Finally, the moment came for Xero to rest his eyes. As he lay on his bed, the thin blanket pulled up to his chin, the room was shrouded in deep darkness, the only light illuminating the area coming from the faint glow of the moon through the small window. The day was done, and he drifted to sleep.
A sudden chill swept through the room, pulling Xero from the edge of slumber. He sat up, blinking in confusion. The room looked exactly as it had before, he fell asleep, yet something felt off. The shadows seemed to twist and move in unnatural ways. The wind thrashed through the curtains as whispers filled the decrepit room. A faint hint of sulfur lingered in the air, the acrid smell of death creeping into his nostrils. A figure approached where he lay, inching closer, slowly entering into his line of sight.
As it reached out to him, Xero felt his throat tighten and grow scratchy. He couldn't choke out even a syllable nor yell out. His breath came in shallow gasps, his heart pounding in his chest. The figure loomed over him, its features obscured by the darkness, but a cold, malevolent energy radiated from it.
"Xero..." a voice, soft and familiar, yet distorted, echoed through the room.
Xero's eyes widened in terror. "G-Grandfather?" he managed to whisper; his voice barely audible.
The figure nodded, its form becoming slightly clearer. It was his grandfather, but twisted, with eyes that glowed with an eerie light and a smile that sent shivers down Xero's spine.
"Yes, my boy. It's me," the figure said, its voice a haunting blend of warmth and menace.
Xero scrambled back, pressing himself against the headboard. "How... how are you here?"
"I've come to guide you. You have a path to follow, Xero. A path only you can walk."
"The time for you to walk is now, from this point on Xero. It's your decisions. Do you wish to get ahead or be left in the darkness. You must now learn, learn to adapt."
The boy's chest felt as if he were being crushed, as if someone or something were sitting on his ribcage, he left paralyzed in the bed unable to speak or move, only witness to what goes on before him.
"A cherry blossom has many significances, Xero."
With the glow in his eyes began to fade, as so did he; the winds cascading the room, came more fiercely surrounding Xero in thousands of voices and whispers but one that stood out that spoke to him in a riddle.
"In shadows cast by petals light, beneath the moon's soft, eerie night,
A whisper came from branches high, where blossoms danced and spirits sigh. 'Who holds the secret to life's fleeting grace, In beauty's bloom or death's cold embrace?'
They fell in spring's serene display yet marked the end of each sweet day.
In crimson shades they drift and die, beneath the gaze of a watchful eye. Life's cycle shown in pink and white, rebirth entwined with endless night.
Look where love and sorrow meet, where silent whispers guide your feet.
Amidst the bloom of life's brief stay, a hidden truth in shadows lay. Beneath the tree where blossoms fall, you'll find the blade that conquers all."
And with that, he was truly gone. Xero felt a hand shaking him, pulling him from the nightmare. He opened his eyes to see Benjamin, concern etched across his face.
