Title: Robcina Week Day 6 - Purpose
Description: He couldn't remember anything. Who he was. Where he was. His purpose… none of it. Yet there was something, someone, somewhere, calling out to him
Words: 832
Darkness.
Nothingness.
An empty void devoid of all substance and purpose.
Where am I?
The flicker of thought, the briefest of lights in the nothingness was snuffed out in the very instant it had formed, consumed in the black void that surrounded it. Nothing could exist here. That was how it was supposed to be.
Silence reigned once more. All again was nothing.
No. That was wrong. This wasn't right. Something about it was wrong.
Who… who am I?
Again the thought was swallowed by the darkness, consumed before it could take hold, before it could spark, a something within the nothing.
Yet the voice, the thoughts, continue to struggle to find form within the void. To knit together a semblance, a reason, a purpose, for its existence.
Who am I? Why am I here?
The void rushed to claim it, tearing at the flickering embers of consciousness as it formed. It was not supposed to exist, a something within nothing. It did not belong.
How did I get here? Where am I? It was painful, the very act forming thoughts becoming a struggle against the inevitable state of the world. The void itself fought back, attempting to return itself to true emptiness
It's too hard… why am I even trying?
He didn't even know why this mattered. What spurred these thoughts. It would be easier to just sink back into the void. To accept the nothingness. The non-existence. To sleep.
Yet something kept tugging at him, like a forgotten memory just out of reach. Beckoning him.
Who am I? He asked again.
He crawled through the darkness, struggling against the nothingness that fought so hard to keep him within it. A crushing pain bore down on him, smothering the embers of life even as they sparked.
Bumm-bumm. A single heartbeat.
Pain lanced through him.
Bumm-bumm. Another heartbeat, weaker than the first.
He stumbled at fell, the pain washing over him. Everything went dark once more, his consciousness fading. He was falling, slipped back into nothing.
Who am I? Why am I trying to remember…?
Then he heard it, far off as if from the very depths of memory. A voice so familiar that seemed to calm out, extending a hand of salvation out of the darkness.
"I love you. And no matter what the future holds, I'm going to cherish every moment."
A face flashed before him, appearing both sad and joyful at the same. A smile on her lips, tears in her blue eyes. In her hands were white flowers, flowers he'd given her. A gesture of his love, the day he'd told her how he felt.
He remembered. He remembered who she was. He remembered what she meant to him.
Lucina
Like a dam breaking, the memories began rushing forth, one after another in a ceaseless torrent. Other faces, all his experiences since he'd woken up in that field. Moments in a few years are enough to fill a lifetime. He remembered all of them, his friends, his loved ones. Yet every time they came back to her. His love.
He remembered who he was.
He stumbled forward, scrambling as the nothingness began to envelope him once more, stripping at his newfound identity. He couldn't let it. He could not go back again, to nothing. Not when he remembered. His promise. His purpose for going on.
"Please, don't leave me."
He began to run now, clawing at the darkness. Pain lances through him with each moment, stabbing out from his chest. He felt it squeezing, a pressure attempting to snuff out the beating flame within. The darkness closed in, each stumbling step harder than the last, but he continued forward. Fighting for life. Fighting to return.
He couldn't give up. He had to go on. Had to return. Like his promise.
To do the impossible. To come back, even from death, to keep that promise.
More voices echoed through his mind, overlapping memories twisting with one another. They came so quickly that they blended together into a chorus, the sounds of all his friends joining together into a single voice, a single song, all calling him home. Threads of silver glittered out from the nothingness, reaching out towards him, wrapping him in their radiance, pulling him forwards.
"I love you," Lucina's voice echoed.
With a final push he lunged forward, running into the glittering light.
. . . . .
Blackness.
A gentle breeze washed over him, the sound of wind dancing amongst the tall grass. In the distance the chirping of birds could be heard, joined with the warmth of the sun on his skin. He tried to move, to open his eyes, to do something, but found he didn't have the strength. He felt so tired, as if he could sleep for an eternity.
Then he heard the voices.
"Chrom, we have to do something."
"What do you propose we do?"
"I... I dunno…"
Drawing on all of his strength, Robin finally managed to open his eyes.
"I see you're awake now."