**Lost in the Shadows**

The darkness was a living entity, a palpable presence that wrapped around me like a shroud. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All I could do was feel, and the emotions that ravaged my body were a jumbled mess of fear, anxiety, and despair. I was a puppet on a string, my limbs flailing wildly as I careened through a world that was both familiar and yet, utterly alien. Time lost all meaning as I drifted through the void. I had no sense of past, present, or future. There was only the eternal now, a never-ending expanse of darkness that seemed to have no beginning or end. I was a tiny, insignificant speck, lost in an infinite universe of shadows. And yet, even in the depths of this desolate landscape, I was aware of a presence. A presence that watched me, waited for me, and whispered my name in the darkness. Hange's voice, a gentle breeze on a summer's day, caressed my soul, and for a moment, I felt a glimmer of hope. But it was fleeting, a will-o'-the-wisp that vanished as soon as I reached out to grasp it. The darkness closed in around me once more, a suffocating shroud that threatened to consume me whole. I was trapped in a never-ending cycle of fear and despair, with no escape in sight. As I drifted through the void, I began to see things. Fragments of memories, half-remembered dreams, and snatches of conversation all swirled together in a mad dance. I saw my father's face, his eyes cold and unyielding, and I felt a surge of anger and resentment. I saw Hange's face, his eyes warm and loving, and I felt a pang of longing and desire. But the images were fleeting, disappearing as soon as I tried to grasp them. I was a ghost, haunting the ruins of my own mind, searching for a way out of the labyrinth that had become my reality. The darkness began to take on a life of its own, coalescing into shapes and forms that seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy. I saw twisted creatures, their bodies a mass of writhing tendrils and pulsing flesh, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. And then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished. The darkness was empty once more, a vast and endless expanse of nothingness that seemed to stretch out before me like an abyss. I was alone, lost, and adrift in a world that was both familiar and yet, utterly alien. The only sound was the echo of my own heartbeat, a steady drumbeat that seemed to pulse with a life of its own. And then, just as I thought I had reached the end of the line, I saw a light. A faint, flickering flame that seemed to dance in the darkness, beckoning me towards it with an otherworldly allure. I reached out a hand, my fingers trembling with a mix of fear and hope, and as I touched the flame, everything went white.