Chapter 3: The Awakening [P2]
Its massive arm, like the trunk of a burnt tree, rose and then fell upon me with crushing force.
I braced for excruciating pain, pain that would shatter bones and tear flesh, pain exceeding anything I had endured in my former life… but what happened was different.
I felt the tremendous force of the impact launch me through the air like a rag doll, sending me flying backward to crash onto the strange ground of this place.
At first glance, the ground seemed solid, but after hitting it, I realized it yielded like quicksand beneath my body. Yet… there was a sense of pressure, yes, but not that sharp agony that compels you to scream and weep.
I flew, I crashed, I tumbled like a toy in the hands of a child bent on breaking his playthings… but I didn't hurt as I'd expected. Instead, I slowly got up, confusion filling my mind more than any other sensation.
How was I not injured? Is this body… my new body, the body of "Optimism," different? Is it immune to physical pain? Or is it the nature of this world that defies the laws of my old one?
M-maybe… maybe this isn't as bad as I imagined.
And as I was sinking into a deep sea of delirium, I felt something else gradually rising within me. Not pain, nor fear… but power. A strange, warm power, originating in my chest and seeping into every limb… a power I had never felt before, never dreamed I would feel!
Though I was scared to death, I didn't want to run away… not again. Whatever this world wants from me, I won't flee. I will face it. I will do everything I can to defeat it, to defeat them, and ultimately, to defeat myself.
And I finally understood what that power was… It was optimism for victory.
"Alright… let's see what I can do…" I whispered to myself, watching that demon turn towards me again, a look of bewilderment mixed with even greater fury distorting its features because its first blow hadn't crushed me. My turn now, you enraged fiend!!
I focused on that inner power… the power still feeding me the energy to stand against this beast. Trying to understand and control it, I heard a calm voice… not audible to the ear, but a voice resonating directly in my mind: "Optimism… can you hear me?"
It… it wasn't the old man's voice. This was someone else. I couldn't identify the speaker until they continued in a steadier tone:
"Where are you? I am in the Valley, facing Despair. Hurry, Anger is coming here too… You must arrive before the liquid turns red…"
This… Patience?! The other angel the old man spoke of? I… I understood what was happening. I… I was also embodied as an angel, an angel of emotion… and I could communicate with the others!
This ability… I didn't know I possessed it. So, I wasn't alone as I'd thought. No, that idea was one I had ingrained in my own mind, but it vanished now.
I looked at the demon of Anger, which began advancing towards me again, but its advance was slow this time, as if analyzing my movements.
But why… why were its eyes fixed on a point behind me? Then I noticed it muttering in a low voice, as if speaking to someone unseen.
Was… was it also communicating with someone? With its demonic allies?
I glanced at Anger, then at the path it suddenly took at supernatural speed, towards those clashing colors looming on the horizon.
If Anger was going there, and Patience was asking me to come before this demon… then this must be my way to get where I needed to be.
I made my decision. When my enemy vanished to begin its journey towards the Valley, I started to follow from a distance, trying to stick to the shadows… if shadows even existed in this vast place.
But, what I understood even less than before… was that the demon didn't turn back, didn't seem to prevent me from following. No… it was impossible for the demon of Anger to do that. It seemed as if it didn't notice my presence.
Am I insignificant to it now? Or can it simply not see me?
Nevertheless, I continued trailing it, sneaking between the strange formations shaping this world, feeling that power pulsing stronger in my chest with every step closer.
Minutes hadn't passed before the colors became sharper, the air denser, as if I were walking inside an oil painting whose paint had yet to dry.
Suddenly, while focusing on the demon's rapid steps ahead, my foot stumbled on something strange… I almost fell but regained my balance at the last moment.
I looked around, then down at my f—foot… Where was my foot?? I couldn't see it anymore!
Little by little… my gaze traveled to the rest of my limbs… They had disappeared! My entire body had become transparent, invisible even to myself!!
What in heaven's name is happening? Is this another ability? Can I become invisible?
I focused on the thought of being visible again… and slowly, the outlines of my body began to reappear.
Amazing! Wonderful! Excellent! I finally smiled… but this time it was a genuine smile.
Maybe… maybe I'm not the helpless John Abraham anymore. Maybe I truly am… Optimism. And I have a real chance here.
Damn!! Time for some fun.
I decided to test my ability again. I turned invisible once more and continued following the demon of Anger, which had gained some distance, moving swiftly as if running on clouds towards the turbulent horizon.
The further we progressed, the clearer the features of the Valley became. I was certain this was the place whose name had echoed in my ears several times since my arrival here.
I was excited to see what this Valley was… the Valley of Emotions.
Then, I reached the intended destination. I knew it upon beholding the wondrous sight… but it wasn't like any landscape I had ever known. Rather, it was a sensation that overwhelmed all my senses, which seemed subservient to this place.
The air grew heavier, saturated with contradictory scents; the sweet fragrance of flowers mingled with the stench of swamp rot, the calm aroma of incense clashed with the sharp, metallic smell of clotted blood.
The sounds were no less strange than their predecessors, a chaotic mix of sorrowful whispers interwoven with hysterical laughter, screams of pain pierced by faint songs of hope.
My focus was entirely captured by the sky above the Valley; it was a colossal vortex of constantly shifting colors, reflecting every spectrum of human emotion, from the crimson of rage to the cold blue of sorrow, from the green of envy to the warm gold of joy, all wrestling and devouring each other in a violent dance tinted a deep violet.
The very ground of the Valley seemed alive, shaping and undulating of its own will.
And strangest of all… was the river bisecting the place. Its water was neither clear nor murky, but a thick, viscous liquid of deep purple, shimmering with an unsettling gleam.
I knew I was not in an ordinary place, a place stranger than imagination itself, as a shiver ran through my entire body.
This place… it was terrifying and mesmerizing all at once. It was the living embodiment of every turmoil within the human soul.
I reached the edge of the Valley, hiding behind a peculiar rock formation resembling a petrified fist.
The demon of Anger had stopped a short distance away. I followed its gaze, and there, on the bank, two figures faced each other in a battle that felt like a clash of titans.
One of them radiated a faint light. He had no wings, unlike common depictions of angels, but wore simple robes of a strange, mixed color, and his face was as serene as a lake on a windless day.
He held no weapon, standing steadfastly with his hands slightly open at his sides, surrounded by a faint halo of bluish-white light.
I knew instantly, thanks to the connection established between us, that this was "Patience," the one I most wanted to meet.
Directly opposite him stood his enigmatic antithesis. A dark entity, hunched forward as if burdened by the weight of the world.
Yet its form defied all my expectations of the demon "Despair." It was constantly shifting, sometimes appearing as a wretched old man, other times as a child weeping in the embrace of darkness.
Their battle wasn't loud with clashing swords or explosions as I might have expected. Instead, it was a silent battle, concealing an overwhelming terror.
Did I say I was starting to like this place? F*ck what I thought.. I'd like to die..
— End of Chapter —