...I awoke.

The first thing that I knew was a burst of emotions. Physical, mental and emotional pain assaulted me...for a while, I lay on the floor, all the while wondering why.

Eventually, the assault eased off. I got to my feet, and surveyed my surroundings, confused. I didn't know who I was, where I was, or why I was...but...I felt that something was wrong. Almost...like I was a mere extension of someone else.

That...was wrong. I wanted to be...

I wanted to be...

...myself. Whoever that is. But, I got the oddest feeling that the way I was feeling and thinking - even though I had only been around for a few seconds - was _wrong_, at least, it was wrong for who I wanted to be. ...But...I didn't know what I wanted to be. So were these someone else's feelings?

My head hurt, and it wasn't a good feeling.

So, I decided to forget about the 'feelings' for a moment, and just look around.

All around me there were ruins. Oddly, though, it looked like the ruins hadn't been around for long - a week, maybe a month. The scenery was very diverse and surreal - here a bit of monastery, there the remains of an antechamber of some kind, there...something. I appeared to be on the outskirts of the ruins.

I came to a crystal clear pond. I looked into it, and saw my face - or would have, if I hadn't been disconcerted by what else I saw. For my entire body seemed to be made of some black, shadowy, mistlike substance. Though it was fairly stable in that the mists seemed to keep within a set boundary - a boundary that defined my body - inside that invisible boundary, the mists constantly churned and whirled and eddied. The actual shape of my body was diminuitive, about four feet tall...all other details were obscured by the mists.

Then, abruptly, I found myself laughing a child's laugh of joy from no cause. I didn't know why, but it didn't seem unpleasant to do so, so I laughed, then I jumped into the pond - the water felt a bit strange, but I didn't mind - and swam towards the far end of the shore, splashing about a bit and playing in the water as well. I got out, and now I was apparently in a forest. It seemed pristine and new, wonderful and untainted - just like myself. I didn't remember any of my past...but that's O.K., so I thought.

I smiled to myself, and set out to explore the world.

I woke up again, still in the forest. I must have blacked out or something, and while I was unconcious, I had the strangest dream; some cloaked guy crawling across the desert at night, being attacked by some odd mist things.

Nihil...

What? What was that? ...Well, whatever it was, I now know the name of the mists in my dream: Nihil.

I look down at my body, at the swirling black mists. Is that what I am...Nihil?

I shrug. Well, I'll find out sooner or later - probably later. So, I continue walking through the forest...unaware of the other in the forest that had spotted me first.