Soru's vision was shrouded in complete darkness. He kept blinking his eyes repeatedly but it made no difference. All of this made him extremely disoriented to the point where he fell on his butt.
'Where am I? I was just inside my room...'
Looking around his surroundings it was like he was sent to a different dimension. One completely void of all light. Shaking his head, he got up and wiped the nonexistence dirt on his butt, and started to move hoping to find something.
After wandering around for seemingly forever, a bright light, like the sun coming into view in a sunrise, appeared on the horizon. It was like a ball of light descended onto the ground beckoning Soru to approach.
And approach he did.
Walking with unsteady steps towards the light, he got close enough to the point where his eyes started to hurt. He could feel the heat from the ball of light but it wasn't intense. It was like a warm embrace.
Feeling no ill intent, he reached out and poked the ball of light full of curiosity.
Much to his surprise and delight, the ball of light burst like a bubble. Instead of being showered with its soapy remains, light spread out from its remains like an explosion. It wasn't long until there was a spotlight the size of a house in this desolate void.
Reopening his eyes due to the sudden intake of light, he was able to make out a figure in the center. Once his gaze landing on the figure that was levitating in front of him, he couldn't look away.
The surrounding atmosphere gave her a graceful appearance as she descended down from her flight. Her clothes, from her long skirt to her long sleeve shirt were white, like the light surrounding her. It was flowing around her with the nonexistent wind that came out of nowhere. Her smooth skin and elegant approach made Soru feel like he was meeting a Goddess.
What drew his attention the most however was her face. No matter how much he tried to make it out, something was blocking his vision. It was like he was looking at a pixelized version of her face making him unable to find any details about it.
Opening her eyes, she looked down at Soru with extreme indifference. Once their eyes met, even though Soru couldn't make out exactly where they were, he felt an immense amount of pressure crushing his body. It wasn't pressure like water pressure, but more so a pressure within himself telling him to submit.
Lasting a few seconds, it felt like years were being chipped away from his life as he was being stared down by a predator. He didn't break his gaze once nor stand down. He knew he would regret it for his life if he did. All until it suddenly stopped... like it wasn't there, to begin with.
Shamelessly gasping for breath after their little encounter, Soru was able to make out a satisfied smile emerging from her face.
'Who the...'
Soru couldn't help have his mind wander thinking about who this lady was. Even with fear interfering with most of his train of thought.
The mysterious lady completely stilled the surrounding, even if Soru wasn't deaf he wouldn't hear a single thing. As if he was in space floating around.
'It matters not who I am, but who you are.'
'???'
A voice, foreign to him was suddenly injected into his mind. This was the first time he has 'heard' something that wasn't his own thoughts. It was a strange sensation of violation.
Smiling once more at the young man's confused state, she continued.
'Soru, you don't need to know anything now...everything would be explained later. What you do need to know is the three items behind me.'
Confused, Soru looked behind the levitating woman to find three small spheres of light floating as well. It was similar to the first giant ball of light that he popped revealing this spectacle. Right after his gaze landed on the objects, they slowly floated closer to him before lining up to him one at a time.
'These are gifts that will help you on your journey. Reach out for them.'
In a trance, he reached out the first ball of light grabbing it like a ball. When it was in his hand, the light started to disintegrate before his eyes revealing the contents within. A small vial of a deep velvet liquid.
Soru looked at it closer seemingly mesmerized as he sloshed the contents within by tilting the bottle.
'I suggest drinking it now as it is the only time to.'
Looking up at the girl suspiciously for a little bit before returning his gaze back at the vial. He licked his lips and opened the cork that sealed the vial and drank the liquid like a shot.
In Soru's mind, there was no reason for this girl to mess with him. He can easily tell something was strange with her smile and tone. If she wanted to kill him, he would guess she could do it in much easier ways.
However, doubt started to seep into his mind about his previous thought when he felt pain starting from his throat. Clenching it like he was choking, the pain started there before quickly spreading throughout his whole body. It was like his blood was replaced by a million fire ants biting him from the inside.
Kneeling down from the pain, the lady before him retracted her smile back into her indifferent expression.
'I look forward to your future. May we meet again.' And with that, the girl in light slowly started to disappear like a ghost.
"AHHHHHH!" Soru, leaning his head back, screamed a blood-curdling scream. Darkness started to emit from his body even overtaking the light that the Goddess left behind. The two remaining balls of light were like paper in the wind to the gushing darkness but were able to stay in their position despite looking unsteady.
As if looking for a place to escape, blood started to escape from both of his ears and eyes, running down his head like tears. His eyes that were previously bloodshot started to turn black. The pain from every cell in his body got too much that he fainted once more.
---
Slowly opening his eyes, his vision was once again met with darkness. His whole body felt like jelly being barely able to stand up. Feeling like everything was a dream, he touched his body all over. He felt something different within him, but couldn't put his finger on it.
Thinking he was back into his dark world with no sign of light anywhere, he was able to spot two strange balls of... something. He couldn't quite make out what it was but it was like dark energy swirling around these two balls. Darker than its surroundings, it was as if it replaced the balls that were previously there.
Just when he was able to reach out for these balls, a ray of light seeped through like opening a curtain. Once one came through, more and more of what was within started to reveal itself. After looking at the ball more closely, he noticed that the balls were the same balls of light before he passed out. It was only covered in some sort of dark energy for some reason.
Furrowing his brow at the strange situation, he remembered what the lady told him before.
'These are gifts that will help...'
'What a witch, what kind of gift was that? These better be better.'
Reaching out for one of the balls, it did the same as the first ball revealing a book that was hidden within. It looked like an ordinary book with the title 'Shadows of Yonder' spread across its cover. A little disappointed, he reached for the last ball with the book in hand.
The last ball revealed a ring of some sort. Looking at the tip of the ring, he felt like he has seen this strange object before. That was until he realized that the tip was actually the half coin that led him to this mess!
Going with his hunch with how he first got put into this mess, he poured some of his limited energy into the ring making darkness once again obscured his vision. Wondering what was going for the third time, his vision suddenly came back to him. In front of him, was a shoddy-looking desk with a slightly run-down bed next to it.
'It's my room! I am back at this hell hole.' Soru was somehow transported back to where he was before. In the distance through the small window, he heard a small chirp from a bird.
'What?' Shaking his head, at why he would think he heard something.
When it appeared once more, he started to really question what happened in that world.
'Maybe I am hearing things...'
It took him a while to realize what he just thought.
'Wait a minute.'