Post by Zuyuri on Sept 9, 2018 7:07:34 GMT
The blackness had become Shadow's second home. He had found no escape out of the tiny black box he was stuck in. It didn't matter where he punched or how many monsters he beat back. Whenever he thought he was getting close, the invisible wall pushed him back. He kicked up the ashen gray dust that made up the broken path he was walking.
"How long have I been down here?" he asked.
There was no time in this black purgatory. Sand would fall like an hourglass, but it couldn't been turned upright and shaken and flowed in the opposite direction. He was starting to lose sense of everything. What length went by as she stepped through? Seconds? Days? Months? His mind was becoming much like the path. It was broken and gray. If there were pieces, they were jagged and didn't fit right. He had given his memories away, only for them to be forced back into his mind and warped into something that didn't quite fit. He remembered making promises, but they were ones he couldn't keep. There were blurred colors and lines, some faces he saw but couldn't place names of.
"Shadow...please...promise me"
He remembered the little girl's voice. He had made her promise something. What did he promise? What was so important about that promise? Then he saw something at the edge of the path. Something finally in this darkness.
No way. He saw her crumble to the floor. Her blonde hair was held back by a headband, which matched her blue dress. She had fair skin which had gone pale from lack of sunlight. Her eyes were blue like the sky, wide with shock.
"Shadow!" she cried, reaching a hand out. "Shadow, follow me!"
Something was jogged then. He knew her. She had been one of the few humans to treat him with kindness. He was rushing for her, his own hand outstretched. But then the ground caved him just before he could step. The gray ground fell into darkness. Yet the good news was another path had formed. It was no longer made from gray dust. This one was made from a blue-gray mist. It intertwined with a purple-black sludge.
"Guess I'm taking the road less traveled." Talk to himself was keeping him from becoming crazy. He dove onto the sludge and glided. A small smile crossed his lips. A memory replayed as she glided; a memory of chasing criminals down the freeway during a traffic jam. His solution? Hopping on the railings of the bridge and grinding them. He heard cries from fellow cops telling him he was insane for doing it, but that prompted him to rebel more.
He skidded to a halt after the sludge, still looking for the blonde girl. He ended up somewhere completely different. The endless dark caves were gone. In their place were broken streets and dilapidated buildings. A whitewashed piece of wood held up a huge slab of stone. Carved into the rock were words typed in an elegant calligraphy;
"WELCOME TO BELLEROUGE."
"Bellerouge..." Shadow whispered The stabbing sensation pierced his mind. He remembered multiple things at once...Disparion toying with his mind...several voices crying out his name, men and women...him making someone promise not to come for him...Disparion engulfing the city...
"That's right. I sacrificed myself...so this city would belong to him...but I was trying to protect someone..."
"Shadow!"
The little blonde girl was back. She ran to him, looking him in the eyes. "Shadow, do you remember me? You made me a promise about this city!"
"I...I did?"
"My grandfather says the people here face many problems. Every day people were hurt by strange monsters. That's why he created you. It was to help the people and to be their friend..."
"Why would I be their friend if I hurt them?"
"You didn't hurt the people, Shadow," the blonde shook her head. "Look!"
She pointed to one section in the gray mist. Figures were walking towards him. They had on the demon head badges of the Others Unit. The leaders of the group walking were both blondes, like the little girl. Were they related? No. The two blondes were different body types. That and one looked healthier than the other; in fact, one was glowing. Behind the were two gentlemen, one with silver hair the other blonde with a flame cradled in one hand.
Shadow rushed to intercept them. "Excuse me! Can you..." They walked right through him. Yet when they did, they become colored blurs. He felt a pounding in his head and he paused. The blurs were mingling and he felt more memories of the people he passed through. They were all friends. He had loved both of the golden haired girls in different ways - one he cared for the way a father cared for a daughter. The second he cared for romantically but then they realized maybe forcing a romance would be difficult. Instead, she had fallen in love with the silver haired man. He had escaped a difficult life yet harnessed mastery over spirits.
"Sunshine...Yang...Riku..."
"They are your friends, Shadow. They miss you," the little girl said.
"Just...Who are you?"
The girl looked saddened. "You really don't remember me." She smiled. "But that's okay. That's why I came here, to take you to the afterworld."
'What?"
"Come on!"
She tugged him by the hand. He expected it to phase through him as it did before. Yet he felt it. She was warm beneath his hand. As she led him down the crumbled city, he looked around. This city...it was all so familiar. He promised to protect it. Yet he had failed. The girl continued dragging him around, pointing out individuals. There was a blonde boy in a fine mansion consoling a pretty woman with white-blonde hair. The blonde boy had two lives and had been in love with Yang. The white haired girl kept the officers out of trouble with the law. There was a blue haired woman. She had been broken by people leaving. He had given her one of the few true good byes anyone could from her life of being left behind so much. She had promised to watch the city while he was gone. There was a brunette woman looking after children.; Shadow felt something pulse in his chest thinking of her in particular.
The interesting part was, wherever they went, something else was going on. The rooms looked fuzzy, like the night sky was bleeding into them. Shadow reached to touch the brunette girl's hand. When he did, she didn't grip back. Instead, she looked around confused.
"What is it?" the blonde asked.
"They can't see me," he pointed out.
The blonde shook her head. "No. You can interact with them, but they'll think something is there."
Shadow nodded. It was the famous effect of the supernatural. How spirits woudl communicate through touch or making something move or speaking. They might be able to hear him or feel him, but without some kind of method, they couldn't see him.
"Where was I before?" he asked.
"It was a small dimmension beyond life and death," she said simply. "You were on the fringe of it when I saw you. But you got out of it, and you're in the afterworld."
"You mean...where ghosts and spirits wander? Is this why it looks like a mirror image of Bellerouge?"
The blonde girl nodded. "Ghosts and spirits that are still upset go back and forth between our side and theirs. But...well, I'm happy now, so I can't go through." Her hand reached out and touched an invisible wall. Like he had been doing. Disparion must have put up barriers to tease him more.
"When I was still alive, I never could explore the city. But now, I can sort of do all of it here," she cupped a magnolia blossom with her hand and smelled it. He wasn't sure if she could actually get the sweet perfume, but if she could, she was in absolute bliss. As he watched her prance and smile, he then realized who she was. The girl smiled at him, "Do you remember me now, Shadow?"
And he did. "Maria."
"How long have I been down here?" he asked.
There was no time in this black purgatory. Sand would fall like an hourglass, but it couldn't been turned upright and shaken and flowed in the opposite direction. He was starting to lose sense of everything. What length went by as she stepped through? Seconds? Days? Months? His mind was becoming much like the path. It was broken and gray. If there were pieces, they were jagged and didn't fit right. He had given his memories away, only for them to be forced back into his mind and warped into something that didn't quite fit. He remembered making promises, but they were ones he couldn't keep. There were blurred colors and lines, some faces he saw but couldn't place names of.
"Shadow...please...promise me"
He remembered the little girl's voice. He had made her promise something. What did he promise? What was so important about that promise? Then he saw something at the edge of the path. Something finally in this darkness.
No way. He saw her crumble to the floor. Her blonde hair was held back by a headband, which matched her blue dress. She had fair skin which had gone pale from lack of sunlight. Her eyes were blue like the sky, wide with shock.
"Shadow!" she cried, reaching a hand out. "Shadow, follow me!"
Something was jogged then. He knew her. She had been one of the few humans to treat him with kindness. He was rushing for her, his own hand outstretched. But then the ground caved him just before he could step. The gray ground fell into darkness. Yet the good news was another path had formed. It was no longer made from gray dust. This one was made from a blue-gray mist. It intertwined with a purple-black sludge.
"Guess I'm taking the road less traveled." Talk to himself was keeping him from becoming crazy. He dove onto the sludge and glided. A small smile crossed his lips. A memory replayed as she glided; a memory of chasing criminals down the freeway during a traffic jam. His solution? Hopping on the railings of the bridge and grinding them. He heard cries from fellow cops telling him he was insane for doing it, but that prompted him to rebel more.
He skidded to a halt after the sludge, still looking for the blonde girl. He ended up somewhere completely different. The endless dark caves were gone. In their place were broken streets and dilapidated buildings. A whitewashed piece of wood held up a huge slab of stone. Carved into the rock were words typed in an elegant calligraphy;
"WELCOME TO BELLEROUGE."
"Bellerouge..." Shadow whispered The stabbing sensation pierced his mind. He remembered multiple things at once...Disparion toying with his mind...several voices crying out his name, men and women...him making someone promise not to come for him...Disparion engulfing the city...
"That's right. I sacrificed myself...so this city would belong to him...but I was trying to protect someone..."
"Shadow!"
The little blonde girl was back. She ran to him, looking him in the eyes. "Shadow, do you remember me? You made me a promise about this city!"
"I...I did?"
"My grandfather says the people here face many problems. Every day people were hurt by strange monsters. That's why he created you. It was to help the people and to be their friend..."
"Why would I be their friend if I hurt them?"
"You didn't hurt the people, Shadow," the blonde shook her head. "Look!"
She pointed to one section in the gray mist. Figures were walking towards him. They had on the demon head badges of the Others Unit. The leaders of the group walking were both blondes, like the little girl. Were they related? No. The two blondes were different body types. That and one looked healthier than the other; in fact, one was glowing. Behind the were two gentlemen, one with silver hair the other blonde with a flame cradled in one hand.
Shadow rushed to intercept them. "Excuse me! Can you..." They walked right through him. Yet when they did, they become colored blurs. He felt a pounding in his head and he paused. The blurs were mingling and he felt more memories of the people he passed through. They were all friends. He had loved both of the golden haired girls in different ways - one he cared for the way a father cared for a daughter. The second he cared for romantically but then they realized maybe forcing a romance would be difficult. Instead, she had fallen in love with the silver haired man. He had escaped a difficult life yet harnessed mastery over spirits.
"Sunshine...Yang...Riku..."
"They are your friends, Shadow. They miss you," the little girl said.
"Just...Who are you?"
The girl looked saddened. "You really don't remember me." She smiled. "But that's okay. That's why I came here, to take you to the afterworld."
'What?"
"Come on!"
She tugged him by the hand. He expected it to phase through him as it did before. Yet he felt it. She was warm beneath his hand. As she led him down the crumbled city, he looked around. This city...it was all so familiar. He promised to protect it. Yet he had failed. The girl continued dragging him around, pointing out individuals. There was a blonde boy in a fine mansion consoling a pretty woman with white-blonde hair. The blonde boy had two lives and had been in love with Yang. The white haired girl kept the officers out of trouble with the law. There was a blue haired woman. She had been broken by people leaving. He had given her one of the few true good byes anyone could from her life of being left behind so much. She had promised to watch the city while he was gone. There was a brunette woman looking after children.; Shadow felt something pulse in his chest thinking of her in particular.
The interesting part was, wherever they went, something else was going on. The rooms looked fuzzy, like the night sky was bleeding into them. Shadow reached to touch the brunette girl's hand. When he did, she didn't grip back. Instead, she looked around confused.
"What is it?" the blonde asked.
"They can't see me," he pointed out.
The blonde shook her head. "No. You can interact with them, but they'll think something is there."
Shadow nodded. It was the famous effect of the supernatural. How spirits woudl communicate through touch or making something move or speaking. They might be able to hear him or feel him, but without some kind of method, they couldn't see him.
"Where was I before?" he asked.
"It was a small dimmension beyond life and death," she said simply. "You were on the fringe of it when I saw you. But you got out of it, and you're in the afterworld."
"You mean...where ghosts and spirits wander? Is this why it looks like a mirror image of Bellerouge?"
The blonde girl nodded. "Ghosts and spirits that are still upset go back and forth between our side and theirs. But...well, I'm happy now, so I can't go through." Her hand reached out and touched an invisible wall. Like he had been doing. Disparion must have put up barriers to tease him more.
"When I was still alive, I never could explore the city. But now, I can sort of do all of it here," she cupped a magnolia blossom with her hand and smelled it. He wasn't sure if she could actually get the sweet perfume, but if she could, she was in absolute bliss. As he watched her prance and smile, he then realized who she was. The girl smiled at him, "Do you remember me now, Shadow?"
And he did. "Maria."