"What was this feeling? Why couldn't I sense any pain? Was I dead?"
In that instant Liam's subconscious shattered like glass.
A searing pressure clamped around his chest, as if invisible hands were tearing his heart apart. His breath caught, but there was no air. No pain — just the sensation of drowning in something not quite water, not quite shadow.
Then everything collapsed.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
After some unknown span, Liam began to regain consciousness. A strange weight pressed against his eyelids. Why were they so heavy? It felt as if someone had placed something over them, making it nearly impossible to open them.
He tried.Once.Twice.Still too heavy.
What had happened to him? Where… was he?
The silence around him was thick, almost alive. His body refused to respond, as if it no longer fully belonged to him.
Then he heard someone.
A voice — trembling, cracking with sobs.
A girl. She was crying, shouting.
"Leo!! Please!! Where are you?! Answer me!!""Don't leave me… not like this…"
Her voice was full of fear, pain and desperate pleading, as if her whole world had broken.
Liam's mind spun.
Leo…? That name again. Why did it keep echoing in his head?
He wanted to answer her. He wanted to move. But his body refused.
All he felt was cold. And that name — Leo.
What was this? Why was he seeing this? Was it… a memory?
But whose memory was it? Who was he, and why was he inside another man's mind? And who were these people? Why were they calling him Leo?
A sudden weight crushed his chest — not physical, but sorrow: raw and bottomless. A sadness so deep it threatened to swallow him.
Why did her crying make him feel this way? His heart throbbed with an ache he could not place. He could not make sense of the pain.
Then — a flash. A flicker.
A vision, or maybe a memory.
He saw a girl, young and determined, eyes wet with tears but burning with strength.
Then another image, quicker this time. He saw himself again… or at least, the boy they called Leo.
"Sister…?" he whispered; the word barely formed in his thoughts.
Another wave struck.
This time he saw her hugging him tightly, her voice trembling but brave.
"Don't cry, Leo…Mom and Dad taught us how to survive in this world.And I'm still here.Your sister is always with you."
Liam's breath hitched.
The pain was not someone else's alone. It felt like his.
His heart tightened. A cold dread sank into his bones.
How could this be possible? How was he Leo…?
Where was he? What place was this?
All around him was nothing but thick, endless darkness — suffocating and complete.
Then he felt something solid beneath him: cold, jagged stone. He lay on a rock surface.
Suddenly a soft light appeared in the distance. It was faint and warm, like a lantern glowing in the dark. It flickered, dancing gently in the shadows. Beside it, the silhouette of the girl from his memory moved toward him.
Without thinking, without knowing why, the name slipped from his lips — fragile and breathless.
"Mira…"
The girl froze. Her eyes widened and tears welled again. She dropped the lantern and ran toward him, sobbing.
"Where were you going?! You know the kingdom has forbidden anyone from entering this place!" Her voice shook with fear and sorrow.
Leo tried to sit up, but his body failed him. He looked at her helplessly.
"I can't stand… I don't know why… Please, help me."
Without hesitation she grabbed his hand and pulled, steadying him as he rose on shaky legs. Her arms wrapped around him tightly.
"Come on," she said, voice trembling as tears streamed down. "Please… let's get out of here. I was so scared. I can't lose you again."
They walked slowly toward the end of the corridor, each step echoing through the ancient silence.
Suddenly Liam froze.
A cold whisper brushed his ear — soft, breathless.
"Leo…"
His heart leapt. His body stiffened; every hair along his neck rose.
He turned slightly, eyes wide.
"Mira… did you hear that?" he asked.
She glanced around, confused. "What is it?" she asked softly.
Liam hesitated. His eyes flicked along the corridor.
"N-No… it's nothing," he said quickly, forcing a smile. "Let's just get out of here."
Something felt wrong.
Why had that Leo gone to this place in the first place?
The question pulsed in Liam's mind as he and Mira walked slowly through the ancient corridor. Dust, untouched for ages, stirred beneath their feet. Cracks spiderwebbed the stone. Faint etchings lined the walls — symbols half-lost to time, whispering secrets in a tongue he could not place. The lantern in Mira's hand guttered as if struggling to hold back the darkness.
Under the dim glow they reached the ruins' exit. The air shifted as they stepped outside.
It was night — but not an ordinary night. The sky hung unnaturally dark and heavy. No stars. No moon. Thick clouds lay low like a blanket of sorrow.
Before them stretched a wide, empty field of grass — silent and cold, as if the land itself held its breath.
The air tasted of age and cold; it pressed upon his chest, making each breath feel hard-won.
Why was he here? What had he been doing before this?
His memory was a blank canvas.
Then a stray thought slithered into his head: Wait… was this like the stories he used to read? People dying and waking in another world?
A chill snaked down his spine.
He tried to laugh it off, but the idea refused to go.
Then something flickered — a memory? A dream? A shard of something broken?
A distant voice — urgent — shouted through the dark inside his head.
"Liam!!"
His heart twisted sharp.
The world around him shifted, as if reality had leaned sideways for a single moment. His vision swam.
Did he… really die?
He stopped walking.
Was he not meant to be here?
The weight of the question fell upon him like the ruined palace overhead — cold, suffocating, and impossibly real.