1 Tired Eyes Broken Skies

The world was hollow and bleak. Lamentations echoed, bouncing from one wall to the next like woeful bat calls. Nearly pitch black for the exception of a small shining light down the end of the glass hall. In this place, there were no beginnings. No ends. No stories. No life. A vacuum on the edge of the universe. A place where spoken words cried out unheard, and where the pounding of a heart was the only sound that vibrated the invisible walls. In the mind's eye, this place was nothing but a blank void. Undefined in size and capacity, this was a place of emptiness. The ones who have seen it describe it as a black hole; nothing given into it ever returns, but the ones who really truly see it know there is more to its emptiness than that.

Less of a black hole, more of an edge, this area of the universe began specifically sanctioned not to be touched nor explored. Yet, the curiosity of the human psyche had been unable to let it rest. The suffocating entry leaves many explorers begging to escape. Crawling on their hands and knees, crying for a way out of this never-ending corridor of confusion and mental agony. Only a few have dared step into this realm of obscurity, and those who speak out are drowned out by the voices who rebuttal with logical reasoning.

With every footstep, the glass beneath him made a hollow chiming sound. The mind-numbing beat of his own heart bounced off the walls ramming itself into his ears. The ear-achingly loud sound was like gravity pulling him closer and closer to the floor. The pressure itself was nearly too much to bear.

"What is this place?" He thought.

Without a doubt, he had been here before. One time. One time before this he had been here. But when...And why?

The light from afar flickered as the sound of rushing water filled the empty space.

A rising and ebbing tide.

A cool gust of air rushed over him, running through his coat like a stampede of horses. The wind pushed his bright red hair out of his eyes; chilling him to the bone, sending shivers across his shoulders and down his spine. Every hair on his scrawny body stood on end, the little bit of strength he had left escaping him like an unsatisfied ghost. The whirling of the far away flame and the powerful push and pull of a nearby tide spun his head in circles. In this moment he was vulnerable.

He walked closer to the flame, the chiming of each step creating a rhythm. A melody. The melody of uncertainty and fear. The closer he moved to the flame, the darker the hallway became. The light was now contained in an orb, no longer the spitting violence of white fire. The sounds of the tide slowed to a shallow whisper, but the sound of his heart still reverberated. Weak in the knees and feeble-hearted, every inch closer to the orb made his breathing quicken. Now his heart rained out sounds like an earthquake, no longer a steady rumble. The rumbling and the tide faded into one, loud, invasive noise: calamity. The droning noises wallowed in the empty chaos.

The light of the orb remained contained as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the area. From within the orb came the sounds. The sounds of lamenting cries, the sounds of shouting, and the sound of…

Chaos.

Darkness.

Blindness.

"Hello?" He asked, but the pressure of sound in the vacuum made him instantly cover his ears as the noise was too painful to endure.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

His voice traveled further away from him, deep into the abyss of the realm. The sound waves traveling through his feet and beyond informed him that this plane was linear. This realm formed a straight line, from point A to point B.

Hello,

An unfamiliar voice interjected. This voice, however, was not gut-wrenchingly abrasive. The smooth and quiet tone was calming to him.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" He asked, not knowing where this new voice was coming from.

Yes, yes I can.

Completing a full one-hundred-eighty-degree turn, he could see that there was no one in sight. After nearly losing his balance, he reached for the glowing orb to remain grounded.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me where I am?"

His body was weak, and his hands shook as they held onto the small ball of light. The rays blinded him. Deep breaths, deep breaths, he was sure to calm himself. Disoriented beyond belief, his vision began to diminish slowly in his left eye; the only eye of his that still retained vision after the incident.

The incident when it rained down fire, the kind of event you read about in history books. The kind of destruction you only hear about from the past. The day the acid fell from the sky was the day the world began to change, even for those not living in it.

I could, but that would take out the fun of meeting you.

"Meeting me?"

Yes. I've been waiting a while to meet you. I expected to see you quite a while ago, but I assume the time is right now.

The tips of his fingers froze with fear and his eyes burned dry from refusing to let them close.

"Who are you?"

Who am I? Don't you think it's a bit silly to ask that?

"No,"

And why is that?

"I don't have a clue where I am and I think I have the right to know who is speaking to me,"

This was how the rain fell. You didn't know it, you couldn't feel it, no one did. Not until it was too late.

Oh, silly you. I should have known this was bound to happen. You're just the type.

"The type...What type,"

Questions, questions, and more questions! Your kind loves to ask endless questions. You contemplate the reasons behind every little thing you come in contact with. Don't worry, that is my favorite type of person to meet. You can never be bored with someone who asks questions.

In a flash, the orb exploded with light and the glass coating that surrounded the light burst into thousands of tiny shards. The shards remained still in the air, like decorative lights dancing in the darkness. Sounds of harps flowed with the waves, and chiming synths reverberated as well. From inside the orb appeared the reflection of a face. A woman's face. A shining, pale, reflection of fair beauty and wonder. The light radiated from her face, exposing only her left eye and cheek. The left eye housed a circular stone of vibrant lilac color, blasting rays of light across the empty corridor.

"Do you meet a lot of people around here?" He asked, vowing this could not possibly be real. Not in his dimension it wasn't. In his world, radioactive terrors rang like the free bullets from a gun and the rains poured down like fire sent from Hell itself. His world was in shambles.

Do I meet a lot of people? No, not particularly.

The chiming of his footsteps receded. The blinding light of the orb faded into darkness as her figure became clearer by the second. Her skin so pale and her dress flowing like the ocean waves, she looked like the angelic statues he had seen in the graveyards he had visited. She could stand by the gate, holding the flowers and roses that mourners brought to their loved ones. Her eyes shut with tears present on her cheeks; the color of life drained from her. The acid wore those gravestones away. Down into the Earth seeped the radioactive ooze, drowning and killing anything living that blocked its path. Even the corpses.

In fact, you're one of the first people I've had to meet in centuries.

He felt his eyes remained glued open and his feet suctioned to ground. His body was paralyzed, but his lips still formed the words he felt disconnected to.

"How old are you?"

She was taken aback, her eye growing a dark shade of violet. Wrinkles formed around her eye and her cheeks turned a bright red.

How impolite of you! You should never ask a woman her age!

"Oh. So you're a woman. You're human,"

No, not quite.

"Well, then what are you," He clenched his jaw. The suspense was killing him!

The tide began to roar again as the light from the orb transformed itself into the full ethereal being. A mix of a ghost and deadly wind sat the pale figure of a woman dressed in a flowy white dress, her hair flowing like waves over her face. Her left side still the only part visible.

Guess.

She turned for him, exposing the right side of herself causing him to lose his breath entirely. The air escaped his lungs as he saw the right side of her face appear mangled and broken, like that of a crumbling statue. The left side remained so beautiful and pristine, while her right side was ugly and rotting. Her eye socket was empty, leading to the back of her skull which remained disintegrated. Although there were no remnants of blood or tissue, the sight itself turned and twisted his stomach.

I know everything about them, and you. I know your past, present, and your uncertain future. I know you, Mr. Knight.

He felt his lips fall into the shape of a gaping 'O' as the shock of her appearance finally began to set in.

This realm of consciousness is only for the brave hearted, or for those at the very end of their trail...And I am bewildered as to why you would appear here in such a time as this. It's easy to say I am about as clueless as you on this one.

He gasped.

"Are you Death?"

She tilted her head down, exposing only the left side; the good side.

No, but we are good friends I suppose.

She then turned to the opposite side, the decrepit distorted version of herself. Like the Earth left scourged by the invisible flames.

Time.

"Time? Time for what?"

Time! I am Time!

"You are-"

Time!

She screeched, her lilac eye glistening with wet, glowing tears as they rolled like silver bullets down her porcelain face.

I am the past, present, and future. I have seen it all, and I will see it all. Sometimes it's hard, but it doesn't bother me. This is what I am, and it is what I was born to do. I was born in oblivion and created from dust in the cracks of the night. I was created as a whole entity, but as the universe grows old, I grow old with it.

Her words drowned out the beat of his heart. He hung off of every letter, begging to hear the next as she drew them out across the empty space.

And I know people hate being the last to know, but sometimes being the first to know is worse. Then you have to deliver the news… And it hurts sometimes.

Her iridescent tears still glistened in her light.

"What hurts? Knowing? Knowing the inevitable death that greets each and every one of us in the end? Why should you be the one who feels the pain?"

It's not just knowing, it's The Knowing. The Knowing is something only I am aware of. Some believe it is Death and Life that knows first but no… It is me, with the responsibility to uphold the status to which I was given. Time.

There was a pause as she looked wistfully at him, a burning curiosity in her eye.

"You know death before Death… You have an inclination but sometimes you don't want to admit it, don't you?" He asked.

She nodded, gliding over closer to him, her sweeping skirt ice cold. Her left arm raised, clothed in fine silk, tracing his cheekbone up to his right eye. The cloth hung off her arms and swayed like moss. Her fingernails dug into his skin, her cold hand pressed on his face. Her nails punctured his skin, drawing blood from the searing wound she had created. He felt the hot blood drip from his browbone down the side of his face, resting on his protruding cheekbones. His blood felt hot against his chilled skin. He felt his skin crawl.

This eye. You are blind.

He nodded.

She smiled.

So am I.

She said, dipping her head to reveal the gashed hole in her right eye socket. Still, every time he saw the open socket he flinched, hoping desperately not to offend her.

Her fingers dug deeper into his skin, his cheeks turning rosy. He winced as she slowly pulled her hand away, his dried maroon blood staining under her knife-like fingernails.

Your eyes. Although blind in one you see much that the world doesn't see.

Her lips pursed together.

You can see me… I'm not just a voice to you. I'm not just a conscious.

Her shadow flowed away, her dress trailing behind her.

"Is that abnormal?"

No… Well, yes in a way.

"Why is that?"

It's getting closer. The End. It's getting closer. It takes a lot to see me...Which means that it's close by.

"Death?"

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

"Death? Is Death coming?"

I-

"That's what it is, isn't it? That is why I'm here in the first place isn't it?"

His muscles stiffened with rage.

I don't think we should jump the gun on this-

"You know that's the reason! I know you know! That's why you brought me here!"

I didn't bring you here!

"Then who did!"

She paused.

She had the sort of I-didn't-want-to-but-I-had-to attitude and is was slowly poisoning his mind.

Your world is crying. Tears roll from the caverns and the burning sky. I know the past you have left, and the future you have yet to see. I have heard its cries. I heard your calls. I… I know every choice you have made up until this point. I saw everything that happened to you back in your realm. I give my sincerest apologies, but I cannot change the inevitable. I am sure you know the destruction has caused more than enough damage to more than enough people… No one was safe. Not even you. You know that well, I presume.

She stepped back, beaten and worn out. Her limbs shook, and her face began to crumble once again. He approached her, the beating of his heart becoming faster and faster; louder and louder. The pounding of his heart was running after him, and he was dying to escape it. Just running and running, getting faster and faster. Faint lamenting screams passed through the realm, almost carried along by footsteps. The eerie calls were drowning him in their wild vibrato.

Time is of the essence. However long it takes your realm to become oblivion is farther than my eye can see… But it is there. I know it is there. I can see it…

He felt his blood run cold. He didn't want to ask… But he couldn't live another second not knowing the damage that his world's conditions had caused him. It gnawed at his conscious, eating away at the bits of sanity he believed he had left. Whatever place this was had been taking a toll on him. He felt it in his fingertips, pounding with numbness.

"How much do I have left?" He cried, the worlds slipping from his lips.

She lamented, her head facing the floor, unable to meet his gaze.

...Not enough…

Her voice was soft and shaky. This ordeal pained the messenger even more than the receiver.

Even though the concept was clear, the idea that death was a looming possibility in the near future unsettled him quite a bit. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, he wouldn't be the first one to go. Many lives had been lost already.

He whispered.

"Why?"

She shook her head.

I can't say.

"Why not?"

I just can't… And it'd be best if you didn't know anyways…

He felt his own eyes bloom with tears. His life, family, and career all put on the line because the threat of death hung over his head like an oncoming storm. It wasn't fair. He couldn't leave now, please not now!

"It's the poison, isn't it?"

She nodded.

I'm sorry.

"Don't be,"

Go. Please just go.

"Why? Why all of a sudden are you pushing me away?"

You have better things to be doing.

"I am speaking with Time,"

Yes, but no amount of Time can save you from Death. That's just the way it is.

The racing of his heart slowed, and the deafening noise subsided. His head throbbed even still.

You are free to leave now.

He wished he could leave, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. A part of this would still linger inside of him. He would always remember the time he spoke with Time and she told him Death was coming. In all of its oddness, this lair was sanctified. This realm of the conscious… Or of the unearthly.

"How do I leave?" He asked, her ghost floating back into the grasp of the orb. Her face now only showed beauty as the glass reformed into its original shape.

Why would you want to

She smiled innocently.

You could be safer here.

"It's not my place. I have to fix things, I just have to. While I have the life I have, I want to make the best of it. Staying here would defy my purpose."

He gulped.

I see, she said.

I guess that would leave me here… Waiting for you again. But I'll remember you… Forever and ever. And that will have to be enough.

She sighed.

Alright then. Close your eyes.

He did so, the regret of deciding to leave the place setting in.

She was right.

He could be safer.

He could stay forever.

He would never die.

But he didn't want to.

There was more to life than hiding in the shadows.

You had to run from the shadows, that's how you were meant to survive

Death was just a part of Life as living. The two held hands in harmony, giving to the other what they could not provide for themselves.

And remember…

"And remember…" He repeated so only he could hear. The words shook like little earthquakes from his throat.

Of course he was afraid.

Death arrived with Fear, but it didn't have to make you afraid.

I am unable to change the end for you… You know that well. But I am here nonetheless…

He swallowed the lump of sadness forming in his throat.

But promise to me that you will do the best you can to live the best possible life.

"I promise"

Do the best you can with the world you have left.

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

Thank you.

"I should be the one thanking you. I-"

Shhh… I don't need any more from you.

Her hand grazed her porcelain face, wiping away a falling tear. Her finger moved gracefully along with the rest of her. She was slowly drifting away like a puff of smoke, only to be remembered as the night wore on. Soon she would be nothing, just a burning imprint on his mind that at one time he was here. He saw beyond.

She sobbed as his blind eye filled with a bright light. For the first time in ten years, the once useless part of him could see. He felt this same light, a spark, course through the passages in his brain creating a hot, searing sensation which left him numb. His thoughts were silenced as the palace of darkness faded away into the night just as it had appeared. While this light erupted, the rest of the darkness faded away into oblivion, just as it once laid before.

The realm was now a pitiful wasteland, a hole in the edge of the universe, the corridor in the brain of mankind. The light dimmed, and the sounds receded. For this place was not meant to be visited by mortals, but the curiosity of the human mind could not resist. Only those with an eye for Time could transcend. Only those who could see the secret of Time's eternally changing entity could see Truth. Death. Life.

The realm remained dormant for millennia to come.

Yet even then, Time still seemed to crawl.