I took a sharp intake of breath as my eyes suddenly shot open.

"Mmnh..."

I blinked rapidly to try and get the spots out of my eyes as I sat up from my prone position. I briefly squeezed them shut and opened them again, slowly this time.

White.

Just an endless expanse of white everywhere I turned.

"H-hello?" I called out.

No answer.

I didn't really expect one, to be honest. Wherever I was, there was no sound whatsoever.

No noise and no obvious source of all this light.

I looked down around where my legs were splayed.

I don't even have a shadow.

It wasn't until I thought about getting to my feet that I realized I was clutching something in my hands.

I held it out and examined it with raised eyebrows.

A sword?

I brought it closer for a better look. It did seem to be a sword sheathed in it's scabbard.

"Hmm..."

I ran a hand across the thick material of the scabbard. The finish felt like wood and the dark indigo color looked natural—as if it had been carved out of a tree with indigo colored bark. The top and bottom of the sheath were plated with some kind of metal I couldn't readily discern just from looks alone, though it was violet in color.

One thing that caught my attention in particular, was a symbol of a six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller stars embroidered in the same violet colored metal near the top of the scabbard.

The image invoked an odd sense of familiarity that I couldn't quite place.

I flipped the scabbard over to see that it had a series of leather straps that were fastened at both ends just under the metal plating. The straps seemed to be able to adjust so that the scabbard could be worn on either the back or the waist.

Length is about forty-five inches and width is roughly... five inches? Judging by the size and shape of the scabbard, the sword inside must be some kind of broadsword, but... I feel like it should weigh more than it does for how big the sword seems to be?

While I could definitely feel some weight to it, I had no problem lifting the sheath, sword and all.

Not only that, but if this is a broadsword like I'm thinking, it's definitely an odd one.

Another thing I had noticed was that, with how wide the blade seemed to be, the bottom of the scabbard should have noticeably tapered off to a point, but it was completely flat.

That would have to mean the blade has a flattened top, which would make it useless for thrusting, unless the top of the blade was sharpened like the sides...

Satisfied with my inspection of the scabbard for the moment, I moved my attention to the actual sword itself. The grip was about eight or nine inches long and layered in a silken material the same color as the scabbard. Both the hand guard and the pommel on the other hand, matched the violet of the scabbard's metal plating. The pommel was basically a cube of violet metal etched with the six pointed star symbol on each of the sides. The hand guard had a thick, boxy shape and was evenly riveted with flat, circular bolts.

"Wait, what's..."

I leaned closer to the hand guard, squinting a bit. On the flat surface of the bolts I could just make out-

"Runic symbols?" I whispered in awe and some confusion.

Sure enough, each bolt had a different runic symbol engraved on the surface.

I don't know what these mean but... for some reason I-

"AGH!"

I dropped the scabbard and clutched my head in agony as images ripped through my mind. I couldn't make out any details—only colors and sensations.

I saw flashes of white, blue, black, green, and red.

And what I felt...

Pain and despair.

So much pain and despair I could practically feel myself choking from it.

"Stop..." I cried, "stop... stop... stopstopstopSTOPSTOPSTO-"

And just like that, it stopped.

The images, the pain... all of it.

I came back to my senses and found myself on my hands and knees panting, sweating and shivering violently.

"W-what-" I gulped and tried again, "what was that?" I asked myself as I shakily got back to my feet. "What happened to me?"

I looked at my shaking hands with wide panicked eyes.

"This is wrong," I exclaimed with absolute certainty. I clenched my fists and ground my teeth in aggravation, "I'm not supposed to be like this... but I don't—I can't... remember!" I cried, clutching my head again in equal parts confusion and frustration. "Why can't I remember what happened? Where even am I? Why can't I remember anything?"

I fell to my knees again and slammed my fist down on the non-existent floor, "Why can't I at least remember... my... name..."

I trailed off with a thoughtful frown.

No...

I know there was something... a name...

...a word?

I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking furiously.

"Come on..."

As much as didn't want to, I forced myself to think back to those flashing images.

The images came readily, as did the pain and despair, but this time I gathered all the willpower I had, grit my teeth, and let it all wash over me as I focused on anything I might've missed.

There has to be something... some kind of clue—there!

Through the haze of flashing images I was able to make something out. Most of what I heard sounded panicked and garbled to the point that I couldn't come close to making it out, but there was one word that managed to come through enough that I could hear...

Sparkle.

My eyes snapped open.

"Sparkle..." I said aloud, mulling the word over.

After a minute I slowly nodded to myself in satisfaction.

It's just a word, but I'm almost positive this was my name—at least in part.

I went to stand back up, this time with more confidence in my situation now that I at least had a name to work with.

As I was standing however, I took a moment to contemplate my clothing.

I had on a simple dark brown hooded leather tunic with sleeves cut just below the shoulder and a black linen long sleeve shirt underneath. The tunic itself reached down to about knee-length with a split down the middle and a black leather belt wrapped around the waist.

Below that, I wore black wool leggings and dark brown leather boots that reached halfway up my lower legs. I noted that both the tunic and boots had several straps and buckles. One thing I didn't notice during my episode were the finger-less leather gloves that extended halfway up my forearms. They were—like the rest of the leather clothing I wore—dark brown in color.

All in all, I basically felt like I was ready to head off on some grand adventure with this kind of attire.

Yeah right, I thought with a humorless chuckle, what kind of adventure would I have in a place like this?

I took another look around the stark, white nothingness that surrounded me from all sides before shaking my head with a despondent sigh and picking up the sheathed sword from where I dropped it earlier.

I gazed at it with a contemplative frown.

It's so strange, I thought, I can't remember anything about who I was or where I came from, but I seem to know a few things about swords in general.

I idly placed a gloved hand on the grip of the sword.

The strangest part is that I feel like I shouldn't know anything about weapons. I may not know who I was, but somehow I get the feeling I wasn't any kind of warrior or anything even close... so why?

I gently ran the same hand over the circular bolts embedded in the guard.

"And what do these runes mean?" I asked aloud, brow furrowing, "why did they trigger those images?"

Curious, I tried to pull the sword from the scabbard, but it resisted my attempt. I blinked in surprise and tried again with a bit more effort but still, nothing. I grunted and pulled as I hard as I could, starting to sweat with the effort.

The sword didn't budge.

"Ugh, fine!" I cried in exasperation, "stay in there!"

I gave up and just decided to strap the scabbard to my back to keep it out of the way. Once it was secured, I stretched my arms and legs a bit and took stock of my situation.

"Okay," I exclaimed, clapping my hands together, "time for a mental checklist. What do I know so far?"

I began pacing, my hand on my chin.

"I woke up in some kind of empty white void with no idea how or why I'm here. The only things that I have in my possession are the clothes on my back and a sword that I can't even use."

I stopped and looked at my hands again with another frown.

"I seem to be a relatively healthy... human, as far as I can tell. For whatever reason though, I still can't shake the feeling I'm not supposed to look like this in the first place; like I'm an alien walking around in the skin of a different creature."

I shivered in revulsion at the comparison and continued my pacing.

Actually, now that I think about it... I stopped my pacing again when a realization dawned on me, I don't even know what I look like.

I could tell from my hands that I had a fair skin color, but I didn't know what my face looked like. I hadn't paid any attention to it up until now, but my hair was rather long. It came straight down to about the small of my back and, grabbing some of it, I could see it was a dark indigo color with a violet and pink streak running through it.

Huh, just like the sword and scabbard, I noted with some interest.

I couldn't really see my own face until I came across a mirror or some other reflective surface, so I set the issue aside for now and once again resumed pacing in thought.

"I also have some prior knowledge about weapons; at least enough to properly examine the sword I came here with, though I have a strange feeling I shouldn't have any of this knowledge whatsoever. And finally..."

I swallowed nervously as I came to the last bullet point in my mental checklist, "If those... images, were anything to go by, something bad happened to me. Something very bad."

I realized I was shaking again and took a few calming breaths before putting on a determined look.

"I'm not sure if whatever happened to me, happened here or sometime before I got here but like it or not I need to find out what it was. If I can just find that out, I might be able to regain the rest of my memories as well."

My determination faltered a bit as I gazed out at the blank white expanse before me.

Well, I have to start somewhere...

Hesitantly, I picked a direction and started walking.

Wherever this place is, it might go on forever, but...

I picked up my pace, walking with a bit more confidence in my steps.

I don't know that for sure, and I won't know for sure if I just stand around.

I walked on, determination etched in every line of my face.

"I know the answers are out there somewhere."

I don't how long I walked through this white space, but I was sick of it.

I could've been traveling for hours, days, weeks, years and I would have no idea. There was absolutely no way to even tell if time even existed here and I never felt like I was making any progress. Another thing I noticed that, honestly kind of disturbed me, was that I never seemed to get tired.

But there was more to it than that.

I didn't get hungry or thirsty, I never needed to void my bowels or bladder, I never even got bored of walking. At some point I pondered the possibility of going insane from the complete isolation and lack of any sound outside my own breathing, but ever since my episode back when I first woke up, I never felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown. I'm pretty sure that if I had chosen to, I could've been perfectly content to just walk forever.

And that terrified me.

It was like all my bodily functions were completely frozen without me actually being affected outwardly. Like this place wanted me to be okay with being stuck here.

But I wasn't. I wanted out, and I wanted it now.

I'll never find anything out at this rate, I thought morosely.

I sighed and continued my unending walk forward.

"Something has to give eventually," I complained aloud, "it can't just be this forever." I threw my hands up in frustration, "Come on, give me something here!" I cried.

And then I heard something.

I froze, turned slightly, and cocked my head to one side.

I could just barely make out a slow, rhythmic thrum coming from somewhere behind me. Turning fully around, I searched for the source of the noise, but didn't see anything obvious. I swallowed nervously and took a few steps back. The steady thrum was growing louder and it was beginning to send chills down my spine.

"Hello?" I called out hesitantly, "is someone there?"

The thrumming stopped.

Silence.

"Hel-"

GRAAAOOOGGGGHHHH!!!

I ran.

I made no noise, I didn't freeze up, I didn't even look at whatever let out that awful, strangled cry.

I just turned away from the direction of the voice and ran.

All the suppressed anxiety and panic seemed to come rushing back to me with a vengeance and pushed me to run faster.

The thrumming was back and had changed from a slow, steady rhythm to a rapid staccato. It also grew louder and louder as whatever was chasing me gained ground. I didn't bother looking back, that would've just slowed me down. The one saving grace I had going for me was that I couldn't get tired and I gladly took advantage of that as I pushed my body to it's absolute limits.

GGRRRAAAAAGGGHHH!!!

I could practically feel this thing breathing down my neck and the now deafening thrum was becoming unbearable. It felt like the air was rumbling around me and I idly noticed the tears that started streaming down my face, my heavy panting, and the intense pounding of my heart as I continued to sprint for all I was worth.

IcantoutrunititsgettingcloserIneedtogofasteritsgettingCLOSERITSGETTINGCLOSERNONONON-

I tripped.

It was then that several things happened at once.

As I fell, I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach and everything seemed to slow down. The thrumming stopped abruptly, the air all but exploded around me, and, with a cry of surprise and agony, I was sent flying forward at an incredible speed. At this point I was so disoriented and in pain that I couldn't make heads or tails of anything.

After what seemed like ages I felt myself hit solid ground hard, and roll to a stop.

With a whimper I tried to get up and keep running, but my legs wouldn't listen to me. I looked back at them and my eyes widened, disorientation vanishing in an instant.

Both legs were bent at odd angles and my leggings were stained a dark red.

I winced in pain and tried to inch my way forward with my arms alone. My legs, along the rest of my body, screamed in pain but I clenched my teeth and ignored it, pressing on.

I don't know if that... thing is still after me, but I'm not going to stick around to find out, I thought desperately.

My vision started darkening and I had to focus harder to maintain consciousness. As I made my slow and agonizing crawl along the ground I started to notice something odd.

It's not just my vision, I thought with a growing realization, everything is getting darker.

I looked up and my jaw dropped open.

I was looking at the night sky.

With this revelation came a few others. Looking back down I realized I was crawling on actual ground; what looked like a path through some mountains to be specific. I turned my disbelieving gaze behind me and, sure enough, there was no white void or unseen monstrosity. The only thing I saw was a forest of lush, green trees and a dirt covered trail leading out of that forest and onto the rocky path I was on now.

Facing forward again, I could just barely make out some kind of structure in the distance.

"I don't believe it," I muttered weakly, "I'm out. I finally made it out."

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time but didn't have the strength to do either. Instead I just lowered my head down on the hard ground and breathed a ragged sigh of relief.

I heard a pair of footsteps somewhere above me and I tried to look in that direction, but the only thing that happened was me finally blacking out from pain and exhaustion.

Hoo boy, this one took awhile but I think it was worth it in the end. Hopefully you guys will agree.

I'm sure you can tell by the tags, but I went in a completely different direction from my previous stories. Truth be told though, this was the kind of story I wanted to make from the beginning so I'm glad I was able to put this out there, even if it doesn't do as well as I'd like.

The idea was random for the most part, however it was inspired by Nier Gestalt/Automata—specifically the soundtracks and weapon stories in both games.

As always, hope you guys are looking forward to more in the near future!