Luna opened her eyes.
She cast a slow glance as she stood.
"What is this place?
Before…"
She whispered, staring at the flickering candle flames.
Suddenly,
she heard a familiar voice that snapped her out of her daze.
A familiar voice, yet childish.
She took careful steps through an atmosphere thick with tension and confusion.
As she walked down a corridor lined with decayed and damaged walls, her position shifted in the blink of an eye.
Luna kept her composure, her focus dim but steady.
Her spiritual body glowed with a clear light.
She swallowed, then quickly turned around.
She was on top of a mountain hill,
night had fallen over the area, and the trees below looked like a carpet of grass.
A rustle…
The full moon was right in front of her eyes.
She froze for a moment, then continued walking in the opposite direction of her starting point.
"What exactly happened? Did this start from trying to grasp the place through that massive collection of memories…"
Luna whispered, placing her fingers on her cheeks.
"Foggy memories—making me dizzy…
Has Toki always lived in such chaos?"
Suddenly, a blinding blue-white light erupted.
In that moment…
Luna opened her eyes calmly.
She heard the sound of flowing water and a waterfall roaring in her ears.
The place was vast, with a chasm in the middle where the water fell like a controlled stream.
Despite the strangeness of the place, she felt a pang of nostalgia.
She placed her hand on her chest.
A faint smile formed on her face.
She murmured to herself:
"So, is this what one of the emotions feels like?
The feeling of longing… Is this truly a different world?"
Her expression shifted slightly.
She looked down at the earthy ground, her features pained.
"Toki! Toki! Do you know what this is?"
"Hmm… Let's see."
Luna nodded.
The atmosphere felt warmer than before.
Fierce winds tossed the ends of her hair into the air.
Time seemed to have stopped.
She moved toward the edge of an abyss, as if someone were calling her.
She stared into the distance, their words penetrating deep inside her.
"What do you think if we keep this? It might be useful."
"No, not now.
So you know what to do."
"Uh… I'll keep the next piece.
Even scraps have value."
"Ah—You have a strange perspective, you know?"
"I know what?"
"You're really curious about everything."
The scene of the person she knew holding her small hand back then flashed.
She pressed her lips together as she watched,
for a moment almost forgetting him.
"Toki… was this…"
She covered her face with her hands.
Red, branching threads in the air clung to her back.
Her sky-blue heart pulsed with a faint white glow.
Hearing that was like dreamy days that would never come again.
Then, the place froze.
The waterfalls stopped.
The sounds vanished.
Even the atmosphere began to shift gradually.
There was no sky, only hardened soil forming a ceiling.
"What happened? Did the flow of his subconscious stop?
No… not exactly."
Luna murmured to herself as the space cracked at a terrifying pace.
The sounds she had been hearing started fading.
The space erupted, and the strong winds pushed Luna desperately,
as if trying to crush her.
She floated again in the pitch-black void.
Her spiritual body's light was the only thing illuminating and slowly dimming.
She was relaxed, her eyes half-aware,
whispering softly:
"Hah… so this is what anxiety from the unknown and disconnection feels like?—"
Luna opened her eyes fully,
her expression stunned.
A gigantic eye stared at her, as if she were gazing at a planet from afar.
She slowly closed her eyelids.
Suddenly, multiple eyes appeared, staring at her.
A clamor of chaotic words, unbearable to hear.
Luna looked coldly,
took a deep breath.
The light surrounding her gradually returned.
Then she unleashed a gentle storm of her aura.
Everyone fell silent.
This was the silence of the place, not of her.
The eyes fixed on Luna with mocking glances, others with anger.
At once, they spoke in a terrifying loud voice:
"Intruder!
Impossible!
Involved!
Who is it?!
Who is present?!
Who… are—"
At that moment, Luna was in her true form,
her hair white and semi-transparent, without her glasses.
But she looked different…
She wore a semi-visible dress:
long, like a bird spreading its wings, undulating slowly.
A cloak floated over her long hair.
She heard a sound like the roar of the void itself.
The eyes shattered like glass, one after another.
As if a voice was announcing its presence.
Luna stopped,
trying to comprehend what had happened,
preparing herself for what was coming.
"Intruder!"
A voice emerged from the dark void.
Luna felt dizzy, swaying slightly.
She said to herself:
"If I sleep here… I'll merge with this place."
The pressure overwhelmed her chest and reached her throat.
She tried to resist that violent suffocation.
She blinked quickly.
And stared into empty eyes, bleeding.
The void itself looked at her.
"This is not good~… kghgh—,"
she murmured in indistinct words.
She opened her mouth,
a mysterious expression appearing on her face.
—
To be continued...