Marc turned to see if they had closed the door. He quickly realized that no one was there.
"This can't be right. Not again."
He'd experienced this kind of travel between worlds without consent before, but this was a lot. He was tired of making these trips.
"Where am I this time?"
In the room, it was dark. Nothing seemed to be around. Complete blackness. He tried to touch things, but nothing came near his hand. He called out to the Emperor and his friends, but no one answered. He was alone as usual.
"What a drag."
He started walking in an unknown direction. With the darkness preventing him from seeing his way, he turned left, then right, then left, then right again, before realizing he was probably going in circles. He tried to punch the air to see if anything was moving to dodge. He tried to jump to see if this room had a ceiling, but nothing worked. He was stuck in the dark. This was probably the hardest place for him to get out. So he walked in one direction, not seeing where he was going at all.
Loneliness soon hit him, even if the situation already seemed familiar. Like that day he'd walked alone on a school trip. He couldn't forget it. He kept on walking in the hope of finding a way out, but the pitch-black darkness continued to obscure his vision. Nothing wanted to show itself. An absence of light could be felt. He walked on for a long time. A very long time. His fatigue increased with every step, but he walked on.
His pulse slowed as did his pace. It reminded him of the stairs he'd climbed in the library. He couldn't help thinking that these enemies or this bizarre world were after him. He continued walking without light. His eyes emptied of all emotion. He continued his long, seemingly unstoppable walk.
But for a moment, he stopped. Thinking of all he'd done so far, he realized that walking wasn't going to help him. So he contemplated the void for ten minutes, then a good hour, then a second...
"Have I given up? Why am I here again? Where are they? They?"
Marc opened his eyes. It was the first time in his life he'd worried because he didn't want to be alone. He'd never wanted the company of others, but that had changed. He wanted to see them. So he called out to them.
"Where the hell are you? Where are you hiding? Where's the way out? Emperor Turcan? Exorian? Jin? Elie? Nath? Nath?"
Hoping to see them again, he became restless. He started running anywhere, trying to catch invisible things. His pulse quickened and his eyes regained some semblance of emotion. He looked to his left. The darkness was beginning to dissipate. Memories of him fighting with Nathanaël and Elie surfaced. Jin fighting like a master with Goagi on the receiving end. The chase between the beings in white and him and Nathanaël. The meetings they had every time they'd found some semblance of something, but in the end it was nothing.
He even saw himself with his parents. With his father teaching him what a oriented control was. With his mother teaching him to cook. With his father teaching him how to do a bicycle and finally collapse on the ground without touching the ball.
"Maybe I shouldn't have seen that again. Didn't he go to hospital?"
Forgetting this memory, Marc preferred to continue his race against the void. He didn't necessarily have a chance of winning, but he wanted to see them again. To see those who had supported him. They were very important to him and he knew it.
"I don't know where I'm going, but I want to go with you."
At the same moment, an arm caught his shoulder. Marc almost jumped.
"This is it. I'm dead."
"Gotcha!"
"Nath?"
"I was desperate. There was no one there. I ran a long way before I caught up with you."
"So did I. I think they've separated us."
"They?"
"I don't know who but surely someone."
"Yeah. Probably someone. Do you know where the others are?"
"No. No idea. Come on, we'll look for them."
"Better."
The two walked into the gloom that had mixed with the fog.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Thanks."
"Thanks to you too."
That was enough to understand their hearts.