?? / ?? / ????, ??:?? – ????????????.
Vast expanses of darkness stretched beyond, the ground undulating like waves of the sea. The sky was shrouded in a glittering starlight.
Here, in the middle of this expanse, the boy awakened, appearing confused, but quickly composed himself and stood up with a calm expression.
"…hah, here we go again, with the same dream." his voice was tinged with frustration and helplessness.
"Better start to get going then...", he repeats it over and over, experiencing the same events, though the process differs each time. Eventually, he becomes numb to it…
He walks aimlessly, wandering without purpose. There is nothing here, only darkness that acts as his company. The endless silence is oppressive, broken only by the echo of his footsteps.
He can't help but marvel every time he comes here… what exactly is this space? My mental realms, inner space, another dimension, or some golden fingers? His thought wanders, straying off as he smiles inwardly at his own ridiculous guess.
For such a long time in the endless sight, time that is incalculable or unknown, whether it is a minute, an hour, a day, how long does he have to walk? Until he can't endure it anymore and begins to lose his composure…
Three doors then appear in his sight as he stops. Each door is kinda unique in its own way; yet they simply stand there, unsupported by anything.
Well, how can you apply normal physics here, duh? It's normal, okay, for a door to exist in this place, yes, yes, this is normal, as he complains inwardly.
Then, he shifts his eyes to the most left.
On the left side of his view, there is an ordinary white wooden door; its style is similar to the door of his home. In the middle of this door, embedded in a metal plate with a saying, "Make a choice that you won't regret."
I've never tired of seeing this word. When I was 7, there were no such words in this door, wasn't it? It exist as I hear it for the first time from my father, it is around that age that I've taken this word to the heart and principled my action around it, he ponders from far away as he doesn't need to see it or confirm it, he knows that this word will be there, as the door too, greeting him in this dark world.
He moves his gaze away. From the white doors to the other doors that are far away from the former but practically beside each other, bearing different styles and even emitting some kind of terrifying aura, as they hide something.
The first is a maroon wooden door, which has no resemblance to the former aside from the materials that he can think of. Six chains made of unknown materials extended from behind the shadow of the doors, dragging something, yet also suspended as if holding something unseen.
Now, there is a faint difference in this dark space, as behind this closed door is a silhouette of another place.
A shadow of ruins, a castle? Or a city? It extends beyond the horizon, a faint red hue peeks slightly like a sun that pierces the clouds. At the highest peak of the ruin, a castle tower rises faintly. A faint silhouette of a person can also be seen lingering and wandering around.
Still watching silently as he examines something, a change perhaps, or maybe an expectation that he himself is afraid to show.
The shadow behind that maroon door is getting closer? Or it can be said there is a new change, now I can slightly determine those people. From the way they walk, slight echoes of their sound and silhouette, it is an armor, metal plate? Perhaps, examining carefully, afraid of missing a spot of observation.
As he gazes at the shadow, the shadow also gazes back at him .
Faint whispers began to be clearer, long enough, and then all of them stopped, and their red eyes began to shift as all of them gazed at the boy.
Suffocated, pressured, hatred, despair, untangled discord, various emotions rushed towards him, but the boy braced himself, feeling every sensation of his body.
The ground beneath his feet rolled frantically, like signifying something; the waves are getting stronger.
He began to fall on his knees, his throat feels like it's burning, dry, eyes shut as he averts his gaze to the ground, a red hue shines through his frail body, he feels his body burn, and is scorched by malice.
But, he doesn't scream, only slowly curls himself up on the ground, until the pressure subsides and the shadows return to their routine, and the red hue retracts itself.
It all feels like an illusion, like nothing really happens.
"Haaahh… Haaahh…", he slowly propped himself up, exhausted, and also felt some kind of exhilaration as he survived some dangerous challenges or situations, he smiled widely.
As he stood up, and for a few minutes, silence enveloped him once again. His condition began to recover, exhaustion subsided, and the ground felt calm once more.
"That's really dangerous, let's stop doing it, Akane… huh, challenging those beyond you, you are really seeking death.", he mutters to himself, and shifts his gaze to the last doors.
The third door is white, decorated with golden patterns masked by gray symbols? Like some kind of plaster, the door is silent, but he feels that this door is not supposed to be like this.
When Akane gazed at the door, he always felt a contradictory feeling, it can be described as disassociated, feeling like your body is torn into many pieces, or even feeling like you witness something great, a rushing course of events, a golden stream of light.
There is basically no change in this door., I don't have a desire to get close to these doors, though; things that appear weak can be strong! And one can act strong even when weak! Never underestimate anything, Akane. Remember father's teaching, he thought inwardly while squinting his eyes from afar to examine the patterns.
Akane once tried to depict and examine the symbols on the door. When looking at the grey pattern, it is somehow exhibiting an intimate reaction, like it came from the same kind, a connection of blood, or returning to the embrace of his mother.
Still, though, he cannot look at these patterns directly or cannot decipher them. If he thought about it again, by what and how does he decipher it? Alas, he can only see it and see if there are any things that he could use as a reference to understand the pattern.
As for the other patterns, these golden patterns are like a snake or serpent? And the gray pattern is more like a dragon? What is this? Zodiac?
Hmmm, well, the dragon could be myself or another dragon, as this close connection and intimate reaction, what about the others? When do I ever meet Snake again? Have I ever even met a snake or serpent?
Basically, there is nothing noteworthy aside from the Maroon Door, well, let's ignore it for now, we can tell Father if there is something later…¸ he thought leisurely and then shifted his gaze again to the first door.
He walks slowly to the white door and stops in front of it, the door that feels familiar and safe like his home.
With a tense expression and some expectation, he raised his hand as he grabbed the knob of the door and twisted it gently. He tried to push it inward.
But the expected did not come; no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't bulge an inch. Every time, every dream, he tried every way to enter this door, but it never budged.
He pushed with all his strength, pressing his side against the door to add weight, at last with a disappointment in his heart…
The door opens an inch. It seems to resist him, heavy as a mountain. He widens his eyes, and he gazes at the scenery of the other side through the gap.
A starry sky, a sea, and then? Exhaustion hit him as he struggled to open his eyes.
No. Just a little more… I can do it, I still can do it…, as he falls to slumber once more, back to the waking world.
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08 / 07 / 2018, 06:42 – Tuesday, Akane's Bedroom.
The waking world. The next moment, the boy who had been sleeping soundly suddenly sat up in bed.
"Haahhh… haaahhh…" He gasped, his pale face drenched in cold sweat, hair sticking to his temples. Still disoriented, he sat there until his breathing calmed down.
Shaking his head, he felt the warmth of his room, the faint light leaking through the curtain mixed with the morning's cool breeze, gradually clearing his thoughts.
But, as he sat there in silence, drowsiness pulled at him, tempting his self to go back to that dreamland, and as his eyes began to close…
"Akane! Wake up, Mom is calling you, you know? If you keep sleeping, I'll eat your share of food! Doesn't that sound good?" A knock on the door and Ayato's teasing voice snapped him out of drowsiness.
Annoyance welled in his chest. "If you dare eat my share, be careful not to trip on your way down, huh! You'll never know what I might do to you!"
"Tell mom I'll be down soon, and don't eat my food, you stinky nii-san!" Akane called back as he prepared to get out of bed.
"Alright, alright. Looks like he's still alive and kicking!" Ayato's voice echoed faintly as he went downstairs.
Akane turned his head toward the light shining through the curtain. Slowly, he stood up, steadied himself, and walked to the window beside his desk. Pulling the curtain aside, sunlight struck his eyes. After a moment, his gaze adjusted, and he let the light fill the room.
His bedroom was warm and bright. Opposite the bed stood a neat desk, though left to himself, he would let things pile up, his mother's nagging kept it orderly. Beside it stood a bookshelf crammed with novels, science texts, and manga, evidence enough of its owner's love of knowledge.
His eyes wandered to the wardrobe, and he paused by the mirror. A pale silhouette is reflected, thin but hiding a trace of muscle, face haggard and still damp with sweat. Unlike his brother, who had inherited their mother's sky-blue eyes, he bore the same gray eyes as their father and the dark hair. Ordinary, perhaps, but there was something indescribable in those eyes.
As he moves his gaze to the wardrobe, he stops by the mirror for a moment.
He moved his gaze away to fully inspect the room, spotting his TV and game console. Warm and bright light shining from the lamp, in contrast with the darkness and tension from before, he felt safe, and now he breathed a sigh of relief.
Shifting his gaze away, he spotted the TV and game console. The warm light from the lamp contrasted with the darkness and tension of moments ago, and only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Reality had returned, bringing with it relief, disappointment, and a storm of tangled emotions.
I don't even know if I can survive much longer… That Maroon Door, and the thing inside… It's getting closer, isn't it? What should I do?
"Hah, what an annoying dream, and an awful start of the day, well, better get prepared then." He took off the damp pajamas sticking to his skin, heading toward the wardrobe. A quick bath would clear the clammy feeling that was clinging to him. The thought of breakfast waiting downstairs urged him on.
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