Thanks to Diluculo for helping edit.
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Darkness descended over the selenia fields as he approached them. Shock and surprise painted their faces, but why? Wasn't this what they were expecting? Why they had gathered here in the first place?
Then Tear…She started to cry.
Why?
By now, she would have read the diary. By now, she would have felt the emotions that lay behind the words, mirroring those she tried so hard to hide. So were they tears of happiness?
But that would mean that she doubted the possibility of this reunion, that it was merely the conclusion of a weak hope.
No…She knew the words exchanged that day were true, not just some half-hearted promise meant to be broken.
So why…?
…Maybe she knew.
Maybe these weren't tears of relief at all.
Maybe she cried because she knew that the man before her wasn't me.
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Darkness…
It clouded my every sense. I could neither see nor hear; neither feel the unbearable chill nor smell the rancid air.
I was a fool to take stock in those ridiculous stories of a radiant afterlife, where all one's hardships simply melt away.
No…Death was just an arrival into this damned darkness, into a void of pure nothingness. A slow descent into madness, lasting for all eternity.
But…then the darkness began to split. I began to see –or feel, rather— a luminescent light. It enveloped me in its gentle embrace. It was so warm…
And then I could see it. A beautiful, ethereal light.
I felt my chest rise as it filled with sweet air. Was I…alive? Or had I judged the stories too harshly?
…But something was wrong. The light vanished. The air was torn from my lungs, and every point of my body seared in agony.
Oh, Lorelei, make it stop! I wanted to scream, but I couldn't breathe. And then…!
…Then it was dark.
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I jolted upright, and my scream finally escaped my throat. As I tried to regain my breath, I noticed that I was still shrouded in darkness. But to my relief, it wasn't the same overwhelming void as in my…dream.
Yes, it was only a dream. But what did happen? Everything felt so real. I was fairly certain I had gone to Eldrant. I had fought the idiot, lost, and then I…
No, that was impossible. I couldn't have died; after all, I was here now, right?
That unsettling subject fled from my mind as I realized that I didn't know where I was. And I didn't have my sword.
Trying not to panic, I hastily rose from the bed and started searching for something –anything- that could replace my blade. Just as I was searching through a drawer, the door snapped open, providing an entry for a figure I couldn't make out. And I was still unarmed.
"It's about time you woke up," the shadow chided. "Welcome back to the world of the living, boss."