Chapter 4- Beginning After The End

Adelaide's consciousness floated through an endless void, an ethereal emptiness that was both comforting and disorienting for what seemed like eternity. There was no sense of time or space, only a feeling of weightlessness that surrounded him like a cocoon.

As he tumbled through the darkness, he felt a strange sensation wash over him. It was as if he was being pulled in different directions at once, and he couldn't tell which way was up. His body felt as though it was being torn apart and reassembled at the same time, and he couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.

The next moment however, what seemed like a stream of cool wind passed through him, making the pain slightly manageable. As the earlier sensation slowly passed, he tried to shake off the haze of unconsciousness, but a splitting headache made it so that his body felt heavy and sluggish.

«BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!»

In his half-asleep state, Adelaide felt like he heard a loud beeping sound, making his splitting headache feel worse. But after a short while, he gradually got used to the pain, regaining his consciousness and also the ability to judge.

Lightly groaning, he slowly opened his eyes, still groggy and disoriented from the earlier experience. As they adapted to the light, he made a shocking discovery.

All traces of the treatment area was gone. In its stead, he found himself lying beside on what seemed to be a bed in a very small room.

I.... was dreaming?

That was the first conclusion he came up with, but then again, it felt too real just to be a mere dream. He could still feel the phantom pain from his body being burnt in the explosion.

Even more confusing was the place he found himself in. A quick glance at the room showed that it was filled with peculiar furniture that defied the norms of his familiar environment. Even the bed beneath him was soft and covered in an unfamiliar fabric. He was very sure that no place in the entire Moon Shadow Village looked like this.

His heart raced as he tried to make sense of what was happening. How had he ended up here? And where was here exactly?

«BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!»

All sorts of random thoughts popped into his brain as his headache began to subside. For some reason, his thinking speed was slower, probably due to the receding headache. The beeping sound was still going on in the background, and he tried to recall how he got here. The last thing he remembered was him about to hand the wierd crystal he had found to Garu, and then... nothing.

«BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!»

Something is terribly wrong.

The beeping sound seemed to get louder as he recognized the uncanny situation he was in. He also had a gnawing feeling of something being subtly wrong with the world, like the intangible space around him was somewhat denser, making him feel claustrophobic.

Years of residing in Moon Shadow had made him into someone who didn't idle around in anticipation. Immediately, he attempted to bolt away from the bed in order to assume a defensive position, but to his surprise, his limbs were slow to respond, as if they were detached from his will.

Initially, he surmised that the explosion seemed to have left a lasting impact on his physical capabilities, making his body feel out of balance, but when he took a good look at his hands, he realized that the situation was something much more disturbing.

In contrast to his weathered and calloused blue skin, evidence of years spent scalping, the hand before him was petite and delicate, adorned with a rich, dark complexion.

What the....

As if some condition had been met, almost at the same time as he looked at his hand, a sudden pain pierced through his head, causing him to stumble backwards and fall to the soft bed. He began screaming as strange memories poured into his mind like a tide.

"AHHHHHH!!!!!"

He clutched his head in his hands, the pain allowing him enough mobility to, while messing up the clothes he wore in the process. The headache that was subsiding just moments ago had come back in full force.

«BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!»

The loud beeping sound was still going on in the background. A large amount of foreign information was currently being transmitted straight into his mind, which made him scream even louder as the pain was too intense.

Images, thoughts, and emotions flooded his mind, crashing into him like a chaotic whirlwind. Each memory presented a mosaic of sensations, leaving him with an amalgamation of sights, sounds, and emotions without a clear understanding of their terrestrial origin.

Unknown to him, his body was surrounded by arcs of blue electricity, crackling and fizzling with a life of their own.

Suddenly, he discovered himself enveloped in some kind of white, misty fog. In the distance, a vaguely familiar voice echoed, eluding his attempts to identify it. At this point, his anxiety had grown into full blown panic as his senses were completely shut off by the strange mist around him.

A moment later, the fog in front of Adelaide swirled, and his surroundings transformed. He found himself in a white-painted room, observing an exhausted woman lying on the bed. A dark-skinned man, holding a baby, beamed with joy as he showed the infant to his wife.

"Honey, notice his smile when he catches sight of you. See!" exclaimed the man joyfully, cradling the dark-skinned baby in his embrace.

What in the blazes is going on?

Adelaide attempted to speak or move his body, but an unseen force held him captive, allowing only the role of a silent observer in this moment.

"He's got your eyes, Rho" the woman said, holding the child in her arms. The infant gazed at the world with wide-eyed curiosity, finding the new sensations intriguing. The room seemed to enchant the baby, nestled in the safety of the woman's embrace.

Adelaide continued watching the couple fawn over their child, knowing that these people couldn't see or hear him. His gaze was fixed at the scene happening in front of him. Something about this place… felt familiar.

"What should we name him?" the man asked. The woman rocked the child in her hands and with a sigh dripping with motherly love, she smoothed over the tiny strands of budding white hair, kissing his forehead.

"Rion. Son of Hale."

Almost as soon as those words were uttered, his attention shifted, and two distinct set of memories began to unfold. One was the memories he was familiar with, of his life as Adelaide, the chuzkah, up until the moment he was swallowed by the explosion.

The other set of memories was a cascade of images, emotions, and experiences that seemed to belong to the white-haired infant named Rion. Adelaide felt an inexplicable connection to these memories, as if he were intricately woven into the fabric of this young life.

In this different memory, he glimpsed Rion's childhood—a mix of cozy moments and heartwarming scenes. Like pages turning in a book, he saw the strong connection with his parents, their guiding light, and the beautiful landscapes of their home planet.

But within the joy, there were also strands of sadness. Adelaide shared in Rion's fundamental memories, including the heart-wrenching loss of his parents. The recollection of their departure left behind both sorrow and a deep sense of grief.

In his mind, he could see different instances of the boy laughing and crying, and he could feel all different kinds of emotion radiating from him. He felt these emotions as if they were his own, and he could hear the boy's thoughts as if they were speaking directly to him.

Caught between these dual memories, Adelaide, devoid of a frame of reference, continued his unwitting exploration of the boy's memories, unaware of the profound impact this unintentional assimilation was having on his sense of self.

As he unconsciously sifted through fragmented recollections of playground laughter, schoolyard friendships, and the comforting aroma of home-cooked meals, the boundary between chuzkah and human blurred.

He struggled to distinguish the memories he had acquired from his own experiences, his senses grappling with the unfamiliar textures of this alien existence—the warmth of sunlight on skin, the rustle of leaves in the wind, and the rhythmic beating of a human heart mixed with his original chuzkah experiences— leading to a surreal synthesis of sensations.

As he watched all of the boy's memories play out before him, he felt a connection to him that he couldn't explain. It was as if he knew him, as if he and the boy were one and the same.

He and the boy's memories continued to intertwine, from happy memories to sad ones, until the process ended. His eyes still closed, he let out a hoarse sigh and uttered a stifled curse. At this point, the last remnants of blue electricity danced along his fingertips before vanishing into the air.

As he slowly steadied his breathing, he blinked as if trying to reorient himself. His legs felt weak, and his mind raced with confusion.

Looking around, he realized that he was still lying in the same place, but he wasn't the same person he was before.

This is so weird...

His frenzied screams had begun to subside at some point, allowing him to once more hear the beeping sound persisted in the background. As he lay on the unfamiliar bed, a profound realization began to dawn upon him.

Tentatively, Adelaide slowly raised the hand that felt so alien, yet familiar to him, examining the delicate features and dark-colored skin. The boy's experiences had intertwined with his own consciousness, forming a complex tapestry of emotions and sensations.

'I'm Adelaide, the chuzkah,' he whispered, the words carrying an eerie weight in the confined space of the small room.

His gaze wandered, taking in the foreign surroundings that was simultaneously contradicting everything he had ever known while being very familiar.

He reached for his chuzkah memories, only to find them entwined with another's, like threads woven into an intricate tapestry. The distinction between one self and the other blurred with each passing recollection.

With a surge of determination, he steeled himself against the lingering pain and mustered strength to move away from the bed, but his legs wobbled beneath him. He gritted his teeth and slowly crawled down from the bed, towards a reflective surface on the wall.

Upon reaching the mirror, he paused and caught his breath, gazing at the reflection staring back at him. What he saw was not the rough, weathered skin visage of his self, but the face of a young adult with wide, brown eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and recognition.

The young man in the reflection was dark skinned, with rounded cheekbones and a face that was neither too angular nor too soft. His eyes were a clear brown, complementing his dark skin. His silver-white hair, which provided a striking contrast, was slightly tousled, with a few strands falling casually over his forehead and into his brown eyes.

His thin frame and bony structure gave him a frail build. Despite his ordinary appearance, there was something compelling about his natural charm and the easy demeanor that emanated from him. The youthful face in the mirror seemed almost serene despite the turmoil within.

He reached out, tentatively touching the glass as if trying to anchor himself to some semblance of reality. He traced the contours of the face staring back at him, trying to reconcile it with the memories and sensations that now filled his mind. As he observed the physical features of the youth reflected in the mirror, a lone thought could not escape his mind.

This foreign, alien body was his.

As he had this thought, the truth settled in, sending shivers down his spine. 'I'm not only Adelaide the chuzkah,' he muttered, the voice foreign yet strangely resonant. 'I'm also Rion Hale, the human.'

At this point, only one thought went his mind as he realized that through some unforseen circumstances, he had become a wierd amalgamation of both.

What in the Freaky Friday is this.....