I had to leave. The empty halls that were surrounded with sorrow, the empty rooms that only made me cry in agony… The empty rooms, which we shared. The empty bathroom, that served as a way to start our day. The empty sitting room, that beautiful sofa that was no longer there. The empty house. My empty heart.

Kioko felt like a nomad. What she felt was revealed to everyone as she fled as if she was skinless. Her pace was rapid, like usual, but this time she was tired. So she stopped. She fell. She stayed.

I hear the pitter-patter of the morning dew falling into the grass. Every single flower here is bright and smells tropical in some way. “Esme! Wait for me!” Rina chuckles, almost tripping over a rock. I smile, watching her fight her way onto a standing position. Her hair is tangled onto her face and her smile brings me…warmth. I haven’t been to this place in a while. It looks the same, except for a few bigger trees and… a new pond? Wait, that pond was not there before. I would have remembered. To be honest, pond was an understatement of what that body of water was. It was way bigger than one, nog enough to hold a small restaurant. “Rina…” Her smile faded away into a preoccupied grin. The “pond” seemed like it was…eating everything on its path. Slowly but surely it was moving like a human being. “Esme, we need to get outta here.”

“What am I doing here?!” She screamed at the top of my lungs, throat feeling like a cheese grinder has been passed through it. She was standing at the ledge of a cliff. Yes, a cliff. The moment felt like a dream, or more so…a nightmare. “Hello?!” She shouted once again, her body unsteady as her mind. She sat down, weary about the fact that her clumsy self could easily fall down the edge. The fog made it hard to see and…wait. Wait a damn minute. She couldn’t remember anything. Nothing. About her name, About who she was, What she did. Nothing. “Well, I see you are getting acostumed to your new life…” A voice said just behind her. When she turned, she saw a gentleman in a black suit. In his right hand, he was holding a scythe. “Welcome to your first year as my assistant, Lana. Call me Mr. Reaper.”