A/N: Halloween is on 31st October
I must lay off One Piece addiction
Note: This takes off from Chapter 13 of my story, Meaning of Love, as a side-story.
"Where.. am I?"
Zatch found himself lying in a field of darkness. Everything was painted black; where ever he turned to, whatever he saw, was a plain black color etched into every corner of this universe.
"How did I even.. get here?"
Small amounts of fear started to accumulate within the bottom of his heart.
"I must get out.."
"You cannot do that."
Stunned at the voice that responded to him, he frantically scanned the area. Was there another victim stuck in this prison of darkness?
"There is no one here."
"Except for YOU."
A feeling of hopelessness started to engulf the boy, slowly creeping into every nerve into his body.
"Then tell me! Where is this place? How did I get here?"
"You didn't get here, you have been here all along, subconsciously, in this void.."
The voice faded away gradually, but the word 'void' seemed to resonate in his ears. Acknowledging that the voice was refusing to answer any more of his questions, Zatch made a decision to find a way out.
"I must get out of here.. Tia.."
He wandered around the void aimlessly, hoping that he would bump into an escape route by chance.
"..what?.."
Tia found herself standing in plain white terrain, devoid of any living signs as far as she could see.
"Why am I here?"
"You were never here."
"WHA-! W-W-WHO WAS THAT?"
"Me? I am just a non-existent being."
"Eh?.. I don't get what you're saying.."
"You don't have to understand."
"Fine then, hmph. Then tell me, where am I?"
"A.."
"..NIGHTMARE."
"Huh? What kind of nightmare is this, you must be joking.."
The voice failed to respond.
"Are you ignoring me? Tch."
"Looks like I have to find my way out then. Goodbye."
"Nuu.."
"How long must I wander around before I find an exit?"
"I'm so hungry.. does this place have yellowtail?"
"FOOD~"
Zatch started to scamper in search of food. As he squinted his eyes, he could see a part of this unusual fantasy of a lighter gradient of black. More like.. grey.
"Grey..?"
"Maybe it has yellowtail there?"
"Yel-low-tail~"
He crawled on fours, his head high up into the air sniffing for his favourite food. Even after scampering around for an indefinite amount of time, his finds had disappointed him.
After all, this place was only stained with different shades of black.
"Whaaat.. there is no yellowtail."
Zatch sighed in dismay, let down by the fact that there was no availble food for the hungry soul. Nevertheless, he would not be hindered by such an obstacle; for which he had faced much, much greater ones before this.
"Oh..?"
Zatch squinted his eyes. Could it be..? He hurried over on fours in its direction. He rubbed his hands onto the head of the object, and Zatch squealed in delight. However, that object looked like it was floating in the air, and the surface in which it was stuck in seemed like a vertical wall.
Nevertheless, Zatch tried as hard to pull out his yellowtail.
Tia started to get worried. How much time had been spent in this aberrant field of white? How was she even going to escape from here? Walking around in circles, an image of Zatch suddenly appeared in her mind.
"What a pain.. I need to get out of here. Well, since this is a nightmare, I can force myself out of this, right?"
"What kind of nightmare would that be?"
"WHA- CUT IT OUT! Just randomly giving your commentary just like that.."
Tia smirked.
"If I can't force myself to escape, then I'll play by your game."
A sharp pain in the gut. A striking discomfort in the brain. A reflexive response in the muscles.
Something was coming, and it wasn't going to be welcoming.
"Ye...llow...ta..il?"
Zatch managed to pull the fish out of the wall, but left it left him in misery. The rest of the body was deprived of meat and bones were the only thing left for him to eat.
A quick expression of joy turned into agony.
"Wha..t..?"
A frightening sound resounded in his ears. It was extremely familiar, but he could not make out the person who said it.
As he finished chanting, his name flashed through his mind.
Panick and shock raced through his body. He dared not look back, for Zatch knew who he was.
"What the hell.. is.."
"..Clear Note doing here?"
"Isn't he reborn into White?"
"WHAT IS GOING ON?"
"NIGHTMARE."
That word, held a meaning of fear.
The pain was gradually heightening to the point where it was going to pierce her body. She ran as fast as she could, but could not see what was chasing her. When she turned back, Tia felt horror creep up her limbs. But,..
..nothing was there.
What was chasing after her? She didn't know; escaping was all that mattered. After all, this is a nightmare.
Why did she turn around the corner? She didn't know; all she could see is the white that was plastered into her eyes for so long.
Why did she trip and fall?
The pain grew second after second. It was coming closer, and her body was at the border of rupturing if she chose to give up now.
It felt like a spear through her body.
She could sense it was about to collide with her. Her vision started to image a sharp point, increasingly expanding and broading, like a triangle. The pain, followed suit.
It was unbearable.
Zatch's legs took flight. Evading from one wall to another, they never seemed to take damage from each and every offensive attack Clear threw at Zatch; not even a dent nor scratch was visible on it.
"Damn..!"
His inability to match up to Clear destructive power led to his decision to escpe.
Clear, as Zatch would put, would not simply retreat, for he knew that Clear was not one to accept defeat so easily. The constant diving from wall to wall left him will a blurred vision, supported by a naseautic feeling in his chest. Soon enough, he realized, he was stuck in a labyrinth; any wrong turns could lead to untold consequences.
"Is that..?"
What looked like an exit was just up ahead. However, he ran along a straight pathway, leaving him completely exposed to the threats of Clear.
Nevertheless, he made the sprint.
Heat was gaining up on him, and he very well first-handedly seen it devastating power.
Zatch picked up the speed; it was only some meters away.
Tension grew into every corner, every side of his body, as the heat started to intensify.
"Gah..!"
Zatch broke out of the labyrinth, at long last. He slid away from the projectile aimed towards him, waiting for it to burst out of the labyrinth.
But it never came.
Zatch curiously peered back into the labyrinth.
Both Clear, and his pheonix,..
..disappeared into thin air.
"Zatch.."
The pain grew to the extent where she could no longer feel anything else.
"..help.. me.."
Tia felt a light touch on her back, and all the pain was exorcised from her at an instant. All the pain she felt from before looped back, and was drawn away by an unknown force. Tia jerked at the sudden collection of pain, but it was all over now.
She heaved a sigh of relief, and closed her eyes as she imaged Zatch in the darkness of her sight.
"Time to move on...!"
"Why did the white surrounding.. turn black..!"
Zatch continued on his quest to escape this terrible nightmare. The first thing he noticed, was that now, he was standing on white surface. Surely the exit was just nearby?
He bumped onto a wall.
"What?.."
"A dead end?"
He placed his palm onto the wall.
"Why.. WHY AM I BACK.."
Zatch found himself back into the black void.
"Zatch? Z-Zatch!"
His familiar figure appeared infront of her.
"Where have you been, I missed you.."
Zatch turned around, with a sinister grin printed on his face, almost like Zeno's.
"Zatch..?"
"I hate you. You caused so many problems to me. You caused so much hurt in me. You made me fall in love with you."
"I.."
"..hate.."
"..YOU."
As much as Tia wanted to deny those facts, she couldn't. She knew her sin of her crime, what she did to Zatch. All of it. Tears welled in her eyes, and overflowed.
"This.. is.. only.. a dream..."
Everything is fake.
Except the pain.
He saw Tia's back in the horizon, but what he didn't see, was that another person was with her.
Holding her hand.
He shouted as loud as he could
"..Tia?.."
Tia didn't bother to look back.
"Oh, it's you Zatch."
"..Why?"
"Do you love me?"
She had hit Zatch at his weakness. This was one answer he could not say with full confidence, nor could he deny it at all.
"As I suspected. I don't want to spend time with someone.."
"..who doesn't love the me same way."
"..Tia!.."
Everything is fake.
Except for the broken heart.
But Zatch always knew,
Tia loved him more than anyone else.
Wiping away the tears, he moved forward. Scenes from his memory of Tia started to surface..
He could feel the darkness seeping away, revealing the garden.
The garden which held so much, so much, memories..
..A faint shadow in the distance..
"But Zatch told me, whatever it was.."
"..he would stick by me, wouldn't it."
"People lie."
"People who don't know him well enough."
Tia found herself standing on the soft, mellow grass of the garden. A silhouette was found right next to the pedestal. Of course, it was none other than..
..that boy with a yellowtail.
"Oh, Tia!"
She smiled, as she bent forward to grab his hands..
The two woke up together in the dead of the night, and hugged one another in the moonlight.
But, horrors never fade. It can be erased, but stains will always mark its existance.
A/N: Dis is done. Thanks for waiting so patiently.