The Love Between Art and Water

Prologue

......Faintly, I could hear the sound of running water, if but only briefly.... a sweet summer song in my ears.......

Something I haven't felt in the darkness for so long......

Not since......... . . .

........ .................. ........... . . . .

I can barely remember........ What's my name?!......... . . . .

.................... ... . .

Her......... yes..... her.......... . . . . .

................. ............. . . .................. . . .

MY mind.... IT REELS......... IT WATCHES!!!......... ME!!.... I WATCH!!!........... I WATCH THE DARKNESS!!!!......

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Again.......... Fight again!!...... AGAIN !!!!! AGAIN!!! AGAIN!!!!!!!!!.................. . . . . . .

................... .... . . .

Nothing but the abyss......... Nowhere to run....... . . . .

..........Warmth .......what was warmth like?......... She made me............. warm....... . . . .

.................. . . . . . . . ... .. .

....... I....... AM...... THE.......... ABYSS!!!!!!!................ . . . .

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I need to get it together.......... . . . . I can feel the edge of madness..... Clawing.... SCREAMING!!!

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Art!!........... She.......... How I miss it........... her??..........

I miss her smile........

her smile........ smile....... smile ............................................... . . . . . .

NO!! Hold on............ I'm so tired........... I have to hold on....... . . I WILL HOLD ON!!!

........................... ............ ........... ..... . . . . ...........

....... Another fight approaching........... AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! . . . . .

The lost soul charges into the next fight, swinging his weapon. Continuing a fight that has lasted half a millennium, and will continue till he is no more.

A soul, fighting on an endless sea of dark sand. An eternally dry desert, without a single drop of moisture. A place cast in eternal shadow.

Massive monuments stood in the sand of this horrible place. Ancient stone structures, dark and foreboding. Their very existence bespoke of ancient terror, ones that have existed since the dawn of time.

Occasionally, the only source of light in this dim place was small bonfires that could be found dotting the barren, windswept landscape. They created small areas of respite in this rather desolate place.

The lost soul fights off endless hordes of enemies without rest. Never dying, never running. He refused to give into loneliness which stirred up a source of madness within his mind. He refused to let anything affect him.

But he couldn't help but zone out, sometimes not thinking a single thought for years at a time. Though it helped that his track of time was all but gone in this dark world.

He would shout and clash his weapons over and over, singing forgotten tunes that he could no longer remember the names of. Whispering things to keep him focused. Names of people he no longer remembered... Places he couldn't recall.

Whispering goals and words that he no longer remembered what they meant. His memory was faded, but he knew deep down in his core, he had something to keep fighting for.... . . . .

Someone he loved....

And that feeling kept him going. He fought and fought, over and over... Till one day, something he always wished for, something that he had dreamed off! Something he thought might never happen, suddenly happened!

Something pulled him straight out of that dark place. Seeing real light for the first time in his long life, he felt ancient memories flood his head.

Ones of his past, long ago......

Memories of water..... A river..... A woman's voice...... Laughter..... Beautiful light blue colors.... A kaleidoscope of joy and love, and of sunlight shining off the surface of a stream...

Accursed sand was still beneath him as he looked down... But this sand had color. Different from what he was used to seeing in that colorless world.

He had forgotten so much. He had repressed his memories of the world he used to live in... Why?... Was it to preserve it?

He had forgotten what the touch of water felt like... or even how it tasted..... What did anything taste like?........ He could only taste the dust in his mouth.....

He stares at his hands in the torchlight.... Torchlight?...

He looks up into the brightness. The flame light tickled at his eyes.... Two figures.... Two women....

That one... Her....... Her Hair.... That color was... so... familiar....

He could feel his mind coming under assault with feelings and memories he hadn't felt in so long. Pleasures, pains, and experiences of a distant past.

Faintly he could feel something..... foreign.... It was falling down his face.... and he could feel pain in his chest building quickly.....

Then he remembered about breathing and took a large shuddering breath. He then started coughing and choking, his mouth was filled with sand. His head pounding and his body felt a sensation he hadn't had in so long.

Pain...

He couldn't breathe, and his body was aching. He felt someone shove something into his mouth. Something strange and formless fell onto his tongue, and down his throat. He immediately gulps it down, coughing some of it up. After a moment, he was able to accept some of it into his dry body.

Then, he felt all his limbs go limp, and he collapses into the sand. As his vision fades, he can see a book next to his face.... It felt like it was the last thing he would ever see..... Blue and beautiful..... A gold picture....... of a dragon....... She felt so familiar...... Like she was someone of great importance to him.......

....... She?.........

....He knew her....

The desire to grab the book surged through his body, and with one monumental push, he managed to drop his hand on it. Ancient memories of a powerful love echo in his mind, as he falls into a dark sleep........... . . . . . . .

...................................TO BE CONTINUED!!!.........................................................