Chapter 4: Chapter 3: The Most Beautiful Place in the Universe

It was dark.

 

Heh, this is the place?

It was even darker than the world they teleported away from. Rene stared into the abyss before him, trying to make out any shapes at all.

Oh I get it, it’s a metaphor, something like how I’m not fit to see true beauty.

The bloody AI won’t talk to him. Apparently her temper was as bad as her personality.

Alright alight, I apologize for making fun of your tastes. Could you turn on night vision so I can actually see?

Despite him not being able to see his surroundings, he felt pretty claustrophobic. It was also pretty awkward for him to just stand there by himself.

Pretty please?

Suddenly, a delicate, pulsing yellow light lit up a few meters ahead. Rene inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. For a brief moment, he believed the AI had actually abandoned him.

Taking up Saffry’s hint, he walked towards the flickering light source.

Now that he had a few seconds to reflect, he could somewhat see what Saffry meant by ‘the most beautiful place in the universe’. The opaque darkness surrounding him wrapped around him as a cool, soothing blanket; its accompanying silence also brought Rene a sense of serenity. The atmosphere was completely different from simply that of a dark room.

As he walked, the light, once fragile as a match in the wind, now gained a sense of stability, it glowed like the tip of a cigar.

It was at his eye level, Rene thought for a moment before slowly reaching out his hand to grasp it.

Just as his finger was about to touch it, the light moved towards his hand.

It lit up the wall behind it. Rene could see something come out of the darkness.

A pair of pitch black eyes.

He hurriedly pulled his hand back.

Hey, Saffry?

The light grew brighter as it exposed more of its background.

“Saffry.” Rene spoke out loud with a wavering voice.

Shadows receded from a middle aged face. Pale white skin, aging blond hair, emotionless black eyes. In his mouth was a stick with a glowing tip.

“Saffry!” Rene collapsed backwards as his legs gave out. His pupils constricted, his heart sunk deeper with each increment of silence.

The eyes of the man glared with increasing disinterest. The light in his mouth brightening and dimming in resonance with his breath.

“SAFFRY!!” Rene desperately shouted with all his might to find no reply. His body turned rigid, his chest felt cold. He instinctively tried to scurry away, only to find his legs paralyzed.

The middle aged man muttered a sound as he turned away, the light which marked his location danced up and down before fading into the abyss.

Rene sat leaning on his shivering arms. His face was pale without life. His wide eyes saw death. His mouth was agape and his jaw trembled.

“S-Saffry, this isn’t funny anymore!” He whimpered.

 

There was no reply.

“Saffry!”

 

There was no reply.

“Saffry?”

 

There was no reply.

“Saffry, please be still here…”

 

There was no reply.

“Was it something I did?”

 

There was no reply.

“Sa—”

It was pointless.

Rene cut himself off as he stared aimlessly into the black. His chest rapidly rose up and down.

She’s gone.

Thump thump thump thump thump—

The darkness which blanketed him now felt suffocating. Its silence amplified the thuds of his racing heartbeat.

She left me.

 

**********

 

The cold made Rene snap out of his daze. With great difficulty, he summoned enough strength to stand up. Breathing into his hands for warmth, he huddled himself tightly; it was only then Rene realized he was no longer wearing his former clothing.

His futuristic suit was gone, replaced by a raggedy shirt and some pants, the color of which he couldn’t see. There was also something covering his feet, it felt like leather. When looking down, he couldn’t see his feet at all, they were absorbed by the darkness. Rene scoured the pockets in his pants to find them empty.

He looked to the sky in hopes of spotting the sun—there was nothing.

There was the sound of a deep inhale, the result of someone trying to forcibly calm themselves.

Pfffffff…

He slowly exhaled.

A pair of eyes traced over the path the middle aged man took.

Rene placed his trembling hands ahead of him as he slowly walked into the unknown.

The chilly wind blew past his ears and made his shiver from the cold. This signified to him that he was now in the open.

The ground slightly inclined, Rene continued walking.

His eyes, which had now adapted to the darkness as much as possible, detected a slight change in light. A small pale dot revealed itself ahead of him—the sun! It was the sun!

Rene couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. With the sun’s illumination, he could now see a few feet ahead. It was low, concerningly low however. There was only the question of whether the sun was rising or setting.

If the day is already this dark, then night…

With that thought, he hurriedly decided to follow the sun, without it, his vision would be no different to a blind man’s, but as long as he could see it, he knew the path ahead was available.

The ground now began to decline. He walked near the wall to his right so he wouldn’t be stranded in the open; as he walked, Rene envied the glasses worn by the dark skinned people he saw when he was still with Saffry, maybe with a pair he would be able to regain his vision.

The path was straight, and even after walking a few minutes the pale light of the sun ahead never left his gaze. Whether it was the intention of the city’s architects or pure chance, Rene felt quite lucky.

There was a faint noise. Curiosity took hold as he carefully left the wall he had been following and went over to investigate. As he got closer, the silhouette of a door entered his vision.

A strange lettering marked its center, Rene’s light sensitive eyes also picked up faint traces of light at its corners. Pressing his ear on the cold surface, he heard—conversation! A male and female voice conversed with one another inside.

Rene knocked on the door without hesitation.

Knock Knock Knock—

The sounds of conversation suddenly stopped and a series of footsteps approached the door, it swung open with a creak, revealing a tall, stoic man that glared at Rene with analytical eyes. He had the same features of the middle aged man: black eyes, blond hair, and white skin.

Rene initially knocked on the door due to impulse, he hadn’t actually planned for any followup. No matter, his mind stirred as he quickly came up with an explanation.

“Sir, I—”

“Yjq hyl zpv?”

A jumbled series of sounds came out from the man’s mouth; Rene fell agape with embarrassment, he should’ve expected that the man didn’t speak English, but his distressed state caused a lapse in his judgment.

Body language… Body language… I’ll point to my eyes, he should be able to understa—

There was a quick breeze before Rene’s stomach caved in. The air from his lungs transformed into a guttural noise as it was expelled from him involuntarily. The last thing he saw was the man extending his leg, the gloomy sky filled Rene’s vision as he flew and landed hard on cobblestone.

The world was a blur as he tried desperately to hold in his stomach contents. It was no use, he threw up against the wall opposite to the door.

Bam!

The sound of the door slamming shut awakened him from his mental daze, but the stench of puke made Rene retch further. Vomit splashed on his clothing, he heaved until there was nothing left in his stomach.

“Epw ycu qb?”

“Kvtu awum ftwiikg.”

Rene continued to hear whispers of the man and woman talking indistinctly, he weakly got up as he used a sleeve to wipe the excess vomit from his mouth. Holding his abdomen, Rene continued to tread alongside the wall he vomited on previously. He looked to the sun for comfort, but it only filled him with dread.

It’s lower.

His body quaked, he felt the cold again.

It’s gonna get colder.

He forced himself to inhale deeply, the sour, vomit stained air was unpleasant, but it was nothing compared to the cold.

Pfffffff…

He slowly exhaled.

It was darker now, Rene’s eyes detected a few more faint glowing circles, it was another door. He seemed to currently be in some kind of neighborhood.

Do I try again?

He winced in unease when he recalled his last encounter, but he had no other choice, the sun was setting and he didn’t know what lay ahead. He could only hope that the next person he visited would have a little more empathy.

Rene took a sniff of his shirt and made a wretched face. It was drenched in a sour aroma. He deliberated over taking it off before deciding against it. A shirtless man appearing at your door would appear more abnormal.

Learning from his last encounter, he devised a plan beforehand. He would point to his eyes and ears to indicate that he was blind and deaf, next, he would prostrate himself and beg for food and shelter. The act of doing this greatly damaged his pride, but he was more desperate than prideful at the moment.

Groveling at someone’s feet was an action whose meaning was universally understood and transcended the different cultures of Earth. It was the only thing Rene could think of if he wanted to communicate with the natives of another planet.

He took a few more deep breaths before approaching the next door. His hand hovered over its surface for a moment before he pressed on with his plan.

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Knock Knock Knock—

There was no response. He waited for a bit longer, but there was still only silence.

Are the owners not home? Did they not hear me?

Either way, it didn’t hurt to knock again, he would move on to the next door afterwards.

He lifted his hand.

Knock Kno—

BOOM!

A sphere of darkness expanded from the door with a roar. Rene nearly hit the wall as his figure flew backwards, his skin scraped and bled as he slid across the rough ground. His clothes ripped and formed holes.

“AUGH!”

Rene held his left arm as he groaned in torment, he had fallen on it with his full body weight. This was much worse than his last fall, the sphere had blasted him slightly upwards as well as backwards, whereas the man only kicked him backwards with less force.

Whether his arm was broken or not, Rene didn’t know; he had never broken a bone before. He tried to move his finger to no avail. It was probably broken. The muscles on his face twisted from the piercing pain, but his desire to survive made him push through.

Pushing against the wall, he grunted and propped himself up, then, he looked to the sun; it was even lower. After wiping away the water from his eyes, Rene let his left arm dangle on his side as he limped onwards with the support of the wall on his right.

One last time… one more…

One more time, he would try one more time, not planning for what to do if he were to fail. A wry smile formed on Rene’s face, he found it ironic that he no longer felt the cold due to the adrenaline. The stench of vomit had also been replaced with that of blood.

With his broken arm and blood stained tattered clothes, perhaps this will make people more sympathetic? “Hehe,” a faint chuckle escaped from his lips.

The nearby houses may have heard the noise of his screams, Rene planned to skip the next few houses in case the residents associate him with something unpleasant.

At the ninth house, he stopped. Rene only noticed it after, but the door of the second house was slightly different from the first. This time, he carefully inspected this door with the quickly receding sunlight and found it to be identical to the first. After being assured that he wouldn’t get flung back again, he began to knock.

Knock Knock Knock—

Then he quickly stepped away from the door; for one, his current appearance was terrible, if he was too close, it might scare the person inside. The other reason was so that he would be able to dodge whatever danger might come out.

Rene breathed a sigh of relief after hearing a flurry of footsteps come from inside, in his mind, he quickly went over his acting routine. The door was opened by a middle aged woman, who slightly shuddered as she saw Rene’s appearance. Once again, she shared the same black eyes, blonde hair, and white skin just like the first man. She wore a small hat and was dressed in loose nightgown-like clothing. In her right hand she carried a small stick.

The eyes, the eyes…

Rene quickly pointed at his eyes, next, he directed his hand towards his ears.

Does she understand what I’m trying to say? He observed her expression, she was a little scared, and she hid half her body behind the door, but her face was mostly neutral, there was still hope.

Alright, still doable, there’s still hope… Next, he would get down on his knees and pray that she would help him.

The woman raised the stick he held and pointed it at Rene.

“Wai—”

A shadowy orb shot out from the tip of the stick, too fast to dodge. It hit Rene in the face.

The world revolved into darkness. His vision became a uniform black.

Wait, I’m still conscious? I’m still aliv—

There was a sharp sting on the side of his head.

What was that? What happened!? Where am I??

Rene tried to examine the wound on his head, as he tried to reach out for it with his right hand…

Wait—he couldn’t feel his hand, no, his entire arm!

His legs, chest, neck, he couldn’t feel them, the pain in his left arm also vanished.

So I have died, Rene relished the thought, it wasn’t that bad in the end.

His worries, the cold also vanished into oblivion. The darkness brought him an unnatural sense of solace.

Death is pretty nice.

His mind floated by itself within a dreamless sea of infinite dusk. The placid surroundings made him feel as if he were a baby in a womb; veiled by a blanket of warmth, his tranquil mind was without worry as he embraced the forthcoming bliss.

Wait, there was something else.

He saw a faint light pierce through the black. Its glare pestered him.

Go away… He wanted the light to leave. Why couldn’t it leave him alone?

The light grew brighter, dispelling the dark.

No, no… Stop…

They were leaving him.

The warmth.

The serenity.

Why… Stop… Why must the darkness go? He wanted it to stay.

Rene slowly regained his sight. He saw the door the lady had exited from now closed. It was sideways for some reason, in fact, the world was sideways, it also seemed a lot larger; the cobblestone wall that guided him also seemed different.

That’s the floor…

The floor was now on his side, and the sky became the ground. Rene placed no attention to the odd changes of the world, he closed his eyes again to go back to his wondrous dream, but a pain he couldn’t pin the location of kept him awake.

The stings of pain became sharper, causing his mental fog to clear.

Hang on… that’s the floor. When did I fall over?

Rene tried to get up to find his body incredibly rigid; but he could now feel where the pain was located, it came from his left. He laid there, helpless, as someone repeatedly stabbed the left side of his body.

As he gained more control of his body over time, his senses also gradually recovered, though the pain was now amplified and concentrated to one area.

He had fallen on his left arm, causing him to feel the worst torture in his life, accompanying which was a headache and a head-splitting ringing in his ears, his senses were assaulted all at once. His mind, which slowly recovered to being clear, fell once again into haze from the unceasing barrage of torment.

Through the haze, Rene cursed that woman with whatever profanity his foggy mind could think of. He writhed around in agony, this one was by far the worst of the three encounters.

Rene tried to sit up with whatever strength he could muster with his still rigid body. But the moment he was almost upright,

“AAAAAAGHH!!”

He lost balance and fell on his broken arm again. He was fully conscious this time, and he wished for death.

The pain he felt eventually subsided to tolerable levels after an unknown amount of time. The sun had set at this point, there was only the lowly illumination provided by the dimly glowing circles surrounding the doors. Rene’s sight was blurred from his tears. After wiping them away, he realized his eyes were blurry by themself.

Despite there being more light on the side of the houses, he didn’t dare go near there again. Thankfully, his legs weren’t that affected, after standing up with great difficulty, he crawled towards the wall’s side.

It was pure darkness here, he couldn’t even see an inch ahead. Rene had long tried to examine the wound on his head, but his fingertips were numb from the cold, he couldn’t feel anything but the fact his head was still attached on his shoulders.

Once again, he limped forward by balancing himself against the wall.

Where did he plan to go? There was no plan, he followed the only path available to him. The passing minutes danced within his mind, he could no longer keep track of the time.

“Pmg, evi dtz juarpqc?”

Rene flinched at the sound, he frantically turned his head but could see only black.

“Thats e qty qh eorrg rnxyjw, gr eua need vq amm h hsgxsv?”

A voice mocked him from the darkness; there was no source, it came from all sides. It felt solid, Rene was buried within it; strangled, smothered like someone held a blanket to his face.

He ran for his dear life while dragging his right hand against the rough cobble wall. His fingertips bled as skin was scraped away. But he didn’t care what would happen to it, he would not stray from the only thing he trusted: that sturdy wall.

His broken arm swung wildly as he sprinted. The thing was left behind, but now his adrenaline had died down and his pain amplified. The fingertips of his right hand throbbed, his stomach ached, his lungs burned, his legs were sore, his ears rung, but worse of all was his migraine; with every beat of his heart, it felt like a branding iron had stuck his temple, no—he preferred the branding iron.

Why was he still walking? Rene didn’t know either. Hopefully, the wall can lead him to a pit deep enough to end things quickly.

“V-ov! Xf kdyh f xkukvqt huey! Oz nqqmu tvixxc kjmuh ihunlk bw!”

A series of crackles then accompanied the first jarring noise. Another person—no, there was more than one—an entire entourage of echoes taunted Rene.

The cacophony of sounds flooded his ears in a constant stream. His sight was as good as gone, and now his sense of balance was compromised. Rene stumbled forwards—no, backwards, despite not moving. He leaned with his back against the wall in order to stop himself from falling. He was trapped.

 

“Kill yourself.”

A voice pierced through the dissonance and stabbed into his conscience. Rene shuddered; his own voice whispered in his ear.

“Do it.”

“That wall’s behind you, smash your head against it.”

That… I—

“You want this to end, don’t you?”

Before he could fully process it, something struck his left arm. The sharp pang shook him awake. Rene’s exhausted face grimaced as he bolted away.

“Tn fvb ujkv! Alehhe kv that oxa? Brx sgjk rc adw jfjh!”

The voices didn’t follow, Rene ran until he could no longer hear them, he ran until he could no longer hear himself. The monotonous ringing in his ears provided rare comfort.

His legs gave out and he slumped against the wall.

He forced himself to inhale deeply, but he failed before half of his lungs were filled

Rene weeped, his cries were muffled by the encroaching darkness. The tears slid down his cheek and fell towards the abyss.

 

“Saffry… please come back…” He whimpered. His stomach no longer hurt, instead, it sent out pangs of hunger.

 

There was no reply.

“Don’t leave me…” He sobbed. His adrenaline dissipated and he became slowly engulfed in agony once more. His migraine came back, it split his head apart.

 

There was no reply.

“What did I do wrong?” Rene buried his face between his legs, he tightly clenched his head to keep it from tearing apart. He could no longer feel his hands or feet. It was getting cold.

 

There was no reply.

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