Hope

There's a good boy... oh! It seems like our guest is about to wake up soon. Well then, you know what to do, Hitoshi."

"Y-Yes... lord $@$#."

|...|

My respiration could hardly function with how taut it is. It's as if I was in the palms of a giant, waiting to be crushed. I don't know how I got here, but one thing is for sure; This is real.

"Bandages! We need bandages over here!" A panicked voice cried out.

The fragrance of dust and fire, the howling cries of what seems to be a hundred men, and the waft of catastrophe shrouding over my conscience... I can feel it.

"I need more blood! This man is losing too much!" Another voice in distress wailed.

My memory is a bit fuzzy, and all I remember from that conversation was... Hitoshi, Oshirugama, and that weird, inaudible censor shit. But that's enough information for me to tell.

I've been... played.

It still baffles me. Why hasn't he made the finishing move?! He had the opportunity to do so countless times now, and yet I'm still alive. Well, I technically died, but I'm still breathing in this world... unless.

I get it now... You smart motherfucker!

"Miles! Are you there?!"

Something-... no, someone is screaming inside my head! Fukitsu?!

"Is that you? Fuki-"

"There's no time for bullshit! I'll tell you what you need to know!" He interfered.

Huh, he read my mind.

"It's been two hours since you passed out, and a fuck ton of shit happened!"

Only two hours? I swear I was gone longer than that! But that means it is true... what the old hag from purgatory; that I can walk in other worlds. Time must work differently in other verses. One minute becomes one second, one hour becomes one minute, and so on.

"We underestimated Hitoshi, Miles! He had bombs set up everywhere within the harbor's premises." He answered while gasping for air.

"So I was nearby one of the bomb sites, right?"

"Y-Yeah... I was in control of your body when it happened, and-"

"..." Fukitsu took a terse pause, as if he remembered something important. You'd have to split the skies if you want to leave Fukitsu speechless, so this silence coming from him is a bad omen.

An unforeseen reaction coming from him, like a person with stage fright, he stuttered, "B-Believe it or not, I saw Hitoshi. H-He was with him. A-And t-that devil... h-he has-"

"He has what?"

"A physical form."

If it wasn't so restricting, flies would've been flying into my mouth with how shocked I am.

"Can you tell me more, Fukitsu?"

"I-I apologize... He appeared as the building collapsed. I only caught a glimpse of him, but I bet my own life, he's real." Contrasting from his usual impulsive personality, Fukitsu replied in a mellow tone.

"That's enough info... You did good, Fukitsu. But before I go, was Reyna with you?"

"..."

Why isn't he responding? D-Don't tell me... No, that can't be right! That she-gorilla won't die that easily!

"Fukitsu, answer me!" Raising my voice out of disbelief, I howled in response to the quiet.

Bullshit! She won't leave me like that! You just reunited with your mother! Reyna isn't the type to just... die like that.

"It'd be better off if you meet her yourself. I'll give back the controls to your body now. See you later, Miles." In an aloof voice, Fukitsu sympathized.

Liar! She won't... she won't leave me like that!

"Come back, Fukitsu! Why didn't you?! Why didn't you save her!"

"..."

"Answer me, God damn it!"

"..."

"Don't die... please."

|...|

Now I'm running back home like a madman. Running through half-dead people lying on the ground and hardly dodging the medics carrying bodies as they barely crash to each other.

As I wreak havoc everywhere I pass through, causing problems for everyone I run past, I heard the voice of the one I was searching for.

"Miles!"

I turned my head towards the direction of her voice, and there... I saw her silhouette. Behind it, a wall of flame towers over the remnants of a fallen building, creating a hill upon which she stands.

"Reyna!" I roared as I raced towards her without regard to the unstable ground.

This intense steepness and sense of uncertainty in every step... it reminds me of the hill-

"The hill..."

As soon as those words left my mouth, my body froze in place. The chilling cloak of fear wrapped around my soul, paralyzing me as I reminisced my tragedies.

Short clips started playing in my head. It was too fast and fuzzy for me to discern, but it kept on rewinding that one scene... of me holding Reyna's decapitated head.

"Stop it! I don't want to see!" I cried out and started pulling my hair.

"Miles, is there anything wrong?!" Reyna shouted back, meters away from mineself.

It feels like there's a barrier preventing me from reaching her embrace. Well, he sure did an excellent job at scarring me, that cunning devil. It seems like I won't be in the right mind to converse with Reyna, and what more is... My guts tell me, if I involve her once more, it'll be the last time. So for now, I have to inform Sir Rigor... about that devil's plan.

I turned my back and clenched my fist. Without looking Reyna eye to eye, I exclaimed, "Sorry, Reyna! But I have to be somewhere!"

"..."

The winds gust towards the north, grazing my body as it picks up dust and pebble. Like a sail on a ship plowing through the raging sea, I let the breeze carry me to my destination, the eye of the storm.

Mist of smoke from the burning remains cloud the harbor. It was as if God blew out the candle illuminating all his creations. But even so, it was enough for me to see the light at the end... I see hope.

|...|

What the... I'm losing consciousness... W-Why now?! Of... all times!

"Wake up, you useless piece of shit! You're this close!" I cried out with all my might as I spat out blood.

"Don't die! Don't die! Don't die!" I repeatedly yelled.

Each scream gets silent as time passes by... while I slowly succumb to the void devouring my existence.

The blank night sky and the crimson moon started fading away... as if a black hole was absorbing it.

The harbor began disappearing too... Well, at least its remains.

What used to be an iconic piece of infrastructure is now reduced to dust and pebble.

And along with the dirt and shrapnel, a pile of corpses blankets the ground like snow. For every second, the void threatens to fully envelop the hell I've been living in... like it's mere moments away from becoming just another memory.

"I want to go back..." I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes.

|...|

I opened my eyes and silently said, "I'm here again, huh?"

I've lost count of how many times I've been in the dark nothingness. So much so that I've gotten used to it.

Whenever I come back to this place, all I can think of is, 'when will I be back?' Or, 'how long will I be here?'

But right now, my guts tell me there won't be another chance... that I'll be in the void for an eternity, gradually losing myself to the consequences of my actions.

"Anybody here?!" I yelled as loud as I could.

"..."

While I was met by silence, I sat down with my legs crossed and began to contemplate.

"Nori, are you there?" I casually asked.

"..."

Nothing? Well, that's expected. She was with Fukitsu a few seconds ago. Hitoshi caught me off guard, but thanks to my enhancement, I prevented a one-sided massacre.

I was able to convince Sir Konstanin and Sir Rigor in the first phase. The second phase nearly ended in a disaster, but Fukitsu saved the day. And the third phase was as smooth as Dwayne Johnson's head.

Nothing went wrong so far except...

With a menacing smirk and slight giggle, I muttered underneath my breath, "Hahaha... it worked."

Well then! He should appear any moment now...

Unbeknownst to my anticipation, a sinister voice crept behind my back. Just hearing "him" speak one syllable is enough to make me shiver in fear. Even though I expected his sudden appearance, I couldn't help but raise my hands like a police officer was arresting me.

My life is on the line, and it's no figure of speech... right now, there's a dagger pointed at my heart.

"How have you been doing, Miles?"

"G-Great! H-How about you... Eric?"

"..."