Satya saw the half-hidden face of his mother.
The moment he saw it, his breathing grew hotter and rougher.
The world suddenly seemed overwhelming.
But as he turned his eyes to look at her clearly—
She was gone.
Gone as if she had never been there at all, as if it had only been a mirage born from his exhausted mind.
But Satya…
He felt as though the colors of the world had intensified.
A flood of memories drowned his thoughts.
He could almost hear his mother's voice.
> "Be wary of your mind, Traveller."
The Shadow's words pulled him back into reality.
Awakened by the warning, Satya calmed himself and controlled his thoughts, building a dam within his mind to resist the flood of memories.
To distract himself, Satya focused on what was truly real.
Ahead of him stretched the white flowery path toward the endless horizon, while the Sakura trees stood on both sides like a heavenly corridor.
> "Let's reach the end of this path, Shadow, and see what lies there."
For the first time since meeting Satya, the Shadow seemed reluctant to follow him.
Yet it agreed nonetheless.
So Satya engraved the beautiful scenery into his heart as a picture of comfort and continued onward.
After a while, the light pour finally stopped.
The world felt refreshed afterward, filled with a strange sense of purity.
Satya could not quite understand why everything felt so much cleaner.
Still, he chose to accept the feeling as it was.
The path once again seemed full of life.
A gentle breeze flowed through the flowers, spreading their fragrance everywhere as though the blossoms themselves were singing praises of their existence.
Suddenly, a butterfly landed upon Satya's burns, perhaps trying to comfort them in its own unique way.
Just as Satya admired its beauty, it fluttered away into the endless sea of flowers.
As he watched the fleeting butterfly disappear, a group of bees caught his attention.
They moved tirelessly from flower to flower, carrying out their duties in harmony with nature itself.
A few circled around Satya curiously, admiring the presence of a new being within the pink-and-white world of flowers and Sakura trees.
The sun remained high in the sky, yet Satya continued walking beneath the shade of the beautiful trees, embraced by nature itself.
On the Sakura Veil path, Satya witnessed what a world overflowing with vibrant life truly looked like.
The devotion of the bees.
The carefree wandering of butterflies.
The soft glow of the trees.
All of it showed him how beautiful life could be.
After several hours of joyful wandering, just as the sun neared the horizon, Satya saw a tall mound covered in flowers, much like the one at the beginning of the path.
Perhaps it marked the end of this journey.
Or perhaps it was leading them toward a new one.
After some time, Satya climbed to the highest point of the mound.
He looked upward.
The sky was covered in deep crimson hues.
Birds soared through the heavens as though they too wished to witness the beauty of the world.
A flock of cranes flew together in the shape of an arrow.
Perhaps they were nature's arrow, destined to traverse endless boundaries.
The sun was now half-hidden behind the horizon.
Crickets began to sing.
Fireflies appeared in glowing groups while moths chased after them through the darkening air.
The world itself seemed filled with a heavenly choir—
The choir of nature.
Crickets, birds, and even the wind revealed their innate talents to welcome the arrival of the night.
In the far distance, beyond the endless field of flowers, Satya saw a chain of mountains stretching toward the horizon.
Yet among them, one mountain stood above all the rest.
It was far taller than the others, its peak hidden behind layers of clouds.
> "Woah… this mountain range looks like dwarfs compared to that mountain."
Suddenly, the world grew colder.
The Shadow itself darkened.
It seemed to hold mixed feelings toward Satya's fascination with the towering mountain.
Just as Satya wondered what had caused such a reaction, his eyes wandered across the nearby peaks.
Then—
He saw it.
On the peak of the mountain closest to him stood a porcelain statue of a woman with peerless beauty.
Satya, mesmerized by its appearance, instinctively stared closer at the statue.
Then the statue waved at him.
A wave of terror flooded Satya's heart.
Suddenly, the statue's appearance became unstable, its features shifting and distorting unnaturally.
The moment Satya saw this, a sharp pain spread through his burns.
His mind began recalling the memories tied to his scars.
He quickly shut his eyes and covered his ears.
Then he forced himself to think of random things.
Anything.
Anything to distract his mind.
Anything to prove to himself that it did not exist.
But his fear alone was proof enough that it did.
After some time, Satya finally believed it had disappeared because he had refused to let it corrode his perception.
Then—
Satya's heart nearly stopped as he felt something place a hand upon his shoulder.
---
{White flowers stretch endlessly across this path.
Butterflies roam the heavenly earth.
Bees carry out their duties.
Crickets, birds, and wind create a heavenly melody.
And I, who witness all of this…
Still feel like a stranger
within this world of beauty.}