The morning was quiet. Too quiet.
Haru opened his eyes to the sunlight slipping through the curtain of their small apartment. Same place. Same ceiling. Same bed.
But his heart was beating fast.
The nightmare again. The same dream: the Violet World, the monsters, the battles, the tear in Joceka's eye before he disappeared. Every night the same nightmare, every night the same fear.
He looked at the other bed. Joceka was sleeping. Peacefully, as he did every night without nightmares. Without problems.
Why? Haru wondered. Why am I the only one still suffering?
He got up quietly, went to the bathroom, turned on the faucet. He put his hands under the cold water, trying to calm himself. But his hands were trembling. He knew why. It wasn't just the nightmares. There was something else. Something that had been chasing him for weeks.
He came out of the bathroom and found Joceka sitting on the bed looking at him.
"Awake?" Haru asked.
"Yeah." Joceka stretched. "Your voice was loud."
Haru sat beside him. A brief silence.
Then Joceka suddenly said, "I dream about you every night."
Haru's heart stopped.
"I dream you're dying. And I can't do anything." Joceka's voice was low. "I dream about the Violet World. The monsters. Everything."
Haru looked at him. "Me too."
"Then why don't we talk about it?"
"Because I'm scared."
"Scared of what?"
"Scared of remembering."
Joceka was silent. Then he stood up abruptly. "I'm tired of this routine. Of this life. I lived in a parallel world, fought monsters, and now I'm a cashier in a grocery store."
Haru stood too. "I work at a bookstore—"
"Yeah, I know. You always do what's expected." His voice rose. "I'm the one who came to you. I'm the one who tried to understand you. And now even after everything, I'm still the one trying!"
"Joceka, calm down—"
"No! I want to understand why we're here! Why we don't talk! Why we're afraid!"
Haru stepped toward him. "Because I'm afraid that if I remember, you were the reason for everything!"
Silence fell. Joceka looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"
Haru realized what he'd said. "I didn't mean—"
But Joceka pulled away. "You think I was a burden to you."
"No—"
"I want to be alone."
"Joceka—"
"Please."
Haru left. Closed the door behind him. Joceka remained alone.
He sat on the couch. Hours passed. Thinking. Angry. Exhausted. And in a moment of weakness, he whispered to himself: I wish Haru wasn't here.
A moment. One second. But it was enough.
He felt something break. Something tear. He screamed: "Haru!" No answer. He ran down to the street, ran to the bookstore. The owner looked at him strangely.
"Haru left a while ago."
Joceka ran through the streets. Hours. He couldn't find him.
He returned to the apartment. Opened the door. Empty.
He fell to the floor.
Then the world around him began to change. The colors turned violet. The ground was no longer ground. He raised his eyes and found himself in another place.
The Violet World. But different. Darker. More dangerous.
And the monsters around him weren't monsters. They were ghosts.
He stood with difficulty.
"Haru?"
His voice was lost in the void.
But he knew one thing: Haru had disappeared. Because of a wish he made.
And he had to find him.
Before he vanished forever.