Darkness, complete darkness. Zack felt like he was floating in space as his hazy consciousness drifts about.
'where am I?
He tried looking around to get an idea of where he was but all he could see was complete darkness. His memories were still a bit fuzzy and couldn't recall how exactly he ended up in his current situation.
'It's so relaxing.
He gave up on trying to recall what happened or on trying to understand his current situation and just ended up relaxing. He started to give in until he saw a faint light in the distance.
'what's that?'
Zack slowly approached the light and saw the back of a woman who was kneeling on the floor.
'mom?'
He thought as he approached the woman closer.
"Mom!"
He tried calling out but she didn't react.
"Mo-"
He suddenly stopped when he saw her shoulders shaking.
"M-mom, what's wrong?"
Once again, he then started approaching her again but a lot slower this time.
"Agh!"
Suddenly, bits and pieces of his memories started flowing to his head.
[S-son, w-what are you doing?]
It was when he got caught by his mother mugging a bunch of students at an alley.
[Shh... Keep this a secret alright. You wouldn't want your son getting expelled from school would you?]
At his words, his mother started to tremble with fear, not because she was afraid of him, but because she was afraid of what he has become. She looked at him as he was some kind of monster, she couldn't believe that the same person standing in front of her was her son. But even then, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.
She looked down and trembled as she bit her lips. Looking a bit hesitant, she finally spoke.
[alright... I'll keep it a secret.]
[Thanks mom, you're the best! Oh, and don't worry about them, those assholes deserved it.]
She tried to calm her beating heart and looked him in the eyes.
[But promise me... Promise me you'll never do something like this again!]
He then grinned and replied.
[I promise.]
"Huff... huff.."
Soon, more of his memories started flowing in, mostly at the time of his delinquency. From stealing to mugging to scamming people on the street. All of his bad deeds started filling his head as he screamed in agony.
"Make it stop!"
He pleaded but it didn't stop.
But after some time, with the final memory of him running away from home, it finally stopped.
"ha... ha..."
When he finally snapped out of it, he found himself near his mother. She was kneeling on the ground while crying. After recalling all the bad deeds he has done, he started getting an idea on why she was crying. He approached her at the side and knelt. He looked at the side of her face and suddenly froze.
He had seen his mother cried before multiple times whenever he caused trouble. But when he saw the face in front of him, he became shocked. She was crying but something was different. His mother was making a face he had never seen before. A face filled with overwhelming grief. It was as if she had lost something truly precious.
Zack was absolutely shaken, he didn't know what had happened or what had caused her to make such a face. He never once saw her like this even after he committed something truly horrendous. As he was trying to come up with something to say to calm his mother, something had appeared in front of his mother.
It was a lifeless body... His lifeless body.
He suddenly stood up and backed away a bit. He was taken aback and saw his mother reached out to the body and hugged it.
"M-mom..."
He slowly reached out.
"I-I'm over here."
He tried to grab her shoulder but his hand just passed through her. His mother didn't react and continued crying.
He tried again but it was the same.
"Please... Stop crying... Please..."
Suddenly, the scene in front of him started moving away.
"Please... I'll be better... I'll be a better son!"
He reached his hand out as the scene started getting further and further away from him.
"Please! I'll be better! I'll be better!"
He ran towards it but he couldn't catch up.
"I'll be a better person!"
When the scene was finally out of sight, he collapsed on his knees.
He looked up with a blank expression and spoke with a pleading voice.
"Please... Bring me back."
But there was no reply. So he spoke again.
"Please! Bring me back!"
He wasn't sure if anyone was listening but he kept begging. But after some time has passed with nothing happening, his head hung down.
"please... just give me a second chance..."
Zack spoke with a small voice that was barely audible but at that moment, he found another faint glow at the distance. He didn't hesitate and ran towards it as fast as possible.
At the same time, some of his memories started flowing again. But this time, it wasn't about the bad deeds he had done, but the good deeds, specifically towards the two children.
From when he bought them snacks, to when he brought them to the hospital and gave them a place to stay, to when he played and joked around with them. This time, he wasn't screaming in agony, this time, he had a smile in his face as the memories flowed.
[Don't go thinking you're a bad guy. We don't care what other people say about you, because to us, you're a hero.]
When he got near the light, he found two children holding hands with their father while looking down at a gravestone.
"Thank you."
The man spoke feeling grateful.
"Thank you for taking care of my children."
The man then knelt down and bow his head.
"...And thank you for reuniting us once again. I swear this time, I'll be a better father to them."
The three put their hands together and closed their eyes. After that, they left. The eyes of the two were red from crying so much that he felt a little bad because he knew he was the caused of their grief, but he was glad that they were able to make up with their father and that he could rest easy knowing that they'll be better taken care of from now on.
"Touching isn't it."
Suddenly he heard a voice from behind. He looked back and was shocked at the familiar man in front of him.
"Dad?"
His dad smiled.
"Good to see you son."
Zack looked at his dad with confusion.
"B-but how?"
His dad looked a little troubled when asked the question and soon gave him a reply.
"It's going to take a long time to explain, so I'll just say this. While I was unconscious, it seems like my soul has drifted into another world."
It didn't look like zack understood what his dad was talking about.
"Sorry, I don't have enough time as I'll be waking up soon. Oh, and don't worry about your mother, she won't crumble."
"How can you be so sure?"
Zack looked at his dad with doubt.
"Cause I'll make sure she doesn't."
His dad said with a smile. Soon, a beam of light appeared on top of his father.
"Oh right, you dropped this."
His father handed him a familiar leaf. It was the four-leaf clover that he always carries around, the one that had saved him multiple times, and the lucky charm that was given to him by his dad.
His dad looked at him looking troubled.
"I only managed to buy a bit of time for that world, but sooner or later, everything will collapse."
He then looked at his son with resolve.
"I might've have failed, but I believe in you, I believe that you'll be able to do what I couldn't."
He continued.
"Son, that world is in dire need of a hero. I need you to be that hero, for all of us."
Zack just stared at his dad with confusion not knowing what he was talking about.
"You'll understand what I mean when the time comes. I'm sorry for placing such heavy responsibilities on your shoulder."
He said with a wry smile. He then looked up at the light for a moment then back at his son.
"By the way, is there anything you want to say to your mom and me before I go?"
Zack still had no idea what was going on, but when his dad asked him about what he wanted to say to them, he started speaking the words he never got the chance to say.
"I-I'm so-"
His dad stopped him and silently shook his head.
"Not that."
He looked confused when he saw his dad stop him from apologizing. So he thought of another one, the other words he never got the chance to say to his parents and gave his father a smile.
"Thank you, thank you for everything!"
He said with a shaky voice.
His dad smiled at his words and the beam of light started getting brighter.
"Take care son."
After a moment, the light started fading away until it was completely gone.
With that, his father finally vanished. He was once again left in the dark, alone with no one besides him.
He noticed another faint glow, but this time it wasn't coming from a distance. The glow was coming from his hand. He looked at his hand and saw a glowing four-leaf clover.
As he stared at the four-leaf clover, his consciousness started to fade away and his body started to relax.
'...I swear, I'll be better... a better person... a better son..."
With that thought, his consciousness finally gave in.
***
His consciousness started to return so he tried opening his eyes, but it was too heavy. He felt like he was off the ground but it seems different from when he was floating in space. It was like he was being held.
"Congratulations, It's a boy!"
He heard a voice near him as he tries to open his eyes. When he finally did, he was greeted by the sight of a wooden ceiling.
'where am I?'
"What are you going to name him?"
He looked at where the voice was coming from and found the face of an unfamiliar woman.
"Hmm... What do you think dear?"
There was another female voice at a distance so he tried to turn his head towards the voice, but he felt too sluggish.
"Oh, it looks like he wants to be held by his mother."
He was lifted up and handed over to the other woman.
The woman looked at the man who was thinking.
"Well, dear?"
"Hmm... I was thinking of something like Michael or john, but it didn't really seem like the name fit him. Whenever I look at him, I am constantly reminded of fire"
"How come?"
"Hmm... how should I say this... His eyes look like it's burning with overwhelming emotions. I don't know if it's passion, courage, or determination but his eyes certainly look bright."
The woman gave the man a smile.
"It seems like you're still as poetic as usual.
The man shrugged.
"Well, I did use to be a writer."
"Well Mr.Writer, have you come up with a name yet?"
After pondering about it for a moment, the man appears to have made up his mind.
"How about Red."
"Red?"
"Yes, the color for courage, passion, and determination. how about it?"
The woman thought for a bit and looked at her baby.
"Red huh?
The woman smiled at the baby and spoke with a gentle voice.
"I like it."
A refreshing breeze pass through as Zack, now named Red, looked at the window.
He was greeted by the sight of the blue sky and the vast green fields of grass stretching through the horizon.
'Where is this place?'
The mountain in the distance and the green grass as well as the peaceful sound of the swaying trees all helped in creating a relaxing atmosphere. As he saw this, he also became relaxed and slowly fell asleep.
And thus begins his second chance in life as Red. As well as his journey to becoming a better person and the Hero of this whole new world.