Chapter 3: The Second
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. Only one hand reached out to pity him at the end of his life.
All he asked for was a normal life.
:*:
Dreaming was one of the Ness's favorite hobbies. It was because in dreams, he could control how happy he wanted to be in a world that was under his rule. However, he could only manage that world for so long—at least until his mind returned to reality.
At some point in his life, he yearned for the power to sleep forever. That way, he would never be able to leave the land of eternal happiness.
He did not expect that wish to come true.
From emptiness into sudden consciousness, the raven-haired boy quickly opened his eyes and found himself in a new land. He looked down at his legs, and saw that he was in his normal clothes. He looked up and saw that there was suddenly a forest in his eyes beyond two giant trees that stood in his way.
"Is this Magicant?" the boy mumbled. The boy, familiar with his name, but unfamiliar and anxious with his surroundings, had hoped so. Ness was not sure where he exactly was. At one point he remembered falling asleep in a bed, and then living happily in his dream land. Then, for a brief moment, everything had blacked out. Then he returned to…well, he was not sure if this was the dream world he cherished, or if it was reality.
He knew for sure, however, he did dream a peaceful picture from where he lied presently, but who knows for how long. He did not know when he ended up in the new world that he was presently in.
Ness had a nice dream. It was in a world where he was smiling with his family, which included his mother, sister, pet dog, and father. His friends were town neighbors—who went to the same school with him—and they played games together every day. At home, he enjoyed games with his sister and next door neighbor's little brother. The day ended with plates of his favorite food, and then peaceful rest in his bed. As he closed his eyes, he cherished his life.
Everything was just fine.
He woke up with a smile, but opened his eyes with shock to an unfamiliar setting.
After regaining his most of his awareness, he attempted to move his body up. Moving just his legs for a slight moment, he discerned the feeling of his body within motion in the world of reality. He discovered he was not dreaming.
He became certain he was not dreaming when he felt the touch of a hand with his own. Looking over, he found the body of another boy with blonde hair next to him, who was also in a silent state.
"Who is this?" Ness questioned. He looked down at their touching hands, and after lightly rubbing his fingers onto the other's, he recognized a strange black aura. It was something that had just enveloped him recently without his notice.
"What's happening to him?" Ness changed into a kneeled stance to see if he could try to heal the boy. Although it did not seem like the blonde was in pain, in fact, he saw a small smile, like he was dreaming in sleep. Yet, Ness could not shake off the feeling that something bad was happening to him.
"Hey, wake up," said Ness as he shook the boy's shoulder. There was no response. "Hey," Ness tried again, but the blonde did not move a muscle.
"Is he just in a deep sleep?" was the conclusion Ness came to. He did not want to force the boy awake, but he needed to find answers as to where he was, and who was this person he was with, and why. Therefore, Ness used his abilities as a psychic to gently reach out to him—that was, telepathy.
Ness concentrated his mind energy and sent it towards the other's mind. However, the waves of communication were reflected back to him, shaking his own mind with a small pain. He winced and grunted as he realized his telepathy was being blocked, but not by him—but by the negative aura that he still sensed.
"Come on…" Ness mumbled. He was about to try telepathy again, but he was stopped by the sound of a low growl. That, and the sudden presence of a large quantity of negativity.
A sense of fear shot through Ness' body as he turned around, and saw something horrifying.
From the depths of the forest crept an intangible being of shadow, readily exuding familiar negative aura. It slowly emanated out from the darkness, creeping towards the direction of the two boys.
Even as it slowly kept getting closer, Ness froze staring at it. He could not tell what it was, or rather describe it. If anything, it was a moving space of black with an infinite number of hungry eyes. Just the idea was scary enough, but seeing it in a manifested form paralyzed the raven haired boy on the spot. The fact that it had the intent of coming towards them could scare any person that was less courageous to death.
But Ness did not let go of his bravery so easily. He sat still, waiting for the right time. Despite the being becoming more frightening as it crawled closer and closer, Ness still managed to muster the courage to jump and tackle the beast with a hardened fist, screaming out as well. However, he merely phased through it, and as he did, he felt a familiarized sense of guilt and fear for a brief moment—recalling the memory of a face he did not want to remember. He dropped onto his knees with widened eyes, and looked back at the shadow.
He stared at it to make sure that it was not the person he thought it was. As it looked back at him for just a moment, Ness confirmed it was still an intangible darkness. However, the shadow ignored the boy's vulnerability, and turned back to the other boy, who was still lying on the ground. It continued to crawl slowly with what Ness believed was the motive to envelop the boy forever in darkness.
Ness gasped as he realized the extreme danger the blonde was about to be put in. He struggled to push himself up, still shaking from the chills of fear that the shadow had just passed onto him. For a moment, he broke free and ran towards the unknown being again, pointing his open palm at it. He concentrated his mind energy, and cried out.
"PK Rockin!"
A strong wave of incorporeal energy shot out from Ness' hand and was sent straight at the shadow, causing it to disperse into shreds of black aura. The scent of malice died out quickly, and left the scene quietly.
Ness sighed out with relief as he relaxed on the fact that the defenseless boy was saved by his power. He hurried over to the boy's side again to make sure he was completely fine. To his surprise, as he kneeled down again, the blonde began to move his body.
"Ngh…" quietly sounded the blonde.
"Hey, wake up!" Ness exclaimed, refusing to let him rest.
"Huh?"
Lucas shot up from his stance and first met the sight of the forest. Then, he turned his head to meet dazing purple eyes, which widened and reflected his own gentle blue ones.
Both of them were happy to have finally met another person in this world.
A/N *Reviews So Far*
Smashgunner: I'm sorry if this story doesn't seem like it'll interest you. It is true so far this may not off to be a strong start, but I'm sure things will progress later. Still, to each their own, if you will.
parinite: Thank you! Hope to continue to appeal!