Hello again. There are really no words that can be spoken to soften the sorrow or lessen the loss that is felt from losing someone close to us. At the passing of a loved one, those of us that are left behind feel a profound sense of sadness, emptiness, and grief for awhile. Pangs of deep loneliness set in as we survivors envision a future without the deceased. Please, enjoy the story.

Darkness was not the correct word to describe this place, but the only one that seemed appropriate. It wasn't warm or cold, wet or dry, it was as close to nothing as it could be. The air was thick with a haze darker than black that masked a sky somehow darker. There was a ground, uneven and rough like gravel and yet his foot still echoed with each step.

"Hello?"

He cried into nothing and received nothing in return. He could hear his own heart beats like an echo in a deep cavern but with no visible walls to carry the sound. He wasn't sure why but he was compelled to keep moving, putting one feet in front of the other hoping that by wandering around this place he could find some kind of sign or hint to where he might be.

"Can anybody hear me?"

He tried again, his voice echoing in all directions growing louder rather than softer as moments passed.

"Make it stop!"

He cried, curling up on the ground and covering his ears with his hands, blocking out as much of the sound as he could.

"Please!"

He added, and without warning the echoes ceased and left him in an eerie silence.

Kenta clamored to his feet and began to run, unsure which direction to take or how to escape this confusing place. He was too afraid to take flight here, worried that she would become even more confused and turned around and even slightly afraid that he might forget where the ground was. This place wasn't a place like he'd ever seen and he didn't trust it. It reminded him of something that might have come from his twisted imagination.

Ryuga. That thought triggered a reaction in Kenta and he stopped running, panting softly for breath. He was the reason he was here though he couldn't find it in his heart to blame him. He truly believed that he had made the right choice when he—

Kenta's thoughts were cut off, he heard the soft sound of scratching somewhere behind him. He started running again, this time sobbing as he did so. He didn't know what was coming but he knew it was important not to get caught. He ran from the sound then stopped, digging his hands into the non-gravel in confusion when the sound came at her from a different direction.

He recognized the feeling of dread and knew that he had faced whatever this was before; faced it in his dreams… his nightmares. This time, however, it wasn't a nightmare and not even Ryuga himself could protect him from what was coming.

"He just wanted to keep his friend forever! He didn't mean to hurt me…"

Kenta plead into the darkness but the scratching just got louder. Though he ran as fast as he was able, the sound still grew louder. It wasn't too long before his feet began to ache and he worried that they would fail her. As the little hope he clung to threatened to give out, Kenta saw the faint outline of an iron fence come into view. He gasped and panted in joy; something ANYTHING would be a welcomed sight.

As Kenta neared the fence the scratching noises softened until they disappeared back into the darkness. Kenta stuck his hand out to touch the metal but hesitated, sensing an unspoken danger here as well. Rather than take his chances, he avoided the metal and walked along side it instead. As he walked, he noted the deterioration of the metal and the bent and misshapen spires. Their decay gave Kenta the chills; it looked unnatural in comparison to other worn fences he had seen in his lifetime.

Eventually, the metal fence had faded and crumbled leaving nothing but the unforgiving ground where it once stood. Kenta was so preoccupied with the actual fence that he only now discovered what lay beyond it. There were little patches of grass, trees, and shrubs that blended faintly in the darkness that surrounded it. Kenta strained his eyes when he caught sight of what he believed was a welcomed sight.

"Sagittario? Sagittario is that you?"

He called, racing towards his half human and half horse companion. Once he reached it, however, he discovered he was nothing more than a great mound of dust so perfectly sculpted to look like his best friend.

"Oh Sagittario I've missed you so much!"

He reached out his arms wrapped around it and he disintegrated into dust.

Kenta sobbed. The memory of him tugged at the back of his mind and he reached down to the unforgiving soil to re-sculpt it from the dust.

"H-he had hooves like this… no maybe they were longer… no his face was different. This isn't right. I can't remember! It's been so long I can't…"

Kenta broke into sobs again and the dust that remained blew itself into nothingness. He stayed curled on the ground in his tears until he heard the scratching again. This time, he didn't care. He wanted it to find him, he wanted this endless wandering to finally stop.

"Kenta! Don't let the monster get you!"

Kenta's head snapped up at the sound and he held his breath. That voice, no matter how much time had passed was still as crisp and as clear as if it were yesterday. It captured his rasp perfectly, and the inflection of impatience that Gingka always had in his tone.

"What are you doing? Get up! Get out of here!"

Another familiar sound, this one so delightfully out of place with its fiery nature. Then again, Kyoya's optimism typically was out of place to begin with.

Kenta raced towards the sound of their voice.

"Gingka? Kyoya? Where are you? Please… please say something else!" Kenta cried.

"Get out," Kyoya cautioned again.

"Not until I find you!"

"We're not lost Kenta," Gingka said.

"You know exactly where we are, we're right where you left us. All of us." Kenta disregarded what was being said; he just wanted to find them.

"I've been looking for you all for so long… it feels like ages…" He said amidst his tears. He ignored the pained throbbing of his arms to pursue his best friends and rivals, and through the haze he could at last see their silhouettes. They were together, like Gingka had said, and they looked like they were ready to embrace him again. This time his tears fell in gratitude and no amount of pain could keep him from his friends.

At long last, he reached them. He didn't hesitate throwing his arms around Gingka to hold him close.

"Gingka I've miss—"

He stopped, realizing the object he held now was cold and hard. He jerked himself away from it in confusion; he had been hugging a single flat stone that was sticking up unnaturally from the ground. There were five stones just like it in place of all his friends.

"No… no… please, I've waited so long to see you, I can't lose you all again…"

Kenta curled up on the ground next to his friends and revisted each painful memory. He hadn't noticed the scratching sound growing closer until it was too late to run.

Kenta felt a chill run up his spine and his eyes flew open to face the monster that had pursued him all this time.

It was himself, or at least, another version of himself. This Kenta, however, had no eyes, only two great balls of darkness where his eyes should have been.

Kenta screamed and jumped back to his feet in a panic. The dark Kenta only smiled and offered out his hand where a sharp bloodied knife rested. It didn't take long for him to start running again, but the pain of his feet compelled him to climb up the ladder. The dark mist grew thicker as he climbed in the air, his arms struggling to keep his airborne. His chest constricted and he gasped, unable to suck in a breath from the weight of the mist around him.

Kenta strained his muscles to push higher and higher until at last he broke free of the surface of dark water. The dark Kenta was not far behind, pushing Kenta's head back under water, trying to force the life out of him again. Kenta screamed and thrashed in the water, bucking at his twin until he broke free at last, gasping and shaking as he dragged himself back onto solid ground.

The mist began to change again, this time when it cleared it revealed an entire forest of trees. Kenta looked over her shoulder at the darker twin who flew towards him still clutching the knife. He took flight again and headed into the trees, hoping to lose him.

Each tree he passed grew more twisted, more mangled in thick rope-like vines. He looked back to see where the other Kenta had gone and flew himself straight into a vine that pulled at his neck. He threw his arm up and tried to pull it away, once again gasping for air, and noticed the vine was being tugged on the other end by the dark Kenta.

"It's the only way!"

Dark Kenta called out to her. "I never wanted this! I never wanted to be separated from my friends! Don't you understand Ryuga? I can't stay with you! I want to die!"

Kenta cried, unable to beg for his life but desperately trying to cling to it. Dark Kenta approached him, the rope still digging into him neck with the blade drawn.

"It's the only way I can see them again."

Kenta thrashed, her vision becoming hazy.

"You never even asked me what I wanted all those years ago. I can't take it anymore…"

Kenta's eyes were stained with tears he couldn't breathe but was somehow still thrashing about as lively as ever.

"Magic can't protect me if I do it myself… it can't keep me here if my heart stops beating."

Kenta closed his eyes and braced himself, knowing what was coming next. He lowered her ears and waited. When the blade dug into his chest she threw open his eyes and screamed. Once again he was on the ground, nothing visible but the dark haze that cloaked an even darker sky.

"Hello?"

He called out, feeling an unnerving sense of dread even though he didn't know why.

That's when he heard the scratching.

It is so difficult to realize that our loved one will no longer be present physically to share conversations, walks, hugs, or ideas with us. It is such a great loss because it involves losing a piece of yourself... a part of what was a very important part of your life. Everyone and everything that we love becomes a part of us.

Thank You For Reading.

Goodbye.

- Lily Eclipse