Someone once mispronounced my baby’s name as “Shizo” and I thought I should clarify, it’s “Skitzo”, like in Schizophrenia
There were no openings whatsoever, but a chilly breeze swept by out of nowhere, and Schizo shuddered.
He glanced around in every direction, but in the end, only one way led forward. It seemed to only go deeper inside.
He clutched his coat tighter around himself, before heaving a sigh and walking forward.
Perhaps this was where his father had disappeared to.
Thankfully, he had not left his backpack behind.
Regrettably, he lost his torch.
It was pitch dark the deeper he went.
Just when he thought it couldn’t get any darker, the darkness would deepen even more, as if a new layer of black was laid on his eyes.
Even though he walked carefully, he still stumbled a few times. The ground was too rough and rocky.
At some point, he halted.
He held his breath, listening for any sounds.
Apart from the sound of breathing, nothing else could be heard.
The hairs on the back of his neck rose.
He had held his breath.
Who was breathing?
With a sharp move, he turned around, and examined the darkness behind him.
His eyes were wide open, unwilling to miss out even the tiniest movements.
He took a step back, and the breathing grew louder.
Alert, he took another step back and his back hit something.
With a jump, he got away, and turned back around.
A man stood before him.
White, shining long hair cascaded down his back and shoulders like waterfalls of silk, the color matching his eyelashes and eyebrows, painting an ethereal sight. His eyes were slightly raised at the ends, and though they were glazed white, they appeared to be exceptionally clear, like two pools of stagnant spring water. He had a straight nose, with lips shaped like a cupid’s bow, every stroke looking like a work of art.
He was really every inch the most ideal man Schizo could think of.
But the most notable thing amongst all, was how he had a natural glow surrounding him.
No, not as in metaphorically, but literally.
The man was glowing faintly.
He…lit the cave up slightly.
However, before his fear could increase, he paused.
How could he be afraid when all he could do was feel mesmerized?
The man in front of him didn’t move, merely staring at him with a blank face.
Schizo stared back at him.
Tentatively, he asked, “…who are you?”
The man seemed to react the slightest bit to his voice, taking in his words. Then, he answered in a monotone voice, “I don’t know.”
“…”
“Who are you?” he asked back.
“I don’t know.” Schizo replied with a blank face.
The man didn’t seem to notice anything wrong, and only nodded his head in understanding.
Schizo tried a different approach, “What are you doing here?”
The man seemed to think for a moment before saying, “I was summoned.”
“Summoned?”
“Mn.”
He didn’t seem to plan to elaborate, and so Schizo didn’t probe further.
He still didn’t dare lower his guard.
“Are you a demon?”
The man shook his head.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Cgf sbe j utbra?”
Lf rtbbx tlr tfjv jujlc.
“Cgf sbe j tewjc?”
Vjwf gfqis.
Zjsyf atfgf kjr rbwfatlcu kgbcu klat tlr tfjv.
Ktja kjr atf bcis fzqijcjalbc Vmtlhb mbeiv atlcx bo.
Dea atf wbra qgfrrlcu defralbc kjr, ktfgf vlv tf mbwf ogbw? Qjr tf jigfjvs tfgf yfobgf Vmtlhb? Qtfgf fnfc jgf atfs? Qtja lr atlr qijmf? Ccv tbk vlv Vmtlhb ufa tfgf lc atf olgra qijmf? Lbk atf tfii kjr tf reqqbrfv ab ufa bea?
The more he thought, the more questions appeared.
It was starting to give him a headache.
An idea struck him, and he looked up at the man, “Do you know where this is?”
The man looked around and observed, “It seems to be a cave.”
“…yes, I can see that.” Schizo said, “Do you know the way out?”
The man turned around and pointed to the way Schizo originally came from, “Maybe that way?”
Schizo shook his head, “It’s a dead end.”
The man pointed in the opposite direction, “Then that way.”
Alright. Maybe conversing with the man wasn’t as helpful as he thought it would be.
However, the man appeared to be a bit clueless, innocent even…it helped Schizo to relax his vigilance somewhat.
He walked forward, and the man followed him.
He wanted to ask him why he was following him, before remembering his route is literally the only way they could head.
“How did you get here?”
“I don’t know, I was just here when I woke up.”
“Where do you last remember falling asleep?”
That question made the man go silent.
After the silence prolonged for too long, Schizo looked back and saw the man walking with a focused gaze, seeming to ponder.
“Don’t remember?”
The man shook his head.
Schizo hummed and kept walking.
After a few moments, the man asked, “What about you?”
“I was searching around a house and…teleported here.”
The man’s ears perked up in curiosity, “Teleport? How so?”
Schizo shrugged, “I don’t know. I just turned around and suddenly I was in a cave.”
There was no reply from behind him. Silence descended once again.
Just when Schizo thought the man wouldn’t reply anymore, he heard his voice.
“That’s what everyone says.”
Schizo involuntarily felt a chill through his body.
He stopped walking, and the footsteps behind him halted too. He turned around to face the man.
“…everyone?”
The man nodded, seemingly not detecting anything amiss.
“Others have been here before?”
The man seemed, once again, to be thinking of an answer.
“It’s a very vague memory,” he said after a while of pondering, “but I seem to have an
impression this has happened before.”
“Oh,” Schizo said.
Could this mean…his father really had ended up here? Maybe they weren’t the first ones to have ended up here?
Just what was this place…
“Actually, you look really familiar.”
The man’s words brought Schizo back, and he looked up at him.
“You’ve seen someone similar to me?” It was not the first time he had been told he resembled his father too much.
“I’m almost certain I’ve seen you before.”
Schizo smiled. “Where did you lead “me” last time?”
The man once again zoned out, thinking hard.
After a while, his brows knitted together and his lips pressed into a thin line.
He shut his eyes, seeming to really concentrate.
After a few minutes, he opened them.
“I can’t seem to recall.”
And there went all his hope.
“It’s alright,” Schizo waved his hand dismissively, “We can figure it out later. Are you hungry? I have some food with me.”
He sat down on the ground, and the man mirrored his actions.
“What do you have?” He asked curiously.
“Let’s see…”
Schizo unzipped his backpack and took out a few cans and fruits, “Baked beans, mushroom sauce, tuna fish, and these fruits. Pick whatever you want.”
The man observed the food laid out in front of him for a while, frowning at it.
“Do you not have water?”
Schizo paused, before exclaiming, “Ah! Of course, here.”
He took out his water bottle, handing it to the man, who took it gratefully.
“Will you not eat anything?”
The man shook his head as he handed the water bottle back.
“Those do not seem edible.”
Schizo, who was chewing a mouthful of baked beans, paused, “…”
“Then, what do you deem edible?” Schizo asked off-handedly after a prolonged silence.
“Liquids.”
“Hm, so you don’t eat?”
“No.”
Schizo nodded, not showing any reaction whatsoever. It won’t be long before he gets hungry enough to want food. How long could he last anyway?
◇○○○◇
“Which way do you say we go?”
After they were done resting, Schizo once again embarked on his way to try and locate the exit.
And now, after an hour or so of walking, they had come across a fork. Schizo had hoped the man would be of help, but the previous question proved he was just as clueless.
“Let’s let the bottle decide.”
“The bottle…?”
Schizo took out the water bottle from his backpack and laid it on the ground.
“I’ll spin the bottle. Whichever way the head points to, we go that way.”
Schizo might have been imagining it, but he thought he saw the corner of the man’s lip slightly curling up.
As if in a tiny smirk.
The following chuckle confirmed his thoughts.
It also left him shook.
“You know how to smile?”
No longer had the question left his lips that he regretted it instantly.
What kind of a dumb statement was that?
The man’s smile seemed to grow slightly more at that.
He cleared his throat, “You are quite silly. Letting a mere bottle decide your fate.”
Schizo, for the first time, felt a little flustered and blushed.
“I, I don’t know any other….” he stammered, before continuing a bit defensively, “Do you know a better way?”
“No,” the man seemed to relish in his bashfulness, and said, “Let’s do it your way.”
Schizo didn’t say any further, hastily looking down and spinning the bottle.
How the man took such a drastic turn in his demeanor, he had no idea.
The bottle spun a few times before gradually stopping.
It pointed towards the right path.
Schizo put his bottle back and got up, walking in the direction with the man following behind him.
As they were walking, the man held his hand, and Schizo paused.
He looked back in confusion, “What?”
“The path seems to be widening. What if you get lost?”
“…that is a very dumb thing to say. We’re still in a cave.”
The man shrugged, “Better safe than sorry.”
Schizo sighed, giving up.
They walked further.
And further.
And further.
And then Schizo came to an abrupt halt.
The man stopped in his tracks too.
“A dead end? Damn.” He said in a monotone voice.
Schizo felt a small sense of despair creeping up as he spoke, “This is where I started from.”
“Hm?” The man’s voice was laced with curiosity.
“When I was searching in the house, this is where I suddenly teleported to. This was my starting point.”
“Oh, that sounds like a pity….it seems like we are going in circles, then.”
Schizo sighed yet again. He had walked all that distance…for what? To end up where he started?
“What were you looking for in the house?”
“Huh?” Schizo asked, breaking out of his thoughts. Before the man could say anything, he immediately replied, “Oh, I was…”
The man patiently waited even as Schizo’s voice faded out, seeming to be searching for the right words.
However, as Schizo tried to speak, he realized he really didn’t know what to say.
He…couldn’t seem to remember what he was even there for in the first place.
“I was searching, for…”
He was searching for something, that much he remembers.
He had left his town, traveled all the way, searching for something…
But for what?
It felt like it was right on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
The man sighed, and said, “You can’t recall?”
Schizo thought harder for a moment before finally shaking his head in defeat.
“That’s quite troublesome. Maybe you’re tired. You should rest.”
Schizo frowned, “But we just rested.”
The man smiled lightly, “Just sitting around won’t do. You need sleep. How long has it been since you last slept?”
“I just slept this morning.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “How many hours would that be?”
That question threw Schizo deep in his thoughts again, and as much as he tried to count, he really had lost track of time.
How many hours had he spent roaming around inside the cave?
Had it been 4 hours…? But if he thought about it, even saying 8 hours wouldn’t sound unnatural…
He frowned deeper and rubbed his temples, felt his head throb.
“There, there, now, no need to think too deeply about it.” The man said, “It’s natural to lose track of time in a place like this. You should rest either way. It’s certainly been a long time.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Schizo nodded, then asked curiously, “What about you?”
The man widened his smile and said, “I’ll rest with you too.”
suspicious side-eye at apparently gorgeous but sketchy unknown entity