Fuck not aga-
Pain detonated throughout his body, stings of thousands of lashes layered upon each other, every strand of his nerves alight with an excruciating, searing pain that he had done nothing to earn. His skin felt flayed and his flesh were licked by flame from within. Jay tried to scream but a deep ache swelled in his throat, not due to a wound but from the absence of his vocal chords.
AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK AGHHH!!!
Darkness replaced his retinas, a thick and suffocating emptiness. Jay couldn't see, couldn't blink, couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or closed or were if they were even there at all.
He tried to jerk his limbs but he was only met with further pain and immobility.
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?
His arms were pulled wide, his shoulders slanted upwards, dangling his broken body below him. A scorching metal punctured his wrists, legs trembling above naught, only the slow tearing pull of gravity further opening his wounds.
I CAN'T TALK OR SEE OR-
A devastating explosion interupted Jay's thoughts as he entered the dream world, not letting him take even reath before being plunged in what seemed like hell.
The sounds of metal clashing against metal and the destructive blasts and the thick, iron heavy smell of blood and smoke were the only stimulus that reached his brain.
Worst of all, the pain was not only contained to his body but it had spread to his mind also. Some… thing that he couldn't describe invaded his thoughts, screaming and gnawing at the edges of his sanity. It was like he was being corrupted by the ideals and values of what he hates most, like another conciousness trying to replace his own.
IT HURTS. ITS HURTS SO MUCH. IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS
His memories fractured, splintering like a glass bottle that was accidently knocked off a table, scattering in random directions. His name. What was his name? Who was he?
He pleaded with himself, hoping that his begs would somehow recover some or any part of his identity from this foreign entity.
I'm going to die.
His begs had no answer and his will began collapsing in onto itself. It was like falling into the deepest part of the ocean in the middle of the night, a dark abyss absent of light and life where the depths will swallow you whole, your feelings, your thoughts, your hopes, and your dreams.
I can’t take this. I can’t—
His fingers twitched, the only part of his body not pierced by metal that seemed to listen to his desires but the action only led to a fresh wave of pain that seized the shores of what was remaining of his sanity.
The voice continued to eat into his mind, convincing Jay that it was better to be nothing. It convinced him that he should be small and to curl up into a ball over and over and over again until he becomes a dot and eventually disappeared. They were sweet whispers of salvation. Though regardless of the promises that were spoken, in the end, they were only whispers.
!!!!
Then, a voice.
???: "Hold on!"
The few words broke through the echoes of Jay's fragile mind and the battlefield blasts. It wasn't a whisper of some false salvation. The voice was loud and shook in desperation. Aggressive. But at the same time, it was somehow soft. Warm. The demanding words had an emotional undertone that gave them meaning in contrary to how they were spoken, similiar to a hideous angel whose appearance would ward off evil for purity.
A hand lightly touched upon his chest and the waves of pain that constantly bashed against the cliffs of Jay's mental slowly receded, dragged away by some miraculous force. And with the tide, the foreign noise in his mind reverberated in and out of existence, slowly but surely fallling silent. The whisper were gone.
And Jay was still there, though barely.
The fire that was grilling his flesh dimmed to just embers before vanishing completely. He could now hear his breaths again, hot and harsh as the chains that bounded his lungs were finally released.
It was his eyes that received the last of the angel's gracious love.
Light flooded his vision, too bright for his pupils born in the night to adjust to. Jay blinked through the sting of the light, desperate to see the hectic disturbances in the far distance and the hideous angel that prayed for his return from hell.
What unfolded before him was a landscape stripped of colour. Endless stretches of black and white stretched in every direction, a monochrome void of an ink brush from a mangaka that painted a battlefield of hundreds. Mag flew everywhere from Dreamer he's never laid eyes on before, in scales so grand that no matter how he tried approaching it, he simply couldn't comprehend its feasibility. The only splashes of colour were within the irises of the people around him, vibrant, excruciating so against the bleak backdrop.
And in the center of the chaos was his angel.
A girl. She was the opposite of the hideous creature that Jay had imagined. His angel wore wavy white hair that caught the dim light like moonlight on snow, her green eyes wide with something between relief and a deep sorrow. She donned a white dress that complimented her herbal accents and she was quite small — petite even — but there was a strength in the way she held herself, a resolve that made his chest ache deeply.
???: "I'm sorry I'm late!"
Her voice shaked, her eyes adverting his that stemmed from a shallow guilt that resided within her. Her fingers hovered over his face, as if she wanted to touch him but didn’t dare. Then her expression twisted, pain flashing across her features like a shadow.
Jay: "..."
He tried to speak, but no sound came. He wanted to thank his savior for pulling him out of that living purgatory but no matter how hard Jay tried, he couldn't even croak.
???: "Your vocal chords... how much did you scream... you must've been in so much pain..."
The girl seemed even more defeated now, her shoulder slumping down just for a second, before she steeled herself again, her palms clasping upon her round rosy cheeks. She hooked his arms over his shoulders, securing his wrists across her chest pulling him close, his gravity resting on hers.
???: "I've gotten pretty strong since you last saw me! Let's get out of here\~!"
The short girl broke into a sprint, the pitter patter of her steps barely made a sound against the plain ground. Averting his eyes from her for the first time since regaining his vision, they circled to the chaos around the pair.
Dozens of figures moved in blurs of motons at speeds that his eyes had no chance of keeping up. Pillars of white flames rivaling that of a solar flare roasted the vicinity's oxygen, noir bolts of lightning shot down in vicious strikes, silver acid seeped into the cracks of the white ground, all forms of mag that Jay didn't couldn't even fathom their existence were performed simultaneously in front of him, their colours a testament to their rebellion of their setting. The shockwaves from a single blast of these dreamers could tear a planet apart.
What the hell am I looking at?!?!
This can't be a dream of the future. I don't recognize anything here at all!
Is this a dream of the past? Or of tomorrows future? Or an even further future? Am I experiencing someone else's life?
Jay tried to find a reasonable explanation but came up empty minded.
Then a cheer went up from the battlefield, interupting any further reasoning.
???: "Estella's got him, let's get the fuck out of here!"
Jay's head snapped towards the resonant voice which boomed the instruction that echoed against the infinite white field. It belonged to a man — tall, tanned and lanky though those were by far his least interesting characteristics. That man was the source of nearly half of the destruction that Jay bore witness to. All from a single dreamer.
His bright smirk stood out, like he was naturally made for the role of taking the center like the eye of a storm. He moved with terrifying confidence, the twin katanas that interlocked his fingers carved the air clean and precise, leaving afterimages in the space. Arcs of mag exploded from the edge of each swing, the embers pure and beautiful, like a firework that are shot in celebrations. Each one of his steps that made up his footwork left splits in the earth, though heavy the movements were graceful and efficient, like he was dancing on a winter ice.
The white-haired girl — Estella — tightened her grip on him as she quickened her pace.
Estella: "Trust me like I've always trusted you okay? We're not leaving without you, Jay."
He looked ahead, wanting to piece more of the puzzle that was his dream together and spotted a distant cracked pulsing into existence in the far distance, emitting an eerie light.
Then suddenly, the mag halted and the masses of people began scattering, retreating towards the crack, each with triumphant expressions as if they just achieved the odds of an impossible victory.
Why are this happy? Rescuing me nonetheless? I don't even know any of them.
Jay kept close to the girl's back, her wavy hair smelling like lavender, thinking back to her expression when she realised he was unable to speak.
Estella... what am I to her for her to look at me like that?
The masses cleared out and the battl— more like war calmed down a smidged, the revealed scene catching Jay's eye. There were bodies. Scattered across the frontline the corpses blended into the background, the little pigment from their eyes leaving as their life force fades away. All from a small white smudge of white ink. The edges were unrefined and the curves were many, but the overall shape of this entity roughly resembled a person.
The ink was relentless, snuffing one dreamer after another like they were mere candles, it's attacks warping the space around it, vibrating the air as a low oscillation continously emanated outwards.
Estella: "NO-!"
Estella's breathed hitched as her previous resolve faltered in an instant, her eyes widening in horror.
The ink splatter briefly paused its attacks and Jay could see the desperate scrambles of the dreamers in the far distant towards the opening.
Estella: "Keep going!"
The small girl pumped her fist with all her might, like her words had the ability to share her strength to others. But to her dismay the foe was not ceasing its attacks. In the still of the quiet it was gradually lifting its hand to the desolate sky as the dreamers fled.
Estella fell silent.
Jay's heart dropped.
The hand now perpendicular to the ground laid still.
What came with it was an explosion.
Not one with fire nore sound, but just merely force. A shockwave of pure energy ripped through the war zone, severing through over half the souls over in an instant, leaving another quarter disabled. The rest were pushed to their limits to just survive, whether it be through pure mag or imag output, the integrated strength of the attack force could only save so many. That was how overwhelming the power disparity was.
???: "Estella, what are you doing, keep running!!"
Estella staggered and nearly dropped Jay before catching her self. Her already pale face was now truly a blank white, her lips pressing into a thin line, eyebrows twisting. But she kept running. It was like Jay was that much more important to her than everyone else.
...!
This was far too outside the scale that Jay could understand, even if he considered all of the battle manga he read in the past.
To make matters worst for Jay's mental, one more person materilised in front him. Another girl, or a woman to better describe her. She was completely the opposite to Estella. She was abnormally tall for a girl, around six foot and sharp-featured, her long crimson hair whipping behind her like a royal banner.
She moved with a grace that made Esetella’s sprint look clumsy, her deep crimson eyes locking onto them with laser focus. Gold-edged silks and slim jewel-bright armor shimmered light with every step.
Red-haired woman: "Hey! Give him to me!"
Her words were urgent and harsh, cutting through the mess with authority. The healer didn't hesistate.
She all but threw Jay into her arms, her hands already glowing with that same healing light.
Estella: "Better keep him safe! I'll see what I can help in holding it off!"
Estella then slowly trailed her speech, her face shrinking.
Estella: "One more thing... my healing mag didn't work. His memories are gone and he can’t talk either."
Red-haired woman: "Don't worry!"
The woman was already turning before Estella could finish her sentence and shot her an expression that was raw and of gratitude.
If Estella was quick, then the pace that the woman was making would put her to shame like it was comparing a snail to a cheetah. The world blurred around them, the battle becoming a silky combination of grey as she dashed forward.
Shit, Shit!
Jay has never moved this fast before, his stomach lurching and on reflex, he held on tighter.
Red-haired woman: "Hey don't worry, I'm not leaving you. Not this time atleast."
The tall woman paused for a moment readjusting her grip, her arms like iron bands around him before speeding up even further.
Red-haired woman: "You're heavy, you know that? Pathetic. Even though you're my knight, this is the second time you're playing damsel. When is it going to be my turn?"
Her harsh words confused Jay even further. As an enternal loner he never had anyone who would stick up for him, Nevertheless in the present there's dozens of people fighting for his safety. Willing to risk their lives for him. What was he to these people? For them to go this far—
!?!?
This time the distant vibrations cracked as they drew closer, like the dimension itself was tearing in half.
Jay twisted his body to see the source of the attack.
All just to see Estella's body impaled through the abdomen by a spear of blackened light flying past them.
She hit the ground with a sickening thud, her white hair fanning out beneath her like a shattered halo.
Up close Jay could see everything.
The way her green irises drained to a deep noir, then to grey, and finally to-
Red-haired woman: "NO!"
She slowed for a split second, glancing at the pierced corpse before being interupted from a roar behind them.
???: "DON'T STOP! IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE VENUS!"
Jay’s head snapped forward. Two more figures joined him from the battlefield: a towering, broad-shouldered man with hair the colour of arteries, his chiseled features drew emphasis to his fierce expression that was hidden underneath his dirty traditional robes.
The other was a girl; long flowing blonde hair streaked with white, shadowing her long feminine lashes and face set in a snarl of determination. She donned a battle-tested dark uniform, reminiscent of a space war general but despite the humble clothing, she was unrealistically gorgeous in every single way.
Broad-shouldered man: "Hey, it's my turn with the main character now!"
The Venus nodded, handing Jay off mid sprint and returning to the battle without her previous hesistation, her hands wreathing in crackling energy that glowed differently than other mag.
Broad-shouldered man: "Shit, you're in rough shape."
Jay tried to protest against his lack of ability to do... anything.
But his body simply wouldn't obey.
His throat was ruined, limbs lifeless.
The only option he had left was to just pathetically watch everything unfold, hoping for it to all work out in the end.
Just patheically watch as Venus — the red-aired woman who'd had just been holding him only moments before, collapse from her leg being severed by a shockwave of pure energy.
She couldn't even scream for help.
Sequential strikes radiated through the space between removing further limbs, and ultimately her life as well.
Blonde-haired girl: "GO GO GO!"
She grimaced for a split instant before raising her hands in concentration, warping the space around them and tearing open a portal like opening a wound in the dimension itself. The crack radiated a welcoming violet, unnatural against the neutral backdrop, the edges sparkling with an iridescent white.
The man didn’t hesitate. He dove through the opening and Jay clutched against his chest. The last thing Jay saw was the portal girl, her face streaked with blood turning back towards the opposing figure who had slain all but three, her hands glowing with a light so bright it hurt to look at.
Blonde girl: “Jay — for once, live for yourself, you idiot!”
She screamed, voice raw. She pulled him into a trembling kiss, lingered for half a heartbeat, then pressed her palms to his chest and pushed him away, her hands falling empty.
Her left hand tucked behind her back, fingers curling tight, while her right lifted in a quiet, almost delicate wave.
Blonde girl: “I'll love you, always.”
The words made Jay's world stop.
Everyone froze.
Except him.
Jay could only stare at her, his mind blank, caught in the moment like it was something fragile he’d break if he moved carelessly. Her hand was still raised, that small, quiet wave suspended in time. Her expression was unbelievably soft, steady, and her bittersweet look put Jay in a trance.
All he could do was stare at her.
He wanted to save every detail of her in the deepest part of his conciousness to never forget. He gave his everything to ensure that she would be a part of him, though immaterial despite their impending inevitable separation.
The world snapped back.
Jay’s hand shot out instinctively, fingers straining toward her, his body finally able to respond to what his hearts desires.
But his reach wasn't long enough. Not even close, his palms missing contact and clasping onto air.
She smiled back.
It was small and tired, the kind of smile meant to reassure someone else rather than themselves.
Even as it held, the warmth began to leech from her face.
Color thinned first at the edges — her lips paling, the flush in her cheeks fading until her skin looked washed out and unreal.
The blonde girl turned back to the white figure, revealing torn clothes that exposed her thin, wounded back whose blood clung to the edges of the frabric, tracing an outline of pain.
Brutal gashes carved deep across her back, some burnt by something impossibly hot, some stabbed by something impossibly sharp.
In the end they never met eyes again.
Jay had a feeling that would be the case. He saw the way how their weight shifted irregularly and how her steps kept faltering as she placed herself between Jay and the figure.
The world around them dulled, hues draining away like water through a crack that lead to a void of nothingness.
Her eyes lost their brightness, irises bleaching to grey, then lighter still, until they were blank.
The dark of her hair followed, blonde softening into ash, then silver, then something flat and lifeless.
Just like all the girls before her.
Jay loathed how the process was becoming repetitive. Especially as he was powerless throughout all of them.
Even now, she moves forward, despite the ending already set in stone.
The blonde girl lunged forward as a blade of light tears past her shoulder, the impact driving her sideways but not stopping her.
She answers with everything she has left — a brilliant spectacle of spatial magic, white light fracturing into prismatic shards that splinter the air itself.
Every blow lands slower than the last, every movement costing more energy than the last, but she keeps going anyway, burning the last of the wax of her candle.
The desperate effort was met with the complete opposite.
The white figure advanced forwards without urgency, carving rhough her attacks with effortless motions while responding with their own strikes.
The vibrations land, one after another as the girl continued to stagger, the blood and light pouring together into something brighter.
Only her will kept her standing.
No matter how many times she dropped to her knees, she forced herself upright again.
Still she refused to yield. Instead she continued to smile her signature smile.
It was the epitome of perserverance.
Jay's eyes closed momentarily and the portal shut between them, the dimension dissolving into darkness.