Chapter 45 - Rio

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I hear her voice. She hums gently. It sounds like a lullaby. But it doesn't lull me to sleep. It rouses me to awake.

But all around me is darkness and my body is paralyzed.

I hear his voice. His screams echo in the void. Like a siren of death.

I do not wish to go back, nor do I wish to return.

I hear his pleas to a higher power and I wait for the response. But it is only him I hear. He and I are alone in this place of darkness.

There is a price to life and death.

And I wonder if I am alive or dead.

Or am I somewhere in between?

Are we, the First Son and I?

A chorus resounds, convulsing the dark particles away from view. His shrieks are unbearable this time, melding into the powerful chorus. And, absentmindedly, I find myself joining in the song.

All around me, darkness swirls and twirls, revealing cracks of light. And I wonder, where does the darkness go to hide?

Then a sharp pain answers back. It throbs deep inside my chest and I feel my body being willed to awake and arise. But the darkness pulls me back. In this tug of war, it seems I could be split in half. The pain echoes all through the recesses of my mind and body.

The humming of her ethereal voice grows stronger and the pain stops. I cling onto it as it wraps me up and I feel myself floating up to her, to my heaven.

Suddenly, I emerge out into a familiar field and I wonder if I have found myself in Eden. The air is still, yet the grass sways gently as I walk through it. The sky above me is baby blue, yet the horizon is colored purple with a large orange celestial body resting on it. Is it rising or is it setting?

And there I find another. He mimics my movements and we walk together for a while until he stops and seems to wait for me.

"Who are you?" I ask, as does he.

When he turns to face me, we reflect curious looks. A corner of my mind itches at the familiarity of his face that I am sure I have seen an iteration of.

"I am Rio," I answer.

"I am Er," he answers.

My body abruptly shivers.

"I know you and you know me," he says.

The trembling intensifies and my knees begin to buckle.

"I don't..."

"You will soon," he tells me, then turns to face the sun. "We are one."

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