Jax slowly opened his eyes.
What obstructed his vision was a faint blur, slowly getting clearer by the passing seconds. At the same time, he felt like he was being drained out of strength — capable only of moving a finger. But just like his sight, he slowly recovered his strength after a good while.
The first thing he noticed was the moonless starry night sky, casting a faint glow over his body and the trees around. But with his mind blank and hazy, everything he saw didn't catch his attention right that instant.
After a short while, Jax finally regained the strength to get up from the ground. He didn't notice it yet, but when he pulled his body up, his body absurdly became two — one that remained lying down lifeless, the other was conscious but looked somewhat transparent, emitting a faint glow, and, above all, naked.
Only then did Jax notice the dim surroundings added by the occasional chirping of the unseen night birds and the howls of animals that seemed to echo in the veil of the night.
''It's evening already?'' Jax muttered, one question mark floated over his head. ''Just what in the world happened to...''
Jax swept his gaze around to confirm his crazy conjecture. That strange object earlier... He hoped that he was just dreaming. That what happened earlier was nothing but a wild imagination.
However, when reality struck him right in the face, his eyes widened, the spectral pupil he had couldn't help but constrict. At the same time, his spectral heart tightened, terror and disbelief forced their way in like a disastrous flood.
Before him was a body, unmoving and without a sign of life. He drifted closer, his heart sank deeper in the flood of growing terror when he confirmed his correct assumption that he wished was false.
''This... How can this be happening...'' Jax's cold muttering stuttered in a disbelieving manner. His spectral body recoiled, his mind racing.
Only then did he realize too that he was now in midair, unhindered by the confines of gravity and physical constraints that once bound him. He could now move freely, as if he was one with the wind.
Shaking, he raised his spectral hands for him to see them properly. But what he saw was semi-transparent hands and his semi-transparent body — giving off a slight glow of white.
''NOOOOOOO!!!!'' Suddenly, Jax screamed at his loudest, his ethereal body spiraled in midair like a vortex of wind.
In front of him was a body lying on the cold ground. More precisely, it was a body whose appearance was so much similar to him. No, it was him. It must be. There was no way he could mistake himself for someone else.
But while that was something to fear, the realization that his crazy assumptions were actually true only brought greater fear to him.
''THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!'' His scream grew louder, his throat almost bursting out. ''I'M NOT A GHOST NOW, RIGHT?!''
It took him quite a long while for him to calm down a bit. And right now, he was hovering over his own physical body, sitting cross-legged, and mulling about something he never once imagined.
He was always afraid of souls. In fact, that was something he feared the most. Just the mere mention of it could agitate him and cause a sudden stir in his mind. But now that he had become one, he didn't know anymore.
Instead of fear, what he felt right now was close to sadness. No, it was greater than that. It felt like it was an overwhelming sorrow deluging his fear and making him lose his hope of being alive.
However, it didn't mean that his fear of ghosts had completely faded away now. It was only overshadowed by sorrows, it hadn't disappeared yet.
That aside, he was now really dead. The evidence was right there in front of him.
What should he do now? Where was the Grim Reaper that would come pick him up and bring him to the other side?
''Maybe God took pity on me as he's letting me see my beloved first before I go to paradise?'' Jax suddenly had a wild thought. He shifted his gaze to the face of his physical body as he ended up sighing.
But having decided on what move he should make next, Jax drifted away, abandoning his physical body alone in the cold. Still, his spectral body couldn't help but shiver, wavering in an obvious manner at the terror of souls. And now that he had become a soul himself, he might encounter another soul along the way. He must be careful in case he really met one.
Who knew, perhaps he might encounter some random wandering souls and devour him? He should better be wary no matter what.
Jax's ethereal form drifted silently through the dense forest, the starry night sky casting a faint glow over the winding path ahead. Despite the disorientation and fear that had gripped him since his unexpected transformation, a burning determination propelled him forward.
As Jax moved through the forest, he marveled at his newfound abilities. The constraints of gravity and physical limitations no longer bound him – he could float, drift through solid objects like trees and boulders, and cover ground with a speed that would have been impossible in his corporeal form.
Yet, these gifts brought little comfort, for his heart ached with the longing to hold his girlfriend, to feel the warmth of her embrace and the gentle touch of her hand again.
But he knew too well that it was impossible anymore. And the most he could do was to see her.
As the distant outlines of the village came into view, Jax felt a surge of both hope and trepidation. He hurried his way through the winding streets of the village, his ethereal form gliding effortlessly over the cemented rough road.
Just as usual, the night air was still, save for the occasional barking of a dog or the faint sound of laughter from a distant gathering.
Soon, he reached his destination. But as he approached the modest home where his girlfriend lived with her elderly parents, a sense of unease crept over him.
Phasing through the front door, Jax found the house giving off the same comfort and familiarity. The strange feeling of longing etched deep into his spectral heart, shaping him with a long face that did not seem to fade away.
Jax swept his gaze, and there he spotted his girlfriend's old parents — eating together at the dining table with a serious conversation. He looked around, drifted through each room to search for every nook and cranny where he could possibly find his beloved. But to his sadness, she was nowhere to be seen.
He drifted back to the dining area, only to overhear his girlfriend's parents talking with a hushed voice.
''That explosion earlier is really terrifying. I thought it was a bomb, but to think that it's only caused by a foreign object.''
Straining to hear their conversation, Jax moved closer. His spectral body remained unnoticed in the presence of the living.
''Just how can a block of rock form into a stone statue upon landing? Those who claim to see it must be making things up.'' The old woman asked, her voice revealed a disbelieving tone.
''But it's true that it's a stone statue. I saw it myself, so I will naturally believe in it.'' The old man answered with a growing sense of unease.
The old woman sighed. He shook her head slowly as she replied, ''I know, I know, but what kind of statue can give off such an ominous feeling?" She took a moment of pause before she added, "I really think that this is a sign of a great calamity that is soon to transpire.''
The two of them continued to talk, and Jax strained to understand what he heard. Explosion... Stone statue... Calamity... What on earth was going on here?