Time passed, and he felt as though he had slept a long, long dream. In that dream, he seemed to be back in the boundless dark world of his dying moment, as if countless black tentacles were entwining his entire body, sticky and heavy, yet he was utterly unable to move even the slightest bit. Meanwhile, in the void around him, innumerable indistinct shadows flickered incessantly.
Some of these shadows were merely looming nearby, while others approached his ear, incessantly whispering in various strange or familiar languages, and some shadows seemed to be quietly speaking in the language of his former life. Yet, frustratingly, he couldn't make out a single word they said, which filled him with great urgency.
In a daze, he thought he saw one tall shadow with its head lowered, standing silently in the void, never too far from him nor too close, while the other shadows kept their distance from it, seemingly ignored by everyone else.
