"Ran? Ran? I can't connect to your senses. What happened?" Her voice was mesmerizing—a tone that one could listen to endlessly, always yearning for more.
"It's over. Everything is gone," a voice laced with despair whispered.
A young man floated in a dark void; all that remained of his body was his torso.
"What can an insect like me do in the face of such an otherworldly catastrophe?"
"Ran! It's going to be alright! You can regenerate yourself; we will live together. You are special.
"Ran looked down, eyes shedding tears of ice, each one freezing the instant it fell in the coldness of space.
"Liar. You are always a liar."– he mumbled in a mocking tone.
"No! Stop! I love you!"
Ran laughed bitterly.
"Ever since our first meeting, you used me... Cough—" he choked out, coughing up blood that froze on his lips.
The enchanting voice of the woman fell silent.
"Are you a mortal?" A voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere, neither distinctly male nor female.
"What are you now?" Ran wishpered
"I'm the woman you love, am I not?" Ran ignored her presence.
A purple light enveloped the void, illuminating his appearance.
His jade-dark hair floated as his hollow eyes stared out, devoid of hope, yet a smile lingered—one that seemed to yearn to consume the existence itself .
"Hmmm, interesting child. One head, two arms, and these intestines. If that is your form and how your kind is constructed, then why is your lifeforce leaking so quickly?"
Ran gazed at his intestines, twisted and frozen into grotesque shapes.
"I am Nothingness—a crack between existence. Among travelers, I am known as Void," the entity introduced itself.
"Monument of Void, you stretch and gleam,A phantom lost in an endless dream.Curious hands grasp shadows wide,
Yet in depth, you quietly reside," he mumbled, his voice weak.
"Hmm, I see an interesting one," Void mused.Ran felt his body twist and turn as a warm sensation engulfed his being; strangely, he felt he was being resurrected by this eternal emptiness.
"You shall remain in my grasp until the day you die."Ran was restored by the Void, though his form was incomplete; his legs did not return.
Indifferent, he looked at the shapeless Void, neither grateful nor afraid.
"What do you want from an insect like me?"
"Hmm... I wish to see how death claims a mortal. Once, a traveler mentioned a mortal as one destined to be consumed by the Ashen Dwan."
"Ashen Dwan?" Ran's eyes widened.
"Hmm, I do not know myself, child. I want to see how it will claim you. You are the first mortal whom I've found in my grasp."
Ran felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
He no longer cared about life or death—the terrifying truth was that, by merely existing, this Void had power over him. That reality was far more dreadful than death itself.
"Who are you talking to? What's going on? I'm scared—I'm scared, Ran!"
Her enchanting voice trembled, carrying such emotion that any man would have rushed to save her, even at the cost of his life.
Ran shivered in silence, too lost to speak.
"A traveler once showed me his life," the Void murmured. "It intrigued me. Now I want to see yours... Show me, child."
" Life? Why? "
" Hmm, interesting one I can't look into you ." – the void mused.
* * *
Drip. Drip.
Ran sensed a familiar feeling—his body soaked in water. He rubbed his eyes and looked up. The clouds were crying; the whole sky moaned in shades of gray.
"Where?"
BAM !
Someone kicked Ran in the chest. He fell into a puddle of muddy water.
"You little thief! Scram! Never show your face again!"
The man spat on his face and left the wet concrete road.
"What's going on?"
Ran shook his head in bafflement. He tried to stand, but his stomach churned from the man's kick.
"A bread?" He looked at his hands, clutching a loaf with a grip so tight it felt like the last thing on Earth he owned.
His eyes fell on a reflection. His pupils shrank as he stared at his vague image in the muddy water. His clothes were worn and cheap—nothing pure cotton, boots far from exclusive quality, pants ragged. He looked frail and unnervingly young.
He tried to stand and pinch himself, and to his surprise, it all felt real—the smell of the slums, the sound of raindrops dripping on the ground. He opened his mouth and, without a second thought, bit into the mud-soaked bread.
"Hmm, it tastes like soil," he spat.He checked his Aetherband and saw the time and year:
10th of October 2423
8:34 PM
Wednesday.
He shook his head.
"Is this a jest?"
His gaze was cold and indifferent as he looked at the gray sky, feeling rain drops falling on his face.
"Even if it is an illusion, I don't care."
"A warm smile touched his lips—gentle as a saint's—but his eyes held the cold indifference of a tyrant. He chuckled and recited softly:
.....
Spring's warmth drank by winter's breath,
A fleeting bloom embraced by death.
Yet in frost's chill, a quiet peace,
A soft release, a sweet release.
Illusion's veil or truth's cold sway,
It shrugs it off and greets the gray.
For in shadow's grasp, it finds anew—
A fragile hope, both false and true.
...
"Three years back am I! or not?" he mused.
He had complex feelings about the enchanting voice that once echoed in his mind—now it faded away as if it had never existed.
He slowly walked toward a foul-smelling shed, his frail body trembling with weakness, his head foggy. A dry chuckle escaped his lips as he took in his pitiful state.
He sought refuge under the shed—not because he disliked the rain, but because this place held a deeper significance.
A flicker of light blinded his eyes. Someone's torch. He laughed quietly to himself.
"Just like before…"
The silhouettes of two men loomed before him.
"Oh, look at this one! Let's take this kid in—he might be a better match!""Why is he looking at us like that?"
Ran's face was pale as moonlight, his eyes cold, his expression hollow—a ghost wearing flesh.They grabbed him roughly, but he didn't resist.
"Ohh, such cooperation? This lad knows his manners!"
The men laughed as they mocked him.Ran didn't scream. He didn't protest. His body went limp as they threw him into the back seat of the Gravion.
"So... it's the time I ran away from home and got abducted by the Lookers into the extraction zone."
He remembered that moment clearly. Yet, deep inside, he knew this abduction wasn't truly a misfortune—if anything, it would open better opportunities for him. And so, he allowed himself to be taken.
His mouth was gagged with a rough cloth, his arms and legs bound tightly. He gazed at the masked faces of the Lookers who had kidnapped him, mockery gleaming in his cold eyes.