Chapter 29 - A Duck's Dinner

Shac took a seat in the chair, as the guy in front of him set the plates as well as the dinner. He looked at him with curiosity and suspicion, but despite that, he decided to join him for dinner.

I have no idea who this person is. He said, grabbing the utensils in front of him.

“What’s with you?” the guy asked, looking at him. “You’re acting weird.”

Shac shook his head slowly. “No. It was nothing.” he muttered, picking up the food to his plate. He chewed slowly and swallowed it silently, keeping the sound as quiet as possible.

“Hm…” he raised an eyebrow before taking another bite. “Don’t hesitate to ask if you need something. I will be late again tomorrow.” he said.

Shac nodded slowly, slowly realizing that this person might be his family. As the guy looked old, he suspected that it might be…

Father? he thought, but something was off about it. He knew that something was weird about all of this. There’s something he couldn’t explain why, but why is it he couldn’t remember this person?

It doesn’t make any sense. Why this was the only time that I think of my father? He asked himself. All this time, not even once did he remember having a father, he didn’t even question himself about it.

I don’t have a father… right? He asked himself, convincing that it was the case. He took another bite of the dinner before looking back to him. “Dad…” he muttered, testing if the guy would react.

“Hm? What is it?” he looked up, turning to him.

Shac froze, realizing that he was right. It didn’t occur to him that he had a father. No, that’s not quite right, he didn’t even know that he had a father. The idea of him having a father was removed, he couldn’t remember a single thing about it.

He swallowed violently, slowly feeling a tear fall from his eye. He continued eating, as the emotion that was bottled up, started coming out his eyes. “Where’s… where’s my mother?” he whispered.

His father stood up. “What? You remembered your mother?” he said, eyes widened from shock.

Shac nodded and looked at him. “Where is she?”

“She…” he paused and sat back down. “I don’t know… She’s been missing for three days already.”

“Three days???” Shac exclaimed in surprise. “You haven’t found her yet?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t yet. I have no leads.”

No, that’s not true.

Normally that would be the case, but with the curse being a thing, I could only think of a dark possibility.

“Is she really missing? Are you sure about that?” he asked.

“I-I don’t know. I still haven’t seen her these past three days. I tried walking around the area, trying to look for her, but I have no leads.” he explained.

She was missing for three days, and the fact that I had forgotten about her, meant that she was cursed. I’m sure that was the case. If it was not, then it doesn’t explain why I had forgotten about both of my parents all this time.

And… He took a glance at his father.

If he was this shocked that I remember Mom, then It’s probably because the past me has forgotten about her. That’s what I get from him. But since I came back to this body, I was able to overwrite the memory of my past self with my memory.

“She’s… already dead.” Shac whispered, looking at his father, his face was serious. “I’m sure you knew about it.”

His father’s eyes widened in surprise. “H-how?” he stammered, leaning closer to him. “How did you know about that? And what do you mean she’s dead? What are you talking about Shac?”

Shac looked straight at his father, determined to tell his father about the truth. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. “I… I’m from the future.” he revealed. “It was a future where both of you are gone.”

“From the future?” his father asked, raising an eyebrow. “And what do you mean both of us are gone?”

“I don’t know how will you believe me, but I don’t remember having parents.” he revealed. “In that future, I was living all alone, not having both of you as my parents.”

“W-what?” his father blinked, looking confused. “Stop joking around Shac.”

Shac shook his head. “No, I’m not joking Dad. In that future I have no recollection of having parents. That’s why I was surprised to learn that I actually have parents all along.”

“Wait.” his father looked down, holding his head. “Can you first explain it first? I don’t know what’s happening. I’m confused about all of this.”

“Sorry, that might’ve been too much.” he said, scratching his head. “I will tell you everything I know about what’s happening.” he paused and took a deep breath. “Do you know about the duck’s curse?”

“The duck’s curse…” he muttered, squinting his eyes at Shac. “I’m not sure about what you’re talking about.”

“Let me rephrase it then,” he paused and looked at him. “How many times did you die?”

His father froze at the sudden question, it was a question he never expected to hear from his son. “T-two… Two times already…” he muttered. “So you also knew about it?”

I can’t believe this… Shac turned his face away, gritting his teeth with bitterness. He has no way of knowing that both his mother and father are actually a victim of the curse. He was living his life not knowing that he had forgotten both of them already.

Why…

Why is this happening? All this time I thought it was only about Evie, Qoka, and Ivan. But why both of my parents are also affected by the curse? What did they do to deserve it? Why are we getting cursed? Did we make a mistake? Was there any reason for us to be directed by the curse?

Shac let out a sigh, remembering the talking duck.

She was not lying. This world is unfair, and the world really hates us.