[Arc 1] Chapter 2. Our Forever

The tearful cries echoed inside of me, a mocking yet sad voice that resounds within… I felt each piece inside of me tear apart as her laughter intensified before coming to a stop as silence surrounded us… I couldn't open my mouth as the voice soon responded.

"Everyone keeps lying to me… it is like I have no feelings…"

I could feel her sadness leak, tears fell towards the floor like rain. Her hoarse voice echoed within me as, all of a sudden, the darkness vanished. Replacing the darkness was alone deep forest with a single brown-haired girl resting on the floor. Bruises, scratches all over her as tears fell from her eyes, a smile blossomed… that of which is filled with tears.

"I… I am not a liar like them!" I shouted with all of my might, screaming towards the girl whose clouded gray eyes wandered around. Her clothes were rags filled with dirt. Her brown hair was soiled by nature, dripping wet. Not a single pile of fat could be seen on her, she looked like a skeleton.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked in a weak voice before magically, smoke surrounded the place as a giant red light appeared over the distance. The temperatures around us flew upwards in a rapid motion, intense heat struck me as sweat visibly fell from the girl's body as she cried, "Hot…!"

The red light grew in intensity, revealing itself soon after as a giant flame burst from the distance. There were flames all over the place, whether it'd be left or right, front or back… the entire forest was now engulfed in blaze. I felt an attack on my head as I looked at the girl.

"Is this where I am going to die…?" she asked while reaching her hands up towards the skies, looking past the leaves with her cloudy eyes before she laughed mockingly.

I felt fear once more, panic rose within me as the scene of carnage appeared inside my head… the scene of blaze all over the place, the cries of children buried in deep concrete; the sound of ambulances, fire trucks, and police echoed throughout.

"No…" I mumbled while staring at the girl with both eyes wide open. A sudden pain struck my head, forcing the bodiless me down as I continued to stare at the little girl whose eyes had lost all light, her body shivered under the blazing temperatures.

"NO! IT'S NOT!" I screamed at her before a sense of hopelessness surrounded me, a vast darkness cuddled my heart and mind as I looked at the little girl with a sudden realization… what could I do… what can I do… what shall I do?

The flames spread like a tsunami, eating up the trees and leaves all around us as the little girl's body trembled even more, "It's hot… Mama…"

Tears fell from her eyes as I stared in disbelief… I felt weak and hopeless… I couldn't do anything at all other than watch. It was the same situation as the other, a dreadful scene where only I could watch… I could only watch as people withered in pain.

"Wh… what… what should I do…?" I asked.

All of a sudden, the flames stopped moving along taking me by surprise as I looked around as everything had turned gray. There were no movements from anything, whether it'd be from the wind or the sunlight… it was as if time had gone into a complete stop.

Not long after the sudden change, a voice echoed inside my mind… the voice sounded mocking and disappointed as it said: "Are you actually dumb, or are you acting as if you are dumb?" striking all the pride I had in me as I looked around.

"What if I am dumb?! Will that make you help me?!" I shouted before the sound of water being spat out echoed.

"Of course, not!" it responded with a laugh before it answered, "At most, I can only give you a tip! Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Tell me!" I answered back without hesitation, looking at the girl with panic… My heart was screaming not to let go of this opportunity to save her… to repent of all the sins I had committed in the past, to compensate all the dead people of that incident.

"Fine! The tip is a single magic word that starts with a 'C' and ends with a 'T'! That's all I can provide you, everything else is up to you!" the voice replied causing me to be in disbelief as I snorted inside. A word that starts with a C and ends with a T, there are too many!

You can even use coconut as an example! There isn't even a single coconut here! What is with this useless empty tip?! This bratty voice is more helpless than anything else! A cottage, where can we even find a cottage here… let alone find… it would burn to death before that!

"Are you really that dumb? You were already describing that word a few moments ago…" the voice mocked which irritated me as it heaved a sigh, "Fine… here is the word! The word you are looking for is contract!"

"What can a contract even do?!" I rebuked before a sigh echoed.

"Ah! Another idiot… whatever, I'll take this as a punishment for all the evil deeds I had done in the past! You brat, don't disappoint me in the future since I will be breaking the laws of the world for helping you out!" it said.

All of a sudden, a golden light appeared over the distance. The light was brighter than the sun, shining through each nook and corner of the forest as the gray color vanished, turning into a myriad of colors as time moved once more.

Not ending there, dozens of golden chains escaped from the golden light. The chains ran towards me, taking me by surprise as the non-existent parts of my body were bound together with the girl's… a sense of weakness crept up to me as if all the energy inside of me were being drained. It was like a vacuum for energy… I couldn't help but look in disbelief as the girl's body revitalized.

"This is all I can do for you… bratty descendant! The rest is up to you now!" the voice spoke once more before fading into the distance as the entire place was now consumed by the golden light, a warm light that overrode all the darkness within.

After a short while, the golden light vanished, returning everything to its previous state as both the girl and I levitated up in the air chained together by several golden chains before all the chains vanished as the two of us slowly descended down towards the floor.

As the two of us slowly descended down from the skies, fireflies surrounded us… all of the fireflies were as if looking at me with joyous looks. They reminded me of the children on the playground, joyous and playful. I felt like I had compensated them once more… compensated them for being the only one to survive for at least a little longer.

"Thank you…" a voice echoed inside of me before the girl and I fell to the floor as my sight turned dark.