Forgotten

The sound of glass shattering echoes through the small, cramped room. Standing right above it, trembling, is a small kid who just wanted to drink some water. The glass had accidentally been dropped, and it shattered the second it touched the floor. Right after, the shouting began, and two people rushed to the kid. His eyes lit up – surely, he was gonna get checked up on, to make sure he was okay. The kid could only get a "Momma, I—" in, before a hand ran across his cheek, slapping him full force.

The kid stumbled back, shocked. His hand instinctively started rubbing his red, sore cheek, and his gaze lowered to the ground in both pain and embarrassment. The one who had slapped him, his supposed mother, was still yelling at him – although it was nothing but gibberish at this point. His father stood back, looking rather distraught. And not at the fact that his own wife was abusing their kid. He couldn't help but rub the bridge of his nose and sigh, "Haah... How'd I raise such a disappointment..."

The kid – whose gaze was yet to lift up from the ground – started muttering some apologies, but he was speaking so low and his stutter was so bad, that this only angered the two adults further. The woman's hand once more ran across the kid's face, and her yelling picked up in intensity. The kid, who was in tears by now, couldn't help but look down at the glass he had shattered on the floor. And so, he was thinking – "Maybe... this punishment isn't for nothing." – and now, instead of crying, the kid looked up at his mother as he wiped his tears. He didn't have a determined look, or a sad look, or... any look at all. He was just kind of existing in the moment. Like a background character.

His father couldn't help but scoff at the look on his own kid's face, and he looked him in the eyes with a disgusted face as he spoke, "Ugh, you monster! Don't you have any emotions?!" as his mother, once more, slapped the kid across the face, expecting a reaction. Crying, sobbing, begging for no more – but they got nothing instead. The mother raised her hand – for a fourth time – and yelled out, "You're a disgrace!" before bringing it back down at the kid, full speed.

The kid flinched, closing his eyes for a second. When opening them again, he was met with a different scene – he was now in a car, in the backseat. When looking around and out the window, he noticed it was night, but he clearly remembered it being day not even a minute ago. He looked back to the front of the car and he could see his parents in the two front seats. His father was driving in silence and his mother was turned around, apparently talking to him. Yet, this was strange... He couldn't hear anything. Not the car's engine, not his mom... Everything was silent. Well, almost everything – in his ears he could hear a slight hum, almost like TV static. It seemed distant and quiet, yet... familiar and obnoxious?

The kid sluggishly looked around as his mom seemed to get pissed off more and more, at one point raising her voice – although futile, the kid still couldn't hear her. When looking back at his parents, he could see that the two were now in an argument. He shrugged it off, as this was a common occurrence in his house and he was used to it, and he went to scratch his head. As his hand reached it, he couldn't help but notice he had a weird thing wrapped around it... Something like a bandage? Hmm, that's strange. Why did he have a bandage on his head? Ah, it doesn't matter. He can't ask his parents anyways – they're too busy arguing! Oh, seems like they're also too busy to notice daddy had switched lanes. Heh, daddy and mommy don't notice the big headlights heading for them either! How silly they are!

The kid blinked, and once again found himself elsewhere. As he looked up at the sky, it was day now... Hmm, how'd time pass that fast? It looked like the sun had just risen as well, shouldn't he be in school? Oh, well. He didn't mind, after all - this was a beautiful day to play outside! The sun was out, his hearing was back, and countless birds flew across the blue sky. Though, it was quite unfortunate... This beautiful day of his was being bothered by lots of people around him, crying, sobbing, and everything in-between! He had more bandages on him too now. Was Halloween coming? He didn't wanna be a mummy! As he looked back down from the sun, he noticed his cheeks were wet and his eyes were puffy. How strange. It wasn't raining, after all.

When looking around, he saw countless people dressed in black – they were the people who were crying! Why was everyone crying on such a beautiful day? They're weird! Well, nevertheless, as he continued looking around he noticed that the people all seemed to be facing him. Ehh, why? Was something on his face? Oh, dear, how embarrassing! He didn't have any leftover food on the corners of his mouth, did he? He raised his hand and went to wipe it, but he somehow missed and wiped his eyes instead. His aim was way off, but as he looked down at his black sleeve, he couldn't help but notice it was all wet. Oh, that's bad! After all, he was thought to keep his clothes clean! By who? Of course, by mommy, and daddy—

Nicholas and Lauren Anderson. Two tombstones standing side by side, as all around them were flowers, candles and too many things to count them all, really. At the end of the two graves was a small boy, no older than seven, as dozens of adults sat around him – yet at a safe distance – whispering amongst themselves, shamelessly.

"I've heard they beat him..."

"Weren't they a retired fireman and police officer?"

"Poor thing... How'd nobody notice he was getting abused?"

"I guess he's pretty though for such a small body, huh..."

The boy blinked, and once, again everything changed around him. He was sitting in a weird looking lobby on a chair, swinging his legs around. For some reason, he thought it looked familiar... He waited and waited, and eventually, a woman with grey hair came out of a room nearby followed by another, younger woman who looked no older than twenty-one – maybe twenty-two, at best. She had short, blonde hair and wasn't wearing anything too fashionable. The two started talking and yapping about stuff which the boy didn't entirely care for, and when the two noticed the boy seemed uninterested, they just got to the point as the older woman spoke up a bit louder.

"Miss Anna over here will be your new mommy starting today, alright, sweetie?"

The kid still didn't exactly care but he nodded anyways, just to get everything over with faster. Not even a second later, another blink – another change of scenes. He was in yet another room, that seemed familiar but at the same time didn't. When looking around, he saw dozens of sketches on the walls, on the floor, on a messy desk... Everywhere. There were sketches of many different things in all directions. For the first time since... that... the boy's eyes lit up like fireworks. He felt... like at home. Suddenly, a door behind him burst open and through it came the woman from before – Anna. She was dirty from head to toe with all kinds of inks and pencil lead dust, yet she seemed as lively as possible. She grabbed the kid, wrapping her arm around his neck and ruffling his hair.

"There you are, you little rascal! Peeking at my work again, are you?"

"Nuh-uh, am not...! I was just... looking!"

"That's the same thing!"

Anna laughed and – quite surprisingly – picked up the boy, placing him down outside of the room. She crouched next to him, and placed her hands on his shoulders, then repeatedly did the same motion, harder and harder each time – yet gentle. After a bit, they both started laughing. Anna spoke up, "I'm glad you like seeing my stuff, but you can't touch anything! Deal?" to which the kid vigorously nodded his head, almost jumping up and down on the spot. She tapped his shoulders one last time, as she got up. But... almost as if it all was being ripped away from him, he felt it... A blink. He was gonna blink, again.

And that, he did. A few seconds later, after fighting it for as long as possible, the kid blinked. He now found himself elsewhere, not inside a building – but rather outside. It was dark out, and the place was gloomy, only lit by candlelight. He was walking but he... didn't know why. He was holding flowers, and he seemed taller than he remembered. A few steps later, he stopped, and crouched down... yet it wasn't him that did it. It was like this whole thing was on autopilot – like it was tradition, something he does often. He placed the flowers down, lit up a candle and placed it on the tombstone, as he was still sitting on his knees. It had rained not long ago, but he hardly cared, apparently. The graveyard was quiet and still, but it couldn't even compare to him. No breathing, no blinking, almost no heartbeat. Nothing at all. After a few more minutes of this silence, he got up, gently patted the tombstone and left the graveyard, heading for the nearest bus station. He didn't have a car. And he didn't want one.

The grave he had just visited was, truth be told, ugly and forgotten – like not a lot of people visited and not quite that often. It was also in a corner, just sitting quietly for eternity. The tombstone itself must've been custom made, as it had a big square above the writing with a woman engraved into it – she looked rather young, and she had short hair. Below this square was, of course, all the information about this person.

Anna Fox, loving adoptive mother of one who would've and could've done anything for her son, even if they didn't share any blood. Cause of death... Car accident.

In the lonely bus station, the boy – or rather, man by now – blinked, but this time, the scenery didn't change... It all faded to nothingness. Pure black. The man could feel his body moving, as it was finally fully in his control, and he tried to look left and right, although for nothing. Blackness still surrounded him. After an unknown amount of time passed, the man heard a sound behind him... A very subtle – but although noticeable in this quiet void – "Ding!" played out, right outside his field of vision. He slowly turned around in disgust... as he knew that sound all too well. Although quite a mouthful, in front of him now stood a blank Blank. A blue screen, with nothing on it... almost like it was mocking him. A few seconds later, another one appeared to his right. Then another, to his left. Then another above, another below, and so on so forth. His head was filled with nothing else but the "Ding!" sound as it kept playing over and over as many more Blanks opened up. He gripped his head tight, spinning around in agony as his ears started bleeding.

"Shut up, shut up...! Fuck!"

He dropped to his knees, holding his ears down trying to block out the sound – although futile. The sound was playing in his very brain, as countless Blanks kept opening up around him endlessly. He punched the ground, which was also just a black void, and screamed at the top of his lungs in pain and annoyance. He wasn't screaming any words – he just let out whatever sounds his mouth and lungs let him. After a bit, his screams died down... but the pings didn't. He stood there, as more "Ding!" sounds played all around the inside of his cranium. He couldn't help but chuckle as he looked up at more Blanks. Empty, worthless, and annoying Blanks.

"Heheheh... Fuck off..."

He looked back down, and now even the black ground was full of that same blue. His chuckle evolved into full laughter – manic laughter. He put one hand on the blue screens and with the other he began punching them, over and over and over and over again. Was he making any progress? No, the Blanks were fine. How much has he been doing this for? He didn't know. He just kept punching. Did it hurt? Yes, but he just kept punching. Did it matter? No, but he just kept punching. After more of this, he pauses, and looks down at his bloody, scrambled hand, only for it to regenerate in front of his very eyes. He sighed, and just stood there on his knees... unable to do anything. His gaze lifted upwards, and he saw another Blank, yet this one was... different. Unlike the others, this one was... green? He reached out, touching it, and suddenly from the single green Blank, it started spreading to every single one surrounding him. In mere seconds, all the blue surrounding him turned to green.

"Wha..."

Now, surrounded by a ton of green Blanks, he couldn't do anything but stare at them. Except for the color, nothing else had changed... It was all the same. With his fist raised once again, ready to strike those stupid screens once more, all of a sudden, one of them started blinking somewhere to his side. He looked at it with annoyance, but finally – finally – the Blank had text on it, instead of being empty and worthless.

[Felix Fox.]

"...Heh... Yeah, that's me... Fuck you too..."

The Blank flashed again, and the text changed to [You aren't strong.] to which Felix couldn't help but laugh at. He rubbed his eyes with both hands and stood up from his knees, stretching his legs a bit as he did.

"Tell me something I don't know, would you?"

[You're weak.]

"I said I already know."

[You're worthless.]

"...I said, I know."

He clenched his fist, staring at the one Blank with text on it. He grabbed it in annoyance, bringing it closer to him. Felix's grip on the window was strong – as strong as he was able to muster in the moment – but the Blank stood unharmed, unscratched and uncaring. He shook it a bit, as he was actually quite surprised that he could physically touch it.

"The fuck do you want? Where am I?"

[You wish to become stronger. Correct?]

"Shut it. I don't care about your stupid levels and skills. I wanna go home."

[Checking data. Stand by.]

"Hah...?"

[Felix Fox - Failing and struggling artist. Latest work: worthless. Sales: nonexistent.]

"This asshole..."

[Why do you wish to return, Fox? Why do you wish for a pathetic life?]

Felix threw the screen away, amongst the countless others in anger. He flipped all of them off and sighed, "Like yours is any better, you're a damned screen..."

In no time flat, another screen near him blinked and the text started appearing on it. It continued criticizing him uncontrollably, [Fox, why do you crave weakness? Why aren't you strong?] to which Felix grabbed that one too, bringing it closer and letting it float in front of him, but not before punching it out of pure frustration – of course, the Blank stood strong and unharmed.

"I'm weak because I just am. How the hell should I know?"

[Interesting. How does one not see their own flaws?]

"Motherfucker... Not everyone's a goddamn superhuman..."

Felix says annoyed, grabbing the Blank once again. He grasped it tight, shaking it all around in frustration and annoyance as he spoke, "I'm not Kim! I'm not that guy with blue hair! I'm not a dragon, an elf or a fucking mage! I'm a human! A guy who's barely eating every day because I suck at drawing and that barely gets any sales! So just tell me, almighty fuckin' screen, what do you want?!" then, the Blank stood unchanging for a solid minute, as Felix stared down at nothing but green. After a bit more, the window finally flickered and text appeared on it.

[Do you miss Anna?]

Shattered. Destroyed. Gone. Felix cracked the Blank under his knee, as he hit it so hard his bone came through the other side of his leg, only for it to heal back up in seconds. The pain was still there, but he hardly cared – and hardly noticed. He did destroy the Blank. He threw the remaining bits and pieces that he was holding down, only for them and all the others to disappear in seconds. Another Blank popped up in front of him, this time with the text already written on it.

[Do you miss Anna?]

Felix chuckled then leaned his head back, taking in a deep breath. He brought it back down incredibly fast, shattering the Blank with his head as blood spread across his face from his forehead. In less than a second, another screen with the text [Do you miss Anna?] appeared, to which he just sighed at, wiping some blood away from his eyes. He grabbed it and threw it above his shoulder, and as he suspected, another Blank took its place in seconds. He sighed again, rubbing the bridge of his nose and thinking.

["These things are..."]

[Pissing you off?] a Blank said, right next to the other one. Felix let out a "Eh?" to which the screen continued, [I know you well, Fox. Too well. Your thoughts are predictable.]

"Oh, I'm predictable... Right. Right! I'm sooo predictable! You know who else is predictable?!"

The Blank flickered as the text changed to [Please inform me.] to which just kicked it full power as he yelled "Your mom!" to which the Blank – alongside his leg – shattered into pieces. His leg regenerated in a matter of milliseconds and another window replaced the old one.

[False information detected. I do not have a mother.]

Felix, still mad, grabbed it and threw it into another Blank as he sighed, "Fuckin' orphan..." but as he was already used to, another screen appeared in front of his eyes. This one read [Do you miss Anna?] and Felix couldn't help but chuckle. What was this, anyways? Where the hell is he?

[Call this place Blank, my Creation.]

Felix sighed, rubbing his temples as he spoke, "You assholes really like reusing old... stuff... Wait... Wait."

Felix's fists tightened in anger and his teeth were clenched – his jaw was shaking from the force and his nails were digging into his skin. He barely managed to open his mouth and speak, "Creation?"

Felix grabbed the Blank, staring straight at the text. His eyes were dark and lifeless, but overall, they were annoyed. Mad. Furious. He was gripping the screen so hard, cracks began to form where his hand was, as pieces of it slowly fell to the ground.

"It's you..."

Felix gripped the Blank even tighter as it shattered under the pressure, yet he hardly payed attention to it. He let go as it fell to the floor, and he stood above it with a menacing glare in his eyes. The Blank, which was missing a good chunk of itself, continued putting text on, [I've been found out?]

Felix couldn't help but snicker at the text on the screen, and half whispered he spoke, "I'm on my way."

[What was that, Fox?]

"I'll find you."

He looked down at the Blank as his pure mana couldn't stay contained, as it all was leaking from his eyes, leaving a green streak behind. Felix finally exhaled, after holding his breath for so long, and that too had a green hint to it. He raised his foot and stomped on the damaged window, instantly crushing it all under his heel.

"Prepare yourself. I'm gonna climb this damn thing. I'll play your damn Line. And then I'll find you."

Another screen popped up near him as his gaze attached to it, with the same soulless hint in his eyes. No more complex messages this time, no more hints at anything... It was just meant to piss him off.

[You killed Anna.]

"Shut up."

[You killed your parents.]

"...Shut up."

[Everyone around you dies.]

"...That's not true."

[You're alone on this world.]

"Fuck off..."

[And that's why I brought you here.]

"I don't care!"

[You're weak, Fox.]

"I do not care!"

[You do. Climb the Line? Find me? You barely managed to eliminate a Boss. And you didn't even truly beat him. That was {Kim Jaehyun}.]

"You're telling me that like I don't know?! Fuck!"

Another screen flashed with [You killed Anna.] then another, and another, and yet another. In a few seconds, all of the screens surrounding him were full of one thing only. And Felix didn't exactly like that.

[You're the reason Anna died, Fox. But your sins have been forgiven.]

"By who, you asshole... By who?! You?! What gave you the right to forgive sins or not! You're nothing!"

[If I am nothing, then you don't even exist in comparison to me.]

"Shut up!"

All of the Blanks started closing in on Felix while spinning all around him. They soon gained enough speed, that the text on them wasn't even recognizable anymore. But Felix knew what they all said. As they all kept speeding up, one stood still and in front of him, the text on it firm and bright.

[Good luck on the Line, Fox.]

Felix sighed, grabbing it. In the next second, his hand went right through the screen, shattering it instantly. He let it go as it dropped to the ground, and he shook his hand a bit because of the pain, but no damage was visible on it.

"You won't be so high and mighty once I kick you down from your throne."

All of the Blanks started closing in on him, and Felix couldn't do anything but stand still and wait for them to do so. He wasn't sure what was gonna happen when they did reach him as he wasn't sure what's been happening since the beginning of this all – but he was more than ready to find out. As he stood there, with his eyes closed and the sound of thousands of Blanks flying around and towards him, he felt a warm touch on his cheeks and a sweet, feminine voice whispering into his ears.

"Godspeed, Felix."

Before Felix could open his eyes – before he could even process what was happening – he felt his consciousness swiftly slip right between his very fingers, and in less than a second, he completely collapsed and everything cut.