(Volume 2) CHAPTER 23 -Birth-

The cold dark tunnel, the light in the end began to grow more and more as I felt that I was getting closer. Then I was right up close, until I pushed past it.

The lighting of what seemed like a room darken, barely being able to hear, a sound of muffled cries went on and on. Can someone please shut that baby up?

I tried to hold my head with my hand but it felt heavy.

“Congratulations, he's a beautiful boy.”

The muffled voices became clearer that I was able to understand. Yet my eyesight was horrible, I blinked a couple of times before it too became clearer. I tried to move my head to scan the room but it was hard, that is when I felt a sort of fingers restraining my head. I tried to grab them but it was useless. I had no strength in my hands or fingers.

I struggled the best I could but no results were shown. However, something did happen, a face of what appeared to be a woman looked at me with love. Her pale face and lips showed weakness, almost as if she…

Another face, a manlier one revealed itself too, and like the woman that looked at me with a lovable face, so did this one. Why are you guys looking at me like that? I said in my mind like they could hear me. Moreover, can they even hear me?

I tried to talk but my vocal cord didn’t give the sounds that I wanted to, instead it released groans and moans. “Don’t worry you are with your parents, isn’t that right Julian?” said the pale woman holding me, “That is right Amelia.” responded the man next to her.

This confirmed everything so far, my hands, the people in this room, the woman and the man…

All of this meant that I was a baby and those people that I was seeing were my parents.

***

It’s been three years since I was born and during those years I learned astonishing things. Like my name, Colter Hart, son of Julian and Amelia Hart. Two high-grade military soldiers that were bestowed the title of nobles after the great war between the nations around the globe. But they decided to retire after learning about my conceiving of two months, the knowledge of my life made them enter the civil life and of course their ‘civil life’ had its perks here and there. One of those perks helped with my birth, letting me be born into a fancy hospital.

But there were some cons when it came to this, such as potentially becoming a target to get back at my parents. Yet even though it hasn’t happened it was still a possibility for it to occur.

I tried pushing those thoughts and instead tried to focus on the future. Next year I will become a kindergartener. I wonder how it will go? My excitement raised my expectation of my future, the future that was in front of every single living thing.

Nine years later, I would be twelve years old, just entering seventh grade. Having a normal life like any other kid, being excited to enter what people called the ‘teenage youth’.

However, Fate was never meant to be nice or even take the side of someone. No god, no supreme being could have changed it even if they could…

During the time I was in middle school, the government in our nation decided to invade another nation which had riches of material. They had thought that they would be successful in their operation, stealing the necessary resources for their experiment.

The nation they invaded was tired of their violence, the nation didn’t have any military veterans so even if they fought back they would get killed easily.

The sole nation decided to ask for help from the neighboring countries and nations behind the back of Oskon, the nation that invaded them.

Suddenly, a nation that was strong and even considered to be on par with Oskon accepted the non-military grade nation deal. Defend them from Oskon in exchange of materials.

The nation that was considered to be on par with Oskon was called Pleoca. .

The Deal was done publicly days after the acceptance, it was called the deal with the devil. For many who knew this strategy had already seen the outcome before anyone else could even imagine it.

Oskon was giving a warning to leave the nation and that Pleoca wouldn’t result in violent matters with them. However, Oskon didn’t take this matter seriously, instead they continued to steal materials from the weak-nation and even killed those who were resisting to their command.

To other people’s eyes, the nation of Oskon greed was far greater than they thought.

And thus a war that would escalate even into the smallest corners of the planet would arise in a span of a few years.

***

There was a cold and unpleasant darkness surrounding me, moving my hands and legs as fear striked me. I haven’t felt like this in years… since I was born…

Struggling more, I opened my mouth trying to let out a sound, a voice. Nevertheless, it was futile, no sound could be heard from me or my surroundings. During these moments thoughts, unwanted thoughts reign through my mind as I saw no other options being available to me.

Have I died? And if so, where is this? Is my family alright? Have they realized what has happened to me?

I couldn’t bear to think what my parents would think. How would they react when their only child has died by unknown causes? I felt a tightness in my chest as I thought about how I had brought disappointment to my parents.

Wait… I felt tightness in my chest… meaning I could feel something… I’m not dead but I don’t feel alive either. I thought about it long and hard about this phenomenon I was going through, I couldn’t grasp the situation no matter what. But soon my thoughts came to an end, the beeping sound in the distance could be heard.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I tried to walk but there wasn’t a solid ground or a ground at all. My next move was to try and swim towards it. I brushed off the thought when I was forced to learn how to swim during middle school for whatever reason that involved water, only to swim in the nothingness of darkness towards whatever I was going to.

I got into position and began to swim.

As I got what felt further than from where I was, my stamina was lower than it was before. The tiredness began to overwhelm me little by little. It appears that in this world… or dimension, was very different from mine. I didn’t have my everlasting stamina and I felt weaker.

But in spite of that I couldn’t give up, because the beeping sounded closer. The pleading of my ached body screamed into my ear along with the beating of my heart. The closer I got the louder and painful was the beeping sound.

Until I was close enough to hear it in front of me, a white silhouette that appeared to have wings was standing directly in front of an alarm. Even though no facial or body features were visible, I felt its gaze as it focused on me.

That’s when the white silhouette decided to speak in an unclear voice, “I’m sorry that you have to go through all of this. I promise you that I will make it up to you after all of this is done, so promise me that you will not go down the wrong path, my ##### ###.”

Before I could even respond, my surroundings started to spiral. The balance of my body favored one side then the other, that is when I felt a sucking motion from behind me. My eyes widened at the familiar figure of the object that was the cause of the surroundings to drift to its direction, it was a black hole.

I turned my sights to the white silhouette and stretched out my hand, hoping that it would grab my hand and save me from the black hole. Despite all of that, the only thing that the white winged silhouette did was watch as I was being pulled into the black hole.

In that instant a faint voice entered my ears which made me wake up, the voice that I heard earlier became more understandable than before. It sounded like a mother who watched her child suffer through so many horrible things.

“...I hope that when we meet again, you would’ve learn the meaning that you are looking for.”

Shooting up from my bed, I opened my eyes only to find myself in my room. My right arm was still stretched while sweat ran down my whole body.

I aggressively inhaled air from my mouth.

…What was that? I thought to myself as I spectated my room a little bit more, thinking that I might still be in another world or dimension trapped. Yet the more I dragged my eyes to every corner –including the outside of my opened window– the more slowly that idea died.

Letting my guard down, the sound of beeping became louder. Turning my head to my left I notice it was my alarm clock that I had set up for my first day at sch–.

“Dammit, I had forgotten that today was my first day of highschool. How could I have overslept like this!”

Agitated, I got off my bed as fast as I could. Opening the door to my bathroom to quickly shower.

Minutes later, I searched for my uniform in my closet. Looking through many clothes that were hanging and the cabinets for specific ones, until the black and golden lined uniform appeared in the buried clothes in the corner of my room.

A sense of relief washed over me but it left quickly when I looked at the time. …it was eight thirty already?

I grabbed my backpack and headed down stairs as fast as I could, not wanting to fall and eat it.

Upon being in the last step, an angry female voice could be heard. “Stop running down the stairs young man. Especially when it's your fault that you overslept.” Said my mother packing my lunch.

I felt her stare as I looked around for my shoes, “Mo-.” I was cut off.

“They are over there.” she responded as she pointed to the closet of shoes that we had. “You know, you could still join the army and not have to go to school if you are always going to be late.”

I still was struggling to put my shoes on because of the pressure of being late, but I stopped when I heard her words. “Mother, the only way I would join the army would be by having a catastrophic event or if I have nothing else in my path or desires.” I bluntly explained for the five-hundredth time, since my mother or sometimes father would tell me that I could have chosen the army or school.

But it was my time to experience this so-called youth I keep hearing adults talk about. No being able to explain this type of feeling that dwelled inside of me. The reason why I didn’t devote myself into the army or other things but to ‘my youth’.

The brown-haired woman decided to take that as a lost battle but not a lost war like always. Military parents I swear, I said in my mind as I let out a small scoff and lightly shaked my head.

“You know mom, I could’ve just walked to school or gotten on the bus, right?” I said looking outside the window of the car, seeing how some kids walked or waited for the bus like a normal teenager.

I waited for a response to my question but it never arrived. Instead, we arrived at the highschool that awaited my youth experiences. A tired sigh left my mouth as I looked at the gates of the school. But what could be done at this point, my only option is to look forward instead of the past.

I thanked my mother before leaving the car. “Colter Hart, come back this instant.” As soon as those words entered my ears, a cold icy spike ran through my spine. Warning me that I was in big trouble.

Facing the direction that the source came from, letting out a bitter smile. “Y-yes Mother,” hesitantly responding to her, slowly walking towards the car.

My black-eyed mother was frowning at me, almost like she was expecting something from me. I stood next to the driver door unable to mutter a single word. Beginning to think why she was frowning at me, that is when a click echoed through my mind.

Like every parent, they wanted a farewell, a goodbye that would suffice until their child came back to them. A hug.

Without hesitation I rapidly went through the open window car and hugged my mother. No words were said or mentioned but only silence, silence of a loving family time…

I waved my hand to my mother as she left.

…Parents I swear. I thought while letting out a sigh.

I relaxed and walked slowly, thinking that everything was going as planned. “Students, this is your final warning. The last bell is going to ring in less than a minute, please hurry to class before teachers close their doors.”

Oh great. I have less than fifty seconds to get to class. How incredible.

I started to run not trying to waste the couple of seconds I had left. Passing the entrance, I looked both ways of the corridors before landing my eyes on the stairs. Understanding that my first class was on the third floor meant that I had to use half of my stamina to get there in time.

Deciding that thinking was a waste of time, I dashed as fast as I could only using half of my stamina. Once again the announcements came in, “Students, you have twenty seconds left before the final bell.”