Chapter 19: Trip Down The Memory Lane
BOOM! BOOM!
The gunshots cleanly pierced through the guard’s head, their lifeless bodies falling to the ground.
Feeling his consciousness fading, Mikhail saw the 7 wormholes closing for once and all.
But as he succumbed to the darkness, he saw the two last remaining controllers of the group advancing towards him.
’Fuck.’
Unfortunately, he had no energy left in him to do anything now.
In the final second, he saw them nearing toward him with furious expressions on their faces.
’Such an early end-’
SLASH!
Before he could understand what happened, dark overtook him.
The headless bodies of the two advancing controllers was the last thing he saw.
***
In the remains of a destructive and fierce battle, a figure could be seen descending from the sky.
Their silent but fierce presence made it seem as if the world was put on hold.
The strewn bodies of soldiers and monsters on the crimson-blanketed ground didn’t matter.
Their eyes were locked to a single man who lay unconscious on the battlefield.
And the only one still alive.
His condition was fatal, to say the least.
The torn clothes were drenched in blood, the majority of it being his own.
Deep gashes and wounds covered his whole body, making his face almost unrecognizable at a glance.
The leaking blood pooled around his body as the black-haired man drifted to death with every passing second.
But unlike one would expect, his expression seemed to betray his condition.
It was one of peace and calm, as if what just happened to him didn’t matter.
As if he was at peace with what just happened.
The wind whipped and pooled around the ground as the figure softly stepped on the ground, cushioning the step.
Their emerald eyes were still fixated on the man’s body.
Despite the man’s condition though, there was no sign of empathy or worry in the figure’s eyes.
Rather, it was one of curiosity and intrigue.
In the midst of the battlefield, it was her soft voice to break the stretching silence.
"Interesting."
***
’Hmm?’
Mikhail’s eyes opened to a small wooden house.
Warm unfiltered sunlight entered through the open window, illuminating the simple interior of the house.
’Why are the walls so big-’
Mikhail was unable to complete his thoughts as he felt his body move automatically.
’What?’
He couldn’t control the person’s body which he was currently in, only seeing the world through their eyes.
’Why is the world so bi-’
Realization finally hit him.
He was in the body of a child.
’No wonder.’
Despite his large view, the house wasn’t that large from a general view.
It could barely even be called a house if he had to be honest, as it was no larger than a normal room.
It was definitely larger than their individual camp tents though.
But...
’Why does this seem so-’
Before he could complete his thought, the boy suddenly moved from his bed.
"Ungh."
With his small body, he carefully got down the wooden bed, running to the door.
Not being able to reach the handle, he hurriedly ran towards a nearby corner.
From there, he carefully inserted his small hand inside of a small gap within the wooden planks.
Taking out a small crowbar, he inserted it under the gap of the door.
"Hngh!" He pulled with all the little strength he had.
Creak...
With a creaking noise, the door was let out of the handle, opening up the entrance for him.
Mikhail felt joy well up within him, or rather the boy at his success.
Running back to the gap, he put the crowbar inside, hiding it carefully.
Following that, he ran to a nearby table, not caring about losing his breath.
It seemed as if he was in a hurry.
’Why does this-’
His eyes widened when he saw the boy pick up a book from the table.
The cover wasn’t all that shiny or well-kept, even torn from the edges a little.
But it was the title that left him surprised.
’21 Stories Of Freedom And Love’
Before he could think anything about it again, he was taken by surprise when the boy happily rushed out of the house.
There was a rising sense of happiness and enjoyment within him.
Almost as if it was the best moment of the day in the boy’s daily life.
But the ongoing question still plagued Mikhail.
Why was he enjoying this? And why did it feel so familiar?
The boy couldn’t be him.
There was no memory in his early life where he ever did this.
The difference was of heaven and earth.
But then, why?
’I need more information.’
For now, all he could do was just see what happened later on with the boy.
Coming out of the house, he saw the bright sunlight hit him straight in the eyes.
As he adjusted to the brightness, the view before him became clear to his eyes.
’It looks like a village.’
There were wooden black houses all around, placed at even distance on the sides of the ground he was standing on.
But there was something strange...
The streets. Or rather, the whole village..
Was completely empty.
Not a single person could be seen in the area.
’What is this place?’
He was certainly sure that he never knew any place like this or even similar to this.
It made no sense.
The boy moved once more.
But unlike what Mikhail was expecting, he didn’t run through the streets of the village.
Rather, he snuck around to the back of the house, as if hiding from something.
Sneaking around in the long grass and behind the trees, the boy hid in the shadows.
Mikhail saw him keep moving like this until he reached an exact same house as before at the end of the street.
From there, he saw the boy look around at the backside of the house, as if trying to find something.
It was then that a voice entered the boy’s ears.
"Here." It was a soft whisper of a girl.
A warm feeling of joy rose in the boy’s chest as he quickly ran to the voice.
There, in the corner of the house and hidden in the long grass, he saw a little girl.
But...
’What the hell?’
The girl’s face..
He couldn’t see it.