It was right before the sun dipped onto the horizon that Yuki heard it.
A kind of morbid, disgusting squelch. One that made his skin crawl. One that sounded like a walking lump of flesh, the kind of noise that would haunt you in nightmares.
The rhythmic pounding of the ocean and the sound of the heavy flowing breeze did nothing to mask the disgusting noise. Terror seized him, enhanced by the darkness surrounding him.
He closed his eyes and curled into a ball. Too terrified to think, too terrified to even form a coherent thought.
Maybe this was all still some horrid dream, maybe if he tried hard enough, he would wake up back in his couch safe and sound.
Obviously, no matter how hard he tried to wake up, his terrifying situation still stayed a reality. And the disgusting squelch encroached on him, growing louder and unbearable by the minute.
Dread gnawed at his mind, and time blurred into itself. Only the squelch keeping track of each passing moment.
It was excruciating, no one deserved something like this, right?.
So directionless, so unfair, what had Yuki even done to deserve this?
What kind of morbid horror was creeping upon him?
Was this his end?
Was he really going to die?
He didn't even get to say a final goodbye...
Atlas...
It was all so confusing, where was even this place, why was he terrified so much of the sound. Was he hallucinating? Had he overdosed on his pills? That had to be the case right? He must be hallucinating right now.
He didn't know.
He couldn't know.
So he waited, laying there on the ground, trembling in fear. But waited all the same, flinching and holding back screams as the noise approached closer and closer.
The noise grew louder and louder with each passing moment. Growing so loud that it was taking over his mind.
It still kept getting louder, louder than his thoughts, louder than his own existence.
It was going to consume him. He knew it. The thing was going to kill him.
But then, suddenly, it stopped. And instead, ragged breathing and some kind of deep... growl took its place. The noise reverberating so deep that Yuki could feel his bones rattling.
"please... please... please..." he whimpered to a god he didn't believe in. "please... save... me..."
What happened next felt like a dream.
The thing... whatever it was, let out a horrible wail, as he felt it shift.
He opened his right as the thing lunged at him, the ground quaking underneath as the massive abomination moved at a speed that should have been impossible for it.
The thing itself was a vile mass of moving flesh, Yuki could only see a bare silhouette of it in the dark, but just that glimpse had been enough for him to lose all hope.
His body moved on his own, awkwardly rolling to the side as the lump of flesh came crashing down.
The ground—still made of hard rock—shuddered, then caved in entirely. The explosion of energy throwing Yuki back-first into a jagged rock.
Hot white pain washed over him once more, and he let out a pained scream, his vocal cords flaring up from the sheer strain he put upon it.
It only took a small moment for lump of flesh to recover. The thing shook away the shrapnel stuck in its body, then lunged at him once more.
Time slowed down, almost to a standstill.
Yuki's eyes widened as he clearly saw the thing jump at him once more.
And this time, there was no where for him to run, it was over, his life was over. He didn't even have the strength to close his eyes, to find comfort in his own darkness.
Then, the light reached for him.
Like a hand stretched right out of heaven, it came in right between him and the lump of flesh.
'what...'
before he could form a coherent thought, the ethereal light took the lump of flesh with it, almost like a lightning strike.
Time sped up once more, and somewhere in the distance a massive explosion tore through the air. A towering mushroom of ash and light billowed up, it's heat scorching even from the distance.
"Are you alright?"
huh?
In front of him stood an angel, adorning a somber smile in her face. her eyes, as red as the purest of rubies—a mask of tender kindness. Both of her hand was stretched towards him, perfectly catching him as gravity pulled him down.
She wore golden armour cool to the touch. Her hair, as pale as the purest of jade, fluttered in the moonlight. She held yuki in a tender embrace, patting his head as he gasped for air.
"Hey..."
Her smooth voice reached past all the ringing in his ears, bringing him back to a reality for a short moment.
"Are you alright?" her voice, it was so kind, so... tender. Warm even, like that of a mother.
Tears pooled up on his eyes, and a sadness Yuki didn't even know existed welled inside him. For the first time in hours since he had found himself here, he felt he was going to be okay.
"I..." He choked, trying to answer past all the pain and emotions.
"I thought i was gonna die" He said, voice small and shaking, his vision completely blurred from the tears in his eyes.
"Its okay..." The woman consoled him, her voice perfectly steady.
"I'm here now... You can rest easy"
For some reason Yuki couldn't help but believe her words.
That was all he was able to comprehend before the sweet embrace of unconsciousness welcomed him.