Cold Misery

"..."

"..."

"..."

A dizzying pain sears into his mind.

Blonde lashes flutter open, but they merely reveal a similar darkness to that of his closed eyelids.

Stirring awake, Sun lay sprawled across the ground, but as he tried to sit up, there was no ground at all.

"...?"

Although he didn't speak, the mere thought of 'Where?' seemed to pain him.

So, he tried not to think at all.

Looking around -- rather, just looking -- he could not see direction.

Nor could he see colour.

Neither was he able to sense a flow of time.

It all felt still, bleak, and unbearably disorientating.

Worst of all was the chill raking down his spine, across his skin, into his very bones.

Not a feeling similar to being submerged in 'cold', but being devoid of 'warmth' altogether.

"..."

"S...?"

"...?"

Like a faint tingle in his ear, or mind, in his very being, something had shaken him.

Unable to turn, he merely moved his eyes, hoping that the darkness had changed, despite how much that pained him.

There, he saw it.

A lone pale hand above him.

It was outstretched, its palm faced towards him as if offering him aid.

Sun reached up towards his hand, despite the pain it caused him.

Then, he felt hesitant.

Hesitant to reach up, so he stopped moving his hand.

Then, he felt reluctant.

Reluctant to keep his hand outstretched, he began to withdraw it.

Then, he felt sick.

Sick to the point of hurling, but nothing would come out, so he could only gag.

He gagged.

He was gagging.

'...'

It was then that a warmth pervaded his chest.

Not from within, but over his skin.

Should he look down, he would see a pair of arms embracing him from behind.

Splayed over his chest, dragging him downwards.

Like sinking into a bottomless sea of ink.

A bottomless well of black.

An abyss of absence.

On his tongue was the taste of iron.

In his nose was the smell of copper.

"S...?"

"..."

"..."

...

...

...

"Sun?"

...

"Sun."

Turning his head, the young blonde faced his father.

The youth whose face was buried in the white sheets had lifted, leaving wet marks in the fabric.

"Yes, Father..."

"You have your Mother's hair, and you have her eyes."

Blessed with the golden locks of his mother, who was behind him, and bearing her gentle eyes, too.

"Yes... Father..."

"But you have my face...!" A weak but hearty laugh sputtered from the man's lips. "You will be quite the looker when you're older...!"

"..."

"You will have the same rough hands as mine."

Saying so, the man placed his calloused palm on the boy's head, whose blonde hair was already dishevelled.

"You will become the man that I was."

Saying so, the man met his son's gaze. Both their gazes were devoid of the light they were familiar with.

"You will become a great man."

"..."

"..."

The youth, whose tears fell down his cheeks, met the man's tired expression with great pain in his heart.

"Do you know why I gave you the name 'Sun'?"

"No...No, Father."

"It means that you will bring hope to the people...!"

"It also means... that you are but our boy..."

That last sentence came from his mother.

Having heard that, his throat felt strained, and he wept silently.

"You are our darling child..."

...

It was an abrupt awakening.

Finding himself on a bed of white sheets, a blanket draped over his limp body.

He could not will himself to move.

He did not move his eyes either, leaving his blank stare towards the ceiling.

He did not turn his attention to the voice calling his name.

"Sun...?"

Two figures stood over him, a man and a woman.

'...?'

"Junior... are you awake?"

With his vision blurry, he could not make out who was calling him.

"His eyes are unfocused. His breathing is weak and unstable. What happened? he was fine just a moment ago..."

There was another figure that entered his vision.

'...!'

There was a fourth figure in the corner of his eye.

Slowly, his head turned to face the initial three figures, but his attention was on the fourth right behind them.

"So. How was it?"

"Do you feel validated now?"

"Enraged?"

"Humiliated?"

"Depressed?"

"Or, tell me, do you seek redemption even now?"

That fourth figure cackled violently, loudly, yet it seemed to only reach Sun's ears.

Undoubtedly, it would deafen the other three figures if they heard that sinister laugh right beside their ears.

"Don't give up yet~."

"We need you~!"

"Save us!"

"Help us!"

"Isn't that what you want to hear?"

Suddenly, one of the initial three figures crouches down before him.

"I don't think he is properly conscious. He mustn't be seeing us properly, if at all, but there shouldn't be anything wrong with his vision..."

Slowly, a pair of hands wrapped around the crouching figure's neck.

"Don't you want a chance~?"

"Move your weak body!"

"Lift your arms!"

"Save this man!"

'...'

'...'

'...'

"Not gonna answer me?"

With a violent crunch, the crouching figure's head twisted to align with Sun's head.

The snap was immediate, violent, gruelling, sickening.

"...!"

He was revolted, but breathless. Sun couldn't let out a scream.

Jumping back, he fell out of the bed and crashed onto the floor. 

"Junior?"

"Sun!"

Baffled by the abrupt motion, the crouching figure fell back in fright.

"Sir...!?"

Gasping deeply for air, Sun tries to recollect himself as sweat drips from his brows.

"What..."

Gradually, his blurry vision cleared. Rushed to his side was Shade of Autumn kneeled beside him.

Behind her was the Settlement Lord.

Approaching his other side was, presumably, that crouching figure, who seemed to be a Medical Expert.

"What is... where am...?"

The last thing to return was his hearing.

There was a cold sensation on his skin, but he felt a myriad of smaller sensations from around him.

Faint breathing. Faintly beating hearts. Faint shifting of resting bodies.

As his hearing returned to him, he could hear too much.

He could hear that breathing, those beating hearts, and the shifting of fabric.

Yet, there was so much more, too.

The dispersion of bodily heat. The fatigue of their bodies. The weakness of their minds. 

Emotions. Dreams. Thoughts.

Pain. Obscuration. Tiredness.

Confusion. Loss. Despair.

The worst of all, a cold sense of misery.

He embraced it all, unwillingly.

Falling over while clutching his head, Sun could only grit his teeth, unable to scream or groan.

His roar-inducing pain was kept silent.

"...!"