Embers
I gripped my sword and swung at the enemy before me.
I felt nothing as the blade cut through them.
I'd grown numb to that sensation long ago.
Remnants of Voidborn lay scattered all around us.
I hadn't bothered counting them. I'd cut down far too many.
...
Again?
It was then I realized this was the third time.
This time it's... a hunt quest.
How long is this going to keep repeating...?
I'm not so careless as to be wounded by the likes of this.
...
You seem unharmed as well.
Why had I said that?
Normally, I would never...
...Hmph.
No matter how hard you try, the end will mean nothing.
I don't understand why you're so desperate about everything.
Maybe it will mean something.
We've never seen the future, after all.
...
...Yes. At the very least, you haven't.
...This time, too?
Hmph. Think whatever you like.
It's not as though... things go the way I want.
I picked up my sword and turned away.
The third gap in my memory. The third place I'd found myself.
At this point, denying what was happening would only be a waste of time.
...
Have I really been waiting for him?
And have I truly returned to him?
...None of this makes sense to me.
Especially the me who exists in the gaps...
I'd barely taken a few steps when...
...?
Hrgh?!
Why had I done it?
Even as I drew my sword, I couldn't understand myself.
*Huff...* *Huff...*
My blade cut through a Voidborn.
The creature that had appeared behind the Captain slowly dissolved.
...
Why...?
I'd protected the Captain with my own hands.
You let your guard down.
Even you should know how dangerous that was.
Were you trying to get yourself killed?
...Hmph. More pointless concern.
A wound like this is noth—
What's wrong?
...
I looked at the wound on my left leg.
It was real. The Voidborn must have struck out as it fell beneath my blade.
But something was wrong. I couldn't feel even the slightest pain.
No, it wasn't simply that there was no pain...
Did I have no feeling there at all?
What? Ngh...!
His hand touched me.
I couldn't feel the wound at all, yet I felt his warmth clearly.
That's pretty deep...
...
So I wasn't completely numb.
Why couldn't I pull my hand away?
No... Why had I rushed to save him in the first place?
The only thing I understood less than this world was myself.
If I say there's no need, will you insist anyway?
Of course.
...You truly can't be reasoned with.
I'll go on ahead.
I once heard a saying.
His voice came from right behind me.
...
Go... together.
A memory flashed through me. No, not a memory. A feeling.
Had the spark I thought was gone survived as a glowing ember?
...Why do you look so surprised?
I'm only repeating something I'd heard before.
Someone... once told me.
I ran fast, but the stars were out of reach.
I must have been the one running, and that person the one high above.
But unlike him, who reached the stars, I couldn't so much as brush them with my fingertips.
...I became certain this was a dream.
The last dream of someone falling after failing to reach the stars.