I thought I had a
strange dream just now.
In which I faced
my ending, and so close to the verge of death.
Wasn't it when you
died in your dream, you woke up in reality?
That made sense
why I was awake.
I remembered
seeing a source of light, floating in the dark.
I felt as if I
wanted to chase after that light, but as I moving forward, it flew even faster.
And then it
disappeared, leaving me alone surrounded by darkness.
That was when I
felt my body was penetrated by thousands of black blades.
They pierced
through me, ripping me apart.
I couldn't even
see, I just accepted it.
As it was my
fate.
Pointless, and
forgotten.
I will die the
same way as I was brought to this world.
No purpose, no
meaning
One moment I
was there, and then I was gone.
I could feel my
existence was slowly submerging into nothingness.
And then...
I felt warm.
The warm of hope,
the warm of aspiration.
I wanted to hold
on to that scent, I didn't want it to disappear.
And that moment, I
knew I was protected.
----------
The second time I
woke up from the delirium. However, this time was totally different. I raised
my body up, and felt totally refreshed. All the pains from before had gone, as
if they were never there. I looked my chest, which was badly wounded, but all
the bandages were gone, the same went for the bruises. It seemed like I was
never hurt at the first place. Strange. Even moving was impossible back then
but now, my body was light and somehow, felt like brand new.
It was dark
outside, so I must have passed out the whole day, since I remembered drinking
the medicine in the morning. She said that the medicine was supposed to help
both of us, but even now, I still couldn't hear his voice. Was that a
failure?
"Oh, You've
come to." Ibel said as she opened the door.
"Yeah, your
medicine healed me real quick, I thought I would never recover from that. But
in just one day is awesome." I replied.
"Huh? what
are you talking about? You've been on the bed for a week already. Geez for a
moment I thought you were dead." The woman said that without showing any
expression.
"One
week?" I couldn't believe what she said. I did feel like laying in the
dark forever, but still, one week was just too much.
"What are you
surprise about? You should be thankful that you made it through and regain
consciousness. I was about to checked on you one last time before... you
know." She shrugged when she said "you know".
"Before
dumping me away? So the part when you told me about the medicine, which I would
died horribly, was true then." I felt my heart throbbed.
"Nah, it was
a 50/50 shot, and you made it after all. So don't bother it okay?" She
winked, what a wicked woman. Then, she placed a tray beside me.
"Here, you must
be starving sleeping for the whole week. Sorry for the plain dishes, I'm not a
fancy person when it comes to food."
"No, I'm the one should say sorry. Sorry for causing
you so much trouble. I must have died if it wasn't for you. Thank you for
saving my life, miss Ibel." I expressed my gratitude.
"Oh? So even you can say thank once in a while
huh?" She raised her voice, I could tell she was mocking, like always.
"Seems like you don't know me at all, I'm not such an
ungrateful person you know." I answered.
"Just so you thought. But for your information, it's
not only your life you own me." What she just said made me looked at her
like an alien. Mentally, I'd prepared for the worst case scenario and when she
entered the room, I thought that moment had come. But now, she said something
like that.
"Don't look at me like that! It was no such a big
deal, at all." She looked away. "And for the record, all I did was
triggering the process, you did most of the parts yourself."
"I did? But I don't remember doing anything. You said
I was..."
"I mean the mental part you idiot. It was your will
power that kept him, um, 'alive', I guess." My will power? I had
that?
"But then, why can't I hear his voice? And I can't
even tell if he is here or not." I asked her.
"Staph, I will explain the details later, for now you
eat up and get yourself ready. We will discuss the matter together." She
stood up. And when she said together, I remembered another thing.
"Thera...how is she doing?" It wouldn’t be a
surprise if she had left, but still, I wanted to see her.
"Why do you care that much? She's just a stranger to
you, and you go as far as risking your life to protect her, what's the big
idea?" She answered with a question.
"Let's just say that...she has the answer I was
looking for." I said.
Ibel stared at me for a while then walking away.
"You will know when you see her. You have half an
hour." Then she closed the door.
That meant she's still here, with us. I supposed to feel
light up a bit after hearing that, but somehow, the same uneasiness, just like
before, prevented me from think of any positive outcome for the situation. I
quickly finished the food, four slices of bread and two boiled eggs, with a cup
of herbal tea. Strangely enough, I didn't feel hungry at all, even though I was
told it was a week since the incident. In fact, I felt a flow of energy inside
like never before. Could it be the effect of that medicine Ibel gave me? Then I
should thank her more than just a mere saying. I got out of the bed, moving around.
There wasn't any slightest signs of the injury. I remembered something Thera
said about him taking the hit for me. That was impossible from the start, but
now who could guarantee it didn't happen? Just a few weeks ago I still didn't
believe in such thing as magic and soul, and now here I am, witnessed a magic
fight, revived from death, or so I thought.
The room I was staying in still had plenty of books laying
around. It looked like the owner didn't clean it frequently. I decided to take
a look on a few books, and took my time. There were all kind of books in this
room, literature, science, history, geography, and some I couldn't tell which
field they were in. They were all worn, must be old books that couldn't sell
and she kept them here to read. There were some specially old books in the
corner, which I guessed must be used for a long time. One’s cover almost turned
into yellow, but the letters were still readable. However, they were all
strange symbols.
The art of soul mastery.
“What is this book?” I wondered. It didn't look like a
regular book, instead, it had the sense of a valuable document, but being thrown around like this made it
value sure decreased. When I was about to open it, the sound of a grandpa clock
told me it was time to meet the others. Well, it could wait. I opened the door
and walked outside the room, that was when I saw her again. Thera was standing
near the window, gazing at the moon. Looked like she was alright, but her mood
was the same too. I didn't know how should I feel about it, but then something
really strange happened.
Thera turned to my way, then she ran to me. Only God knew what had happened for the last week or what kind of talking did Ibel gave to her,
but Thera’s action was really…weird. And then, out of the blue, she hugged me.
What the heck?
“Thera? What…are you doing?” I could only ask.
“Shut up stupid, I thought you were dead. Do you know… how
worry…I was…” What? Was she crying? Just what the heck?
“Um, are…you okay?” My head went all fuzzy as her head now was
leaning to my shoulder.
“No, not at all. How can I…be okay…when you were…like that…”
Then she looked me in the eyes. Her face was so close to me, and for a moment, I
thought she was going to…
“I don’t know…what to do…if you die…” She was going for it.
I felt her hands was pushing my head close to her. She was about to give me a kiss.
Even though I wanted it to happen, I pushed her back.
“No, if this was a dream, then it might be right, but now that
I know I am totally awake, then this must be one hundred percent wrong. The Thera
I know, she’s different. She doesn't have any emotion. That’s right, from the start,
she couldn't feel a thing. I don’t know why you do this, but since you have a week
to observe her, I expect you could make a better imitation, Ibel.” If this was the
prank by that evil woman, then it all made sense.
The Thera standing in front of me took a step back, then she
smiled.
“How boring, I thought you would play along for a bit longer
you know. But you were wrong, I’m not Ibel.”
The figure slowly faded away, as if a drawing being erased.
Then, she disappeared totally, leaving a blue flame floating in the air. When I
was still being dumbstruck by that scene, Ibel stepped in.
“There you are, I was about to call for you.” She said.
“Umm miss Ibel, what is that?” I pointed at the dancing flame
in front of me.
“Huh? Oh that? That’s my soul. I call her Laa.” She answered
so normally that I thought she introduce her soul to everybody in town already. I hope that
wasn't the case.
“What do you mean your soul? How can I see it?” I was totally
lost.
“What? You have one don’t you? Then it’s perfectly fine for
you to see other’s.” That made sense, I guessed.
“But how can your soul become visible like that?” The flame
was literally dancing.
“Ibel, this seedy looking guy ask too much, and he knows nothing.
Such a pain for the soul being with him.” The flame spoke. Her voice somehow resembled
that of Ibel, but a bit distorted.
“Don’t be rude Laa. Come with me, I will explain the detail.”
Then Ibel and her flame walked down stair. This was getting more and more out of
hand.
-End chapter 12-
