At last, someone approaches me from the darkness. I should be afraid but instead, I am happy. I look at the person, hoping it is not her.

It is a young man in strange antique clothes and cape. He is taller than me, even though he stoops slightly. He has short silvery-green hair and his eye colors are mismatched, just like mine. That last detail almost makes me remember him but I stop myself. These are not my memories, I remind myself.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"Ich bin der Hegemon," [1] he answers in a language I understand, and I find myself answering him in it.

"Der Hegemon von was?" [2]

"Den Namen meiner Welt hast du längst vergessen." [3]

"Und wie heißt du?" [4]

"Auch diesen Namen kennst du nicht mehr." [5]

"Wieso bist du hier?" [6]

"Ich habe dich geliebt, Kaiser. Selbst von jenseits bringt meine Liebe mich wieder zu dir." [7]

"Also bist du tot?" [8]

"Genauso wie du, Kaiser." [9]

Without any visible movement, the man starts floating back into the darkness.

"Warte! Weißt du wo meine Mama ist?" [10]

I try grabbing his hand but mine goes right through his.

"Hast du jemals eine gehabt, Kaiser?" [11]

His words give me a pause. Am I really dead? Are my memories of Mama real? I don't know and when I look up again, the man is gone.

[1] Ger. "I am the Hegemon."

[2] Ger. "The hegemon of what?"

[3] Ger. "You have long forgotten the name of my world."

[4] Ger. "And what is your name?"

[5] Ger. "You no longer remember it, either."

[6] Ger. "Why are you here?"

[7] Ger. "I have loved you, Kaiser. Even from beyond, my love brings me back to you."

[8] Ger. "So you are dead?"

[9] Ger. "Just as you are, Kaiser."

[10] Ger. "Wait! Do you know where my Mama is?"

[11] Ger. "Have you ever had one, Kaiser?"