Louise

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

No, not me. Maria did. I was simply the observer of her memories, this is something I would have to keep in mind for the remainder of my wandering.

Maria woke up in Louise’s body, at first unaware of the change that had transpired. But eventually, she came across a mirror and reacted to the change strongly, very strongly. Apparently she’d only half believed the doctor until the transmigration was complete, yet even still she found it hard to comprehend.

It took her a few days to digest what she had just gotten herself into, but she knew it was too late, and that there would be no turning back at this point.

After nearly a week of feigning sickness, well not feigning, she truly did become sick, perhaps part of it was due to the shock and pure disbelief of what happened. However, the nature of The Void didn’t help her overcome the shock, but rather simply drained it away, until one day she felt healthy enough to talk a walk.

Maria, or Louise now, started walking randomly. She didn’t know where she was, nor where she was going. She simply went where the wind took her. Until finally, she accidently bumped into a boy, knocking him down to the ground.

“Sorry I’m so sorry!” She offered him a hand and helped him up.

But as she did, she suddenly noticed something. Her eyes widened, she somehow knew. That was me. It had to be, she just knew.

“Is something wrong?” The boy asked hesitantly.

“I-I know who you are!” She suddenly blurted out.

“Huh?”

“You have to come back….You can’t stay in a place like this!”

Even though she said that, deep in her heart she knew that there was no turning back.

“What the hell are you waffling about?” He looked extremely confused.

Louise flushed red, not understanding how she’d come to that conclusion, muttered a quick apology and ran off.

And at that point, I’d realized what had happened. I’d witnessed this very scene before, but from the other point of view: I’d seen this in Arthur’s memories.

Maria, for some reason, had transmigrated to the same place, but years earlier, years before I had. It was true that I would eventually take over Arthur’s body, but that was in years to come, yet she’d already felt it there. This whole thing was weird.

Why was the timeline different? And why was she able to sense my connection with Arthur already? It didn’t make any-no, it did, I just realized.

Of course she’d be able to sense me, I was there. I looked and delved into Arthur’s memories, recreating them, replicating every event, “becoming” Arthur. My soul intertwined with his, which is why she was able to recognize me.

But now she’d have to wait years.

I knew how this was going to go, yet I had to watch it all play it out.

I watched as Louise joined The New Masked Order, confident that she could somehow make Arthur remember his “true self”. Apparently she’d convinced herself that Arthur really was me and had simply forgotten due to having spent a huge amount of time here, even though the truth of the matter was precisely the opposite.

I watched the events of the past few years unfold from her point of view, until finally, the ritual occured.

It was at that point, that Louise-no, that Maria, realized, that I hadn’t been here. I’d never been. And it was only now that I was entering this world. She’d completely wated the past few years, due to having been sent to an earlier time. But now, the connection she felt was a lot stronger than the one she had felt the first time, and that was because I was now physically here, instead of simply observing through Arthur’s memories. My soul was physically inserted inside Arthur’s body, thus Maria could now sense me more clearly than ever before.

And then, everything played out as it had. My arrival on this world, my first encounter with her and Christopher. Meeting Emmett, falling into her trap on that night, killing the man who was “supposedly” her brother, but I knew how she truly felt. It wasn’t just the void sapping her emotions, she truly felt nothing for that man. She felt nothing for anyone on this world, she had only come for one thing only, and was finally on the cusp of achieving it after waiting all this time. At last, it was just a step away.

And now, the memories faded, and I found myself inside the body of the person named Louise, but I could tell I was the only person inside that body. Neither Maria nor the original Louise’s soul were here with me. Maria had most likely switched with me to get into Arthur’s body, while the original Louise’s soul had probably passed on years ago at this point.

I suddenly felt a burst of energy, allowing me to easily burst the chains that held me and knock the two masked men away and catch Emmett’s limp body.

I placed Emmett on the ground then took my gag off, before looking at Arthur.

“What the hell did you do?” I asked him in Louise’s voice.

“I fulfilled my end of the contract.” He said. “As temporary body switch, just like I told you. Works perfectly.”

That was true, I’d managed to get him to accept my new condition only by accepting his own condition that he decided to impose, but it had clearly managed to get us out of jail.

Selphine looked furious and yelled for the rest of the men to come in.

“I’ll handle these guys, you take Selphine.” Arthur said as he started to charge towards the masked men that were running into the room, leaving me no space to argue.

I then looked around and focused on Selphine, who looked more enraged then ever before.