Death is not some peaceful fade into the afterlife. At least for me it's not. I feel cold. It's like it's suffocating me. most of my eyesight has long since gone, along with my other senses. I'm not sure why but I always believed there would be something to this. there is no pleasant memory that fills me with nostalgia, no scent that reminds me of my sister's home cooking, nothing. There is only darkness. I don't see light at the end of the tunnel, shining back at me like a message of hope and harmony. Nor do I feel the warm embrace of any loved ones. It's just blank.
Although I can't feel it, I am still alive, although I most likely only have a few restricted breaths left before death.
I don't want to die. I don't want to go out like this. I don't know why I can't feel anything. There should be something like a yearning to live and fight through this, a wrathful hate towards the woman who killed me and the others who took my sister from me, but I just feel so tired. I attempt to grasp at something that can keep me conscious and sane. a memory, a thought, anything. It's not working. My mind is drowning.
Is this seriously all dying is?
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The flame burst passed central Veyros, past the rooftops of the merchant precinct, and then through the ruined streets of the slums. It slipped through the cracks of the shattered glass window of an apartment that looked like a warzone. It moved without any sound or uncertainty.
Inside the apartment, the COE officer's expression was still evidently pleased as her ear-to-ear grin had never left her face, despite the fact she had just killed a 13year-old boy in cold blood.
She raised her hands slowly and the debris, broken furniture, and blood lifted itself up off the ground. She possessed the C-Class ability, Advanced Telekinesis. All evidence or remnants of the brutal and bloody struggle floated in the air and with a flick of her wrist, the wreckage and evidence were compacted into a small ball, no wider than a football. Any trace of the abduction of the 15-year old girl and the murder of the boy disappeared.
She didn't notice the flame.
The golden flame flew through the corridor, past the COE officer until it found him. A boy, on the brink of death, drowning on his own blood.
There was no flashy burst of light, no flamboyant explosion. It simply glided into the boy's chest. And just like that, the flame was gone.
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Kian's breath gradually became less hitched. His battered body and wounds returned to their normal state as his mind was thrust back into consciousness. He shakily stood up from where he lay and he opened his eyes. Suddenly, his body froze in place. Not from pain or fear, but from something completely different. Something unnatural.
He was not in his apartment anymore. If anything, it seemed as if the world around him had disappeared.
Instead, he only saw himself. His reflection. He saw his reflection over and over again.
He was in a vast, seemingly unending void that was completely surrounded by mirrors. They stretched infinitely in every direction. Most were covered in cracks and fissures, others were less damaged, but all bore his image. In every direction and every angle he looked, his own person was gazing back at him.
His eyes widened in utter bewilderment. There was something calming and serene about this mirrored void. Something he couldnt quite comprehend.
"What... What is this place?" He whispered. As he spoke, he did not hear his voice through his hearing. It was as if he was talking telepathically with himself.
His voice ran out in his head as he said. "Is this supposed to be the afterlife or something?" He chuckled inwardly. "I guess those COE higher-ups weren't complete lying bastards after all".
Kian took a slow and hesitant step forward. The reflections, in unison, also took a slow step forward. An infinite number of reflected versions of himself mirroring his every movement. As he looked at the strange scene around him, the only word he could find to describe it was... beautiful.
He continued to glance around and one mirror, cracked more than most, caught his attention. As he looked at it, the weight of what had just happened dawned on his mind. The pain he experienced, the loss of his sister, and the cruelty of the people we once viewed as heroes echoed in his mind over and over again, yet in this void, all of those thoughts felt strangely distant and detached. It was almost as if what had happened was experienced by someone else.
He continued to walk around, entranced by the beauty and the mysteriousness of this place.
"Hey kid."
Kian's breath hitched as he was frozen in place. His blood ran cold as he heard a voice speak to him telepathically. A voice that was not his. He looked over his shoulder and then spun around, glancing in every direction while attempting to find who spoke to him.
The mirrors remained unchanged, the infinite reflections stared back at him, mirroring his confused reaction and shifting eyes. Yet, he felt as if something was different now like something had shifted.
Kian gulped hard and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Who's there?" He asked as his voice trembled.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. One reflection stood out differently. It was larger than the other. The reflection was untained with cracks and it glowed with seemingly colossal vitality and power. But what was most disturbing to Kian was that it was not his reflection.
"Erm... Hello? Are you just going to keep staring at me?"
Kian's thoughts were in utter disarray. 'What the actual fuck is happening.'
Kian slowly strolled closer to the mirror with the strange man in it, albeit nervously. As he got closer, the man's appearance became clear. He was a tall, slender man with seemingly no fat or muscle on him. He had long blond curly hair that acted like a curtain, covering most of his face. He had an distinctive tattoo on the side of his abdomen of a deer and a butterfly. They symbolise a new beginning.
Catching Kian by surprise, the man took a step forward. The man was now directly infront of Kian, staring down at him. Yet Kian felt calm, despite the man towering over him.
"Your eyes... Do people find them strange?"
"I-I guess so. But can I ask who you ar-"
The man cut Kian off and lifted his frail arms up to his head and pushed his hair back, revealing his face. Like the rest of his body, his face was devoid of any fat. His jawline looked almost skeletal. His lips, which was curled upwards in a small grin, were dry and cracked, yet they framed his face flawlessly somehow.
Each of his eyes contained 3 different colours. His left eye was black, white and gold, whereas his right, was red, blue and green. They were sunken, their brilliance dulled by clear signs of exhaustion and they were framed by dark circles.
The man spoke strangely. Despite his frail appearance, his voice seemed almost joyful. "Let's do our introductions later. First things first we are going to need to sort out that little situation your are in outside of this place."
"Outside of this place? Am I not dead?"
"Why would you think you are dead?"
"Because my throat was slit..."
The man's grin disappeared and was replaced by a confused expression "And?"
The two stood in silence, both staring at each other with confused expressions. Because of the height difference, the duo look fairly comical.
The man spoke first, "Sorry I think I'm getting a bit distracted. We don't have time for a lengthy conversation so I think I'll just explain whats about to happen next. Okay?"
Being overwhelmed seemed like an understatement to Kian. He did not understand who this man was or what was going on. He had just had his throat slit and bled out on this apartment floor, yet this man was telling him he was somehow alive. He found it hard to believe.
Coming out of his thoughts and responding to the man's question he nodded his head.
"Great choice kid!" He paused briefly, seemingly trying to figure out how to explain this to Kian. "Well, I'm not one for lengthy explanations so I will just put it simply."
He leaned down, drawing closer to Kian's face. The man's prior expression was replaced by a devilish grin that seemed to not fit his malnourished appearance.
"I'm going to turn you into an evolver."