Thank you for the such lovely reviews!
Your reviews made me decide to continue this story, continue beyond this one-shot.
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The Blue Phantom: I LOVE YA BUDDY! *Hands Sandman plushie and box of cookies*
yujuh7: I should be the one to thank you, for being so nice enough to not only review but also favorite this story. I give you, as a thank you, this chapter as my gift. :)
Bookworm210: Oops. Sorry, I make people cry a lot. Here, have some cyber-hot chocolate *Passes mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows* Are you feeling better?
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"Arise."
The voice was so calm, so powerful that it somehow commanded him to open his heavy eyelids. He was overwhelmed by blinding, silver light as he awoke, confused by the brightness that drowned away the darkness that once crushed him.
This wasn't right. He was dying, he was dead.
But, he wasn't.
He felt himself being lifted, pulled away from the sinking mud into the intensifying light that bathed across his bloodied body and face.
"Arise." The voice repeated as he floated in the air, hovering above the trenches and battlefield into the midnight, blackened sky that the moon rested.
He blinked at the moon, staring at it and it's shining, overwhelming light.
He was confused, dazed and scared. He was alone, not knowing where he was or even who he was.
The only thing he remembers is that he had a sister, and that he died before he could see her again.
His lack of memory terrified him, fear tightly embracing him and making it hard to breathe.
But, then he continued looking at the moon and...didn't feel so scared anymore. Like the moon has stripped away any fears he once had and replaced it with some sort of peaceful calm.
The wind that breezed past him brushed against his cheeks and ruffled his hair as he remained floating within the air, staring at the moon in a hypnotic daze as he struggled for words.
"What-...Where-...Who are you?" He spoke, his throat raw choked on every syllable even though he didn't know why.
"I am the Man in the Moon, and you're Johnathan Andrew Smith."
John Smith.
That was his name. He liked that name, it seemed to fit him perfectly.
"What-...What happened?"
"You died by sacrificing your life, dying by a terrible fate you shouldn't have deserved. This sacrifice is what made me bring you back."
"So...I'm not dead?"
"No."
John felt himself descending, lowering on to the ground until the mud squished underneath his boots.
"Then, does that mean I'm alive?" He asked, facing the moon as its light dimmed into a gentle glow.
He stood there for a moment, waiting for a reply.
No reply came.
"But...what do I do, now?" He asked again, and once again getting ignored.
"What do I do!" He shouted this time, screaming at the moon with frustration.
But, For another time, no reply came. No reply came from the moon as he screamed at it
No reply came.
John huffed in irritation, thrusting his hands up in defeat as he began to tread away through the pilings of mud.
He heard gunfire as he walked, seeing people rushing around with guns and weapons.
What's going on? Is there some sort of war going on?
John didn't know.
Besides, he knew he hated wars. So, why would he be somewhere like here?
John marched across the cobbles, feelings the stone from the ground press against the soles of his feet.
He surveyed his surroundings, seeing the small stone buildings and house of the small town he was marching through.
He didn't know why he was marching, why didn't he just walk through the town?
Even though, nobody was looking at him as he passed. They didn't even batter an eyelid at him as he trod across the ground and looked at the buildings in wonder.
A flag, with vertical stripes of blue, white and red, thrashed about in the rushing wind.
France, he was in France.
Wait, how does he know that? He has never seen that flag before in his life! He doesn't even know what France is, so how can he know?!
These confusing questions and incredible deja vu made John's head spin, causing him to halt within the street.
A person walked past him, not even taking care to ask if he was okay or even look at him. John found that slightly rude, and didn't even bother telling the person they dropped a green jacket as they left.
In fact, he picked the green jacket up. He liked the jacket, he liked the amount of pockets it had and the dark green shade, so he slung it over his arm to keep it.
Besides, his clothes seemed tattered and he'll need new ones, anyway.
He marched onwards, traveling further into the small town without any body taking notice of him.
This irritated him, he seemed pretty out-of-the-ordinary here and nobody noticed. Why wasn't anybody talking to him? Or even looking at him?
He couldn't take it anymore, he needed somebody to notice him.
John walked towards a little girl, who was playing with a piece of chalk on the cobbled ground.
"Excuse me." He muttered, his voice quiet and even shy, "Could you tell me where I am?"
The girl looked up and John's heart leaped, as he was finally noticed. Until, the girl completely looked past him and gasped.
"Mummy! Mummy! Look! It's the soldiers!" The girl exclaimed as she jumped on to her feet and sprinted straight ahead.
Then she went through John.
Literally. She walked straight through his like he didn't exist, like his was just ordinary air.
A feeling of piercing cold ripped through his stomach as the girl walked through him, a dreadful feeling of pain.
Panic swelled in John's chest, a terrible feeling of disbelief and terror.
"What-...How could that-" He stuttered, until a women walked through him from behind; sending another dreadful, cold feeling across his trembling body.
"H-Hello!" John cried, "Can anybody hear me!?"
Nobody replied, they just continued walking past, continued walking through him like he wasn't there.
He stepped backwards, edging towards the stone walls of a building as the people moved past him without a sign of noticing him.
He looked up at the moon in desperation as he yelled, "You said I wasn't dead!"
The moon didn't reply, only it's flickering glow showing any sign of its existence to John.
"What happened to me? Why can't anybody see me? What am I?!" Tears stun his eyes as he screamed, slowly dripping down his cheeks and chin while a sob escaped from him.
No reply came, and John could only feel more nonexistent towards the world.
He moved away from the wall, bursting through the streets in a sprint as he rushed to escape this town, escape this hell he has been trapped in.
More people walked through him, more people sent that cold, dreadful feeling into his body as he ran away from it all. He ran into a forest, never stopping his racing feet even as he entered the darkness of the towering, overwhelming trees.
He stopped after a while, collapsing in exhaustion days since he left the town. He fell on to the grass, moonlight shining on every little strand like a spotlight.
John couldn't help but look up at the still shining moon as choking out a sobbing, "Why?!"
Not a single word came from the moon.
A reply never came for a long, long time.
I'm deciding to make this a small story, which will be followed by a series of oneshots and mini arches following John through his immortal life and the adventures he has along the years.
So, tell me how you think by a: Rate and Review!
~QuillOwl