Sky Log #36: A Turn For The Worse

It has been a long while since the last entry…

I wasn't sure how to break this news to you or my friends because my core has started to act up. I have spoken about this issue in Sky Log #34: Closet Fuzzies, but the change has been quite alarming.

Initially, my limbs gradually became stiff as the veins from my core began to darken. Now, there are moments when I black out and appear somewhere else with no memory of how I had gotten there. Even the healer I regularly saw insisted that I prolong my stay at their place for "further observation". I never quite like being observed like a test subject.

The issue with the blackouts is that they are pretty selective with the location and people. I don't black out around people. I do so when I am alone. And usually in quiet places before ending up in Wasteland. I'm not surprised that I always end up in Wasteland. It's the place where I originally got my condition. Still, it's a bit concerning since the Wasteland is dangerous. Fortunately, I'm glad I don't wake up face-to-face with a krill yet.

With Eden closed, no kids can go in to be reborn or die.

That means the only place I can slow my condition down is closed. My healer has tried to find novel ways to revert my state to normal, but that only lasted temporarily. The best one was to stand in the rain in Hidden Forest. Of course, you can see the cons more than the pros in such a solution. So, they adapted it to have me drink the rainwater now and then. The darkening stopped, but the blackouts continued.

The solution held for a few weeks. It was so positive that I thought I could continue my travels. Previously, I was stuck to roaming places around Hidden Forest since that's where my healer lived (they are such a sucker for Grandma Spirit's food). But within hours, the darkening returned and rapidly too. Worse is that strange black shards start to grow around my body. It didn't hurt at all. It was as though it grew from my bones, but it was freaky to see my body change.

My healer was horrified.

They think it was the rainwater that was the catalyst. I guess it was Hidden Forest that was the key to my change. I had just stepped out of the realm when the transformation began. All I felt was a shudder from the depths of my core, but I brushed it away because I was too excited to escape from my healer (they nag! It's annoying). It wasn't until a passing kid screamed at me in horror. So, we tested a few of our theories, and I was right. Hidden Forest temporarily stopped my change, but the place was less effective than Eden, which could take away some of my darkness. Instead, the darkness was accumulating within my body and changing from within at a slower rate.

It was stressful.

So, I wrote. I couldn't travel, so I could only write letters to my friends. As I'm writing this entry, I decided to tell them. My condition wasn't faring very well. There were days when my limbs went so stiff that I could not move and days when I could limp my way out of the healer's house before I got dragged back to bed. I know my healer worries about me. It's why they nag so much that I feel that my ears would drop off. Even then, the task of writing was taxing to me…

I just feel useless in my condition. I couldn't see the world for itself, save the day, or enjoy a boring one. I was like a terminally ill patient with a ticking time bomb.

I, or rather we (including my healer), don't know what will happen when the darkening completes its process. I may end up as a krill, or a dark kid, even though that existence was a fable in our stories. However, now that I think about it. There's no smoke without fire. Why did some ancient stories write about dark children? Was it really… a myth?

I might have to find more. I would have to tell my healer. And… and my friends too!

~~~~~

You noticed that the last few sentences were written hurriedly before ink splattered at the last word. It was as if the Traveler had dropped their pen on the diary and gone off in a hurry. Also, you realised that the handwriting wasn't as elegant as before. It was written very stiffly, and the letters were dragged out because the ink gathered at some words.

Despite knowing there's a time gap between the Traveler and you, you can't help but feel worried for them. It was as if the Traveler existed in your time, but this diary was the barrier between you. "If they were here…." You began to think but shook your head when you realised you had no solution for them. No matter how often you reread this diary, to the point that you can memorise it word for word, you know that it is about to end. There were still a few more entries left, so you steadied your heart and continued.