"Honestly, it's quite weird how you accepted all of this so calmly…." I murmured, following behind the little Nico.
Meanwhile, he simply rolled his shoulders in a lazy shrug while walking.
"My mother always told me that when you feel like something is out of the ordinary, it's definitely something related to Unbound Humans." He halted as the light turned green, allowing cars to pass. "So, I have been on high-alert ever since my memory was affected. I was just about to go see her and ask her about it."
I hummed in thought, stopping right behind him.
"Is you're mother also an Unbound Human?"
Nico shook his head.
"She wasn't, but my father was. He was also a very famous researcher when it came to The Mulligan and my mother took up on where he left off."
"Left off?" I asked, curious.
Nico's face darkened.
"He lost his life during the war between Asia and Europe. After the war, the Eurasian Covenant was formed as an honor to all those who lost their lives during that meaningless war."
I went silent. That must have been something hard for Nico to go through, at such a young age too. I wondered if he even had memories of his father. From the way he speaks and acts, his parents must he very busy….
But I didn't dwell on it and continued asking important questions.
"How could a war of that scale be silent? I didn't hear a thing about it."
Nico turned to look up at me with a hint of surprise.
"So you were just an ordinary citizen pulled into The Mulligan?"
I scoffed. "Not just an ordinary citizen. Something lesser."
Nico tilted his head to the side in confusion at my words, but didn't linger on it. The light turned red, as we began walking the crossroad together, he replied.
"Well, it wasn't silent. Actually, it was quite loud. Very loud, in fact. That was the day the entire world found out about The Mulligan and Unbound Humans," He paused, looked around and then said. "But after the war, every ordinary human's memory was wiped of that event, leaving behind no trace. Even most world leaders were ignorant of it."
I almost stopped in my track at those words. That was….terrifying, to say the least. To think I had my memory wiped without even realizing it was scary. Just how many things have happend to the world, where I saw it happen but never remembered?
"That must be a powerful memory manipulator, then."
Nico nodded.
"She was—" He suddenly halted and turned towards me with a suspicious gaze. "You're just trying to probe information out of me, aren't you?"
I chuckled, raising my hands in mock surrender.
"You got me. I just can't help but me curious."
Nico huffed and turned away, continuing to walk.
"Well, you already used up you're questions. So I won't be answering any of them!" He said defiant stubbornness.
I simply rolled my eyes.
"Sure. Whatever, but can you tell me where exactly we are going?" I said, looking around, realizing we were back in one of those alleyways.
Nico stopped, then turned around and faced me.
"I just wanted to be away from the people. I can't have anyone eavesdropping."
"They aren't even real," I pointed out, annoyed.
Nico crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter! They are very real to me."
I sighed in exasperation and didn't dwell on that any longer, instead, heading straight for the topic of importance.
"So? Any plans?"
Nico narrowed his eyes in irritation.
"How do you expect for me to have a plan when I don't even have a full run down of the situation? What the hell is a Key Rush? And what memory illusion stuff are you blabbering on about?"
I was taken aback, then felt slightly embarrassed at my inability to explain things properly.
"Fine. It's gonna be a long one…."
***
It took me a good 15 minutes to properly give a run down of the situation for Nico. I had a tendency of getting distracted and focusing on unimportant details, but all In all, I managed to convey the situation to little Nico very clearly. A bit too clearly, in fact, that it started having an affect on him.
"….And that's about it—" just as I paused, I saw that Nico was about to fall, I quickly grabbed him. "Whoa, what's up with you?"
Nico looked disoriented and conflicted, as if there was an internal battle happening inside him. A battle between two versions of himself. Could he be waking up? It will be priceless if he manages to….
I pushed him up to his feet, as he let out a little groan and leaned against a wall of the alleyway.
"….im fine." He murmured. "I just feel a little strange."
I crossed my arms and stared at him in silence. A little strange? Yeah right!
"You look like you're about to pass out."
Even though I was secretly hoping the actual Nico would gain a consciousness and recover his memories inside this dream, some part me also didn't want to lose this version of Nico. I sort….of liked him.
Even admitting that felt venomous.
Nico didn't say a word. He continued struggling internally for a few minutes, his eyes vacant and his muscles tense, until he finally returned to normal, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" I asked, moving to his side, placing a hand on his little shoulder.
Nico pushed it away and wiped his mouth, catching his breath. "I told you i was fine."
Then, he stood up and wiped off the dust from his clothes.
"Anyways….that's certainly quite the situation we both have got ourselves into. It must be very exciting." He said, sounding a tad bit sarcastic. "But I think there might be a way of breaking out of here."
I raised an eyebrow, curious.
"Really? How?"
Nico's hand reached up and then he grabbed his own throat using it.
"We have to die."
I was startled, taking a step back.
"What are you talking about? Die?"
Nico nodded his head.
"Death might be the way."
I scoffed.
"And how did you come to this conclusion?"
It's not that I wasn't a stranger to killing myself. I have already done it once already, but the trauma still lingered and if anything, i would rather not do such a thing again.
Nico seemingly noticing my internal turmoil, explained.
"It's just an assumption. I can't think of any other way," Nico stated, looking down at himself, then back at me. "Do you think that there would be a magical door or some teleport portal that could lead us out of here?"
"And why wouldn't there be one?" I challenged, crossing my arms. "Don't assume that things can't get convenient. There could be one hidden."
Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. "That would depend too much on luck."
I sighed. I couldn't argue with that. It would depend alot on luck if we could find this magical door or teleport portal. But that's when an idea struck to me…
"What if the way to escape is waking both of us up? I have had a suspicion that our minds have been interconnected during this mental attack."
Nico seemed to tense up.
"I'm already awake."
I shook my head.
"I meant the real Nico."
Nico narrowed his eyes at me, a hint of irritation and hurt in them.
"Are you suggesting I'm not the real him?"
I was confused by the question, but I replied bluntly. "Yes, I am. No, it's actually a fact. You're just an illusion from memories of his own past."
Nico clenched his fists.
"That's—" His words were suddenly cut off as he screamed, dropping the purse he was still holding after stealing it and then, falling to the ground on his knees, holding his head.
"What's wrong with you?!"
I exclaimed, taking a step back, suddenly feeling uneasy.
I watched as Nico started punching himself in the head, as if trying to fight back some demon.
"Stop….stop it! I won't….I won't go there….!"
What the hell was he saying?
I just stood there, frozen, watching as Nico kept on hitting himself over and over again. I wanted to go over there and help him, but everytime I took a step forward, Nico gave me that terrifying look.
A few minutes later, he had exhausted himself and was now lying on the ground. He was breathless and hardly conscious, his face looking as if he took the worst beating of the century. A beating he subjected himself to.
"Are you….okay?" I finally found my voice, taking a step closer.
"Fine," Nico murmured, his voice broken and throaty.
"You don't look fine," I stated, a bit softly. For some reason, seeing him like this, made me want to protect this little boy at all costs. But whenever I felt like that, I reminded myself of the horrors Nico committed.
Since he didn't respond, I continued.
"What happend?"
Nico hesitated for awhile, then he finally said.
"Something was telling me to go see mother."
"What?" i asked, confused.
"A voice that's like mine inside my head keeps on saying that," Nico said, finally looking up at me, showing his face that was brutally beaten by his own fists. "To go and see mom."
I was very curious now.
"Why?"
This must be something related to Nico's memories. Perhaps showing it would allow the actual Nico inside this little Nico to gain control, fully awakening, just like I was barely awake. Only the traumatic memory with Emily was what awoke me.
"I don't know…." He sniffled. "I don't want to go."
Seeing little Nico like this filled me with a sense of guilt, but I drowned it away. What mattered now….was my own survival.
"You have to," I stated firmly.
Nico looked up at me, shocked. "W–why, Uncle Morgan? What if…."
I took a step closer. "Or do you want me to test my other theory? Perhaps knocking you unconscious would awaken the actual Nico."
That was something I genuinely thought of. What would happen if one lost consciousness here? Where would they go? Would we straight up wake up?
Still, I wasn't actually gonna do that. Beating a child into losing consciousness was wrong on many levels. I would never stoop that low. This was really just a threat.
"Okay," Nico reluctantly agreed, slowly getting up. "I'll listen to the voice."
I was surprised by how easy it was to convince him.
"Wait, really?" I blurted out, expecting a bit more resistance.
Nico sighed. "There is no point in being stubborn. You hold all power over me in this situation, anyway."
But then, his eyes turned dark.
"I hope when my future self awakens, he kills you."
I chuckled.
"Looks like I can't even get along with a child version of you, Nico!" I exclaimed, amused.
Nico merely scoffed as a response.
"You're an insufferable fool, that's why. I dont know how anyone could be friends with you." Nico stated, his voice turning low. "You hide behind a facade of kindess, when you're really just a hypocrite inside."
I was startled by those words and more than a little offended. I was about to open my mouth to argue, but I stopped myself. What's the point in arguing with a naive little kid anyway? As if he knows anything about me. He's just trying to bait me into going into a frenzy.
I simply scoffed and changed the topic.
"That reminds me," I began. "Why the hell were you stealing a purse for?"
Nico halted and looked back at me with a sheepish smile. "Well….I was training myself for The Mulligan."
My eyes widened. Now it made sense why this bastard was so slippery in The Mulligan, Nico must have really trained his Agility. Hard.
"You really should return the purse, then."
Nico shrugged.
"I thought you didn't care because these people weren't real?"
"I—" I stopped myself before I could say anything. In truth, I couldn't say anything in defense to that.
"thats what I thought." Nico stated smugly.
I grumbled under my breath and just followed him to wherever his mother was.
Whatever we were about to see, I had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.