VOLUME 3 : CHAPTER 2 : NEVER TAKE A STRANGER AT HIS WORD

CHAPTER 2 : NEVER TAKE A STRANGER AT HIS WORD

“As per Master Zero’s order I finally came to the Great Tathya Labyrinth. Even Master Zero himself has explored this dungeon till floor 12, so he directly teleported me here. For the source of power he mentioned, even I can now feel its presence. Its mere existence is revolting and reeks of those stupid God’s. Its obvious Master was concerned. Then I just need to destroy whatever that is.

It’s coming from deep below.” I took a deep sigh and used Shadow Movement Skill while activating the ring artifact to conceal my presence.

I for some reason, found myself interested in facing one of the monsters before going down, but it can compromise the mission, so I withheld myself. After all it’s for the sake of my master.

If only he pays more attention to me, after the success of this mission I am sure of it. My dreams will come true. He will surely acknowledge me then.

“What’s this I am on floor 13 but there are still no monster sightings.”

Could it be that the army cleared the monsters, what are their chances of survival? Are some of the soldiers still alive, trying to clear the dungeon? If so, then I can surely have a nice pass time, with them.

It’s getting too suspicious - I was on floor 50. No monster sighting till yet. All I could see were huge cracks in the ground, large craters, burned walls, dried lakes. But not a single being alive.

As if the existence of all life-forms was erased by some unknown.

But the concentration of this divine power, keeps on increasing at an unprecedented magnitude. If I am not careful, then this power feel alone is enough to weaken my existence. We devils stand no chance if our enemy uses powerful divine light magic. And just for that purpose this sword will help me to cut through the magic barrier, which has naturally developed around this entire region.

All to blame the source of this unique power. I cannot wait any more to get my hands on it. Only the powerful must have all the authority, and everything in this world will be soon for ours too seek.

I was now flying across the dark floor 51. But this time I saw a huge snake type monster. My appraisal skill fails on it. But I am sure that if I prolong the fight then I can win against it.

“Well, there’s no point in arguing with myself. I need to head down as quickly as possible.”

Finally, at floor 55 – I lifted up my sword and cut down through the strong magic barrier that was surrounding this place. The sudden boom of divine power that flowed into the surrounding made me miserable. All this accumulated energy – belonged to two swords carved deep inside a mountain of huge rocks.

I am sure of it; this is the cause of all the powerful energy waves Master had been feeling. But what’s up with these two swords is it possible for any weapon to do such a thing. For me it feels like if I get any closer I will be burned down with its presence alone. Even looking at the swords directly makes me blinded.

If I present these swords to master, then I will be greatly rewarded. Maybe he will promote me to the top rank and also allow me to visit this world more often. And all the fun I could have while killing those human mongrels.

“Who is there?” I readied my sword as I felt another person walk in.

Until now I couldn’t even grasp this person’s presence. Could it be one of the soldiers from the Perillus Empire?

Doesn’t matter they don’t stand a chance against me. Honestly, it felt so plain to just walk in, grab the swords and leave.

It’s just not like me. If others heard that I completed my mission peacefully, then my fan following might drop. We can’t have that, now can we.

‘Wait! ….. What…. a little girl.’ She is beautiful and has what they call a ‘Royal Touch’ in her looks and mannerism. Could she be the princess of Perillus Empire, I had heard that she was young and very beautiful. But this is beyond my expectation..

But something was off, her level was only 11, and without any soldiers accompanying her how did she cross through the previous floors, without being attacked by the monsters. Wait was she already hiding on this floor, then she must have seen everything. Her skill list appears to be hazy, maybe there’s nothing to show and the same goes for the HP, MP and SP stats.

It’s completely absurd.

Just what can you expect from a level 11, weak people like them have no right to live. How dare she even lift her head up in my presence?

Long white hairs, red eyes and a suspicious background. She is not even flinched or a bit hesitant to face my dark aura I was radiating. She is irritating me.

Am I mistaking her identity? Doesn’t matter, she is even weaker than a new born demon slime monster. I will end her misery soon enough.

I dashed in her direction, pointed the tip of my beloved sword at her. But just when I was about to reach, my body lost its balance.

In an instant the whole weight of the world appeared to befall on my shoulders. My body being crushed down under some weird kind of force, I led out a loud moan, before my face was completely shoved inside the ground.

I used shadow movement and retreated in an instant. I knew something was wrong with this kid; I cannot let my guard down around these monsters.

“No, matter I will deal with her either way. A human is no match for me.”

I took my sword fighting stance: Lightning Crescent Moon.

I lifted up my sword and while holding the grip with both of my hands, I tilted the sword in a horizontal manner, pointing it straight at my enemy’s eyes.

I wanted to finish it in a single blow. A fierce golden-yellow light with a ZZZchkZZZZzzchkzz sound engulfed the sword completely. This was my sword style which had laid the best fighter of our realm to shamble and ashes.

***

SACHI KONDO

After stabling her sword, the she devil swiftly bended her knees, leaned forward and made a huge leap. The large distance between us was covered in a blink of an eye. But to my surprise, this time the Gravi-Field did not have much effect on her.

I had no time to think, so using aero-kinesis I drifted back as fast as I could. In this process I tried launching Wind Cutter, several Fusion Balls, in a zig-zag manner to hit her. But instead of dodging them she chose to block them with her sword. Putting the sword forward, she throttled her way through all my attacks. Before the attacks could even reach her, the spells dispersed in the air.

She was closing in and I had yet to figure out how she was doing it. All I could use were my strings to evade her quick slashes and fend off at the same time. But to my surprise that sword of her could even cut through my webs. What a bother.

Suddenly lightning appeared to pass through all her body and she disappeared right before my eyes. My danger senses suddenly started ringing with a blunt heavy metal ching sound.

I made the right choice instead of turning back; I used [TELEPORT] and was now just below the heap of rocks where the two swords were embedded.

“AAHAAAahahah…..ahhahah… why does it have to hurt so much.”

[DIVINE HEAL]

And without any moment’s delay, white light surrounded me and my right arm grew right back. Even though I did not waste any time foolishly looking back, she was still quick enough to sneak behind me and cut my right arm. The severed right arm fell from my body and was engulfed in black threads, but it seems that my foe did not notice it. She was fully concentrated on me, waiting for me to make my next move. Even I had never been so immersed during my raid against monsters. Well you learn everyday something new, so just be happy with that thought.

It hurts so much and the feeling of the missing arm still lingers inside me. This feeling I had never had before when I was a spider monster and got hurt. Thanks to self regeneration and my healing spell, things are better if not worse that is. But it’s not over yet.

Thanks to that strike I had figured out how she is doing it. She is using principles of electromagnetism and the abilities of her sword together. She creates a powerful magnetic field around her blade, which then becomes its extension. The ability to cut through anything – even magic flow of the surrounding. That’s how she has been nullifying such strong explosive spells.

If that’s the case then all I have to do is use magic that aims directly at my enemy’s body as the target.

“Take this.” Not that it matters even if I try to speak anything.

[BLACK FLARE]

Her full body was now engulfed in my black flames, for a while I could see her struggling in the black cover, but suddenly she calmed down.

With a single lift of her sword and a free strike the black flames dispersed in an instant. This had never happened before. Sure her body looks hurt and burned at several parts.

But it was at the end useless, she would just heal herself, as for the dispersion I think it’s her ability to control dark matter too – Umbra-kinesis.

I kept on evading her attacks using teleport and as for the strikes that hit me, though fatal couldn’t keep up with my healing spells. Though invincible as I am, my attacks were proven completely ineffective against her. Against an opponent who was completely skilled in reading my attack patterns, magic structure of my spells and defeat my entire being and pride of being a self proclaimed mage.

I used my next powerful spell –

[ABSOLUTE ZERO]

It was working and maybe I had started to see things optimally. Her hands started to froze. But the women just gave a death stare back at me and chopped off her arm with the sword preventing my magic to complete itself by severing the magic flow.

That was a pretty bold move. Severing an arm without any hesitation and second thought. She had been through hell like me, if she has such a strong desire to survive.

I kept on launching wind spheres, gravi-sphere, water missile, earth spikes, ice lances, light javelin (though effective) but eventually all of them were strike down or evaded. That sword, as if it was actually made to kill mages – people who only excelled at using magic.

In other words, I was getting desperate. All my tactics had failed. Her battle experience was totally above me. Her skills were honed on battlefield, I could tell because all I had been fighting mindless monsters with fixed attack patterns. From level clearing it had now come to PVP, just like in games.

All I had left was now my physical strength. Brute strength – though I don’t think it really suits a fragile girl like me. But being a monster and fighting against colossal giants – I had realized that my body was reinforced to a level where I could punch a hole in the dungeon wall without putting much of an effort.

My reflexes were good too – thanks to kinetic vision. So as a human my next strategy would be to somehow get rid of that sword form her and then corner her.

Saying this really makes me feel like a bad person – quark of being a Secretive Plotter.

Honestly, looking at my opponent she was smiling. She knew all my techniques had failed and I was getting restless at the same time. Given my lack of interest in that unworthy barrage of random attack spells.

As usual she took a fixed stance. I don’t know anything about sword fighting so I don’t know what that is actually called – but it looks cool.

I don’t have time to spare to think about the two swords lying in wait for me, but for now my life is on the line. I must defeat her, to survive I have to kill her.

She led out a large battle cry, and seeing me standing idle. She smiled and easily took the bait, that I had accepted my doomed fate. I know you can give me points for my fake acting and the expression I made which made me look like I was in a lot of pain and wanted to end my sufferings.

She headed straight for my neck and a crescent shaped lightning slash was just stopped in its trajectory by my bare hands.

I smiled at her, while I could see an expression of complete disbelief. My hands still firmly holding on to the sword, scarlet drops fell on the dusty ground. My palm was bleeding, the incision was deep and the burning sensation which I felt was getting difficult to handle by every second.

Now all I need to do is snatch the sword and throw it away, maybe into my dimensional storage.

“GWaagHHH….ghhhg….HHHGGHH”

I kept on bouncing on the ground and finally halted after crashing into the boulder right beneath the swords. My head still in a jiffy, my eyes trying its best not to roll over and quickly adjust themselves to the surrounding. I was losing consciousness. I was bleeding from the right side of my shoulder.

Just after I caught her sword, she without any hesitation pulled me in, and used her right leg to kick straight up into my abdomen. A punch in the chin to lose my consciousness and finally the slash which was meant to finish me off. But I somehow used the momentum of the punch to drift myself away from her set trajectory and avoided the fatal wound. But even my present cut made it difficult for my right arm to move.

“Is it all over, just like this! Am I going to die here, because I was inexperienced at fighting? Maybe if only I had a weapon of my own then I might have been able to do something. What about someone who could teach me to fight. I never had a teacher in my life. The school teachers were all just about education rules and plans set by the board, so why not just let machines teach us. To call someone teacher. To admire. To thrive to live like them and follow on their path. Why am I suddenly spouting nonsense? It’s useless my mind is in a turbid to even cast any magic spell, I cannot focus.”

Everything was turning dark. My immortality skill is still not active, so I will die here. No one will remember me, and even if someone does, they won’t know I was here. Fighting my own way, trying to give my best in whatever way I could. You think I liked killing and beating stuff. Violence was one thing I hated the most back on earth. But here in this world it was always the strongest that gets all.

This labyrinth did not offer you fundamental rights and self protection. You are on your own, and since I myself always have been – I was quick to adapt.

Things were getting both white and black in front of me, and the last thing I remember was seeing the she-Devil charging towards me at full speed, thrusting the tip of her blade and cutting through even the layers of air.

My life until now has just been like the invisible new moon, surrounded by stars, but are actually much distant and further away. And when finally light fades away from its surface, suddenly everything feels so lonely. Not even pain could stimulate this emptiness.

***

CLASSROOM 2-C

I was sitting on the last seat of my classroom, holding a considerably large size book in my hand, while the light of the sunset scorched the room with its diminishing reddish-orange hue.

I flipped through the pages, but all of them were empty, white as cream. I turned to the hardcover, which suddenly was stained red in colour. I squealed in panic, dropping the book back on my desk which heralded the wake of a long silence.

I looked at my hands, and the horror of blood smudged thickly over it made me scream. I searched for a handkerchief in the pocket of my school uniform which I always use to carry with me. But there was not one. Instead I felt a small stream of red fluid gushing out through a wound. I was not wearing my school uniform, but a white long tunic frock, the same design I made for myself on floor 10 of labyrinth.

“Wait! What labyrinth. I am hurt. But how? I need to call an ambulance. But why doesn’t it hurt if I am bleeding.”

Where was I before? Why everything up till now appears to be hazy. I can’t remember anything of my past.

I made a friend? Did I? And then I lost someone?

A goddess… my best friend and travel the new world with her.

“What am I thinking about? I need to ask someone for help. But I don’t know anyone at school, who would help me at this hour. Lady Athena she will help me….. Athena.”

I stopped moving, my body was slowly loosening up. I slammed my palm on the desk to keep myself from falling.

I am crying… as I wiped the tears rolling down my face. How did I end up back here on earth? Don’t tell me I was dreaming on my own.

BAM. BAM. BAM.

My eyes were drawn to the window hallway, and on the other side of windows stood several figures beating heavily on the window pane like mad people.

“Who are they? Why do they look so familiar?”

I could make out three people clearly, while several of them were in shadows. A small girl with long fox-like ears growing on head and a white tail attached at the back. Then there was a man and a woman, but their faces were covered in dark fog, I could not recognize them. Someone whom I had long forgotten and could not remember, how much hard I tried, I failed to recall them. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt so badly.

All of these figures had bent bodies and distorted looks. They were not normal; neither they appeared to be the part of the living.

Are they trying to break in? I need to leave. They are so violent. These noises I can’t handle them.

“Go away. PLEASE. Go away. LEAVE ME ALONE.”

If I open the door and run, they will catch up to me.

A window came crackling down; its shards fell inside the classroom.

Their freakish noises suddenly hyped up in intensity. Pushing each other to jump through the broken window, they leaped across the small wall.

CRACK. CRACK.

Their footsteps making even the broken glass on the fallen floor turn into finer pieces. Their feet were bleeding, their hands covered in blood for touching the sharp edge of glass still hanging at the bottom of window frame.

“AHHHHHHH….. HELP ME… PLEASE. SOMEONE. ANYONE. JUST TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE.”

The door of the classroom flung open and slammed on the behind wall. But that did not matter. Who was this new person?

Before I could collect all my courage to lift up my head to see this person, someone

CLAP.

Just like that a soft touch embraced my blood stained hand. Just who would do this for me? I raised my gaze and spotted a warm smile of a person.

A girl in black hairs, wearing my school uniform was trying her best to give me an assuring like. I stood there flabbergasted for a second,

Her innocent smile…., the gentle touch of her hand…….

It was me. I was holding my own hand. But something was different it was unlike me to keep my hairs not covering my face at school and I was smiling. A smile which was meant to lift up my spirit. To make me believe that we are safe and everything will be fine. This could have been the ideal me, if there existed one.

Confident looks, a smiling face – it was as if light had finally shined upon me. No, I was the light.

“There is no time to explain. So for now we need to stop them from getting to you. So help me.”

It was quite odd to hear your own self, or my own voice speak to me. Was it a doppelganger?

But this feeling, I wanted to trust her. Because she was me, after all. I just couldn’t deny a request from someone so pure and kind.

This me started pushing the chairs and benches in an arranged manner forming a circular arch barricade; while behind us was the wall and a series of windows. The sunset has still not reached its final descend stage.

In the moving sheet of light, the evident faces of people that I had killed were coming after me. The small kid that died due to my carelessness. People whom I should have not forgotten. Humans whom I killed without a second thought, just because I got full of myself.

In that crowd then there were my uncle and aunt, the delinquents of my school. I was under a complete state of panic and chaos.

“Everything will be fine, just don’t leave my hand.”

“Who…a- are…you?” My voice so feeble that it was barely audible to even me.

“I am you. Your one half, to be precise.”

The quick response left me in a complete unknown and confused state.

“My half?”

“Yes, now if you would please help me. We can talk later.” She took out two mop sticks from the behind locker, which we used to clean the classroom. She passed one to me, while she held on to one for herself.

“No, matter what don’t let them come close.”

I saw her pushing back the figures, who tried to bring down the barricade. They were mindless beings.

Was this happening for real? Zombie like creatures coming after me, and someone impersonating me comes to lend me a hand.

She was using her broomstick to push them back, but what caught my eye was that she was doing it without hurting them. Using the long stick instead of hitting them, she used her full force to simply brush them off. Even though it will be much easier to just beat them down. She chose to show kindness, because at some point these are the people I once knew. Once they were alive too!

“Come with us!”

“It’s your fault I am like this.”

“You are the one who killed me. I miss my family.”

“You killed my friends. My comrades. You monster.”

All of the moving mindless figures were saying there last words repeatedly, dragging their voice up to the last alphabet. And each time they tried to speak again, they were somehow hurting themselves.

I couldn’t hold back my tears. What I was seeing? To what was I listening?

What did I do to deserve this?

It was just too much for me.

All I wanted was a peaceful life. So how did I ended up fighting monsters. I was abandoned again and again. First my parents, then my guardians, my teachers my classmates and finally the Gods themselves.

I risked my life. I died several times. I saw things I could not understand. Number of deaths I could not count. I had hurt so many. So why was I angry?

Because there was no one for me to blame. A life in a closed empty room, with no one to come in contact with. That was what I all desired. So why these many are trying to barge in my life.

“Are you okay…speak to me.” This other me seeing me in a messed up state called out for me. But I ended up ignoring her.

“Just look at that.” A third person’s voice rang in my ears. Much similar to my own voice. But it had that cold and arrogant sour taste mixed in it.

I looked up and from my seat another me, stood up and walked to the window. She gazed at the sunset and lifted up the small tassel of hair from the front of her face and pushed it behind her ears. It was a bit classic! But her face, unlike the other gentle me was exact opposite.

There was no sincerity and a haughty look in her eyes.

If the one standing beside me is my one half, then could she be my other half. “Come on, why you are wasting your time on these goons. Just kill them. You don’t want them in your life. Isn’t that true. Either way they are already dead.”

I was dumbfounded and froze up in my place. Just what was she suggesting to me, or more importantly just what was I suggesting to myself.

The person walked towards me, and from the other side of barricade, held me by the collar. I was pulled in, and my untidy face, was so close to her cold smile. Her mouth came so close to my lips that I could feel her cold breath graze them.

“You are me, aren’t you? I know how exactly you feel. You want them to disappear, don’t you? So do it.”

She them threw me back and turned to the zombie like creatures.

“You have all the power you can have in this world. So just kill them.”

“No, don’t do it. Even though some of them might have been bad people when they were alive, but now they cannot harm anyone. So you shouldn’t either.” The other me bumped in the conversation.

But I still don’t actually realize where I stand. Someone like me who was never liked by anyone and had nothing that belonged to me, how can I have all the power I want?

I wanted them to disappear. So badly…

But still I did not wanted to hurt any innocent or the people I once knew and who were good to me.

From inside of the four walls of my room, I entered a new world without you by my side.

For a brief moment I thought I could hold on to myself alone, I had to. Because I wanted to live in this new world. I wanted to reunite with her. I thought it will somehow work out in the end, if it was with her.

But I was only using her as a shield, an excuse to put curtains over my own flaws. My fears and a discriminatory attitude that I had developed towards society. I thought that everyone was bad; no one cared about each other’s feelings.

All they cared about was satisfy their own needs and make the weak colour themselves as they wanted. And if you don’t behave or look like as they want, then you are forever banned. If you don’t meet the requirements of the society you have no place living here. Contribution of those who cannot rise up to the challenges and expectation of others are not needed. Shunned forever.

The previous world did indeed reject me and showed that I did not belong there in the cruelest way possible!

I wanted to change. I wanted someone to depend on me, and someone I could depend on. Doesn’t everyone have that kind of person in their life already? Maybe your parents, your siblings, someone you admire or a friend.

But I always found myself alone. So I tried to remain quiet and kept myself hidden from everybody. Whenever I got my hopes up, I always found myself hurt. When my uncle and aunt who took me in, after sometime they started treating me like trash, as if I was not a human being. Always giving me a cold eye and feigned ignorance around others. I never asked them to do anything for me, but they forcibly pretend to do it out of greed. So if I don’t get my hopes up then I won’t be hurt anymore.

Nothing will matter to me, and no one will complain against me.

I did not expect anything from someone and had lost interest too, even in myself. I had lost my identity as a person. Instead of thinking about myself, I always tried to run away whenever I got close to the answer.

But this time, I wanted to prove something. I wanted to help. I wanted to lend my hand to someone not only because I wanted to help but because I wanted to be embraced by someone else’s hands too.

“What are you waiting for use your powers. Show them what they deserve. End it in one go.” The other me sounded exalted and fascinated by the very thought of it.

“It’s not needed anymore…” I gave my answer without any hesitation this time. I wiped the tears off me, because now I knew what I wanted to do.

“Are you refusing me? Don’t tell me you can’t do it now. Have you forgotten how many soldiers you slaughtered that time? It’s nothing new; you can do it again and again. Didn’t you enjoy it when you did it for the first time.” The face of this me had dropped with dissatisfaction and words of contempt and anger was evident from her tone.

While the gentle me, sighed a heave of relief.

“No, I haven’t forgotten those people I killed and they totally deserved it. I don’t think I have any problem killing those who try to hurt others on purpose, they are unforgivable. But I do not hate them, so I cannot bring any harm to them without any reason.”

“Then what exactly do you want to do. Tell me. What do your desire power for. If you cannot protect yourself then you know, you are going to die.”

I remember the promise I made to myself from time to time. The first time I died on bus, the first time I met Lady Athena, countless times while fighting monsters, times when I failed myself miserably – to change. To become someone strong, who doesn’t regret her own actions later.

I wanted others to feel proud of myself. I craved for companionship this time.

To not spent my days alone, like the previous me. People did not even think that I existed. At that time I must had felt glad to be left alone, but somewhere I knew deep within, that it was driving me mad.

I had abandoned what they call the normal living norms of society – to establish companionship with those who are successful, to take pity and make the weak owe to you, to look down upon those who did not went with the flow and did crazy stuff time to time.

To respect your elders, even though all they ask about what will be your profession for the future, your grades and finally compare us with the star kids. To behave formally in the market and not buy things that are considered suspicious or too fanatical from the onlookers viewpoint. Then what’s the point in going to the market if I can’t even buy a mini-skirt of my choice or an extra bottle of deodorant or multiple branded cosmetics.

Is the society walking on a planned route, so thin a plank that if you deviate even slightly then you fall from the beam? Are you kidding me? It’s best for me that instead of walking like a faithful machine or falling like a loser – I decided to hang from the beam tightly clutching it and stay at that same place.

Don’t look down; don’t look above, neither forward nor backward. Close your eyes and just forget everything. Disappear from everyone’s eyes. You won’t see anyone and neither anyone will see you. That’ what I decided to do.

All that was left was to just live on in a boring, colourless world.

And I just could not sit idly by and let the same thing repeat itself, not when someone is counting on me for help.

“All I want is to live happily with people I care for. I do not care for others in the least. Those who bring harm to them should just perish.”

If it’s for the sake of that, I will slay everything.

Who would even listen to my pathetic desire, it’s so clumsy ambiguous that I don’t know why I feel like this. Just the thought of such an idiotic wish can make me look like a simpleton and a dimwit.

And if this wish is that simple then why does it becomes every time harder, the more I think about it. Even in fairy tales heroes sometimes fail to protect people precious to them. Then why should my wish considered less valuable than saving the world itself.

The noises had stopped, so I lifted my head up just in case, to know what development finally took place.

The zombie apocalypse had finally stopped moving. They had turned into red statues for some reason.

“I am so glad for you, that we will now forever be together.” The gentle me, was now holding both of my hands and as usual, it felt like bliss.

The haughty me, was still smiling like an evil person, but I could tell it had no ill-intention from the start to begin with. After all it was me.

“I see you have not forgotten our promise. Then you don’t need me anymore. I hope that all your wishes and wishes of those around you come true. It’s time for me to leave now.” She sounded so nonchalant about it, and yet was so concerned.

This me then walked to one of the open window near my seat. We were supposed to be on the third floor, while I used to always gaze outside but I never dared to travel outside. That was not a place meant for me to tread alone. As peaceful as the scenery looked, it would never accept me.

I could only fantasize that one day someone will come to me and ask me, ‘What I am doing?’ ‘How am I feeling?’ ‘Do you want to play together?’

Just a normal chat, but with whom. The outside world could turn into hell in an instant. The accident in which I lost most of my childhood memories. In which my parents died, it really scared me.

What if it happens again and I end up losing all of my memories again. What if someone I know dies. People around me always end up getting hurt.

“Isn’t it time for you to leave too. Just go already and quit wasting your time here.” She then stared at the ground, but she was not surprised to see that the ground itself was missing. It was a complete dark pool of unmeasured depth.

Does one of my personalities really behave and talk like this. If someone falls from here then I can have an endless happy airy sleep, that’s what I would think.

She then climbed the window, and taking a final glance at me jumped. She had closed her eyes; I thought if I let her go now… then I would never be able to see her again. My heart started aching.

This is not right. This is not what I actually desire, if you leave now, then I will remain incomplete.

CLASP.

The other me opened her eyes, and she was falling at an incredible speed. But she felt too uncomfortable because one of her hand was stuck in mine.

“…And what do you think you are doing?”

“Nothing much.” I replied.

While my one hand was holding her, the other hand was still holding onto my gentle personality. She jumped with me too. That’s what I would expect from myself.

“Are you two idiots, just leave me alone. I would not be of any help to you anyway. I will just only come in your way. You can achieve your dream without me.”

“That’s where you are wrong, if you are not there, then my dream will never come true. I want all of us to stay together forever. So don’t leave me just like that.”

“I feel the same, so come with us.” said the gentle me.

“Honestly, because of your idiocy, all three of us will die here.”

We three burst into laughter; it had been forever, since I laughed. This was the first time I laughed and smiled whole-heartedly after being reincarnated.

We were gaining momentum, and were now falling at an incredible speed. Thanks to the sturdiness of my frock, it was not flowing upwards; otherwise I could have died because of embarrassment. The cool speeding air, which lifted up my ashen-white glossy hairs felt so comfortable.

I could have stayed here doing this all day, chatting with each other, but now was not the time. I needed to wake up. To do the right thing. To ensure that this time I change for good. The thing which I have been always good at, defeating enemies superior than me and survive.

I wanted to live a life acknowledged by others; I wanted to make these two me’s holding my hands proud and happy. So I will give it my all once again. Even if it is an impossible dream I want to live like this.

This was how I was destined to learn about myself.

The scenery around us bent and twisted, wrapped around our body. A thick book appeared in front of us, while we looked at it with suspicion and curiosity, its pages started to flip it on itself. One side of the pages were dark as black, while the other side was plain white.

“Let’s meet again on the outside world. Best of luck.” The gentle me passed her dazzling smile to me, which mesmerized my heart.

“Same here, don’t lose to anyone else, otherwise I will have to teach you a lesson.” The same went for her happy sly cunning smile. It kind of looked a bit arousing and embarrassing in away. Do I really make expressions like these?

From the book suddenly a red colourful portal opened and the three of us were sucked in a helical loop of red vortex.

“Thank you for your help. Let’s be friends forever.”

I finally was able to say it.

***