The feeling taking over Aiden, his situation, couldn't help but compare it to being rejected by the girl you like. Damn it, Aiden thought, he couldn't ruin it just for his selfishness. He refused to fall so low.

—If you say you know her, understand her, better than me, is this really something Maika would do?

—!!

He felt like the ground beneath him was shaking, it was like an electric shock from the back of his neck to the tips of his toes. With one clean movement, he snatched the letter from the wizard's hands that was left for him, Aiden, and nobody else.

To begin with, where did his confidence and boldness come from? He didn't know her for more than a couple of days. The illusion that he had created with his indulgence, now it felt like a superfluous attempt to connect with something mysterious, something terrifying, but beautiful.

Once he thought about it, the illusion fell apart so easily that Aiden felt so ashamed that he almost couldn't hold back tears nor the desire to run away with a tail between his legs. Aiden took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, knowing that a fair examination is a luxury that he didn't have, as time was a far too costly luxury. Considering Maika's situation, to keep turning himself over and over again until reaching a conclusion would have been unforgivable.

He read each word carefully. He hadn't thought about it until that moment. Why leave a letter if it was supposed that I wouldn't remember it? Aiden let his right fist fall heavily on his left shoulder.

—How could I have been so stupid!

«Supposed goodbye? A whim? But it's so clear that it's a plea for help! Why did it take me so long to realize!?»

Aiden put his hands together and pressed, the trembling was evident and the emotion in his eyes had returned. As if he had been waiting for that sign, the wizard continued.

—Listen well, kid, maybe you'll be interested in knowing that each earphone continuously reproduces an imperceptible frequency to the human ear that will stimulate your brain activity, making it more sensitive to rapid changes. That is to say, it will also slightly improve your senses and response time, will you use them?

The purpose of those earphones, no, the sound waves, is to stimulate the brain in such a way that the response time between a command and the action executed by the body is faster. Up to that point, Aiden had understood. He could get an idea of the true meaning of those earphones, but in any case, he ignored it completely, that way it was much easier to decide.

What truly caught Aiden's attention was the part where he said, “it will improve”, in other words, that means more possibilities for him. Maybe it's not much, but where he's going, two thousandths of a second could save his life. It's pointless to think about things that he didn't know, and much less to ask questions without the possibility of getting an answer. Certainly, I don't have the stuff of a hero, Aiden thought.

—I…

Without any deep or apparent reason, he performed a set of breathing exercises and as if they knew his will, thousands of particles, like tiny insects that made up the smoke, calmed down. They didn't disappear, they only remained static in his field of vision. That pleasant warm feeling had returned. The emotion was devouring him.

«It's true, I had forgotten. There are also those types of characters who can't do much and try as hard as anyone to stay with the protagonist, they can also be the protagonist of their own story. Even those who choose the easy path do everything they can to keep going. In comparison to me, who am not following any path, what does that make me?

»I'm not going to accept that this is the end of my story. You can eat a piece of shit and bet that I won't!

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

»Yes, it's okay, I accept it. Somewhere inside of me, I still wanted that quality sleeping inside of me, that of being a hero. And if I don't have it, what? This is my story, nobody is entitled to decide for the protagonist, even if I can't defeat the villain on my own. Maika will take care of that and will smile at the end, I'll make sure of that. I will not accept any other ending than the one I want!»

From the beginning, with his actions, he made it clear that he was not material to be a hero. He was not ignorant of this, he discovered a long time ago that to be a hero you have to defeat the villain, something he failed to do in the past, and yet, acting against his words, foolishly tried again.

Thinking about it, he who caused this whole situation, did not know anything about the supposed villain; his motive or his appearance, let alone being a villain for him, to defeat, that person could very well be the hero. None of that mattered to Aiden now. As far as he was concerned, with his new resolution, this story is more straightforward.

What a protagonist should do presently is to not accept that and fight. If he's not a hero, there's nothing that says victory is guaranteed, but that's not what he should be worried about, his fight now is different. Homunculi, demons, a renegade angel, none of them are opponents for him. He only needs to aim for something he can really risk everything for. Something he's sure he'll win, make it tangible. The moment he decided to interpret Maika's letter the way he did, his destiny was written in steel.

«If fighting with everything you have and not getting anything is not enough for you, then I only have to get it. I know that just wanting it is not enough to be in your world, but you'll have to see how I break through. It wouldn't make sense otherwise, so just wait, Maika, you won't be able to stop me!»

His new fight, the one he can bet everything on, is not a major or vital event for the world. He said it before, this is a more straightforward story. His challenge is to be by Maika's side.

«I feel like I'm about to make a pact with the devil, but… Even if in the future I take the hard or easy path to move forward, it will be one that I build, I'll still be me. I won't wait anymore for the world. That's the kind of character I want to be».

That's the way a character like him should behave, thought the young man with rebellious hair, being the protagonist of his own story, not anyone else's.

What he needs to do is simple, Aiden thought, he will definitely not become a hero that fights for what is right. He will fight for what he wants and for whom he wants, and now, his fight is for himself, to prove that he can be a better protagonist than anyone else in his story.

The failure to erase his memory was a sign for Aiden, and he decided to see it as such. He will never forget the ridiculous things he saw, or the person he wants to protect, the girl who has to face a supernatural world with different laws. He doesn't have to defeat all the villains of that world, he is not a hero, his only obligation to himself at this moment is to stand by that girl who doesn't know how to ask for help. His heroine.

«Is that all? That's my answer… That simplistic one that makes me want to laugh. But for some reason, I feel full of energy! I feel like I can win any fight!»

Convincing arguments or perfect logic were not needed. Aiden felt the strength of his determination in his fist, and that was all.

«I would like to be in the same place as Maika, no matter if here and there are entirely different realities. I want to help Maika, even if being next to her is all I can do, I will do it and if the laws of her world get in the way, then, if necessary, I, myself, will destroy those laws! This time and from now on, I will create my own story».

Now that he was decided, Aiden made his bet!

—In other words, your method increases my chances of survival, right?

—Indeed. I can't tell you exactly how much, it will depend on you, but it's a fact that your chances increase. I can't give you more hope.

—It doesn't matter —he took a step forward, he didn't care about being Faust, he took the headphones from his very own Mephistopheles—. Who cares about hope? Even if it's the smallest amount I've ever heard in my life, if it increases, even if it's only a little, in fractions so small that I couldn't count them, if it's a fact, I will use it. I don't know if I'm special like you say, but I couldn't care less at this moment.

If anything makes his 0,00000000…0.001% change, Aiden thought, why wouldn't he take that chance?

—There's someone I want to save.

—Excellent answer, just for that I will give you another gift. Now listen carefully, this is what you have to do.