When Hinata opened her eyes, she immediately understood that something was wrong.
The world around her was in total darkness.
Not a simple dimness.
An absence of light.
She could not even see her own hands a few centimeters from her face.
— Kert? Zerath? Are you there?!
Her voice was lost in the void.
No response.
Hinata moved forward cautiously, arms outstretched in front of her.
Each step echoed faintly on a ground she could not see.
Suddenly—
She bumped into something.
A soft contact.
Wet.
And immediately, an unbearable smell filled the space around her.
Hinata jumped back, one hand pressed over her mouth and nose.
She snapped her fingers.
An emerald green light appeared in the darkness.
And what she saw froze her instantly.
In front of her—
A body.
A monstrously decomposed corpse.
Attached to a cross-shaped structure, as if it had been crucified.
Long hair completely covered the face.
Thin and irregular metallic cords seemed to have been driven into the flesh to hold the body in place.
Hinata slowly stepped back.
No words came out.
Her mind filled with questions, without order, without logic.
Who was it?
What had he suffered?
Why had he been placed like this?
And above all…
What had he done to deserve this?
Everything indicated prolonged torture.
A slow execution.
Suffering deliberately left in this forgotten place.
Hinata trembled slightly.
Then—
Something viscous crawled up her arm.
She immediately jolted.
A maggot.
She tore it off with a sharp motion, throwing it to the ground in disgust.
And when she raised her eyes—
The body on the cross had changed.
Or rather…
She had changed places with it.
She saw herself.
Over there.
Attached.
Decomposed.
Staring into the void with an expression of frozen suffering.
— What…?
Her breath caught.
Her knees trembled.
— No… no!!!
She abruptly turned around and started running.
Or at least… she tried.
— Kert! Zerath! Where are you?!
Her voice broke in the darkness.
But in front of her—
A silhouette appeared.
She stopped dead.
It was her.
Again.
But different.
The crucified version.
Decomposed.
Dark red eyes fixed on her with an expression both empty and smiling.
The cracked skin moved slightly, as if it were still breathing despite everything.
— Who… are you?… What do you want?!
The silhouette took a step.
Then its voice rose.
An impossible voice.
Layered.
Masculine.
Feminine.
And childlike at the same time.
As if several consciousnesses were speaking through a single mouth.
— Is it still necessary to know…
…if the end is already written?
Hinata frowned, terrified and lost.
— What?
The double's smile widened.
Then it started running.
— Come here!
Hinata immediately turned around and tried to flee.
But she stumbled violently.
Before even touching the ground—
Invisible hands seemed to grab her legs.
— Let go of me!! Please, let go of me!!!
She struggled, panicked, eyes wide open.
But suddenly—
Silence.
Everything stopped.
Hinata slowly opened her eyes.
She was still standing.
No contact.
No grip.
The void around her was intact.
In front of her, her double was once again motionless, hands behind its back, an almost mocking smile on its face.
— I never caught you.
It slightly tilted its head.
— Look behind you…
Its voice became softer.
Colder.
— He's the one who did it.
When Hinata slowly turned her head…
Her entire body froze in fear.
It was the crucified boy she had seen earlier.
But this time—
He was no longer attached to the cross.
His immense body floated in the darkness, suspended in the void like a dead thing that nevertheless refused to disappear.
His head hung abnormally to the side.
His eyes remained closed.
His body was still just as decomposed.
But the worst…
Was his size.
He had grown.
Immensely grown.
As if he now measured more than twenty meters tall.
A gigantic cadaverous mass slowly drifting in that impossible darkness.
Hinata immediately stepped back.
— This… this is a nightmare!!
Then suddenly—
The body abruptly disintegrated.
Its flesh seemed to turn into black dust before dispersing into the void.
And a deep voice then echoed like a sound coming from somewhere far too distant.
— We need to talk…
Hinata remained motionless.
She no longer even knew what to think.
But the next moment—
Voices emerged from the void.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Incomprehensible whispers.
Forbidden languages.
Ancient.
Far too ancient.
As if those sounds existed before any form of civilization or thought.
And in that chaos—
Things appeared.
Titanic creatures.
Indecipherable.
Primitive.
Their forms seemed absurd.
Incoherent.
Some moved in several directions simultaneously.
Others seemed to advance without actually moving.
Their movements completely defied the very notion of space or orientation.
Hinata felt panic invade her.
She fell to the ground before pressing her hands against her ears.
As if she were desperately trying to prevent her mind from breaking.
The immense aberrations continued drifting around her.
They did not even seem to notice her presence.
Or worse—
Maybe they saw her perfectly…
…but simply gave no importance to her existence.
The void around her slowly changed color.
A greenish hue.
Reddish.
Like a reality rotting.
As if even that nothingness could not withstand the presence of those things.
Space itself seemed to liquefy.
To decompose.
And the more Hinata observed that chaos—
The more fear devoured her mind.
She abruptly closed her eyes.
Then the voice came again.
Closer this time.
— We need to talk…
A smell of putrefaction then violently struck her nostrils.
Hinata immediately opened her eyes.
And in the middle of the chaos—
He had returned.
The crucified boy.
At human size this time.
But something had changed.
On his stomach—
A huge red eye had opened.
A fierce eye.
Alive.
Staring directly at Hinata.
Her eyes widened.
That gaze seemed to pierce through:
her flesh;
her thoughts;
her fears;
and even the deepest part of her being.
— We need to talk!!
This time…
The voice seemed more natural.
As if it was truly him speaking now.
Slowly—
Hinata raised her eyes toward his face hidden behind his long hair.
Then she froze.
He was looking at her.
His eyes were open.
And despite his state of decomposition—
His gaze overflowed with visceral hatred.
A hatred so deep that it seemed older than time.
Hinata immediately felt terror overwhelm her.
She screamed—
Then suddenly—
Light.
Everything disappeared.
The chaos.
The voices.
The creatures.
The crucified boy.
She had returned to reality.
Daylight once again illuminated her face.
Beside her, Zerath was looking at her with concern.
— What's wrong, Hinata?! Why are you screaming like that?
Hinata was breathing with difficulty.
Her heart was beating rapidly.
She looked around her for a few seconds before letting out a long trembling sigh.
— So it was…
She placed a hand against her chest.
— …a dream…?