Through The Worlds

Prologue

[Searching for host...]

[...]

[Suitable host found...]

[Initiating binding... 13%... 24%... 44%... 63%... 85%... 99%...]

[Binding Complete.]

[Sion has been successfully bound to the E.F.E System as Host 044.]

»»————-————-««

[Welcome Sion, to the system space.]

"Where... Where am I?" Sion stood up slowly, his voice shaky as he took in his surroundings. There was nothing but a vast expanse of pure white, the blinding white reaching outwards as far as he could see, seemingly endless.

Raising his hands, he stared uncomprehendingly at them, frowning slightly as he tried to recall the utter strangeness he felt from this simple action.

He... He wasn't able to do this before, before... before...? Before what!?

"I am Sion, and I... " His voice trailed off, the all consuming silence and utter blankness back again. Sion's held his head in his hands, struggling to remember something, anything... Yet all he could remember was his name.

[You are dead.]

A cold voice cut through the silence, delivering the statement bluntly.

Whipping around, Sion frantically scanned his surroundings, his eyes darting to and fro as he searched desperately for the source of the noise.

"Where are you! Show yourself!" the words tumbled out of his mouth, question after question forming in his mind, only to be spat out seconds later. He was grasping at straws–a drowning man searching for a lifeline. Though in this case, it seemed, he was already dead.

[I am the E.F.E System.]

As the mechanical voice spoke, the air in front of him seemed to warp and twist, the whiteness folding in and compressing inwards until a mirror formed in front of him.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he reached out, his hand wavering.

This...This was him?

Reflected back at him was a teenager whose skin was pale, unhealthily so, his mind supplied. As he scrutinised his reflection, he noticed the dark bruises under his eyes and the hospital gown that hung off his skinny frame, causing memories of needles, screams and numbness to stir from where they slept, locked up behind bars in his mind.

Running his hands through his hair, a few black strands drifted to the 'ground', and then even further until they disappeared into the white.

[I am the E.F.E System.]

This time the voice came from the mirror, no, more like his reflection. Stumbling backwards, Sion stared at the mirror, watching as his reflection changed, forest green eyes brightening until there was nothing left but an encompassing white.

[You have been chosen to enter the various Realms where you will complete tasks. You will not be able to refuse, for refusal means eradication.]

"Why–" Sion was brutally cut off as the System continued to speak, ignoring him.

[Your spirit will be extinguished, your existence forgotten if you do not comply.]

Upon hearing this, Sion started to laugh. "What's the point then? After all, according to you, I'm already dead." Lips curling up into a small smile, a mixture of emotions surged within him. "And with my memories are gone, there's no point in me remaining alive."

[By completing tasks, your memory will be returned to you.]

Sion just continued to smile. "You can't miss what you never had."

He felt like glass, broken glass with the edges rubbing against one another, shattering and continuing to crumble with every second, his smile nothing more than a piece of cloth used to cover up the broken mess that he was on the inside.

[I see.]

The System's white eyes looked down at him, it's face inscrutable.

[Perhaps this would motivate you then.]

"What–"

Sion reeled backwards, a memory forcing its way through his mind. Clutching his head tightly, he remembered.

  »»————-————-««  

He was lying on the hospital bed and it was so cold and he felt so alone, so afraid and so tired. There was nothing in his room but the lifeless machinery which whirred softly in the background, letting out a few beeping sounds every few minutes. Needles were inserted into his veins, providing him with nutrients to stay alive, though he didn't see the point anymore. He was going to die anyway, and it wasn't like anyone would care. Because well, even he had given up on himself, so why would anyone still bother about him?

"The doctors say you're getting better." A warm voice resounded, its owner having entered the room while he had been lost inside the mess that was his mind.

"That's what they all say... But it's pretty obvious, isn't it? I'm dying, and the doctors still don't understand why." He spat back out at the owner of the voice, his eyes unable to focus properly. A blurry mess being all he could see.

"You haven't been sleeping well..." A hand reached out and brushed the hair away from his face before remaining and stroking his cheek, the repetitive motions comforting him and causing all his pent up emotions to bubble up. The urge to scream and cry rising and risingandrising until all he could do was sob.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I dontwanttodie. Idontwanttodie. Idunwannadie!" He repeated the phrase, the words jumbling up and becoming unrecognisable as he gasped and cried, the tears streaming down his face and onto the man's hand.

"Sion..." The voice had become softer. And then he was being hugged by the man, his body melting into the hug as he continued to blubber into the man's chest. He felt so comfortable and secure within the man's arms, as though nothing would ever hurt him as long as he was in this man's embrace.

"Brother, will you stay with me forever?" He spoke hesitantly, his wretched crying having subsided.

"Always."

  »»————-————-««  

For some reason, everything was blurry. Rubbing his eyes, his hands came away wet with unshed tears.

"I... I am sad?" He spoke the words slowly, a lump in his throat having formed some time ago, or was it just only? For some reason, his heart hurt, an incessant throbbing pain that left him shaking, a leaf trembling in the wind. "Who... Who was that man?"

The system was silent.

"I see." Sion closed his eyes briefly, forcing down his tumultuous emotions. "In that case, I agree."

The system smiled. It was a not a nice smile, but rather a smile that reeked of hidden intentions, the kind of smile you would get from your teacher just before they called you out for one reason or another.

And then the world twisted, the whiteness eroded away by splotches of darkness which grew and grew, overtaking the whiteness until it was all black, and then there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

Until there was something.

In the spot of nothingness, a crimson flower bloomed, Sion lying motionless in the center. Slowly but surely, the flower bloomed, red petals unfurling into the void.

  »»————————-««    

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