Chapitre 4: Hallucinations of Future

"In the stillness of loneliness, we often hear the loudest echoes of our screams."

I was still standing there, staring at the spot where my school had been just a few seconds earlier. It was gone now, completely vanished without a trace—like it had never existed at all.

"Was it all just a hallucination?"

My mind playing tricks on me again?

CHIME*

Before I could think too deeply, I heard something. A sound—small, almost too soft to notice. A faint ringing, like a bell being gently shaken. I had heard this sound earlier, and once again, it came when I was sinking into my thoughts.

My head snapped toward the direction of the sound, and I ran toward it, as if I had just found hope.

What the hell?

It wasn't just the bell that caught my attention. There, in the middle of the snow, was a white cat. A beautiful creature, its fur practically glowing against the endless field of white, with eyes more brilliant than gold.

It had a small, delicate bell tied to its foot—the source of the ringing.

For the first time since I'd been trapped here, I felt hope. A real, living thing. Not a hallucination. Not a memory. A pure white cat, staring directly at me.

"A cat..."

I took a step forward. "Hey... hey, wait up!"

But the moment I got close, the cat turned its head with sharp, elegant movements, like it was signaling me to follow. And then... it ran.

"Wait!" I shouted, but it was already sprinting across the snow, its bell jingling softly with every step.

I ran after it, not giving it a second thought.

'Hope is important; it can make the present moment more bearable.' I remembered that quote as I pursued the cat. It was true because, for me, this cat represented hope.

The world became a blur. Time lost all meaning. Days passed. Nights fell.

But I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop. Nor did the cat stop. That damn cat—I had to catch it.

The sound of the bell kept me going, driving me forward through the snow. It was always just a little ahead, always just out of reach.

Just a little bit more.

My legs never grew tired. My lungs never gave out—perks of being immortal, I suppose. But my mind? That was a different story. My thoughts kept spiraling with every step I took after that cat.

Was this a test? A trick? Why was I even chasing it?

And yet, despite everything, I kept running. Endlessly.

Ten thousand days. Ten thousand nights. Time had long since ceased to exist. All that remained was the faint tinkling of the bell tied to the cat's paw, guiding me through the snow. I tried everything to catch the cat, but nothing worked.

Eventually, the cat slowed down and, for the first time, stopped. I couldn't tell if I was happy or anxious. Maybe both.

"Why now?" I muttered to myself. After all this time, after so many days of chasing, why had it stopped?

It turned its head toward me, its golden eyes piercing through the cold like the only source of life in this desolate world. For a moment, we stood there, facing each other. My heart pounded, and I was sure this was the moment—this was what I had been chasing all along.

But then... something happened.

ROOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!*

A deafening crack echoed through the sky. I looked up, wide-eyed, as the sky itself began to split apart. The clear blue above was being torn open, like the very fabric of reality was unraveling before my eyes.

"What the hell...?" I whispered, my body frozen in place, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.

The tear widened, and from that gaping wound in the sky, a ginormous figure emerged. A dragon, descending through the rift, its colossal wings stretching wide and casting shadows that swallowed the world beneath it. Its dark, iridescent scales glimmered in the dim light, and patches of white and gold shimmered across its skin.

As it soared down, the sky cracked further, and another sound followed—not from the dragon.

The tear in the sky was being held open by a golden sword, gleaming with an otherworldly light. The sword made a sharp, electric sound as it cut through the rift effortlessly.

From the widening rift, seven shadowy figures emerged. Their forms were indistinct, shifting like living silhouettes. They floated down, forming a line in front of the mighty dragon, as if prepared for battle.

I stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"What the actual f***...?"