Confused? No, I was beyond confused. Where was I? This is something straight out of a fantasy web novel.
This should be a dream, a fantasy, but was this my reality now?
Observing my surroundings, I needed an explanation. But there was nothing but trees surrounding me. I couldn't even tell how low the sun was, because of the trees blocking the sun.
'I have to be dreaming.' I tried my hardest to wake up by various means, but nothing happened. I was still there, in the middle of a large forest, in front of a gravestone.
All I could do was think, but then I realized something. The same blue-ish aura that started that dream, no, this nightmare, was floating around the gravestone.
'It's as if it were alive.' I unconsciously reached out for the gravestone, and suddenly, the blue-ish aura flowed towards my hands.
'Woah.' As I was admiring this phenomenon, the aura started flowing towards my body, and eventually, it reached my eyes.
Dreams are only supposed to happen when you are sleeping. A series of thoughts, and imagination made up by your mind. Then what was this?
I was back in the little cabin I was in during that weird dream. The same book is on the table, sitting on the same chair. I unconsciously looked over to the window.
'If this is the same dream…' I tried approaching the window, but before that could happen, all the glasses shattered and started floating towards the center of the room.
Some even sliced me, and wounds started appearing all around my body. After that, the glasses froze in space. I looked carefully at the broken shards of glass.
'Wait. Is that?' Pictures or scenes started appearing on the glass. In those scenes, he was there. The culprit behind this.
But he wasn't alone. Each glass showed different scenes. There was a scene where he was with a guy. Then I realized something.
Each scene corresponds with the same guy but at different ages. More like different points in time. It oddly looked like his memories.
'Are these his memories?'
As I carefully analyzed the situation, something I hadn't noticed caught my eye. I started approaching a shard of glass. The same woman from that dream was there. And he was there too.
I reached out for the shard. Before I could reach it, the shard pierced my hand, but there was no blood. I took my hand and admired the shard in my hand.
What happened next was nightmarish. All the shards rushed and pierced my body. One by one, all over my body, the shards dug deeper and deeper.
I was frozen until the scenes on the shard disappeared. My head started aching. The scenes weren't mere scenes or pictures. No, I'm sure now, those were memories.
Whose memories? Was it mine, or was it that person?
Memories flowed into my mind. Adding onto my current ones. Time passed by, and my mind was slowly filling up, for what seemed like an eternity.
Unknowingly, I started remembering. Remembering? So these are my memories then? The familiarity I felt during that series of strange events. The comfort I felt with the cold. Is it starting to make sense?
The moment I blinked, the scene changed. I was back at my apartment, and then I was in that cabin. Every blink, a different memory, a different scene. Nothing made sense, but it slowly started to.
The shards of glass slowly crumbled like a sand castle taken away by that same cold gust of wind. The coldness that embraced me had always been there.
In the final stretch, a prominent memory surfaced. Icarius Krystallis. Is that my name? Was that me? More questions, but not a single answer.
Icary Walker, a normal human, or Icarius Krystallis, an unknown variable. Which one was I? Only one thing's certain. I'm bound to know the truth. Was that my destiny?
Slowly, things calmed down, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. I opened my eyes, and I was still there. In front of that gravestone, surrounded by trees.
'Is it over?' I calmly analyzed the situation. The breeze was warm and soothing. Was it over? I breathed a sigh of relief.
I changed my focus to the gravestone instead. A name I hadn't noticed before was written on it.
[Iridessa Krystallis]
As soon as I saw that name. I unknowingly started crying for no reason. No reason? No, maybe those memories I had gotten were the cause of this. More memories surfaced, memories that shouldn't exist.
'Why? Why does it hurt?' Iredessa… was she my mother? But my mother died right after I was born. But what are these memories? Why do I remember the times we spent together? Still, there were some missing pieces.
As I was wiping my tears, I heard rustling deep within the forest. I quickly turned around, only to find someone. 'Is he waving at me?'
'Is he waving at me?' The stranger started approaching me slowly.
'Fuck. What should I do?' I panicked trying to find a hiding spot quickly, but it was too late.
"Icarius!" The man shouted.
'That's my name, right?' I was confused.
"The sun's about to set, we should hurry up!" As the man's appearance slowly came to light, my head started to ache again.
Another memory surfaced, someone to call a friend. Lucius Lumiere. Someone I had never met before, but someone whom I spent a lifetime with.
"Hurry up." Lucius was now closer than ever, and I was still frozen in place, trying to process my memories.
"Lucius?" I asked.
"Yes?" Lucius answered, but I eventually sighed.
"I know it's painful, but your mother would not want to see you in this state." He continued as he sat beside me.
"Mhm…" Along with a slight nod, I was still confused, but I felt comfortable. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
"So wipe those tears away, and think about paving your path towards the future instead." Lucius softly patted my back, as if implying that I was not alone.
"Yeah, let's get going." I stood up and wiped the dirt off my pants. Lucius went and did the same.
"Also, have you thought about it?"
"About what?" I was confused, and I hurriedly tried to scour my newfound memories.
"You know? The Institute." As he said this, my head started aching again. Eventually, I remembered, the Institute, Eldritch branch was a school dedicated to learning magic.
"Ah, is it about joining you in the Institute?" Lucius nodded in response.
'I shouldn't agree so quickly, there are too many unknown variables in place.'
"I'm still thinking about it."
"Don't think for too long." I nodded and followed as he started walking away. I stayed behind him in silence.
Lucius was the one who broke the silence, "How was it?"
"How was what?" I was a bit confused by the sudden question.
"Just being there with your mother." He kept walking without looking behind.
"Oh." I was now pondering how to answer that question. But one of my questions was finally answered: that person really was my mother.
'My mother? She… was she really my mother?' There has to be an explanation somewhere in this world. My mind says that I shouldn't be here, but my heart says otherwise.
"It was nice to let go."
"Ah. I can understand that. I mean, you did spend the whole day just sitting by her grave." Lucius calmly responded as he navigated through the forest.
"Did I now?" I laughed a little, trying to brighten up the mood. After a while, I finally saw the end of the deep forest. As the light reached my eyes and the breeze of nature.
"Woah." A beautiful landscape. Lush green vegetation for miles. The setting sun is in the distance. And a settlement from the medieval age. Another answer had been given.
'I really am in another world.'