During the day we stopped once, in the early afternoon, for a drink. Well, I guess you could call it a drink. I guessed it was meant to be a meal if the random bits of congealed gunk inside the drink were bits of meat and vegetables. It wasn’t tasteless; it was somewhat a bit like— I really didn’t know, but whatever flavour it was I really didn’t care. And I was extremely glad we were allowed to dunk the tankard-like containers in the pots twice.

And I was glad, that despite not knowing what it was meant to be, that it quenched my thirst. Even so, I did my best to ignore the thoughts about the meat and what that crimson-faced and tunicked man had said that morning.

The break itself was welcome, but getting going afterwards was hard. My legs were already sore. My whole mind was numb. I couldn’t even pretend to pay attention to the ramblings of the pretty, clothed, and blond-haired teen as she walked next to me. In fact, the gaps between sentences grew longer and longer as the sun sank towards the horizon.

My whole world shrunk to the infrequent mumblings of the teen, the trampled grass, and my sore legs and feet. It wasn’t until I tripped over a figure collapsed on the floor that I realised our march had ended.

A strange feeling washed over me. I looked back and saw five stone buildings lift themselves out of the grass. All the carriages and people then made their way into the gaps between the buildings. Then solid stone walls rose out of the ground.

‘I was like that the first time I saw that,’ the pretty teen said to me. She held out her hand to me and I reached up to grab it. ‘Come over here, it’ll be quieter here.’

I did my best to ignore the few pointed looks I got from some of the other naked males. Though, I guess, most looked too tired to try anything. Personally, if she hadn’t have come to get me, I would’ve just laid where I had’ve collapsed all night.

She made her way off the trampled path, making a small path in the long grass, before collapsing onto the ground in an undignified manner. Not that I blamed her. Still, I wasn’t sure why she brought me out here, away from everyone else.

‘Come on,‘ she said, patting the ground near her with a half-hearted pat. ‘Come join me. The stars are pretty.’

With an aching body, I lowered my body to the ground as if I was an old man. I was six years old, my body shouldn’t feel like this. Even when I was at my worse, before I started exercising regularly in the old world, my body never felt like this. Well, other than after that first mega workout.

I had learnt my lesson from that.

‘I had a brother, you know.‘ She said. Her tone differed completely from before. ’He should be about your age. We used to do this, you know, sneak outside and lay in the grass. You remind me of him, the way he hides—hid—what he’s really thinking.’

There was silence, and I felt like I shouldn’t intrude on it. So I moved a tired arm and rested my hand on hers. It was warm and soft. She squeezed my hand.

After a moment of stillness, my hand in hers, she continued. ‘He, and my parents, died in a monster wave. An unknown Fissure had appeared nearby our new settlement. The wave released almost destroyed our town…’ She lapsed into silence.

A silence rudely broken by a loud, crowing voice. ‘Silver Moon, you are required to attend the quartermaster.’

She looked over at me with a sad smile. ‘It must be important if they didn’t use a system message. Wait here for me, will you? I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

Now it was her being dishonest with me. I could tell by the way she refused to look at me. Not being able to muster any energy to respond, I squeezed my fingers over hers.

With an effort, she stood up and called out.

As she walked away, I saw her doing her best to pretty herself up. Finally, the tall grass blocked her from my sight. The sky grew darker, a beautiful red tint burned across the sky. Then the stars appeared…

Never had I seen such bright and vibrant stars before.

The entire sky was lit up with a brightness I couldn’t truly explain.

Thousands of stars shone down, from faint ones hidden in the brightness of others, to bright ones which seemed way too bright to be stars.

And as there was no wind, there was almost pure silence.

Still, she did not return. And so I lay in that silence, that stillness, with that vibrant starry sky overhead until I fell asleep.

Wailing sobs woke me up. It was still dark, but the light from the stars made it easy to see the pale blob curled up near me. Awake and feeling somewhat better after sleeping for a while, I made my way over to the wailing blob. It was, as I thought, Silver Moon.

Except she was naked now.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I reached over to her and did my best to hug her, without getting too close to her.

She then turned over and clung tight to me. Though I knew it to be bad, I had a fragment of a thought of being blessed. But the next wailing sob washed that away. So I held her tight and let her sob into my chest.

After a long while, the sky lightened and Silver Moon quietened down.

Her ragged breaths had calmed down into occasional shuddering breaths.

‘I did my best. It was my first time. I didn’t know what to do.’ She said. Her breaths growing more ragged.

Instead of just holding her tight, I stroked the pristine smooth, pale skin on her back.

‘He said I was useless. Then he called someone in and told them—’ Sobs threatened to break out again, so I pulled her in tight and started shhing.

Her juddering breath calmed down again.

‘He told them that there had been— H-h-had been a mistake. Th-th-that I was only a Three Trait.’ She sobbed. It was a quiet sob full of despair and pain. And I suddenly found my eyes watering.

It wasn’t fair, the both of us cast out of our station by the whims of others who held themselves better than us, more important than us, just because they could. Unknowing, influenced by Silver Moon, I started crying.

After I started she started wailing again.

Her arms snaked around me and we held each other close as we both mourned what we had lost.

A tickle of something washed over me, but I was too far gone in our world of grief to I recognise it. More and more it washed over me, bringing me up and out of my grief. Then a particularly powerful pulse washed through me.

It was a distinct sensation to that of the admins or the admin block touching my soul. That felt personal, as if my innermost being was being laid bare.

This was different.

It felt impersonal.

A loud crack, louder than the loudest thunder I had ever heard, echoed through my body. It wasn’t just a crack, more of something shattering. And the echo of the sound not only reverberated through my body but it also made me twinge.

Like nails on a chalkboard.

No, worse than that.

The world had grown darker.

I looked up and instead of the slowly brightening sky there was a darkness which seemed to drink in the light. Worse than the darkness was the imperceptible feeling of dread that emanated from the darkness.

No, it was worse than darkness. Darkness implied that there was something there. There was nothing there. From the darkness, an aura of nothingness spread throughout the world.

Worse than the dread of nothingness was the pull I felt inside.

A pull that wanted me to leap into the nothingness.

For me to give into the nothingness and to end my suffering.

Only Silver Moon’s arms were stopping me from following that pull into the nothingness.

But her arms were limp.

She was looking into the nothingness too.

There was no hope in her gaze.

No brightness.

Just the same dead eyes that I had seen in our fellow naked companions.

Finally, I believed I fully understood why the Disposal Troops talked, and sung, about death and graves.

I knew that on the other side of death was Death, that there was more to life once we died. Here, now, in this place, was something worse than death.

Obliteration.

Nothingness.

It was something I yearned for.

I stood up.

Silver Moon stood up next to me.

We held each other’s hands.

Together, we rushed into the blackness.

Into the nothingness.

For a blessed moment, I was gone. I was nothing. Obliteration was me.

Then I started falling.