And the last was a horrifying dark humanoid being, levitating in a blood-red cosmos among the wreckage of the universe. Everything had been annihilated, and every life had ended.
The being’s appearance was majestic and terrifying to the core, as if it were the lord of evil. It possessed a perfect man physique, and sharp long fingers. Its chest was wide, its shoulders were broad, and its torso was an inverted triangle, akin to those of a great warrior. Even though its body was absolutely marvelous, like that of a model, its terror didn't diminish at all.
Its entire body was metallic and dark like the heart of the abyss.
Adorned upon its head were large crown-shaped devil horns, with the leftmost and rightmost horns much longer and larger than the others.
Emerged from both shoulders were large, long, curved spikes that resembled rhino horns, and beside them were smaller spikes with the same design.
Suddenly, a pair of evil eyes appeared on its face, along with a crystal heart. Both the eyes and the crystal heart were scarlet and radiating bright.
Its eyes were entirely red, resembling a wide V shape vertically cleaved out at the center. Each eye looked like a sloped line with pointy edges, curving downward at the inner end and upward at the outer end. Other than the solid eyes, it had nothing else on its face. It also had no ears and hair.
The dark entity glared at the boy. As soon as their eyes met, a chill ran down the boy from head to toe.
He could sense an infinite power within it just by looking into its eyes, a power that could grant it the ability to destroy the entire universe with just a snap of its finger. And it seemed the remains of the universe around it were its work.
The more he stared at those sinister eyes, the more uneasy he felt. His vision began to shake. Everything except the being started to blur. An ominous sound played within his ears, gradually becoming louder and louder. The eyes grew brighter, larger, and more terrifying. Finally, the boy couldn’t hold it anymore and woke up from his dream.
The boy suddenly opened his eyes with a big gasp and sprang up from his bed. He was sweating like a pig, pale like a sheet, and panting like a dog. He slowly looked around the room, assessing the situation, and when he realized it was just a dream, he sighed with relief.
The boy's bedroom was simple, cozy, and charming. The shelves were adorned with colorful books, tiny wooden animals, mini plants, and little sculptures, while the walls were decorated with a dream board, a dreamcatcher, pictures of the world's wonders, band posters, fantasy paintings, and other beautiful wall decorations. The floor was wooden, gleaming, and blanketed with a large orange carpet at the center.
A warm golden sunlight shone through the windows, brightening and bringing life to his room. The song of birds drifted into the bedroom, accompanied by the rustling leaves and the calming sound of a wind chime.
After the boy recovered from the fright, he looked at his hands and said, "Are those... dreams?"
Trying to recall his dreams, the boy noticed the glowing blossom. It fell off his hand and was now resting on the bed beside him. The boy looked at the flower with astonishment, and carefully reached for it. But the moment his hand touched the bloom, a picture of a cloaked man with glowing golden eyes and an illuminating inverted golden triangle on his chest flashed before his eyes. He was standing beneath the gigantic tree, the same one the boy had seen in his dream, with pristine white flowers delicately falling around him. He stared at the boy, not with threatening eyes, but with a serene yet penetrating gaze. Even without a word, the boy could tell from his eyes that the man was placing faith in him.
In panic, the boy yanked his hand away from the flower. He stared at the blossom, puffing in fear. After recovering from the shock, he reached for the flower again, but carefully, and picked it up. This time, no image shot into his head, but he felt warmth from the flower.
For some reason, that warmth reminded him of his mother's embrace. He started to miss his mother, and memories of her drifted into his mind. The picture of his mother holding him for the first time appeared before his eyes. She was sitting on a patient bed in the hospital, beneath a white blanket, gently smiling at him with tears. The boy's father was beside his mother and smiled at him with tears as well.
Even though the memory was vague, he could still remember every essential thing from that day: The first warmth of his life—the warmth of his mother—the bright golden sunlight that shone through the window, the clean smell of the hospital, the cold from the air conditioner, the conversation between the nurse, the doctor, his father, his mother, and the bustling outside the room. They were the very first memories of his life, the memories he received after opening his eyes for the first time.
Heartwarming memories about his mother kept flooding his mind. He recalled the times when she fed him as a baby, read him stories before bedtime, and bandaged his wounds from an accident. The boy held the flower with both hands, brought it to his heart, and closed his eyes. The memories became clearer, and the feelings grew stronger. The memories of his mother celebrating his birthdays, watching his school performances, singing him lullabies, and countless more gushed into his head. Those memories filled his heart with joy and his eyes with tears. When the boy opened his eyes, a tear streamed out and rolled down his cheek. He wiped away the tears and looked at the flower.
“What flower are you?” The boy stared at the flower. "Where did you come from?”
After he asked that question, he felt a cool breeze blow through him. He hugged himself, trembling like a leaf, before looking at the window and realizing that it was open. The boy confusingly stared at the window. He remembered that he didn’t open it. The boy jumped out of the bed and went to the window. He placed the flower on the table and grabbed the window to close it. But before he could close it, he saw the white creature hop from the nearby tree onto the tree in front of his house.
The creature stared at the boy, and the boy stared back at the creature with a gasp.
While their eyes were fixed on each other, the creature stood up, strolled on two legs to the trunk of the tree, and placed its hand on it.
The creature was adorable, yet gorgeous. It had a big round head, large circular deep-blue eyes, a small black triangular catlike nose, and long leaf-shaped ears. Its body wrapped in a coat of fur, as white as snow, and glowed like a star in the night. Its little hand contained four fingers with tiny black claws.
The creature was clad in a long-sleeved dark-blue tactical jumpsuit, brown leather boots, brown leather gloves, and a brown leather utility belt with a silver buckle. It sported a smartwatch with a blue band on its right wrist.
The most striking feature of the creature was a blue crystal heart.
The creature gave the boy a big smile and a wave. The boy awkwardly returned the wave, but his expression remained the same. While they were greeting each other, someone knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock! "Breakfast is ready, sweetheart!" shouted a woman through the door.
The boy wheeled to the door, and yelled, "I'll be right down!"
"Don't take too long!"
After the woman went down the stairs, the boy returned to the creature, only to find that it was gone. The boy stretched his head out of the window and looked for the creature, but all he found were a shaking branch and falling leaves. The boy pulled his head back and closed the window. But before he got away from the window, he spotted someone in a green cloak standing in front of his house, on the other side of the road. He extended his face to the window and narrowed his eyes. The man had a poker face, calm yet piercing sky-blue eyes, long blonde hair, and a short beard. Even though his body was hidden beneath the cloak, the glowing golden triangle on his chest could be seen clearly. The boy felt so familiar with this man. After carefully examining his face, he realized that it was the man whom he had seen when he touched the flower. Furthermore, he noticed that the man looked like his father.
“Dad?” said the boy, before rubbing his eyes.
But when he looked at the man again, he had vanished, just like the white creature. The boy cast his eyes from left to right, searching for the man, before sighing and saying, “Why does everyone love to vanish?”
The boy went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and got dressed for school. He wore a casual outfit with a brown jacket. Wrapping an orange bandana around his neck, the boy gazed at a family portrait in a wooden frame on a nightstand beside his bed.
After finishing with his bandana, he strolled to the photo, picked it up, and sat on the bed. He looked at the image. There were four people in the picture: a man, a woman, a little boy, and a baby girl. They were beaming from ear to ear with joy, except the infant, who was busy sucking her thumb.
The little boy was at the center of the portrait. He had sky-blue eyes and golden blonde hair just like the boy. He was standing between the man and the woman, embracing their waists.
The man was charming. He wore round glasses, and had a golden-blonde man bun, silver eyes, and a strong body.
The woman was beautiful. She had a kind, pretty face, sky-blue eyes, and curly, long hair that was dark and shining like a black pearl. She was carrying the baby in her arms, who had short black hair.
The baby girl was adorable like every other newborn, but what set her apart was that her right eye was covered with a cotton eye pad, and her skin around it was pitch-black, like coal.
All of them were dressed in casual outfits, standing in front of a lovely, cozy, blue house.
The boy gently touched the photo, and tears started to well up in his eyes. He hugged the portrait, pressing it against his heart, and closed his eyes. The tears streamed out of his eyes, rolled down his cheeks, and dropped onto the bed. While he was drowning in grief, he noticed the light from the flower. The glowing flower shone brighter than before, as if it were trying to pull the boy out of the pit of sorrow. The boy placed the portrait back on the nightstand, went to the flower and picked it up.
He gently held the flower with two hands and rested it upon his heart. The warmth of the flower melted the sadness away, leaving only tranquility. He didn’t know why, but he felt safe and comfortable when the flower was near him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and meditated for a moment. When his mind was calm again, he removed the flower from his chest, snatched a backpack from the chair, and went down to the ground floor with the flower in his hand.
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