*Author's Note*
Congratulations!
I had some extra time this week to put up this chapter. Any extra time, until sometime in the next month, will be used to better my setting and planning out further into detail of volume two… but we aren’t there yet so~. Let’s see how fast I can type if I can get some extra time.
If you think I’m being negligent, I want to ask you to program something to move and pick things up from scratch while doing college assignments and working every other day. That my friends is my life for now until around the end of the month.
BTW get used to this layout cuz after this Chapter you won’t see the reminders above again until every volume or so for a refresher…
So without further ado~...
- “text” - is for text spoken by characters
- text - is for thoughts by characters AND (now) telepathy too... (italicized text)
- TEXT - is for emphasized sounds/ noise/ actions
- *text* - is for important stuff/ reader interactive stuff/ change in POV
- ( text ) - is for my thoughts, that you know you love and want more of... right….
----------- is for a time skip if that isn’t kind of obvious...
For any trolls and jerks reading this, if you aren’t one just skip this comment… hit the key that says backspace, like 2 or three times, and never come back please. ^_^; THIS ALSO MEANS TO SCREW OFF ON YOUR CRAPPY REVIEWS AND RATINGS BECAUSE I DON’T GIVE A F*** ABOUT COMPLETE RE*****!
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*Sophos*
I open my eyes with a throbbing feeling in my head. My head feels heavier than what my body feels, and my body feels like a boulder…
What the fuck just happened?... I could have sworn I was just shot and killed by those sick bastards…
After 12 minutes the throbbing in my head becomes bearable enough for me to get up at the very least. Through great difficulty and the best of 10 minutes, I somehow managed to get on my hands and knees and sit cross legged on the ground. I finally start looking around and taking in my surroundings now that the throbbing in my head has become more numb.
What I see astounds me… Everything, in a 65m radius, around me is nothing but ashes. When I say everything I mean EVERYTHING. No life around within the 130m long circle, heck even the earth is black. Funniest thing is after it and I mean literally AFTER, the grass is green and the forest continues again.
Looks like a big fire… Then how am I alive?... I can’t remember anything after falling… Oh well might as well move for now. I don’t think staying in a circle of ashes is a good idea…
I slowly start to get up on my feet like a baby learning how to stand. Wobbling, I wait for 3 minutes for blood to flow and my body to get used to standing.
Now will my body stay up and walk or will I kiss the earth again… or is it ash in this case. (This is where Sophos is having doubts and is being sarcastic about his body… you will learn later on as to why… hehehe)
I slowly start walking, taking it literally a step at a time. In an hour, I get out of the forest and reach my horse from where I left it. I’m surprised it didn’t run away from whatever the hell happened here. As I get closer to it, I see that the ropes have burned into the tree and there are struggle marks that look suspiciously like hooves from a particular horse.
Hmm… Looks like we have a not so loyal horse... Well considering it’s an animal and all that fire, it trying to run is logical…
-Neigh! Neigh!-
The horse sees me and starts making noises. I get next to it and start stroking it’s mane to calm it down and thin whisper to it’s ears.
Sophos: “Looks like I’m not dead yet so you’ll have to keep company for a while longer.”
The horse calms down after a couple of minutes. As soon as I’m sure it won’t start freaking out anymore I mount it after untying it from the tree. I face east towards the village of ruins, my birthplace and hometown. Then, I urge the horse horse to speed up and soon I am galloping towards the village once more. In half an hour, he arrives at the village filled with corpses. It is still and there blood everywhere.
Sophos: “Ana! Where are you! I’m back! It’s me Sophos!”
I shout as I enter the village and get closer to the chief's house. I enter the house and go to the room where I told Ana to put the barrels of oil in. It was full and so was the other rooms. I go to Ana’s room and knock on the door.
I hope she is still here. Too much time couldn’t have passed since I was unconscious… Wait how long was I unconscious for!... It couldn’t have been for too long… could it?
Sophos: “Ana! I’m back. There’s no need to hide anymore. Are you there?”
I shout in front of Ana’s room, while thinking dreading the possibilities that are ticking off like a old father clock in my head. I slowly open the door and walk in. I look around and find the room empty except for what was here before I left. I peek inside the closet to look for Ana and find only her clothes. My eyes return to the room and rest on her bed.
I slowly get on my knees and look under the bed while thinking...
Don’t tell me… Yup. I see her hair. This girl actually hid under the bed. Well there is more chance of escaping than in a closet.
Heh. She even closed her eyes. I could’ve sworn I was shouting…
Oi! This girl is asleep! Who the fuck FAllS ASLEEP UNDER a bed in a village of corpses!
I drag her out from under the bed and put her on top of it. (What are you people imagining?~ Hmm?~ Well not today my perverted friends… not today. lol)
Sophos: “Oi! Ana. Wake up.”
I start poking her cute cheeks to get her to wake up. She starts squirming and crying while mouthing some words. (That’s a ten year old girl, Sophos~ At least give her two or three years before you start flirting like lovers~. lol… Well that’s around when girls were married off and et cetera long time ago. [Incase some people are dense… I just explained the cultural time frame right there. If you to decipher my text, you will see that I’m already hinting a couple of chapters ahead. Of course some of my comments have hints while the others are my thoughts as I get my story from who knows where in my head. Okay no more helping you guys. You’re on your own for now...])
Huh? I’m pretty sure I didn’t poke her too hard. Why is she crying?! Wait What is she mumbling?
Ana: “M..om.. Da..d.. don’t.. lea..ve.. me.. alone…”
Is what she starts mumbling while some of her tears fall into the sheets. I felt like hitting myself for not guessing why she was crying.
Oh… Of course. Her parents died in front of her to protect her. Of course she would be crying… Why can’t I cry like her… I lost my family like her… Am I just broken… Or am I just the one who is abnormal…
I shake my thoughts away and then start shaking Ana to get her out of her nightmare. She wakes up and realise I’m in front of her and she wasn’t dreaming that her parents were dead. She starts crying and I pull her into a hug and start stroking her hair while whispering into her ears.
Sophos: “Your parents are dead. You lost your home. But I’m still here. I lost my family as well. I’ll be your family for you. From now on, I’ll be your big brother. Besides, it’s not as if your parents are gone forever now is it?”
As I start whispering this into her ears she keeps bawling up tears but slows when I mention that I will will be her brother. After a while she stops crying. She then pulls away and looks at me as if confused about something.
Ana: “What do you mean that they aren’t gone forever?”
Sophos: “You can’t see?... Of course… Some people never do realise in their entire lifetime…”
I mumble to myself and then see Ana looking more confused and I realise I just spoke out loud, enough for her to hear, accidently.
Sophos: “Ah! What I mean is…”
I get up and drag Ana to a mirror and put her in front of it. I stand behind her and start answering her question.
Sophos: “What do you see?”
I ask her as I point towards her reflection in the mirror. Ana just looks at herself with dead eyes and answers.
Ana: “I see me and you. What else should I see?”
I grab her shoulders and lean closer to reach her height and stare into her eyes through her reflection before answering.
Sophos: “Look in the mirror. Look at your hair, eyes, face, and body.
Ana looks a bit more confused than her previous dead and sad expression.
Ana: “What about them?”
She replies as she looks at herself questioningly.
Sophos: “Now close your eyes and remember your parents. Pull them out of your memories and remember them as they are.
(Yeah this is the right tense. Not a grammar screw up on my part. You should understand later)
Remember everything you know about your family, remember their habits. Remember both the good and the bad. Tell me when you have done so”
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Ana takes a minute to remember everything about her parents as best as she could.
Ana: “Okay. I’ve done it. So what are you talking about?”
Sophos: “Now open your eyes and look at yourself one more time. Try to match your knowledge of your parents and your memories with the you in the mirror… Now tell me again, what do you see?”
Ana slowly opens her eyes and looks at herself again. This time, there is less confusion in her eyes. This time, there isn’t a dead look in her eyes. THIS TIME, there is excitement and shock in her eyes as she starts to realise what I am trying to tell her.
Ana: “I see… THEM! I see the way they were! I have parts of them IN ME!”
Sophos: “No you’re wrong. It is not “WERE” it is ARE. They exist in your movement, your speech, your taste, your actions, your bones, your flesh, your blood, and much more. So long as you have your memories of them they are not completely dead. They live in you for you are the proof of their existence. The fact you exist means that they too did. If you ever miss them then just remember them. If you need their guidance then remember what they told you when you were young and listen to your heart. They are with you forever.”
I leave Ana to herself as she absorbs what I have told her. Before I leave I see that she fell on her knees and is sitting on her legs in front of the mirror. She was crying as she tried to find her parents in herself and was searching.
I go outside and push the corpses into a pile in the center of the village. I then take some dry wood and cover the corpses in them after. I get a large bonfire ready for tomorrow since I am too tired to light the dead bodies right now and pay respect.
Forgive me everyone but I would rather not join you right now… I got too much to do and see… (Sophos you won’t die~. You’ll just fall unconscious from exhaustion… probably… lol)
After returning back to the deceased chief’s house after 3 hours of being a horrible undertaker, I look for Ana again. I find her asleep on her bed. I go to the side of her bed and lean against it. As soon as I close my eyes the darkness known as dreamless slumber embraces me.
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As my consciousness slowly stirs awake, I am surrounded by darkness. As I slowly rise from my dreamless sleep I hear one more thing from an undecipherable voice.
Get ready boy…… is finally beginning… Now that you are beginning to awaken… Soon you will have some headaches and start slipping from consciousness so prepare yourself…
The last statement was the clearest and it didn’t really sound that great. Suddenly I get whipped by an onslaught of pain in my head. It was as if someone took a hammer and a really big chisel and started banging my head with it with an anvil on on the other side.
FUUUCK! WTF!!! Why am I feeling this shitty ass pain. WTF is going on?!
In a minute it stopped but to me it felt like a three hours of torture. In another ten minutes the pain subsided to a dull throb. I open my eyes and see that it is around noon already, judging by the amount of light in the room. I slowly try to get up from the cold floor only for my bones to make creaking and popping sounds. Taking my time, I get up slowly. I then proceed to stretch my limbs for a quarter hour. Throughout it all my body was making popping and creaking sounds from sleeping on the hard, cold floor.
I then turned around to find Ana still in dreamland. She was hugging her pillow and sleeping peacefully. Sunlight came into the room and hit her face but she still slept like a log.
Looking at her like this, she looks like a cute little kitten in a patch of sunlight.
I walk over to her and sit on the bed. I then proceed to poke her cheeks until she woke up. Like a cat, she squirmed before sitting up and yawning. She then stretched like a cat as well while opening her eyes and looking at me. She looks at me blankly before remembering who I am.
Well we did meet yesterday. Of course she wouldn’t recognise me right away.
Ana: “M-morning Sophos.”
Ana greets me while being a bit red. If I didn’t know any better it would be a blush ,but she doesn’t have a reason to be embarrassed so I just ignore it.
Sophos: “Morning Ana. Let’s wash up and then get some food in us before we start this day.”
I try to reply with the best smile I could come up with. I then get up and stretch my hand out for Ana to take and she takes it while still being red. I pull her up and out of bed and then leave. I wash my face and brush my teeth before heading down to the kitchen. I grab some fruits, bread, jam, milk and put them on a tray before meeting Ana back in her room. I find her there really awake and with a bit of water in her hair from washing her face. Ana turns to see me and looks at the tray of food.
Sophos: “I found some food for us to eat.”
Ana: “Yeah. Mom and I were planning on shopping soon so we should only have very little.”
Sophos: “It’s okay. There’s enough for the two of us… So how are you?”
I ask her as I sit down next to her and put the tray on the bed between us. I grab a slice of bread and start spreading jam over it and then hand it to her.
Ana: “I’m… much better… than I was before… Thank you for yesterday. If you hadn’t told me what you did…”
Ana replies as she looks at the slice of bread in her hands. She seems a bit anxious so I pat her head instinctively. (You will know later as to why. I know I say that a lot but don’t worry you will.)
Sophos: “Don’t worry. We’re family, right?”
I answer her anxiety and any lingering questions with a smile. This time it wasn’t as hard as it was before. It was much more natural. Ana gets a little redder at my reply.
Suddenly I started to feel the throbbing in my head to start back up.
Oh no… Not again!
Urgently, I get up and look at Ana who is surprised and confused from my sudden movement. I back up a little bit and try to be somewhere without furniture. I sit down on the floor since I couldn’t “put it off” for later any more.(Sophos is talking about the headache)
Sophos: “Ana. Whatever you do don’t touch me for the next few moments. If necessary run away. Don’t worry it will pass… eventually…”
Ana looks more confused and starts to worry what is wrong. Unfortunately, before Ana could ask any questions for me to answer… it started and it was worse than before. I had a flash of white pass my eyes. The last thing I heard was Ana screaming my name before I fell unconscious and hit the floor.
Damn… why now
I then fade out and am enveloped by darkness once again.
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*???*
Somewhere else in a different universe, in a different world, in a different country, in a different house; gasping sounds can be heard inside a young boy’s room as the sun rose to introduce a new day.
-Gasping sounds-
???: “What in hell was that?”
A knocking sounds can be heard from outside the boy’s room.
-Knock, Knock, Knock-
???: “Sora! Wake up! It’s monday! You’ll be late for school!”
Sora: “I know mom! I’m awake and I’m getting up right now!”
Mom: “Well, hurry up down so you can eat breakfast. It’s an omelette today!”
Sora: “Yeah! I’m coming downstairs so wait a few minutes.”
Mom: “Okay, I’ll start waking your sisters up then.”
Sora’s mom started going towards his sister’s room to wake her up.
Sora: “What was that dream?... That was the strangest and most realistic dream I’ve ever had in my life…”
Sora goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He then starts getting dressed to go to school. Afterwards he heads downstairs for breakfast. Throughout it all, all he thought about was the unreal dream he had and why...
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What we learned today:
Sophos needs some tylenol…
Headaches hurt...
Ana is getting better...
What was not mentioned:
Unexplainable godlike fire + Animals = A lot of shit in a forest…
Nocturnal animals, in said forest, are no longer nocturnal and only come out during the day…
Sophos’s horse is really unlucky in many ways…
So… how was the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry it was only 3.4k words but I don’t think I could expand the chapter any bit. Well 3.4k is in between the range of 2.5k - 5k so I haven’t broken my promise.
Please feel free to review and rate at your hearts content but please make sure you make your reasoning clear so I can fix any issues that you might have.
If anyone has any questions or concerns just pm me or be one of the people to post on the first page.
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