"What a beautiful day..."
...
In an age of turbulence, a boy lying motionless on the cold floor, opened his eyes for what felt like the first time, or perhaps not, in a sea of darkness.
His skin was pale, his long black hair stretching out to his shoulders. Strange gloves marked with unfamiliar symbols covered his hands. But what stood out the most were his eyes, deep, dark, and filled with an unsettling shadow.
The moment he awoke, a creeping discomfort slithered into his mind, swelling rapidly into unbearable torment.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, clutching his head with both hands as guttural, inhuman noises escaped his mouth. The pain was overwhelming, incomprehensible, as if it had been lying in wait, ready to strike the instant he opened his eyes.
His voice echoed through the void while his head shook violently. The agony clawed at his sanity, like a thousand needles digging into his brain all at once.
How was he still alive?
Was the human mind even meant to endure something like this?
Just as he reached his limit, the pain vanished abruptly and unnaturally. One moment it consumed him, the next it was gone. No trace remained. It left him questioning whether it had even been real. Those seconds had felt like an eternity.
Finally, his thoughts began to clear. He took slow, uneven breaths, forcing himself to focus on his surroundings.
None of it made sense.
He tried to piece together what had just happened, but his mind remained clouded. Nothing came. With a silent sigh, he scratched his head and muttered under his breath,
"Who the hell am I supposed to be?"
A dull headache lingered from the ordeal, but it did not explain the state he was in. His mind was a blank slate.
After a while, the pain faded almost entirely. He forced himself to his feet, realizing the danger of staying still in such a place.
He scanned his surroundings, searching for some clue, some landmark, anything that could help him make sense of the situation.
But all he saw was darkness, so absolute it felt suffocating. There was just enough light to see a few steps ahead, nothing more.
No sound, either. Except, during his screaming where he vaguely remembered hearing something. A bell. A strange, distant bell. He had not noticed it at the time, but now the memory tugged at the edges of his mind.
Then he looked up.
Two massive half-moons loomed in the sky, casting a faint, eerie glow.
The ground beneath his feet was unnaturally flat. Too perfect. As if someone or something had erased every imperfection, smoothing it into something alien.
And yet he remained strangely calm. He was not sure if that was because he did not know fear, or because he had already lost all sense of reason.
"Are you all right, sir?"
The voice came suddenly, soft and trembling, and startled him so much he nearly jumped.
His heart pounded as he turned. Just a few steps away stood a young girl with wide, anxious eyes, her body shaking slightly as she approached with caution.
What caught his attention most was how much she looked like him.
She seemed like a younger, more fragile version of himself.
Is she my sister? Someone from my family?
"Who are you, little girl? And how long have you been there?" he asked, forcing a gentle smile to reassure her.
"You really do not have the kind of face for smiling, mister," she muttered, still watching him warily.
He blinked, surprised at how quickly her fear seemed to fade.
"I am Celestia, I think. I am not sure. I just remember a blinding light and a white bird. Then I was here. And ever since I woke up, I have been hearing someone scream like the world was ending. It is too dark to run away. And besides, you are not even that tall. How did you not see me? And now I am stuck here starving in this place."
"Okay, okay, I get it," he interrupted, raising a hand. He had not expected her to be so talkative.
"Seems like you are just as lost as I am," he said.
"I am sorry. Please do not leave me alone. I feel like I will lose my mind if I stay here by myself," she said, her hands trembling.
She is not as fine as it seems, he thought.
He gave her a gentle smile. "Do not worry. I will not leave you."
He did not know why, but he felt a strong urge to protect her. It was more than just the resemblance. Something invisible pulled him toward her.
"For now, we should focus on getting out of here while we still can," he said, his tone firm.
For a moment, her eyes sparkled with a flicker of hope. "Then we can head for that tower," she said, pointing behind him.
"What tower?" he asked, frowning.
He turned and froze.
A colossal tower stood far in the distance, piercing the sky. It shimmered faintly, almost like a mirage.
For the second time that day, he questioned whether he could trust his own vision.
Maybe his splitting headache had scrambled his senses.
"I am not even sure we can reach it," Celestia added.
She was right. It looked so far away that even decades of walking might not be enough to reach it.
And yet something about it called to him. It had a strange pull, a natural gravity. It might have been the strangest thing in this place. How could it rise so high?
'So it is not that the moons are huge, it is the sky that is strangely low.'
"Are you listening to me?" Celestia asked, frowning.
He turned back to her. "Yeah. I think it is our best option. If we wander around blindly without a landmark, we will just get lost."
Celestia smiled. "Let's go, then."
He nodded, and she stepped closer to him. Together, they started walking toward the light, their first glimpse of hope in this strange, silent world.
After a moment, Celestia glanced at him and asked, "With all the yelling earlier, I forgot to ask. What is your name, sir?"
He raised an eyebrow as they walked.
"Good question."
He had not even
thought about that. And yet, strangely, the answer came to him so easily, as if it had always been there.
"Ice."