Arc 1. Chapter 2. The Rainbow Staircase.

"Huh..?"

"Okay now.. isn't this just irritating at this point?!"

He looked up, his hands on his knees as he panted.

Once again, he wasn't outside. And once again, he was inside another gray room.

"Am I living in a big gray maze or something?!" He asked himself as he stretched his back again and sighed.

"Well. I have no time to complain! Only to explore! Right?"

He stepped forward. Nothing about this room was different. Well, if you don't count the rainbow staircase at the end of the room.

"A staircase? It's the same color as this door... Is this a sign of some sort?" He said as he walked through the room.

He had quickly lost interest in the same, identically gray walls around him, and now his goal was one of the only things that had color.

He touched the shining stair. The red light reflected in his eyes.

"Wow..."

He pushed away the thought of licking it and straightened his back to look up the staircase.

It was a shining rainbow staircase in the same order of colors as the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, all in different shades, following up the stairs.

He took a step and felt the sensation of ease. His body felt so light it felt like he was walking on thin air.

"Woah..." He exclaimed in amazement as the stair he stepped on lit up.

And as he continued walking up those stairs, they lit up, one by one, only to darken again when he continued walking upward.

His eyes shone, maybe reflecting the light from underneath, maybe just because he was impressed, or maybe because he had gained the courage to continue. Maybe everything wasn't all that bad. Maybe all hope wasn't lost.

With these thoughts in mind, he continued, pushing forward and walking up the staircase, which, despite its fun colors, was very tall.

Han concluded that something important was at the top of this staircase, and to achieve that, he would do anything at that moment.

"I- didn't- think- heh.. that- heh.. this would be so difficult!"

Panting as he now forced himself up the stairs, he said those words.

It must have been at least thirty whole minutes. The young boy had sprinted up the stairs, not knowing what awaited him at all.

"I- heh.. am not- heh.. gonna- heh... Give up!"

He took a leap upward but failed and fell back, hitting his head on the lit-up stair he had passed.

"Ouch! Damn you, evil staircase!"

He slammed his fist into one of the staircases but instantly regretted it as it hurt badly.

He bit his lip to stop a cry from escaping his mouth.

Despite trying, he couldn't get up those stairs, it didn't even look like he had come halfway and he had no food or water to boost his energy.

"I'm just going to take a pause here..." He said and changed from lying on the stairs to sitting on them.

He looked down. He had left that gray room so long ago that he could barely tell where it was. All he knew was that below him were down, and above him were up.

He sighed as he continued shooting his gaze over the dark void that was enveloping the rainbow staircase.

It was the same as the ceiling in his room, a night sky with stars glimmering everywhere. The only difference was that this night sky wasn't in fluid form and stayed... uh... solid?

His only guess was that this was the only way out and that alone strengthened his resolve.

"if I won't escape now, then when?"

He liked being alone, but being isolated in a hall of corridors and strange rooms wherever he looked was something he would rather not experience.

He got up and cracked his knuckles.

"Besides. Where does the sound bounce?"

The sound of his knuckles cracking had echoed through the dark space, but how? If there was nothing but void, then how did it bounce sound around?

He shook his shoulders. This could wait for some other time. Because right now, he needed to get out.

He didn't know why. He didn't know when he didn't even know how. But he resolved to finish his walk up the stairs before he answered that question.

He turned around. His deep uninterest in the rainbow stairs had now surpassed his uninterest in the gray rooms, and he felt something comparable to homesickness.

He pointed up towards what he guessed was the end of the staircase, but from his perspective looked like a very sharp peak.

"I just have to get up there, and I'm done!" He proclaimed, forcing his mind toward this goal and strengthening his resolve and determination to escape this dark and sickening world.

And so, he started walking, slowly climbing the stairs once again. This was a test, a test to see his determination. And whoever was testing him, sure as hell was going to get the results they wanted.

"You can not stop human self-determination!" He yelled out to no one in particular. But he used it as a way to motivate himself to continue, and that was what counted.

"No way I'm giving up now! How the hell am I gonna go downstairs if I fail? You fool!"

His legs hurt like they had been run over. It must have been hours, maybe even days. But in that dark void, no one could tell time.

I'm not losing! He thought to himself. Whatever is up there is way better than what is down there.

Or was it? Was it merely him making himself believe just that, to continue because anything is better than being lonely down there? He couldn't tell. He couldn't.

"And... Ah!" He groaned as he fell on the highest step of the staircase.

"Oh gosh..." He kicked off his shoes but soon had to run after them as they started falling again.

"Damn shoes."

He sat on the highest step, looking down over what he had climbed, taking in that he had done it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them again...

"What the heck?!"

The stairs beneath him had reduced, leaving a far, far shorter staircase than what he had just climbed.

"Oh, heck no!" He yelled, cursing at whoever made this happen.

Sighing as he turned around, he stared at what was before him.

"See, I told you."

Before he stood another door, its aura was the same, and its colors were none but white. It was neither made of wood nor light, but it made the same impression as the rainbow door had given him down there. It called him, called him to open it.

And just like before, he stretched out his hand to grasp the door handle.

This door made no sound when it opened, and on the other side, he was met by light.

A light that pulled him in and embraced him...

Wait a minute...

Only that this wasn't light.

Huh..?

It was a girl.