The sun had risen, yet Art showed no sign of waking. I had already cooked a fish from the lake, and my worry grew as I moved to his bedside and simply gazed at his sleeping figure.
"When will you wake up?" I said, poking his cheek.
Was his body super exhausted? I asked myself, but it didn't seem right. He was just fine yesterday when we talked.
There's no way, right? My thoughts wandered, creating multiple unanswerable questions. I was worried. Slapping my cheeks lightly, I noticed it was already afternoon, and the sunlight had covered the entire bedroom, which wasn't particularly big or small.
"Ugh." I had been staring at him for too long.
Glancing at the window that reflected the sunlight, the vibrant colors of the trees and leaves outside were beautiful. I slightly hoped Art would wake up and see this beautiful sight.
Walking towards the door, I made a quick glance back at the sleeping Art before exiting the room.
I stepped outside the cabin, embracing the gust of wind that flowed through it. Being at the top of a mountain, I thought and smiled, enjoying the view. The sound of birds chirping nearby echoed.
"Myu."
Lost in thought, I heard a sound—it was the koalian. Noticing its presence, I lay down on the grass, and the koalian quickly jumped at me after seeing me.
"Hey now." I gently grabbed the koalian's small body. "It's not good to suddenly jump on people," I told the koalian, who remained still in my hand, not trying to retaliate.
"Myoo." The koalian's face turned slightly to the side, avoiding mine.
"…" I glanced quietly at the koalian and soon let it go.
After I released it, the koalian ran to my side and lay down on the grass. To be honest, lying on the grass wasn't as bad as it seemed. I looked at the sky, brimming with light, the blue sky and a peaceful place to stay. More importantly, I was with my savior.
It was a feeling I hadn't been able to find until now, when Art saved me. But the strange part was that my memories were tangled, and most of them had been forgotten. My mother, father—no, my family. I had no more memories of them, not even from when I was a child. I didn't remember a single thing. My consciousness floated in an endless, vast, empty space. In that seemingly endlessly expanding void, a bright light illuminated the horizon.
I found myself looking at that light, the light of a person. It was something that astounded me, a fated savior—a hero in my seemingly lost consciousness.
It didn't matter now. I had seen my hero. 'I can be with him.' I smiled at the sky, just thinking about these things, now that I was finally free from the endless void that had slowly eaten my consciousness.
"Myu?" The koalian just stared at my face.
I noticed this and chuckled, closing my eyes. 'I hope Art will wake up soon.' My consciousness slowly drifted away.
"Ugh…" I suddenly felt a slight headache. I opened my eyes, realizing I had fallen asleep, lying on the grass just outside the cabin.
As I opened my eyes, my view changed from the lively ground and forest to a destroyed village. Fire broke out. Huge chunks of rocks. Chaos was everywhere. The atmosphere around me had changed from lively to a lifeless view of the village. The sky was pure black, with only the light radiating from the full moon.
"Bang!" There was a sudden loud sound echoing from the village center. My feet couldn't move from the immense amount of bloodlust coming from the center.
I needed to get out of here—but how exactly? I tried to walk around, but my feet were like being chained, making it harder for me to move.
All of this seemed really real. My body gradually adapted to the environment as I walked towards a stone wall from one of the houses.
I tried to sit down on the ground and leaned my back against the stone wall.
"What's happening to me?"
"Where am I?"
I questioned myself but utterly failed to answer. Will I get stuck here? 'No, no, I don't wanna be here,' I muttered faintly. The immense bloodlust still lingered throughout the whole village.
Someone or something was probably fighting in the middle of the village.
'Art…' I quickly thought of him. I was making myself more stupid.
"He wouldn't come." He wouldn't, why would he? Why! In a sense of despair, as the bloodlust intensified, my body felt like it was being torn apart by its density.
Minutes passed.
My body had given up and was unable to move. Sounds of lightning sent tremors through the entire village.
"ROAR!!"
The screams of a monster sent shockwaves through the entire village. I couldn't help myself but hug my own body with my arms and just close my eyes. I was afraid. I didn't want to die or be lost in some kind of space. I wanted to be with my savior—my hero. Sooner or later, I would die.
I needed to run.
Escape.
It was the only way I could survive. I forced myself to stand up and fight the tremendous bloodlust in the air.
"Ugh…" The heavy force in the air made my body five times heavier than my normal weight. After a minute of trying, I finally found myself able to stand. I tried to walk far from the village.
Before I could walk farther, the bloodlust in the air immediately changed as the temperature dropped. I felt a chilling sensation in my body. The winds carrying ashes changed into cold air as the surroundings flickered with lightning.
I was eventually able to stand up, and I ran towards the outside of the village. Before I could go far, a black knight clad in black obsidian armor that looked unbreakable, while holding a sharp black sword that reflected the moonlight, appeared.
'MAMA, RUN!'
A child's voice sounded in my brain. My body immediately moved back, and I ran towards the houses.
I looked back as the black knight ran towards my location, holding their razor-sharp black sword. I ran from one building to another. I tried going outside the village by a different route, but at every exit, I encountered the same group of black knights, uncountable in number. Tens? Hundreds? It was a thousand or more.
'MAMA, THERE!'
When I looked at a particular house with a roof, I quickly obeyed the child—it seemed like she was helping me.
I didn't understand why she called me "mama" though. I sprinted to the house, and the black knight that had been following me seemed to have changed their target. They glanced and ran towards the village center.
I looked at my surroundings and tried to walk outside the house.
'DON'T, MAMA!'
A scream echoed in my head as the child warned me not to go outside. Then suddenly, a white, sharp crystal appeared in the sky. I noticed that the sky had shattered where cracks could be seen.
"Where am I?!" I was full of confusion. Before I could say anything, hundreds—no, thousands—of white crystalline swords pierced each of the black knights.
"Crack."
A sudden sound of massive movement underground as a huge white crystal in the form of a diamond shape penetrated the ground and destroyed each building it appeared beneath. I was trying to calm myself amidst this pressure and loss, although I was still scared. The impact of the white shards stopped after a few minutes. I looked at the sky and saw the massive rift that had opened slowly getting crystallized.
*!
Sooner or later, the rift that had opened would soon be devoured by the white crystal. After a few minutes, silence remained. The rift in the vast sky had been fully frozen by the white crystal.
It was something to be seen as spectacular magic or something. It was so vast that it covered the entire sky. The moon in the sky was obscured by the white eyes, but its light still lit the whole village.
'Mama, go to the center.'
The child said, her voice growing faint. I ran towards the outside. It was possible that I could escape by going to the center. The presence of the monster vanished into the air.
I ran, dodging the white crystals in my surroundings. The black knights had turned into ice particles after getting hit by the white crystal. I didn't know who cast the spell. It could be an enemy.
I just followed the child's instructions and headed towards the center. Some houses had been destroyed into nothingness by the massive white crystal.
Looking at the center, I noticed a figure wearing black. The face seemed familiar. Looking at the sight before me, I gasped in surprise, unable to understand a thing. I looked at the figure on the wall. I wouldn't be wrong. I knew—I didn't want to believe my eyes.
Art was lying on the ground, his back against a wall, blood seeping through his shirt, blood all over his body. I noticed that both of his arms were frozen, which was not good.
I desperately ran towards Art.
I needed to help him somehow, but why… Why was he here?! Thinking about this, Art was the one fighting earlier. If only I knew—I wanted to be useful for my hero. Yet… I was a scared woman. I'm pathetic…
I couldn't think straight anymore. I was sure that he was just in the cabin! A dream?! This was beyond a dream. I understood it; this was all real.
"Art!"
I ran towards Art. I could feel my faint tears slowly being removed from my eyes as the air flowed across my face.
"Crack."
The space around me shattered like glass thrown to the ground.