A/N: I listened to niji no kanata ni while writing this. A very sad song that made me sadder writing this. I suggest you listen to it reading this.Griff looked around him. All he could see was a lone door. Everywhere else seemed like a white nothingness. He approached the door and turned the k.n.o.b, coming across a scene.
A figure could be seen in the distance, at the park. The area was foggy. A family it seemed.
"Big bro! Swing me on the swing!"
A little enthusiastic girl with cute pig-tails with brown hair seemed to be jumping up and down. She had a toothy grin on her face and was pulling a young man that was presumably her brother. The man had black hair and a fair face. A gentle smile on his face... He seemed no older than 20.
"Come here you little rascal!"
He was smiling as he lifted his sister that seemed no older than 8. He threw her up in the air and caught her, earning a couple of giggles from his little sister.
"Be careful now dear!"
A middle-aged woman, presumably their mother could be seen sitting on the benches with her husband, a man of short grey hair and a healthy face. The two were smiling warmly.
The young man placed his sister in the swing and begun swinging her on it. The girl seemed to be having a lot of fun as it could be seen from her joyous laughs...
Griff tried approaching the scene. He made it close enough to gaze at the little girl and tried touching her face. He felt like… he knew who she was. Who everyone around him was actually but… he didn"t seem to recall a thing.
Another door stood next to him, right behind the two siblings having fun. He started to walk towards the door and gazed back at the scene once more. A small tear left his eye as he entered the second door.
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The scenery changed. It seemed to be a birthday party. It was the party of the father. The siblings were sitting around the table with the mother serving the cake. Four elderly people could be seen around the table as well.
"Happy birthday Paul!"
Everyone cheered in unison. The elderly grandparents had warm smiles plastered on their face.
"Little Alice! Come to your grandpapa!"
One of the grandparents, a stern-faced man with steel eyes approached the little girl and the girl clung to him happily.
The father began cutting the cake and serving it around the table. As he gave a slice of cake to each person... their faces started to dissipate in to the mist that seemed to surround the room. Alice was first as she dissipated...
"What… just happened?"
Then each one of the grandparents...
"Hey, son. Thank you for this surprise party. I couldn"t have asked for anything better..."
Paul, the father, smiled as he presented a slice of cake for his son. He smiled and reached towards the cake.
"As always dad. This is the least I can do for the man you made me..."
And he too dissipated as did everyone else...
Now Griff stood alone in the room with the father. The man, now named Paul, simply stood emotionless like a rock. A third door seemed to appear behind him.
"What… is this place? What just happened?"
Griff kept questioning himself as he proceeded to turn the k.n.o.b of the third door.
The scenery changed once more. This time the scenery was a hospital room. Paul was lying on the bed with his wife next to him crying.
"Don"t cry Elly... we all have an end."
His son was next to him as well holding his hands tightly...
"Ä̷̗̳́̈̈́̋̿̓̊͊a̸̛̗͚͓͉̮̳̣̾̆̐̈͋͒̕r̵̟̱͎̈͋̌́͊͜͝o̵̧̠̹͈̩̺̥̫̎̂̓̽͘͝͠ͅn̵̟̖̉̾̀"
His son looked at him.
"Stay strong for me... This is when this family needs you the most. I know you are successful as a businessman already. I know you are the only person I can trust. This is my inheritance for you."
He smiled warmly and held his son"s hands. Looking at him with warm eyes, a tear falling from one of his eyes.
"My inheritance is my family, Ä̷̗̳́̈̈́̋̿̓̊͊a̸̛̗͚͓͉̮̳̣̾̆̐̈͋͒̕r̵̟̱͎̈͋̌́͊͜͝o̵̧̠̹͈̩̺̥̫̎̂̓̽͘͝͠ͅn̵̟̖̉̾̀. Look after your sister and mother, will you?"
"Dad! Don"t worry I talked with doctors from prestigious colleges they are working on a cure for you!"
"Ä̷̗̳́̈̈́̋̿̓̊͊a̸̛̗͚͓͉̮̳̣̾̆̐̈͋͒̕r̵̟̱͎̈͋̌́͊͜͝o̵̧̠̹͈̩̺̥̫̎̂̓̽͘͝͠ͅn̵̟̖̉̾̀, just... please. Don"t make me beg in this state."
Ä̷̗̳́̈̈́̋̿̓̊͊a̸̛̗͚͓͉̮̳̣̾̆̐̈͋͒̕r̵̟̱͎̈͋̌́͊͜͝o̵̧̠̹͈̩̺̥̫̎̂̓̽͘͝͠ͅn̵̟̖̉̾̀ formed his hands to a fist and started to weep silently.
"You aren"t crying are you son? My strong, reliable son... do this for me."
"Yes dad...Yes you can trust me..."
"I"m glad..."
Paul looked at his son with a relieved smile... his heartbeat coming to a stop.
"Step back you two! We have to take him under emergency surgery! CALL A SURGEON!"
"No…NO! Dad! DAD! Wake up dad!"
"Restrain the son! We can"t take risks right now!"
Griff looked as several security guards kept the son in place.
He then began following the nurses and doctors that were taking Paul away on a stretcher for emergency transplant. He tried catching up but he seemed to be stuck in place. As the stretcher moved away, he could only watch, clutching his heart.
"Why me... I feel this pain in my chest… This is me isn"t it?""
Behind Griff another door appeared. He seemed to be able to move again and proceeded to open the fourth door.
A new scenery formed. It was at the gates of a building.
He saw his previous self from the previous projections. He was looking up at the building with a sad gaze.
"Sir, I know your father just pa.s.sed away a couple months ago but... if you are to continue growing this firm, we need you to move on."
A man with a suit stood next to him. Holding on to his shoulders.
"I"ll... be fine Jeff. Haven"t I always?"
"Sir... I"ll try to help you as much as I can..."
The man squeezed "Griff"s" shoulder once more and they entered the building. Everyone inside were standing at ceremony. All with sad, mourning faces. Looking at the ground...
"Griff" said nothing and continued walking towards the elevators...
Watching from behind, Griff followed his counterpart. Even though they did not look alike he could feel the bond they shared. One and the same person...
Arriving at the top, "Griff" sat down at his desk and proceeded to continue with his work.
"What... is this? My past life? Who I was before?"
Griff kneeled and held his head with both hands and begun crying.
"I DON"T UNDERSTAND!"
As he was crying, a trapdoor appeared beneath him and opened. Pulling him to another scene... this time to the same park that "Griff" had swung his sister Alice on the swings. "Griff" was sitting on one of the benches and crying silently...
Someone approached him and sat next to him.
"Hey... you don"t have to cry alone you know..."
"Griff" lifted his head and looked at the figure next to him. His features brightened up a bit and he hugged the figure.
"Geez A̴̢̨̜̖̹͙̭̲̩̾̀́̓͌̎̿͒̓͂͝n̷̥̥̫͎̩̒͑̑̾́̉͘͝n̵͇͙̫̩͛̊̂̓̽į̸̢̪̖̪̮̫̲̐̈́̈́͒͜͜͠ȇ̶͇̺͕͉͎̞̱̯̂͝ you always cheer me up."
"Don"t lie to yourself... you know you can let it all loose with me..."
The young woman hugged "Griff"
"Griff"s" features turned sorrowful once more and he let it all out... crying and hugging tightly.
"You know I am always there for you..."
"Griff" did not reply and continued crying.
"Someone has to be there for you to cry on... you can"t always be tough A̶̢̰̰̳̪̳̗̫͊͋̋̇̉͑̊a̶̢̨̳̤̮͕̬͂̀̾̍̓͗̈́̏͝r̸̫̪͖͈̣̼̀ơ̸̛̮̻̠̘̓͒̓̃͌͘ņ̴͒̍͗̿̐̓̉̑͝"
Watching the scene Griff felt despair realizing something.
"Why... why can"t I remember her name? Why can"t I remember my sisters name? I... its fading...."
His eyes had a look of despair.
"Why can"t I remember my dad? My mom? My past?!"
"WHY ME!"
Griff roared towards the skies as the scene in front of him once more faded to the mist...
"Wait! I remember! I remember my name! A...a...r...o... n?"
Griff tried writing his name down on the mist he was standing but each time he wrote it disappeared once more.
"My name is Aaron! Aaron! I won"t forget! A...? What is my name?"
Griff stood up with dry tears on his cheeks.
"I... only remember one name.... Griff...."
Griff refused to move towards the other door that appeared in front of him. This time another trap door appeared beneath him and opened once again…
This time, "Griff" could be seen standing beside something of a higher plane... a G.o.d? a G.o.ddess?
"You have been selected for a big purpose young human. Rejoice for you are now being sent to a higher plane of existence."
Griff watched as his counterpart looked furiously at the ent.i.ty.
"I don"t want this! Send me back! I have a duty to fulfill for my family! I did not ask to be here!"
"You have no say in this mortal. We chose you for one purpose only known to us and that shall stay as that. Your... memories seem like a nuisance for our plans. You don"t need it."
This time "Griff" looked horrified.
"No... I"ll go. Just... not my memories. Anything but my memories. My precious people I hold dear to me, DON"T MAKE ME FORGET THEM!"
"As I said... you have no say mortal..."
And the scenery vanished more. Griff fell to his knees, tearing off portions of his hair.
"It was taken away from me...My life... my memories..."
All around Griff various people started to appear. His father from his previous life gazed at him at the front of the group. He was smiling as was his little sister, mother, his employees and his...lover?
He couldn"t remember their names anymore...
"Go forth son. You may not remember us anymore but we remember you. As long as one of us remembers the other, our bonds shall not break..."
"No...NO! DON"T LEAVE ME!"
Griff tried reaching towards his dad but all around him, in every direction everyone started to fade once again in to the mist until only one figure remained. His previous self.
"You shouldn"t fall to despair..."
"Then tell me... what should I do? I"m all alone..."
"No... you are not alone. You were never alone Griff."
Griff looked at his previous self with his tear-filled eyes.
"We are all here."
"Griff" poked Griff"s heart.
"And we shall all remain there. Even without memories you can still know that this life once existed and you were once loved. Don"t throw this life away for the past. Remember it, cherish it but do not fall to despair."
Griff nodded at him.
"You are me... and I am you Griff. Thousands of different lives will not change that. Nothing can change our very root. Our very existence."
"Griff" hugged Griff... time seemed to stop as Griff embraced his past.
"Griff slowly started to dissipate as well...
"Will I ever see you again?"
"Anytime you look at the mirror I will be there... Now go. Go forth and steel yourself, me. I... all of us believe in you to live your life to the fullest here in this world. Steel yourself for the road ahead will not be easy."
"Wait... PLEASE WAIT! I don"t understand! Will I ever remember?"
"That... is not up to us. You will understand shortly..."
Griff tried grabbing "Griff" but he too became one with the mist.
The world around Griff started to crack. The white nothingness begun to crack all around and small portions of it started falling from the sky.
"I will... I WILL NOT FAIL YOU ALL! This is my new life... I WILL CHERISH IT!"
Griff shouted one last time as the world cracked...
Griff moved towards the only remaining door in the white nothingness. He looked once more behind him.
"Griff" could be seen at the very end of the white nothingness, materializing once more to simply smile and dissipate once more.
"This is my life…my new life. And I shall live it to the fullest."
He opened the door…
And then... there was light.