Sho groaned as he opened his eyes. Everything inside him hurts. His body, his mind, though his soul seems to be the one that has been hurting the most.
*Caelus…*
Even after he passed out, he didn't get an answer. But he realized he couldn't force it now. He felt like breaking when he did force himself to understand.
One thing was for sure. He was really Caelus. He still didn't have all his memories, only fragments, but it was still better than nothing.
He blinked. Realizing something was wrong, Sho looked for Alpha and Miya. As he searched for them, his face grew darker. There were more bodies than before. But those bodies weren't killed by someone else.
They had killed themselves.
He shivered. He didn't know what had happened for them to do such a thing. He grew worried. He didn't see Alpha or Miya so he stood up. After walking he finally found the two near the river. They both don't look good. But Miya was looking worse.
"Hey…" he worriedly approached the two.
Alpha looked at him, it was unknown what he was thinking. Miya on the other hand had a dead look in her eyes.
"What happened?" he was increasingly growing worried.
Alpha looked at Miya.
Miya stared at the space. She was clearly in a daze. It was weird seeing her like that. "You're lucky you didn't see anything." She whispered. Her voice was empty. But Sho felt his heart break when he heard her.
He felt silent. He had no idea what she was talking about. He didn't know what happened after he lost consciousness. He had his own pain to handle that he really had no idea what they were talking about.
But from his observation, while he was fighting within him, something happened in the outside world. And everyone who saw it became heartbroken. Some killed themselves, others lost their sanity, the rest who didn't, looked like dead staring at empty space.
He knew Miya was experiencing the third one. Yet he remained silent.
He didn't know what happened so it felt like he couldn't say anything. He could say a word, however, without understanding anything, random words could cause more harm than good even with good intentions. He might even push her to her insanity. He didn't dare to be careless.
Hearing his silence, Miya sighed. Her sigh was enough for Sho's heart to break.
"We saw a glimpse of the outside world. Our current world outside the Zone. Ros'Lous was telling the truth. Outside was far worse than here. Death was everywhere. Monsters killing every human. There's even a dragon. A mythical creature who was breathing fire. And no technology of ours was working. No helicopters. No guns. Nothing. We can't fight them. There's no hope.
"M-my family…" for the first time, Miya's voice broke down. Hot tears stream down her eyes like waterfalls. "I-I don't even know if they're still alive. I-I want t-to find them. B-but could I even find them in the mess outside? I tried looking all over our Zone. But I didn't find any of them! I-if they're outside the zone… I dunno w-what happened to them. I-I'm scared." she shivered as she cried her heart out.
Sho felt a lump in his throat. He could understand her. If what she really said is true, then he was worried about Asahi.
"I didn't see what happened." he uttered beneath his teeth.
"Y-you're lucky." Miya whispered.
"I don't know what's outside."
"I-it's a disaster."
"But I know that there are places like this. There are Zones that are different from outside. We are humans. We won't just give up. Our ancestors make something out of nothing, why can't we do it? There is too much uncertainty in our future. But let's take one step at a time. Even if it's one baby step, it counts." He breathed out a frustrated sigh. He wasn't sure how he could put to word what he wanted to say.
"Our future is uncertain, but let's take that future in our hands. I think that's what Sho is trying to say." Finally, Alpha talked.
Sho gave out a wry smile. Alpha was able to put into words what he couldn't.
"I know the world is messy right now. Now that Miya has calmed down and Sho is awake, I'll tell you what you need to know. The first years of the merger would be a mess. Two worlds are being merged together. It's chaos. I don't know how many years it would take, but after the chaos, we can have our stability back. We can take our own footing.
"Our enemies are not just the other world's inhabitants, our enemies could also come with humans. We need to be adaptive. We need to be flexible to survive. That's the only way we can survive this new world.
"I can't say more, I've signed a contract. You could say that I'm lucky enough to know someone regarding this Super Phenomena. I know many things about it. But with the contract I have, I can't say anything not approved by the other person."
"Contract?" Alpha got both Miya's and Sho's attention.
He remembered how Alpha tried to make Ros'Lous sign a contract. But the enemy decided to self-destruct instead.
"If you look at the skills you have, you can see that you have a skill called 'Contract'. That's a universal skill. Everyone has it. It's the new binding law of the merging world. For everyone in this world, the contract is effective. No one is above the Contract of the System."
"H-how did you sign a contract?" Miya was rather curious about that. She was still in despair. But having seen a way through the chaotic world, she wanted to hold on to that hope.
"It's like the contract of our world. Both parties should be in agreement. You would talk about the contract lines, amend rules that you agree or disagree with. You need to read carefully and see if there's anything hidden in the contract. If nothing is wrong, you could sign it right away. But remember, if there's anything tricky inside the contract, you can't talk it out. You would be bound by the System, and thus, lose your life, freedom or will. Either of the three is worse. So, signing a Contract is a delicate matter."
"Who did you sign up with?" Sho asked before pausing. "Nevermind. You're probably not allowed to say." He was genuinely curious. Who are the people or beings they could sign with? He wasn't sure how he would get in contact with those who have knowledge about the current situation. If he could, maybe he would be able to get his answers.
To be honest, after what he just experienced, he is scared of what the real him will be. How come he himself hates him? It felt astonishing knowing it. He might have a lot of regrets more than he could possibly know.
But even if he was scared, he still wanted to know who he really is. Not knowing himself was like going blindfolded on a tightrope. He was just following his instincts. But not knowing where those instincts came from gives him fear of the unknown and uncertainty. He might just be walking towards his death. Or maybe, the rope he was in wasn't actually up high; he could just jump and create his own way.
"Yeah. I'm not allowed to say. What I can say is I've signed with a decent being. I'm given information as much as I need. Even the System Energy I've learned from him. I also learned about Super Phenomena before it even started. He told me this would happen. That's why I was also prepared. That's why I wanted to unite our people so that many will survive. I didn't want to rush anything, I sent out scout teams so we can see for ourselves what we are up to. But I really didn't know there would be other humans… who have lost their mind." Alpha became grim saying that.
The three of them became silent.
They didn't know what happened to Ros'Lous. Maybe just like them, he just couldn't accept the fact that the world was in hell. It was like an apocalypse. And just like any apocalypse, there were people who just lost their mind and wanted to free themselves with everything. They let out their evil side they usually contain.
Sho became grimmer thinking that it might not be monsters they should fear more. It might be human.