"You got expelled!?" Mia exclaimed with surprise. Her face shuddered with bewilderment. "The principal said you got into a fight! Didn't I tell you to ignore those bullies?"
I stared at her blankly. Lacking a response to give her, I decided it was best to let her blow off steam before saying anything. Why? I just felt like anything I said at that time would only fuel her flame, just as it did with my brother when he was angry. Yes, indeed. Loid truly had quite a short-fuse.
Though, much unlike him whose reason was being driven insane by boredom, Mia's reasons were more… tame, to say the least. She was my sister. Vessa would always nag Soul when he did something wrong— which often involved him using his powers without good reason or thinking.
In other news, however, suspension meant I could not go to school. The length of the suspension was one week, which further translated to seven days.
"Are you listening!?" Mia turned to me in a sudden, violent manner as she paced back and forth.
I replied with a simple, silent nod of my head. What I got in return: A sigh from my 'sister' Mia Yuruichi.
"You sure are strange, Yoiya…"
~No argument there. I'm sure any primordial who knew about me would likely say something similar.
At that moment, I recalled Ener's serious face and all the times he has nagged me and my brother about the responsibilities of the Outer Gods.
~On second thought, they're probably more likely to be mad at me.
Mia quickly and suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, staring me directly in the eyes.
"I'm taking you with me to work."
"Eh?"
~Has she gone mad?
Glancing towards the clock, Mia jumped, as if startled by a phantom. She rushed to her room, nearly tripping over her own feet as she made the turn around the kitchen.
Worried, I rushed after her, but I was quickly greeted with a shut door.
"Uh…?"
"I'm late!"
Those were the words I heard as I leaned into the door. Her voice heavily suggested panic and the sounds coming through the door were audacious. She was undoubtedly in a rush to go somewhere.
"Hey… Mia? Are you–"
The door swung open with a swoosh. Mia stared at me for a few seconds as if to say 'what are you doing standing there?'. I looked her up and down, finding her outfit strange. She wore a hot pink maid dress under a dark and bulky trench coat, whose sheer size could cause it to be mistaken for a fully equipped ranger cloak. Mia stomped her way out, pumping her legs up and down as she marched past me. Grabbing my wrist, she led me out of the apartment and to her car.
The vehicle, that small box that served as a mode of transportation, hastily made its way into traffic, where my sister steadily guided it through traffic, all while still mumbling about being late.
Between the faint sound of the engine and her soft muttering, I slowly began to drift out of consciousness.
…
I opened my eyes to find myself back in that same old scenery. A half-moon above my head, magic flying through the air, the rhythmic sound of metal clashing against metal, water beneath my feet, and a mysterious abyss behind me.
With a sigh I groaned as I dodged a large ember, its searing heat hurtling past my cheek as I tilted my head.
The scenery was lively, indeed. Not boring at all. Yet there was still one problem–
Every time I entered this place, every dim clone of me looked in my direction and as if on cue, immediately began to charge towards me. The more vibrant clones of me would chase after them as if to stop them, but—
I grabbed one by the arm, swinging him into the abyss behind me as he entered my attack range.
—The doppelgangers that shone with bright light definitely did not move at lightspeed. As if traveling faster across the shadows of the black, murky surface of that empty, aquatic terrain, the shadows always reached me a good few minutes before the others could catch up to 'distract' them.
To me, fighting myself was no different than fighting my brother. And the scenery was all too familiar, as it reminded me of the times I spent with the primordials. So many arguments, so many fights. In the end, it was all annoying and quite the hassle to deal with.
I stuck my leg out, tripping one of the shadows then launching them into the others with the very same foot.
There was not much difference in the dream world since my last visit, the abyss aside. There was something bugging me, however.
I stared up at the half-moon. It was growing less visible each visit, and along with it, more light clones. Yet, the shadow clones seemed to be multiplying even while I was here. Even then, as I thought and pondered the mysteries of that ephemeral world, from the corner of my eye I could see it: shadows rising from the waters.
~The waters?
The waters beneath me, that vast black ocean. It surely did hold shadows within it. Just before, it had tried to pull me in. When I climbed out, an abyss had formed.
The dream world was changing, evolving, transforming into something completely different. A new question surfaced in my mind: How will this place look when the moon disappears?
Crunch.
An unfamiliar sound reverberated through my body. Looking down, I slowly lifted my foot.
There lay a rock, sitting atop the surface of the water as if it were on land. A piece of earth amongst the endless liquid, a tiny island all alone. I had just crushed it with a single step.
~How… grim.
That was my only comment on what just occurred.
SLICE.
The attack came from the side— a sword. I leaned backwards and performed a backflip to escape the blade. Landing back on my feet, I threw out my arms to regain my balance. Quickly, like a ninja moving through the night, a second blade swished by my shoulder. I twisted my upper body to dodge, soon realizing how close I was to the edge of the abyss.
Then came the third blade.
~Wait. Three blades?
I had not previously been paying attention to who exactly was attacking me, since all of them appeared to be mirror images of myself in one way or another. Sliding to the side, I turned to face my assaulter.
~Just as I thought.
There were three swordsmen.
~There was only one before… I wonder if these three hold similar information as the first. If that's the case then…
It hit me just then. The words I heard in the book wielder's vision. The reason they looked like me, the reason I gained information whenever I overlapped with them in such a way that it was like I was remembering something, the visions— Each one of them was a future alliteration of myself. And with the theory of the omniverse, the number of them will only grow. Yet—
~Why are there so many dark futures? Why is the moon fading from view? What do the changes that are occurring here mean? The abyss? The rocks?
These questions still remained, juggling around in my brain.
~Now's not the time to ponder such things, though.
Using two fingers, I caught one of the swordsmen's blades. With one foot, I kicked another aside. In my hand, I summoned forth a white blade, blazing with emerald flames, and swiftly sliced through the third. A quick jab was all it took to take out the one I had stopped before.
Unfortunately, even the dancing flames of jade in my hand was no match for water that had gained a sense of sentience. Once again, black hands reached out from below, grasping my ankles and pulling me into my blurry reflection.
Quickly I swam, towards that massive gap— the empty gorge that split the dream world in two. Rapidly kicking my legs, winding my arms around, wiggling my body like a slithering snake. Finally, I had reached it. I quickly escaped their aquatic hold, plummeting into the dark unknown.