Finding Darkness

Chapter 8

When I am done, I go home. When I enter the house, I find a note on one chair. I cautiously pick it up and read it.

"Astral,

If you're reading this, (and I know you are) it means you want answers. I might be of assistance. That is, if you want to know the reason I'm here! Meet me at the rubble of midnight's obliteration.

Number 96"

Black Mist? He wants to give me answers? That is not like him, I can already tell. It does not say when, so I decide to go now.

As I go outside, I make myself unseen to human eyes. A few hours later, I reach the meeting place. I spot a black figure looking at the fallen buildings with interest. It is a mere shadow against the night with a thin purple light surrounding its body.

It turns its head towards me. It grins, familiar eyes shining with delight. "You came," it says. Or should I say he. Black Mist. "As expected of you to seek answers, Astral."

"What is it?" I demand, agitated.

"My, aren't you just a mix of emotions today lately," he says, a hint of delight in his voice. "First fear, then anger, and now all of your dark emotions are just mixing around your soul." Black Mist pauses pensively. "Maybe I overdid it with my little gift."

Gosh, this Number Spirit gets off topic too much. I start to get irritated. "What do you want me here for?"

"Oh, yes! You wanted answers, no?"

I am confused. "I-I have never told you-"

"Just a guess." The Number shrugs. He sits on a chunk of cement, grinning mischievously. "You wanna know why I'm here, right? Come over here, and I'll tell you the reason." 

Cautiously, I float over to him. "This is not a trick, is it?" I ask.

He laughs, a laugh of pure joy. "Not today, my friend. I don't have time for trickery tonight, for daylight will be coming soon. I'm not a fan of the sun," he replies with a smile.

Still, I approach cautiously. When I am near him, Black Mist tugs me closer by my arm. "Don't be shy," the Number Spirit teases. "I won't bite. At least, not right now." He pulls me until I am sitting next to him.

"So, why are you here, Black Mist?" I ask, somewhat uncomfortable at being so close to darkness.

His lips brush my ear as he whispers, "I'm here to tell you about home."

I pull away, surprised. "H-home?" Why is a Number Spirit like him telling me of where I live? "I knew it," I spit. "This is a trick. A Number Spirit like you, an evil one at that, would not be telling me of the world I know perfectly well."

"I know, I know. You think you know it perfectly well," Black Mist says with mock concern. "Let me tell you something. A little, precious nugget of information: you don't know a thing."

"Wh-what?" I am completely taken aback. What kind of trickery is this? "What are you talking about?"

"Poor Astral. You don't remember a thing, do you? You can't."

I am now officially lost. I cannot remember? "What do you mean?" I ask. Why am I even asking?

Black Mist makes a sound I can only define as a giggle. "I know something you don't," he teases in a sing-song voice. "The Light Forces, your own leaders, have taken your memory of our world."

My memory? "What...?" My mind is spinning from all the new information it is receiving. I clutch my head, nearly losing my mind. "I-I do not understand. Why would they take my memory?"

Black Mist throws himself on his back, his midnight-black hands behind his head, as he replies with mock anger, "They don't want you remembering where you come from while you're on your mission. Something about classified information I think." He smirks. "But I'll tell you anyways."

All the anger, irritation, frustration, and fear drain from me, as if a vacuum is sucking it all. Curiosity settles in the empty space. Now that I think about it, I cannot remember anything from where I live. Is it possible they simply do not wish that I know? I stare upwards as Black Mist tells me of where I am from.