(Agon's POV)
I opened my eyes to suffocating darkness, a void so absolute it seemed to swallow sound itself. There was no ground beneath me, yet I stood. There was no sky above, yet I could feel its oppressive weight pressing down on my chest. My vision blurred, the edges of my sight rippling like the surface of disturbed water.
How long had I been here?
I struggled to piece together fragments of memory. My body felt heavy, as if I'd been asleep for an eternity. But then it hit me... a jolt of realization that sent a shiver down my spine.
The battle.
The Crimson Knight.
Gaodas.
I instinctively clutched at my chest, expecting to find the wound from the mist sword that had run me through. My hands found nothing. The flesh beneath my fingertips was unbroken, unscarred.
Panic began to creep into my thoughts.
Celia. Jess. Uvan.
Their names echoed in my mind like a mantra. What happened to them? Where are they? I stumbled forward into the endless void, the silence pressing against my ears like cotton. My feet found no purchase, yet I moved, driven by the gnawing dread clawing at my insides.
"Where are you?" I whispered into the abyss. My voice felt small, insignificant, as if the void had swallowed it whole before it could reach anyone.
I turned, my eyes scanning for something... anything in the infinite darkness. And then, I saw her.
A figure in the distance, waving at me.
Long, silken white hair flowed like moonlight, catching a light source I couldn't see. Deep blue eyes locked onto mine, filled with warmth and relief. Celia.
My breath caught in my throat, and my legs moved before I could think. I ran toward her, the weight of my fear and confusion lifting with every step. She was safe. I was safe.
"Celia!" I called out, my voice trembling with desperation and hope.
As I reached her, I didn't hesitate. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. Her warmth, her presence... it was real.
But then,
Something Shattered...
Her form dissolved in my arms, breaking apart into glimmering motes of light that scattered into the void. I stood there, stunned, the remnants of her image fading into the darkness. My arms fell limp at my sides, and I sank to my knees.
It wasn't real.
"What is happening to me?" I muttered, my voice a broken whisper. My mind reeled, my thoughts spinning into a whirlpool of confusion and despair.
The silence of the void seemed to deepen, pressing against me like a living thing. My breath quickened as the weight of the emptiness bore down on me, wrapping around my throat like unseen hands.
Then, a sound.
A whisper.
Barely audible, it slithered through the darkness, brushing against the edges of my mind like cold fingers.
"Agon..."
The voice was faint, almost too quiet to be real, but it carried a weight that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I froze.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my body refused to move. My limbs felt like they'd been chained to the void itself.
The whisper came again, louder this time.
"Agon..."
The sound burrowed into my skull, a relentless presence that thrummed against my thoughts like a drumbeat. My vision swam, the darkness around me twisting and writhing like a living thing.
And then it hit me.
A wave of raw, unrelenting terror.
It tore through my mind, leaving nothing but the overwhelming certainty of chaos in its wake.
My body convulsed as the feeling rooted itself deep in my soul.
My mind screamed.
My bones screamed.
Every fiber of my being, every atom that made up my existence, screamed.
My soul screamed DOOOOM!!....