Eclipse Realm

Prologue

There was darkness all around. Yet in the midst of this, a young man could be seen, floating, falling... sleeping?

I'm not really sure of what's real or not anymore.

But if I'm here, then that means you're out there somewhere, and...

I want to put the pieces back.

He could hear his heartbeat. Faint at first, then louder, louder...

Beating the fall

I can't help but desire of

Falling

Down this time

He opened his eyes. This place... There were clouds surrounding a massive, twisted castle for as far as the eye could see, like he was at the end of the world.

At the edge of a cliff were open gates, and there stood a feminine figure. He couldn't discern exactly who she was, or her features. All he was able to distinguish was long hair and a flowing dress. She turned around to him. He could make out a smile.

She spread her arms.

A sense of dread filled him. He opened his mouth in warning, but nothing came out. He ran towards her.

She fell backwards.

His outstretched hand just barely missed, grasping empty air. He could have saved her, but did not. Could not.

Deep in this hole of my making

I can't escape

Falling

All this time

Somehow, the ground beneath him was no more. He felt himself falling, but the fluid rush... Was he in water?

Something he had long regarded as a prison, a trap, but now he felt... safe.

We come to this place

Falling through time

Living a hollow life

He was able to force himself into an upright position. As he did, blurry images began to appear in the water. They became clearer as the water dissipated, leaving him suspended in a black space.

The dawn; a quiet world; falling stars; two visible entities in the rose-colored sky...

The sun; a bright world; a clear sky full of light...

The moon; a tranquil world; a deep sky permeated by darkness...

The two heavenly orbs overlapping each other... A blood red sky; an erupting world; destruction and chaos...

Always we're taking

Waiting for signs

Hollow lives...

What did this all mean?

Is there ever any wonder

Why we look to the sky?

Search in vain?

Asking why?

All alone...

Where is God?

Looking down?

We don't know

He was standing on solid ground again. He was in a neutral realm. Light at one end, darkness at the other. Where to go, he wasn't sure. Light? Darkness?

Last time...

The last time he chose darkness... That was why he was trapped in it.

He went towards the light. The closer he got to it, the greater the darkness. It enveloped him, pulled him back into its ebony embrace, wrapping him in velvety arms... He was descending into darkness, and somehow not afraid, but feeling at ease...

We fall in space

We can't look down

Death may come

Peace, I have found

What was to come? All that had been... What was there to be? Was he done? Finished? Should he be no more?

What to say?

Am I alive?

Am I asleep?

Or have I died?

The darkness released him, setting him down onto a surface. Looking below him, he could see he was standing on stained glass. A flock of black birds erupted from no where around him, fluttering up into the darkness, towards a light that could faintly be seen.

We fall in space

We can't look down

Death may come

Peace, I have found...

Leaving him with nothing more than a flurry of midnight feathers.

He was alone.