...Huh?
...Why's it so dark?
Yuuki's voice echoed through the emptiness. There was nothing to be seen from all directions, not even a single glimmer of light, only darkness swayed.
What's going on?
What is... This place?
Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind—two children lying side-by-side on hospital beds. Their faces were partially hidden behind oxygen masks, and their small bodies were tangled in a web of wires and tubes, bound to the life support machines that kept them breathing.
No, no no...
...I need to go back.
I have to go back.
Yuuki tried to move, yet there was nothing to move.
...Huh?
My body... I can't feel my body...
...No...
I can't feel anything...
What happened to me?
For a moment, his thoughts went silent, replaced by the endless darkness. But after a few seconds, a shadow darker than the darkness began swimming in the haze.
"Who's there?" The shadow asked, its voice echoing.
By the voice's tone alone, it was clear that this was Issei Sakamoto, only that this time, his voice sounded younger than his real age. Even so, Yuuki didn't respond.
"Whoever you are... Could you please answer me?" Sakamoto asked again.
...Who are you? Yuuki responded with a question, though he was nowhere to be seen.
"Auh? I asked you first... Who are you? And how many of you are there?"
Who am I...? Yuuki began hesitantly. ...I don't remember. He continued. But can you tell me how to get out of here?
I HAVE TO GO BACK.
"You don't remember, you got to have a name of some sort."
Out of nowhere, the darkness around Sakamoto's shadow crumbled, slowly replaced by a bright light, followed by a sweat-mature female voice.
"You are Hajime."
Like a flood, the light carried Issei Sakamoto's shadow to its brightest position.
FLASH.
The instant the darkness and bright light faded, there was a woman with long white hair, wearing a soft and calm smile. She was dressed in a white dress, making her appear as if she was glowing.
She was seated on a bed in a white room, her arms wrapped gently around a fragile baby with mismatched crimson and scarlet eyes.
From the look on the baby's face, he appeared to have been crying for a while before calming down.
"Hajime." The woman said as the baby looked at her with a puzzled expression.
What is this? Issei Sakamoto's voice began fading as the baby's scarlet eye slowly changed its hue to full crimson, matching the other crimson eye.
◇◇◇◇
Some seconds later, another woman dressed in a maid's uniform, branded with intricate markings, appeared out of the thin air.
"Lady Nanako, you're awake?" She uttered, her tone almost surprised.
"Yes, Hajime actually woke me up." The lady in white replied. Her name was Nanako, also the mother of the baby before them.
"Hajime?" The maid muttered. "Who's might that be?" She asked.
Nanako looked at baby Hajime in her arms, a smile still on her face. "This little one, of course." She replied.
Nanako's mismatched Yellow and blue eyes flattered back to the maid. "But I'm curious. What brings you here at this late hour?"
As this was happening, elsewhere.
Miyoko woke up in a place similar to the one Yuuki had been, the only difference being that she could feel her whole being.
How did I get here?
What happened to me?
Confused, she began asking herself questions that had no answers. Then, suddenly, she remembered what had happened before she found herself in this void.
Oh… I was going to tell Yuuki how I feel about him, but then?
...everything went dark.
She thought while her eyes wandered through the darkness, though suddenly, while looking around, she noticed a golden light emanating from the spot where she was floating.
"What's this?" she asked, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the light. Though through the same motion, she noticed strands of hair floating in front of her. They were longer and flowing like threads of liquid gold. Each strand shimmered independently, casting faint light as if the abyss itself were illuminating them.
Miyoko lifted her hands hesitantly, moving them through the glowing threads.
"Auh?" As she did this, she saw her hand glow and realized her whole body was radiating the same golden hue.
Is this the afterlife? She wondered.
◇◇◇◇
Not long after, silver dust, glowing together with her golden form, appeared out of nowhere, flowing slowly like embers from a dying flame. The particles began gathering at a single position in front of Miyoko, swirling together in a hypnotic motion.
The silver coalesced into a solid form, shimmering and reflective, until it took the shape of a huge crystal almost the size of Miyoko, but larger. It hovered steadily, slightly adjusting with Miyoko's motion.
What's this for? She thought curiously, slowly floating closer to it.
Arriving in front of it, she grimaced at it as she realized the figure reflected in the crystal was her. Only in her real form, and her eyes were full of tears.
"Why?" The reflection asked, looking at the glowing Miyoko.
"...Huh?" Surprised, the glowing Miyoko uttered.
On the reflection, tears began trailing small paths across her skin. She then forcefully pressed her hand against the crystal.
"Why?"
"Why do you always have to take everything from me?" The reflection asked, her face darkening as her nails scratched the crystal.
"Why? Why? Why?"
A tight, burning sensation spread across glowing Miyoko's chest. She stared at herself in the reflection, moving forth a hand to press the crystal herself.
"Why am I crying?" she asked herself.
"Why?" The Miyoko in the reflection repeated.
"I'm sorry..." Glowing Miyoko apologized, figuring that the her in the reflection was the her that did everything for her to stay back on Earth and alive.
Yet a moment later, the crystal began to shimmer and shift, its solid form warping and dissolving back into countless tiny silver particles. They swirled and danced around each other for a few seconds, casting the faint golden glow from Miyoko's body, before scattering and vanishing completely into the darkness.
"I hate you." Miyoko's voice echoed, fading slowly into nothingness.
"I'm sorry..." Miyoko closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the sensation of weightlessness. She allowed her body to drift along with the nothingness, unaware of what to do next.
◇◇◇◇
Later, while she was still drifting through the abyss, an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed inside her head. "Hello, little one, I greet you to my world," the voice said.
"Huh?" The voice made Miyoko jolt in surprise. She had no idea where the voice was coming from. She quickly looked around again, yet there was no one in sight.
The voice had sounded so close, almost as if it were right next to her.
"...Who's there?!" She asked, making a complicated expression.
The voice remained silent for a brief moment before replying. "I am no one, and at the time I am nothing. Think of me as a god who has come here to give you a second chance, so do not fear."
A second chance? Miyoko thought, one eye twitching with confusion.
"What do you mean?" she asked, shifting her eyes, trying to locate the speaker.
"I desire something from you. And I know how much you want to leave this place. So frankly speaking, if you agree to my conditions, in return, I will grant you anything, even powers beyond imagination."
"Sorry, but... I can't trust you." Miyoko said.
"I get how you feel and how absurd I sound, but believe, believe in me, and I can make anything you desire a reality."
"Reality?"
"Indeed," the voice replied, calm and commanding. "I can make anything possible. I can even give you the power to play, twist, and control reality without even breaking a sweat." The voice continued. "Or perhaps, you'd rather remain here, trapped in this endless void, for eternity?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly the answer I needed from you," the voice echoed, "This location, this place is the endless black domain created by you. In other words, this is a prison for souls who departed with regrets heavy upon their hearts. Here, time stretches without mercy, and hope withers away. Yet, you are not bound to it forever. You may take the power I offer or remain here, adrift."
The information the voice revealed left Miyoko's mind clouded with more unanswered questions. She couldn't settle on a single thought, and as much as she wanted to believe the voice, she couldn't just bring herself to do so. Still, she remembered the face of the other Miyoko in the reflection, the tears that streamed down her cheeks, and the pain she felt after losing everything. So even if it meant losing everything again to return to reality, she figured she would have to take a gamble, leaving everything to chance.
"What're the conditions?"
"I'm glad we're on the same page. And you needn't worry about the conditions, they're simple enough even for an infant."
"First, you shall let yourself go; second, you shall bow down to the almighty and sacrifice yourself for the greater good; and finally, you shall surrender your body to god." The voice explained.
Though the voice advised not to worry because the conditions were easy enough to understand, it left Miyoko more confused, as she didn't know what to make of the words.
"I don't get it?"
"You don't need to get it." The domain began to crack like shattering glass, and cyan light began to take shape in the forming cracks. The whole domain began shaking heavily, making Miyoko brace herself at whatever was happening.
CRACK! BAAM!
Finally, the whole domain shattered. Shards of the abyss pierced through Miyoko's golden form, though she didn't feel any pain.
She gasped a little, looking at the shards embedded in her body. Shortly after, she slowly began to descend onto a marble floor; the whole domain was now gone, replaced by the inside of a large room that appeared like a parthenon of a noble god. Yet, it appeared empty, with only Miyoko coming down.
Miyoko finally reached the bottom, standing poised as her eyes wandered around the touring pillars placed on each wall of the structure, and from the looks of it, the structure contained a thousand pillars, each containing intricate patterns of accent writing.
What is this place?
"The first part of the conditions was a success," The voice echoed from every corner of the structure. "I now truly welcome you to my castle." The voice began as neon lights flickered around Miyoko's form. "From today forward, you shall be known as Neon, the light that will grant all who ask, and the disaster that shall be brought to those who stray from the path of justice."
"Now, Neon, let us go forth with the second condition." The voice continued.
Neon glanced around with a blank expression on her face, wondering what the voice was trying to say, and her golden glow was now nowhere to be seen.
"Sorry, but I still don't get what's going on?" She said. Yet the moment the words left her mouth, she felt dizzy, and everything around her began spinning. She tumbled back slightly, her hand pressing her right temple.
"Move to your forward and bow down to the almighty, sacrifice yourself for the greater good."
Neon's body began to move on its own, heading forward to an empty, massive throne sitting a few feet in front of her. She tried to resist, slowing her pace as she got closer, but her will was too weak to keep up with her newfound form.
She opened her eyes slowly. The room was still spinning, and there was now a figure in front of her, containing the same face her Neon form had.
...Who's that? ...Why's she just standing there?
The figure smirked, slowly approaching her.
...Is she the voice?
...No... The voice clearly sounds like a man... But then... Who is she?
"Let us begin," the figure said. Her lips moved in perfect sync with the deep, masculine boom of the voice, creating a jarring, dual-toned harmony.
The figure reached out a hand, as Neon's body did the same, and upon contact, the two figures began to intertwine, slowly fusing as one.
"This has gone far enough." Another voice rippled through the structure, making the fusing figures halt for a second.
As the nameless figure began to move its head to glance at the throne, there was a sudden flash of light that made everything stand motionless as if time itself had stopped, moving neither forward nor backwards.
"Why did you come here? And why would you interrupt me when I was so close to taking everything back?"
"If you want to take everything, then go and take it with your own hands, don't force your failures on the innocent."
A figure dressed in silver armor and a white cloak emerged from behind Neon. She had cascading white hair, so long it nearly touched the floor. In her hand, she gripped a glowing sword made of pure, compressed light. Her silver armor shimmered, reflecting the hue around her.
The voice didn't reply.
"I guess you haven't yet learned your lesson, Orvethal!" The woman said, separating the two Neon figures with her sword.
"...This is none of your concern," the voice muttered. "What have you come here for, anyway?" It added.
"That's none of your concern. I go wherever I want, and that will never change until I find what I'm looking for." The woman slashed the air, and the motion was then followed by a ripple that looked like a portal connecting to infinite dimensions. "If you disagree, you can show yourself in person."
Her sword vanished, and later, she carried Neon on her shoulder, moving inside the ripple.
SWITCH.
The ripple snapped shut, leaving the other figure behind, and after a second, just before the ripple closed, time became motion again.
"Caelthys… you're going to pay for what you've done here." The figure said, its form slowly fading.