The memories had faded.
Before him was the same nightmarish sight he had seen several times before: millions of people chained together, swirling and soaring around in a vortex. Asahi's mind went dizzy from recalling these memories. Before encountering this situation, he hadn't remembered much about his birth.
But for some reason, it seemed like meeting someone related to his kingdom caused a trigger in his mind.
"What was that?" Remarked Asahi as he felt his body fly inside the vortex. "Two people were holding my body. And... the world was... giant. Were they my... my pare--
Before Asahi could finish his sentence, he shook the thought away as visions of a face entered his mind.
A girl with vibrant skin and two blue eyes stared into Asahi's guilt. Her smile was bright with gratitude, full of hope and optimism. Asahi squinted into space as he realized it was his actions that made her smile.
If it wasn't for stumbling upon this place, Asahi would have never witnessed that grin that shone like the sun.
And what glimmered even brighter was the ample cyan light that resided within the epicenter of the vortex.
With each cycle and push of the vortex, the invisible magical winds would carve into the earth like a shovel, making way for the people. Strangely, no living thing was harmed in the vortex. Despite being under a tall stone ceiling, no one had gotten injured from the occurrence.
All that anyone had ever felt upon floating in this vortex was dizziness.
His eyes broadened in realization. When he saw that face flash before the spectacle, Asahi's focus drifted over to someone. A person who had followed almost every step in this godforsaken place.
"Kendra." He said. "I need to find Kendra."
And so, what once was a scavenger hunt for deep memories and understanding quickly transformed into a search for a friend.
. . .
With each loop of the vortex, Asahi's view of the overwhelming power shifted. He remembered the first moments after stumbling upon this place. He recalled the small village and his disciples' longing for his attention. A warm feeling erupted in his mind as his eyes caught a familiar face: a tall man with long, spindly legs, wearing a mask emblazoned with the shape of an S. Though their time together was short, Asahi recognized the strange brown robe the masked man wore.
(Is that...)
After Asahi's body was flung near an ancient stone castle coated in white, recollections of him walking with the familiar man down the foothills of the underground expanse filled his mind.
("The name is Kirei. And as you can see, I am a member of the Adtraic Cult.")
The cold, passing winds, the scattered forests, and faint ribbons of sunlight all evoked those elusive memories, which viciously invaded Asahi's mind.
Before his feet could touch solid land again, Asahi's body retreated from the ruins and propelled back up to the air, near a group of familiar qualities. Some of them were masked, and others were not.
"Help us, my lord!" Screamed a blonde one with wide eyes.
"I want to be free! I want to see the world above!" A masked priest hollered.
A sharp, painful sympathy clenched Asahi's chest as those desperate cries echoed around him, each plea clawing at his heart.
There was nothing Asahi could do, whether he was a god or not.
He was paralyzed like the others, helplessly lost in this harrowing vortex of epic proportions.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!"
"I don't want to be a part of those stars."
"Please, anyone. Help us! Set us free from this nightmare!"
Asahi's body froze mid-movement. Seeing his people scream like this pushed his sanity to the brink. The way his head recoiled from the vortex's source and his eyes widened made it clear he had lost control.
When he tried to extend his arm to the people, he was forcefully taken away by a passing chain of individuals, forced to remain in the uncomfortable position he had been in for hours at a time. The winds grew stronger, gradually transforming to speeds powerful enough to shred people's skin like razors. However, despite the sheer speed, the victims still managed to endure it.
Upon his flight, he dragged his gaze through the clusters of people encircling him. Speechless, he watched as his body was juggled around five to twelve buildings embedded into the solid earth before crashing into a barricade solely made by individuals. Rocks and pebbles scattered and shifted like his two hopeless gray eyes and fractured memories.
("I think someone said there were billions here, my lord. But as time passed and famine and curses gripped most, I say… There may be one or two billion left here among this expanse of the world.") Nevertheless, Asahi couldn't discard that thought from his head. To believe his world was hidden underneath the surface had his heart frozen to the core.
With each loop, Asahi's eyes caught many faces flying around. He had tried multiple times to grab people. But with each pitiful reach, all Asahi could manage to do was scrape his fingers against just a tiny sliver of people's skin.
. . .
(I can't do anything.)
Every corner of his body was paralyzed in ways that he couldn't control. Whenever he was to break free from the dizzying grasp, hallucinations would appear from the wall of blurry streaks.
He closed his eyes and mumbled.
(I can't do anything. No matter what I can do, I can not grab anyone. Is it true that I will be stuck in this vortex forever, like the rest of the millions here? Is my whole journey doomed by this?) Asahi contemplated as he floated in the sea of life. (No... I still have Aletha left. As long as my sister is alive, I will be happy.)
Memories of her hair, her innocent smile—every detail about Aletha flooded Asahi with a rush of fierce longing and desperate hope, each image stoking his wavering motivation.
When he had thought about her and chose to discard all the problems about everything in the past, something clicked in him.
It wasn't pain or sadness, but grief.
In his mind was an ever-going battle; a storm of thoughts that conflicted with each other upon each new thought.
All these problems were forcefully inserted into his mind.
However, the only thing Asahi truly cared about was his family.
And so came the realization.
(I… love… my family. There's nothing and no one more important than them.) He said as he saw the expanding vortex grow. (All these problems, all these concerns… were just a weight for me. The calamity, my friends, the loss of this world, was just an external factor. Not internal.)
As he felt the vortex toss and juggle his weightless body back and forth, Asahi's eyes widened with remorse.
"One step at a time. I… have to take everything one step at a time." He said aloud. "I don't feel hopeless. I feel… overwhelmed. That's what has been holding me back. So many solutions. But the only one that matters… is what I love the most."
Clearing his focus, all the thoughts that muddled his brain washed away in a sudden blow.
"My family."
. . .
Loud thundering roars echoed across the cavern.
Sparkling objects flew around the funnel at speeds like stretched droplets of milk.
At that moment, when Asahi had flown with the chains of people and animals several times before, Asahi realized something.
Something was entering through the wall of blurs.
It wasn't a monster, an arm, or a leg. It was a sight, a panorama, a view.
Just as the chilling darkness could engulf everything around the vortex, the curtains of opaque opacity slowly distorted and rippled to a blurry sight of a vast divine expanse of tinted brown flora and an endless ocean of sparkling stars.
As both Asahi's gray pupils fearfully spotted the many people slowing down within the blurry field's expanding funnel, he realized it at this moment.
This vortex he, Kendra, and a billion others had been flying in wasn't just some 'meaningless' storm created by The Guardian.
But instead, it served as a magical cosmic gate —a portal to another realm.
In a sudden approach, the chilling feeling of darkness gave way to a strange, comforting sensation, bodies floating in a healing sense of ease. The razor-sharp winds gave way to soft, tickling brushes, while the sight of the sea of stars and the tinted brown flora gradually grew more apparent.
Suddenly, a sweeping tide of liberation surged through the millions trapped in the Nameless Caverns, washing away every trace of fear and despair with overwhelming, intoxicating relief.
(Huh?)
Drowsiness coiled insidiously about him.
The abrupt change from helpless emotions to positive emotions concerned him greatly. And it appears that he may be the only one to have such awareness.
While the feeling increased inside his heart, Asahi raised an eyebrow in speculation. He hurriedly tilted his head, and his eyes caught animals and humans alike floating and entering the realm behind the vortex.
"This isn't a hallucination."
When the bodies came into contact with the wall of blurry figures, they would disappear and form ripples in the "painting-like" substance, like a shallow pond of water, as if releasing and selling their souls to the realm beyond.
"What? Where are my people going?!" Asahi mumbled as he heard harmonic choruses singing fill his ears. As he saw hundreds of people smiling in relief at being taken away by the water-like essence of the "painting," Asahi's eyes shrank in horror, screaming as he witnessed the vortex's stolen lives.
"Wait! Don't leave!"
People disappeared into the pool of essence, starting with one, then one hundred, then one thousand, and eventually reaching one million. And yet. Instead of releasing screams of fear and horror, the people had hollered appraisals of peace, prosperity, and relief.
"I… I feel at peace." Said one as they floated upward like an angel.
"I can't breathe. And yet, I feel… free." Screamed another with a face of relief and anticipation.
"Mom! Dad!" A child cried as a feeling of remorse consumed him.
"Is this… paradise?"
At a sudden pace, a cyan light shone at the epicenter of the portal, expanding with each second.
With each soul of the people flying in the vortex taken away by the realm, it would continue to reform itself until it became its complete form: The Guardian.
However, before Asahi could catch on to its approach, he felt his breath taken away by an unbelievable sight.
A beautiful and gorgeous vision, with four people standing happily among a great plain of dancing golden grass and bronze clouds.
Upon the forceful pull of the view, Asahi recognized each individual standing cheerfully in the meadow. Their hair bore beautiful, brilliant shades of white and silver, eyes of glimmering hues of magenta and gray, and skin as radiant and reflective as the glimmering sun. With each step Asahi took, he felt a sense of comfort overwhelm him, and a sense of love and peace enveloped every corner of his body.
"Mother, f… father?!" Asahi said as he silently welled up a tear of joy. "Is that really you?"
For a moment, Asahi felt that this sight was unreal to him. He took two steps backward, disbelieving that this was real. However, there was one thing that drew a distinct difference between the sight and his memory. Random flickers.
Asahi's face scrunched up at a careful realization.
"This… is just an illusion," He said as he pulled himself back from the approaching view. "A-All of this is an illusion. My parents are not there. It… it has to be a dream. It has to be a lure. This is impossible."
When those words slipped off his lips, Asahi felt a cold feeling pressing against his back. He reacted with a stumble backward before falling into thin air as if onto solid ground.
After his back had rested against the solid texture of what could be perceived as a translucent floor, a familiar, croaking voice resonated, directing its words to Asahi.