What happened afterwards was a blur.
I saw nothing, heard nothing. Felt nothing, understood nothing. Aimlessly drifting in the empty void, with a few sentences resounding in my head. One, twice. Then again.
Again.
And again.
And Again.
AND AGAIN.
AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN AGAINAGAINAGAINAGIANGIANGAIGNAIGNAIGNAI—
I felt as if I had gone insane. For how long? I didn't know. Since when I didn't know. Yet, I didn't get to ponder any of it.
Then, it all went away.
Pain, fear, insanity, terror, horror, happiness, sadness, everything. It went away.
Thoughts? They didn’t exist. Emotions? Calm as a lake.
It was serene.
Floating in nothingness, with no thoughts to disturb my being. No quest to find some random problem that had been forced onto me.
I wished it lasted longer, yet it didn’t.
Or maybe it did, and it simply wasn't enough.
And then, I woke up. Pondered a bit more, talked, jumped around in space like a looney toons character kicking physics in the nuts, watched my sister go crazy for a bit, and then had a reminiscence epilogue.
0 out of 10, would not recommend.
Coming back to the present...
Mana had regained her calm. At least as much as she could fake on the outside. With a few deep — yet shallow — breaths, she looked at me. Straight into my eyes. Why had I asked those questions? They seemed to say.
I would have told her about my meeting with that f**ker, but after going through it once again, reliving that experience, I chose not to.
Why?
I didn’t know. Perhaps I simply did not trust anything that left his mouth. My mouth. Whose mouth?
“…”
“…”
Bringing my sight back towards the statue, I spoke. “What did I ask you?”
“…”
She stared at me for a bit longer. Actually scratch that, she stared at me till spiders started crawling on my skin. Till chills crept up my bones.
“…”
“…nothing. Brotha didn’t ask anything.”
“…”
I looked at her again. This time, her eyes contemplated on the statue.
“…”
I see. Okay, I didn’t ask you anything.
Silence reigned supreme in my mind. I didn’t know what to think. How to think. And, why to think.
I really wanted to go back to that void. It was comfy.
[Fools. And you ask me whether I was scared or not. Why should I be scared of myself?]
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Except of this f**ker. I would go anywhere where this guy did not exist.
[Death then? Ah. Actually, never mind.]
Sigh…
Where do I even--?
“So… we going back now?” A pause, and then an imperceptible nod. Soon enough, we began the walk to our parents. And Elder Veritas. Couldn’t forget about him, now could we?
Huh?
“…”
Uhhhh…..
“…”
“Is it just me… or is this place acting weird?”
“Brotha, it always acts weird.”
“No, I meant in the sense of time. It feels like it doesn’t exist anymore.”
She stopped, taking —or I guess feeling— a good sense of her surroundings. Then her head snapped towards me, nearly giving me a heart attack. Brat, you’re going to break your neck if you continue doing that.
She definitely would, considering the amount of times she had done ever since she was born. Hell, didn’t she do it just a month or two after her birth? I believe she was surprised about my existenc—
‘…’
WHat?
I needed a painkiller for all this headache that had come to camp on me existence.
[AHAHAHAHAH!]
FUCK OFF!!
Sigh. Should I just kill myself?
[And why the f**k would I let you kill me? Besides, even if I wanted to kill myself, I couldn’t.]
“…”
What? You’re going to tell me you’re some almighty god? Oh wait… you were immorta—
Oh….
[See?]
Fuck off. Leave me alone.
[Aww.. Why? Don’t like yourself in your hea—]
“LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Huff… Huff.. Huff. Haaah….
“…?” Mana paused with confusion all over her face. Not to the extent that she had displayed before, but it was definitely noticeable.
“…Eon?” Great. I worried Mom again. She’ll fall if she tries to run in this water with her slipper—
THUD!
“…”
Dad moved faster than anyone and supported her. Right, I have this guy too.
Sigh…
“I’m fine… no-no I didn’t get hurt. Honey… Leon.” Should I even question why moms have such scary attributes at this point? One look or word, and the world freezes over.
Fuck it, I wanna go to bed.
“Eon..? Is everything… Is everything okay?”
I looked at her for a bit. Then at Dad. He seemed to be asking the same question. On his note, he had gotten out of his pondering, silent mood. Was it temporary? Or would I have another headache?
As for the Elder, he continued watching from the sidelines. Respectfully, do you not have any other tasks to do? Or are there nine hundred and ninety versions of you to do all those tasks at once?
[Ohh?]
Why are you back?
[Why are you talking to yourself like that? Don’t you fear—]
According to you, you’re me. Or I’m you. Whatever the fuck you were saying. And if you’re immortal…
[Who said one cannot have two immortalities?]
“…”
I sat down. I needed to, or I would explode somewhere. On someone. Or something. What was going on with me? This wasn’t my character.
[Your writer probably listened to some comedian’s songs, I guess.]
Wha— how? Why— AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sigh.
I brought that one on myself.
[Don't give yourself opportunities, heh.]
“…”
Wait—
[You seem to somehow be capable of handling my voice now? Congratulations, now do something interesting.]
How about I find a way to kill you?
[That… seems quite optimal no? It’s impossible, of course. But, who knows? A madman can hope.]
“…”
[Or they can’t. Difficult to go against that fucktard of an existence.]
You have zero filter, don’t you?
[You removed yours a while ago.]
More like you made me remove it. Or you removed it by yourself?
[Right…. and who am I?]
A facepalm emerged from my still state, startling everyone present.
“…ummm?”
“Is suicide and immortality in any relation with madness and misfortune?” Please, please, please...
“””What?”””
FUCK!
Mom, and Dad. Both I expected. Why Mana though? Ah fuck it.
“…I’ll have to check in the Church Records.”
Seriously?
“You guys have records?”
”Eon! Don’t talk like—” Mom was stopped with Dad simply placing a hand on her shoulder. Her hand.
What?
Huh? Wait-Wait WAITWAIT WHAT?
I rubbed my eyes.
Oh.
I seemed to have been…
“… is there any relation of hallucination as well?”
{^)#%()@)%**))$)@)$))%)@$&$^}
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
My ears were ringing. My balance failing. Sight— blurry. Thoughts; disordered.
“——tha. Rotha. BROTHA!”
“Ah? Ah, yeah. Give me a minute.”
““””….””””
“Young Man. I’d suggest you sit below the Hanged Cross. Stay there for a while, and then go outside. Come back tomorrow. I should have all your answers by then.”
I feebly nodded.
Sigh... A sigh or exasperation? Relief? No, none of them came out of my mouth. They were from Mana’s.
Sigh. Well, this one was mine.
I stood up with the support of my family, and walked towards that cross. Dead center of the Cathedral, it was an Enigma. I knew where it ended, but where had it begun? That was something to think about.
And maybe something to take my mind off this mess.
[Well… I guess I’ll see you later?]
Yeah. Fuck off.
I sat down. A few meaningful looks with my parents to garner their trust again, and they left the cathedral with Mana in tow.
Now…
Why am I even sitting down?
This water doesn’t wet or destroy any clothes anyway, so lets lay down.
And sleep, I suppose.
Or so I had thought.
Alas, minutes went by.
They turned to hours, then back to minutes.
Then time stopped its counter.
It resumed soon, and then paused again.
Again, and again.
Yet, even then.
Sleep eluded me.