Elias couldn't believe his eyes; this shouldn't be possible. It was himself.
In other cases, Elias would be able to play it off as a look-alike, and if things were desperate, maybe he would pretend this was a twin.
It wasn't, though. Sure, the Elias in front of him looked lean rather than famished, and his posture seemed confident rather than tired, but through those minor differences, there was one thing that connected the two.
A scar on his neck. It wasn't any normal scar; it was a scar that Elias had been doubting the existence of.
He couldn't remember a single thing about the mark—not where it came from, when he got it, or if he was treated for it.
Whenever Elias would ask clients, or even normal people on rare occasions, whether or not the scar looked bad, they would stare. Some people would even ridicule him; they would laugh and say there was nothing on his neck.
The contradiction of seeing the scar while others didn't eventually led Elias to believe it was some weird hallucination—maybe a side effect of interacting with so many memories.
That wasn't all that made it special, though. When someone tells you a scar isn't visible, a human would realistically touch the scar or at least point to it.
Upon touching the scar, Elias felt… odd. Something about it wasn't right; he was given a feeling not describable by mere words.
[???] "Staring at a man's neck like that really doesn't make a good impression."
Suddenly, it dawned on him. The mocking voice that once tormented Elias was his own.
Granted, it didn't sound like his, but that was because there was only one clear distinction between the two.
The Elias in front of him was healthy, he was energetic, and most of all, he was confident.
Confidence goes a long way; it affects posture, which can affect presence. It affects mentality, which affects your whole self if you really think about it.
But Elias was a man who doubted; he had to make sure.
[Elias] "You, who are you?"
['Elias'] "You are me."
His words confused Elias.
[Elias] "So am I you then?"
To that, the man who called himself Elias laughed—the same cruel, unforgiving laugh he had already heard many times.
['Elias'] "You could never possibly be me."
The words that came out in a laugh stunned Elias. The contradiction wasn't what stunned him; it was the fact that he was right. Elias couldn't possibly be like the man in front of him.
Could he? His eyes shone at the thought.
['Elias'] "To see what I've been reduced to—that guy really did me in, huh."
[Elias] "What guy?"
It was the other Elias's turn to be shocked. His eyebrow only slightly went up, only to be washed away by his calm façade in an instant.
Elias wasn't dumb, though. He was able to catch it.
['Elias'] "How far back do you remember?"
The change of topic and the question confused Elias. Remember about what? It took a while to figure out. Once he did, though, everything fell into place.
The mysterious scar, being unable to remember his parents—or anything before the alleys, for that matter. It all made sense now.
The memory crystal that Ardent kept in the glass was his own; the person he was speaking to currently was his past self.
How? People had to die for themselves to be turned into memories; how was he alive? More importantly, why did Ardent have his memories as the main attraction in his vault? Did he know something?
[Elias] "I-I can't remember past the alleys."
To that, 'Elias' scoffed in dissatisfaction.
['Elias'] "Well, that's great."
[Elias] "How is this great?!"
After Elias yelled that, 'Elias' rolled his eyes.
['Elias'] "Ever heard of sarcasm?"
After that, the current Elias looked down, embarrassed at his own stupidity.
They both stood there, silent. They watched the crowds pass by them, and some even passed through them.
There was too much to think about; the existence of this past Elias was an anomaly in its own right, but what about the existence of this present Elias?
'If I'm the present Elias, does that make me the fake one?'
That thought concerned him. If he wasn't the real one, his earlier statement was wrong. The past Elias was not an anomaly; the present was.
He wasn't supposed to be alive if he were turned into a memory; he wasn't supposed to even be interacting with his past self.
So how could his past be an anomaly when the present was even worse?
The realization hit hard—it was a question that literally called his own existence into doubt.
[Elias] "Which of us is real then?"
In truth, he already knew the answer. Maybe, though, Elias would hear otherwise from his past, experienced self.
['Elias'] "I think that you already know who."
With that simple statement, Elias's whole sense of identity crumbled.
The weight of the realization pressed into his chest, hollowing him out from the inside. He tried to reply, but the words refused to leave his mouth. The other Elias—no, the real Elias—just stood there and watched him.
The present Elias lowered his gaze. Every movement was suddenly harder now, and so, he lost the ability to keep his head up. Strength sapped from all his limbs, because he now knew there was no point.
Why should he try when his shadow was someone else's? Every single thing that he had prided himself on was the talent of another, so what was the point? This Elias had nothing, while the other had everything.
Still, somewhere in his sapped body, something resisted that sense of worthlessness; it was a tiny ember, a flicker, faint but incredibly stubborn.
He was going to get the real Elias back; he wasn't going to live as a shell. It was all or nothing. This Elias either rejoined the two of them or he died.
If he were to keep on living, knowing he was a shell of another, Elias wouldn't be able to live with himself.
That is why, in that moment, he made a decision. Elias would dedicate himself not just for his own sake, but for both of their sakes—the past and present Elias.
They deserved as much anyway; if there was anything that they deserved, it was themselves. If that individuality was taken away from them, splitting them into fractured pieces of glass, what was the point of living incompletely?
Finally, the dejected Elias found the strength to fight against his weakness and look up at 'Elias'.
[Elias] "Hey, I have an offer for you."
The real 'Elias' stood there for a minute, then replied to him.
['Elias'] "I'll bite. What's the offer?"
[Elias] "Let's make a deal."
With that statement, Elias finally smiled.