Past

Chapter 26 – Pain of past

The brilliance of the sealed door devoured everything.

Shinra shielded his eyes with his arm, but the light was merciless, piercing through his lids and burning straight into his mind. 

It wasn't just light—it was as if his very soul was being unraveled, pulled apart, scattered like threads of mana into the endlessunknown.

Then—silence.

No dust. No dungeon walls. No suffocating darkness.

When Shinra blinked his eyes open again, the world around him was nothing like what he had left behind.

He was standing in an open meadow. The grass stretched far into the horizon, a soft emerald sea that swayed gently with the morning breeze. The scent of dew hung in the air, crisp and clean.

 The sky glowed with a pale gold, touched by the rising sun. And drifting across the field, faint but unmistakable, was the sound of laughter.

Shinra froze. His heart skipped a beat. That sound… it couldn't be.

He turned.

And his breath caught in his throat.

A small boy was running barefoot through the grass—hair messy and yellow, eyes glittering with innocence. 

His laughter rang out like bells, unburdened by pain or sorrow.

It was him. His younger self.

Behind the boy, two figures stood by a small garden fence. 

A woman with long hair tied loosely behind her shoulders, her smile radiant, warm enough to melt even the coldest winter. And beside her, a tall man with a strong frame, his arms folded, expression stern yet gentle.

His parents.

"Shinra," his mother called, her voice as soft as he remembered, each syllable weaving into his chest like a needle.

He staggered forward, trembling. "Mother… Father…?"

The younger Shinra stopped running and turned toward him.

His innocent eyes, once filled with joy, shifted—darkening, sharpening,narrowing with accusation.

"Why didn't you look for us?"

The words stabbed deeper than any blade.

Shinra froze where he stood. His lips parted, but no sound came out.

The child's voice trembled, breaking into anger. "Why didn't you try to find us?"

Shinra's parents stepped closer. Their once warm faces were now pale, hollow, their eyes empty pits of disappointment.

"You left us in the shadows," his father's voice boomed, no longer warm, but cold and sharp as steel.

"You never searched… never tried…" his mother whispered, her smile gone, her voice cracking under grief.

Shinra stumbled backward, shaking his head violently. "No… that's not true! I was just a child—I couldn't—I didn't know how!"

But the boy's eyes only grew harsher. His small fists clenched.
 His voice rose into a scream that shattered the meadow's peace.

The world warped.

The grass turned to ash. The sky darkened, bleeding red.
Flames roared to life across the field. And before Shinra could brace himself—
A blazing strike of mana erupted from nowhere.

It slammed into his chest like a hammer from the heavens. 

The explosion ripped through him, sending his body flying backward. 

Agonizing heat consumed him, skin burning, muscles tearing.
He hit the ground hard, coughing blood, his vision spinning.

"Ugh… this… this is real…" Shinra gasped, clutching his scorched chest.

 Every nerve screamed in agony, the metallic taste of blood thick on his tongue.

The meadow crumbled away completely, consumed by darkness. 

The laughter, the fire, the cries of his parents—all vanished.

When Shinra lifted his head, there was nothing.

No grass.
No sky.
No ground beneath his feet.
Only endless black.

It was as though the world had been erased, leaving behind nothing but silence. 
His own breathing echoed unnaturally, as if bouncing back from invisible walls in this hollow void.

Shinra staggered to his feet. "Where… am I?"
Then, he saw it.
A flicker.

Far in the distance, a faint flame wavered in the dark.
Tiny, fragile, but its light was alive.

 Shinra's eyes locked onto it, instinctively drawn closer. The silence around him grew heavier, pressing against his chest with every step.

And then—A voice.

It emerged from the flame, neither male nor female, but deep, layered, ancient.

 It was not just heard, but felt, vibrating in his bones and twisting into the marrow of his being.

"What do you desire?"

Shinra stiffened. His throat ran dry. "W… who's there?"

The flame flickered. The voice grew sharper, echoing in the black void.
"What do you seek to know? The Past… or the Future?"

The words resounded, shaking the void. Each syllable pressed into Shinra's mind like an invisible weight.

His chest tightened. Images flashed across his thoughts. 
His mother's smile. His father's stern hand on his shoulder.Lizz's warmth, Samy and Ryken smile's .
Past.
Future.

Both pulled at him, chains around his heart.
He dropped to his knees, gripping his head as the void pulsed around him. 
"Why… why are you showing me this?"
The voice ignored his plea. Its tone deepened, more demanding now.
"Past… or Future? Choose."

Shinra trembled, his breath ragged. 
He wanted to scream that he wanted both, that he couldn't let go of either.
 But his voice caught in his throat. 
The mana strike's lingering pain gnawed at him.
 The illusion of his parents haunted his soul.

"Past… or Future?" the voice thundered again, shaking the void like a storm.

Shinra clenched his fists. He forced himself to stand, trembling but unbroken. His lips parted, ready to answer—
But before a word could leave him—
The void collapsed.

The flickering flame burst into an overwhelming blaze of light. 
It swallowed him whole, blinding, deafening, erasing everything in its path.

And then—black.