Chapter 1:
First there was blackness all around Xerxes Break. First he thought that he was simply dead and that this was the emptyness after life. But after a time he realized that it was only dark because his eye was closed. He slowly opened it only to get blinded by an incredibly bright light. The light wasn't unpleasant though, it felt warm. He also realized that he was lying. On something. Something very comfortable and soft. He wondered if it was like this...death. But it felt so good... Maybe he was in heaven. He had never imagined going to heaven. In the past he had killed people, left the ones he loved. He was meant to go to hell for his sins, he was sure of that.
A soft sight interrupted his thoughts. Break suddenly tensed. Only now he noticed that his head was resting on someone's lap. He had to focuse his eye despite the brightness. The lap his head rested on belonged to a little girl. She had shiny blonde hair that was curled and barely reached her shoulders. Xerxes had to blink a few times to really identify her face. And when he had managed it, a gasp escaped his mouth. This couldn't be...
"E-Emily?"
He stared at the girl in shock, trying to calm his breathing.
Emily didn't look at him. She kept gazing straight ahead. Her eyes distant.
"I always loved sitting here with you." She suddenly spoke, her words not much louder than a whisper.
"The sun, the birds... And do you remember? Sometimes I would comb your hair and decorate it with the lovely flowers we had picked before." The young Miss Sinclair giggled and finally looked at Xerxes.
"You were my best friend. My knight." She said calmly. Her hand reached out to softly caress his cheek. Smiling as she did so.
Xerxes slowly took in his surroundings. Emily was leaning on a tree, which stood in a garden he remembered just too clearly. It was the garden of the Sinclair family. Enlightened by the sun. There were flowers all over the green grass. In the past they had sat there for hours, enjoying their time together.
After moments of shock and confusion, the white haired man gathered his confidence and spoke up.
"Emily...Where am I? Y-You are here... like in so many dreams I had... Is this a dream? Or am I dead?"
"Well, what would you want it to be, Kevin?"
Kevin. She had said his former name so naturally as if it was still present. Well, of course, she did. Emily had always called him by that name. He thought about her question then. Actually, he enjoyed life, but the life he lived by now had become harder. Empty. Without her. And there was the guilt. He still blamed himself for accidently taking Emily's life...
"I-I don't know... But if it meant what I could be with you again, I wouldn't care if I died." Kevin...Xerxes whispered and looked away, embarrassed. He'd never wanted to be like this. Not caring whether he lived or died.
Also, he didn't want this to be a dream. He'd had enough of those haunting dreams. Always seeing her smile in them. Only to wake up and find her gone.
Suddenly Break panicked, afraid that this was only another dream and that Emily would disappear every second. He winced slightly and lifted a hand to hers, taking it.
"So you missed me then?" She smiled.
"More than one could ever miss someone..." He answered sadly as his hand started trembling.
"Do you want to stay here?"
He didn't know if this was death, so he sighed and nodded. "I want to be with you again."
Emily also sighed and suddenly her expression became sad. She then gazed into the distance again.
"This isn't a dream and you're not dead...not yet." She said to answer his question from before.
"But would you really give up everything in the other world? Only to be with me again? You mean so much to me, Kevin. But you've got people there who would be very sad if you weren't with them anymore."
The albino's face looked sad as he heard this. He had to think of his friends, Reim...and Sharon. He himself knew best how it is to lose someone who's precious to you.
"What about Sharon? She needs you, Xerxes..."
He flinched a little at the name she called him. Somehow it made him think of the present. Of his new self. Somehow it destroyed the illusion of Emily being still alive.
"Yes, you're kind of like a new person now... That's why you have to go back."
Emily gave a soft smile. He felt her hand moving over the spot his left eye had once been.
"Your time hasn't come yet. You have a purpose in the other world. People who love you. You can not stay here."
With this, Emily tilted her head up, inhaling the soft scent of the nature.
"Please don't blame yourself for what happened. And do not think that you ruined my life. Well, it was indeed short. But the few years I was able to spend on earth were a dream... because you were there. And you made it all so perfect."
When she ended her sentence, Emily bent down to her knight's face and kissed him on the forehead gently.
"Well then, it's time to go back." She whispered, stroking his hair.
"B-But you're not there!" Break pleaded desperately, fighting hard to hold back the tears that threatened to escape his good eye.
"Are you certain?" Was all Emily asked in a low whisper, before her image became blurry and the whole garden disappeared from Xerxes sight.
He wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but it was too late already and he fell into the black.
"Go back, Xerxes. Go back to the people that need you. I will be fine."
The echo of her voice became more distant and everything went black for a second time.
