Ever since I was a child, I learned to survive on my own. I fought my way through everything. Hunger, violence, betrayal, I endured it all.
I had no choice.
I joined a group to survive. We stole, fought, killed, extorted, robbed banks, even became mercenaries in wars we had no business being in. We were ghosts in the underworld, nameless soldiers doing the dirty work of those who lived above us.
All we wanted was to live.
But deep down, I knew the truth. The people in power, those who controlled the system, loved watching us tear each other apart. We weren't rebels. We weren't warriors.
We were just entertainment.
And all my life… I played the role of a villain.
So tell me...
Is this my punishment?
To be trapped in an empty world, a realm void of anything?
Is this the price I pay?
To be utterly alone in a place filled with nothingness?
I opened my eyes. Or maybe they had been open this whole time. It was
hard to tell.
Darkness stretched infinitely in every direction, an endless void where time felt meaningless. No sky. No ground. No light.
And yet, somehow, I could still see. Not much, but enough. I could make out my hands, my feet, the faint outlines of my own body. But there was nothing else.
No sound. No wind. No feeling of air on my skin. Just me, suspended in a sea of black.
Without much to do, I decided to do what I could to entertain myself. I walked in circles, started counting, went and worked out. Started to fight the air.
Eventually I got bored. I had been doing the same thing for hours or maybe even days, without even getting tired.
How am I supposed to pass the time or survive in a place like this? Do I even get hungry?
I thought to myself.
Well, considering I don't feel hungry after all of that, I guess not.
So left with boredom, I decided to do the only thing that came in my mind.
All my life I was always different, so even in this world.
I choose to walk. Most people would go forward or to their right, but I choose to go backwards.
Maybe there is something.
Maybe I can redeem myself If I choose to walk backwards.
I don't know if I'm already starting to go insane.
But in my mind, if I walk backwards, maybe time itself, or god as they call if he so exists, might give me a chance.
I knew It was foolish.
But I just walked.
At first, I counted the seconds to keep track of time for how long I've been walking. But after a while, I lost count. The silence weighed on me. Nothing but me and my lonely voice and desperate bold move for salvation.
I don't know how long I wandered. Minutes? Hours? Days?
Maybe I was dead. Maybe this was what came after.
I've already started to accept the situation.
But suddenly..
A Faint Shape in the distance appeared. I got closer and closer. Enough to make sure that it was a figure, someone, a person. Someone like me?
Maybe not, maybe I'm just hallucinating, maybe my mind was breaking on itself.
"HEY!! YOU!!" I shouted, my voice sounding strange in the silence. It echoed, stretching too long before fading. I didn't care. I had been alone for too long. I needed something-anything-other than this endless walk, one that was useless.
The figure turned. "Oh, hey there!" A voice called back, casual, as if we had run into each other on the street.
I felt my legs move on their own, rushing toward him. The closer I got, the more details came into view, his posture, his clothes.
My clothes.
My heartbeat quickened.
And then, as I stood in front of him, he turned fully to face me.
My breath hitched.
It was me.
Same face. Same build. Same scar under my eye.
I stepped back instinctively, my body tensing. My hands clenched into fists.
"Who are you?" I demanded, shifting into a fighting stance. My instincts screamed at me to be ready.
The other me didn't react. He simply smiled, amused.
"No need to be scared or shocked," he said smoothly. "I just wanted to introduce myself."
His voice was mine. But it carried an eerie confidence, a weight that unsettled me.
"And me? Well… you can call me Nino."
I narrowed my eyes.
Nino.
That name.
It sounded familiar. Uncomfortably so.
"Nino… That doesn't sound like a real name."
"Because it isn't!" He grinned, cutting me off. His voice was playful, almost taunting.
"So what?" I asked, my muscles still tense. "You have the same name as me?"
"Well… who knows?"
His smirk never wavered.
I didn't lower my guard.
Something was wrong.
I just didn't know what yet.
"Look, I don't mean for us to fight. What would be the point anyway?" Nino said, his voice calm yet unsettling. "This endless void… it's meaningless to fight here without reason."
He smiled, but there was something off about it. Like it wasn't just a smile it was hiding something.
I kept my stance but eased my fists slightly. "You have a point… but you're different from me." My eyes stayed locked on his every movement. "Tell me, what do you know about this place?"
"Not much," he admitted with a shrug. He let himself fall backward as if he were sitting on the ground, but there was no ground. Just an invisible force keeping us afloat in this vast nothingness. It didn't hurt. It didn't feel like anything. Just… emptiness. I knew because I once fell whilst walking.
"I've been here for quite a while," he continued, gazing up at the endless blackness above. "I don't really know how long. Time doesn't work the same here. I tried finding an exit… but there isn't one."
His voice carried a weight to it, but I didn't want to believe it.
"So you're saying we're stuck here? For eternity?" I asked, already dreading the answer.
"Well…" He smirked, tilting his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he studied me
Then, suddenly-
A grin.
Not just any grin. One that sent a chill down my spine.
"But it seems like there might be a way out after all," he said, his voice carrying a new energy. Like he knew something I don't. But that was just my guess.
I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"
He chuckled, a low, eerie laugh, running a hand through his hair. "I can't
guarantee it'll work… but if my guess is correct, I found us a ticket out of here."
His laughter grew, echoing into the void, as if the nothingness itself was laughing with him.
I stood there, staring.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
But if it meant escaping this void
I'd do anything.
Then, just as he lay there, basking in whatever twisted amusement he found in the situation, he looked at me one last time before slowly getting up.
And in that moment...
I knew everything was about to change...
But one thing went and stuck with me. His name... I could've sworn it came from Spain.