Chapter 2: Linked
Was that really happening...?
Why am I always kicked around and dumped by everyone?
Why do I feel... relaxed all of the sudden? I could feel something tingling my body while a slow wind was blowing through my hair. I... just enjoyed that moment for a bit.
"Is that what heaven feels like?" ,I asked myself. Then I heard a sound like from a church bell. I slowly opened my eyes to look where it came from, but what I saw left me absolutely speechless.
A scenery like it was taken out of a fairy tale, a big green field, a village in the distance and a church right next to it. It was truly breathtaking.
Then my gaze wandered to the left, towards a big tree. But what I saw underneath it, surprised me.
The girl from before, the one that was laying inside in this maschine, stood there without moving, looking towards the church.
"How... where..." ,I whispered to myself as I approached her. I tried to think about what to ask her or how to approach her at all. I wasn't good with strangers after all... But before I could answer...
"It's such a mournful sound. It never stopped, in all these years..." ,she said with a calm tone in her voice.
"You mean that bell sound?" ,I asked. I tried to stay calm before asking, "But... where are we?"
"This... is Elysium. This was the place where mankind lived in piece with their creator. Its the place... We were born..." ,she explained still without facing me. She was born here? And who does she mean with "creator". But I had another important question in mind. I was now standing right next to her. She simply looked at me with a smile. I was distracted by her shining green crystal on her chest.
"Is that a crystal?" ,I asked her, but she didn't gave me an answer.
"My name is Pyra." ,she said with a calm voice and a pure and innocent smile on her face.
"Right! I forgot to introduce myself! Ehm I'm-"
"I know! You're Julien." ,she interrupted me. How does she know my name? ,I asked myself while I scratched my neck nervously.
"How... how did you know my name?" ,I gave her a surprised look.
"Just now as we came into contact." She held one hand above her crystal.
"Just now?" ,I took a step back. I haven't touched her did I? Then my mind switched back to what I wanted to ask her in the first place.
"But... how... did I got here?" ,I asked. I needed to know what was going on even through my heart was beating at an insane speed.
"You were... stabbed through the heart by Jin." Her head was now facing the ground. She looked... sad...
Right I was killed... But that doesn't explain why I'm here now, I thought as I holded both of my hands on my heart. I could still feel the pain.
Then Pyra took a step closer to me. My gaze wandered upwards, until I saw her face. She seemed to be troubled with something.
"Julien... I have a request.", she was now looking deep into my eyes, "Can you... take me to Elysium?"
Why... Why was she asking me that? She said we are in Elysium right now so...
"But isn't that here?" ,I asked, while I tried to look away. I was afraid I might be staring.
"This is merely a memory. An ancient, half forgotten memory of what once was. The real Elysium lies in your world on top of the world tree." ,she answered without moving an inch.
In your world, I repeated to myself.
World tree? My world...? But which world...? I'm feeling so lost... Even here I was betrayed and kicked around... I thought as a single tear rolled down my cheek while I faced the ground. Then a light showed far of in the distance telling me not to give up...
She... needs my help. I can't just give up now. I don't understand what is going on, but maybe now I can finally do something with my life and- Then I remembered, I was killed. There is no way in helping her.
"I can give you half of my life force." ,I heard her explaining while pointing on her crystal. I looked back up again while wiping away the tears on my face.
"In that way you can be revived... as my driver. The driver of the aegis." Driver? Aegis? The more she was saying, the more questions I had but... I tried to overlook them for now.
"What will you do, Julien?" ,she asked my while she looked down on her crystal. Yeah what will I do... Am I ready to risk to endure even more pain to simply have a purpose in my life or... do I give up...
I looked up in the sky. I could hear the wind blowing through the tree and birds chirping in the distance.
What would my family want me to do? I still don't know if this is all just a stupid dream or not... But they would'nt want me to give up. They all would want me to help her.
"Julien?" ,she asked, taking me out of my thoughts. She was waiting for an answer.
I was still facing the ground as I took a deep breath and answered, "Yes. Yes I will help you. No matter what will happen, I will help you to reach Elysium." A feeling of determination was filling me. A feeling I have never felt before.
Before she could say something I interrupted her, "I want to do something that could change the world, change it to something better and if it means you are going to be happy when you are back here then..." ,I looked back up, facing her, "Then I would be glad to help you. No matter the cost. No matter how long it will take!" ,I finally got to smile again.
She looked quite surprised after my little speech before taking her hands in front of her mouth, forcing back tears. A feeling of guilt hitted me. I took a step towards her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"No no I didn't wanted to make you cry! I am so sorry!" ,I tried to apologise. Then suddenly my heart felt like it stopped for a second as Pyra embraced me. She felt so warm and soft... It somehow calmed me down a bit.
After a second she abruptly took a step back again. She had a slight blush on her face and looked quite embarrassed.
Then after she took a deep breath, she pointed on her shining emerald crystal again.
"Now place your hand on my chest." ,she said with her calm voice. On her chest?, I thought while I felt my cheeks blushing. She held her hands around her crystal.
I took a step closer and observed it. It felt like it was... pulsating... just like a heart. But there is no going back now. I've made a promise to her and to fulfill it, I needed to be her driver... Even through I still do not know what that means. I desperately tried to calm myself down.
I slowly reached out for her with two fingers. I felt like I should have passed out every moment, but then I finally touched it.
An immense power started flowing through me. I felt like I was being burned from the inside, but I wasn't able to scream. I just watched green light emitting from her crystal, while she was closing her eyes. The tension and power in my body grew stronger and stronger until a loud noise caused the illusion to fade away.
(1322)
