Aochi
I saw light.
Though, it was only a faint red-violet glow, drifting in the shape of a nebula.
What, does the darkness end here?I was surprised at myself, feeling somewhat disappointed as I dimly made out everyone’s figures.
Wasn’t I supposed to be afraid of the dark?
True darkness was brighter than some half-hearted light, and it was kind to me.Please forgive me for having rejected it all this time without knowing anything.
It felt as though I had returned to where I was born.
Our beginning was not in the light, but in darkness. Once I became certain of that, fear vanished.What makes it frightening is the thought that by losing light—or something that seems good—we’re being pushed into another world.
But it’s simply starting again from the beginning.There’s nothing to fear.
As my eyes grew used to the light, I noticed there wasn’t only that first red-violet nebula.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.No, it wasn’t that there were different kinds, but that the colors were changing.Tiny nebulae shifting from white, to blue, to green scattered everywhere.
“Uru.”
A voice came from right behind me.Oh right, this one had just drunk for the first time and passed out.
“Ululu, are you all right? You must have been shocked, drinking for the first time.”
“Uru—”
Still half-asleep, his eyes were heavy and words few.
If I could meet him again in the next world, I wondered what he would be like. That thought lingered in me.
Even now, I had nothing but the sense that I would remain in this place.
I felt sorry for Oomi and Oze, who were still fighting so hard, but regardless of my will, I knew I would end up staying.
“Even if you give up, I haven’t given up on you.”
I turned at the sound of the Harvester’s voice.
“The Watcher Bird is trying to trap me here, isn’t he?”
There was no point hiding things from him. While everyone was distracted by the floating nebulae, I might as well ask.
“Don’t worry. I refused that bargain. What a selfish bird—trying to make you a part of himself and take you away. He’s one of God’s familiars, a fragment of His own flesh. And yet he would break the rules on his own? Love is a frightening thing.”
While I had been walking through pure darkness, I heard the bird’s voice.He told me, if I stayed with him, he would save everyone.
I had nodded, but the Harvester refused.During the choosing, our lives are all in his hands.
“I didn’t hand you over.”
That was all he said, then his gaze fixed on the very center of the square.
“Ululu!”
Ululu shouted, and I followed his line of sight.
“That—”
In the very center of the square, something that hadn’t been there—or rather, hadn’t been visible—appeared.Should I call it a palace of white walls?
Catching my breath, I spoke once more.
“That… is the heart of the Watcher Bird, isn’t it.”