My heart felt incredibly heavy, as the fog obstructing my memories cleared. I wasn't sure of the details, but I knew that somehow, I was trapped inside my own memories.
Somebody was controlling them, but who?
"This is all so weird…."
I murmured to myself, giving one last look downwards, as I saw a crowd gathering around the corpse of Emily. The paramedic loading her dead body into the ambulance, as if they could do anything.
I clenched my fists, guilt and rage storming inside my heart. But I refused to allow myself to be controlled by these emotions. This was fake. It has already happend. I couldn't blame myself for mistakes I made in the past.
"What I need to do now is to figure out how to escape this place…."
I murmured, forcefully tearing my gaze away from the body of Emily that's been loaded into the ambulance. This happend years ago, anyway. I wasn't sure if I felt sad, or any guilt anymore. It was just…the past.
'Then why am I crying?'
I wiped away the tears streaming down my face, forcefully. An angry scowl forming on my face, as I started walking towards the exist of the rooftop.
'Dammit.'
If only….I hadn't been so foolish and gave her the right answer instead.
I shook my head of these thoughts, before i went on an endless self-pitying monologue. Now that I am awake, my full focus should be on escaping this illusion that's a bit too real for my tastes. Could it be the work of the leader of the Frozen Hounds?
Hold on a second, i thought [Duskweave Mantle] granted me immunity to mental attacks?
I suddenly halted, as I felt a sense of dread filling me. As I quickly called upon the equipment, but it didn't appear. Instead, an announcement rang inside my head.
[You're equipment
I sighed in relief. Atleast it wasn't completely destroyed. Rather, it seemed like that it was so severely damaged that I couldn't even summon it nor use the skills to it's fullest capacity—the other good news was that even when inside this memory dream, I seemed to be connected to the system and can it's announcements inside my head. And luckily, I wasn't dead yet either.
Wait, was that voice because [Duskweave Mantle] was partially active? Was it created by it to wake me up? Otherwise, I would forever be stuck in this dream. It seemed that even though it didn't grant me full immunity due to the damage it endured, [Duskweave Mantle] still managed to somehow use it's skills to a decent extent and wake me up.
I smiled, relieved and glad I purchased this loyal black robe. It's been a huge help.
"Now….how the hell do I escape this place?"
That was the question. There was no way to escape. Even as I have 'woken up' I still haven't found an actual method of escaping this memory illusion I'm trapped in.
"Hmm…."
My eyes widened, as I recalled something.
"I remember when I first met Emily and when the [Duskweave Mantle] started calling out for me to wake up….everything around me blurred and shattered. Then, I was inside a void."
I leaned against the railing, deep in thought. I recalled the void and the sounds of chains I heard, plus the voice of some being speaking to me. Could that have been the one controlling these memories? That has to be it…
Maybe I need to find another way into the void, but I don't remember what caused everything to shatter right then, leading me to entering that void. I need to remember carefully….The void first appeared when the [Duskweave Mantle] was demanding me to wake up.
But now, it has stopped.
No, this can't be it. That doesn't make sense. [Duskweave Mantle] was demanding me to wake up even inside the void too, but the effects of it was suppressed greatly there. Then, the voice and pressure I felt….
Perhaps I'm thinking of this void incorrectly. Maybe it never was related to this memory I am having. It could just be some sinister entity that caught sight of my presence while inside this memory illusion.
But still, until I find proof for it, I will have to believe that the void is my ticket out of here. I need to shatter this reality.
"First, I need to explore."
I thought to myself, grabbing the handle of the door and yanking it open, before closing it behind me and walking down the stairs. The old building had really stale air and even the walk down the stairs was narrow. It brought me back the memory of myself walking up the stairs with Emily.
I didn't spend much time with her. It was around 2 months at best, but she was my solace in that life of hell. And dare I say….my first ever real love. So, experiencing this again, hearing me say those ignorant words that broke Emily into killing herself, it weighed down on me like I was carrying a mountain.
Even I had the urge to jump off the roof now.
But I didn't. I have to win The Mulligan. That's a vow I made myself. If I kill myself here, that meant admitting defeat. That meant surrendering to my cowardly desires. Im not that naive and ignorant that I once was.
I won't look back on the past.
As the door closed, I didn't look back and made my way down the stairs, reminding myself that everything I'm experiencing is nothing more than an illusion of what has actually happend. Just a Fragment of the past. I can't allow myself to be fooled by it.
Eventually, I exited the building and looked around. The familier sights of passersby's judging me with their gaze was what I was greeted by at first, but i didn't pay them any mind. They weren't real, anyway. Instead, my head turned right, as I heard a voice.
"Hey! That's my purse, come back here!"
A women was shouting. Then, from the corner of my eye, i saw a shadow run by at absurd speeds. Followed by a middle-aged women running after the figure.
Curiosity piqued, I watched as the figure wearing a black hood over their entire body, crossed the road with an incredible amount of finesse—even though the light was green, he had dodged every moving vehicle, predicting each of their moves. The women who lost the purse could only helplessly watch.
"A thief! Somebody call the police!"
The women yelled, breathless. Majority of the passersby's ignored it, while some of them had the decency of atleast giving a call.
I didn't pay them any mind, though. Because I realized something….
"This wasn't part of any memory I had."
I didn't recall encountering a thief after what happend with Emily—but to be honest, after it, I wasn't in the greatest mental health after seeing Emily kill herself, so i could of easily forgotten what happend. However, with everything I have seen and experienced lately, they always gave me a sense of Déjà Vu.
This particular event, however, did not.
This meant that it could be a possible flaw in the illusion of memories.
If it really is one, pursuing this thief might not actually be a bad idea. The thief was someone I didn't recognize around these parts—the women, however, I knew. So I didn't focus on what I recalled and knew, but the unknown thief.
Before I knew it, I was chasing after the thief, right into an alleyway.
"Hold up, wait!"
I yelled, trying to catch up to him.
The thief, through his hood, gave me one look and then quickly started running even faster. He grabbed on to the surface of a backyard wall, then jumped from there to the balcony of a house—after that, to the roof.
My eyes widened at the parkour, but I followed suit. My Agility was nothing to scoff at, as I did the exact series of moves and continued running after the thief.
"Wait! I'm not gonna report you to the police!"
I yelled, as I jumped from one roof to another. Then jumped down, dangled from a tree and spun around into another backyard of a surburn house. The thief, still, refused to stubborn refuse me.
"Why should I trust you?!"
A boyish voice sounded from inside the hood, as the thief continued running from backyard to backyard. Sometimes even running through literal houses, interrupting a family who was happily watching TV.
"You stubborn…."
I suddenly felt very enraged. If he was gonna be like this, then fine! I will capture him either way.
Just was he was about to enter another alleyway, I augmented my calves with fury. Surprisingly, I was able to use my blessings abilities. But I wasn't sure why I thought I wouldn't be able to use them—but since I could, might as well make full use of it.
In a powerful burst that caused a boom to sound from inside the alleyway, I had pounced forward and pinned down the thief with absolute ease.
"Got you!"
I grinned like a maniac, before my composure returned and turned off [Fury Counter] from taking up anymore innate spirit than necessary.
The thief was frankly very shocked by what just happend. He tried freeing himself, but couldn't. My grip was just too strong.
"Let me go!"
He demanded, but I didn't listen.
"Relax. Im a friendly guy…."
As I said those words, I grabbed the hood of the black robe the thief was wearing and pulled it open, revealing quite the familier face. Albeit, much, much younger.
It was a boy around nine to ten years of age. He had messy blond hair with bangs and contrasting blue eyes, his skin was pale and his body was scrawny.
"Nico?"
The boy seemed to flinch at my words.
"H–how do you know my name?"
I had to resist myself from beating this asshole to death. I had to remind myself that it was just a kid and that this wasn't the Nico I knew. From how he is acting, it's likely he has also fallen victim to this memory illusion.
"Wh–why are you staring at–at me….like that?"
The poor boy was trembling under my intense gaze, which softened slightly, as I loosened my grip and sighed.
"Nothing. You just have the face of someone I hate, that's all."
Nico seemed baffled and confused by my words, but he didn't waste the opportunity to wiggle out of me. I thought he would run away, but made the wise decision to just stand up and face me.
"Why were you following me?"
I didn't quite register his question at first. I was trying to think of ways to make him realize we were inside an illusion. Now, it also made sense why I didn't recall this thief memory—could it be related to Nico's past? And if so, could both our past's collided when we got captured and trapped inside this memory illusion?
That seems to be case, but I don't want to jump to conclusions yet. I will have to put my pride aside and work with this bastard if I wanna get out of here.
"I thought you looked familier."
Nico narrowed his eyes, at my non-answer.
"Why were you following me and how did you know my name?"
I chuckled, having an urge to mess with him.
"I'm from the future and wanted to see how my rival appeared as a child."
Unfortunately, that boy seemed to believe me. Nico's eyes widened, as he stared me up and down.
"R–really? This must mean that…."
He paused, a gasp escaping his lips.
"You're an Epoch Wanderer!"
I blinked, surprised.
"A what?"
Nico laughed.
"An Epoch Wanderer! Rank 8 of the Time Path!"
I was startled by this information. It seemed that even at this young age, Nico knew alot.
And perhaps…..I could extract the information out of him.
A devious plan began forming inside my head.