A/N: Leon here. Chapter 3 to come soon, 99% likely today! Need to sleep first, though.

Chapter 2: The First

A world of pure darkness.

No human, no animal, no unnatural being. No water, air, earth or heat. No light. Only dark.

Where was this boy? Heaven? Hell?

He laid still, floating forever in empty space. He couldn't feel, let alone see, hear, or breathe. He couldn't even do what he wanted to do the most: tasting the little bit left of hope that never existed.

His mind was empty. Not because he cleared it himself, or that he was not allowed to by the unforgiving god in the darkened world.

His world—his previous world—his whole previous world had shattered into nothing. He rejected everything, even the love that he was constantly given unrequitedly.

All because everything was too much. And only one hand reached out to pity him at the end of his life.

All he wanted was a longer life filled with love.

:*:

Calm breezes brushed past a young boy's hair as he slept on crushed green grass. Slowly, the boy's senses reactivated, starting with his sensitive touch. The wind pushed the long stem of a sunflower into the boy's face, the slapping impact eventually awakening his senses.

His closed eyes squinted tight first before he opened them. Unfazed by the warm sky, he rubbed his eyes awake before sitting up and perused his immediate proximity. He noticed he had been resting peacefully in a meadow of thin leaves, right next to one flower that had woken him.

He sat still, making sure he was human. He flexed his fingers, rocked his arm gently, moved his toes, and anything that he easily controlled the muscles of. He regained most of his senses eventually.

The last thing he remembered was being blinded by a pillar of light. Any background, person, or thing had vanished before that. The rest of his memories were shattered—everything was blurry or hurt to remember. Entering the blinding light was the only scenario he vividly recalled. That, and his name.

"Lucas," he mumbled. After uttering it, he had hoped to remember more than just one faded picture, but it failed.

The boy stood up and reevaluated his body again. He was about thirteen years old, he guessed. His body felt young—a little tired from sleep—but believed it could be pushed to a high athletic extent if he tried. Satisfied with how he was now, he looked around the area. Right next to the grass was an immediate boundary of sand, which flowed on for a while until there was unevenly cut water. Beyond the boundary of the boy's vision was endless blue on both halves.

"Where am I?" thought the boy. "Is this my home?" He repeated the word 'home'. Something sounded off about uttering the word in an unfamiliar place. He did his best to remember where he came from, wherever "home" was. Nothing immediately popped up, instead, his head only hurt more. He wondered if this unknown land was his home.

There was not a house or anything that looked like shelter in sight. Behind Lucas was a mass of trees, and he was not able to see through the forest shield. He even felt a little tense about attempting to walk through the woods, and reluctantly kept his distance. Though he knew he couldn't just stay in the same place forever: he had to go somewhere. He needed to find out where he was and most of all, why. Thus, he decided to walk down the beach in hopes of finding clues to answer his questions.

He began walking, without regard for his safety despite knowing he was unfamiliar with his surroundings. He continued on, watching his feet as he walked down the shore, counting the endless steps his shoeprints made in the sand. He looked up and finally realized that there was a vast shoreline, and doubted the idea of continuing on it.

The only other path to take was through the forest, which gave off a discomforting vibe. Lucas looked up and down the forest boundary and saw that the it was as endless as the beachline. He could walk down the beach forever but still not know what laid inside the forest. The ocean beyond seemed eternal, too. There really was no other choice but to go through—still, he felt scared.

Then, glancing up in surprise, he saw a flashing silhouette in front of him. For a moment, he thought his eyes were playing tricks, and so he rubbed his eyes. However, the mysterious being became more discernible but not too much—enough to where the forest could still be seen through its whole figure. Lucas ignored that aspect and widened his eyes at the sight of orange hair, a black jacket, and orange pants. The figure didn't turn around, and instead walked towards the trees. Immediately, something told Lucas to follow the unknown person without question.

Lucas took his first step off the beach and back onto thin grass, which soon became thicker with further steps. Nature's grass became more profound as he closed in on the first tree that prodded out among the others. Once he stepped past it, his body began to shake uncontrollably.

"Do you dare seek escape?"

A cloud of heaviness filled the blonde's head—the words echoing repeatedly and begging him to answer soon. Lucas was not sure what the question had meant, but he sensed there little intimidation from the warm voice. It was as if he was welcomed to step in without regard for shame, and urged him to let go of everything he had forgotten about.

Lucas was backed into a corner. There was no other path to take, a voice attempted to persuade his decisions, and on top of that, he felt the needed to find that mysterious silhouette that immediately captured his attention. Believing he was little on time, he stepped forward again, and then his mind cleared quickly.

Lucas kept walking forward, hoping to hear the voice again, or see something new beyond the repeating pattern of wood and leaves. The path seemed to be a looping one, but he convinced himself that he needed to only keep walking forward. He felt he would find what he wanted eventually, he just hoped only soon.

Light from above faded away slowly. The fear gradually resting in Lucas' heart was gaining power to take over his whole mind. As much as the boy did his best, the infinite forest surrounding him only continued to frighten him. How long more did he have to walk? Will something suddenly appear to attack him? Will no one come to his rescue? The negativity overpowered his optimism, and he almost felt frail.

He almost faced fatigue to the point where his stamina was waning. However, he knew if he fell here, then everything would end. The one thing he was not going to do was give up—he kept walking, no matter how weaker his steps became, or how smaller the distance his feet were reaching. He looked onwards into the depths of the darkness, reaching out for anything to rescue him from the aura that emanated from the forest.

And then, he tripped over a small root that he failed to notice. Landing roughly onto the ground, he almost teared up and crunched his face to try and stop the pain. He laid on the ground with an uncomfortable position, trying his best to push himself up with his arms. Then, he felt a new sensation—millions of dark hands were slowly crawling towards him. He did not look away from the path in front of him, because he could easily imagine the energy of the forest slowly creeping around him. Instead of being fearful, he felt enticed, as if as soon as he was caught, he would be in eternal comfort. He wouldn't have to work so hard walking down this infinite path any longer.

Yet, Lucas still promised himself: he was not going to let things stop there. He scrunched his teeth, forced himself up, and screamed. He yelled to make sure anything at the end of the forest would hear him, and he ran with all his might.

Light finally returned, but only brighter. The boy's strength returned as well, and it only boosted his will to run faster and soon reach the end of his first step.

Lucas emerged into a new area. Grander trees with the largest heads of leaves he had ever seen opened up a peaceful glade where light was still shining through them and around. As he peered into the background, he was still in the endless forest, but he was able to feel at ease in the new area.

Lucas walked forward, still cautious of his surroundings, he looked for anything peculiar left and right. Then he looked ahead, and saw a body. The body of another boy.

He ran quickly and kneeled down to the fallen boy's side. The fallen boy's eyes were closed, and his hat also fallen to the side. Lucas recognized that the boy was not sleeping, but something close to it.

"Hello?" Lucas called out. His voice failed to wake him up. His body still laid motionless.

Lucas called out again, "Hello?" This time, he reached out to touch the boy's shoulder. However, he suddenly pulled back, feeling a familiar darkened aura surrounding the fallen boy. He tried reaching out again, and confirmed the darkness's existence. If he had gotten too close, he would have been bitten at.

He was worried for the boy, even if this was the first time had seen him. Maybe it was because it felt like they were probably the only two people in the entire world at the moment. He wondered what cruelty the boy was experiencing in his mind right now, being enveloped by a hostile aura.

There was definitely no way Lucas was going to leave him alone. He was too good-willed to do otherwise. He wanted to try anything to save him.

Lucas took a deep breath, and then reached for the boy's hand. As soon as he grabbed hold of it, he blacked out and fell.

The winds whispered as they found two more that arrived in this harsh land.