Total darkness.
As if it had been waiting for him since the moment of his birth, the darkness decided to welcome the being, to cradle and embrace him with all its affection.
'I'm dead...'
The being felt empty and lost, a sensation well-suited for a place where the only presence was the darkness of death. His mood matched not only the situation but also his physical state.
'I can't hear anything... no, it's more than that...'
The being realized that all his senses had disappeared, perhaps swallowed by the oppressive and at the same time protective darkness.
Even the pain, which until a moment before had been the sole and dominant presence in his mind, seemed to have vanished, reduced to a bad memory.
A memory that seemed largely imaginary, considering his mind could no longer think clearly about the source of the pain.
'I am Nikolas Brabec, and I am dead.'
After a moment of realization, the being called Nikolas began to reconnect all the old memories and thoughts that remained.
'How exactly did I die?'
Nikolas tried to remember, but the details seemed to slip away from his mind. He thought back on his whole life, from the beginning up to his seventeenth year, when he attended a school, he didn't recall with any particular emotion.
After spending a long time in the darkness reflecting, perhaps hours or even days, he was forced to give in and accept the sad truth.
'I've forgotten how I died—and not just that...'
There were parts of his life so blurred and chaotic they almost seemed like a comedic scenario.
'Why did I act that way...?'
Even when searching for an explanation, Nikolas couldn't find one. It was as if his past self knew something his current self had forgotten. Of course, he didn't distrust himself. There had to be a reason if his way of thinking and acting didn't match what he now knew.
The only logical explanation was that death was the main culprit behind this lack of information and the fogging of his memories. After all, if someone could lose their memory from a simple blow to the head, then Nikolas could consider himself lucky to have forgotten only a small part of his life after dying.
'The important thing is that I'm... what am I now?'
Nikolas couldn't understand his current condition. His consciousness still existed, but it was the only thing he had left.
He was trapped in a dark void with only the ability to think.
'Could this... be the place where human souls go after death? A sort of purgatory for those who no longer have a role in mortal life?If so, then it mostly resembled hell. Being stuck here didn't seem like a pleasant experience...'
He felt suffocated, but fear was stronger than any other sensation. If death was something like this, then it was no different from eternal torture.
An unsettling silence wrapped around Nikolas, while the sense of disorientation and nonexistence conveyed by the darkness was enough to drive anyone insane.
'Is this a punishment? Could it be that I did something wrong, and this dark place is the punishment I deserve?'
Nikolas felt increasingly distressed, and fear began to show itself, massively amplifying the already present sense of confusion.
'What did I do to deserve something like this? I mean... I committed a few sins, but nothing deserving of a sadistic and unjust imprisonment like this...'
'Damn it...!'
As he cursed the lack of answers and the growing number of questions, something around him began to change. After hours spent in the same isolated darkness, even the slightest difference couldn't go unnoticed.
The darkness was fading, and at the same time, figures and shapes began forming around him, stirring the vision Nikolas believed he had lost.
A strange scene was taking shape before his eyes, and before he could realize it, rustling and distinct sounds announced the return of his hearing.
'A miracle...!?' Nikolas could only watch helplessly at what was happening. It didn't take long before he began recognizing the features of what was emerging from the darkness.
As he looked around, he was left speechless. The spectacle unfolding was so extraordinary that his thoughts became a tangled mess of strings.
'Plants...' A variety of vegetation—grass, shrubs, flowers, trees, and other plants of all kinds—completely surrounded him. Green was the main personality of the unspoiled nature that dominated in all its wild magnificence.
In this place, vegetation had taken over and left no room for anything else, not even the sky, which was completely hidden by the trees' foliage. Looking up, only small gaps between the leaves let slivers of open space show through, though now it was dark, indicating it was night.
Nevertheless, this exotic and natural spectacle had a particularity that made it feel extremely wrong. Everything seemed gigantic. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the forest was out of scale, with dimensions beyond logic.
The trees looked like towering wooden skyscrapers, and even simple flowers appeared far too large. The plants around Nikolas were no smaller than hills.
'I know there are places on Earth where nature is majestic, but this... this is beyond excessive.'
Nikolas didn't know how to describe the landscape. Even now, he was standing on a giant green leaf, suspended at a considerable height above the ground.
To avoid being hypnotized by the surreal environment, he decided to climb down and head toward a more sheltered area, but after his first step, he noticed something strange in his movements.
Before realizing what was wrong, his legs tangled beneath him, flipping his body in a tumble and causing him to slide along the smooth surface of the leaf.
'No...!'
The slippery blade, wet with dew, carried Nikolas' body downward, accelerating his fall. Luckily, by clinging with all his strength, he managed to stop himself at the edge, narrowly avoiding disaster.
Taking several deep breaths to calm himself and avoid more impulsive decisions, he tried to make sense of what had just happened.
'For some reason, I perceive my body differently than I remember—not just in movement, but even my strength feels completely different.'
Nikolas felt his body was lighter, yet at the same time bulkier and more cumbersome. It was a strange sensation, especially considering how massive the vegetation around him was…
He began to feel even more confused than he already was, until, at some point, a strange thought started to creep into the few possible explanations for his situation.
With that, confusion turned into disturbance, which in turn became nervousness and unease, until the unwanted realization struck.
'No, that can't be... I must be wrong, this is absurd!'
Hoping to find some proof that he was mistaken, Nikolas looked down—but, as he expected, what he saw were not long human legs. Beneath him, in the lower part of his body, were several insect legs: long and thin, yet agile and fragile at the same time.
'Ah, this...' Nikolas froze for a few seconds before coming back to his senses, fully processing what he had just seen.
'Calm down! I must not panic!'
Nikolas took several breaths. He wanted to avoid falling from the great height of the leaf due to his own distraction.
However, he was barely breathing, struggling to maintain his balance because his body, unbeknownst to him, had started trembling some time ago.
Unfortunately for him, it was hard to find calm in such a situation. He wanted more proof, and although he was becoming aware of his condition, he didn't want to accept the cruel truth.
He tried to look at his arms, but the result was even more disappointing than he could have expected.
He had no arms…
'Damn it... this can't be real!'
For several seconds, Nikolas remained silent, listening to the wild sounds of the undergrowth, which, like needles pricking his brain, snapped him out of his daze.
By now, he was certain: he had transformed into something resembling an insect.
There were powers capable of creating such illusions, but Nikolas was sure he could rule that out.
This experience is too real and too tangible not to be authentic...
It wasn't an illusion.
It was reality.
Shaken by the realization, Nikolas couldn't control the panic that overtook him, and he lost his balance, slipping again. This time, however, he was already near the edge and couldn't stop himself in time.
'Aaaaah! No... no!'
Nikolas no longer felt anything beneath him. He was falling into the void, plummeting from the great height of the plant.
'Am I going to die a second time...?'
He felt a peculiar irony.
'What meaning could there be in being reborn in this form only to die again immediately after...?'
Before he could spiral into madness with his own delirium, Nikolas had to stop his thoughts and focus on his new body. As he continued to fall, a strange sensation moved within him, as if trying to warn him of something.
A strange feeling, similar to intuition, emerged through his body and thoughts like an independent force. With no other choice, Nikolas decided to completely trust that particular instinct.
As if it were natural, his body parts moved automatically and in order. He instinctively straightened his posture, extended his limbs, and finally, something on his back emerged and unfurled outward.
Before he realized it, Nikolas was gliding through the air, aided by the lightness of his new body. It didn't take him long to understand what was happening.
'I'm... I'm flying?'
Nikolas felt a sensation of lightness, like what he once experienced at school during a lesson with Professor Lanove, who had used his power to let his students fly.
'No, this time it's different...'
'This isn't magic. It's my own body adapting to the empty space.'
Turning his head, Nikolas glanced back at his own back. He had expected something like this, but reality is always different when one becomes aware of it.
Behind him appeared four large gray wings, covered with dark, randomly scattered spots. Despite their dull colors, they were still extremely impressive, especially because of their size. They were clearly larger than the rest of his body.
Still following the same instinct, Nikolas glided through the air and landed on another leaf. This time, it was larger and less steep than the previous one.
He paused for a few seconds to think. Too much had happened too quickly, not giving him a moment to fully grasp his condition.
'First, I need to be realistic and come to terms with my current state...'
Nikolas summoned every ounce of rationality. He had the appearance and characteristics of an insect, which explained both his ability to fly and the exaggerated proportions of his surroundings.
'It's not the vegetation that's absurdly big. It's me who has become small and insignificant...'
Nikolas widened his eyes.
'So, I'm an insect...?'
After the adrenaline rush of falling desperately into the void, Nikolas was beginning to return to a more rational and objective mindset, as befitted a human being.
'Ah... I'm an insect... an insect...'
He was motionless, but his mind kept working, searching for an explanation that always led to the same conclusion.
This is the situation. Panicking like before will only cause me more problems. Nikolas looked at his current form with a mix of sadness and curiosity.
Four large wings and... six legs? Based on the features of his body, Nikolas was easily able to connect his appearance to a particular insect.
'A butterfly...'