When light and darkness collide, every choice comes with a price.
It was very dark. So dark that I couldn't see or hear anything. I couldn't even feel my body. It felt like I didn't exist anymore. But wait… hadn't I just died? Or was this some kind of hell? I didn't know what to think.
Just when I was starting to believe my life was fading away for good, I thought I heard a voice. It was soft, almost like a whisper inside my mind. It said, "Your life was tough… so now it's time to move on." But was I really hearing that? Or was it just my imagination, trying to make sense of the emptiness around me?
If this was hell, I wondered, did I do something so wrong in my life to end up here? But as far as I could remember, nothing good had happened to me. My life had been full of pain, betrayal, and hardship. If that's true, then shouldn't I be in heaven instead of this darkness?
I felt a mix of confusion and anger. It didn't seem fair. After all I went through, why wasn't I getting the peace I deserved? "Damn it," I thought, "if this is where I belong, then so be it."
The silence pressed on, deeper than I could imagine. But somewhere inside, a small spark of hope flickered, even in the thick darkness.
Just as I was thinking all this, I suddenly heard someone laughing loudly behind me. The sound was cold and cruel. Then I felt it—something big was coming toward me. Something dark and evil.
A shiver ran down my spine as I turned to look. Sweat started to run down my face without me noticing. When I turned to look, my breath caught in my throat. What I saw was unlike anything I had ever imagined.
The ground seemed to slip away beneath my feet. This was pure evil, powerful and terrifying. I could feel it deep inside me, an eerie and terrifying power touching my skin. It was real—and I didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying it now. This being was here, and it was coming for me—but somehow, I thought maybe it was.
Suddenly, the endless, heavy darkness began to fade away. The cold silence that had pressed down on me like a heavy weight loosened and finally disappeared. Then, slowly, a faint light appeared—soft and far away, like the first thread of dawn pulling the night apart.
The light grew brighter and warmer, pushing away the shadows. In a moment, the darkness was gone, replaced by a gentle glow. I found myself standing in a garden filled with sunlight. Flowers stretched out all around me, their petals moving gently in a calm breeze under a wide, clear sky.
The air was crisp and fresh, carrying a subtle scent like earth after a light rain. The quiet around me was full of gentle stillness—a peacefulness that held a quiet promise of something better. In that instant, the crushing weight of emptiness I had carried for so long was lifted.
Then, suddenly, a girl appeared in front of me. Her skin was a soft, light grey, and her hair shimmered silver like moonlight. I had never seen anything like her in my entire life.
She walked slowly toward me, graceful and calm. She was the very definition of beauty, more stunning than anyone I had ever known.
At that moment, I froze—not because I was afraid or staring at her beauty, but because I simply couldn't move. It was as if my body had turned to ice.
With every step she took closer, my heart began to pound louder and faster. My throat went dry, and I felt trapped in a nightmare. I couldn't move, and it felt like a cold, freezing chill was creeping toward me, tightening its grip.
She stopped just a few steps away from me. Her eyes met mine, and they were strange— but somehow both kind and cold. I tried to say something, but no words came out. My lips wouldn't move.
For a moment, we just stood there in silence. The world around us felt like it was holding its breath. She tilted her head a little, her expression unreadable.
As soon as she came closer, she suddenly started floating in the air. I couldn't believe my eyes. Shocked, I rubbed them hard. But when I opened my eyes again, she was still right there, floating just inches from me. Her face was close—like I was looking at a goddess.
Her eyes were golden, shining brightly, framed by silver eyebrows and shimmering silver eyelids. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life.
Finally, she spoke, her voice soft but clear, like a gentle wind blowing through the garden. "You do not need to be afraid," she said. "I am not here to hurt you."
Her words should have calmed me, but my body was still frozen. Only my mind raced with questions: Who was she? Where was I? Why did her voice sound both comforting and dangerous at the same time?
She took another step closer and reached out her hand. "You have come a long way," she said. "But you are not done yet. There is still a path ahead of you."
Her presence filled the air, and even though fear lingered inside me, I felt a spark of hope—like maybe, just maybe, I wasn't alone in this strange place.
I wanted to ask her who she was and where I was, but my voice was trapped inside me. Instead, I just stared at her outstretched hand, as if it held the answer to all my questions.
Slowly, hesitantly, I reached out and touched her palm. The moment our skin met, a strange warmth spread through my body. It was unlike anything I had felt before—both soothing and powerful, as if awakening something deep inside me.
She smiled gently. "You carry a heavy burden," she said softly. "A link to a past long forgotten, a power you do not yet understand."
I frowned, confused and curious. "What do you mean?" I asked in my head—her voice spoke straight into my thoughts.
There was a moment of silence. Then she whispered, "Your past life is tied to a great force... but you don't need to know anything more right now. Just remember this for now."
I wanted to ask her what she meant, to demand answers, but something held me back—an instinctive warning that prying further might cost me more than I was willing to pay. The fear was real, visceral, my body trembling despite my efforts to hide it.
Yet beneath that fear was something else—something that made no sense. My mind was telling me "son, you should stay away from her" but my heart was screaming like crazy, "I think I'm in loveee". After everything I'd been through, I didn't think I could feel anything anymore. But here I was, drawn to her despite all logic telling me to run.
As I got lost in these conflicting thoughts, something strange happened. The eerie, suffocating feeling that had haunted me before simply vanished. All I could focus on now was her.
She reached up slowly and brushed the hair away from my left ear. Then she leaned in close, so close I could barely breathe. She whispered something that made my entire body go still.
"I'm going to make you reincarnate," she said softly into my ear. "So you can fulfill your dream, Mr. ****."
Her words shocked me completely. But even as my mind struggled to understand what she'd just said, I noticed something else—her fragrance. It was beautiful and mysterious, like nothing I'd ever smelled before.
I was shocked. What was this lady saying? But looking at her, I could sense she was something far beyond my understanding. It made sense somehow. So instead of panicking, I asked her, "Who are you? And why are you giving me such an opportunity?"
She smiled gently and said, "I'm doing this because it is you. About me, you'll eventually know in time."
When she said that, I blushed. It was a completely new feeling for me. I found myself thinking, "I'm now glad that I died. I got to meet this goddess." I know it sounds crazy, but I'm a man too, after all.
But I couldn't stay lost in those thoughts. I needed answers. So I asked her again, "I know you are some supernatural being. I don't know if you're good or evil, but can you at least tell me what you are? I need to trust you a little."
Her expression changed. The smile disappeared for a moment, but then it returned. "I can be good or bad, depending on the situation," she said. "Don't worry. You can trust me because I was watching your whole life."
I was stunned. "What? You were spying on me this whole time? But why?"
She chuckled softly. "Because it was very interesting."
I couldn't help but laugh. "I guess that's true."
Then she said, "I'll help you as much as I can. You can rely on me anytime."
Her words made me think. If she was going so far for me, she must want something in return. So I asked, "If you're going so far for me, maybe you need something from me? Something only I can give you?"
She only smiled at my question. That smile told me everything. I remembered an old quote: to achieve something, you have to lose something. And I realized—whatever she wanted, whatever the cost would be, I was already willing to pay it.
Then came the moment I knew was inevitable. It was time to say goodbye.
"Now it's time we part," she said softly. "But before that, I have something for you."
She asked me to come close and sit in Sukhasana—cross-legged on the ground. I did as she asked, my heart pounding. She moved her hands over me, performing something I couldn't quite see or feel. There was no pain, no visible change. Just a strange sense of something shifting deep within me, like a lock clicking into place.
When she finished, she looked at me one last time. Her golden eyes seemed to hold entire worlds.
"Goodbye," she said, her voice both tender and final. "Do something worthwhile in your next life."
Before I could respond, before I could even thank her, she began to fade. Her form became translucent, like mist dissolving in morning light. The beautiful garden around us started to blur and dissolve as well.
Then I felt it—the darkness returning. The same void I'd woken from pulled me back down, swallowing me whole. The light disappeared. The goddess disappeared. Everything disappeared.
And I was alone in the darkness once more.
To be continued...