Empty. No end, no beginning. Darkness thick, yet not ordinary darkness; shadows moved at its edges, faint, alive yet lifeless. The void felt heavy, pressing without touching, as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something incomprehensible. This space was not a world, yet not pure emptiness either. It existed between everything and nothing, a place where time and light lost their meaning.
Thin cracks began to form in the air, radiating a faint glow. They moved slowly, dancing without rhythm, as if following an unheard pulse. Each crack floated in the void, filling the emptiness with patterns that could not be understood, yet felt deliberate. This emptiness… was no ordinary silence. It was alive, but in a strange way, testing, challenging, demanding attention.
From afar, a resonance was heard. Not a human voice, not words that could be spoken, but vibrations that penetrated directly into consciousness, seeping into the core of thought. It shook, but did not compel; it only invited, whispering something inexplicable, as if waiting for a response that could never come.
"You are here… though empty. You should not exist, yet you are present."
The pressure was not fear. Not pain. Only a void demanding focus, sharpening awareness. The cracks of light pulsed stronger, as if responding to the resonance. Subtle shadows slid and spun within the empty space, clinging to the air as if trying to form something, yet remaining undefined. There was no other sound, no direction, only a space that waited, waiting for something unclear.
"You are hollow… yet hollow is not weakness. You can see, even without eyes. You can judge, even without a heart."
The wave of sound sank deeper, seeping into every hollow crevice until it felt as if the space itself breathed along. It demanded nothing, forced nothing. It simply existed, filling the unfilled void, making something, or someone, aware of an unusual existence. The cracks of light began to emit a soft glow that pierced the thick darkness, outlining the boundaries of the boundless space, guiding awareness to stay sharp.
"The world outside here… will collapse if I let it. But you, the empty one, you can be the bridge. Between the dead and the living. Between the known and the hidden."
Every word felt slow, heavy, leaving an echo in the empty space. The cracks of light danced, forming winding patterns, intersecting, as if creating a map that only the hollow could understand. No other sound, no direction, no objects. Only living emptiness, trembling faintly, and waiting.
"Choose. Or let yourself drift. Emptiness is not destruction… but the beginning of something else."
The awareness pressed. That void… was not frightening, but demanding. It was no ordinary emptiness. It was a place to learn, a place to test, a space waiting to be traversed. A point of waiting, faint yet certain. Something would be born from this void, and the entity, The Void, had marked it.
Darkness remained thick, emptiness remained hollow. Yet the resonance left a trace, unseen, unheard, but felt in consciousness. The cracks of light pulsed slowly, guiding, challenging, forming a rhythm that could only be felt, not seen. Something had begun, something even The Void itself did not fully comprehend.
The space waited. No direction, no boundaries, no other sound except the remaining echo. But amid that emptiness, one thing was clear: this empty being would step forward. And that step would rewrite the boundary between life, death, and void, challenging the world with an existence that could not be ignored.
Shadows moved more slowly, clinging to the cracks, brushing the empty space as if giving a signal. The glow intensified, soft yet firm, offering guidance faint yet real: something would emerge from the void, and whatever it was, nothing would ever be the same after it appeared.
…
I opened my eyes. The first sight that caught my awareness was only leaves and branches moving slowly, dancing in a wind that may or may not be real. I sat, surveying my surroundings, only a damp forest and a river glimmering faintly before me. Beside me, a thin black sword was planted in the ground, small, yet somehow perfectly placed, waiting to be taken.
I turned to my body, sitting upright. My hands… or what I had to consider hands, rested on a small frame that seemed clad in dull black armor. A worn scarf coiled around me, adding to the sense of age and solitude. I tapped my right hand with my left—TAP! TAP! TAP!—nothing. No flesh, no bone. Astonishing emptiness.
I tried to make a sound. "HMPH!" "HMPPH!" That was all that came out. No words, no cries, only a vibration trapped within my own body. My hands explored my face—or helmet, faint scratches on its black surface, just two large eyes and two lines above, no mouth, no nose.
Crawling forward, I approached the river to see my reflection. The figure staring back… was not human. A round black helm, two horns protruding from the head, glowing round eyes, and between one eye, a white line stretching up to the top of the head. I tapped my head—TAP! TAP! TAP! Just like my arms, it's empty.
What exactly was I?
The wind whispered through the trees, yet I could not feel it. I wanted to scream, wanted to cry… but no heart, no voice, only emptiness.
And then I realized—
—I was a Hollow
I crawled back to the black sword, pulling it from the ground. The blade felt light, as if destined for my hand. With the first step, I moved into an unfamiliar world, without memory, without direction. My feet touched the earth, but there was no sensation; only a faint vibration marking my presence in this space.
I could hear, yet not breathe. The scent of the forest vanished from my consciousness. Slowly, I began to adjust to this body, absorbing every detail I could see: sunlight piercing leaves, reflecting off the river's surface, birds silver and gold flying across the sky, drifting lightly as if dancing in the air. This world was beautiful, calm, and silent—but not for me.
A few steps later, something changed. The bushes along the river stirred, not by wind, but by something else. A pair of glowing red eyes stared at me, piercing the forest. Predator. I was not afraid. I stood tall, sword tight in hand, my body still as a statue… waiting for whatever would emerge.
And behind the rustling leaves, a dark shadow began to appear, slowly, yet surely. Something large. Something far from an ordinary forest animal. Its gaze… fixed directly on me.
I held my breath, or at least tried, though I had no lungs, and realized one thing: this was only the beginning.