Loren opened his eyes, panting. His shoulders trembled from exhaustion. A faint ringing echoed in his ears, and his body leaned forward, heavy with drained energy.
He reached for the black coffee on the table, which had long gone cold. Still, he drank it in one go, the bitter taste grounding him.
Seyla, who had just regained consciousness, slowly sat up from the couch. He blinked at Loren, noticing his pale face and unsteady hands.
"You good?" Seyla asked quietly. "Was the process successful? What did you see?"
Loren didn't answer immediately. He kept his eyes fixed on the cup in his hand as if searching for the right words within the dregs.
Then he looked up and asked, "Seyla, have you ever heard of the Three Realms of theMind?
Seyla tilted his head. "Three Realms?"
Loren nodded. "Some scholars call them the 'Conscious Realms', though a more accurate way to understand them would be as realms shaped by the flow of time: Past, Present, and Future."
Seyla sat back, listening intently.
"But what most people don't realize," Loren continued, "is that the Past is actually two realms, not one. It's been oversimplified for centuries. In truth, there are four realms in total."
He raised four fingers.
"The Soul Past, the Mortal Past, the Present, and the Future."
Seyla's brow furrowed. "Why split the past into two?"
Loren smiled faintly. "Because not all pasts are the same."
He began explaining, gently and clearly.
---
"The Soul Past is the realm that holds your past lives. If your soul has been reborn before, then memories, traits, even echoes of identity from those previous lives are sealed within this realm. It no longer grows. It's silent, locked away. You cannot write anything into it, nor can you access it… unless something very rare happens."
"If a person does not have a Soul Past, it means this is their first and only life. A new soul."
---
"Then there's the Mortal Past, this is the memory of your current life. Everything you've seen, felt, or done, it's stored here. But unlike the Soul Past, the Mortal Past relies entirely on the Present Realm to be formed."
"Think of it this way: as you live day by day, your present writes memories into your mortal past. Without the Present, there is no new memory, no growth, no identity."
---
"Now the Present Realm is your conscious self. It's the 'you' that exists right now, your thoughts, decisions, fears, hopes. This is the active mind. As long as your Present Realm is intact, you are alive."
"It is the only realm that creates."
"It gives shape to the mortal past and it walks toward the future.
---
Seyla nodded slowly. "Okay… So then what about the Future Realm?"
Loren's voice dropped slightly, as if speaking about something sacred.
"The Future Realm is… different. It's a realm of blank possibility, a space that hasn't yet been written. It is pure light because it holds no form, no memory, no influence. Only potential. Also they explained why the future realm is full of light, because the future doesn't even know what the future is or what it holds.
"Unlike the others, the Future Realm is independent. It doesn't rely on the Present to exist. It simply is. Waiting.
"If a person has a Future Realm, it means they still have a path ahead, a destiny, even if they don't know it yet. But if that realm is missing, then their life has no direction. They're stuck, a puppet repeating cycles with no real choice."
---
Seyla stayed quiet, absorbing the knowledge.
Loren continued, softer now.
"The realms work in a single direction. One-way.
The Present creates the Mortal Past.
The Present depends on the Future to keep moving.
The Soul Past is sealed, only whispering into the present if fate allows.
The Future doesn't depend on anyone, but without the Present to walk toward it, it remains blank."
---
Loren looked up again.
"Imagine this: the mind is a notebook. The Soul Past is the first pages from old lifetimes, already filled, but unchangeable. The Mortal Past is yesterday's page, what you've already written in this life. The Present is the act of writing,the pen in your hand. The Future is the next empty page."
He leaned back and said quietly, "Without the pen, you can't write. Without writing, the next page remains blank. And without memory, the past becomes hollow
It's damn too complicated… Seyla lampoon. He then ask, so what did you see on me?