Chapter 22: A Crack

Neo holds on to the sword tightly as he falls. Dazed from the shock and damage sustained, he starts to see visions of his past self in the falling void.

. . . A time when he took the only button off the top of his shirt and started to play catch with it as he fell. He would throw it around gently and try to catch it . . .

"Even if it was but for a short while, and I was making anything up, it made me feel like I had a purpose. A goal. Ahh, I threw it too far once, and then I lost it . . . I was lost again with no purpose," he says, looking down at the spot where the button was missing.

. . . A time when he saw a light . . . it was the first time he had experienced seeing light in his life . . .

"The lights of the airplane . . ." he recalls, "The second time in my life that I had a goal for my existence. The rope . . ."

". . . Did that goal change.?. . No, it just became . . . more. Ever since I saw the Castle, I just had more goals," he pauses, feeling something strange in those words.

"Goals in the Castle? Games? Weird, at a time, I was completely absorbed by them. Were they my goal at the time? For some reason, now I feel like they were . . . distractions? Time passed by very fast when I was on them,"

. . . A time when he contemplated what excitement felt like. . .

He remembers the time he was on the roller coaster with Charlotte, that was the first time he felt the emotion, and so clearly that when she asked him if he was scared, he replied that he was excited. It was his first time experiencing it and it was intense.

. . . A past him making up stories from words and images he had . . .

"Those were fun, I especially liked the medieval ones . . . medieval . . . ones . . ." he trails off, remembering the time he stood in front of the PC gaming area after taking interest in what looked like medieval games. And Charlotte was there.

. . . A vision of a past him trying to imagine what being scared felt like . . .

He remembers the drop that he experienced with Charlotte and the game machine explosion that he experienced with Charlotte and Adora.

. . . A past him wondering what jealousy and envy were like . . .

He recalls all the times Charlotte used the access card to do things he couldn't do . . . "I hated feeling like that towards her . . . why?" he murmurs.

. . . A vision of a past him trying to pair foods that he knows about, wondering if they would taste the same . . .

"Taste was much better than I expected," he had said, remembering the first time he ever ate and Charlotte's happy face in front of him, he felt his heart beat a little faster.

. . . A past him had wondered, what is it like to have a relationship with someone? And the first name his mind brought forth . . .

"Charlotte . . ." he says, remembering every interaction he had with her for a long time now, he looks down at the endless void he is falling into. In doing so, something suddenly happens.

What . . . what is this feeling? It feels like my heart is . . . leaking?

He notices something dripping out of his right eye. He touches it and looks at his hand.

"Tear? This is the first time I cry out of, sadness I believe? Why do I feel like this? " he questions

. . . A past him wondering what rage felt like . . .

He remembers the first and only time he felt rage. Just now, when he attacked, his agitation had transformed to rage.

"It kept on building up, until I saw it and went in,"

That's why I am here . . . falling . . . again.

"NEO!"

He looks up in a daze to see a blinding light, glowing and getting closer to him, it is no plane this time, though.

Charlotte appears above him and falls, grabbing onto him. She then swiftly makes him wear something attached to a rope that she is attached to as well and holds onto him tightly.

"I got him! Start decelerating!" she calls.

Above Charlotte, Adora checks that everything is set and then tugs on the rope.

Haco in her panther form up on the stage starts pushing back on it with gradual force, making sure they decelerate first until they come to a complete halt. And then pulls all three up by rotating it in the opposite direction.

Neo seems to regain most of his awareness back.

Huh, the leaking stopped . . . and now it feels like it's being filled for some reason. Did I have this before and never noticed it?

He comes back to his senses as they reach the top, Charlotte still hugging him tightly.

"You IDIOT! How many times do I have to hit you to STOP doing things like this?!" she screams in frustration and bursts into tears.

Neo lets go of his sword and hugs Charlotte back.

"I am . . . sorry," apologies Neo, struggling to breathe and letting out another tear. But . . . this one is different.

I . . . think I have another g─ . . . reason. Another reason to why I need . . . more.