Chapter 1: A new beginning - Part 2

Aksa waited for so long, but his thoughts never disappeared. It was as if his mind refused to give up on life.

Suddenly, he felt a beat in his chest. 

One after another, his heart began beating again. It was sporadic at first, trying its best to spring back to life, but soon it stabilized.

He opened his eyes as his body jolted upward, but his vision was still blurry. His lungs couldn't stop gasping for air, desperately inhaling it all in as if it was going to disappear again.

It didn't take long for his body to realize what had just happened, forcing Aksa to turn around before he started to throw up.

Even though he reached a point where there was nothing left in his stomach, his body kept trying to throw up.

"What is this place?" Once his body calmed down, Aksa murmured in a low voice as he moved his hand, sensing a water-like movement under him.

He started turning his head around, trying to understand where he was. But no matter where he looked, his eyes were met with endless darkness.

"Am I… Dead?" Aksa hesitantly questioned, his voice barely a whisper

He slowly lowered his head, his gaze glued to the darkness that loomed beneath him. The eerie silence engulfing the place was starting to play on his nerves, so his mind tried to distract him with sporadic thoughts.

"Guess this is how things end, huh?" With a heavy sigh, he murmured, trying to calm himself by accepting his fate. Yet, he knew deep down that he couldn't lie to himself.

Tears began flooding his eyes as he started gritting his teeth hard enough for someone to think that they were going to crack.

Through his teary eyes, Aksa caught a glimpse of a small child sitting next to an old-looking coffin. His body was shaking nonstop as he sobbed loudly.

"Mama!… Please wake up! Mama!!" his cries were loud, echoing through the place as people stood around him.

Some turned their heads as they couldn't bear looking at the child desperately holding the pale hand of his mother, which was limping over the edge of the coffin planks, which were barely nailed together.

Her lifeless fingers were curled, as if trying to reach the small fingers of her child, who was tightly holding to the edge of the coffin, as if trying to rip it apart

Then, everything faded away, and the scene shifted. 

The same child appeared again. However, this time, he was standing in the middle of a large field, filled with golden wheat that swayed with the wind.

His body was curled over, his hands struggling to pull the ears of the wheat under the glare of the summer sun.

A man loomed over him, his face frowning and his nose wrinkling as he raised a whip high above the kid's body before swinging it with all his might.

"Aaaaarrggghhhh"

The crack of the whip echoed loudly, and the wails of the child followed as the whip bit into his back. 

He immediately dropped to the ground, his body struggling as his hands instinctively moved, trying to reach into his back, which was now burning as if fire was eating into it.

The man, however, immediately grabbed the kid's arm, yanking him back to his feet before screaming loudly into his face, his voice sharp and full of anger, "Work faster, you worthless brat!"

The other kids looked at this sight with fear in their eyes, their bodies shivering at the thought of something like that happening to them.

The child swiftly nodded, his lips quivering as he tried to contain his tears. He then forced himself to continue, his small hands shivering as he gathered the wheat he dropped on the ground.

The scene shifted again.

This time, the child was among a line of slaves being dragged forward by thick chains. A heavy iron collar wrapped around his neck. 

As he stumbled forward, his feet were leaving faint marks of blood on the rocky ground. They were wounded by the heavy metal of the chains wrapping around their skin.

As they walked forward, their eyes were hollow, and their tired bodies struggled to move as their muscles were weak and stiff.

The guard guiding them suddenly yanked the chain, pulling the child by his neck and causing him to fall to the ground, landing with his face on the rough rocks. 

As the child began crying, the guard laughed loudly before pulling the chain once again and forcing the child back on his feet.

"Move, you fucking filth!" the guard barked.

Aksa raised his fist high above his head. It lingered there for a moment before he swung it fast, hitting the ground beneath him with all his might as memories of his life started flashing before his eyes.

He then stopped for a moment, exhaling deeply before he hit the ground again. And again. And again.

The skin started peeling off his hand as the blood escaping from his wounds now mixed with the dark liquid beneath him. However, he didn't stop. 

He could feel the immense pain in his hands eating into his sanity. He wanted to stop, but he didn't—rather, he couldn't.

His body was on autopilot, and his brain was no longer responding to him. His heart was the only voice of reason left, but it couldn't stop him anymore. Years of anger… Frustration… Rage… It was all seeping out now.

"Why… Why!" Although his eyes were closed, he couldn't stop tears from streaming down his face as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Why do I have to die? I don't wanna die!" his thoughts escaped his mind as he couldn't stop the words coming out of his mouth.

"I have lived my entire life like disposable garbage, and yet, I'm supposed to accept that this is how things end?… Why?!" Aksa spoke loudly. He held his head in both arms as he leaned on the ground. His breath was hitching nonstop while he tried to wipe his tears.

"I didn't ask to be born or live like this, so why do I have to suffer while people live their lives normally?" He added.

"I lost everything and everyone, over and over again, and for what? Just to die in misery like this?" as he continued to speak, he hoped someone would be listening to him. But he knew that he was alone once again, and this time, maybe forever.

"I hate my life… I hate everything and everyone…" He screamed at the top of his lungs, yelling himself hoarse. "This world deserves to suffer like I did… And I hate myself for feeling this way."

Nevertheless, a sharp, siren-like noise suddenly echoed in the place, snapping him back to his senses. He cracked his eyes to find a glowing red light shining on his body. Once he lifted his head, his eyes opened wide in shock.

A large, crimson colored eye was hovering in the air, staring down at him down as the siren sounds got louder. 

His breathing got heavier as he felt his body collapsing once again. The eye suddenly started twitching, moving randomly in different directions, before it eventually got fixated on him again.

"Greetings… My child…"