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Chapter 34: Re:start

*Tink Tink Tink*

Maybe it's the mirror? Maybe it's showing something again?!

I open my eyes and stare into the hand-mirror once more. However, it is black and empty, reflecting only the Void Prism.

*Kacha*

Suddenly a crack of white light appears in the mirror. However, it is not because the mirror has activated. My mouth opens, and something...something comes inside.

T-This...it's...

I'm gaping.

Licking.

Tasting.

For the first time in s-o-o-o long!

"A-A...i....r....!"

I can't speak. But I know it's there.

This must be a hallucination.

I can't be feeling again.

Perhaps the System God is messing with me?

I wouldn't mind that.

But isn't this too cruel to torment me with false hope?

*KACHA*

That's when it happens.

White light spiderwebs through the Void Prism. The dark, empty walls begin to crumble. And then shatter. My whole world, this nothing place of nothing begins to disappear like the night before the morning sun. And...

I...I'm warm.

The light comes in and though my eyes burn with pain after so long in the dark, I can't look away.

It's so beautiful!

#

When the world calms and I open my eyes, everything has changed. Harsh bright white things keep landing on my face. The word to describe such things has long since left my vocabulary. I grunt, curiously, opening my mouth.

"A-a-h" I stick my tongue out and taste it. The flavor of sweet, cold, water melting on my tongue is more than I can bear. Dropping to my knees, I stare up at the cloudy gray sky.

Snow.

That's what is.

Outside. I'm outside.

Liquid drips down on my face, and whether it is melted snowflakes or the tears pouring from my eyes it's impossible to tell. No one sees as I re-enter the world as a sniveling wreck. I wouldn't care even if there was anyone.

They all abandoned me in that place.

From now on...I...I...who am I?

Ah...Hei. Yea. That's me.

My thoughts are all jumbled. There's too much going on all at once. Flavors, sounds, sights, feelings, tastes, it's coming back to me. What living is like. I shiver.

"Brrrrr..."

It's not because of the cold. It's because I remember that place. That horrible, horrible place. A cage from which there was no escape. And no rescue. I don't know how I got out. But one thing is for sure,

I can never go back.

Silently, I make a promise to myself. It's all that matters now. Fear locks me up, just thinking about going back to that place. A wet spot forms on my knees as the snow melts around me. For some time, I just stare at that beautiful, gray sky.