[Single? No More!] – Val’s Whereabouts
[Aiden's Note: I enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it too!]
"Ugh.." Val fluttered his eyes open and groaned. He got up from the ground and looked around.
The sight of his surroundings left him in a state of confusion. He was in a forest. He knew that. But... it was entirely different from any forest he had ever seen.
The trees around him were entirely black and extraordinarily vast and tall. So tall, in fact, that when he raised his head to look up, he couldn't find the tree top anywhere in sight.
The branches, which were almost five times as big as the ones from any regular forest, seemed to blend with the sky. He couldn't make out any difference whatsoever between the black trees and the pitch-black sky.
He looked ahead and realized there wasn't a single speck of green between the black trees. Instead, the entire forest seemed filled with black-colored leaves and moss. Even the ground below his feet was covered by black soil with weird symbols written on it that he couldn't understand.
However, what shocked him the most was the silence. Absolute silence! Not a single sound could be heard. No bird noise. No insects crawling over the dried dirt and plants. Not even, the sound of the wind blowing or the rustle of leaves on the trees.
That wasn't all. Everything... EVERYTHING looked blurred. The air around him was very chaotic, making everything blurry and distorted. He couldn't even spot the grass blades correctly or the boulders placed here and there in between the black trees.
There wasn't any source of light as the 'night' seemed to be eternal.
He brought his hand before his eyes and stared at them blankly. He noticed that even the palms of his hands appeared very vague.
But, even in the midst of all this, strangely, he felt a sense of calmness and harmony all over the surroundings. He didn't feel anxious, and his mind didn't panic. His heart, too, had a sense of belonging. Like a memory he had long lost.
"What is this place?" He murmured to himself and analyzed in his mind, 'Black trees? Black sky? No sound? No source of light?'
He rubbed his chin and concluded, 'Yup! I'm in a separate dimension or some sort of a realm. I can't be too sure.'
He looked around at his body, and his eyes widened as he thought, 'Oh! I don't have the armor, and I'm wearing a casual outfit. Well, whatever!'
He looked ahead and thought, 'I need to explore this forest and find out where I am. Or, maybe, hopefully, find someone who could give me the answers to such questions.'
He walked ahead calmly while being on the guard of his surroundings. But, no matter where he went, there was only the same never-ending view. He didn't seem to get out of the forest but still didn't encounter even one living being in these forests. It was like everything was still. Everything was frozen. Even though the trees swayed slowly, it was unnatural, like someone controlling time itself.
Hours seemed like days. Days, weeks. He wasn't sure how much time passed by. When he glanced around, the time of day didn't seem to have changed, making it difficult for him to tell the time that had passed.
However, everything stayed the same, no matter what he did or where he went.
He stopped and smirked while thinking, 'Ooh! So, somebody's testing me? Bring it on then!'
He put his hands in his pockets and continued walking. He couldn't use his powers here because there was no energy around him to absorb and assimilate.
After walking for God knows how long, his eyes fell on a house in the distance. It was an odd sight as the building seemed completely normal and unlike everything else. It looked just like a house back on Earth.
His expression brightened as he muttered, "Finally, I found somebody!"
He hastened his pace and finally reached the front of the house. But he stopped and observed it.
The building looked exactly like the houses Val had seen back on Earth, but a closer look made it clear this wasn't 'Earth-like.' The stones were cracked and dirty like they hadn't been maintained for a long time. The wooden planks that seemed to make a 2-floor, 8 bedroom-1 bathroom- 1 living- and kitchen house were rotting from within.
Even though this place resembled Earth greatly, it gave out an aura similar to the Black Forest behind him, an atmosphere of chaos.
"Nope!" He shook his head and said, "I'm not going in there! It resembles the houses in the exorcist movies. I'm not some dumb horror movie protagonist."
He walked around the house, ignoring the noises that it let out after he walked too close. He walked along its perimeter to the back, and his eyes widened at the sight behind the house.
There was a lake. A HUGE lake filled with black water that seemed to stretch across the horizon. However, that wasn't what made his eyes widen.
* CREAK *
* CREAK *
A person was rocking a chair back and forth on a small patio that was extended towards the lake.
'A woman?' He concluded after observing that the person was wearing a black gown and an indecipherable face since her black hair was hiding it.
"Uhh..." He hesitated whether he should go over to her, 'This woman gives me the vibes of the evil entity of a horror movie. But...'
Since there was no other choice and the possibility that he might not find anybody else, he reluctantly decided to go.
"Ahem!" He walked over to her and cleared his throat before greeting in the most polite voice he could muster, "Hello! Would you mind telling me where I am? I seem to have forgotten... Haha!"
The woman didn't reply but stopped rocking the chair.
"D...."
"Huh?" Val was confused, but then...
"D..ea..."
He realized she was talking and said, "What did you say, ma'am? I can't hear you!"
The woman remained silent until she said, "Death..."
"What?" Val was stunned.
"Death..." The strange woman repeated.
"What do you mean?" Val asked while frowning.
"What... is... Death.. to.. you?" The strange woman asked.
"Wha..." Val didn't know what to reply. However, a few seconds later, an answer appeared when he thought about it. He bent down so he could speak with her in a relaxed voice without shouting and stated,
"To me, Death is...
Not a great adventure of unknown mysteries,
not a divine train that transports us from a lower realm to a higher form,
not a new life on the other side,
or a place where old souls would go,
I consider 'Death'
The 'end' of everything!
That which brings all the joy, sorrow, and pleasures in the world to an abrupt stop
So abrupt you wouldn't even know when it came knocking.
That one moment
when your mind no longer is and everything ceases to be
I would consider myself to be genuinely 'dead.' "
Silence descended around them until the woman asked, "Then... Would.. a.. dead.. man.. considered.. to.. be.. living?"
Val paused hearing her words and thought deeply for a long time about it. Suddenly, a bitter smile came upon his face, and he looked into the horizon and answered, "Does it really matter?"
Silence resounded for some time before Val laughed dryly.
"Forget it. Sorry to disturb you, miss. I'll leave you now." Val stood up and tried to walk away, but a whisper stopped him in his tracks,
"Then... What... is... Life...?"
Val froze at her question for a few seconds until he thought deeply and answered,
"Life to me...
Is that one moment,
When you can feel yourself... alive.
That moment,
Which you get the most pleasure out of the act of living.
Even though you're just an insignificant soul among countless others, you would get this ONE moment and relish the pleasures that come along with living.
A moment of serenity
A moment that wouldn't last
But still...
Even with the end on its way...
Even when 'all' would stop
That moment...
That beautiful moment...
is 'Life' ".
She didn't reply for a second but replied somewhat happily, "Oh... Then.. What... about.. Nothingness... Void... Nihility?"
He was surprised to hear her happy voice and a sad smile rose on his face when he answered,
"Let's talk about 'Nihility.' The true nihility! What would happen after Death? We usually believe that 'souls' exist. What if souls never exist? If no souls existed, wouldn't 'our existence' itself become mere nothingness? An 'absence of life'? The more you think about it, the more terrifying a concept,
'Non-existence' sounds.
It would be an absence of any and all forms of emotions, existence, time, space, light, matter, thought, even sound. In other words, nihility is a complete and permanent absence of everything, even darkness."
Suddenly, he heard a voice different from the strange woman behind him giggle and say, "Hehehe! Didn't I say that he would be interesting?"
He turned around and saw a rainbow portal appear beside the strange woman. First, one finger, then a hand, and then, an entire arm reached out. The eyes followed, and eventually, the owner of the arm showed its whole body to him.
The person who emerged out of the rainbow portal was extremely beautiful. No, she was perfect. She had glowing emerald-green hair with brown streaks along the length. She had glowing skin and soft-looking, rosy pink lips. Her voluptuous body was covered only by a dress made of branches and twigs that swirled around her.
He was stunned when she turned her head to him and opened her eyes. Her sparkling green eyes were enchanting enough to draw him towards her.
However, he controlled himself and averted his gaze from her eyes. A second later, realization dawned on him, and he instantly looked back at her with widening eyes and said, "Bifrost?... Y... Yggdrasil?"
Yggdrasil giggled again, and Val felt like he was hearing the most alluring siren's voice. She glanced back at the strange woman, who nodded before looking up at Val and smiling sweetly, "Nice to see you too, my Champion!"