Chapter 310 - Delving

There was nothing. Or, at least, that was what it felt like.

Rynold woke up in an empty space. It was empty in the most absolute sense. Nothing surrounded him, except for what felt like viscous and copious amount of white.

At that point, he could barely make a sentence in his head. Every ounce of his body wanted to sleep. He felt tired but, at the same time, calm beyond anything he had capably felt before.

So, what was it?

In a field of white, there was not much else to say. It enveloped him, like a cocoon. Rynold couldn't even get his bearings, let alone move around a single inch. There was nothing stopping the white from taking over — consuming his entire being without anything stopping it.

There was no struggle. No fight. No scenario wherein Rynold would have overtaken this.

'Hm.'

In a moment, Rynold could only muster that one sound. He acknowledged his defeat without consciously knowing it. All this was, was the end.

As the white slowly consumed Rynold in his entirety, his vision, the last thing he had, soon turned black. Both, of which, mean the same thing. He had been swallowed by nothing. Nothingness had consumed him.

In that moment, Rynold was gone.

"You shouldn't have done that."

'What the?'

Rynold woke up. This time, his vision had nothing but pure darkness. A voice called out to him where there shouldn't have been. By all means, he felt gone. His existence wasn't his own until the very last second. The last second when the voice has called out.

It felt like he had woken up from a long nap, with the voice acting like a church bell for an alarm clock. It was a voice that he hadn't heard from a long time, but Rynold had known it for far too long to forget it.

"What? You're kidding right?"

Soon after the first voice came a second. This time, it was Rynold's very own. But, the thing was, Rynold wasn't talking.

"Dad," the other Rynold added after a pause, "He had it coming. You know he had it coming."

"No," his dad answered, huffing and puffing. "Had it coming? When did I raise such a self-serving jackass?"

The response sent a shiver down Rynold's spine, making even his skin crawl. Even if it was just the voices, he knew this conversation.

No, he would never forget this fight.

Rynold, the one that stood in darkness, felt his heart clam up. A lot of thoughts raced through his head. Part of him wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go.

"I--"

Rynold froze. Both the Rynold now and the past did. He could feel the incomprehensible helplessness of that moment like he was living it again.

"What?" his father scolded, "Say it... SAY IT!!"

Things flew across the room as Rynold could only sink further into his own self because he knew. He knew that, in this situation, nothing he could have said would change anything. No fraction of a word. No matter how much he pleaded. How much begged. He knew nothing would change. Hell, it would only make things worse.

Rynold wasn't exactly the ideal son. Growing up, he was mediocre, maybe even slightly above that. Nevertheless, he wasn't one to stand out or go for achievements. Sure, he was capable, more so than any kid his age. But, even then, his lack for any ambitions thwarted what would have been his potential.

He was, more often than not, impulsive. Or, at least, that was what people thought.

Suffice it to say, though, he never felt like he fit in.

"Why am I not surprised that you would turn out this way? Hm? You keep on acting on your own without even thinking about the consequences," his father scolded even further. "Did you even stop to think what people might think? Huh? Did you ever think about how the stupid things you do would come back to ME?"

At that moment, Rynold's expression sunk.

It was the same line over and over again. It was funny to think that, despite everything Rynold ever did, it always somehow came back to his parents. How they looked seemed to be much more important than anything else.

'I don't get it,' Rynold shook his head, figuratively trying to shake the despair to no avail, 'Why choose this moment exactly?'

Rynold forgot a lot about his childhood. However, the scars in his psyche never really fully healed. If someone had reopened his old wounds, he could spiral. Badly.

He had a reason to lock up things. Lock it deep and forget about it even being there. While Rynold carried the lessons he learned from his past. There was no reason to let the wounds sink their teeth in his heart more than they already did. He had to move on, one way or another.

"You don't get it, do you?" his father asked, clearly still angry beyond reason. "Time and time again you pull the same shit! Do you have any idea how being a father to someone like you is? Huh? How many times have we had this discussion before? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STOP?! WHY CAN'T YOU BE BETTER?! I HAVE LAID DOWN THE FOUNDATIONS FOR YOU AND ALL YOU EVER HAD TO DO WAS STEP UP! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!"

Rynold felt chills run down his spine. It freaked him out, hearing this again. He felt himself start to drown. The despair started to overwhelm him, more so than the past.

"That's it, I've had enough," his father continued after a long pause. "It's my fault for raising such a fucking disappointment. You're no son of mine."

As soon as that sentence ended, Rynold's eyes opened wide. He felt like he was shaking. His breathing felt shallow and unstable.

Rynold was losing it beyond any reasonable doubt.

A flurry of emotions swallowed him, so much so that he couldn't even breathe. Rynold was in a spot where even he felt that he couldn't come back anymore. The darkness around him didn't even shake. It was as if Rynold was nothing to the darkness that was now swallowing him whole.

"Oh, there you are."

A different voice called out to Rynold, one that was somewhat warm. Rynold, on the other hand, didn't even bother to look up. All he could do was dwell in his sorry state.

"Come on now," the voice urged Rynold to get up, "It's not your fault. And, well, none of this is real. Some part of you must know that. Look around you, poor boy, this is not the reality that you know… Son, you must look beyond what is right in front of you."

But, there was no response.

Whoever this guy was, Rynold didn't care. Truth was, he couldn't. All he did was stare further into the darkness around him. The voice was nothing more than something he ignored. To Rynold, he was alone.

"Well," the voice chuckled heartily, "Can't say I didn't warn you."

In an instant, Rynold felt a force knock the wind out of him. The pain caused him to go into shock, barely registering his thoughts as he shifted through the darkness.

It was a good thing, though, as Rynold snapped out of his daze because of it. While Rynold couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened to him, he at least recovered in some way. At that moment, Rynold didn't focus on the pain any longer.

"I wonder if that worked," the voice said curiously, "Heh. No matter. It is inconsequential. What is important here is you have recovered some sliver of your sanity. All that is left now is for you to leave this space. However, I am not quite sure as to how you will manage that. Perhaps… another push?"

Rynold flew across the empty darkness once more, quite literally knocking some sense into him. While there were signs that Rynold's consciousness started to reform, the voice gladly acknowledged the results of his actions.

"There, much better," the voice said, clearly with a smile on his invisible face, "Listen, kid. You may not be aware of this, however, I chose you for a reason. There is much left for you to do. So, in addition to this final favor, I shall impart you a warning. Let us just hope that you are awake to hear it."

Groaning, Rynold could barely add two and two together, let alone heed some warning this voice was conveying.

"Out there," the voice continued regardless, "This realm. There is no asylum for people like you. There is only hostility. While you are safe, for now, I warn you of the dangers out there. From the moment you awake, you will be in danger. What used to be your weapons for survival will be robbed from you in an instant. Heed this warning, young one, for the world you will soon face will be much more of a problem than what you have first realized."