"Crack! Crack! Crack!" The sound rang out again, and panicked shouts rose from downstairs.
The person in front of me was reaching for the instrument's switch when everything around us suddenly went dark.
I saw a purple arc of light leap up just in front of his fingertips. I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back, but suddenly my body went limp and my thoughts grew muddled.
I saw him turn around in surprise, and heard a small explosion overhead.
Behind him, arcs of light danced across the instrument, like something out of a science-fiction movie. The others in the room cried out and crowded toward the exit.
I gritted my teeth and tried to drag him away, but I felt utterly powerless.
I couldn't even get away myself. My body... no, my soul seemed to be falling apart, fracturing inch by inch.
For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.
I saw a familiar figure and felt a tremendous force strike my chest.
My soul flew backward out of my control until it hit the cold, hard marble floor.
The shouts around me grew even louder and more chaotic. Explosions sounded overhead and in the distance. Beside me, something seemed to fall with a thud, and my hand was still clutching it.
A warm body... It was a person.
Once I realized that, I lost all will to keep fighting to stay conscious and sank into darkness.
For a long time afterward, I sometimes felt as though I were drifting in a dark sea, and sometimes as though I were being tossed about in a raging storm. At times, I saw people—strangers and familiar faces. At other times, I saw places, some unfamiliar, some familiar. Not everything I saw belonged to the modern world. It seemed I