– Dad, you finally came!
?!
Before Kai could say anything or even react, a child crashed into him, hugging him tightly.
– Boy...
– Why did you leave! Mom and I waited for you for so long! Why, dad!
But before Kai could even say a word, he was immediately interrupted. Lowering his gaze to the child, he was met by emptiness. Instead of the child's face, there was emptiness, and the more he stared into it, the more he sank into this emptiness.
– Why! Why! Dad! Why did you leave! – the child shouted louder and louder, which brought Kai to his senses.
The first thing he tried to do was break free. Which he did very poorly. Because the child immediately felt it and hugged him even tighter.
– Dad, don't go! Don't go!
– Let go!
However hard he tried, it was all useless; he did not have enough strength to tear the boy off himself, which greatly surprised him.
– Leave me alone! I'm not your father! – grabbing the child's hair, he did not want to go that far, but the child left him no choice.
– Why are you saying that, dad! We waited for you for so long, why, dad! WHY!!!
His scream was already cutting his ears, but the child was not going to stop.
– IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, MOM WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! WHY DID YOU ABANDON US!
His voice was so terrible and at the same time disgusting that without hesitation, he immediately covered his ears with his hands, to at least slightly soften the tone of his voice. But it was useless.
– I'D RATHER YOU DIED INSTEAD OF MOM! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!
With every word of the boy, Kai pressed harder and harder on his ears, so that a crunch could already be heard.
– I HATE YOU! WHY ARE YOU ALIVE, AND MOM ISN'T!
– SHUT UP! – Kai shouted, unable to endure it any longer.
Then suddenly everything went quiet, but before he could understand, a woman's voice reached his ears, and he opened his eyes.
– Honey, are you alright?
A picture appeared before his eyes that was completely different from the previous one: there was no child anymore. There was a woman, but she also had no face. Seeing this, he immediately let go of his face, and an unfamiliar dish met him.
– Honey, are you okay? – she asked again, but now notes of concern were clearly audible in her voice. But Kai ignored her, which worried her even more.
«What is happening?!» – He understood nothing; only a second ago there had been a child here, and now a girl.
Kai flinched when he felt someone's hand lay on his cheek; he had been so deep in himself that he did not notice the girl closing the distance.
– Honey, what's wrong with you? – she asked, taking him by the chin and lifting his face. But Kai immediately lowered his gaze; he did not want to experience what he had back then; this emptiness was terrifying. – Honey?
– Yes... I'm fine... I was just thinking... – he said, thinking over every word.
...
...
After his words, silence formed, because of which he only began to panic more.
«Did I say something wrong?»
– Honey, you've gone all pale... Are you really okay?
– Yes! – it came out much louder than he wanted.
– Look me in the eyes, – her voice rang out, but now there was only coldness and firm notes in it. And her grip on his face tightened. – You're deceiving me again, again... For the umpteenth time.
– Sorry... – the only thing he could squeeze out of himself; he did not know why, but he felt unbearable shame before her.
But when he opened his eyes, he was met by a different picture, completely different: he saw nothing, only darkness surrounded him.
– Tomi, you're alive...
From the darkness, a man's voice reached him, in which pain could be heard.
– ...
Kai, not knowing what to do, ignored him.
– Tomi... – the man said, and sobs immediately followed. – Forgive me, Tomi, if it weren't for me, you would have stayed alive, forgive me.
With every word, the pain in his voice only grew.
But Kai paid no attention to it; what was important to him now was to understand what was happening at all.
Only recently, he had been in the library, then a child, after him a girl, and now a man.
– It's all my fault! Damn, why did it all turn out like this! DAMN!
But while he was thinking, the man grew louder and louder, just as loud as his sobs.
Unable to endure it any longer, Kai already wanted to open his mouth, but before a word could escape, everything suddenly shone.
– It's light magic! Everyone hold your ranks! Forward!
– A-a-a!
Bang.
– Don't retreat, hold the defense! Whoever retreats, I'll personally kill!
– A-a-a! – Kai screamed, unable to withstand the pain in his eyes; he fell, clutching his face with his hands. It was so unbearably painful, as if his eyes were being burned out.
Bang.
– Captain! This magic is too strong, we can't hold out!
Bang.
– A-a-a! My eyes!
– Eyes!
Bang.
– Shut up! I said hold the defense!
– But, captain, this is...
But before he could finish, a sword pierced his head, and with a disgusting sound, it was pulled out in one motion; the corpse fell to the ground with a thud.
– I told you to shut up, you son of a bitch!
Kai did not hear what was happening; everything he was focused on at the moment was the pain.
– Captain! They're preparing magic again!
– ... It can't be, – the last thing he managed to say, before his body was pierced by a thousand rays of light. No one could escape such a fate.
Kai felt unbearable pain, and in an instant, everything vanished. And he opened his eyes with new force, and the first thing that met him was the ceiling.
– Ah-ha-a-a-h-ha, – he breathed convulsively, remembering every moment of the pain he had experienced. After several minutes, he finally came to his senses.
He looked around: it was an ordinary room, nothing remarkable about it; he was lying on a bed that, by his standards, was too large. Without thinking long, he stood up.
Thud.
When he stood up and wanted to straighten, his legs gave out; he lurched forward and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
Trying to get up, nothing worked; his arms trembled so hard, as if he had been doing push-ups all day. And the most terrible thing he realized: he felt weakness throughout his whole body.
For the first time in his life, he felt so weak; even understanding this, he did not give up and continued his attempts.
But every attempt was a failure; even after several minutes of effort, he was already short of breath, as if an ordinary person had run a marathon. It was so pathetic and at the same time stupid, that he involuntarily asked himself.
«How did I even get out of bed?» – This question tormented him more than the situation he was in.
And so it went on for a long time, or not; Kai did not understand how long he had been in this position. But this time gave him a very good chance to think over everything that was happening to him now, but, of course, he had more questions than answers, which greatly upset him.
The only thing he understood was that he understood nothing. So he simply waited for everything to change and a new picture to appear before him, but it never happened.
He got tired of waiting, and he began to act: gathering all his strength into a fist, he began crawling towards the door. Little by little, it worked, although even such actions seemed very hard to him.
The main obstacle for him became something he could not have expected — a broken mirror in his path. Not knowing what to do, he took the largest piece of the mirror he could reach.
And, looking at the piece of mirror, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Because he saw not his usual self, but an old man: gray hair, at the same time half bald, and his face was tired and so weak. Kai ran his fingers over his face — instead of smooth skin, he was met by dry and cracked skin.
The more he examined his new face, the more questions he had.
Throwing the piece away, he turned onto his back and pondered this whole situation, as he had already done many times recently.
His eyes began to close involuntarily, and all the strength, which had not been there anyway, began to fully leave his body.
Kai did not know what was happening, and, to be honest, he did not want to think about it. Not even a second passed before he could open his eyes, and a new picture appeared before him again.
Then another.
Then another...
Another...
...
Every time, new people, new places; he did not remember what was happening, but he no longer wanted to think about it, he just watched as one situation changed to another for the umpteenth time.
There were so many that he lost count, and almost every scene lasted only a few minutes. But the scene that now appeared before him seemed to have been going on for hours.
He was already in the familiar city of Orario; of course, he understood which city it was because of the tower.
«The Benevolent Mistress?» – Kai stopped in front of it, hesitating whether to enter or not. But without thinking long, he went inside.
As always, it was loud here, and the pleasant smell of food mixed with the smell of alcohol. He quickly found a free spot, and not even a second passed before a girl came up to him. He had already seen her when he had been here last time with Hermes. Of course, he did not see her face, but he understood by her hair color.
– Hi, Raven, what will you have this time?
«Raven? So that's my name this time.»
He was sure that a smile was playing on her face right now, but he could not see anything because of the emptiness. Because of which, one look at this emptiness evoked disgust in him.
– Noodles, – he said, without even raising his head to her, hoping she would leave as soon as possible.
– Is that all?
– Yes.
– Seriously? So little this time.
– I'm not very hungry, – he quickly replied, but under the table, he was squeezing his knees so hard from nerves; every second of talking with her already caused him discomfort.
– Really? Raven, how are you? You come by so rarely, – sitting down opposite him, because of which Kai lowered his gaze even more.
«Doesn't she have work?»
...
– Raven?
– Well, I've had a lot to do lately, you know?
With every second of their conversation, his patience stretched tighter and tighter, so much that it was about to snap, but he held on.
– Really? And what have you been doing?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She tapped her finger on the table, which struck his nerves even harder.
– Syr! Where have you wandered off to again?!
But before he could open his mouth, a shout came from the kitchen, and at that same second, Syr jumped up as if scalded.
– I'll bring the noodles right away! – she shouted to me and immediately vanished from my field of vision.
After she left, his body relaxed; he did not even realize how much tension he had been in, until she left.
He did not wait long before a fragrant bowl of noodles appeared before him, and, thank the gods, she left at once.
But before he could even try it, everything around changed again, but there was nothing on Kai's face: neither surprise nor irritation. It had happened so many times that he simply stopped caring.
«Who am I now?» – he asked himself, examining the room, and the room seemed very ordinary to him compared to everything he had seen lately.
Finding a mirror, he could answer his question; peering into his face, he could only sigh.
– When will this end? – he whispered, turning around in search of the exit from the house, if, of course, he could call it that, because it did not look like a house, and besides, there was not a single window here.
Not even a minute passed before he found himself on the street, and what appeared before his eyes was unfamiliar to him. But the tower told him where he was.
Walking down the ruined street, he could not help but be surprised that such a beautiful city had such a place.
– Kopii, – a woman's voice said behind his back. But before he could even turn around, darkness surrounded him.
– You must win, – a voice rang out in the darkness.