Dance With the Nightingale - Chapter 35

Truly strange.

As soon as I opened my eyes my first thought was-

I was supposed to be dead, right..?

Being hit by lighting, I should be deader than dead…

I remember it, my body melting and my vision fading…

So, what is this..?

Illusion..?

Afterlife, maybe..?

But, why is everything so groggy and slow…

Something, I don’t know what, but it felt as if something is…disconnected..?

This created a nagging feeling in back of my head, that something irreversible has happened…

That feeling, I readily suppressed.

Then, it suddenly clicked-

This feeling, these senses, everything I felt was too vivid to be unreal…

This world, was too vivid to be unreal…

Maybe, it was my poor brain’s fault.

It was just so low on processing power, that I couldn’t even recognize this familiar yet unfamiliar atmosphere of the room.

But, this isn’t completely hopeless, I guess?

Why?

Because, I know this room, a hospital, no, a patient’s room.

The penetrating smell of disinfectant was lingering in the room.

It washed over my brain, giving it a moment of respite and much needed rest.

Deciding to rest my brain, I tried to move my body.

And the results were passable, I guess?

It was like moving a rusted machine, my body, it just won’t move…

Was I sleeping for a long time?

Just how much time has passed?

Don’t tell me!, I became an old man without knowing it!?

A headache assaulted just in time, as if to prevent me from overthinking…

Even then, I was thankful, why?

Well, I have heard from many people that, it’s normal to not being able to feel some of the body parts after coming out of coma, but I can feel them without any problem.

I can’t move them sure, but, I can at least feel them…

So, I was thankful..

Actually, this was not the first time.

I had a bad case of asthma when I was little, so I had to stay in hospitals and sometimes those stays extended to months.

So, I was familiar with this rusted feeling which owned my body.

It was never this bad, yes.

But still, it wasn’t something impossible to overcome.

Still, it was impossible to move.

So, I gave up, and just laid down, observing the situation and my surroundings.

I confirmed that this was a patient’s bed, but things were a bit strange, the first thing I noticed was the bed, it was unnecessarily huge.

I mean, why in the world would a patient, an old man, would need a king sized bed??

(A/N: He thinks he got old)

But, that was not the end, rather it was just the start…

Small discrepancies, which normally I wouldn’t notice, were slowly being registered in my mind, and despite suffering a migraine, my mind worked in overdrive.

The huge and extravagant bed.

A chandelier, rather than a ceiling fan or AC, which can only be considered as an antique from 1800s, was glowing, god knows how, like an LED.

Along with the old wooden style of the room and window got

all sorts of thoughts running in my head, only coming to halt with a single question…

IS THIS REALLY THE WORLD I KNOW!?

Despair, confusion, and terror gripped me, tearing apart me apart…

With a rusty body and fragile mind, I did the only thing I could.

Try not to overthink.

Try to calm down.

Try to get a grip.

-tick

-tock

-tick

-tock

The sound of the clock helped me calm down, as if it affirmed my existence.

I don’t know how much time passed.

Cause, I couldn’t read the clock.

1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, maybe more, maybe less, but, it was time well used.

Finally, I drew some conclusions so as to not get a panic attack everytime I think.

-First, wherever I was, this place was unusual, it wasn’t your normal hospital.

-Second, I was well treated, but I don’t think I could resist the one keeping me here.

-Third, this place was a super high tech.

This place looked old school but was actually quite advanced like, how even without AC or ceiling fan, the temperature was kept under control, likewise the chandelier was doing such a great job in illuminating the room, so good that I couldn’t even see shadows of furniture, except for the light outlines.

Even these thin sheets draped over me were a piece of art, giving just enough warmth to my chest while being much warmer on my legs.

Though, I was full of admiration for these things, I wasn’t idle.

I couldn’t afford to be.

For the whole time I spent thinking, I tried, tried, and kept trying to move my body.

And the result, at least I could move my arms, and upper body a bit.

Actually, that in itself was a surprising result.

So, using my now movable arms, I reached out to what looked like an antique night stand, to get a water jug, which stood atop it.

Honestly, with all that thinking along with just getting out of coma, my throat was parched.

And, yes.

I have been eyeing that jug for a long time, so without bothering to get a glass or anything else, not like I could in my current condition, I directly brought it to my lips and drank.

It was hard to actually drink, my position was awkward, the jug was heavy for me to lift, and water just kept in coming.

I was glad that it was just water and not some suspicious medicinal drink, that I half-expected it to be.

In fact, I was did surprisingly good just by not choking myself.

Feeling satisfied, I placed the jug back with some difficulty, and wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

It was then, that I noticed it and a silly voice leaked out of my mouth-

-Eh?

No matter how ill I was, no matter how long I was asleep, no matter how I bony my hand got, it couldn’t, shouldn’t and wouldn’t be this SMALLL!!!??

-Just what the fuck was going on here!!?

Just when I thought things will calm down, just when I thought, I should take things slow, this happened?

Just how did my hand got smaller, wait-

-Was this even my own body..!?

As soon as that question appeared in my head.

Things just got desperate.

Now, I couldn’t wait.

I flipped the sheets off me, tried to lift myself but, that was just useless effort, my back muscles were absolutely stiff.

There was just no way, I could sit up, not this fast, not now.

But, I can’t just stay still, now can I?

Not during an identity crisis.

So, I searched.

Searched, searched and kept searching, with only my head and hands, trying to look around the room, as best as I could, to find something, anything, that could prove – I am me.

Eventually, my gaze found a mirror, a mirror too far away to be useful.

-Just why the hell is this room so big!?

-Just what can I do..??

-I can’t even see my face…

-Just how helpless have I become…

I tossed and turned my head, while whining and wallowing, trying to flip, only to see it-

-Myself

No matter how distorted, no matter how unclear, but as soon as I saw it, I knew-

-That was me

As if someone had written it deep within my mind, I just knew, it was me.

It was me, it was me, it was me, alright!

I never knew that seeing my face being reflected on a water jug could give me this much joy.

Gone were the despair and confusion, instead, I was filled with happiness and thrill.

It was as if a preschooler got his favorite candy.

But just knowing wasn’t enough.

I wanted more.

Just one more look, just one more glance, it was as if I was trying to carve my appearance in myself and label it as me, so that I would never forget it.

So, I looked, I remembered, I carved and I marveled.

Those sky blue hair, a shade so light that they shone indescribable cyan, fluttering around asunder in the evening sun as if dancing in the wind.

Those big wide open cyan eyes shining, a bit puffy, due to the tears slowly rolling out of them, but still reflecting a bit of amber in them.

(A/N: Evening sunlight)

Those thin, a bit chapped lips, and that small nose.

As soon as, I completed the picture, I felt it.

That little uncomfortable feeling, that nagging feeling that this is not me, disappear.

And then, the world stilled.

The evening sun, disappeared, the bed, disappeared.

The jug, the mirror, the room, everything disappeared.

What was left was me, my image as myself, and the dark world around me.

No, not dark, not completely dark but a world with, tiny, little, shining objects…

…Stars, I presume, which were so close, yet so far.

It felt like, I was in the infinite space, watching and reaching for each star, no, I was actually chasing them, for their glow kept getting brighter and brighter.

So bright, that I couldn’t open my eyes, and yet it kept getting much, much brighter.

My body which I could surprisingly move now, was being dragged against my will, towards the stars for a while now.

And finally after some time, I reached them.

But I didn’t stop, no, I couldn’t stop.

I dived straight into the star, and the star-

-Flasheedddd.

And once again, I felt it, that disconnected feeling.

But it was much stronger now, strangely though, I felt no discomfort as if it was natural.

And memories, memories which didn’t belong to me started appearing in my mind, it was a unique experience, like watch a movie in 7D (T/N: hypothetical), the memories of a boy, kept appearing in my mind for a while, until they stopped.

I knew who the boy was.

The previous me.

The movie stopped, prompting me to open my eyes, only to see, the star near me was gone, no, more like it was snuffed out.

Giving me no time to rest, or understand the situation, once again, I was dragged, just like before without my will, getting closer and closer to another star out there.

No matter how dull I was, now I knew.

-I had transmigrated.

But instead of panic, I felt calm.

The strange sequence of events repeated again and again and again, I reached for the stars and snuffed them out.

The stars were actually memories.

Memories of this body.

Memories of the boy who lived as me before.

These memories were random, completely jumbled.

But even then, I could still feel something, something familiar, something strange, something I knew, but just couldn’t connect…

My just calmed mind started searching, rolling through the memories, from the new ones to the old, trying to remember just what I was missing, but to no avail.

I kept thinking, I kept rolling while I kept snuffing, still trying to find it, only for it to slip away, for a long time.

My trance ended only when I noticed something strange, don’t get me wrong the whole situation was strange, but I noticed something even stranger.

The star, the one I was reaching out for was swelling, literally swelling, it swelled, and swelled and swelled some more only to-

-BOOOMMMM!!!

Explode in a ridiculously bright light.

No memories acquired.

And like nothing happened, I was one again dragged to another star, this time, the process successful.

But, I felt no joy, why?

‘Cause I could see a plethora of other stars exploding.

I felt a sense of urgency, and the thought of wasting my brain power to chase that ‘something’ was chased away.

And I tried to think of a way to increase the number of memories acquired.

Actually, there was nothing I could do, I couldn’t resist the dragging force, nor could I change my direction.

But I could at least think, right?

So, while I was being dragged away, I tried to think of a way, while doing a breaststroke in the dark world, and as expected it was futile.

I tried some other things, but they were useless too.

Then, I thought since I can’t resist, I should go with the flow, right?

So, somehow I urged myself to be dragged faster.

It did nothing at first but, surprisingly, I could feel myself being speed up while concentrating, it was like those toys that ran on concentration or something.

(T/N: There are toy cars that can be controlled by concentrating, they actually use brain waves, but the you have to concentrate to move them.)

Yet, as soon as I understood this I slowed down again, understandably, my concentration broke.

But my mood improved.

At least, I got a way.

What happened next was pretty obvious.

I pushed out all other thoughts, and concentrated.

Or at least tried to do so, sometimes, succeeding sometimes not.

Slowly but surely, I was getting used to it.

The stars exploding in background were good distractions, but I continued to do my thing anyway, trying not to pay attention, but, how could I not?

Those were precious memories, which could help me in this world, I could no longer play the ‘I’m dumb, I’m pitiful’ card.

I know I transmigrated, and I had to do whatever I could, to capitalize my benefits.

With such thinking I strengthened my will and kept chasing the stars.

I was hard, and quite exhausting, to be honest, I had to concentrate for hours, to keep going faster, to get one more star, I even got back the headache which I felt earlier, and it was only getting worse.

But, I didn’t stop, I continued cha