Tom

As we walk down the tattered streets, I can't help but to question things.

-This world... it's wrong.

It's not a matter of knowledge or perspective, nor even of instinct; it's just a feeling. I have a deep, deep feeling in my soul that things aren't as they should be.

I clutch the shard of glass close to my heart, and I look up towards T

"So this is how it feels to be looked up to."

"Is that really what you're thinking about?"

*Sigh*

"No, it's not."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Nope."

It's subtle, but things seem.. dimmer. The light is fading, and I can't help but notice that it's happening faster than yesterday.

"Oh, that's not good."

'What? It's just night. All we need to do is find a hole to crawl into, and we'll be fine. Oh, Oh no.

"Yeah, we're going to need to hurry."

I try to run, but before my foot can even leave the ground, I find myself being lifted into the air.

"Jeez, you're heavy. The heck have you been eating?"

That's actually a good question. The white shards that I've been consuming, what are they? Are they just memories?

The ground begins to move faster and faster, and as I'm being held under his arm, I can't help but feel a bit sick.

"If you throw up on me, I will drop you."

'You're the one who picked me up.'

Like a switch, shadows cover the world around us, and I cannot help but to shiver. It's cold, and as I stare into the darkness, I cannot help but feel that something is staring back.

"Close your eyes if you want to keep them."

I close my eyes, and the feeling begins to fade. I try to sniff the air, but the thick scent of blackness burns my nose.

I feel myself tossed onto the floor, and I hear T panting.

"That was bad."

I open my eyes, but all I see is darkness.

'We'll be fine, right?'

"As long as we stay inside, the big boys shouldn't bother us."

I'm terrified, but more importantly, I'm frustrated. I shouldn't feel like this; I should be happy that I don't need to fight, but...

-Will I really get stronger like this?

"You're thinking of something stupid right now, aren't you?"

'.... No?'

"Is that a question?"

'....'

*Sigh*

"Forget I said anything. I'm not used to having company in my castle."

I play around with the shard of glass in my hands. It's cold, almost like a piece of ice. Ice?

This is starting to get annoying. I can accept not remembering things, but to only half remember everything? That's just aggravating.

'How do I turn this shard into a weapon, anyways?"

"Oh, right, that. You're going to need a base. Once you find it, you can just sort of smush the shard into it, and you'll have a weapon. Mine's made out of five or so shards, so it's pretty nice."

'Where would I get a base?'

"I'll tell you when tomorrow comes. For now, try to sleep."

I close my eyes and try to drift off. Unlike before, my head is filled with countless thoughts swirling. I try to grab onto some, but they slip through my grasp, and I forget.

-I feel... incomplete. It's not just me, though, is it? This world... it's incomplete.

"Wake up, it's hunting time."

I open my eyes and see the dim light of day. T is sitting in his chair, but luckily he doesn't seem to notice the holes I left in it. T jumps through the hole in the wall, and I follow. We stroll down the streets, twisting and turning, until eventually we stop at a rounded clearing. I look up and see a tree made entirely out of thousands of metal pipes. I reach my hand out to touch one, but T grabs my hand and pulls me back.

"Be careful, you might just get pulled in."

'What is this?'

"It's something a lot bigger and cooler than us. This right here is a concept."

'A concept?'

"Think of it like a whale. It dominates the ecosystem while only eating its smallest members. Although unlike a whale, it'll also eat whatever is thrown at it."

I look up at the twisting pipes, and I can't help but wonder...

-Why does it feel familiar?

"Alright, to get a base, you'll need to find a pipe that resonates with your soul."

'Really?'

"Nah, I just said that because I thought it was cool. Any of these pipes will do. Just remember, keep yourself grounded."

I reach out and touch the "Trunk," and the world around me goes dark.

It's dark, cold, and lonely. I'm climbing a mountain, and the higher I go, the fiercer the wind is. I claw my way to the top, only to see that there is still more to climb.

just a bit more. Just a bit more, and I'll have made it. I try to pull myself up, but I feel something clinging to my leg. For a moment I consider kicking it off, but as I look down, I see...

I see me.

"Is it really worth it?"

'It's not a matter of worth; it's a matter of will. I have to do this.'

"Why?"

'If I give up here, I'll die. It's too far for me to go back.'

Even as my mind shakes, I pull myself further and further up the mountain.

'If I didn't have you slowing me down, I could make it.'

I shake my leg, trying to kick the dead weight off. I look down at my face, and then I realize...

-I don't want to give it up. Even if it's faster or easier, I don't want to give up what makes me, well, me.

I open my eyes, and I see a pipe held in my hand. It reaches up to my waist, and as I pull it close, I hear T clapping.

"I knew you had it in you."

'What.. what was that?'

"That was determination. It's intoxicating, isn't it?"

"This thing is the representation of his determination. Something led him to crawl through hell and back, but it wasn't enough."

'What?'

"Nothing, just a feeling."

I take the glass shard and push it into the pipe. It sinks in as if the pipe were made out of pudding.

I slash at the air with my completed weapon, getting a feel for its weight.

'It's heavy.'

"You'll get used to it. Anyway, we should probably cheese it."

*ROAR*

T starts running, and I have to push myself to keep up. Even with my newly grown legs, my stride is still shorter than his.

I see T look back, and in the next moment I am being carried under his shoulder.

As the mass of pipes grows further and further, I can't help but think

-Shouldn't I fight?

I try to look up at T's face, but it's difficult to make out an expression under his mask.

'Put me down.'

"You don't even know where we're running from. Trust me, it's not something that you can handle."

'How much time is left?'

"It's not more important than our lives."

'Answer me.'

*Sigh*

"You're certainly a stubborn one. Fine, do you really want to know? I have three days left."

I pull my legs up and shift my center of balance forward. I stumble for a second before I fall to the ground.

He stops for a moment and turns around.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

'I need to get stronger.'

*Tch*

"You're making me look bad, you know?"

T raises his weapon and lowers his stance. His smell begins to spread throughout the air.

"Alright, here goes nothing."

"Ana!"

His weapon glows a bit before changing. It looks like a jagged piece of metal with black oil dripping off of it.

A foul scent fills the air, and as I look back towards the tree, I see something... unpleasant.

A dark shadow is spreading along the ground. It swallows up buildings and whatever garbage is left on the streets. The blackness soon swallows us, and as I stare into the void, something stares back.

"This was what we were running from. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to fight this guy."

A thick, black tar begins to rise from the ground. It begins to pile onto itself, getting taller and taller until eventually it looms over me. Suddenly, like a switch, the black mass freezes and begins to shatter. Flecks of black fall down, and I see him in the center. Something I should never have seen.

A strange voice rings out.

"You should have learned by now. It's pointless to fight the inevitable. Everything dies sooner or later, and sadly for this world, it's the latter."

"Shut up!"

"You're angry now, are you? You shouldn't pick at old wounds; it'll leave a scar."

The darkness is thick, and I can feel it press down on me.

'Is that what you are?" A scar?'

"Oh, so your meal can talk. That's a new one."

-Was T planning to eat me? Honestly, that's fair enough.

Before I can even realize what is happening, T is slashing down at the figure. He slashes cleanly through the darkness, but it flows shut without leaving a mark.

A black tentacle forms and clashes against T. He tries to hold his ground, but he is quickly knocked into a nearby building.

I smell something behind me, and I let myself fall to the ground.

A black tendril slashes at the air above my head.

Before I can even think, I have already pushed my body to the side, narrowly dodging a black spike dripping tar onto the ground. I push myself off of the ground and start dashing towards the building T was launched into.

Strangely enough, the attacks stop, and I am able to reach him unhindered.

As I reach T, I see him crouched down on the ground, black fluid dripping down his mask. His weapon is lying on the ground, and even now I cannot help but think...

-It looks tasty.

"Yeah, I'm not doing too hot."

His smell is beginning to grow fouler and fouler.

"I can manipulate the world, but I can't sense it."

'What are you-'

"You know, when a fragment eats another shard, they gain their powers. It's only natural for us to devour each other."

'Were you planning on eating me?'

"Yes."

'Me too.'

*HaHaHaHa*

"I guess great minds think alike."

I reach my hand out to pull T up, but he slaps my hand away.

"Sorry, but you really shouldn't touch me right now."

His mask begins to grow darker and darker.

Suddenly, he stabs his hand into his chest and pulls out a white fragment. He presses it into my hand before his body begins to lose its shape.

"Sorry, buddy. If we met sooner, I could've had a cool pet."

A black spike rises from the ground and pierces through his chest.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Isn't that what they say?"

I put the fragment in my mouth and began to chew.

Memories fly through my head. Memories of childhood and memories of my death.

'Oh, I'm already dead, aren't I?'

"Tom died a long time ago. His soul shattered into fragments, but for some reason, that damned light wouldn't let things end. It held us together and forced us to suffer."

I pick up the weapon lying on the ground and put it next to mine. The two attract and fuse together, combining into a shard of a broken mirror.

I sniff the air, and unlike before, the air is filled with scents. Rather than simply being 'unpleasant," I am able to tell exactly what I have been smelling.

Sadness, anger, disgust, envy, grief, depression, and despair

It's strange. I should despise the creature in front of me. He killed my friend, did he not? He tried to kill me, did he not?

I'm the victim here...

Am I not?

A black tentacle slashes down from above, but as I pull on the world, I am able to deflect it to the side.

"..."

I pull on the ground and launch myself into the air. A black spike pierces through the ground I was standing on.

"What are you doing?"

I continue to approach him, and I smell his uneasiness.

"This world is dying. Soon, the darkness will rise up and swallow even the sun. There'll be nothing left, and finally we will be at rest."

'Is that what you want?'

He seems unperturbed as the darkness forms spikes around him. They launch themselves towards me, but as I focus, I am able to push them away from me. They stick to the ground before sagging and dissolving into shadows.

I continue to grow closer.

"There's no point. You're a piece of a piece of something that will never be put back together."

I push the shadows themselves away from me, and as I look up, I can see the sun shining down at me. Its light is tiny but warm.

"..Back off."

I continue to approach. A black blade launches towards my back, but I am able to pull the ground up and block it with a wall.

"You know that there's no point."

I continue to approach.

"So why?"

He reaches out his hand, and the darkness begins to coalesce around him. The shadow leaves the ground as it gathers further and further.

"Why won't you give up?"

With a crack the darkness begins to dissipate. In the center is a blade as black as night.

He slashes down at me, but I deflect it with the broken mirror at my side.

He seems... bothered.

I look up at the shadowy figure, and I reach out my hand.

"What are you doing? If you put your arm out like that, it's only going to get cut off."

I dive towards the figure, and he stumbles back. I hit the ground, but my hand clamped around his leg.

"Let go of me, you weirdo!"

I use my will to pull on him, and once again I feel myself slipping into the darkness.

...

All of my life, I've felt as if something was wrong with me. Regardless of what everyone around me said and regardless of what they thought, I knew. I wasn't a real person. Sure, I had emotions, and sure, I had a body, but deep down, I knew that I was different. The closer people were to me, the sicker they got. It was almost as if my emptiness were taking chunks out of them, leaving them hollow and empty.

Allegedly, my mother was once happy and full of life. All I knew of her was that she was sick. On her bad days, she would lay in bed all day. Father wouldn't let me see her. On her good days, she would spend all day and all night with me. She would feed me, clean me, and play with me, and at night she would read to me. Her bad days always came after her good days, as if merely spending time with me was killing her.

I didn't want her to die. I tried to run away from her, to shout at her, even to pretend that I hated her. Yet still, whenever she could, she looked after me. It was strange. I didn't understand it, not even till the end.

I remember staring down at her body. What was once filled with love is now just an empty shell, a mere object. It was cold and empty, and as I stared, I couldn't help but to cry.

After the funeral, we moved to Japan. I tried to make friends, but the people who sat near me ended up getting sick. Every time. Eventually, people learned to avoid me, and I learned to avoid them. I would sit in the corner and try to follow along.

My Japanese was terrible, but I still tried.

Eventually, I graduated. Most of my friends either got jobs or went into higher education, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I hated school. I hated being around people who didn't want me around, and I hated being in a situation where someone who didn't know me had power over me.

My dad told me that he was proud of me regardless.

Then I died.

I hear a voice. It sounds... sad.

"Wouldn't it have been better if we had just stayed dead?"

'No'

"How can you be so sure? Just being near us is a curse."

'Hitsugaya said something similar. He got stronger and learned how to control his powers.'

"You cannot control your own nature. Your very existence drains the life out of the world around you."

....

"Even so, you won't give up, huh?"

....

"Even though we're hurting. Even though we're dying?"

'I still have things I need to do.'

"Is it worth it?"

'Probably not, but I'm going to do it anyway.'

The darkness begins to fade, and as I look up, I see the sun staring down at me. I pull on the world around me, and the world begins to shake.

I pull harder and harder, and eventually the darkness begins to gather. The void below and the sky above begin to gather together. Further and further until a small hole floats in the air.

.....

I open my eyes and can't help but shout as I look up at the sand above me.

'What in the actual fuck?'