PHASE 19 - DAYS OF THE PAST FUTURES

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Static.

All I can see, hear touch, smell, and taste are static. My whole body aches. I feel like I’m being feasted by millions of ants, tearing my body cell by cell.

Feeling this familiar static, I know that I'm sleeping and dreaming with my once again. This precognition ability of mine love to mess my mind at the worst time.

Suddenly, everything became dark.

One.

Two.

Three seconds.

Two eyes, both bloodshot red stare at me from a distance. I can hear a distant whisper as the glow-in-the-dark irises closed in.

I AM YOU, AND YOU ARE ME

Words were inserted directly into my brain. I feel an immense mass of prana gathering towards my body, making my veins glow with blue light. My breathing became harder as the power I attained clogged my lungs. My heart beats faster.

I AM…

“You are…” My mouth suddenly mutters.

ALARIC EISENHOWER.

“Aeternos…”

The dark space shatters, delivering me to another dream.

<>

I saw hell.

I’m now in a vast desert flooded by blood and full of the mountain of corpses. At the center of the plain wide field are a group of buildings that are being bombarded upon by hundreds of Gate Guardians. Colorful projectiles flew above like fireworks on New Year's Eve.

It took me a while to realize that the place I’m seeing is the Nuclear Test Site Facility in Leng City. The tall building, the airstrip, and the abandoned amusement park nearby are the very same infrastructures I saw when we visited the Underground Laboratory.

At the very far side of the test site where there is no debris or obstacles, there is a large crater that could fit a whole city block. There is an otherworldly aura at the center of the crater but I can't make out of it. All I can see is a set of oversized flaming white wings that might be the cause of this singularity.

I was about to take a step, curious about this particular happening. I want to see more of it, but...

“Alaric…”

Somebody called my name.

When I turned around, I saw a familiar girl with white hair, innocent red eyes, and an expressionless face. I was sure that she’s Key, albeit her body looks like she’s a four-year-old kid. And she’s wearing a dirty rag cloth.

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“K-Key?”

Wordlessly, the white-haired homunculus lent out her cute hand at me. I didn’t hesitate to take it. But when our fingertips touched, the fabric of reality shattered.

<>

I was transported to the second hell.

I find myself on top of a five-story building, enjoying the breeze of the night winds.

I looked below, and I watched a small clocktower and a house burnt to crisps. There are a lot of craters on the highway, which is probably the aftermath of a bloody battle.

The street lamps are flickering, and some electric cable sparks. Those lights made me clear to see what was happening below.

I see splattered blood marks just near the burning clock tower and apartment. Just beside those flaming buildings… are three burnt corpses.

This scene… I can remember.

I heard somebody weeping. I adjusted my angle and discovered a woman crying in agony just below the glowing street lamp. She’s kneeling on the ground, her forehead dipped on the asphalt. Her endless tears were absorbed by the ground as soon as it fell down.

She’s not just a weeping woman. She’s the woman I love.

“Tiara…”

I was about to jump down and confront her. Suddenly, a Gate opened behind my back. I saw a man with a tattered cloak and ruined bodysuit armor. His crimson-eyed gaze, his long silver hair, and his hopeless beautiful face. He’s the Cursed Diadem I once hated.

“I have killed them, as you ordered.” Cursed Diadem’s deep voice struck my soul. “I have killed three of Alaric’s friends, but I failed to kill Heushac Efilion and Mister Kent. That damned Outsider intervened.”

I clenched my hand. I had the urge to punch and strangle the Cursed Diadem with my own hands, but instead, something undesirable came from my mouth.

“That doesn’t matter. Good work, Diadem Solstice.”

Why… Why am I saying those words!? Did I really order Cursed Diadem to kill my three friends!?

Before I could protest against myself, reality shattered.

<>

I was transported to another hell.

I’m at the center of the freezing forest, and the crimson snow I’m stepping makes my boots sink.

I looked upwards, and there is a blood-red moon in the night skies. The trees here have been withered, and it gives traces of cursed prana.

The gentle breeze of the winter winds makes this place a lot more familiar to me. I just confirmed it when I sensed hostile gazes upon my very being.

In front of me are Gate Guardians with familiar faces.

The one nearest to me is a shrine maiden with sky blue eyes and long black hair. I can never forget the face of such beauty for she is Tiara Hikari. But instead of being happy, her determined gaze is giving the threat to kill me. She even has her tails materialized, and she's on a perfect boxing stance; indicating that she could unleash a deadly punch right into my face.

I was about to call out her name until I realized the person next to her.

Golden blonde hair and emerald eyes. He’s wearing a knight-like armor with a blue short cape. He is wielding a platinum sword with diamond blades in it; the . There is only one person as handsome as he is. He is Alaric Eisenhower. He is me.

Behind the two is a blonde girl who is surrounded by a single pillar of golden light. She is in praying position, vocalizing the ultimate song of all; the . I am certain that she is the Jeannette Amiella Fontaine von Noctis I knew in my childhood. She is not Jeanne. She is Amy.

I was surrounded by countless Gate Guardians that seemed like pests to me. As of this moment, I had the urge to kill them one by one without knowing the reason why.

I looked at my hands, and then I realized that I’m inside a cybernetic knight-like armor of platinum. In my veins, I sense fragments of divine powers flowing throughout my body. I clenched my fist and electrifying spark echoes.

So I am him. I am really Aeternos.

Just before I could breathe once more, everything became black and white. Time stopped itself as if we’re in a gigantic life-sized panorama. I was expecting that the Fake Outsider will appear as of this time, but something peculiar grabbed my attention.

It was from Amy. Even though all the world has lost its color, she never lost hers. She’s still covered by a surging golden pillar, flowing upwards infinitely. It is as if she is using her omnipotent powers to have a private chat with me.

“Ric,” Amy muttered.

“A...Amy!” I shouted. “Y-You can hear me!? You know it’s me, right!?”

Amy moved her lips muttering something I couldn’t hear.

“Amy!” I cried.

Suddenly, the skies, the ground, the trees, and the Gate Guardians around me dissolved to nothing. Everything. Everything faded as if it’s just a dream.

I was back in an infinite sea of static again.

And finally, I was able to wake up.

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