Ernst… Ernst… Ernst….
A woman's voice called out through the darkness.
Thousands of screams could be heard from afar.
Behind the suffering of those voices were cackles that seemed to revel in their pain.
"Help Me! Please!"
"I'm coming! Don't worry!"
"Where are you?!"
The sound of the wind brushed his ears with dust, attempting to block his sight.
Large explosions echoed in the distance, trembling the ground with ferocious might.
Seemingly, the screams would get closer, but then suddenly drift from afar.
The world around him was barren with no sign of life. The empty buildings resembled those of what he had known all his life in the city he grew up in. However, what was once filled with the bustling streets of locals was now replaced with empty groans of wind.
The rhythmic screaming and booms of varying intensities attempt to make him lose track of his footing.
The buildings appeared to have visibly aged with noticeable rust on the metal gutters and downspouts. Shattered glass, displaced furniture, carriages, and automobiles were messily scattered throughout the streets of this city.
What happened here…?
From time to time, he would hear whispers from the empty buildings as if he were being watched. Movement would catch the periphery of his eyes as he observed his surroundings, seemingly trying to enthrall him into following "them".
Despite these distractions, he did not dare pay mthem mindand proceeded forward.
Isn't that…
The young man dashed in front of a familiar building.
The bakery he had humbly run with his sister was now charred by what seemed to be caused by a fire. The outer walls of the once modest-looking structure were now blackened and burned by flames.
Emilia…I need to look for her…
The man continued to trudge through the desolated city—his movements slow and heavy. Despite feeling he had travelled a good distance, he quickly realized this was not the case. Time and space seemed like arbitrary concepts within the distorted version of his daily life.
After walking for some time, he caught sight of the ocean.
Strangely, he no longer found himself surrounded by present-day structures.
The cool breeze no longer brushed against the young man's cheek, nor did the screams of anguish ring in his ears. The ocean waves crashing calmly against the sandy beach were eerily inaudible.
As he stared across the sea, a sharp pain ran through his chest.
Argh! What is this?!
The young man fell to his knees, one hand desperately clutching his chest while the other pressed against his forehead.
My heart feels like it's about to explode! It hurts! What is this aching?!
"Help me! Help! Help!"
"I'm dying! Please!"
"It hurts!"
The screams from before had returned.
Tears began to well up in his eyes.
The man felt his heart beating in its entirety. Like the banging of a drum, the sound of his chest erratically shook his body. The screams and laughter from before returned, growing louder each second.
Shut up!
Relentless noise and pain hammered into his skull like a nail being forcibly hammered into wood. Subsequently, it felt as if thousands of needles were piercing his heart. The unbearable pain suffocated him, making it impossible for him to breathe.
Emilia… I'm sorry….
Flashes of an assortment of bizarre imagery appeared in the man's mind.
Thousands of men were shown charging on a battlefield with crude rifles in their arms.
Horrifying creatures were ravaging the corpses of those the young man had once known. It was as if human bodies had been cruelly merged. Eyes, teeth, fingers, and legs were multiplied or grotesquely mismatched on each figure.
Then, a giant eye that peered through the sky ended the mental episode with the world seemingly still.
Millions of cries for salvation echoed as he stared at a still Earth from an obscure omniscient view.
I need to move…
As the man slowly recovered from the subsiding pain, he looked up and saw that the ocean had become violent and thundering. The sound of gunfire suddenly filled the air, and mysterious smoke rose from the ocean as it faded into the cloudy sky.
A massive lump protruded from within the vast mass of water.
Although he wished to see what had arisen from the sea, Ernst's head could not help but be pulled down to the ground, prostrating his arms and legs to pierce into the stony beach.
A loud shriek suddenly filled the thundering sky.
Am I going to die…? The young man thought to himself while staring at the assortment of greys beneath his body.
Whack!
Suddenly, everything turned black.
"Wake up!"
Ernst groaned as light invaded the crevices of his eyes.
A heated pain lasted on his forehead while he attempted to see who disrupted his nightmare.
"You were supposed to be down thirty minutes ago! Why are you still in bed?!"
Rubbing his eyes, the young man yawned while his vision focused on the attacker.
There stood a short, young lady with dark brown hair. Her seemingly black pupils revealed their true hue as the afternoon sun shone against her face. Her brown eyes, flecked with hints of grey and green, settled on the person she had just awakened.
"I was having a very good dream about a beautiful woman, you know…one that wasn't so violent and prone to hitting their brothers as a means of waking them up," the young Ernst casually said.
The attacker showed growing signs of hostility as she raised her hand against her brother. His eyes grew wide as he realized the danger he incurred.
"Wait! Wait! I was just joking! Ah!"
The young lady's prey immediately jumped out of bed and clung to the corner of his room.
With malice in her eyes, she stared down the victim of her morning greeting as she slowly walked closer toward him.
"This isn't the first time you slept in while promising to help with morning preparation…" the young lady bellowed.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry!"
A small fist was sent flying toward the young man as it made contact with his abdomen.
Humpf
Dropping to his knees, the young man yelped in pain while making an exaggerated expression.
However, although the young lady felt her punch connect with her arrogant sibling's flesh, the young man felt as if he was hit by a soft pillow.
"This is it, isn't it?! I can see the light! I'll see you in the next life, sister!"
Ernst felt a barrage of attacks on his right shoulder as he sensed the frustration of his older sister.
"A massage this early? I'll gladly accept!" Ernst said with a smirk.
The attack grew more relentless, yet less forceful.
"You're having too much fun with this! If you have the energy to make jokes, then you might as well help with bringing in our shipment," the young lady sighed in defeat.
The youthful laughter of the young man filled the room as light continued to shine in.
It was a weekend morning, so their bakery was not open. However, for the Adler family, it meant preparing for the coming week.
While some businesses operated during the weekend, the brother and sister were not able to afford hiring employees to help run the bakery. Most of their funds would be reserved for paying off their family debt.
Their late parents had passed away a few years back while Ernst was still in his adolescence. Since then, Emilia had been taking care of both her brother and the unsettled businesses held by their parents.
"Now that you're awake, I'll meet you downstairs so we can prepare for tomorrow."
As he watched his older sister leave, he recalled the dream he had before being woken up.
Why was I apologizing to her…?
Shrugging off these thoughts, Ernst began to prepare to head out.
The young man brushed any dust from his body and made his way toward his desk.
As he approached the mirror, a youthful figure came into view. At first glance, the dark bags beneath his eyes—a clear sign of sleep deprivation—were the most prominent feature he noticed.
Sliding into a white button-down shirt, Ernst ran a hand through his black, ruffled bed hair—a trait he did not share with the young lady who had just been present.
The brother and sister were not of the same blood.
Ernst had spent much of his childhood in a poorly funded and mismanaged orphanage. Severely malnourished, it was considered a miracle that he had managed to survive for so long.
Life had once been extremely difficult for him. Every day, he found himself surrounded by frail children who were abused by their caretakers. It was rare for them to reach the next day without being left with some reminder—whether a bruise or a scar.
Unfortunately, this was not even the least of Ernst's problems at the time.
While many children were frail due to malnourishment and other forms of abuse, some children willingly hurt their peers around them as a means of survival. It was not uncommon for young boys and girls to pass away under these conditions.
In order to stay alive, at some point, he too had to adapt to his environment.
To be born without love is to adapt to whatever is provided. In this case, it was hate and violence for the young man.
Regardless of his past sorrows, the Adler family had fortunately found him one day rummaging through their bakery's garbage.
Taking pity on the young Ernst, they decided to adopt him. From then on, the young man was able to get an education and even acquire a degree in philosophy within the city they resided in, Bauner.
As he grew into adulthood, he no longer seemed to resemble the miserable child he once was. Perhaps he continued to experience loss; however, there were still those who remained alive at his side. A boy born without anything became blessed with those he could treasure.
Topping his outfit with a dark grey blazer and pants, the young man was ready to head out of his room.
He donned his favourite tweed cap and left his room.
I'm glad Emilia isn't forcing herself to bring in our stock…it can be pretty heavy sometimes.
He thought to himself while lazily letting his feet fall down each step of the staircase.
Eventually, he entered their family-owned bakery.
As he approached the kitchen, the back door showed the sight of a young lady attempting to move the heavy, large wooden boxes.
What on Earth…
"You know you could have waited, right?" Ernst said as he stood beside his struggling sister.
"Well! I can't exactly expect you to show up on time, can I?" The girl said while panting
She isn't wrong…
Scooting his sister to the side, Ernst grabbed the bag of flour Emilia was putting all of her being into lifting.
"Just sit down and rest, this will be my punishment for not keeping my word."
Although he said this, Ernst's habit of oversleeping was a common recurrence within the Adler household.
Hearing her brother's request, she happily plopped herself onto a large box sitting beside their building's back door.
"Did you go to mass this morning?" Ernst asked with bags of flour resting on his shoulder.
"Yes, I went with Hannah a while ago." She responded while swinging her legs back and forth.
Ernst stared at a large pile of goods, roughly planning how he was going to bring them inside.
"I see… Karl didn't go with you guys today?"
"That's what Hannah told me. Apparently, he's been fairly sick lately."
"Well, he has my prayers—hopefully he can recover soon."
While Ernst had once attended the mass regularly each Sunday, it was largely because both his and Emilia's parents had dragged them along. Despite their parents' passing, Emilia continued to attend mass regularly before preparing the Bakery for each coming Monday.
"You should come with us sometime."
"I'll pass on the offer… I'd rather enjoy my remaining days of lounging before I need to start looking for work." Ernst said while stretching in front of bags of sugar.
Graduating with a postsecondary degree meant many opportunities for well-paying jobs.
A degree in philosophy could easily land Ernst a career in teaching or the emerging field of psychological sciences.
Of course, even if he were to hold the credentials for these jobs, like any other occupation, connections trumped education itself.
Ernst was not particularly horrible in his academia; however, he did not stand out too much either. While he had the achievement of holding a higher education, he failed to make any meaningful connections with professors, faculty, or relevant businesses. Regardless, finding a job with his degree was the best option for quickly settling their parents' debts.
"She really would be happy if you visited," Emilia said while watching the clouds pass by.
"I'll drop by some day… perhaps when I'm in dire need of finding work," Ernst replied jokingly.
The side of Emilia's mouth twitched upon hearing her brother's remark.
Slightly concerned for his eternal salvation, she spoke with a concerning tone, "You shouldn't speak of Him in such a way."
Instead of responding again, Ernst remained quiet this time.
Since his early years in the orphanage, he did not believe that gods cared for humans.
At any point in time, divinity could stop human suffering, yet it did not.
Despite praying with all his might, no god came to take him away from his early suffering.
Prayer did not seem to save his parents either. His experiences as a child shaped his adamant belief that the gods of this world had abandoned everyone. This strong resentment toward the morality of divine creators also drove his curiosity into the field of philosophy.
Initially, he had hoped to develop a formal stance against the religions of the world that believed so strongly in their faiths. However, as time passed, he simply came to want a regular day-to-day life. To him, the idea was frivolous anyway.
The young man continued quietly with his light labour.
The dream he had before awakening became a lingering thought while he finished moving the ingredients for an assortment of baked goods.
"Have you ever had any recurring dreams by any chance?" Ernst asked casually.
This was not the first time Ernst had dreamt of the city of Bauner desolated in ruin, followed by obscure imagery depicting a fiction-like apocalyptic event. Nightmares of many sorts had tormented him since he was a child. As such, he had always wondered whether or not others had similar experiences.
The recent increase in frequency of these disturbing dreams began to worry the young man. Keeping to himself was a means of keeping in line with social norms up until now; however, he believed that disclosing these troubles to his sister would bear no risk.
Emilia stared intently into the eyes of her brother as she watched him place the last few milk bottles on the kitchen counter.
"Yes. I actually have," Emilia spoke with a serious tone.
Intrigued by his sister's response, Ernst looked in her direction while placing down the last crate.
"Really? What did you dream about?"
Could she have been experiencing similar dreams?
Ernst pondered what his sister could respond with.
"I dreamt that one day…"
"...you'd be able to get out of bed on time without me asking," Emilia said plainly.
Ernst's dark brown eyes met his sister's with a similar blank stare.
The young man slowly approached the young lady and began aggressively pinching her cheeks with no hint of letting up.