As mysterious as the ray of light coming from above, Alisa was surprised to find herself sitting at the table back at the cabin. Her cheek squished against the table and the pressure of his head against it as her drool created a small puddle under her.
Realization kicked her like a horse as she opened her eyes, “Wha—What happened? Why are we here?”
“I’m not so sure, but I never knew your soul has this kind of space”, Nicolas said sitting in the opposite side of the table smiling at her as he pointed her drool, “It feels really comfortable here isn’t it?”
“Warm and peaceful too”, Matthew added as he stood beside the door.
“What do you mean ‘this space’?”, Alisa asked.
“We also have a space like this deep in our soul. I think every individual has, it’s their comfort zone…”, Matthew explained.
“But we never knew it could look like this. Ours was just a blank void”, Nicolas seconded while looking around.
“Did we do it though? Did we win?”, Alisa said brushing off what they’re saying.
Nicolas and Matthew just stared at her for a good second before looking at each other laughing.
“Not yet but it’s a sure win and that’s thanks to you”, Nicolas rejoiced brushing Alisa’s hair.
“That’s great, we can finally have peace”, the girl sighed in relief, “By the way, Matthew, come sit with us”, she called before getting up and brewing some tea by the fireplace.
“No, I’m fine here. I’ll be silent and let you have the moment”, Matthew refused, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Is he always like this Nicolas?”, Alisa giggled sitting back down.
“Yeah, unlike his actions this life, he is kind and considerate”, Nicolas proudly explained, “Sit here you dumbass”, he forcefully pulled Matthew.
The conversation went on as the three exchanged stories.
How Alisa spent her life for the past 17 years, how she found out about her father, and how she learned how to hold a bow. Nicolas and Matthew were also more than happy to share the other side of their lives, the few wonderful people they met, the places they have seen and been, and even the food they loved to have.
“You know what’s funny?”, Matthew owned the conversation, “No matter how many times we were reborn, they always name us the same thing, Nicolas and Matthew, never mixed, and never exchanged”
“Interesting, how could that be possible?”, Alisa poured themselves a cup of tea.
“I don’t know, maybe our souls have a mark”, Nicolas joked.
“Like giving pigs for slaughter an identity tag”, Matthew blurted which made them all laugh.
“Anyway, did you have anyone special in your past lives?”
Nicolas took a sip of his tea then cleared his throat, “None”
“Why is that?”
“Someone was always out to get us, and as you know we mostly died when we are toddlers, we only had three lives when we reached 17 and this one is the third”, Nicolas explained.
“And this is the only life we had someone special”, Matthew smirked, filling his cup then looked at Alisa, “Like how Nicolas looks at you”, he teased both of them as he stood and went for the door.
Nicolas smiled at her then followed.
“Where are you going?”, the girl asked.
“What do you mean? It’s about time”, Nicolas replied preparing to open the door while evading her gaze.
“About time to go back to your bodies? Thank goodness I saved them from drowning”, Alisa sighed relaxing on her seat.
There was no immediate reply from the twins, it was an uneasy silence.
“Y— Yeah, were going back to our bodies”, Nicolas turned the knob and slightly opened the door. It screeched as he did so, breaking the peaceful atmosphere with the awful sound of the door.
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He was about to step out when Matthew suddenly kicked it shut, “You should tell her”
“Tell me what?”, Alisa stood, “Is there something I need to know?”
Nicolas bit his lip, clench his fist, turned around then slowly walked towards Alisa all while looking down, “We can no longer return to our bodies”
“Why is that? I checked and your bodies have no graved injuries”, Alisa debated.
“No it’s not that. Liam had already taken his soul back, we’re merely here to say goodbye”
“But that— that’s not fair…”, Alisa tried brushing off her tears, “I’ll see you in the next life then…”, she said, still refusing to cry.
Nicolas clenched his fist even more, lifted his head and smiled before going back to the door, “Yeah, I’ll see you there”
“I SAID TELL HER”, Matthew pulled him back again, threw him in front of Alisa then punched him in the face.
“What are you doing, Matthew?”
“If you don’t tell her now you’ll have no other chance do to so!”, Matthew exclaimed making Alisa more confuse than she already is.
There was again a brief moment of silence as Nicolas faced Alisa again. He held her close and slowly caged her in an embrace. “I’m sorry Alisa…”
“What are you apologizing for, if we can’t be together this time. I’ll find you on the next one, I swear”, she finally cried as she weakly hammered Nicolas’s chest with her fist.
Nicolas was hesitant to speak.
Alisa felt water droplets fell on her cheek. She opened her eyes only to see Nicolas silently crying while staring at her.
“I’m sorry Alisa…”, he repeated, “There will be no next life or any other life for me”, he caressed her face as he fixed her hair up her ear, smiling at the sight of the hair clip he returned, “This really suits you”, he smiled full of guilt.
“What are you saying? that can’t be right. If you die you’ll only be reincarnated, that’s what you said, r— right Matthew?”, she refused to believe while seeking sympathy from Matthew, wishing that whatever they’re saying was only a joke.
To her surprise Matthew was already bearing a saddened look on his face.
“Listen Alisa”, Nicolas held her on the sides of her head, “Right now, Liam and Shaine is talking outside. We’ve always thought on how unfortunate we were, trapped in the never-ending flow of life. We were never free, we are meant to die over and over again just so Liam will never succeed”, he looked at her in the eye.
“Each time we opened our eyes on a new life we have always pondered what’s the meaning of freedom is… but you opened my eyes. It made me realize that we’re never trapped, we’re always free. The moment we came to existence we’re free… I realized that no matter what happens we’re always free, free to live, free to think, free to speak out our mind, and most of all, free to love. We’ve always focused on the pain and death that we forgot that we’re fortunate enough to live countless lives, see different worlds, free enough to choose if we wanted to fight back. Like that man said on one of our past lives, ‘life is a one big box of suffering, it’s suffocating. It’s just up to us whether to cry over it or to accept that fact and look for another angle to be happy. Just like your glowing wings, you became my light to understand what he said”
“I don’t care about that!”, Alisa exclaimed, “For you to permanently disappear, I can’t accept that”, her tears already obstructing her vision.
Nicolas smiled at her before kissing her forehead, “I want to remove every memory you have with me…”
“That’s cruel”, Alisa cried even more, “Those memories will be the only thing you’ll be leaving me with, at least leave it at that”
“Don’t worry, that’s beyond my abilities now”, Nicolas tried to laugh but tears came out instead.
“I still can’t accept this Nicolas. I’ve already found you again after all those years and now you’re straying far again”
“Sshh…”, he said blocking her lip.
“I’ve always hated reading those romance novels. They sounded cliché so I can’t believe I’ll be saying this…”, Nicolas hugged her again and whispered something to her, “I love you more than anything, this might be asking too much and will cause you pain, but please. Don’t forget me”, he cried before letting her go, opened the door and almost stepped out.
Matthew again grabbed him by the collar.
“Wait a minute, we still have time and I too has something to say…”, he closed the door, “Can you tell this to Meriane when you get back?”
Alisa had no reply but she bopped her head and listened.
“I know you only did those things because you saw Nicolas in me, but thank you, I will always cherish the times you are bugging me, the supposed to be silent times but you kept chattering, those brief months that we have been together. Thank you for making this life interesting and even though you might not feel the same, I have always loved you”
He pulled Nicolas again and forced him to a bow.
“Goodbye and thank you for setting us free, chosen one”, Matthew said before elbowing Nicolas.
“Thank you, happy birthday, and don’t tell me that’s for tomorrow”, Nicolas finally smiled again.
“I know, that’s meant as an advance greeting”, Alisa sobbed as she also smiled remembering their conversation in that morning 10 years ago before everything went straight to hell.
“Live your life to the fullest, and thank you again for setting us free”, Matthew and Nicolas finally said as they stepped out and closed the door.
Everything went black and Alisa found herself back at the moment, she shot the beam. Her attack was already ending and her wings are starting to fade while Liam and the twin’s souls were starting to glow as if they were overcharged.
“It’s up to you now Lander!”, Nicolas yelled.
“Yeah, leave it to me!”, he yelled back. Alisa’s blessing fully healed him.
Landers as what Nicolas asked him the night before, upheld his task as the one who would contain a possible explosion. Although it might be beyond his ability. His nose was starting to bleed and he was already coughing blood, but he persevered.
“They’ve done their part, and I should too”, he exclaimed fighting off the pain.
After a hellish second or two, he fell to the ground, leaving no casualty beside from those who were already dead. He felt his consciousness fading as weakly glanced at the top of the waterfall. The tree of life towering over everything, Nicolas and Matthew was there giving him thumbs up. Beside them was another boy while a girl with wings held his hand.
And as the moon, finally turned blue, both he and Alisa fell unconscious to the ground.