"Don't you dare die on me, brother!"
"Don't shout at me, idiot!"
A man lying on a hospital bed with a ventilator, heart monitor, and many more apparatuses shouted back at the man.
"Brother!"
"Tsk, stop shouting at me, I am not deaf!"
Lux, that was the name of the man lying on the bed. He was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which makes his body weak over time.
It was a rare disease that had no cure until now. Despite that, he became a successful designer and made his younger brother finish his college
"Hey, I have something to tell you."
Lux said weakly, but steadily as he turned his head and looked at his younger brother, whose name is Damian
"Yes, brother?"
Damian leaned closer, his face swollen from crying, his shirt sleeve streaked with tears and snot.
"Yuck, don't you have a tissue or something?"
Lux said jokingly, which made Damian laugh, who grabbed a tissue on the table beside the bed
"Anyway.. I am fine, so don't worry about me. You're such a big man, unlike me, so stop crying, you look like your boyfriend broke up with you."
Damian laughed. He sat on the edge of the bed carefully, making sure not to touch his brother's legs.
Silence settled inside the room, the machine beeped steadily, and both Lux and Damian enjoyed the company of each other despite not talking.
"You know, despite having this cursed disease, I never regret anything."
Lux broke the silence as he look at his brother's big back
"As long as you got your dreams come true, got yourself a girlfriend, have a good steady job, and got yourself a kind kids, that is enough to me"
Damian looks back at his brother, his throat tightens
"Don't talk like that-"
"I am just proud that you're my little brother. I am not saying goodbye."
Lux smiled softly, then made a goofy expression like a little kid
Damian's eyes glistening again
"I am so happy and proud that you're my older brother too."
Lux's smile softened. He reached out weakly, and Damian immediately took his hand.
"When I get back, make sure my 10 little nephews are waiting for me at home so I can spoil them with anything."
"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you get better and don't die on me 'cause if you do, I'm hiring a gay guy to cry really hard at your funeral."
"Don't you dare, Damian, I swear I will come back from the dead to slap your ass"
They both burst out laughing at each other.
Silence returned, as well as the steady beeping of the machine
Soon, visiting hours ended. Damian stood up reluctantly, still holding his brother's hand.
"I will come back tomorrow, and don't give the nurse a hard time, okay?"
Lux smirek
"Yeah, no promises"
Damian laughed and walked towards the door. Before leaving, he heard Lux's voice call him
"Damian, I have a favor."
"What is it?"
"Open when you get home, you can log in to your computer with the password you already know. Then, go to files and delete the folder named favorites.
Lux said laughing
"Oh that? I see, no problem."
Damian said with a knowing smile, and he walked back towards the door again
"Take care always"
He heard Lux, he turned back one last time.
"Goodnight, brother."
Lux raised his hand and took a salute
"Goodnight, Damian"
The door closed with a soft click, leaving Lux alone with the steady beeping of the machines. He lay there staring at the faint reflection of the ceiling light on the window.
He let out a slow breath, a smile tugging at his lips.
'He's going to be fine. Even without me.'
His chest rose and fell with full effort, but his heart felt strangely light. For the first time in years, he feels free of worry, knowing his brother is well and will delete his porn collection
"Finally,"
He whispered to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a tired grin,
"The kid's crying for bruised knee has grown into a big man."
'Good thing I already transferred all my savings to his bank account without him knowing hehe'
He chuckled weakly, the sound fading into silence. His eyes drifted toward the window, where the faint glow of the city leaked through the curtains.
Lux's eye closed. His hand twitched slightly on the sheets.
'Yeah… Till we met again, little Damian'
And with that last thought, his chest rose one last time before he let himself sink deeper into the quiet darkness. The sound of the machines became faint, and he fell into peaceful, eternal sleep.
...
Lux felt weightless, as if he were floating or flying toward the expanse of stars. He took a glance around.
'That's beautiful. Is that Earth?'
He asked no one as he looked back. His spirit continued to float as the planet Earth appeared much smaller.
The galaxy stretching beyond swirls of light converges into what seems like beautiful art.
Time passes, and his soul continues to drift from the void.
'What is that?'
He noticed something from afar in space, seemingly warping the light around it, as if the space itself was moving. Then the thing moved. It stopped and seemed to glance at him.
A gigantic purple eye, bigger than the solar system suddenly appears before him.
"#&^*&^#"
The space trembled as the thing said something in a word or sentence he could not understand.
'W-What!?'
His form shivered from fear and something more primal.
The eye glowed, and it surged with an invisible energy around him.
'Wait!'
"^@^%#@#"
It pulsed again as the eye vanished. His form then slowly moved faster until he was moving faster than the speed of light. He drifted past thousands of planets like a meteor streaking across the dark.
'What in the world was that being?'
Lux had never seen the universe this way. It was both scary and beautiful at the same time.
His speed gradually slowed until he could see clearly around him.
He was in an unfamiliar planet's atmosphere.
It looked so different from the world he lived in, where blue was dominant.
This planet's size is similar to Saturn's, with a ring around it too. An ocean in the center, cutting the world horizontally.
His spirit body was then dragged closer to the planet until he saw a small town. His body continued to be pulled to a medium-sized house near the center of the town.
Before him lay the small body of a boy wrapped in a fabric with patterns in it. The boy is drenched, eyes closed, and his chest is not moving.
Around the boy are three men and four women dressed in patterned fabric. One men push down hard on the boy's chest, trying to save him
Then his spirit was pulled closer to the boy until they became one
'Wait! I still can't process everyt-'
...
Lux opened his eyes
"Chief! He lives!"
He heard a shout. It was urgent and relieved at the same time. The word he said sounds unfamiliar, but familiar at the same time
His eyes widened as his chest convulsed. He turned sideways and then coughed out water from his mouth. splattering water on the ground.
Before he could understand what was happening, He was then pulled by a massive man into a strong and comforting embrace.
"Thank the gods, you're safe, my son!"
He heard the deep man's voice, it cracked with raw emotion, his huge figure trembled as he cried silently
"I thought... I'd lost you."
The man said as he held Lux close
Lux blinked, confused about what was happening. His eyes caught a faint line of scar and tattoo on the big man's arm and chest.
Lux froze and fell into daze
'What the hell is going on?'
Then a sudden surge of memories slammed into his head, like it was forcefully drilling it all inside. Faces he didn't know, sounds that were so strange, Food that was so unfamiliar and looked unique, culture that was so strange yet beautiful, everything forcing its way into his brain.
"ARGHH!"
Lux clutched his head, even slamming his palm in his temple as He screamed, shocking the people around him. Then, everyone rushed closer.
"What is happening to him!?"
"Is he being cursed!?"
"I-I will call the saintess!"
Frantic shouting was heard around him as everyone was unsure of what to do.
Lux vision spin. Memories that were not his settled and merged with his. His body convulsed once again as his chest heaved up and down.
The frantic shout faded, his muscles relaxed, his vision blurred, and his eyelids became heavy.
Lux lost consciousness and fell asleep in his new, unfamiliar world he now lived in.