*Rumble*
When I heard a faint sound of thunder, the world lightened up before me, pulling my lost consciousness out of an aimless infinite void. It could have been just a second. It could also be an eternity. Either way, I was... awakened from a deep slumber.
Endless rays of light instantly filled my visual field like water running through a broken dam, nearly blinding me after living in darkness for so long. This was something one would see waking up from a dream, but it felt too real to ignore. Especially when the last thing I remembered was seeing a world collapsing in front of my eyes.
As more and more sunlight seeped into my vision, I finally comprehended what was happening around me. Rather than the darkened atmosphere of an apocalypse, outside, one massive fireball was hanging high above, sending down its neverending radiance more dazzling than I could handle. At the same time, that fiery orb compromised my vision, and all I saw was a mass of silver particles that looked like they were formed from a thousand tiny rainbows.
Feeling uncomfortable by the light, I unconsciously bring my arm up to block it. Strangely enough, what came up was absolutely unexpected. It was an arm, correct. But it was not my arm, per se. No matter how long I was trapped inside that void of isolated space-time, unable to distinguish reality and imagination, I would not make a silly mistake such as claiming a dark, translucent arm as mine.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})In more ways than one, the arm was bizarre. Creepy, even. There was no finger, no thumb, just a clump of blackness from the tip down to
the elbow and shoulder. That same color covered my body from head to toe, not letting a single place out when I tried to examine my body. In short, I was probably looking like a shadow person than the actual me from the past.
To anyone new to such a sight, one would expect them to scream in terror. For me, such a thing was random but not threatening until further notice. My world was far from what others would consider normal. Being enveloped by darkness was odd, just not to that extent. Once you learned that everything that made you who you were was only a fragment of imagination, that the world itself would erode and disappear into nothingness, the mental faculty developed would help to deal with circumstances as strange as this.
At least, slowly but surely, the shadow arm helped me get used to the glare better than before. The first few seconds were strange, to put it lightly. Yet, not long after covering the supposed eye sockets, my blurry vision gradually formed into something my heart could never forget. Something that made my heart skip a beat.
A place of origin.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})As I frantically looked around, trying to confirm my position and searching for the one I longed for, a familiar yet distant sensation immediately swept through the deepest parts of my soul, touching the most tender places I had to lock away. Too much so, in fact, that I nearly sobbed if I had eyes.
Unfortunately, or perhaps in this case, thankfully, my body is not yet complete. Without actual body parts, its functions were nowhere near the completed version it should have been. If not for such abnormal circumstances, I would have definitely crawled all the way to the floor and wept until my body gave up. Alas, those tears would not come from grief or sorrow. Not at all. Out of all the emotions I harbored inside my heart, happiness was the one causing them to burst.
Tiles under my feet that stretched far ahead, typical classrooms along the long corridor, shadow people sitting lifelessly inside them, listening to nothing but gibberish... I knew the place well. I knew them even better than the back of my hand, better than my life. My Prince helped me get used to these concepts, albeit too long for comfort due to my stubbornness. If not for him, I would still be inside a fabricated reality of someone else's, destined to become a plaything without a mind forever.
Nevertheless, it seemed I was not the only one experiencing all this. Unbeknownst to me, one more shadow person came into existence right by my side. Also, similar to my condition, the person was featureless from the top down. Both of us were like how a shadow person should be: no describable characteristic, two clumps of darkness, standing in the middle of the school corridor. Although there was no indication telling who or even what that shadow could have been, instinctively, a name resurfaced from the depth of my mind. One could call it a hunch or a sixth sense. I just knew who that shadow person was in a snap.
She was the one who was always there when I spawned into the world. She was a friend, a partner in crime. Technically, we were two but one. Like myself, she was also stuck in this nightmare world as a tool but got free after some events.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Vivian." Somehow, defying all laws of logic, I was able to talk.
"Welcome back, Your Highness." Vivian lowered her dark body to make a bow. I even saw her arms moving to the sides, failing to grab the edge of her maid dress. "You look like a ghost. A hideous one, too. As expected of Your Highness. You always exceed the expectation of this humble servant."
"I don't think there is anything there for you to pull up, Vivian. And don't tell me how I look. You're the same as me right now." I said, completely disregarding her snide remarks.
The shadow of Vivian nodded. Next, with a calm and noble voice, she continued: "I can see that on my own, your Highness. You don't have to remind me like a kid."
Vivian's manners and her way of speech were vastly different. And though she addressed me as Your Highness with utmost respect, the way she talked made me want to punch her in the face. Then again, I was too used to this foul-mouth maid already. It would be a loss not having her around.
"Hehe!" I chuckled upon hearing her rough reply. "Still the curt Vivian. I'm glad that you haven't lost that sassiness."
"And you're as annoying as ever, your Highness. Please don't talk." Vivian did the same without hesitation.
My trusted maid, also one of the sub-heroines, was spawned into the world like I did. That was how it had always begun for my case. My Prince would have considered the iteration one of the bugged ones if she were not here. Furthermore, it seemed she had retained her past as well.
With the appearance of Vivian, I knew for sure I was back. Though not yet completely finished, I had returned to this place, to my Prince. What would he say to me when he saw me telling him that I was the one free from memory loss this time, I wondered. Would he be delighted? Would he jump up and down and give me a warm, big hug while stroking my head lovingly like he used to?
He did not believe me when I said there would be a chance for me to be the same person as before. Though childish and a bit whimsical, I wholeheartedly believed my feelings would transcend the border of space-time to reach him. My Prince showed a sad look when I suggested that. In his kind but sorrowful tone, he told me he tried everything possible to bring the others back to no avail. They all snuggled up with him with the same approach, yet none had done it.
There was a limit, he said, eyes filled with sadness. An invisible boundary that even my Prince could not break down sat at the lowest level. He did not explain it to me in great detail, but I knew that limit was from the fundamentals of the world. The rules of this virtual universe. Something so simple yet the most crucial thing to all creation.
Nevertheless, that rule seemed to be broken. I was the first one! With Vivian next to me, we were the two characters who proved to my Prince that our love conquered all impediments! Our feelings and emotions are purer than them, fuller than them, and expend further than their meager hearts could ever withstand. Though it was accurate to say I only heard about the stories he shared with them later in our relationship rather than facing them directly, what I had with my Prince was unique and special. More so than the others could ever achieve.
(Adora: Ain't she a beauty?
Vivian: Hand-drawn by my Gf: Lady Cheese.
