As soon as those words poured out of Elmer’s lips, the symbols inscribed on the talisman spinned about rapidly in a chaotic manner, taking on something similar to the form of the base of a slowly forming tornado.

Suddenly, the rampageous movements of the symbols ceased, and they disappeared as a blinding bright and pure light of golden-yellow spilled out from the talisman and illuminated the whole cemetery.

It was almost like the sun had risen abruptly from the ground, skipping its slow stage of early morning and spiraling straight into noon.

Elmer instinctively spread out his left arm over his eyes and turned his head away from the direction of the blinding light as he fell onto something hard with his buttocks. But even though his vision had now been obscured, his ears made sure he understood what exactly was going on.

The previous growls, which had been coming from the smoky guardians in the form of wolves, changed into painful howls almost immediately. It was as though the supernatural beasts were being tortured, and the anguish that came as a result of that echoed through the night.

But of course their cries did little to warrant Elmer’s pity. They were guarding a murderous spirit. Good riddance.

As soon as the heavy howls of the wolves faded, then did the weeping lady finally take on a different tone that wasn’t akin to the cries she had been pouring out before. It was a tone that befitted her role more, a tone of rage filled to the brim with a murderous intent.

Elmer could hear no words but he could feel the bloodcurdling fury of the curse’s roars prickling his skin.

He formed an image of her in his head since he could not look at her directly.

In the darkness beneath his eyelids he could see her faceless face contorting roughly as she madly gripped the long silver hair which sprawled down her head. And those images in his mind went well with the constant tumultuous screams that emanated from her.

He also added a thought for her to perfect the scenery in his head, one that spelled the end of his life if she could in any way get a hold of him.

He was glad that that was just his imagination. And thankfully the weeping curse’s rackets died down soon after, bringing about a peaceful stillness that was the most suitable for a cemetery at this time of the night. That action also told him that he would in no way lose his life to that curse, ever.

After all was done, it barely took a second for the blinding light that had poured out of the talisman to dwindle after silence had stormed the scenery.

Elmer immediately took his arm away from obstructing his vision just in time to glimpse the last trace of the talisman burning off into ashes and blowing away as though it had never existed.

That was… epic…

He closed his eyes with a deep exhale and let his head fall backward onto the concrete frame sprouting up from the hard surface he had been sitting on.

All of a sudden he pried his eyes open, widening it as he realized what made up his current resting spot.

He jumped to his feet and turned to the gravestone, immediately lowering his head at it.

“Pardon me,” he muttered as he brought his palms into a close vicinity with each other, their warm embrace only prevented by the base of the revolver he was holding. “Battling against that curse was quite daunting, I’m sorry that I took a moment to rest on your grave.”

As soon as he was done apologizing, he let out an exhale while he straightened himself and swept his gaze about the cemetery. The hoots of owls Lev had been hearing mixed in with the now-exorcised curse’s cries finally made their way into his ears.

Too silent, it’s almost as though nothing had happened…

After suddenly closing his eyes involuntarily and having a stretched-out yawn, Elmer went ahead to pick up the bullets he had fired, of which none had done any damage to his foes, and dropped them into his bag along with his revolver.

His next line of action had been jumping over the brick fence that surrounded the cemetery, using his enhanced speed—a weaker version in contrast to how it had been against the wolves—to bring himself down on the other side which made up the outer vicinity of Spearhead Cemetery.

He had made sure to follow the exact same route as he had done when he jumped into the cemetery, and as a result he now found himself on a straight line from Lev who was still sleeping with his back resting against the oak tree that stood behind him.

Elmer thought to wake him up since he was done and they could both head to their various homes now, but as a silver finger of the moon up high brushed upon the pawnbroker’s pretty face and showed him the sound and peaceful countenance the young man now had, he decided against it.

Lev had finally gotten his rest, he needed it. Well, having his sleep against the bark of a tree would in no way compare to having it on his bed, but Elmer could not bring himself to shake Lev awake. As a result, he chose to leave that up to the pawnbroker himself. Whenever he woke up would mean that he was ready to go home.

After all, Elmer felt there was nothing to fear. No curses haunting Lev. No Losts haunting him. And if any official found them and brought up the issue of the emperor’s curfew he would just show them his license and say that he was on duty. So, everything was fine. All he had to do was watch over Lev until he woke up.

Elmer flopped backward against the brick fence and slowly sunk downward until he felt his buttock touch the shaven grasses that grew upon the ground.

He took off his glasses and pinched his eyes, blurring them extra with tears before restoring their sight by sliding his glasses back in place.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

There was no hiding what had caused him to take such an action. His own exhaustion was creeping in.

Elmer stared at Lev for a moment, then took his eyes up to the full moon hanging in the sky as the back of his head went onto the fence behind him. He made sure to not let his enhanced hearing suddenly prop up like it always did and plunge him into a state of extreme tranquility. He was guarding Lev, he could not afford to fall asleep.

But despite putting a restrain on his ability, he had still found his eyes drifting close three times before the fourth grabbed him gently by his wrists and pulled him into a scenery that was dark and welcoming.

He swayed in that darkness for a while, a space where he did not need to stress his brain nor worry about what his next action would be. A space that gave him the chance to rest, to relieve himself of the exhaustion that had been plaguing him.

And all that had been what his current situation had entailed until his eyes were suddenly forced open as a boot flew into his thigh.

“Get up,” he heard a somewhat familiar croaky voice say. “You’ll be the only one left once I leave, and unless you want to sleep behind bars tonight, I suggest you do too.”

Elmer’s breath seized momentarily as those words went into his ears, and he immediately turned to his side, looking up to see a middle-aged man covered in a patched worn-out coat with hands dipped into its pockets.

What… What is this…?

His face squeezed abruptly into a nervy grimace as an uninvited fluttering stormed his stomach.

Without hesitation he quickly brushed his gaze about his current scenery, and he found himself in a position that he felt he should not currently be in—a position that had been meant for his past self a week ago.

What is happening…?

Elmer shot up to his feet at once as soon as the man who had woken him up repeated the same shudder as he had done before, and walked out of the alleyway with a swerve to his left.

This can’t be real, how come…? I just finished relieving Lev of his curse… How—I must be dreaming…

Elmer immediately pinched hard on the skin on his right arm, and as the pain coursed through him, so did his eyes widen and the hair on his body stand erect while goosepimples found their way onto his flesh.

A dream could never make him feel such pain.

This is real…?

Elmer’s heartbeat raced, and with the sort of speed they paced at, his eyes also found themselves moving about the alleyway fervently, searching for nothing in particular.

He knew he should relax, take the time to figure things out, but he could not get himself to calm down.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Had he gone back to the past? Or, was it that all which had happened with Lev was the dream?

That was not possible. If Lev’s had been the dream then how come he remembered all about this current situation he was in?

Elmer breathed out an exhale and turned to the faintly brightened and empty walkway perpendicular to the alley he was in.

If he had been dreaming all this while, then how come he knew that very soon a boy would run through there and throw a bag of money into his path?

Was he relieving his past? Was this… like the dreamworld?

“Stop!”

Elmer heard a shout, and if it had been any other time he would have been startled stiff by its sudden appearance, but not now—he had been expecting it.

Instead, his muscles tensed as he caught sight of the boy dressed in a dungaree with a flat cap on his head taking on a different approach with his gestures than Elmer had remembered him to have done the previous time.

Before, as Elmer could recall, the boy had had a shaken ambience which had been made obvious by his erratic fidgets prior to throwing the bag of money into the alley and speeding off.

But now the boy was stagnant, solid, unmoving. And due to the shadows of the lamplights brightening the walkway darkening the boy’s face, causing his visage to be unviewable, Elmer felt his bones freeze cold as his brows furrowed nervously and his heartbeat slowed to a crawl, along with his mind.

This whole scenario was anything but pleasant.

Then, before Elmer could move an inch, the boy lunged into the alleyway, rushing toward him like a wild animal that had gone mad without relenting in his constant bloodcurdling and ferocious shouts of, “My money!!”

Elmer instantly felt for his waist bag to pull out his revolver, but nothing was strapped around his waist.

His mind raged chaotically at once.

He did not want to find out what would happen once the mad boy approaching caught him, so he tried to run next, but… his body went nowhere. He was rooted tight to the spot unwillingly.

What…?!

Elmer choked on his spit, his eyes bulging as he suddenly found himself with an inability to blink.

“My money! My money! My money!”

The shouts never stopped coming, and so did the mad-boy, but still Elmer could not find himself with any way out of his current sitch.

It was hopeless.

He had been bound stiff by some unknown force, causing him to be unable to either control his body or his mind, and there was not a single way for him to tackle the eerie lunatic that was approaching.

With a deep inhale as that realization set into Elmer, he instantly pinched his eyes shut as soon as he glimpsed the boy at an arm’s length from him, and it was then that, all of a sudden, he felt his scenery change.

He was no longer standing bound to a spot by some unknown force, he was sitting on a shaven patch of grass, his back rested against a wall.

As his agitated breathing calmed down slowly, the peaceful hoots of owls immediately rushed into his ears, followed up by a nervous voice which was usually giddy in nature.

“Glasses! What are you doing?! Get up!” Lev screamed, and Elmer forced his eyes open to behold behind the mildly refreshed pawnbroker leaning over him the trees of oak that ran through the exterior of Spearhead Cemetery.

It was a dream…? Elmer mumbled in his thoughts, his widened eyes narrowing. It had been so realistic that Elmer could not still find himself believing that it had been simply that.

But that did not matter. He did not want to experience such a thing again, such a situation where he was helpless and unable to fight back. And since it was as obvious as the rising sun of day what had caused that spiritual craziness, he knew what he had to do.

“Why did you not wake me up?!” Lev nudged Elmer at his shoulders fiercely with another shout. “Are you crazy, glasses? Do you want me to sleep in a cell?” Lev retreated quickly and gestured at Elmer to rise up. “We have an hour left. Let’s head to the thoroughfare now, we should still be able to catch a few carriages. Hurry up! You did not wake me up then you went ahead to go to sleep yourself. Joking with your life. I don’t joke with mine, I’ll have you know now.”

Elmer let out a deep breath, silent but of ears to Lev’s words, and slowly pushed himself to his feet.

I have to return that boy’s money…