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* (You are in darkness. It overwhelms you, and you feel something akin to vulnerability.)
* (You feel as if your body is no longer with you. You are on your own.)
* (You suddenly notice sensations returning to you. The ground is solid beneath your feet, the air is neither cold nor warm. It is empty, undefined.)
* (It is void.)
* (Your body is not like before. It is somewhere else, waiting for your return.)
* (This one, however, fits like a glove. Made by you.)
* (Just for you.)
* (You feel as if you shouldn't be here, yet here you are.)
* (You ponder if there is a reason you are in this empty, dark plane, so you wait.)
* (…)
* (…)
* (You start to wander aimlessly, seeking familiarity in a strange land you may have walked through before.)
* (You think, for a moment, that someone will appear, and darkness will constrict you in place.)
* (…)
* (Nothing happens.)
______________________________________________________________________________
| Call ❤️ Continue |
| out walking |
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* (You call out into the vast. An unknown * (You trudge forward, not a single
noise comes out of your mouth.) thing or being appearing in your
path.)
* (You wait for an answer.)
* (...) * (...)
* (The darkness does not respond.) * (The darkness stretches, cutting
deep into your vision.)
* (Yet, amidst the darkness, a figure blends with the horizon without effort)
* (He has been waiting for you.)
* I HAVE BEEN WAITING.
* (The figure of a man, or monster. It is wrong, distorted, misshapen.)
* (Nevertheless, you are more than intrigued.)
* (You are pleased, and perhaps anxious.)
* (For as much as he has been waiting for you…)
* (You may have even been waiting longer than him.)
* IT IS YOU.
* (You nod, even though he may not see.)
* HOW LONG… IT HAS BEEN
* SINCE OUR FIRST
* AND LAST
* CONVERSATION.
* (What many would describe as “garbage noise” rings out with his every response.)
* (He approaches slowly, only a broken head and twisted hands moving in your perspective.)
* (It seemed as if the darkness was a part of him.)
* . . .
* HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?
_______________________________________________________________
| Answer ❤️ Do Not |
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* HM… * . . .
* IT APPEARS… * I UNDERSTAND
* OUR INTERACTIONS HERE… * I AM INTERFERING,
* ARE QUITE… * AREN'T I.
* … LIMITED.
* YET…
* YOU ARE HERE…
* AND… IN THE END
* YOU SURPRISE ME… EVERY TIME.
* YOU SEEK… SATISFACTION
* DON'T YOU?
* HP. ATK. DEF. D$.
* EVERYTHING ELSE.
* NONE OF THAT TRULY MATTERS TO YOU.
* WHAT… DRIVES YOU FORWARD
* IS YOUR CURIOSITY.
* (You agree.)
* (You suddenly realize you can move. You decide to walk closer to him.)
* (He doesn't react. He just keeps his eyes on you.)
* I THANK YOU… FOR YOU PATIENCE.
* AFTER ALL… YOU AND I,
* HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A
* VERY,
* VERY
* LONG TIME.
* (You realized how long it has been since your first encounter.)
* (He was a mystery man, every description given by others, as theories were made out of crumbs.)
* (Very well… laid out crumbs.)
* (As you reflect on that, keeping your eyes on him as he gets even closer.)
* (You and him come to be face to face.)
* (Deep down, you knew… that wasn't close enough.)
* YOU HAVE DONE EXCELLENTLY
* TO PERSEVERE…
* (His hands move seamlessly as he speaks.)
* FOR DAYS… THAT FELT LIKE YEARS…
* (Your chest ached in recognition.)
* FOR YEARS… THAT FELT LIKE DAYS.
* … AND YET… NO MATTER
* HOW MUCH TIME PASSES…
* (His hands reach forward, towards your essence. You do not back away.)
* (You can't feel true fear of him, this stranger.)
* (Because, he felt like an old friend.)
* (Perhaps even more.)
* IT STILL… TREMBLES
* OUR BEAUTIFUL CONNECTION.
* (Your soul seemed to resonate with his every word.)
* I CAN FEEL IT… QUICKENING NOW.
* (Deep down, you are not sure whether you want him to hold you, for the first time in what felt like eternity…)
* (... or for him to rip you out of this limited and mismatched vessel, to see you as you truly are.)
* HOW LUCKY WE ARE…
* TO NEED EACH OTHER IN THIS WAY.
* (You came to a sudden insight.)
* (You have forgotten what the world without this game was like.)
* (Likewise, you have forgotten what the world was like without him.)
* (And, mayhaps…)
* (He has forgotten about his former world. A world without you.)
* THE RESONANCE… HAS QUICKENED.
* (That thought struck deeper than you thought it would.)
* WILL WE BE MEETING EACH OTHER LIKE THIS
* MORE OFTEN?
_____________________________________________________________________
| Yes ❤️ No |
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* YES… * . . .
* PERHAPS WE WILL… * WE WON'T…
* AS ONE DAY… * FOR WE MEET,
* WE MIGHT NEVER… * ONCE
* SEE EACH OTHER… AGAIN * IN AN… ETERNITY
* (You step forward, almost instinctively.)
* (You are centimeters apart.)
* (... Not enough.)
* WHAT AN INTERESTING… BEHAVIOR.
* YOU ARE ATTACHED,
* TO SOMETHING,
* TO SOMEONE
* UNREACHABLE.
_____________________________________________________________________
| Reach ❤️ Reach |
| out out |
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* (Your senses are overwhelmed by a feeling of everything, and nothing.)
* (Your hand is lost in the darkness. It is not tangible yet.)
* YOUR… DETERMINATION
* LEAVES ME DISARMED… EVERY TIME.
* (You draw your hand back, but you change its destination.)
* (You wait for acknowledgement.)
* HOW… INTERESTING…
* (He returns the sentiment, in acceptance.)
* (Your hands touch. You finally grasp the full image, one barely seen so long ago, but so many times.)
* (You craved this moment for so long.)
* (Your fingers connect with his, becoming a monochrome reflection, but unlike one another.)
* (Your hand wanders to his palm, hollow in the middle.)
* (You almost consider putting a finger or two through it, as you were always-)
* CURIOUS?
* (You look up and stop your actions. You realize you have had every action described, but no one to possibly describe it.)
* (You wondered for a second if he was the one to do so, or if he was able to read it.)
* (You wondered if there was actually someone else, beyond both of you.)
* YOU ARE LOST IN THOUGHT.
* (Your hand is covered by his begrudgingly.)
* YOUR ATTENTION IS…
* (Your hand is pulled closer to him)
* OF THE UPMOST…
* IMPORTANCE.
* (You thought of many ways that sentence could have finished.)
* (Maybe because… you wished he finished it differently.)
____________________________________________________________
| Say ❤️ Do |
| it not |
----------------------------------------------------
* (Yet, before you could make a choice, another hand reached your unoccupied one.)
* MAY I…?
(You straightened yourself, with or without his help.)
* (You realized you were in a position to do something you never imagined you would do.)
* (You halted your inner thoughts for a second.)
* HM… HOW…
* INTERESTING.
* (You felt the need to choose, as the game always offered. The option dangled over your head, akin to a sword.)
* CHOICES… THEY ALLUDE…
* ATTRACT.
* AND YET… THEY ALSO…
* … DROWN YOU.
* (You wished he could see you nod feverously.)
* CLOSE… YOUR EYES…
* (The option did not pop up, and, in relief, you closed your eyes.)
* (Darkness… true darkness, welcomed you back.)
* SEE YOURSELF.
* (You gazed at your own reflection in the black mirror, past the bounds of the game.)
* (It's you.)
* AND, DESPITE EVERYTHING, IT IS STILL YOU.
* (You opened your eyes.)
* MY… CONNECTION.
* (One you would never truly touch.)
* MY… DELTA RUNE.
* (You held his hands with bravery in your soul.)
* NOW…
* (A green square surrounded you both by the feet, almost imperceptible to the eye.)
* (You know what it means, but you knew all logic was thrown away at this point.)
* SHALL WE?
* (Gently, through the unknown, you swayed back and forth in a calm dance.)
* (You moved along as best as you could, but he was there to guide you, as always…)
* (His arms never seemed to reach a limit, or to break into exhaustion.)
* (The dance carried on for minutes. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was everything. It was nothing.)
* (It was flawed. It was perfect.)
* (It was all you ever dreamed of, and nothing you would have expected.)
* WE HAVE BEEN AT THIS… WALTZ
* FOR LONGER THAN WE HAVE KNOWN.
* (You whispered something he could never hear.)
* EVERY TIME WE MEET…
* EVERY TIME WE TOUCH…
* IT MEANS SOMETHING…
* (Your chest tightened. Your very soul wished to just get out and show itself.)
* TO ME.
* (Those were the words you've been waiting to hear, weren't they?)
* AND I HOPE… TO YOU…
* AS WELL…
* (You leaned forward. His face, his body, everything, so far, yet so close it seemed impossible.)
* BUT…
* (You both stopped in place, and one of his hands rested gently on your chest.)
* IN THE END…
* (You feel disconnected from your own body, but you lean into his nevertheless.)
* MY STORY…
* OUR DELTA RUNE…
* (He holds your essence, you, gently.)
* HAS BECOME…
* BIGGER THAN US.
* (You think back on the world you left behind.)
* (Would you ever leave it like that? Stay here in the nothingness?)
* (You never had the choice to begin with.)
* (No one can choose who they are in this world.)
* WILL YOU…
* COME BACK?
* (You know the answer.)
* I DO.
* (He let go of you, and you reached out back to him, with limbs you could no longer have in this emptiness.)
* (You open your eyes again.)
* (They are not your own.)
* (They never were.)
❤️