I was lucky that I was wearing a coat. The night temperature of this forest was unbelievably cold and frost latched onto tree barks, seeping into its vulnerable wood. Every now and then, small flickers of movement sprinted across the grassy ground. The moon was still high in the air, shedding light into the tree canopy openings, creating an unrealistic glow in the ambient forest.
I took as much forest surroundings in as I could. As I said, downtimes kill me. I sighed to myself, eyes wandering and lingering on certain things. I consistently kept my mind blank, filling it with other details. I didn't want the stifling and forlorn thoughts coming back.
I stopped for a moment when a question comes to mind. Was I going the right way? I closed my eyes, letting my senses run further. I was searching for a snow land, so searching for a colder temperature seemed ideal. I didn't know if my senses could do that, but trying was all I had.
I shivered slightly as I felt something familiar. Memory fragment. I was surprised that I could sense so far and it was even more surprising to sense the fragment first and the snow land last. I followed the fragment presence, which was undeniably dim and blurred.
Soon, I found something utterly beautiful. I gasped in surprise as I heard water gushing softly somewhere. I found myself at a small waterfall. Glistening, clear water flowed down several small waterfalls to a thin river. I crouched down to better see the glowing, white flowers that grew on the river sides. Few specks of white dust sparkled around the flowers, giving it a mystical feel.
I cupped the river water within my hands, admiring the gleamy surface of it. I sipped the water, realising how dehydrated I was. I soon moved on, plunging into the dark depths of the forests. Strangely, I could see where I was going.
***
Several hours passed and my legs had just begun to feel like led. My stomach growled protestingly and painfully. My eyes lingered and found something glimmering in the dark. Curious, I stepped towards the glimmer and my eyes widened. A bush of shimmering, silver berries. I crouched down onto my knees, hands reaching for the bush. Back then, I could hardly believe that the berries were actually shining. They just gleamed like diamonds.
Just before I could touch one of them, I felt something prick my neck. I gasped before reaching for my neck. Something was implanted into my neck? I took whatever was there. My eyesight blurred and my movement became dull. A needle? I was already blacked out before I could fully realise what it was.
***
"I love you, I always will. So, don't blame yourself."
Who was that? The voice sounded so familiar. I opened my eyes as if what I saw would give me answers.
I didn't find anything, but a light in front of me. My eyesight was still blurred, but I knew that I was suspended in air with both my hands tied with chains. I groaned as the joints in my arms ached. What happened to me? I remembered finding a silver berry bush, then I got put to sleep by a needle? I looked around me to see cold, grey metal walls.
It took me time to realise that a person was looking at me. The person wore a blue and black uniform with gold outlines. I couldn't see the person's face as it was mostly covered by a hood.
"Kagayuki, how long has it been since I last saw you?" said the hooded person. It was a female, judging by the voice. She sounded tough and strong-willed, her well-built arms crossed as she looked at me. The hood slightly lifted as she raised her face. I could barely see her deep blue eyes. Her pale skin looked like they glowed and her face was perfectly feminine, but still held a tough expression.
"What's wrong, Kagayuki? You used to be so talkative," she said, sounding almost impatient.
"Was I?" I replied. It seemed so strange. I felt incredibly nostalgic by looking at her. I did notice that I shouldn't just be suspended here. I had a memory fragment to get. I frowned. Something was off. I couldn't sense the memory fragment anymore, no--the memory fragment felt near, but it felt strange. Nevertheless, I had to escape, but how?
"Yes, you talked so much that I found it hard not to blast your head off," she said with a threatening gesture. She lifted her right arm and summoned a huge fireball on her hand. I immediately felt the immense heat emanating from the fireball, already sweating.
"Unfortunately, I am not allowed to do so," she said, staring at her fireball. My eyes slightly widened as the fireball was being compressed into a disk shape. Soon, it was a metal disk that rotated at a violent speed.
Before I could react, the spinning disk was cutting through my stomach. Several internal organ parts spilled out along with a massive amount of blood. I let out a short scream of pain, spluttering out further blood. I looked down to see my wound already healing, but the spilled contents stayed there. I quickly turned away, feeling sick at the sight.
"What's wrong, Kagayuki? Not used to seeing your own internal organs?" she asked. I didn't answer her. Just before she could say anything else, the door opened and a masked person comes in. He wore the same uniform colour as the person before me. The masked person saluted, "Captain."
"Report," said the captain.
"Overlord Noble headquarters have received your report and gives you an order," said the man.
"What is it?" asked the Captain. The masked man took a circular disk from his chest pocket and pressed a button on its side. It showed a hologram of an important-looking person. He looked familiar. His cold eyes flickered over to me for a second before he faced the female captain.
"Captain Rayne, you will bring the criminal to the headquarters where he will be executed."
I suppressed a pained gasp as a pain struck through my head. The man in the hologram...he seemed too familiar. A spark of hatred appeared within me and I didn't do anything about it. The captain and the man both seemed known to me.
"Executed? I thought he was going to be imprisoned for life!" said Rayne. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. Why? I thought that she wanted me dead, seeing as how she inflicted a stab-through wound on me. Something told me she wasn't as she seemed.
"His sin proved too great. If he is imprisoned, what good would that do?" demanded the holographic man with a slight impatient tone.
"He won't be able to do anything!" shouted back Rayne. Again, she was defending me. Who exactly was she?
"He committed massacre! And in the end, he killed his own parents!" roared the man. What? What did he say? I killed? I killed my own parents? Tears started to flow from my eyes and bloody images appeared in my mind. They were screaming, dying and crying for help.
"I love you, I always will. So, don't blame yourself."
Mother...I killed her.
"Promise me. You'll continue living no matter how hard it is. Your mother and I love you so much. We love you so much, we love you...we love you...we love--"
Enough.
