He had always thought dreams would come true, as long as one would dream hard enough.
He listened to the cacophony of the raindrops colliding his the metal roof breaking the deafening silence of the gym.
'Why? Why is everything falling apart?'
He stood up and slowly made his way out of the gym.
In the past 2 years, he had lost his position as the captain as the school volleyball team, lost his parent's trust after being framed at school and all his friends turned on him after his ex-girlfriend spread rumours about him.
If there was one word to describe his current state, it would be...
Pathetic.
As he steps out of the gym, he took a deep breath. His shoes splashing in the puddle outside of the gym. His unravelled white hair dampened by the heavy rain.
'Losing my family, friends, girlfriend and my favourite sport; volleyball. What do I in this world to keep me behind?'
He chuckled. As he tears slid down his cheeks, its trail left a warmth that he had forgotten long ago. As he exited the school gate, he turned back to take one last glance.
"Ah, yeah, I'm not coming back." he whispered.
As he took a step out of the school gate and proceeded to cross the road, he heard the roaring of a engine in a distance. Before a second, all he saw was that he was right in front a bright yellow sports car.
The next moment he found himself drowning in his blood as a shock of pain vibrated through his entire body...
As he lost himself in the sea of pain, he prayed.
'Only if I had another chance...'
And so the Gods answered...
He found himself in a empty space, devoid of any warmth, any colours and any tangible object. Then, a monotonous voice echoed in his ears, "Ah, a life of regret, an absolute torment."
"Who are you?" he asked as he looked around just to lose his sense of direction as there was nothing in his sight.
"I'm no one, but I think I should let you know that your physical body is dying." the voice answered with not a sense of emotion in each word.
Amidst his chaos of his mind he asked the voice with a resentful voice, "Ah, so this must be afterlife..."
"No, but you're almost there." the voice replied, finally revealing a sense of disdain.
"So whe-"
"Boy, you don't have much time left." the voice cut him off. "If you want to live, we can form a contract."
"Contract?" he asked in confusion.
'Why can't it just end already? It cannot be this hard to seek death.'
"I'll keep you alive if you accept three conditions" the voice answered.
"But how are you going to ke-"
"Because I can."
"I don't even want to live anymore anyway, so I might as well say no."
Silence followed, as if the voice has finally sense a slight doubt.
"Don't you hate the way you were treated?"
"I-"
"Don't you want to live a life with no burdens and no obligations?"
"I-"
"Don't you want to let those who have hurt you suffer the worst pain in the world?" the voice finally broke its composure. "Winter, wake up from your innocence."
Winter felt like something deep beneath him shook. A sense of sorrow, followed by a strong sense of regret. But, as those words sank deeper into his mind, what really arise was a uncontrollable wave of hatred. Not just hatred to those who have hurt him, but to the world, and all the injustice that have reside in it. Of all variety of emotions flooding into his mind, only three words squeezed out of his mouth.
"Which three conditions?"
"Accept me into your soul, follow the path that I have paved for you and I'll tell you my third condition when you become stronger."
"I really don't know how to do any of those..." Winter sighed.
"Just agree and I'll do the rest." the voice replied as reassuring as ever.
"Sure, but who are you?" Winter questioned again.
"I am no one. Don't resist what's coming next, no matter how you feel."
Then, the white dome of nothingness that surrounded Winter began to shudder. Winter turned around just to witness a river of water forming an orb in front of him. Slowly, the water cystalised into a sphere of ice. Gracefully, the sphere started blooming in a delicate and intricate pattern, forming a ice lotus, created by layers and layers of ice. It slowly approached Winter as it floated across the distance of nothingness. Winter breathed deep as he accepted the existence of the ice lotus and before he knew it, the ice lotus was right in front of him. He slowly reached out with his arm to touch it. However, the moment he contacted it, a sensation echoed throughout his body, his movement became faster, perception became sharper and body felt lighter.
"Wake up." he heard the voice echoed in his mind.