𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 ᵈʳᵉᵃᵐˢᵐᵖ DISCONTINUED

GHOSTS II

Ten | Ghosts II

ᴊsᴄʜʟᴀᴛᴛ

I was use to the cold now that it has been almost a year and a half. I got use to how it was always jet black, not even worth keeping your eyes open. I got use to the fading feeling that was my life, the ever so slightly depleting force that kept me.., alive? Was I even alive still?

You'd think, that after this much time, I would've figured this out by now. Yet, I find myself standing with no other information then I was in a dark, never ending black void, and still had no name.

Two months. That's how long I've been walking. I have been walking in a straight line, maybe slightly curved- I couldn't tell. I hadn't found anything, or anyone, and my body felt like it was time to let go. That it was time to give up. Three months ago, I had the same though, same as the month before that, and before that. The days just seemed to be all the same, but seeing as there was no light in this darkness, I couldn't even tell you when the days started and ended. There was nothing here, and I was losing hope faster than I lost my friends.

"Just a few more days..," I'd say, folding my arms over my chest to stay warm, and kept walking. I walked even when my feet were sore, and my legs were trembling. I held my arms over my body in any attempts to keep the heat inside of my frame. I tried to stay warm with any attempts I could, but eventually, I got use to the cold.

And after almost a year and a half of staying inside this hell. After countless memories that reminded me that I should've been killed years ago, after countless hours of my life spent huddled into a bottle of alcohol instead of him. Instead of Quackity. After days, upon days of endless steps deeper into this void, my foot hits a wall.

"What?" I whisper, hearing my voice echo through the completely open space, cringing at the sound. I hadn't heard my own force in days. I unfold my arms, and lay an useable hand on a cold wall, feeling the material shift and reveal a small ghosting of light. It blinds me, but I just couldn't look away from the golden ray seeping through the cracks of this wall. I press my hand against the wall harder, and harder. Right up until the crack breaks, and the stone falls, showing me a glimpse of green and red trees, dead leaves on deep, green grass, and the sun.

The sun.., oh god I can see the sun!

My body flies into action before I could think, hands clawing at the wall in front of me, at the one thing that is keeping me from getting out of this, this damned, retched place. I slammed my body into the stone, over and over and over again, hearing the rocks crumble and break as I tore a blinding rift in the fabric of this void.

I would be free.

My fingers were bleeding and my hands were bruised when the wall broke down, caving in on itself. The blinding sun creating an ocean of light, and the forest smells drifting into the void. The water around my feet wasn't as cold as I thought it was, neither was the air. I sighed out, hands shaking as I grip the frame of the wall, using it to pull my weighted body out of this hell.

And when my feet hit the grass, I crumbled to my knees and laid in. I felt my head resting in the plush ground, the leaves crunching in my hair and around my horns, I felt good. I felt alive.

I felt free.

After long, cold days and longer and colder nights of nothing but jet black, feeling the grass between my fingers almost hurt. It should've hurt, but I am damn glad it didn't.

I felt my horns snagging on the dirt as I laid on my back, staring into the sky, watching the clouds pass by, the sun slowly descend the sky, falling behind the changing trees. It must be fall, early winter.

The seasons were always easy to distinguish, either by looks or smell. Winter has this cold smell, and always seemed pure. Too pure, that's why I hated it so much. Spring had a warmer feeling, smelt like fresh rain almost everyday. Summer was more chaotic, seemed like it was always on fire, burning alive. I loved Summer. And Fall was a mixture of all three.

Some days, it was cold, others it was blistering heat. The rest was filled with subtle rain showers to help the leaves fall off the trees. It was an okay season, best for hunter small game and playing cards. Not that I ever did either of those.

I stayed on the forest floor longer than I expected, just with the mixture of the heat, the smells and being away from it all for so long, caused me to take it in longer. I sealed it away in a small container in the back of my mind, so that if I ever end up back in that void, I would at least have this to keep me company.

Leaning up, and slouching on the ground, I take in myself for the first time in a while. I didn't even realize I was wearing a light blue sweater in the void. The water I stood in for days didn't show on my pant legs, leading me to believe I had imagined it all. In fact, I couldn't even see my feet, and past my knees seemed to be slightly fading, or was faded in some way. I could almost see through my body, the green grass sticking out from the cream colored pants I had on. The red and yellow leaves standing out the most.

Feeling a bit concerned on why I wasn't worried I couldn't see anything past my knees, but still could feel with whatever was supposed to be there. Instead of thinking more on that, I stand fully and begin to walk in a direction that seems familiar to me.

I find myself wandering through the seemingly endless trees, feeling the faint brush of the leaves against my horns whenever I passed. I heard the faint cries of crows, and the soft ground dwelling animals paws hitting the forest floor. I find myself being trapped in a kinder void, and much kinder void. This one was filled with color and life, and was soft around the edges, not rough and devoid of anything that would seem calming. No, this was a peaceful I didn't deserve, but somehow found myself falling into it.

I break the tree line, seeing the moon flying high in the sky easily, and houses that are all too familiar to me. I see the boardwalk, and see the bamboo trees gently growing along the sides. I feel myself glide to the wood, and I follow it all the way to where home should be, where I thought home would be.

Emphasis on the glide.

Reaching the end of the boardwalk, and I'm left speechless.

Black walls, not like the ones that once encased L'Manbug, wrapping almost all the way around the land. People shouting outside of a van that stayed persistent in my mind. It looks nicer than what I remember though, seems newer.

But all those things looked normal, what wasn't normal though was the gaping hole left in the middle of L'Manburg.

𝟷𝟸𝟾𝟶 ᴡᴏʀᴅs
ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴡᴏᴋᴇ ᴜᴘ, ɪᴛs 𝟼:𝟹𝟶 ᴘᴍ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ I ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏᴜᴛ. ᴛʜᴀᴛs ᴡʜʏ ɪᴛ ᴍᴀʏ sᴜᴄᴋ :)