Julia had just submitted one of her assignments. The air was chilly yet stuffy, and the sky was grey and full of clouds. She walked away from the building, and stopped in her tracks when she saw a trail of flowers. Some of these flowers were being carried by the wind towards her. Julia wondered how the wind left such a trail behind. The flowers were small sunflowers, orangey-red roses, and white jasmines. The petals floated upwards and away, until they vanished, and a person’s silhouette emerged. The silhouette’s image became clearer, until Cole showed himself.

Julia came forward and gave him a hug, and he was unmoving. He looked the same as before, but his expression was blank and without any trace of emotion. His eyebrows were still, and even though his glasses contained her reflection, his eyes didn’t follow her movements. His lips neither curved into a frown or a smile.

“Are you okay?” said Julia

Then he hugged her.

“N-not at all.”

He sighed, his voice was shaky and his breaths were short as he let go.

“Did you like the bracelet?” he said

“Yes, I’m wearing it,” said Julia

He took her hand as she showed him.

“Just as I thought, looks beautiful on you,” said Cole

“Thanks…”

Something wasn’t right. Her wand began to malfunction, and transformed her dress into her strawberry witch outfit. Her wand also wouldn't stay in her hand, and it fell on the ground. She got a hold of it and put it in her satchel.

Cole wiped his face with the back of his hand, turned around and looked at Julia from behind.

Julia who was observing his movements thought that there was a lack of words exchanged. Before she would be satisfied with pleasant words, but now she felt like he was hiding the truth. There was no way anyone ordinary would be able to escape the DTCA with such ease.

“I have come to tell you the truth,” said Cole

“Go on,” said Julia

Cole blinked, pressed his lips together, and placed his hand on his chin.

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me… but there are infinite copies…”

Infinite copies of what? The DTCA? That would be catastrophic. Or maybe it was even some sort of weapon of mass destruction.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Infinite copies of me.”

Julia didn’t know how to react to that. How was that even a problem? Even if there were so many Coles, what would be the problem? Unless there was something seriously wrong with Cole.

“You ought to know that are infinite timelines through which you and I, and mostly everyone has been travelling. One of the reasons is that we have been dreaming actively,” he said

Julia stretched her arms.

Cole took in a deep breath and let it out.

“Silvio comes in limited copies, Sunny even fewer, you come in nearly infinite copies and I am infinite.”

Julia flexed her right arm and said, “Okay…? Does this mean that you can’t be killed?”

Cole cracked his knuckles and said, “I can be killed in every life, only to reappear in the next life. I am the error in the program. A bug, a mistake. Sure, there are other problems and errors, but I am the worst. Because I am not good enough. I could never maintain the balance. The programmer created me to serve the DTCA, but I was too curious and I wandered into the land of the IDSO.”

Julia kind of understood what he was saying. She was confused nevertheless.

“There are so many other things I must tell you. But not now.”

Julia held his arm and said, “But why?”

“Telling you now would only disrupt the timeline. Long story short, whatever I did was to protect you.”

Cole vanished, leaving behind an empty fist and a few plummeting petals.

Julia thought she understood everything yet nothing at all. And she wanted to believe him but couldn’t.

It began raining after so long. The trickles turned to downpour. But it usually doesn’t rain there.

“Julia!” she heard

Silvio came running with an umbrella. He sheltered her with it.

“Where were you? I was so worried. The DTCA meter was going on and off like crazy.”

There seemed to be something trustworthy about Silvio.

They walked together in the rain. It was now confirmed that Cole was part of the DTCA. He couldn’t be trusted.

The rain made the earth soft and left puddles everywhere. The light from the lamp posts reflected off of Silvio’s hair and bright eyes.

She put the bracelet in her pocket. She held Silvio’s hand and he grasped it. When they reached the dorm building, he let go.

“Wait,” she said

He turned and stood there as his greenish eyes reflected the white light of the street lamps.

“May I?” said Julia, holding his face

“Go ahead,” said Silvio

Julia planted a kiss on his cheek.

Silvio grinned. He came forward and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Good night,” he said, waving bye

“Yeah,” said Julia

She was smiling like an idiot.

She spent most of the night daydreaming about Silvio.

[www.imgur.com/a/MFzlxnP.png][https://imgur.com/cGjoBh0.png]

However, she was also worried about Cole. He wasn't the same as before. He was so different. Did something happen? He should've told her by now. Waiting for an explanation from Cole made her unable to do anything properly. She couldn't think right, and the only distraction was Silvio.

Julia hoped that if Cole was bad for her, that he would be removed from her life. Julia changed her clothes. She went to bed, unable to sleep. In the meantime, Silvio sent her various music video links. She was listening to each of them. The last song was a piano and cello duet, and it sent her fast asleep.

She dreamed of Silvio. She wasn't sure what she dreamed, but she remembered seeing him.

[https://imgur.com/SpoBhm2.png]

Julia tried her best to wake up on time. But she didn't want to wake up from her wonderful dream.[https://imgur.com/a/PFYtDp5.png]