On the day the earth stood still for me, I set out on a journey. There were still so many unanswered questions and I finally needed answers. I am 24 years old and my name is Aramoto Kakumo. It was very unthinkable for me that I could put my bad past behind me.

Everything was taken from me. My home, my friends and my family. They were all murdered before my eyes.

I wandered restlessly and fiercely through the Satsujin Desert. This desert was known for its high mortality and delusions of the senses. The sun was scorching hot, making my sweaty skin glow. The thought shot through my head that I didn't want to hike any further and just fell over.

I just couldn't and didn't want to give in to that, because that would have simply meant death. No matter how strenuous the steps were, struggling with my last strength, I pushed myself further and further with the flame of hope that still lingered within me.

I've been on the road for almost a month now, during this time I had eaten very little and unfortunately the few drops of water that I was able to tap off one or two old cactus trunks weren't able to quench my thirst either. Eventually, in the midst of this desolate and goddamned wasteland, I crossed a crest of a dune.

I stopped and looked up from the ocean of dust and sand at the cloudless subtropical sky with the midday sun beating down relentlessly on me.

My hand, which was constantly shaking, moved, as if in a trance, up my collar where my necklace was and tore it from my neck with a jerk. I slowly looked at the necklace my brother gave me before his inexplicable disappearance. ''Why did you give me that damn thing. Tell me Kishimoto! Why did you leave without saying a word? Why aren't you here?!'', yes, why. I wish I knew at least that.

Whispers and lamentations of souls seeking rest plagued me throughout the journey.

The environment around me became so distorted that my body was far too overwhelmed to send impulse waves through the nerve cords in my muscles to my brain, forcing me to stagger and fall to my knees like a vanquished warrior. You could already feel my heart pounding through the heat waves in the scorching hot air that swept by in all directions through the wasteland.

I stopped. All around me dunes as far as the eye could see. I had only been on the road for 30 days, there were still days in the desert ahead of me. Everything flickered. No, I didn't want to give up! And yet it seemed to be the most plausible in all this wasteland, because it took a lot of effort to continue walking here, into nowhere.

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Suddenly, out of nowhere, two familiar voices came to my ears. I was startled and looked for the one source that would probably give me back my lost will to live. I constantly had to listen to the complaints of these invisible personalities, which consisted mainly of accusations and pure hate speech.

''You murderer! You murderer!'' these voices accused me with a snubbed undertone.

These annoying accusations kept playing in my head. However, I continued to track down the source of the voices that sounded so familiar to me. The terrain around me continued to change and slowly I began to make out two figures, now very faintly, in my field of vision on the top of the nearest sand dune.

I ran frantically up the mountain to solidify my suspicion as to who it might be. For a moment I forgot that my body was at the limit. When I arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes, ran towards the two people like a berserker and hugged them guiltily and apologetically. I finally had my ''family'' back so I burst into tears like a burst dam and apologized as often as I could.

''I'm so sorry... Forgive me... Please forgive me...'' I sobbed through tears.

Suddenly there was a soft whisper, which slowly but surely became more and more unbearable for me and turned into loud hooting. I was startled and looked at the two people. Their facial expressions resembled a long-dead personality and had nothing human about them.

''You are a miserable murderer. Die already!!'', these living undead ruthlessly accused me in a permanent endless loop.

I could watch their faces turn inward and only emptiness and frightening blackness could be seen in their former faces. Then these voices flanked me, mentally eating away at me and I felt the madness spreading through me.

''No no! .. Please don't do this to me!'' I yelled, desperately looking for innocence and escape.

In utter panic and madness, I tried to cover my ears and seal my eyes with both of my hands. However, no part of my body was able to obey me and madness now completely took over my psyche.

The feeling of finally having a family again, of finally being perfect again, disappeared. Now I went completely insane and the characters started to melt away. The terrain began to grow unimaginably gloomy and desolate, and I began to let out shrill cries of suffering. After a few seconds of wailing, I fell out of my mind onto the hot sand floor and passed out.