Korven woke up to darkness and the sound of his ragged breathing. For a moment he believed everything was normal, that he had woken up to another day on his dying world.
In the darkness he lay, wondering what he would do without the light. Even without the sun, Korven was still thinking on how to survive and live another day. He had believed that once the last ray of light fell, the earth would perish not moments later.
To that end he had eaten everything he had gathered. The man had eaten till he was full, something he hadn't done for a very very long time. Alone in a barren land without life for thousands of miles, Korven ate like a king. If he were to die, he'd die full and content with a belly full of water and meat.
As of right now he was fine without food. A full belly granted him strength and time, time enough to look for more. What he desperately needed was…water?
Korven immediately got up from where he lay. His eyes were opened fully to the point where it looked like they'd fall out. He stood still, his muscles tensed as he listened.
Drip…drip…
Korven lunged at the sound of falling water. His face fell into a puddle of water that had been gathering the droplets that fell. His whole head was submerged, not moving for some time as he swallowed everything with desperation. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he drank everything.
When the puddle was gone, Korven scooped up the very ground itself and began to suck out what little water remained with the grip of his right hand. He was a ravenous madman who didn't stop until there was nothing left.
''Water…'' Korven looked to his remaining hand still wet from the aftermath. He couldn't see a damned thing, but he could feel the slickness, the droplets clinging to his black hand rotten to the bone.
Korven didn't know what to think. Where was his metal beast? How did he survive the cold storm? He had been rising his beast to the edge of the cliff, but what he felt in front of him was a rocky wall slick with water beside the dried-up pool of water he had consumed.
Some things still remained the same. His left arm was gone, taken by the storm. It had been so cold it shattered cleanly off the shoulder. With his right hand he touched his face, feeling the scars he had accumulated over time. Everything was still there…
Koven shook his head, getting rid of any unnecessary thoughts.
''Right now, I need to move. I need to find a shelter to survive the storm. I need to locate my things, salvage the car. The sound of dripping water continues to echo in this place, it'd be good to come back and store it all in a container…''
He got up and felt around with his hand, sticking close to the rock wall and moving forward in a steady pace. After what seemed like forever, he found an open entrance where the darkness was lighter. If his mind wasn't playing tricks, he almost thought it looked like the area outside from where he woke up was shrouded in moonlight.
That's impossible, thought Korven. With the death of the Sun there wouldn't be a shining moon, that's what Father had said. Not to mention that when the Great Deletion occurred black clouds gradually covered the world.
He didn't believe what he saw in the distance to be true. He didn't believe it at all until he stepped outside.
Korven halted his steps as he looked up to the sky. What greeted his eyes could only be described as a sea of stars unlike anything he had ever seen. Three moons of different colors hung low and high, their beauty ethereal.
Before the black clouds devoured the sky, he had only seen the sun and moon on Earth once in his life. That was back when he was a boy hunting with his father. It was a single day and night, but he remembered it vividly despite time ruining all else. The sight before his eyes took his breath away and reminded him of that time so long ago.
Korven laughed a little, his eyes still wide in shock as he finally took a glance at everything else around him. Lush trees swaying in gentle wind surrounded him, the dirt beneath his feet warm and soft, unlike the barren and desolate earth he had walked upon all his life.
''I've gone insane. I must be…''
Korven reached out to the stars above his head with his single arm. With an outstretched hand he grasped at the sea of stars reflected in his dull eyes now illuminated by the light.
''What is this I'm feeling?'' Korven felt his heart tremble, an emotion he had never experienced akin to a tide washing over him.
Korven lowered his arm, his black fingers gently touching his cheek. He found something wet on his skin, something like water falling from his eyes. His sight became a blur as he swept away the false water from his face with trembling fingers. No matter how much he swept them away, they just kept falling.
He couldn't feel his legs all of a sudden. Korven fell to his knees before fully lying flat on his back. He had stopped struggling to catch the water from his eyes, instead peering through the falling droplets and towards the sea of stars.
His mind went blank with the realization that this wasn't Earth. The home he knew could never be this.
Korven had experienced much throughout his life. Pain was an old friend, solitude the home within his heart. When father died, he asked him to not be sad, and indeed he wasn't. He didn't know what being sad meant. Korven only felt rage and hatred. Bitterness drowned him before he learned of acceptance, be it his father's death or his supposed own.
It wasn't until now, in this exact moment, did he come to understand what sorrow meant. For a man to be sad. Physically there wasn't much of a reaction. If not for the tears falling off his face, there'd be none the wiser.
''What was it that Father said? The eyes are a window to the soul? Is my soul crying?''
Korven felt exhausted. A dull pain thrummed from where his arm once was. He had just woken up not long ago, but sleep beckoned him once more. The beauty before him was overwhelming. The thought of a new chapter to this weary life made him uncertain.
After all, Korven had accepted his fate. He had fully prepared himself to die, even embracing it to the point where he felt nothing. Not the biting chill of the frost nor the burning ache of his blackened flesh.
A new chapter to this life was unfolding, and the many things he cast aside in preparation of death began to return to him. The pain, the memories, the trials and tribulations he endured to live another day.
Did he desire to continue? To continue the struggle?
Korven smiled depreciatively. Who was he kidding. Be it then or now…he never had a choice. He was a man who did not survive to live, but rather lived to survive. Before the book, and even after. Korven was fated to struggle and climb the insurmountable. He truly believed that.
The choice to continue on or not was never his. Even now despite his mixed emotions and conflicted mind his instincts were warning him to move. He was in an unfamiliar world, a place unknown to him.
Korven had an inkling as to where this was, but he couldn't be sure. The moonlight of the three moons illuminated the world, but a dense forest was all he could see around him.
Three moons…
The world within the book, Gaea, had three moons. Is it truly the same? Does magic exist within this world? Do the gods and goddesses exist here?
Korven recalled the hero, the naïve and foolish protagonist who attracted the hearts and minds of the heroines. Klein Ducal of the world Pandora. He was walking home one night when he was hit by a truck. When he awoke, he was in a new body not his own, the third son to the rising Ducal Family. By coincidence his last name was shared with his new body.
Korven tried to recall more details, but his mind was drawing blanks. He couldn't think as a heavy drowsiness blanketed him. The sound of the trees softly swaying in the wind was a lullaby he could not resist.
With dried tears and a soft smile, the man named Korven slept. He dreamed of chicken and rabbit, of stews infused with herbs and spices made by beautiful women.