Shreds of an Archive

A Boy at the End of Existence

A storm was looming, layering the landscape in different shades of gray, as if all the color was stripped and washed away from the earth itself. A single boy lay amongst the long blades of tall grass which whipped to and fro from the oncoming gale. His chest rose and fell paralleling the pulsating wind, which flew into his hair pulling it into a mangled haphazard mess atop his head. With a grunt, the boy sat up, simply staring at the oncoming storm, knowing that before long, that it would take him like it took the rest of the world. Slowly, a distant figure came into view, drifting out from inside the storm,  a man, clad in long billowing robes. fallen trees and debris whipped about the man but he paid no mind, and continued his descent towards the boy. As the man approached, just a few steps from the boy now, he spoke, with a deep booming voice.

    "Welcome to the end." The man said, an eerie calmness oozing from his words.

    "Aye, I thought I was the only one left, but it seems like I'll have someone else to share this misery with" The boy said, his words were dragged down by a sense of melancholy, coated in a dreariness of man who's prepared himself for death.

    "You are mistaken there, It truly is just you, the last living, conscious being. I'd like to introduce myself, I am the god of this world, your people called me Hidas."

    "So my mom and sister worshiped a god whose only plan for them was to kill them with this unholy storm?" emotion crept into the boy's voice, his eyes turning glass but the moisture was whipped away by the wind which whipped rain at the boy with increasing ferocity.

    "Not exactly, alas they may no longer be in this existence, but them, and everyone else in this place were fascinating to observe, I learned a great deal about what happened over the course of your history. I will use the knowledge to govern a new world, one of which I can understand better"

    "Just so you can destroy it in the end just like this one?"

    "Not destroyed. Completed"

    "Ah, I'm sure, I guess everyone I've ever loved and everyone I've ever known is completed just because you wanted to conduct a little science experiment" Despite the circumstances, the boy felt no fear, just overwhelming frustration and rage at the unfair cruel existence that Hadis has thrust upon him.

    "You sure do have quite the bite behind your words" Hadis replied

    "So what is it that you want with me?

    "Whatever do you mean?"

    "You're the one who descended from your 'almighty' throne to speak to someone as lowly as me, why not just let me die?"

    "Ah, so you see, I had grown relatively attached to this world so it does sting to part with it. So I decided to take a souvenir, a remnant of what was once my favorite existence."

    "So what, you're gonna take a cool looking rock as a trophy or something" The boy said with a grimace. Hadis' face turned deadly serious and he spoke with a tone of finality, he words echoing and booming as the storm drew nearer

    "No. You, boy, will come with me to the next existence, and will become a part of that world. You will be reborn, without memories, but as a vague memory of what once was" With the final word, an immense all encompassing light blinded the boy, despite him shielding his eyes with his hands, the boy let out a cry, despair and rage mixing as black consumed his vision.

    Sound came first, a faint chirping of birds and the buzz of thousands of insects participating in tasks such as, trying not to get eaten. Then feeling returned, a cold moisture seeping into his bones. Weakly, the boy opened his eyes, only to be shocked by a world of vibrant colors mixing and unifying into beautiful compositions. As the boy's consciousness fully returned, he was flooded with questions, but one stood out, filling his head with an intense confusion. Who am I?