"Sora kept following me around since her first arrival."
"Every time I sat by a desk."
"There was always a paper with crayon scribbled on it."
"Sometimes they asked questions about my name and age."
"And sometimes they were just annoying questions like 'You should talk more' or 'You are too uncle'."
"But."
"After many days of her continuous messages."
"I couldn't stop myself from smiling and waiting for them everytime."
{August 15, time: 11:30}
It was the national holiday.
Independence day.
And.
Varun's birthday.
Varunwas sitting by his desk as Sora slid a piece of paper under his hand.
He sighed and looked around before taking the paper and reading its text.
"You have so many friends and you go around like a gang with them."
"But."
"Why are you always silent when you are not eith them? :( "
Varun kept staring at the paper as his own eyes widened slightly.
Varun:"sh– she's right."
"I never noticed that I've been silent without my friends."
Varun turned the paper to write a response.
But—
There was a string of text written with red—
Blood.
"You can't escape your reality."
His body went stiff from fear as the text came out from the paper.
Like—
These were happening only to him.
the sentence dissolved into the air.
Leaving Varun staring blankly with wide eyes.
He held his head as moments flashed in his mind.
Scream.
Blood.
He gulped and looked around.
Everyone, everything.
Frozen.
Suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder that pulled him out of that state.
He looked behind.
Its was sudhanshu standing with adi, holding their lunch boxes.
Sudhanshu:"Let's go, it's lunch time already."
He turned to look at him.
But instead of saying something.
He swatted his hand away and ran off.
The teacher and students were left dumbfounded.
The teacher called his name but his feet didn't stop until he was in the middle of the playground.
All the students turned to look at him when the teacher yelled his name.
But—
He didn't care about anything.
Because—
His eyes stared at the black air in front of him.
Or so the others thought.
Because—
He was staring at the system window.
[The Player has been trapped for 4 hours in the illusion.]
His breathing ragged.
He looked around as Sora came running behind him.
But—
He slapped her.
Everyone stood shocked.
But Varun wasn't.
Because—
The world had started to glitch around him.
Sora.
Started to glicth.
Her eye sockets went empty as black blood flowed down from them and her mouth.
Sora:"wh– why didn't you save me?!"
"You left me to die with them."
Varun was about to say something but—
He slapped himself.
Hard.
His lips torn from the force as blood dripped down his chin.
It was too hard a kid of that age.
He glared down at her and said—
Varun:"Stop. Fucking around with me."
"Sora never followed me this desperately."
The blood on his chin disappeared as the lip healed.
The world distorted as Varun got his original body back.
The scene shifted to a large farm house with a big wheat field with Sora standing in the middle.
She turned around and smiled at him.
But—
That smiled turned into a ghost face in seconds.
Dark Vash appeared on every corner of the field.
And Sora.
Along with all the dark Vashs screamed.
"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME/HER HERE?!"
The world started to distort once more.
Sora was getting dragged by 5 men to the middle of the field.
Yelling for help as little Varun ran off.
He went to call for help.
But—
That's what he had been always guilty about.
Dark Vash came behind him.
Leaned close to his ear and caressed his cheek.
Dark Vash:"You could've saved her."
"Instead of going to call for help."
He pointed at the flare gun on a barrel and hoe by the farm house wall.
"You could've saved her by using those."
Varun's breathing ragged as he gritted his teeth.
Varun:"shut up."
"Shut your fucking mouth."
Punched dark Vash as he dissolved into the air and appeared behind him again.
Dark vash:"Why should I?"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"It's your thinking, isn't it?"
"It's you, who always thought that you could've save her if you had just shot the flare gun on one of their heads."
"Or maybe used the hoe to stab one of them."
Varun stood silent.
Staring at his feet.
Then—
Varun:"A kid doesn't know what's right or wrong until they have gone through it once."
"Everyone said that I did the right thing by going to call for an adult."
"Only her mother couldn't handle it and blamed me for taking her there."
He took a deep breath and raised his head.
Staring directly at dark Vash's eyes with a determined smirk.
"But you and I both know that it was Sora who took us there."
"Hehe~.. Hahaha~"
"Haa~"
"You fucker."
"Thank you for reminding me about why her memories always haunted me."
"Heh, heheh~"
He placed a loose hand on Dark Vash's shoulder and hugged him.
"Stop blaming yourself for what you could have never changed."
Dark Vash froze.
He didn't expect him to—
Just accept it.
He clicked his tongue and pushed him away.
The illusion world shattered like glass as Dark Vash raised his hand and murmured a word.
Dark Vash:"Rise"
zombies and skeletons dug our of the throne room's floor and shadows tore out of the darkness beneath his feet.
His eyes Shined a deep crimson with rage and hate.
A hate of Varun.
He materialized the short swords in both his hands as the energy radiating from him shook and cracked the walls and floor.
"You don't deserve to live."
"You know very well that you could've saved her!"
Varun chuckled and materialized his own short swords.
Taking a loose stance unlike dark Vash who was now stiff.
Varun:"heh~"
"You already know that's not true."
"Sora took us there to show us that baby deer she found."
"But before going to look for the deer we went to take a piss break."
Slowly his voice turned solemn.
"And that's when some drunk when who were gambling in that farm saw Sora."
"Being drunk."
He gritted his teeth as his grip on the blades tightened.
"They took advantage of her body."
"Being a little kid, she wasn't able to endure that pain."
"And."
"Her breathing stopped."
Silence.
He slowly raised his gaze to dark Vash's eyes.
Cold and filled with darkness.
"You already know what I did the next time I found them."
"Don't you~"
His lips twitched.
Subconsciously.
Smiling with that same coldness.