That place was very dark with malicious aura surrounding it. No human could survive there. Then again, this place was no place for human. The cold and malicious aura that emanate from the place came from such a dark entity. A monster with two bull heads. A heartless creature.
In the vast space, a golden door stood tall and a seal was put in front of it, to stop it from opening. To stop the Goddess of Night, Nyx, to descend ever again. The seal that would last for eternity. The great seal which contain the soul of a brave young man, who died to protect the world. And no matter what, nobody beside his closest friends would know about his sacrifice.
A figure stood silently in front of the great seal with tears in her eyes, thinking about this young man always made her cry. She could still remember those days they spent together, with her curiosity over the outside world, it was bound to cause him trouble. But she was happy, because no matter what, those memories were the ones she would cherish forever.
But this wasn't the time for sentimentality, she had work to do. Shaking her head, she looked up at the great seal with a smile. "I'm sorry to make you wait for so long, Makoto-sama."
The human seal didn't move. Of course he wouldn't. But this didn't waver the girl's resolve. She raised her right hand which held an evoker in it and pointed it at the human seal, right at his forehead. "I shall cut my ties with everything and take this weight that has been placed upon your shoulder onto mine."
She pulled the trigger and a small click resounded before whirlwind covered her body and the seal. When the wind subsided, a boy with dark blue hair stood in her place while she was encased in the great seal.
The boy gazed sadly at the smiling woman who was now trapped as the seal. "Goodbye, Elizabeth. Thank you for everything."
After what seemed like days of walking to Makoto, a blue door appeared before him. The key in his pocket began to glow, he grabbed it and opened the door. 'How nostalgic.'
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the figure of Igor entered his line of vision, still sat in the wide room of blue with that eerie smile of his.
'And still as scary,' Makoto supplied quietly in his mind before taking a seat in front of the long-nosed man.
"How long has it been, since the last time we spoke like this," Igor chuckled quietly. "I see that you managed to escape the seal." Although there was humor in his voice, his eyes were filled with sadness.
"Igor," Makoto began cautiously, "why am I here? I thought my contract had been fulfilled."
"Why indeed?" Igor grinned widely at him. "What do you think? How are you able to escape the seal?"
Still as annoying as ever, Makoto thought, amused. He always talked with riddles. Then, something hit him. He remembered her. Elizabeth.
"Yes, Elizabeth," Igor said as if reading Makoto's mind, his eyes were filled with grieves once more, "she thinks that it wasn't fair for you to be there forever."
"What happened to her?" Makoto had the feeling that he already knew the answer. And yet, he refused to believe it. He denied it. That was why he needed to hear the truth from the man in front of him.
"She loved you dearly."
That was all he needed to hear to realize that what he had feared was indeed true. Elizabeth, the woman who assisted him during his journey, was no longer there. Makoto hung his head low, allowing his hair to cover his eyes, concealing any emotions. He fought to keep himself calm because this was no time for tears. But at the same time, he wanted to scream and mourn for his dear friend, who died for him.
No, it wasn't death. It was something worse than death. Trapped forever in the seal.
"She wished for a second chance to you."
Makoto didn't say anything, he didn't have the strength to do so right now.
"In one year, you have to stop Nyx revival."
Makoto listened without interrupting. It was quite simple. In his second life, he would lose all his memories and restart from the very beginning. Igor didn't tell him the way to obtain his memory back as clearly as he had expected, only giving him a clue. Bonds. That was it. Igor said that he would find the how to retrieve his memory by himself.
At first, the boy refused to have anything to do with this anymore. Experiencing it once was enough. And Igor, apparently knowing that Makoto would refuse, played his last trump card.
"Should you fail, the seal she has become will be destroyed."
This wasn't fair, Igor knew exactly that Makoto had no choice but to agree. He was after all indebted to Elizabeth. And with that, he found himself thrust into an open door, albeit a bit begrudgingly.
"Until we meet again, farewell." And his vision went dark.
Edited : 6 February 2014