HOSPITAL ROOM

"Sweetheart, it's time to go," Doctor Kaori peeked through the door and without finding anything strange she beckoned to her daughter, Sachi.

"Yes, Mom," Sachi replied dutifully.

“Are you feeling well, Kenta?” Doctor Kaori inquired, looking at the boy seated on the bed just next to her.

"Never felt this good before," Kenta responded.

Doctor Kaori also observed that the medic solution administered to Ken's body through the intravenous injection was nearly depleted.

“I will send a nurse to refill your pack. You can call me anytime if you suffer from some kind of pain or have any kind of problem.” Doctor Kaori was always kind to her patients, making them feel not only medically cared for but also genuinely cared about.

“Goodbye, Ken.” Sachi said before leaving, waving her hand.

“See you tomorrow.”

However, this time, Sachi secretly winked at Ken, since they had just now successfully managed to deceive Kaori about the mischievous act they had pulled off.

Ken still could not bring herself to ask Doctor Kaori what he saw in the park and he did not want to break his promise with Sachi so he decided to keep quiet.

While from their point of view, they had successfully executed their escape plan and returned safely. However, at the same time, it was impossible for Ken, as a kid, to have known that what he had just witnessed was a power equivalent to a miracle.

And a miracle, when not performed by the order of the divine, always comes with a price.

Something sinister had already crept out from the shadows and drew near, all while they remained unaware of its presence.

***

KENTA KAZUKI

On the same day, it felt as though the night had fallen surprisingly fast. The moon, too, was concealed behind a blanket of thick clouds, casting a veil of darkness over the room. Until then, there had been no signs of rain, but now, it appeared that a storm was approaching.

My thoughts, however, were far from the impending weather. Instead, I found myself thinking about all that fun I had in the park today. And the greedy desire to explore more such places consumed my mind.

“Would you like me to leave the lights on?” Before stepping out of the room, the nurse inquired.

“No, you can switch them off.” I replied.

“Wah, even though you are a child you are capable of sleeping on your own. There are otherwise always these troublesome kids I need to stay close to until they go to sleep.” The nurse chuckled.

“I am not afraid of the dark.” I said confidently.

“You are a brave boy. Goodnight. I'll return in the morning to check on you.” With those words, the nurse exited the room.

I put the blanket on me and the tiredness of playing today for the first time in the park with Sachi washed over me and I quickly fell to sleep.

…

If it is light that makes a shadow known, then it is in the darkness where they dwell.

Unbeknownst to all, an indescribable and malevolent force was steadily drawing nearer with every passing moment.

Something inhumane, something malevolent was advancing in search of what it lacked completely.

…

In the night, I suddenly woke up as a sudden chill swept through the room. At first, I thought it was just a draft, but I vividly remembered the nurse closing all the windows and door tightly.

Because of the limited light coming in from the gaps in the ventilator, I could still make out the boundaries of everything present in the room.

My eyes followed all the still shadows making sure everything was alright.

But then, from under the door, a creeping black shadow began to emerge. It was shapeless, like a living darkness, and it seeped into the room with an uncanny, almost unclear purpose.

Like a gliding dark creature, the flat shadow’s impression on the door turned into a muddy pitch-black matter.

It moved with an unsettling fluidity, then in a fleeting moment of pure dread, I heard rattling breaths. It was not the wind making those sounds, nor me. And then something hit me.

Why hadn’t I screamed till now?

Why hadn’t I tried to move or run?

My body felt awfully cold, despite the layers of covers I was under.

It was too late to realize, but my own body was paralyzed. I was losing consciousness, even though I wanted to be wide awake right now and call for help.

What is that thing? Is this what they call a ghost… or something else?

What did it want from me?

My fingers won’t move, my legs refuse to kick. My eyelids frozen. And my voice swallowed by an otherworldly void.

The creeping black shadow continued to approach me. In a final attempt, as if a will inside me responded from nowhere and I was able to break the freezing paralysis. The blood inside me began to boil as I was about to jump from my bed and run.

Inadvertently my direct gaze met the hollowness on the top of the creature. And then the gaze was returned back as I kept on staring into the abyss of its infinite darkness.

It almost felt like the darkness was stealing the light from my eyes, but instead, the room became much clear and I realized my eyes were giving the same bright color that Sachi had used to heal me.

Seeing the faint light flicker, as if it was only for a moment, but the form of the shadow became much clearer to me now.

But now, it seemed as though the entity resented that I had uncovered its presence. It directs the force of its hazy body upwards, unleashing the most deafening scream I had ever encountered.

My hands covered my ears as I fell back on the bed knocked out by the sound for a moment. The high-pitched sound caused the glass in the windows to crack and burst.

As a consequence, the heavy storm happening outside rushed in.

But it not only contained the rain but a massive cloud of that same darkness swiftly infiltrated my room and started filling the room from the top.

My hands felt tied again and my body numb. No matter how much I wanted to run away, my body wouldn’t work as I wanted it to. With the heavy suffocating pressure killing me as I became more aware of this deathly being.

The condensed darkness had finally settled and like a rope, it trickled down from the ceiling directly on me slowly covering my body. Resistance was futile.

I could barely feel the heat from my tears, as if that was all I could do. The cold was getting unbearable.

Beep-beep-beep.

An alarm went off in the room.

That’s right, the new alarm system that was set to go off the moment my vitals dropped. I was sure someone could be coming any moment now.

They would switch on the light and everything would return and settle back to normal, as I would realize it was all simply a nightmare.

I was still trying to be optimistic, even when I felt like I was being pulled closer to death as each second passed.

The door flung open and there were two nurses just standing outside.

“What’s happening?”

“Boy, are you alright?” Their concerned voice was imminent from the state of the complete chaos they found the room in. The broken glass, the wet curtains, the fast wind that wrecked the place.

At the same time, I realized they couldn’t see it. Their concerned eyes only looked at the broken pieces of glass fallen on the ground and the paralyzed me crying.

But the shadow in my room as usual did not like their presence and ensnared at them. It drifted close to them in a split second.

The sound it produced as if finally, caught the nurse’s notice. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

But it was too late for them. The well-lit corridor lights outside began to flicker and the wind roared.

The door shut on itself and the black creature pulled them in.

As the nurses attempted to flee and resist the invisible force, the dark shadow suddenly erupted and burst apart, hurling them against the wall and causing them to fall unconscious on the ground.

Finally, as if in anger the giant cloud started swirling on the top like a whirlwind and the black haze covering me started to enter my body.

It felt as if all the energy within me was being sapped and taken away from me and all I could do was just observe. My face had lost all emotions and senses.

It hurts… it hurts so much.

Someone…

Doctor Karoi… please help me.

All I could do was remember her and the promise she made to me. That she will be there to keep me safe.

…

4 weeks later…

“Doctor he is finally awake.” A nurse came close to me and quickly took a blood sample.

“It’s a miracle he woke up from the coma.” One of the other nurses in the room, whom I recognised as the one who had been looking after me for a long time looked relieved.

“What happened to me?” I asked feeling dizzy.

“You don’t remember what happened before you fell into the coma?” The doctor asked.

“Who are you? Where is….” I did not recognise the doctor but I also did not know what I wanted to speak next.

“Boy, I have a bad news. Doctor Kaori who was treating you was involved in a car accident with her whole family and did not make it.” The nurse said with a solemn expression.

“That’s sad. But who is Doctor Kaori?” I couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness upon hearing about an unfortunate accident, but I never recognized a doctor with that name.

"You don't remember her?" The nurse looked surprised and held her mouth suppressing her sob.

My head still felt heavy, and my body was reduced to an awfully weak state. Other than that, everything seemed normal to me.

But on seeing my blank face, even when repeatedly being reminded of the past few months. The nurse burst into tears. Maybe that individual person was close to her.

“Young boy, what thing do you remember last?” The doctor asked me.

Because I had woken up from a coma just now, or so they described it to me. But to me, it only felt like I woke up from my normal sleep.

My health was still delicate. I was given proper attention and a thorough investigation of my body was done at the same time.

The most recent event that I could recall was the disappearance of my parents because of my incurable disease.

“Boy, as of now we are unable to identify that you are currently suffering from that disease any longer. All the tests and scans show all your organs are functioning properly and you are now on your way to full recovery from the coma. Do you know how this was possible?”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t have an answer to any of the questions the doctor had for me.

According to the doctor, everything that had happened to me in the past six months was missing from my memory.

No matter how much I tried remembering every time I drew a blank.

And then there was one more thing…

“Do you recall anything about Doctor Kaori, because most probably she is the one who healed you? But because of her unfortunate demise, we cannot find out how you were healed.” The doctor explained it to me.

Then there was that name. Every time I was reminded of it. A deathly feeling would always grip me. I couldn’t tell whether that name meant something to me or was it important.

But I always felt lost on hearing it and wanted to get away.

After another month of observations and tests. The doctors even after brainstorming could not find out the reason that cured me. Eventually, they gave it up and called it a miracle.

Since my parents had disappeared and I was discharged from the hospital. So, after that, I was transferred to one of my relatives, my mother’s younger cousin sister to be precise.

And a year later I was again transferred to another guardian a far old relative of mine who ran a candy shop.

For the next eight years of my life, it always felt like I was missing something precious completely. No matter how much I tried to remember only a dreadful feeling of death came back to me.

My life continued, but after losing the most important people, I made sure I got close to no one.

No matter what I did a particular sense of loss would leave me with an uncontainable sadness to well up within me. For so long, that no matter how much I wanted to feel happy it eventually got quiet.

It just got really quiet.

***

8 YEARS LATER

Perhaps it was my twisted fate, that I found myself in the death bed after being involved in a school bus accident.

Only to wake up to another miracle in heaven, with a dubious offer letter from the Almighty God with a chance to get reincarnated in another world.

Luckily, we had a choice, whether we wanted to stick to the dreamy plan of reincarnation or just move on like liberated souls, attaining salvation.

We were put on a pedestal and without given any say or choice. We were chosen by gods who would accompany us on this reincarnation journey and were also handed down a mission to bring back peace to the world. Not to forget the lucrative offer they threw at us in which they would fulfill any one wish of ours.

And when I was chosen by the Dark God himself, Erebus. Even the end of my life felt like a dark comedy to me.

After the assembly of the Gods, we were sent back to our room. I had already planned on what to do next.

As I lingered in my room, biding my time. Waiting for the right moment to give my decision.

Someone knocked at the door.

At least they were not impolite like the angel who tried to enter my room with the essentials by passing right through the door.

So, I opened the door already expecting who it could be.

Maybe these deities chose to adopt human-like forms similar to our age in order to facilitate communication.

Erebus stood there with an enigmatic smile, his deep crimson irises gleaming with intrigue. His hair was as dark as a moonless night falling gracefully around his shoulders, cascading in waves that seemed to absorb surrounding light.

He wore a sleek, form-fitting, long-sleeved, charcoal-black tunic and a silver chain necklace hanging around his neck.

To be honest I wanted to close back the door and be done away with it because of the bad feeling I got from him.

“I no longer plan to be a part of tonight’s banquet so you can leave me be.”

As soon as I decided to close the door, Erebus had already vanished in front of me.

“They sure are treating you well, otherwise those angels abhor anyone who is not celestially pure enough to ascend to the divine realm.”

“Is that so.” I turned back to see Erebus already taking a look inside the room without an invite.

“Nah! They just really hate humans for being selfish and greedy creatures and consider them the lowest and worthless life forms.” Erebus stood there with an air of casual nonchalance and his sardonic humor.

“Listen…” Maybe this could be my queue where I just denounce this offer and give it straight to him.

“I already know… but do you really want to just become a vegetable flowing in an endless river of life energy? Because that’s what it feels like when you obtain salvation. You become a part of the cosmic energy of the world without any awareness.” Saying that Erebus got close to the window pane and tried to look outside.

For me the view to the outside was blocked, but maybe as a God, he was able to see something through it.

Erebus was the kind of god who just did not know how much to hold back and I did not care.

“If you already know that I did not want to be a part of this. Then why did you choose me?” I asked in a serious tone. I felt no longer the need to be polite with him or act submissive even if he was a revered god.

Erebus turned back leaning his back on the window sill, framing a face that carried a perpetual mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“Now that’s what I have been wanting to hear. Tell me what do you make of the offer from the Almighty?” Erebus asked looking straight at me as if he wouldn’t have budged until I answered.

“I think it’s so bogus, it almost feels like you Gods want us to fail. It would have been much easier if He had just said to defeat the demon king or win this war and conquer and unify the entire land.”

“Right. ⸺It is because it is a hoax.”

I thought I would have angered him by saying that, but it looked like I just might have succeeded in pleasing him even more.

“But that doesn’t answer my question?” I too was adamant.

“I have a plan to restore peace in the world. And for that I want you to break some stuff.”

“And what would that be?” I didn’t like the way he spoke as if he knew everything about me.

“The world. And then you can just rebuild it however you want.”

“That’s pointless. Resetting everything like that won’t change anything it will just end up on the same track.”

“It being pointless isn’t a reason for not breaking the rules. Why did you think I chose you?” Erebus now attempted to direct the very question I had been posing to him toward me.

I was stunned for a while as he asked me to burn the world as if it was that simple a decision anyone could make.

“It’s because I know that your hatred for this world and sense of justice is so absolute. Either you will end up completely devastated or succeed in breaking this world. Either way, you won’t feel remorse because you have lost all attachments. I can see it in your soul.”

I hate these goldy privileges even more, given that they can peer into one’s soul and now you can’t even speak anything but the truth to them.

“For starters, you don’t seem to be afraid of death. All your other friends are either freaking out or crying out their eyes in their room. But you seem to have already decided what you wanted to do next. Don’t you want to know what you lost in those six months?”

Erebus finally said something that caught my eye. All my childhood I had spent each day fighting death, so it was not something new for me.

“How do you know about that?” I asked.

“Remember we told you we have been watching all of you.” Erebus reminded me.

“So, do you know anything about my missing past?” I asked with my expectations raised.

“Not a clue.” Erebus daftly replied.

For a second I wanted to punch my own face for depending on an evil god.

“But it’s so strange that even with my authority and powers I could not see your past. That’s what really intrigued me and because I could feel the darkness inside you.” Erebus further explained.

“Is that something strange?” I didn’t know how the powers of a god worked exactly or what could have been even beyond them.

“Your world is one of the few where the use of magic is restricted. So, when I traced a faint amount of black miasma on you which the other gods couldn’t. I had to make a move.”

What Erebus told me made little sense to me.

“So, you are just incapable. Then I have nothing to do with you.”

“Now don’t be so mean. I cannot restore your full memory, but us working together can help your wish of getting those memories back can be granted.” Erebus made an offer.

But I was still not sure. What if those memories weren’t worth the risk or what I wanted in the end?

“You see I think this would make more sense if I did this.”

I did not realize what Erebus’s intentions were. But an ever-shifting, faintly smoky aura surrounds the dark god himself. When he moved, it was as if it left trails of darkness in their wake.

Coming closer to me he puts his hand on my hand even before I can react. A hazy black mist starts entering my body and a painful sensation leaves me numb.

It was a brief moment of trance that lasted only a few seconds.

But once Erebus removed his hand, I fell on the ground holding my neck as I was choking on that black mist.

My whole body was sweating gripped in fear.

“So, coming to the divine realm was not the first time you came so close to death. Quite an achievement for a human.” Erebus looked even more enthusiastic now. As if he took enjoyment in my torment and pain.

I could not see the whole thing, but it was a glimpse of the night, right before I fell into a coma that day and there was someone who tried to save me. I was attacked... by something inhumane and unearthly.

“What was that?” I looked up at Erebus's face for an explanation.

“Beats me. But I can tell you one thing. It was all because you were a reject of the Divine System, that those things came after you. The reason is still unclear to me what caused that but it definitely had to do something with your missing past. How amusing!” Erebus held his chin speculating.

After I woke up from my coma on that day all that was left for me to live on was the lone feeling that I was supposed to die on that day.

⸺But now, I knew why. There was an enemy out there who took everything from me and now it was my turn.

***

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