Every so often Elyas would open his eyes to witness Noah. Carrying him deeper into the woods, setting up camp, or sleeping.
Despite all of these chances to escape, he didn't. Elyas' eyes were indifferent in the face of freedom. He didn't see Noah as his capturer, he simply didn't see the world at all. He closed and opened his eyes only to find that the weather had changed, the day had passed or to find Noah trying desperately to talk to him. Trying to feed him, or carry him away.
One day he found himself in a city, dumped in a dark alley no one would check. It was as if he was a child again, left alone on the street side like a bag of garbage.
Days passed, nights came. But for Elyas time was frozen. More frozen than his body under heavy rain or the blanket of winter snow. Noah's words destroyed every hope he had of meeting them. "A hundred years."
You abandoned them
Even if alive, what are you going to say?
You'll never see his face
Never see his smile
Never caress his cheek
YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE
With each breath a new thought formed. From it, came a vision which Elyas used to prosecute himself.
The image of his mother distracting a Figment to let him and her husband live. The image of Ralf's battered and broken body, lying among the corpses of his colleagues. Watching him leave, following him out of the office door with a hopeful gaze.
The images of that day.
A blindingly white light shone from the sky, showering everyone with Whispers of greatness. The murmurings spoke of treasure, beauty, and all the power in the world. Begging, to just Wish for them.
Then streets filled with voices as loud as the cheering for a play. Theatre was the world, stage the streets, gore and violence the main show. People ripped each other apart as they lost control and became Nightmares, both in the waking world and the survivors' dreams.
Monsters, both familiar and alien, all Figments of people's imagination roamed the city like their home. Rhythmic screams rose to the sky and fainted to the background like the static of a TV. And with them, came seven moons and three suns.
Shortly after a thick fog appeared, reigning over the blue sky. The only reason he and Michael survived was due to the Figment's already full bellies and the thick mist.
One day, Elyas opened his eyes to find a familiar face. Noah was kneeling in front of him. Bearing a pained expression as he explained something. "I'm… sorry… left… here…"
He couldn't hear him properly, his body was too weak. So he ignored the man and just stared blankly. As Noah left, Elyas did what he had done till now, fall asleep. Once every few days he would wake up to Noah trying to feed him, every time, he would push the man's hands away.
…
Noah came to Elyas' side, this time wearing a determined expression. "I know how you feel… I was just like you when I thought my sister died." he said with a heavy look as he stared at Elyas, now nothing but a bundle of bones held together by a layer of skin. A vegetable leaning against the alley wall in the cold winter snow.
Noah continued
"I was there when it happened… The First Whispers, in Vernis. My sister and I were little when the Figments poured into the streets. We did what everyone did that day, we ran."
Noah's voice slowly turned smaller and smaller, as if afraid to even speak or revisit the memory of those times "My parents were devoured while trying to save us. We hid inside a half collapsed basement and survived for a few days. Eventually though, we grew hungry. We had seen what Wishing could do to people. We had learned enough of its rules to fear our own salvation. It turned people into beasts who only knew hunger and the taste of flesh. We were hungry. But not for flesh."
Noah's voice slowed, a deep, old sorrow leaking into each word. " So I went outside to scavenge for food. I told her to stay put…I told her… but when I returned, there was only a puddle of blood and one of her shoes. I had lost her. I just wanted to mourn my family after that… so I did just that. An old man from the Protocol found me in the same puddle."
He looked Elyas in the eyes, searching for something. Anything. "I could hear and sense the world around me but I was unable—no, I chose not to react. I just didn't want to live without her. Without them."
"That's why I know you can hear me, Elyas."
Elyas' fingers twitched.
Noah knelt beside the skinny man in front of him. It was the first time he saw himself in another person. The second time he could speak without hiding anything. "After a few Dreamers turned into Heartless, the news spread. So the old man came to give me hope."
"He told me:
"Young man, I understand the bitter pain of losing a loved one. Few of us remain who haven't tasted it yet. But I have good news, your sister might be alive."
"The blood could have been from a Figment or something trying to save her. From there, she could have become a Dreamer, having the chance to turn into a Heartless, nearly immortal."
After Noah finished speaking, he observed Elyas closely. Hoping for anything, any change…but there was nothing.
…
The man's words travelled from his mouth to Elyas' ears and lingered in his mind. From that short contact a spark had formed.
There was still hope.
The hope that Michael had become a Dreamer and then a Heartless, having the chance to live to this very day.
Michael's smile after he managed to convince him to watch his favorite movie. The boy's small frame cuddling near him after an afternoon nap. The simple, unfunny jokes he made… even his son's friends. Elyas didn't want to leave that behind. He couldn't let go.
But he didn't have to.
There was still a chance. A sliver of hope that Michael was alive. But it was a leap. A giant leap of logic and faith, one that Elyas had to, and wanted to make.
Noah was about to leave when he saw Elyas' face. Unbeknownst to him, his lips curved upwards.
"...I see that the rest suited you well. Then, should I get you something to eat?" Noah asked, repeating what the old man had told him over a hundred years ago. As Elyas nodded, he looked at Noah for the first time. He saw Noah's outstretched hand, his face bearing a faint smile.
With the help of the fog, the stars had veiled the sky in a milky white, allowing the moons to turn the night sky into a colorful canvas. All of it was fading into lilac as the suns rose behind Noah.
Elyas barely managed to get up with his help. His lips quivered as he forced them apart, "I'm… coming Michael." he whispered as he limped out of the alley. He would gather his family again. He would find him.
No matter the cost.