On Identity

I will walk into the room with a crescent moon in the centre. My double will mirror me as we walk around the room. Mirrors will be lining the walls of the room. But will it be a mirror if there is no reflection? A muffled voice will sing, but from where will be unknown. Despite everything going on, my eyes will lock onto the crescent moon. When we will get to each other's initial starting position, the other me will yell.

Ton od dlihc nevar

Ekatsim elbavigrofnu eht

Etaf fo degnahc ecno

Egnahc tonnac sgniht emos tub

Dlihc nevar egnahc

Ortseam! Ortseam! Ortseam!

Ortseam niaga ton

The other me will let out a chilling scream. The mirrors will shatter, and the crescent moon will fall to its side. Despite the world seemingly going to fall apart, the screaming will only get worse. Blood will fall from my ears. The other me will run towards me under the fallen crescent moon. She will grab me.

Ortseam! Ortseam! Ortseam!

Egnahc

She will dig her fingernails into my shoulders, and blood will fall. Her shouting will not stop. A scream will follow. Her eyes will turn black. Blood will fall from it. The ground will turn to blood. The mirrors will all be gone, but the music and the screaming will not stop.

Yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw-yhw. Riaf ton si ti

I will now be where she was, and she will be where I was. My nails will be digging into her. She will give one final blood-curdling scream and will shatter into glass shards. Something will be wrong. Something will hurt. It will hurt more than the nails that were digging into me. More than the pain of the scream. I will begin to scream in pain.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

I awoke in a sweat. Something felt seriously bad. Something was wrong. I don’t know what, but it was off. It was like time, which had already acted weirdly in the rift, was somehow running out.

Buddy licked my cheek, snapping me back to my surroundings. It seemed Buddy was unhurt, though he looked somewhat concerned for me.

I was lying on the ground, or perhaps it was the ceiling. It seemed like the earth wrapped around in a spiral. The sky or the void beneath was a greenish colour for a bit before changing to red and then golden. It seemed to be constantly changing. This must be the void, the chaos lands, the place beyond the rift.

Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren were watching me a short distance away. Both had an expression of concern on their face.

“Kid, you’re awake. Are you alright?” Mr. Ren asked.

“This isn’t the first time you collapsed. Was entering the rift too much?” Lady Scarlet followed up.

“The voices and visions of everyone screaming was a lot, but it’s ok now.”

Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet looked at each other. I couldn’t tell what they were thinking, but it seemed like they were somehow able to understand each other’s thoughts. Mr Ren was particularly good at that. It seemed he always knew what was on my mind.

“Kid…” Mr. Ren paused. “What screaming and visions are you talking about?”

What did Mr. Ren mean? The screaming when we entered the rift was unbearable. What other screaming and visions could I be referring to?

“When we entered the rift, the screaming and visions of everyone outside the rift. What else would I be referring to? Was there more screaming while I was asleep?” I asked, confused.

Mr. Ren shot Lady Scarlet a look, and she had a concerned expression herself.

“Kid, we didn’t hear any screaming or see any visions.” Lady Scarlet added, a slight concern in her voice.

“If it is too much, you can leave the rift; we can take you back to Miss Zaloneas.” Ren offered.

I shook my head.

“I’m ok now; I want to be with Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet.” I smiled at them.

Lady Scarlet eased up a little, but Mr. Ren still seemed tense.

“What do you think?” he asked Lady Scarlet. Should we turn back and let her stay with Miss Zaloneas?”

Lady Scarlet sighed. “I spoke to the doctor when she collapsed last time. Given everything she had been through, the doctor believes it may be related to trauma.”

“If the chaos lands are causing trauma, isn’t that more of a reason to take her back?”

“Perhaps, certainly it may be the responsible thing to do. However, I also worry that if we take her back, she may not have the support network with her to be able to cope with these trauma spells.”

Although I could hear that they were talking about me, I also didn’t know what half the things they said meant. Lady Scarlet noted I had trauma and that it was bad feelings, and I also knew what a spell was. Perhaps there was a spell cast on me without my knowledge. Perhaps it was causing the spread of trauma. If so, perhaps it could hurt Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet.

“Am I under a spell? Will the spell of trauma cause you both pain?” I asked, concerned for them.

“You may indeed be under the curse of trauma, but it is not a spell like in a fairytale. So you need not worry about spreading it to us.” Lady Scarlet tried to reassure me. Although I could see she had a sad look in her eyes. “I must admit it does hurt my heart knowing that you are inflicted by such a curse.”

I was hurting Lady Scarlet’s heart? That couldn’t be good. How could I stop this trauma spell from hurting her?

“My Lady, please don’t frame it like that. You’ll frighten the kid.”

“I thought it would be less frightening how I explained it.” Lady Scarlet looked shocked.

Mr. Ren sighed. “Kid, you don’t have to worry about us. We’re just worried about you. If you are well, you can come with us. Otherwise, you can return to Miss Zaloneas if it is too much.” He tried to reassure me. Certainly, I felt better knowing this trauma spell wouldn’t spread to them.

“What do you want to do? This is your last chance to turn back,” He added.

“I want to go with you. If it means you won’t get hurt by my trauma.”

Lady Scarlet made a squealing noise and gripped her hair, slightly squirming. She sometimes did this, it was an odd quirk of hers. She leaped at me and gave me a big hug.

“You are not hurting me. You are just so cute. You are more than welcome to come with us.”

Mr. Ren sighed, “Alright, then shall we head off now?”

Buddy barked an affirmative noise.

“Just one more thing before we go.” Lady Scarlet commented.

She let go of me and rustled through her bag until she pulled out a book.

“Kid, this book contains hand-drawn pictures of creatures that can be found in the rift. Each picture has an image and the creature's name. Now that you are becoming a star reader, I hope you can help us by identifying the creatures along the way. Can I count on you for this task?”

Lady Scarlet was giving me a book. Not only that, but my reading wasn’t very good. To be given such an important task was shocking, perhaps silly of Lady Scarlet. But I was extremely grateful.

“I’ll try my best.”

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

End Chapter 14