Chapter 1 :

The Inevitable Passage of Time

Overwhelming isolation.

Loneliness.

Like a void that was filling up his soul (If he even had one left, that is)...

After gaining the memories of the Shadow Monarch, Jin-Woo had a hard time distinguishing them from his own. Of course, he knew he wasn't the previous Monarch, but now, he also wasn't himself. So who was he? He'd given up trying to think about that though. It would be searching for an answer that didn't exist. The man had given up in trying to find answers for any previous questions he had about himself. There wasn't any point to it anymore.

The dungeons were gone. Whoever it was that he'd become was now uneeded. Earth was, for lack of a better word, normal. As it should have been.

No awakened.

No Monarchs.

No endless fighting.

No needless death.

No war.

There would only ever be one record of a dungeon in this world. It probably wouldn't be called a dungeon either. Just an anomaly. An empty vortex that had opened up in the sky, one in which a certain fortune teller named Norma Selner claimed would harbor the God of Death… It was the only time one of her predictions had been incorrect. But the lack of accuracy was only something the general public believed. They did not truly see what exited from the hole torn through the atmosphere… Because the gate did indeed bring forth a God of Death, as well as his army. They all seeped forth into the shadows of the city, silently hiding in places where they'd never be seen. A place where they could watch over and protect those on the planet.

Nobody would ever know. Not of the singular man that saved them. Nor the hardships he forced himself to go through again to secure their future. Only the Sovereigns knew. The Shadow Monarch doubted they would be grateful for his actions. If anything they seemed to be far more wary of him than before. His army had grown well into the millions in the twenty-seven years he'd been in the gap between dimensions. The soldiers he'd lost when returning with the Chalice of Rebirth didn't even matter now. Beru, Bellion, Igris, and the other Marshals had completely made up for their absence. They grew stronger by tenfold, and the overall increase in his soldiers made his army all but undefeatable.

The amount of growth was almost- no- it was scary. Terrifying, even.

The second time around, defeating Antares was almost too easy.

It was hardly a satisfying end to the Monarchs' time spent in The Gap. At least he'd been able to take all of them down by his own hand this time. Every kill he had savored. Crushing each of his enemies mercilessly underfoot. Ripping the life from each Monarch and watching it drain from their eyes until they fell slack. Massacring army upon army and adding them to his. It had filled up the void that was placed inside him by the voluntary loss of his old world. But that was only a temporary solution. Now, back on his new Earth, the hole began to open up again. The monotony of the everyday life of a regular teenage boy couldn't fill in the gaps, and they gradually increased.

Even having his family back didn't help.

Those three individuals weren't his family.

His family was gone.

Park Kyung-Hye was the first to notice the change. She knew that her son would become different after having run away from home for two years (A/N For those of you unaware, time in the gap between dimensions is different. So the 27 years amount to just 2 on Earth), but this seemed like too big of a jump. She knew Jin-Woo claimed he couldn't remember anything, but she doubted that was actually the case.

Call it a 'mothers intuition.'

His smile had become stiff. Awkward. It looked as if he was always walking on eggshells when they spent time together. He was on edge all the time. Jin-Woo probably thought he was keeping his emotions under wraps (with the utter lack of them he was showing), but Kyung-Hee could see how his eyes darted around. It was like he picked up on every little noise, and all of them made him anxious.

Something was wrong, she knew that. The teen refused to say anything when she asked. He'd just smile at her and speak empty, distant words, telling her 'Don't worry, mom. I promise I'm fine.'. Silence always followed after that. His face would remain the same, but Kyung-Hee could feel hers own expression drop. Every time she asked she would get her hoped up that maybe this time she's receive an answer. She'd look into his eyes, trying to let her son know that it was okay to talk. But Jin-Woo never took her up on that silent offer. Thus, the mother would always leave feeling worse than before, softly closing the door and holding back tears. She could feel his gaze boring holes into as she walked away. Never once did she get used to the look deep within his eyes. No, never. The dead look. Devoid of any feeling. She almost didn't believe it was her son when she first saw them. Emphasis on almost.

She could never mistake her baby for anyone else.

The young mother lived for the days she heard her son laugh. Not his now-oh-so-common, stiff, forced, laugh- but a genuine one. Every time that sound rang out, she would smile. It made her think maybe it meant things were finally getting better. That was never the case. As soon as the smile came to his face, it was gone. Along with the fleeting bit of hope it had given her. Hope that he'd returned to normal.

When Jin-Woo returned, he went through quite a decent amount of therapy. Kyung-Hye and her husband had come to the conclusion that it would be best to get some sort of professional help after seeing the way their child was acting. Unfortunately, however, the therapy didn't seem to help. Jin-Woo still claimed to know nothing of what had happened, before calmly stating again and again that he was okay. In short: It just didn't work. The only thing they got out of it was the knowledge that their son was paranoid, severely so.

Of everything.

Curtains would flutter, and his eyes would immediately dart over to scan for someone or something.

Hearing someone get up at night to use the bathroom would rouse him, and he would peek out of the door, seeming to have to confirm it wasn't some stranger in their house.

The horn of a passing car would make him freeze up for a moment, eyes filling with some sort of… Feral look before he realized what it was.

Whenever anyone took a nap, Jin-Woo would hover over them. He didn't stop checking in on them until they woke back up. It was almost like he was worried they would die in their sleep. This habit was far worse when it came to his mother. Every single time she even hald-dozed off he would rouse her, asking her to get up and do something with him.

Worst of all (for Kyung-Hye at least), was that whenever anyone touched him he would freeze like a deer in the headlights. His father patting his back made him stop whatever he was doing and pause for a good thirty seconds with a perplexed look. Brushing against someone would make him turn to look with a face that could only be described as fascination. When someone would hug him, the teen would go completely rigid. Eventually, he'd hug back, but it took him a good long while to do so. Il-Hwan had been the first to see it when Jin-Ah hugged her brother. His joints locked up and he looked almost ready to throw up, eyes locked onto the top of her head. The way his hands trembles was one thing the father wouldnt forget. Was he uncomfortable? Scared? Sad? He couldn't tell.

But at least there only seemed to be isoled incidents where the paranoia would cause issues… At least up until now. The habits were getting so bad that Jin-Ah was starting to notice. Jin-Woo had become mora aloof. He hid away from his family more and more. It was almost like he wasn't even there half of the time.

"I-I don't know what to do anymore.' Kyung-Hye sobbed into her husband's arms. The firefighter carefully stroked her hair, hugging his wife in an attempt to soothe her. "No matter what I do, he won't tell me. He won't say anything besides 'I'm okay'-- but he's not! Honey, I-I know he's not, so why? Why won't he.. Just. Why?" She hiccuped before crying even harder, pouring out her soul into her husbands chest. Il-Hwan stayed silent, holding her as he waited for the episode to end. He knew all she needed right now was for him to listen to her. Nights like this were happening more frequently. The man had long since learned what he needed to do to help his wife through it.

Kyung-Hye knew she could never cry like this in front of her children. So, she waited every night until she'd tucked them gently into bed before going to her room, closing the door, and crying her heart out. Today was especially bad for some reason. She'd been crying so hard that her nose got stuffy. Even using tissues wasn't helping anymore. But eventually, as all nights go, she calmed down. Sitting in the comforting embrace of her husband, her emotions settled.

There was a heavy silence for quite some time before Il-Hwan spoke.

"We need to do something. Therapy didn't work before, but maybe going back will make him open up," he said. His voice was gruff and quiet. Practically a whisper. He was doing his best not to cry himself. He successfully held it in, though. His wife, however, was greeted with a fresh bout of tears. "And not just Jin-Woo. All of us." Gently he caressed Kyung-Hye's cheek, pulling away to look down at her. "Something needs to happen, we can't keep going on like this."

She knew that.

She did.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she did.

As much as she wanted to believe that her son was okay, she knew he wasn't.

Il-Hwan let her go for a moment to grab her another tissue, despite their current uselessness. He took a deep, shaking breath as he wiped her tears. More silence enveloped the room, only being broken by Kyung-Hye's sniffs.

The man pressed his forehead against hers, finally feeling his emotions get the best of him. At long last, he let himself cry, not bothering to hold back.

And so the couple shared the woeful moment in each other's arms. To some, it may seem like an overreaction, but if you really looked at it, it wasn't. A mother and a father had lost their son, with no idea where he'd gone. If he was safe. If he was alive. And when when he finally returned home, major issues began to develop. His parents could tell that something was wrong. They could see he was suffering, and yet they couldn't help. As a parent, seeing your child like that and being unable to do anything is one of the most painful things there could be.

Eventually, the two stopped crying.

"We.." a pause. "I'm going to go talk with him. I know he's probably not asleep yet, but if he is I'll wait until tomorrow." Il-Hwan moved from his wife's embrace. She looked at him with puffy eyes, nodding. If she spoke, she feared that she would burst into tears again, and that was something she didn't want to do after just stopping. Her husband made his way over to the bedroom door, opening it.

"I'll be back soon." he stepped outside into the hall, opening the door. Before closing it, he turned, speaking to his wife one last time. "I love you,"

And so Kyung-Hye sat for a moment before laying down, placing both of her hands over her eyes. She'd have to make up some sort of excuse tomorrow for why her face was puffy. Heaving a sigh, the woman grabbed a pillow, turning to her side and hugging it.

THUD

CRASH

Kyung-Hye shot up. What in the world was that?! Hastily she tossed the pillow aside, worry taking over her saddened state as he got up and rushed to the door. She was just about to open it when Il-Whan flung it open. He looked frantic.

"--H-honey, are you okay? What happened?" she asked, concern lacing every letter of her words as she looked him over before peeking into the hall. There was something on the floor. Was that… The little table that they always put flower vases on in the hallway?

Had her husband just run into it?

It sure looked like it. The small table was on its side. Glass was scattered across the floor, and the half-wilted flowers lay strewn about the ground in whatever remaining water has been in the vase.

"Mommy?! Daddy?!" a frightened Jin-Ah called from her room. There was the sound of her slipping out of the bed and towards the door. She came rushing into the hallway, blanket still in hand as she stepped towards them.

"Sweetheart, don't walk any closer, it's dangerou--"

"He's gone."

. . .

He's gone.

Kyung-Hye almost threw up.

No. No, not again. He's just in the bathroom. Or the kitchen, sneaking a midnight snack like any kid his age would do.

Il-Hwan extended his hand towards her. There was something in it: a scrap piece of paper.. Memories from two years ago flashed through her head, and she wailed. Her head dropped into her hands as he recalled what had happened two years ago.

A simple note on a piece of paper that had been haphazardly torn from a notebook.

I've got something I need to do

"M-mommy? Daddy, why's mommy crying?" Jin-Ah sniffled as she watched her parents, taking a dangerous and tentative step forward. The mother had moved her hands to cover her mouth, looking down at the piece of stationery. She didn't need to grab it to read it, the letters were big enough to see. It was just like to one from before… Except it wasn't. The implications were worse.

Much worse.

I love you.

thank you for everything.

goodbye

(A/N : this is my first attempt at a fanfiction. I do write occasionally, but not often. I really wanted to give it a go though... Hope you like it, and until next time,

Fruit ( ) )