your ass into a torch."
Alfonso shook his head wearily.
"Haah, I wonder if you can light a candle with the brain of a monkey you drag by the neck."
Karol was annoyed and almost stood to attack Alfonso, but a strong hand stopped him.
"No need to escalate things, Karol, you started the argument." A man stood between Alfonso and Karol and said, "Kaisis, hmm, you're not acting like yourself today. Is the head wound the reason?" He stared intensely at Alfonso as if seeing his soul, then paled and closed his eyes thoughtfully.
"Listen everyone, there is a noble match next week. I don't need to remind you what that means, right? So rest up and save your energy for success." Arueil announced loudly to the group.
"Where will it be... I was just going to say, I just wanted to offer brotherly advice." Karol said, returning to his corner.
Arueil nodded and returned to his place.
Alfonso returned to his spot and leaned his head against the cold wall.
"Damn... what's happening to me? And where the hell am I?"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Well... let's review. I was in the hospital... I remember that."
He placed his hand on his forehead, but suddenly his body trembled as if shocked, and his eyes widened.
"Dead?! I'm dead?!"
His breaths accelerated, then he tried to calm himself and began analyzing:
"This doesn't make sense... Even if we assume the soul can survive outside the body, how do I retain my memories? Memories are stored in the brain, and they form consciousness..."
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around again, more focused now.
"Cell... nine meters long, about eight meters wide. Steel walls, small ventilation openings connected to a complex internal network... this place is designed for one thing: no one gets out."
Then, with a painful feeling, Alfonso put his hand on his head and memories started flowing into his mind—memories he had never lived, memories of Kaisis.
Inside the Memories
"Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!" The sound of a newborn crying came from a house made of black bricks. The house was old and dilapidated. A man past middle age stood outside the door; his hair had thinned, and his face showed no happiness.
The child's cry moved the man's strong body, about seven feet tall, toward the door. He opened it forcefully.
Inside, the light was dim, and at the far end of the room lay a beautiful young blonde woman in her early twenties, and beside her stood a middle-aged woman with messy hair and dull eyes, wearing ragged clothes, holding a naked infant with little concern for its condition.
"Give me that bastard child! I have to get rid of him before the news spreads!" Hawal said angrily to his wife, Marol.
"Hawal, dear, you shouldn't just throw the baby outside like that," Marol replied. "It's better to bury him here in the house; that way, there will be no disgrace."
"...Yes, you're right," Hawal responded quickly. "I'll get the digging tools." He hurried toward the door to end the matter as soon as possible.
"Nooo! Please! No! I beg you, don't! Don't bury him, Father! Please!" The young woman cried weakly and exhausted. "Please! I beg you to at least leave him somewhere safe outside instead of killing him!"
The girl kept speaking, unable to stop her father or protect her son, even though she knew her words fell on deaf ears. People in this world were naturally cruel.
"Shut up, you slut! You brought shame by bearing this bastard, and now you think you have the right to decide anything?" The father was furious, stepping forward to slap his daughter.
But the mother stopped him: "Hawal, stop! Things are bad enough already; you shouldn't make it worse." Marol reminded her husband, "The Prime family still wants to take her as the fifth wet nurse for their second son. This would help our family's standing in Coolben town."
Hawal reconsidered and thought.
"Father, please! I beg you, take him and put him in a safe place at least. I want to give him this chance." The girl spoke quietly, then firmly: "If you don't, I swear I'll kill myself after him."
Hawal thought more, then approached and picked up the baby, wrapping him in a white cloth, and moved toward the door. "Fine, I'll find a good place and put him there. I won't finish it." He said before closing the door behind him.
Hawal hurried toward the forest carrying his axe and the baby. He went carefully deep into the woods, for that place was known for its dangerous animals. In front of a tree, he placed the baby and left, sure he wouldn't live long.
But he didn't notice a shadow watching him as he entered the forest and closely followed him. After Hawal left, the shadow stepped toward the baby and its features appeared. A man in his late thirties stared at the baby with a smile devoid of emotion, then carried him to his isolated hut next to the forest.ReplyForward