Chapter 1: Light from Darkness

It was night, and I could hear the leaves rustling against the ground outside as the wind swept the leaves away. Unimpeded, the icy breeze gushed through my open window and blasted me in the face. I could have closed it, but I didn’t care.

It didn’t matter.

In fact, nothing mattered. Neither the rock-solid bed nor my ragged-excuse of a blanket that didn’t even shield me from the winter’s breeze. My body had grown numb long ago.

Tick tock… Tick tock…

Only that was a concern.

Glancing at the swaying clock above me, I could see it was twelve o’clock.

‘I need to sleep, but I can’t. Why do I keep thinking about what went wrong? It’s past now. I shouldn’t regret it… But if only…’

*Sigh*

I glanced once again at the clock and saw it was already three o’clock.

‘What the! When and how did time sneak by me? Did I fall asleep? No… What was I thinking about before I noticed the time? Ugh… Why can’t I stop myself from thinking?’

I struggled to keep my mind at peace, but my thoughts kept raging. My mind was like a battlefield. Even my body was restless from its constant twisting and turning.

‘Why do I have to worry about this? I could just resolve it tomorrow… Tomorrow will be another busy day. I need to re-energize myself so I won’t get stressed out when people come to bother me. Every single day, they come with their baggage and think that it’s okay to dump it on me. When did I ever… Ah! Just forget it and sleep!’

I tried to sleep, shutting my eyes…

But I couldn’t sleep.

‘Maybe I should just get of bed. Walking around might help me relax, but then again, I don’t want to be up thinking about… her any more. How could I have— Forget it!’

Frustrated, I cast my sorry excuse of a blanket aside and got up while sighing.

‘Yeah, I need to cool myself…’

As if I were in a daze, my vision blurred and my mind swirled into an endless abyss of mesh as my head pounded in confusion. My mind could not resolve its dilemma, and my concerns oppressed my heart. The worst part about it was that I had no answers. The pounding in my head only grew stronger. I was having a massive headache.

It was then I noticed that I was standing in front of my house.

‘How did I get out here? I must have walked out of my house…’

I wanted to sleep, so I turned to head back, but before I could turn around, a sudden flash of light caught my eye.

‘What was that?’

The light had blinded me, and for a while I saw nothing but darkness. Even the sound of the blowing wind disappeared.

…

Silence…

…

An eerie feeling was creeping up behind me as the hairs on the back of my neck rose. My whole body shuddered but I could not move. I was afraid… My consciousness was fading away into the dark abyss of nothingness…

‘Maybe this is fine…’

…

*Flash*

A light exploded off in the distance like a firecracker in the night sky, and just as quickly as it came, it disappeared. Straining my eyes, I could still see the light, although faint. It gave me a warm sensation that surged throughout my body, but something was wrong.

The light flickered left and right and swayed from side-to-side in a chaotic manner as if it were trying to escape something.

‘Move! Why won’t my body move?’

My body felt heavy. I stumbled forwards before regaining my balancing. It was hard to control my body.

Darkness was encroaching, threatening to envelop me. I had to get to the light.

Step-by-step, I moved forward building momentum, but the simple process of moving my legs was sending my brain into overload. I could not stop. The light was getting bigger and bigger as I drew closer and closer. I noticed that my vision was coming back with each step I took. I could even feel the wind darting around me as my feet stomped on the hard ground.

Ahead, I saw a grassy hill, but no light. The light had vanished, but I could sense it was there, somewhere.

When I reached the top of the hill, gasping for breath, an ominous feeling struck me. My heart ached. A tremendous forest stood before me.

‘What is this feeling?’

My mind was yelling at me to escape. Run. Run! But my body did not move. I was petrified. This feeling… A familiar feeling… But before I could recall, the light that had vanished burst out of the shadows of the forest.

As the light darted towards me, my surroundings changed. The grass rotted as weeds sprouted and replace the surrounding grass. Muddy water seeped through the hard ground that turned into mush.

Before I could escape, my feet sank into the muddy water. I didn’t move.

‘The light!’

The light was fading away as it charged towards my body. I could do nothing. I knew that if I tried to move, it would only make me sink faster.

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Wide-eyed in desperation, I searched…

‘There!’

Long roots were growing out of a decayed tree as if it were trying to reach out to me. Trying to move towards the roots, I sank faster into the swamp as I struggled to reach out for my only hope. Deeper I went as I continued on fighting for my life.

‘Yes!’

I grasped the tips of the roots before my head submerged into the water. I pulled and yanked at the roots, trying to pull myself out of the swamp. First, my upper body, and then my legs. I had escaped the swamp and was leaning against the decayed tree that was now crumbling into pieces.

No time to rest, I turned my head to look at my surroundings.

‘Where’s the light?’

Not too far away from me, I spotted a faint glimmer entangled in many weeds. Dragging myself out of the swamp had exhausted me, but I didn’t care and dragged my body towards the faint glimmer that was getting dimmer by the second.

‘Hold on! I’m right here. I’ll get you out!’

As I reached the many weeds that pinned it down, I ripped them apart with my hands. I was not thinking, just ripping, but it was to no avail.

I was powerless, and now, trapped. My hands were bleeding. The weeds had overwhelmed me as they tied my body to the ground bit-by-bit. I struggled in a crazed frenzy trying to escape, but there was nothing I could do. I looked at the light, and it vanished.

‘Why?! Is this the end? Don’t leave me in the darkness!’

There, in the dark, I noticed the remnants of the light: A man holding a book.

Although the light had vanished, the man was not willing to die without a fight. Opening his book, he chanted something unintelligible to my ears. A prayer? It was all a mumble. The only word I managed to make out was his last: “Sacrificum.”

In an instant, a surge of light brighter than the sun surrounded the man and grew stronger and stronger until it enveloped the surrounding weeds, incinerating them. Ash layered the ground, and green grass peaked their heads above the ash. The land surrounding us was recovering its earlier lushness.

‘What just happened?’

I could see the weeds crumbling away as green once again dominated the hard ground. Everything was reversing, but looking at the man, I could see he was only getting worse.

His eyes dropped and his skin shriveled. His muscles were thinning, and his legs had given out under him. He kneeled on the floor supporting himself with the book he had in his hands and looked up at me.

The man’s eyes widened and tears rolled down his face as he stammered in disbelief, “G-Gratus! Could-could it be? I can’t believe it!”

Dumbfounded, confused, I tried to recall his face, “Who are you?”

…

The man looked at me in concern, “Could you have forgotten again? I am--,” but before he could finish, he screamed aloud in agony. An invisible pressure was contorting his body left and right.

“Wha-What is happening to you?”

Ignoring my question, he continued, “I didn’t think... it would get to this, but this is an emergency… I am glad you’ve come, Gratus, but a shame we couldn’t have met under better terms…”

“Emergency?” Those were the only words I could get out of my mouth. My mouth was dry, and the man’s earlier shrill had frightened me.

*Crackle*

The man groaned. His bones were cracking. I could hear it.

He took as many breaths as he could to compose himself before continuing, “Ky-Kyrie is waging an all-out war against Clautz. That must be why you are here… once again… but in your current state, you won’t be able to do anything… Seek Clautz…”

Reaching towards me, he muttered, “Here… A little gift…”

“W-W-Wait! What are you doing?”

I tried to draw away, but he used the last ounce of life to clutch onto my hands and said, “Conspicio.”

The old man smiled at me as he collapsed onto the floor, bones shattered.

“What the—Don’t die on me! H-How do I meet Clautz? Who or what is Clautz?” But it was too late, he had cast his spell, and a mysterious energy entered my hands as his body dispersed into the air.

I could see his power swelling in the palm of my hands. As if to have a mind of its own, the energy crawled up my arms. It was already at my neck, and at last, it rested in my eyes. Shining with great power, my eyes emitted a fierce golden light that blinded me.

I could see nothing, but the energy was changing my eyes. My body reacted, transferring all of its energy from every part of my body to my eyes. My legs quivered as I tried to stand up, but I had nothing in me anymore. I collapsed onto the grass trying to rise.

My vision was returning, but what I saw as I lifted me head towards the forest was a sight my brain dare not forget. Behind the shadows of the many trees were eyes… those devilish eyes that preyed upon my fallen body, wanting to engulf my very essence as I fainted into oblivion…