In the outskirts of a small village lies a dense and thick forest. And in that forest, the sounds of the running river and the chirping birds reached the ears of a boy who laid unconscious on the grassy dirt under him, with the sunlight above, peering through the trees that surrounded him.
He laid there by himself, his entire body remaining motionless, the clouds hovering above him, with each one varying in size and density, passing by him with each second that passed. But eventually his mind turned on, as if something flicked a mental switch inside of him.
He opened his eyes, only to be met with the blinding daylight in front of him, causing him to immediately close his eyes out of fear of losing his vision. He turned his head to the side, with his pale cheek meeting with the blades of grass. They're kind of itchy but they were also strangely soft.
The air around him pushed against his pale skin, while swaying on his auburn mop of hair on top of his head. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but he lacked the strength to do so. His nostrils sucked up any air around him, with the air itself feeling refreshing, as if it filtered by something.
The more the boy laid on the ground, the more strength he regained, and with that strength, he regained his ability to think, as if it was his first time to use his brain to do anything since his birth.
"W-What?" the boy thought to himself, his form moving an inch every second.
"Where am I?" he opened his eyes as he adjusted to the light shining upon him.
"Why do I feel so exhausted?" his arms and legs curled and stretched.
"Didn't I die?" he said as he stood up from the ground.
"Is this Heaven?" he peered at the luscious trees before him.
Confusion swirled around the head of the boy as he fully stretched every inch of his joints. His blood was regaining circulation, his heart beating at normal consistent pace, his eyes blinking as he tried to get accustomed to the environment around him.
Without asking anymore questions to himself, he continued to look at the scenery around him... Breathtaking. That was the only word he could think of to describe the area around him, it was truly a beautiful sight, something out of a dream even.
The sight of the fully grown trees in front of him dazzled the amber-colored eyes of the boy, with the light reflecting off the glistening river he awoke right next to, and the sound of the running water of said river carried the feeling of harmony.
"Man.. This place is beautiful" he said to himself as he kept on with his gazing "but... where the hell am I?".
The boy never really knew what the sight of a lush-green forest looked liked, as he lived most of his life on an urban part of his country. With the towers of steel and glass towering over him in his daily life. Of course, he knew what a forest was, but the innate feeling of looking at something in person rather than looking at it in a picture still affected him.
"How did I even get here? Last time I remember, I got hit in the head by a piece of debris during a sudden earthquake" the boy recalled how his life abruptly ended "I must be in Heaven then" he concluded to himself as both of his feet started to aimlessly wander through the woods.
"Dammit! What a flacid way to die" he hung his head low as his eyes were met with the gray, zipped up jacket he wore, and the gray pants he also frequently wore, with the last article of clothing worthy of taking note off was his red rubber shoes.
The boy carried on with his search throughout the woods, with the scenery around him barely changing, and the sunlight above him continued to hang around his head, with the only thing accompanying him was the sounds of his rubber shoes pushing themselves off the ground and the running river right next to him.
"Still... It's pretty cool that I'm actually in Heaven. Never thought that the day would come to be honest, though it would've been nice if I was reincarnated in another world by an omnipotent god... I would've liked that" he placed his hands on the pockets of his pants, and his finger felt something cold.
"What the hell is this?" he thought to himself as he fully reached down on his pocket with his hand grabbing the cold-rectangular feeling item and yanking it out of said pocket.
"It's my phone..." he stared at the piece of metal and glass on his hand with his thumb instinctively pressing the power button, and lo and behold the phone turned on, displaying the current time and date, and currently it was.
1:27 PM
April 12th
As the boy surveyed his phone, he flicked the screen upwards. A library of apps and games were shown the glass screen of the phone, with most requiring some kind of internet connection to even utilize them.
He flicked his thumb to the right at the edge of the screen, and more apps appeared, and the only application he felt like using was the settings feature. He opened it and pressed the widget with the words Wi-Fi, and much to his dismay, it seemed like the option to connect to the internet isn't possible yet, nor was he getting any reception.
The boy lightly sighed as he turned off his phone and placed it in his pocket.
"Am I allowed to bring my phone here in Heaven...? Nice. I was worried what the hell I would do to pass the time. Hopefully I can still connect to the internet in Heaven, and I could watch a ton of Youtube vide-"
*THUNK*
He obliviously walked into a tree.
A sudden sting of pain erupted at the tip of the boys nose as he recoiled himself from the unexpected pain he felt. He cupped both of his hands on his nose to feel if anything broke, but thankfully his only punishment for his obliviousness was the lingering stinging feeling.
"Dammit, that hurt like a bitch" He muttered to himself as he regained his balance. He removed one of his hands from his nose, and used that said hand to place it on the hard-wooded tree he bumped into.
"Aren't I in Heaven? Why do I feel pain?" he leaned his entire figure on the bark of the tree.
"My nose is bleeding" he said in annoyance as he removed the hand that was covering his nose. A small puddle of blood could be seen dripping down on his pale palm. He carelessly wiped his hands on the side of his gray jacket, and pinched his nose to stop further bleeding as he walked past the tree he bumped into.
"Whats taking so long? Am I in purgatory? Is my fate just to wander here in the woods until I die!?" out of slight fear and agitation he cupped his free hand to the side of his mouth and proceeded to yell with his head facing the clouds above.
"JESUS! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? AM I IN HELL!?"
"Ngh" the boy grunted as he leaned on a tree. His body filled with fatigue and exhaustion from the aimless walking he's been doing for a few hours "damn I'm tired" he hoarsely said as his sat down, his hands on his knees, his back facing the rough bark of the tree.
He tilted his head upwards. The thick, dark clouds still soaring past him, as did the soaring leaves above him did, with the running river right next to him doing the same, with the occasional lone fish swimming against the river, but failing miserably for the most part.
The boy took off his soaked jacket as the pouring rain surrounding him continued to worsen, with the rumbling sky signifying that the downpour won't let up anytime soon. He also did the same with his shoes, along with his pair of socks, with the grass being the only thing he could use to dry his feet.
A few hours have passed since the boys initial departure from his waking place. His feet felt sore as he continued to walk around the woods, the scenery barely changing at all, except for the occasional birds and squirrels that minded their own buisiness.
The heavy cold breeze of the rain made the boy shiver in place as he placed himself in a fetal position, clutching to any parts of his body as much as possible, to get any semblance of warmth and comfort.
"I don't feel so good" he clutched on his figure harder than before, but to his dismay, the wind only picked up in its numbingly freezing temperature. His arms started to hurt as the wind continued its barrage on his nerves, and soon he legs were aching.
"I have to tough it out" he thought to himself as he got into a more comfortable position "the rain is definitely not going to let up anytime soon, so the only thing I can do is to just to take a rest. But I might just die in my sleep"
The boy really didn't have much of a choice. It was either; take the risk to find some kind of cave to rest in, at the expense of him getting really sick from venturing out into the raging downpour, or, just stay here and hope that the storm will stop eventually.
*BOOM!*
A sudden loud thunderclap from the skies erupted, with the booming sound echoing in the eardrums of the boy and the wildlife around him, with said wildlife (which were mainly squirrels) went back to their hollow trees.
And despite the crackling sounds of the storm, without realizing it, the boy closed his eyes as the feeling of drowsiness enveloped him. He tried to fight it back but he couldn't resist. and soon he fell asleep, in a fetal position, with the raging storm continuing to roar around him.
The feeling off comfiness rested on the back of the boys head. It felt very nice, as if a heavenly maiden from the skies gave him a lap-pillow.
The sounds of rain could still be heard outside, with the droplets of water smashing against the glass of the hut.
"Mhhng" the boy grumbled out as he adjusted the blankets that was covering him.
"It seems that the boy will be alright" a very secluded sounding, unfamiliar voice said.
"That is a relief" another voice said, one that sounded like it came from a man "If I didn't find him just sleeping out in that storm then the probability off him dying from sickness would be very high"
"What were you also doing out in that downpour?"
"Oh you know, I was just running away from that little monster that calls herself a great spirit" the voice said with a light chuckle.
"It seems that an unfortunate fool has dared slander my name I suppose" a distant voice called out, one that sounded very childish.
"Ah! Beatrice, I would never dare to sully the name of great spirit such as you I suppose" the man said in a clear mocking matter.
"Idiot! Do you think that your deceitful words will have any affect on me I suppose!?" the childish voice shouted.
"Beatrice-sama, please do not raise your voice in the room, we currently have a guest resting here"
"Hmph. And why would we let an unimportant insect take refuge here? He would've been better off if you just let him out in this infuriating weather in fact" she said with her arms crossed.
"That is a very mean-spirited thing to suggest. To let a mere child rest on the heavy downpour without shelter. Did Father Geuse not teach you anything?"
"As if that fool can have an influence on me"
"This is definitely the reason as to why you barely have any friends"
"Barely? What are you implying?"
"Isn't it obvious? Even though you can be quite a handful, I consider you a pretty good friend, along with Ryuz-"
"IDIOT!" the childish voice boomed, in which the man chuckled in amusement "to even be associated with someone like you! I swear I'll lob off your head and burn it to the grou-"
"That is quite enough" a voice as elegant as silk commanded.
"M-Mother" the childish voice stammered "I-I'm sorry if I displeased you..."
"You do not have to apologize Beatrice, but next time I hope that you do not act so ill-tempered, we do have a guest resting here after all" she said to the spirit who did not object to her mothers words "but that does not mean that you are the only one to blame" she turned her head to the man.
"I apologize Echidna-sama" the man said with a bow.
"It's okay Roswaal. Now the two of you leave the room, I leave the boys health to you Ryuzu"
"Yes Echidna-sama"