A place devoid of color. Nothing could be seen as far as the eye can see.
In that emptiness, there was a flash of red, bringing life to this space. Another flash of red soon followed, this time it was much brighter than the last.
I once again woke up in this creepy 'dream world'. Unlike last time where I was alone, someone was here together with me.
He was a small boy with long red hair, deep crimson eye and a small smile that seemed forever etched into his face. Though there was differences here and there, he was undoubtedly Ken, or rather the old Ken.
"Greetings. You can call me K. Glad to finally meet you... Ken." He said.
I didn't respond. Checking the surrounding again, I was sure that this is the same place as last time. The same lifeless place. The same feeling of loneliness and helplessness. And I was sure this person was the same I saw last time.
I examine my body and noticed it has changed quite a bit compared to last time. Though I still have the same build, my skin was now akin to red glass, the face reflected to on it has no features. I didn't look like a human at all but something else more... artificial. The changes terrified me and it took me a minute to remember where I was and who I am.
Returning my attention to the innocent looking boy, I tried opening my mouth to speak but realized there was none. The boy seemed to notice this too as he has an understanding look on his face.
"It's ok, just speak normally. Your 'voice' will still be heard." He reassured me.
"... a... ah.. Ah? Ahem. You. K right, what do you want?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"You appeared last time too right? Since you are here I assume there's something you want of me?"
K put on a hurt look, his mouth wide open like he's shocked.
"How could you accuse me of something like that! Hehe, I won't ask anything of you, not yet at least. I'm here because I wanted to answer some of your questions, I assume you have a lot of them."
To answer questions... so vague. It means that the information I get will be depending on myself.
"How can I know if you're lying or not?"
"I don't think you have a choice about that. You can choose to believe my answer however you want."
That's true, there really isn't many way I could verify his information. After quickly skimming through all the questions in my head, I decided to choose the most pressing ones.
"Where are we? Do I need to damage my soul to meet you again?"
"This place, I guess you could call it my resting ground? As for whether or not you have to damage your soul, the answer is probably. You aren't here because your soul is damaged but it plays a part."
The answers didn't help much. If he said he want to answer my question, why do it so half-heartedly? As if knowing my complain, K explain it to me.
"I would love to answer in more detail but I'm afraid we don't have that much time."
"Why didn't you say so earlier! Can you tell what's wrong with my soul?"
"Ah that. Your situation with your soul is quite special. I'm afraid you can't fix it immediately."
Dammit. That's not something I wished to hear.
"At least tell me the solution."
"For the solution, first you need to..." K paused, his smile grew bigger. His hand spread out in a dramatic manner and he continued in a childish voice. "... resolve with your past, Lex."
My emotions grew wildly out of control. I have already expected this but hearing it out loud still makes me panic more than I should. He knows about me. The true me.
The space rumble like a huge earthquake. A scary feeling took hold of my heart as my 'breathing' grew out of control.
"Time is running out." K said with regret.
"Wait! What does resolving me past means?"
K tilt his head cutely, his finger resting on his lips. Imitating a pondering expression, he asked, confused.
"What else does it means? The soul and body belong to 'Ken'. You're still held up by your previous life, thus you're still Lex. You need to make peace with your past."
The rumbling got stronger. I could no longer stand still and fell down to the 'floor'. K stood as usual, bend down and look at me face.
"Anything else? If not I'll send you back."
"... do you have anything to do with me being here? Are you that red star?"
This time K didn't immediately answers. He looks at my unsteady figure up and down before grinning.
"Guess."
That's all confirmation I needed to know. With a flash of light, I was out cold once again.
~•~•~•~
Looking at the now gone Ken, K still keep his smile on his face. The rumbling was slowing down and the place was soon quite once more. K muttered quietly.
"Promising."
The word echo back and forth in this empty space and K figure disappeared soon after.
~•~•~•~
Back at the normal world. I was greeted by Hans after waking up.
"You're up?"
Despite just waking from a 'sleep', my mind was very clear.
"How long was I asleep?"
"About 3 hours maybe? The other kids and your mother haven't returned yet if you're wondering."
'Is there a time difference in that place compared to here or was I really just asleep the rest of the time?'
When I snap out of my thoughts, I saw Hans staring at my face, thinking something.
"You know you really don't seem like a kid." He said jokingly.
"Doesn't matter what you think. I'm still one." I waved my hand to dismiss his thoughts.
"Yeah yeah. Sure you are."
Hans teases me a bit more before getting more serious.
"So, how's your situation?"
I closed my eye and search deep into myself. Reaching to a pronounced presence, I took it out. A red heart shaped object appeared in front of me, glowing dimly.
"I guess it really worked huh."
Hans was a bit surprised. Truth to be told he felt doubtful about the method. If not for his curiosity of this 'new trait' he wouldn't have agreed to such a stupid plan too. But now he was pleasantly surprised.
"Is there any damage left or side effects?"
"No, it feel perfectly fine."
Hans seemed pleased at my answer and fix his shirt. Standing up, he prepared to leave the room.
"It seems like the others are back. I'll be leaving now if you don't have anything you need."
"Okay. Goodbye Hans."
"Cya kid."
Still feeling tired, I decided to go back to sleep. Today I'll allow myself to slack off.