Chapter 6 - Impossible Realities

They could not understand what was happening. What was going on? Who was this strange man? Where did he come from?

Why did he have this image, this exact photo... one that should not be possible, it shouldn't exist, yet it was in his hands. The only difference was that whilst neither of them were new, and have been taken from the mythical polaroid era, yet, one felt like at least a century old, if not more.

The yellowish paper, its wrinkled, folded touch gave leeway to the suspicion that this man kept it with himself for countless years, if not several decades.

However, that thought was simply impossible! The two images were one and the same! Knowing that the age difference was simply impossible, utterly ludicrous of a notion!

Lord Raven had countless questions suddenly troubling his mind, weighing him down once more. After the rollercoaster of events of the last 24 hours, he was utterly exhausted.

Though, at the same time, the sudden grief that struck him along with the fierce heavenly phenomenon was cast away with the arrival of this stranger. Though he had no idea who he was, or what he was doing... he had a faint feeling, a suspicion that he was someone important. Somehow his grief didn't that pressing anymore, as if some sort of inexplicable comfort have also suddenly arrived alongside with this newfound unknown.

...

In the blink of an eye several days, almost a full week have passed by. During this time the stranger did not wake up, yet his condition didn't worsen either. He was in a coma.

In a sense, the old man found some strange sense of comfort at this turn of events. Whilst the notion of wanting the stranger to stay in such an unfortunate state may have been rather grotesque, it was the only comfort he could think of. Even if he was not his son, not of his blood, there was some strange connection, something he could not understand, nor explain but only feel at the very depths of his heart.

Maybe because of that strange photo they both had. Even after he had it checked, the results were confusing the say the least.

From every angle, the two photos were one and the same. Not a copy, or any other duplicate, but the exact same. The only clear, obvious difference was that whilst the one Lord Raven had was merely a bit over a decade young, the one that the strange metal masked figure carried with himself withstood time for over a century!

A full hundred years! How could that be possible? The whole idea, the whole notion was absolutely impossible, it went way beyond the old man's understanding.

Questions after questions, confusion after confusion emerged... an invisible pressure weighed down on everyone present in the mansion. Yet, despite the countless questions, none could find an answer.

For the last week, no answers were found, to any question. As the failure of finding clues with the two photos, every attempt at trying to uncover the identity of the stranger was also met with failures.

The metal suit, and the mysterious armor could not be broken apart as it was absolutely seamless. As if it was one cast, it felt as if it had no joints, no connecting parts, it could not be broken into parts and dismantled. Nor could the stranger be 'freed' from the strange prison he seemed to be forced into. Even in the end, when they tried some less conventional methods, the armor seemed to be resistant to everything... Nor did its prisoner seem to feel anything.

The best they could achieve was to have some minimal effect on the strange purple hue that seemed to rhythmically hum around the visor and along the surface of the body.

For a full week, the figure did not wake up... nor could he be helped, assisted, or even fed. Still, despite that, he didn't seem to be too affected, his vital signs never turned chaotic, it was steady and stable.

For a full week, there was no response, no news about him... Who he was, what he was, where he came from, or most importantly... Why he came, and what connection, the relation he had to the vanished Young Master...

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"The void.

"A world that is completely devoid of life.

"As a kid, many of us dream about being an astronaut and exploring the universe, being the first to explore this vast, endless, new frontier. To be the next Armstrong, stepping into a new world, and proudly claiming it for the betterment of humanity.

"Or, you may think of those novels you read online that when you die, a higher being grabs hold of your soul because of your imbued karma, or the unfairness, injustice... the casualty that leads to your untimely departure from your world.

"You die and you may or may not remember the moments of your death before you are greeted by some holy being, basked in flashy blinding light, or whatever before he migrates your soul to a new world.

"Well, I have no idea what happened. I feel like that particular cat who got stuck between life and death during Schrodinger's famous experiment. I may as well be that cat. Yeah, yeah laugh at my detriment, I get it.

"I have no idea where I am, or how I got here, or actually what is the 'here' currently. There is no light, there is no life, there is nothing. Just darkness wherever I look. I don't think I'm dead, but I can't say for certain that I'm alive either. I can vaguely 'feel' that I have a body, but without any source of light, or the ability to move I can't say for certain. This whole feeling may as well be an illusion, a fever-induced trick of the brain.

"When I said, I could be that particular cat, I meant it. You know, I may not remember much, but I do know that to be 'alive' you need air to breathe. You need light, you need some sort of substance, that your body could convert to energy so that you may continue to 'function'.

"Now, here comes my first problem. I'm not breathing currently. What would I be breathing anyway? This place is devoid of life. There is no air! So am I dead?! I couldn't answer that with absolute certainty. At least I think so… If I'm dead, why does my brain run a million miles per hour?

"One important detail I know for sure is that I wasn't born here, or didn't come to existence in this boorish, dark place. I ARRIVED to this place from somewhere else. I don't know from where, how, or why, but I had a home before... 'this'. I also don't know when I arrived, or how much time has passed since.

"The first I realized I'm in this place I panicked as I am sure you all would. Oh, don't give me that look, I know how you would react! Suddenly you wake up, can't see shit, can't feel shit, can't remember shit... you obviously would panic and cry like a sissy!

"Anyway, after my moment of 'weakness', and when I finally managed to calm down 'enough' (aka I passed out after I cried myself to exhaustion), I started to properly analyze the situation I was in.

"Eventually, small bits and pieces of information came back to me. Like my name.. Kai. Kai R--- Well, it doesn't matter, Kai is fine enough, I guess. Yeah, not so fancy, I know, but who would name their child after mythical beings? You curse your child from the moment he is born. Sure, name him after the god of thunder or some famed greek or roman hero, see what happens in a few years when he gets to school! I bet he will love that toilet water he will be forced to bathe his head in every day!

"So yeah, Kai. I think that's a rather nice-sounding name. I don't know who I was or what I have done, but I definitely remember I came from a big city, but I couldn't remember its name. I couldn't remember my age, but I couldn't be that old, as I remembered being a student at the local university. Oh, if it wasn't obvious already, I also remember coming from Earth. Yes, OUR Earth. Sheesh...

"I have been spending my time in this weird-ass place unable to move my limbs (if I still have them) and was trying to make some sense of everything that was happening. Well without much success, but the fact that I could remember my name, gave me a tiny sliver of hope.

"Hope that gave me the willpower to push forward and to not accept my current fate. Fuck this! Maybe, just maybe, if I try hard enough, I can eventually remember what happened, and learn how to escape. I don't need that godly mumbo-jumbo! Just either let me die or let me go back home!

"Escape, since I'm obviously trapped, clearly against my will. Well, initially, I was probably against the idea of being tossed in this FUCKING void, but now, after forgetting everything, I'm only fighting against it probably out of habit. I think I may have been a rebel, you know, against the system! Down with the oppressors… and stuff!

"Meh, this sucks… Where in the actual fuck am I? Although I phrased my thoughts as a question, it's not like I was hoping for an answer. Not like someone would come and start responding to me, right?"

Suddenly as if to answer the philosophical question, a bright, blinding flash of light flared, blinding the floating figure's senses. Along with it came a thundering blast shattering his eardrums in the process. The sudden loss of senses caused a sharp pain to cleave away inside the figure's already tired brain.

"AAAAARGH!" He violently shouted, clutching his head in pain and screaming his lungs out.

"What the…" It took him a few moments to realize that he could now move and feel his limbs. It took several long seconds for the blinding light to fade and for the painful ringing in his ear to die down.

He was glad that despite his first thought, his eardrums did not shatter, and he could gradually regain his hearing. The annoying brightness, however, did not seem to let go. Or to be more precise, the white blinding light got replaced by another. It wasn't like it exploded in front of me, it was a steady source coming from above him.

Looking up, he used his scrawny, weak arms to provide a sliver of shade against it.

The sun was proudly shining high up in the canopy of heaven. Even if he couldn't be sure of the actual time and date, from the spotless sky, and the rapidly increasing temperature, Kai felt it was probably the height of summer.

As his eyes slowly got used to being mercilessly bombarded by the rays, Kai turned his eyes towards the ground. He already felt that he was lying on something warm, and... grainy?

He was on a beach or maybe on a shore. He was sitting (and previously most likely lying) on the sand, that was where that grainy feeling was coming from. In front of him, the crystal clear blue water was rhythmically licking his feet.

He hasn't really put too much attention to it previously, as he was trying to come to terms with all the sudden changes in the scenery, but going back to the grainy feeling, he noticed that he felt that on his cheeks and that the slight warm wind was caressing his barren nipples.

As the sudden realization hit him, he nervously looked down, only to confirm his suspicion; he was in his birthday suit, or to put in plainly, he was naked. His johnson was hanging out in the open.

"Where the heck are my clothes?" He jumped up and nervously tried to cover his delicate part. With his embarrassment giving him the drive, he took a step back only to fall back on his butt. His scrawny, weak legs couldn't bear the weight that his mere skin and bones body represented.

Plopping back down in the sand, he once again felt as the tiny grains of the otherwise wonderful golden beach sand explored the dark entrance that the crack between his youthful apples symbolized.

"Wha-?" That was the only thing that he could blurt out. Even though he fell down on the sand, he still felt a small tinge of pain.

"Argh, that hurt!" He cursed out loud.

Looking at my legs, he smirked at the spectacle that his snow-white porcelain skin and tiny, literally muscle-less skeleton-like leg presented. He almost laughed at the joke, that he had such white skin considering he was lying on some beach under a spotless bright summer sky.

His legs, and as he looked at it, his arms had no muscles on them, they looked like some undead monster straight out of those fantasy stories. He could move his arms and his legs and they did not hurt, but they couldn't support his 'huge' weight. It was a strange contradiction.

Looking at his body, and his tiny little pecker, he could probably weigh at most 40 kilos, but most likely less. Kai glanced at the waves of the sea as it rhythmically splashed on the sand, only to sadly notice that there was nobody in sight. Not a ship, not even a trace of civilization. As far as his eyes could see, he only saw the calm sea surface.

Turning my head askance, he only saw the sandy beach shore as far as his sight could take him in both directions.

"*Sigh* Where the hell am I?!" With a long sigh and the million-dollar question wreaking havoc in his mind he lied back down to the sand and closed his eyes.

'How did I get here? What happened to me? If I crashed, where's the wreckage? If I was on a ship, where are the remains? Where are the others? Am I the only survivor?' as more and more questions popped into his mind Jake suddenly felt the same sharp, searing pain in his mind.

"AAAAAAAAARGH! STOP IT!" he yelled out as he clenched his head in pain and rolled back and forth sideways. Due to the stress, his body quickly began to glisten with sweat only to be covered up by the golden grains of sand as it stuck to his body, soon turning him akin to a golden roll.

The pain-induced shout did not garner any result, the pain did not lessen. Instead, it actually increased in intensity. Kai continued to clench his head unable to bear the jolt of pain. He shouted, and cried out as the pain started to become unbearable. His vision darkened, and he felt that some liquid, most likely my blood, began to pour out of his orifices. Ears, Nose, Mouth, and even the corner of his eyes.

As his consciousness was struggling under the impossible pain, he started to calm down and even began to smile. He slowly laid back down on the sandy shore looking unnaturally calm amidst the violent surging storm wreaking havoc inside his head.

'Well, at least I can die as a stupid idiot on this beautiful beach, wherever it may be. It could be worse… I guess.'

The pain increased, and as he was clinging to the last strains of his sanity, the last thought that crossed his mind, was a question.

'Did I have a family? Will there be anyone that would miss me? What is this... nagging feeling... Am I... sad?'

The last strains of his consciousness fading, he found himself back in the void, just where he came from moments ago.

However, now that he tasted the 'other side', an obstinate thought grew its seed inside his mind and quickly sprouted its root.

'NO! FUCK THIS PLACE! BRING ME BACK! WHOEVER OR WHATEVER YOU ARE, BRING. ME. BACK!'

He refused to be kept in this prison, he refused to die like this. Now that he got a taste of the sweetness of life, he felt the warmth of the sun and felt the grains of sand inside his crack, he refused to stay here.

He raged and squirmed, which to his surprise he was somehow able to. As if in accordance with his defiance he managed to shatter the invisible chains that previously shackled him, he continued my temper tantrum.

"WHOEVER YOU ARE, CONTROLLING THIS PLACE... LORDING OVER THIS WORLD! BRING. ME. BACK!"

He continued to spew curses. Feeling the movements of his limbs, and that fading of the searing, previously unbearable pain, it only reinforced the idea that whatever he was doing, worked.

"I AM NOT STAYING HERE! I REFUSE TO SUBMIT! BRING ME BACK! BRING ME BACK!"

He continued his crazed chant. Unbeknownst to him, a faint purple light appeared at the center of his chest for a brief moment, as if reacting to his willful tantrum. It flickered in tandem with the young, scrawny kid's cries. With each glimmer, it felt as if the boy's tone were granted more and more power. The entire void was trembling by the end of his shouts, however, he himself did not seem to register any of this strange phenomenon.

"BRING MEEEEE BAAAAAACK!" He cried out with all his remaining power at the end. The purple hue turned bright, rapidly forming into a rhomboid shape by the end, taking the center of his upper torso. By the time the light show faded, the light materialized into a solid, crystalline shape.

Feeling tired and strangely oblivious to whatever was happening, the boy, Kai yawned and slowly closed his eyelids. He felt a single, lonely teardrop crawl down his face, he felt it as it left his skin and heard a plop as it touched the grainy sand beneath him.

Wait...

Realizing the meaning of this feeling, his eyes popped open, and he sat back up, once again back on the sandy shores of the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Well, at least the sun was nice.