Astral Flow

Chapter 48

[Why... why am I alive?]

Lily finds herself standing in the void once more, the endless expanse of nothingness stretching out before her.

No light.

No dark.

No life.

No death.

No release.

Just a nonstop spread of gray space numbing her mind.

She wanted to cry, to scream, but she couldn't, this wasn't her dream or her memories.

In fact, as soon as she realized she wasn't in control she began to calm down, now trying to figure out what was happening.

This body wasn't her's that much was clear... if anything it felt like she was a passenger in someone else's tired mind.

Perhaps it was Six, that was the only thing she could think of.

He was the only other one to know the void after all.

The feeling running through her right now was also a strange feeling, one of extreme sorrow and apathy.

It felt like a swirling abyss of darkness, one threatening to swallow her whole, yet she kept floating on its surface, head barely above the water.

The few happy memories being the only thing keeping her from sinking fully into the depths of despair.

Happy memories?

Right, that's what was going through "his" head right now, memories of brighter times keeping him going, keeping him looking up.

One in particular seemed to stand out, it was more cherished than the rest, beloved in fact.

It was a bittersweet memory, one that made him smile and made his heart ache with each passing day.

It was the day he met his dearest friend, one who he'd happily lay his life down for, one who shone like the sun in his eyes.

Yet it was also when he first awoke his curse, the reason the void traps him, keeping him alive for eternity.

Lily wished to understand it better, to see the memory fully, but she couldn't.

This dreamlike connection was barely enough for her to see into his mind, and that memory was so bright and soft, comforting her weary soul.

Is this what Six held dear? Is this truly the core of his being?

It felt like it.

"Why am I alive?" Six's voice rang out, as if responding to himself, a tired but amused chuckle escaping him.

It was a question he'd found the answer to a long time ago, one he was truly happy and content with.

"I bet you'd like to know the answer to that, wouldn't you Lily?" His quiet and sweet tone surprised her.

'You know I'm here?' she asked, now earning another quiet chuckle.

"Of course, I've lived a long time, and I know when a new set of eyes is observing me from inside." he calmly replies, seeming to be more comfortable in this place than in reality.

'I would like to know, to understand you a bit better if we're going to be stuck together.' she responds earnestly, surprising even herself with this.

"Well it's nothing amazing, and you'll come to find out more as our connection deepens... but, the truth is... I am alive to help others, even if they forget me in the end." He states matter of factly, a tinge of that bittersweet feeling hanging on his tongue.