Pitch Black by GlassSuicune
Note: I do not own Phantasy Star Universe. SEGA does. I do, however, own the characters in this story.
Darkness.
That was it.
All she could see was pitch black, even though her eyes were wide open. She was sure she was blind, because there was no way the place could be this dark, since she knew she wasn't the only one here. She could hear cries of agony, but they always died down in a manner that did not give her any confidence that she would be alright. They filled her with great anxiety more than anything else.
She could feel the presence of something nightmarish and powerful, and she had a sick feeling in her stomach that the creature had silenced the cries, and would come for her next. But there was nothing she could do. She was chained to the cold, damp stone floor, and even if she wasn't, her muscles were completely useless. She could not move. She couldn't even cry in vain for help like the others, for her voice was gone. And even if it wasn't, words were unfamiliar to her. Only a tiny recognition of the language she spoke stayed with her, but before her voice had left her, she could not form any of them, for her tongue refused to serve her.
But that was how many things were. She remembered absolutely nothing. She didn't know her name, what she had done, who and what she was, who she cared for, who she detested, where she came from, or how she even got here of all places. She didn't even how long she was here; it felt like a painful eternity. This further fueled her confusion and anxiety. Would she die here, or be locked here forever, never knowing the answer to any of these things? That thought did not please her, but the matter was out of her hands, and she could only wish within her heart that someone, anyone, would take mercy on her and release her from this frightening place.
Though she had seemingly lost everything, she did not lose her powerful hearing, and footsteps could be heard approaching her. The clacking sound of hard boots against the stone puzzled her, and though she didn't wish to get her hopes up, she began to wonder if this person was here to help her. Of course, the person may be here to cause suffering, which replaced the sweet feeling of optimism with bitter pessimism. After all, who in their right mind would come here just to help a few seemingly lost souls from whatever fate was in store?
She could feel the person's presence, and assumed they had sat on their knees next to her, which filled her with mixed emotions. "Don't try to speak or move," a gentle masculine voice spoke, "There will be time for that later.." She opened her eyes as wide as possible, wishing she could see him, but only pitch black greeted her as always. "I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick..." the man said, as the place slowly started to shake, "In my hand is a key to these chains, and I can set you free. I understand that you cannot see, speak, or walk, but I promise you, once these chains are undone, you will have enough strength to run. The rest...have faith, and you will be able to see and speak again."
She wished she had the strength to show hesitation, scoff, something, but she had none. This was simply unbelievable. How did this man expect her to believe him? "I understand that this isn't easy to believe," he spoke, as if reading her thoughts, "But this is your only chance. Do you believe me, or do you wish to face the fate of the others?" His voice sounded sincere and pained, as if wanting her to avoid that creature desperately, but yet straining himself to allow her to choose.
Time was a pleasure she did not have; she knew that very well. But she had to think about this. What did she have to lose? Really nothing. If she chose to ignore him, she knew she would very likely die, but if she believed him, and he was wrong, she'd die then and there as well. But if he was right, she could live... There was no other alternative. She had to try, and that sweet optimism replaced the bitter pessimism, no matter how much she also attempted to be realistic.
As if sensing her decision, the man quickly unchained her. "I have done all that I can," he spoke simply, "The rest is in your hands. Stay on the right path, and everything will return to you, and you can be free." She then attempted to sit up, and found to her surprise and delight that she had the strength to do so, before she stood up fully. She would've cried tears of joy, but she knew she wasn't safe yet. She felt the man's presence disappear, and she struggled to find out where she was supposed to go. She could hear the creature coming, and decided it would be in her best interest to not go in the direction the sound was coming from.
She walked carefully at first, feeling around the area and listening closely, before picking up the pace and going into a complete run as the creature neared her. She was running blind in every sense of the word, but something within her heart was telling her where to go, even if she couldn't see. She could tell where she was running was keeping the creature at bay, because of its enraged screams and the sound of stone being demolished as it seemingly forced its way through where she had run.
"Keep following...you're almost there..."
The man's voice seemed to instill hope in her, as she started running faster, her strength growing and her fear slowly dissipating. She knew the creature was gaining on her as she ran across ice cold water with as much speed and as little doubt as possible. She could tell the creature was growing more infuriated and desperate, which she began to realize she could turn in her favour...
"No no, that is the wrong way!"
She resisted the urge to keep running and stopped, confused at the voice. Was that the man, or the creature? She could've sworn she had been going the right way... As she stood there, her heart began to beat faster as she frantically tried to figure out what was wrong. What her error was. As she turned back to the direction she had been going, her brain screamed 'Run!', and as she turned to the direction the voice wanted her to go, only fear, cold as ice and suffocating, filled her.
But the voice...
The voice...
As she felt the creature's presence right behind her, she realized that voice was the creature's and she quickly scrambled to recover, running the direction she had been before, nearly tripping as she realized it was stairs she had to climb. It was not ideal, but this was the right way, she knew it, so she continued onward, the creature snarling as she climbed the stairs to the door and not tumble down the other flight of stairs into a pit where she would've been trapped.
As she reached the end of the stairs, colour began to replace pitch black, shapes starting to fill her recovering vision. But before she could see fully, the creature grabbed her ankle and struggled to pull her down. She let out a pained shriek, straining her voice as it recovered. Her vision lost all blackness and cloudiness, and she could see a door in front of her, light peeking out from under it. As she struggled against her captor, she turned to face it, her eyes widening with fright at the strange abomination before her.
She could not tell what it was. It resembled some kind of alien fusion of a dragon and scorpion, but that barely described it as well. The only way she could describe it was that it was a demon, and that was really everything she could say. Its clawed hand attempted to pull her down the stairs, and recognition began to click in her mind as she immediately kicked it in the face to make it let her go. She had seen this monster before...
"You...will not...leave this place...alive!" the creature shrieked, climbing up after her. "You should be dead..." she breathed, as more memories began to surface.
"I can never die... But you...you, should be dead here and now! Your blood belongs to me!"
The creature lunged at her as she had made it back to the top. Everything happened too fast for her to comprehend. All she knew was that the creature became still, a sword lodged firmly in its skull, the hilt of it in her hands. With renewed strength, she gave a powerful shove, and the seemingly lifeless creature tumbled down the stairs, a sickening crack echoing through the place as the back of its head and neck made contact with the hard floor. Not wasting any time, she ran to the door, opening it...
Light.
A blinding brightness was all there was to see, but it did not fit.
The white-haired Beast let out a long sigh, burying his face in his hands, concealing his dark blue eyes. The weather outside the hospital was very bright and warm, but it may as well have been raining, dark and cold. The hospital's decor also filled him with mixed emotions. The walls were all white, the furniture was bland and unremarkable, but the atmosphere...really, no other place in Gurhal could have such a peculiar atmosphere. Cold and warm, filled with pain and relief, death and life. If there was such a thing as a middle ground between those things, this place was it.
He struggled to keep from looking at the blonde Beast in the bed, who was locked in a seemingly unending sleep. It was his fault she was here, and it was his fault that if she ever woke up, she would be blind, paralyzed, and unable to speak. He should've been more careful. He should've listened...but by the time he realized what she had warned him about, it was too late.
He had seen many frightening things in his short lifetime, but nothing could compare to what he had seen that day, not even the monsters he had fought. Seeing someone become a monster, as terrifying as it was, seemingly lost its power over him, after he had seen a fragile body bend and twist in ways unimaginable and unnatural until it was nothing but a mangled, bloody heap that by all means should have ceased to live, but held on somehow.
It was his fault.
No one could convince him to leave her side. Not the doctor. Not the nurse. Not even his friends, or the President of the Guardians. He refused to leave for even an hour. He remained exactly where he was; sitting at the table, doing nothing but staring at the engulfing white, wishing he could do everything over again. Maybe things would be better...
A soft groan, barely above a whisper, came from her, and he immediately raised his head, surprised. With both a paralyzing shock and a burning hope, he turned to face her as she sat up on the bed, soaking in her surroundings before turning to face him, her crimson eyes staring directly at him, the wounds that had disfigured her face and destroyed her eyes completely gone.
It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but yet he struggled to convince himself this was real.
"Z-Zelda..." he managed, amazed that she was completely fine, and he had not realized. "Never would've expected to see you here, Subaru..." she replied almost coldly, but inside she was thrilled to see him. She would've asked how she had gotten here in the first place, but memories of what happened that day were resurfacing, as much as she wanted them to go away. She also wasn't really sure she wanted to explain what she had experienced after the accident and before waking up to this. He might think she was crazy.
She didn't really have much time to say anything else, as the younger male threw his arms around her and held her tight. To say this surprised her would be an understatement, but she gratefully returned the gesture. They both needed it. Subaru had closed his eyes, as if to fight back small tears of joy, but she kept her eyes open. Pitch black made up most of what she had seen, and she certainly wasn't ready to see it again.
Not for awhile.
Note: A product of sleep deprivation at its best (worst?). Yep. Review if you'd like... Did this make any sense to anyone? Because I feel like I broke my brain writing this. But eh...you're free to draw your own conclusion to what happened. And if you're wondering, I used Zelda and Subaru instead of canon characters purely because it was easier to write with them...