The nothingness spread out endlessly, consuming all that was light. Ya Shun floated in the emptiness; he had no weight, and his mind was a battleground of dread of existence.
He felt nothing; he was not able to see, smell, hear, taste, or touch.
But then, whirlpools of radiant hieroglyphics enveloped him, their meaning just out of reach.
A low, distorted voice sliced through the quietness:"What are you, mortal? A shard? An echo? Or merely a fleeting whisper of a soul in the vast emptiness?"
Shun had no voice, but replied with his thoughts. "I don't know; I'm just a man, I guess."
"Hummm. a being that has faith in God."said the voice.
The spirals twisted in pain, twisting themselves into a giant symbol made of infinite zeros, every single one of them pulsating with horrific power.
"What if your God is only a traveler of dimensions, a child who dreams, a scientist writing experiments matter-of-factly?"
Shun's body started to form; his senses returned to him.A hand stretched out, encircling Shun around the chest.
His screams were heard as his body broke apart into an endless amount of pieces. With each shattering and rebuilding, he felt the crushing weight of mortality, divinity, and endless time.
Shun awoke, drenched in sweat. His chest ached as his heart beat frantically as he attempted to catch his breath. The light from the window to his eyes was cruel and unnatural to him.
He growled darkly, "These dumb dreams again. God this, God that… Why can't I dream about a good-looking girl like every other guy?"
Rolling off the bed, he glanced over at the calendar on his desk. The date stared like a warning: the first day of his transfer to another high school.
"Great," he grumbled, dragging himself to the mirror.
As he buttoned his uniform, he grumbled at his image. "Dear God or whoever's listening—if You're paying attention, could You please give me a break? A girlfriend would be nice. My little brother's got one and I don't even have—"
It wasn't as if God was going to answer him. But a sound broke the silence.
A crow in his window croaked, "Are you an idiot?"
Shun was scared; he knelt down because he was scared. "Am I going crazy?"
The crow flew away.
On his way to school, Shun saw some unusual hubbub on the route to the town center.
A throng had formed; I was full of guffaws and street shops.
He allowed curiosity to get the better of him and shouldered his way into the group.
In the center of the square were a cluster of dancers who danced slowly and clumsily. They had terrible masks: gruesome faces with pointed teeth, hollow eyes, and twisted smiles that seemed to shift when not watched.
An elderly man standing beside Shun bowed, his voice confused. "I think this is the same festival that takes place every fifty years. I was 13 years old when I saw this."
Shun's eyebrow shot up. "What's so magical about it and where is your lovely granddaughter?"
The old man stared at the dancers and started thinking. "If I remember right, there were many speculations regarding how those masks came to be on earth. But people usually assume that those masks fell down from heaven as offerings by the Goddess."
Shun chuckled. "Sounds like some extraterrestrial to me. What's next, they stalk people?"
The old man laughed and grumbled "Most likely a myth or fairy tale. They told us one kid had died gesturing at a mask, but I mean, who believes this crap?"
Smiling, Shun shook hands and pointed at a randomly selected mask."What's the worst that can happen then?" he mocked.
The terrified old man with panic grasp of his arm. "Hey, kid, wake up. WHAT HAPPENED?"
Shun was thrashing on the street like a fish removed from water; he couldn't catch his breath.
Shun glared at the masks. They are making fun of him. Before anything could be spoken by Shun, there suddenly rang in his ears.
His vision became misty, the world spinning haphazardly as the bells increased in clamor.
He saw black silhouettes wearing masks in front of him, their fingers pointing at him.
When Shun came to, he was suspended upside down from a tree by his neck in a noose.
The rope dug uncomfortably into his neck, and he kicked wildly, the branches creaking beneath his weight.
"It's hard to breathe. What is this?" Shun struggled.
With a rush of adrenaline, he managed to claw at the noose, loosening it enough to fall to the ground with a resounding thud.
He tugged for air, coughing spasmodically as he tried to comprehend what had happened.
The forest around him was dark and dense, the trees around him cast shadows that moved independently. Falling to the nearby river, he kneeled to splash water on his face since his face was dripping with sweat.
That's when he saw it.The reflection staring back at him wasn't his own. Instead, it was the visage of a grizzled man in his late twenties, with a scruffy beard and blue eyes.
"What the hell? Is this for real??" Shun gasped, reaching up to touch his face in wonder.