There was a forest.
A forest that felt different from others. This forest felt comforting, it felt like it was alive. In the middle of the forest was Shiebe lying down on the floor. There were trees looming above him with their leaves landing on his face and waking him up.
His eye's slowly opened to see the green colourful world before him. It was the opposite of what he had just went through. The sky was light blue with the bright yellow sun hovering over it. However right next to it was the rift. It was bigger than it was last time.
"Where am I"
Shiebe slowly lifted up his upper body. The pain in his back was gone. He looked down and realised that his wounds were completely healed. He sighed and looked up at the sky slightly squinting his eyes.
"Where's Mom, Dad and Deveno" He thought to himself
Then he noticed that there was something strange under his right leg. He slowly lifted up to find a strange creature lying down on the floor. The sight of the being made Shiebe fully stands up. He glared at it.
"Was it dead? Did I kill it?" He then put his hand together and prayed
"May you rest in peace little one"
Then the creature opened his eyes.
"Oh, your alive"
The creature was about the size of a puppy. It looked like a cat but it had wings on its back. Black skin with blue and purple eyes. The creature flew up to see Shiebe's face before punching him in the face. Although the creature was small its strength was enough to injure a man.
Shiebe grabbed his nose and shouted at the creature in anger
"The hell was that for!"
"That's for squishing me dumb ass"
"Squishing you?"
"Yeah you came out of the sky and landed right on top of me."
"Oh, I see i'm sorry"
The creature smiled
"Well it's all good now but I must say are you okay. I mean falling from the sky must have done some damage regardless if you fell on me or not"
"Surprisingly I don't feel any pain"
Not only was his wound healed but he didn't feel anything from falling down. Shiebe realised that something was wrong. He asked the creature
"Where am I and have you seen any other people here"
"Your in the Forest of Life. A forest separated from the rest of the world. In this place only a select few can enter. Those who face a great ordeal that will end up costing their life come here to resolve it. As for your second question their are currently no other people apart from the Thryoids and you in this forest."
"What's a Thryoid"
"You're looking at one I am Purono the Thyroid. We are a mythical race that only exists in this forest so our existence is pretty much unknown."
Shiebe walked past Purono and followed the dirt path ahead of him.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Purono fly's in front of Shiebe's face stopping him from moving. Shiebe recalls a memory from a while ago when he first entered the academy.
"I wonder how Zaneff and Maz are doing" he thought to himself.
He then moved left but Purono moved left as well. He was even faster than Zaneff.
"Listen, I'm trying to find my family and get out of this forest before the end of the world approaches."
Purono looked at him with a more serious tone than before.
"Your talking about the mark of the end aren't you"
"Yeah, my brother told me about it before we got split up. I need to find a way to stop it"
"Let me tag along then. The forest can be pretty dangerous if you're alone. As long as I'm with you it will be okay"
Shiebe didn't really have a reason to refuse so he agreed and continued to follow the dirt path. As he continued to move he noticed the beauty of the forest. The flowers were vibrant of many colours from red to black. The scent in the air smelt like a perfume his mother would wear back in his old world. The grass was bright green and short. Just walking through the forest Shiebe had felt at peace. It felt like something out of a fantasy story.
Purono laid on Shiebe's head.
"Hey can't you fly or are those wings just for show"
"Afraid it's just for show i'm still too young to fly"
"So what exactly are Thyroid's"
Purono still lying on Shiebe's head answered
"We are the guardians of the forest. We know everyone and everything in the forest. There aren't many of us left though which could be an issue for the well being of the forest in the future."
"I see. Another question what do you know about the mark of the end"
"The mark of the end is the prophecy we Thryoid live our life by. Since I was born I knew the day it would come. However, for some reason it was delayed by 10 years"
"Delayed by 10 years" Shiebe thought to himself
Purono jumped off Shiebe's head and walked on the path.
"Hey can I ask you a question now"
The look on its face told Shiebe that it was something serious.
"Go on"
"Your not from this world right"
Shiebe paused.
This was the first time that anyone had said those worlds. He never thought that it was possible for someone to even notice that he wasn't from this world. He knew that there was no point in denying it but he doesn't know how it will react if he says yes.
"What make's you say that"
"Inside your head there are two different people."
Shiebe looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm not from this world"
Purono looked at Shiebe but his eye's wouldn't leave the skies above
"Shiebe. You don't value your life do you."
There was silence. Shiebe didn't respond
"You are trapped by your old self to you this life is just a reward for your suffering in your first. You can't actually imagine yourself living in this world as the 10 year old boy known as Shiebe Zackaria. You can only see yourself as Kaito Hasumane."
That's when Shiebe had looked at the creature this time with despair. That name carried nothing but bad memories and pain. He wanted to forget it and make it disappear. He hid behind the name Shiebe Zackaria as a way to ignore Kaito Hasumane constant nagging.
"You lack love for yourself, You don't care whether you live or die. You can't understand why others care so much for you because you don't see yourself as Shiebe Zackaria You're unable to move on from the past and that's what's going to end up killing you."
Shiebe slowly sat down on the floor. Now facing directly at Purono.
"Purono. Your right"
"I- I always thought that no one had it worse than me. When I came here I assumed that my life would automatically be better I mean how could it possibly be worse than my old life. Then when I was attacked by that council member and saw that this life was filled with just as much pain as my previous life I didn't want to live it anymore. I wanted to run away from any pain. I wanted to be happy but when I was attacked by my mother and Deveno was worried about me I thought to myself. Maybe I can let go of Kaito and actually become Shiebe. I don't have to think this way anymore I can let go and be free but I was scared. I couldn't confront Kaito. I didn't want to let him go. I have a dream, in this dream I see Shiebe Zackaria with his mom, dad and brother next to me I see Kaito reading manga on the floor looking bland but in this dream I am fully white. No facial features or clothing just white. Kaito speaks to me but I can't understand him. Shiebe calls out to me but I don't want to go. So I just stand there."
Purono touches his face.
"You just need to open your eyes to the world around you. Break the chains. Kaito wants to rest in peace and Shiebe wants to move forward. You need to make the choice. Will you live your life as Shiebe or die trying to act like Kaito."
Shiebe had a soft smile.
"Yeah, you're right. I need to grow. I need to face my past once and for all. I can't let i hold me down anymore!"
"That's the spirit. Now we should probably find a place to rest since it's going to get dark soon"
The two of them headed for a nearby cave. Shiebe grabbed some sticks and flint to light up a fire. They placed a boulder in front of the cave to keep from coming in. Purono laid in Shiebe lap.
"Hey Purono."
"Yeah"
"Why did you help me. What did you want me to see I mean we just met"
"As I said before those who enter the forest face a great ordeal that ends up killing them. I can see what the cause of that ideal is and for you it was your past. In 5 years on your 15th birthday you will face an opponent who will try and manipulate you into seeing your old self. This sighting causes you to have a mental breakdown eventually leading the enemy to kill you."
"15th birthday"
"That's when you got killed in your old world right"
"Yeah"
Shiebe closed his eyes and thought to himself.
"Purono helped me see the truth. I need to let go and treat this life as an actual life."
Then he fell asleep. He saw a strange world where he saw a frail young boy in his room reading a book. Outside of the boys window was a boy with red hair. The red hair boy looked happy with his family. The frail boy looked at the window as well this time he was able to walk.
"Look at him all happy. He's so lucky isn't he."
"Kaito he may look happy but his life ain't all sunshine and rainbows. Everyone has their own problems in life you know."
"No way. There's no one who could have it worse than me."
Although Kaito was older than the red hair boy they were about the same height.
Then the red hair boy called out to the man in white.
"Hey hurry up and come over."
This time the man looked at the red hair boy instead of ignoring him.
"Yes, I'm coming"
Kaito grabbed the white man's height. They were both the same height.
"Y-Your just going to leave me."
The man in white smiled and grabbed the shoulder of Kaito.
"Kaito we cannot be chained down by our past. I need to be free and you need to rest. Don't linger around this place move on from this horrible world. Go on to the next life. I am no longer going to let you hold me here"
The world started to change into a more medieval styled world. The white man now had red hair, Purple and red eyes and looked a lot happier.
"From now on I am Shiebe Zackaria. I am going to live the life we couldn't. It will be hard but I won't give up. I'm going to change"
Kaito looked at him and for the first time he smiled.
"You've grown up. Your different from who you used to be."
"I could say the same for you"
Shiebe and Kaito went their separate ways