Zata had created human life filled with peace and tranquility.
Nineteen Years Later.
Bored of the calm, Zata decided to awaken humanity to feel destruction once again.
He began shattering the peace of humankind, creating people plagued by suffering, for he wanted them to oppose him.
Pointing a single finger toward the Earth, Zata declared,
"Destroy!"
And so, the world began to crumble. Zata recreated the human world.
In this new world, dark and silent, the ground still smoldering from the prior devastation, a light began to pulse in the middle of the empty expanse. The light throbbed stronger until it formed the body of a young man.
Arou.
He opened his eyes slowly, taking in a breath that felt foreign, as if the world were being experienced for the first time. He stood and looked around. The sky was colorless. The air was heavy. The land appeared as though it had just been scorched by something immense.
There was no fear. No panic.
Only a void, an unsettling emptiness, as if something vital were missing from within him.
Arou gazed at his hands, noticing faint scars he could not recall acquiring.
"Who… am I?"
The words escaped without thought.
The world around him was silent. No wind, no living creatures, only himself in the midst of the void. Yet far above the sky, a gaze watched him.
Zata sat upon a throne of ink, suspended amidst black mist. A faint, unreadable smile curved on his face.
"Arou. You have risen again," Zata spoke softly. "This time… you have a new role."
Arou looked toward the sky. Though he could not see Zata directly, he sensed someone orchestrating the flow of this world. A strange feeling stirred in his chest, like a memory trapped behind a dense fog.
"I… feel like I've lost something before," Arou murmured.
Black winds moved slowly, shaping shadows that seemed like fragments of forgotten dreams.
Arou stared, confused, a sudden tightness in his chest.
Tiny fragments of emotion began surfacing:
Anger he did not understand.
Sadness he could not trace.
A silent resistance to something he could not yet remember.
Zata moved a finger, weaving destiny anew before him.
"I have remade this world. And you, Arou, I have awakened to walk upon it. Find the answers… or oppose me. I want to see what you will choose."
Arou clenched his fists tightly.
The ground cracked faintly beneath him, revealing that something dormant still stirred within.
He did not yet know who he truly was.
But he knew one thing:
"I will find the answers… to everything."
Zata smiled faintly, a smile tinged with curiosity and anticipation.
"Begin. Make this world move."
Arou stepped forward, and with each stride, the new world began to reveal its hidden secrets.
He walked across the black, fractured ground. This world felt strange, yet familiar. Each step stirred dust into the air, as if the land recognized his presence.
All was silent until the sky above suddenly shimmered with a white light.
It fell like droplets of ink, forming a thin mist around Arou.
A deep, calm voice echoed from above:
"Arou."
He stopped, gazing upward, seeing no form, only feeling the presence.
Zata.
"I will give you one thing," the voice said. "A clue."
Arou clenched his fists.
"What… a clue for what?"
Zata did not answer directly. The mist around Arou shifted, forming thin screens showing human silhouettes.
Six silhouettes.
Some radiated light.
Others flickered darkly, distorted.
"They will walk with you… and some will stand against you," Zata said.
The first silhouette emerged clearly.
Shion. Tall, sharp-eyed, surrounded by a steady, strong light.
Second: Nova. Her energy unstable, as if her power were still sealed.
Third: Emi. Her glow gentle, yet pulsing with strength, hiding something beneath her softness.
"These three will approach you as the world begins to move," Zata said.
Arou stared silently.
"So… they're the ones who will fight with me?"
Zata did not deny it.
"Or abandon you. That is their choice."
The mist shifted again.
Two new silhouettes appeared, their light dark.
The first, a girl. Cold gaze. A dark aura shrouded her.
Airi.
Arou felt a sudden tightness in his chest, instinctively clutching it, unsure why. A spontaneous wave of emotion surged through him, unexplained.
"Airi…"
The name slipped out unconsciously.
Zata smiled from afar. Though Arou could not see him, his presence was felt.
"You recognize the name. Good."
The second silhouette: Lumina. Shrouded in white light, fragile yet sacred, fractured like glass. Expression unreadable, aura menacing.
"She is not human," Zata murmured. "But you will face her."
Arou frowned.
"Why… are they against me?"
Zata only chuckled softly.
"Because it is… interesting."
The final shift brought three more silhouettes. This time, they gradually faded, erased as if they had never existed.
Rei.
Feeth.
Nora.
Arou felt a chill at their absence. Though he did not know them, the emptiness left behind weighed on him.
"What happened to them…?" Arou asked.
Zata's voice was void of emotion.
"They were erased. Not fit for the new story."
Arou's chest tightened.
"Erased? You mean… they will never exist again?"
Zata chuckled.
"That is how the worlds I write work."
Arou lowered his head. His heart felt heavy, as though mourning people he had never met.
Zata left him with one final sentence before fading:
"Arou. You have allies. You have enemies. And you have the shadows of the past that will never return."
The mist dissipated.
Arou was alone once more in the dark world.
He clenched his fists firmly.
"Shion… Nova… Emi…
Airi… Lumina…
Rei… Feeth… Nora…"
He repeated each name, imprinting them into memory.
"Very well. If this world is different… I will find the answers myself."
And so Arou's journey began.
The new world of Zata trembled into motion.
The place Arou stood was not truly the human world. It was the space between emptiness and reality—black, lifeless earth, scentless air, a colorless sky.
Yet, at the edge of this place, Arou saw something for the first time.
Light.
White.
Softly shimmering like sunlight hidden behind fog.
Arou approached cautiously. Each step made the light grow stronger, eventually forming a thin gateway of particles glowing faintly.
He did not know who he truly was.
He did not know what he should do.
But he knew one thing:
He could not remain here.
Arou stepped through the light.
In an instant, color returned to his vision.
Green trees.
The scent of damp earth.
A gentle wind brushing against his skin.
The human world.
Arou looked around. A small forest bathed in soft sunlight. No destruction. No screams. Zata's new world was not entirely dark.
Then, he heard approaching footsteps.
Arou turned instinctively.
Through the trees stood a young girl, dark brown hair slightly wavy. Her eyes were clear and warm, though carrying a hint of fear.
She froze, astonished to see him.
"…Arou…?"
Arou blinked, confused.
"How do you know my name?"
The girl stepped forward cautiously, afraid he might vanish if she moved too fast.
In her gaze, there was longing… and shock.
"Arou… is it really you? Is it really you…?"
Her voice trembled.
Arou studied her.
A strange sensation flowed through his chest. Warm… yet distant. Like a memory trying to surface but trapped behind thick fog.
"Who… are you?" he asked softly.
The girl remained silent.
Tears fell gently, not from sorrow, but relief.
"I'm Emi…"
She smiled at him, unable to hide it.
"I… I'm your older sister."
Arou froze.
The word "sister" felt foreign, yet his heart responded as if it had always known it.
Emi stepped closer, placing both hands on his shoulders.
"Arou… you've been gone for so long. Everyone… everyone thought you'd never come back…"
Arou lowered his head.
"I… don't remember anything."
Emi shook her head quickly, tears streaming.
"It's okay. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're back. That you're here."
The wind blew.
Leaves fell softly.
The moment opened a small door within Arou's heart.
Though his memories were shattered…
Emi gave him something he could not explain:
Peace.
Emi held his hand.
"Come with me. It's dangerous to be here alone."
Arou looked at her hand. Hesitant for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright… lead the way…"
Emi smiled with relief.
"…Arou."
Together, they stepped out of the forest, unaware that someone was watching them from afar.
And Zata's new world… had truly begun.