I saw fragments of memories passing in front of my eyes. I opened my eyes to see an unrecognizable yet familiar face. My body was aching, and my clothes were torn and bloodied, but there were no open wounds just scars.

The man fed me some soup, said something, and left. I couldn’t bring myself to hear those words.

I was alone, surrounded by darkness, I couldn’t even remember my name, thinking seemed like a far-fetched thought.

Another man entered the room and so did the light, just for a brief moment.

I was shrouded by darkness once again, but not alone.

The new man lighted a candle between us, he looked into my eyes, and I looked in his. I couldn’t understand what was going on in his head, hell I couldn’t even understand what was going on in my head.

“I hope you can hear me.” He said.

I felt this ecstasy building up inside me, it was like hearing a child say it’s very first words, this time I was able to hear maybe for the first time.

I smiled and I nodded.

The front man kept searching for something in my eyes.

I tried to speak, but I couldn’t think of the right words to say. It was better to be silent than a fool.

He got my hand in a tight grip, I tried to pull it away but it was futile.

He brought my hand closer to the candle flame, “Hold the flame.”

I looked at him befuddled, I can’t do that, that will hurt.

“Hold the flame, Aoyama. Feel the Pain.”

I didn’t want to, but that name he had just taken, was my name, but it felt like it didn’t belong to me.

I wanted to know more, and I don’t think disobeying him would encourage him to tell me more.

I held the flame.

A sharp pain stung my fingers, and the pain traveled all across my body, I tried to remove my hand but it seemed like my hand was stuck to it.

Air seemed to have abandoned me, I was panting, while my body trembled.

“Look inside yourself, Aoyama.” The man said.

I couldn’t. The pain was too much, my consciousness was slipping, and maybe I should have stayed in the darkness.

“Look inside Aoyama.” The man shouted this time.

I tried to focus, but what was I supposed to look for?

My concentration was disturbed, and I felt my pain tenfold, I screamed.

It was odd hearing your sound for the first time.

I closed my eyes again and looked inside.

I was surrounded by darkness but there was something at the farthest point.

An ember.

It was the candle flame, which I had just extinguished.

As I got closer to it, I felt my pain grow more and more, it was getting too much to bear.

My body was on fire, but I could see the flame clearly, it wasn’t the candle flame.

It was something else, something much more powerful.

I reached out to the ember, I wanted to feel it, comprehend it.

It was beyond me, it spanned more than millenniums, and it was beyond anyone and everyone. Its vastness exceeded the very world in which we resided.

It was Life.

The worst thing was I wasn’t seeing this in its purest form, it was diluted in its nature so that lesser life forms like- Humans could perceive it.

I couldn’t feel the pain anymore, nor could I feel my body.

I was part of Life, and Life was part of me.

We both were the same.

The world was Maya, an illusion, yet it was true.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I was bound by my deeds, by the Mortal World.

The Spirit Realm was the path to the World Beyond, it derived its energy from the World Beyond and the Mortal World.

There was nothing, and from nothing came everything.

I felt my consciousness extend beyond me, I saw the past, present, and future.

I was Aoyama, but I was also a factory worker, an artist, a queen, a peasant, a son, and a mother.

I felt my mind contract back to myself, I was again limited to my frail mortal body, and the beautiful symphony I was earlier part of, was now inaudible to me.

As the euphoria left my body, pain caught up with me again.

I was back in my shell made of flesh and bones.

I was left with neither the light of life nor the flame of a candle to guide me, the front man leaned closer as he removed my hands from the candle, the candle was still burning, and my body felt no pain anymore.

There wasn’t even a burn mark on my fingers.

My body was covered in sweat, “What was that?” I asked.

It was in a long time had spoken, it was a long time since I had been able to think coherently.

The man had a smirk on his face, “Do you want to know what happened?”

I felt fear running through my bones, yet it felt right to answer him after whatever experience he had put me through, I nodded.

“You just drew your own Life Energy, which is connected with the Life Energy of every other living being.

It pushed you closer to Perfect Harmony, a harmony in which your soul and body are aligned perfectly.”

I was baffled, his words had meaning, but no sense.

“Well, explaining everything in detail isn’t my job, it is Harz’s. What matters is that you died, or nearly died, so to bring you back to life, I put you in contact with Life Energy itself. But there must be many questions in your mind, however there are even more in mine. Not about the Life Energy or the Harmony, but about you.

Have you ever asked yourself ‘Who are you?’”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I shook my head.

He chuckled, “No wonder. You won’t know the answer, but the other Aoyama will know.”

“The other Aoyama. Is there anyone else with my name?” I asked.

The man’s smile disappeared, he appeared like the grandfather who was about to tell their grandchildren the scariest stories that would haunt them for a lifetime.

“No there isn’t anyone with your name, but there is someone. Someone who has your memories.”

My memories, I hadn’t even thought about my past, I pressed my temple, to remember.

It was just a void.

He burst into laughter, “Aoyama Aoki, a Man with a Soul but No Mind.”

I was panting, I tried to remember but what was there left to remember?

“Even if you would have everything, you would still be incomplete.” The man said.

I let out the rawest, the most visceral scream possible. My entire body was quivering.

I gasped for air, my eyes burned, “Why did you tell me?” I asked, wasn’t it better that I was living my painless ignorant life?

He stared at me, his face was placid, “The path to harmony is a painful one and to achieve that you must accept the truth.”

“Fine. I accept the truth, I don’t know my past.” I said dismissively, I wanted the pain to just end with.

The man smiled, “It isn’t so easy darling, you can’t accept the truth half-heartedly. You must believe it, every single ounce of it, you need not announce it but you must believe.”

I looked at the man with disdain, he didn’t have to accept that he might be forever incomplete, it wasn’t so for me.

However, I hated someone even more, I hated the man who had stolen my memories, the man who had his identity and name- Aoyama Aoki.