Looking at the shadow of the black umbrella on the white soil, Eric's body froze. His gaze was fixed on the umbrella. Many forgotten memories were popping up in his mind as fragments at this moment, slowly.
He remembered all the sad and unfortunate things that had happened in his life.
A lot of emotions built up in his body: longing, nostalgia, surprise, sadness, a little happiness, and shock.
He pursed his pink lips tightly at this moment as he bit the inside of his cheeks.
This was a dream that he had dreamed when he was fourteen. It was the night the voice had spoken for the first time. He had forgotten about this dream, but some vague memories still remained. It had helped him a lot in stabilizing his mind in his later journey. And now, a decade later, he was in this dream again, but instead of being on the other side, he was on the opposite side this time.
Eric slowly walked toward the shadow of the black umbrella. His every step was small and slow. He was continuously hesitating in his mind. He was scared—afraid of approaching the umbrella.
But he continued walking. He was scared, but he kept his body moving. His will was firm and strong. If he didn't have the courage to face his past, then how would he be able to face his enemies when the people he loves, the people he holds dear, get in danger?
Would he still hesitate then?
By the time he would be hesitating, they would have already died. All that would be left would be him with nothing but regret and nothing. He might even lose control and become a monster forever.
This was the fate that those with weak willpower suffer, but he is not someone who is weak. He got over his fear and hesitation and kept walking.
The more he walked, the less he hesitated and his beating heart slowed down. His mind relaxed and his steps became more confident. The distance in this dream wasn't as it seemed; the umbrella had seemed quite close to him—at least a hundred steps were between them.
But even after walking for more than two hundred steps, he had still not reached the umbrella.
At this point now, he was completely relaxed and started to take big steps. All the memories that haunted him were gone. He was looking forward to the following events now, actually.
After three hundred steps more, Eric finally reached the black umbrella whose shadow he had been watching. There was nothing unique about this umbrella. It was a simple black umbrella with a silver metal handle. Eric bent his back and grabbed the handle of the umbrella with his right hand and picked it up.
The umbrella was very light. It felt like it would float down slowly if he threw it in the air. The handle was icy cold to the touch.
Eric heaved a deep sigh as he looked at this umbrella. A gentle smile formed on his face. "I finally saw you again… Now I realize why I hold every umbrella I use in this certain way."
Eric put the black umbrella's handle on his right shoulder and held the handle with both his hands. He felt very comfortable holding the umbrella like this.
This was the way he also held the umbrella when he was going on his walk to the mall back in Moscow and when he was in his Mike Jackson persona too.
Eric's gaze immediately turned to his right. There he saw the shadow of a bench.
Looking at this bench, Eric's heterochromic eyes (left eye pink and right eye rose pink) couldn't help but shine with a bright and lively light.
The gentle smile formed into a longing and nostalgic smile as Eric recalled all the memories regarding this dream of when he was fourteen.
He straightened his body and put his head high and proud!
He slowly started to walk toward the bench. The bench was around three hundred steps away from him. It took him at least a thousand steps before he was able to reach the bench.
Around some distance from the bench, which was in the middle, there was no pink fog in a circle and one could clearly see the light brown coloured metal bench and the white soil on which Eric was standing.
Eric was still in the pink fog and was just one step away from leaving the pink fog. He took a deep breath, calming his mind, body, soul, heart, and emotions.
He waited for a few seconds until he saw the shadow of a small boy coming toward the bench from his opposite side.
The boy's body was enshrouded by the pink fog and only his black shadow could be vaguely seen.
The boy quickly walked before he was just one step away from entering the area where there was no pink fog.
The boy hesitated for a few seconds before he finally took his first step inside.
The boy was around fourteen years old. His eyes were big and should have been full of mischief and innocence, with no stress and responsibilities.
But instead of that, his eyes showed fear and distrust around himself. He was very fearful of his surroundings and constantly looking around, observing his surroundings, ready to run away if someone or something scary came to hurt him.
His small hands were clasped together and put tightly against his chest. His small legs were shivering. He was trying his best not to be scared and to think rationally.
He was wearing low-quality and tattered clothes that were a little too big for his age.
His face and body looked malnourished and lacked the shine of a young kid. His face showed expressions of stress and fear.
He blurted out in a whisper that was clearly heard by Eric in this silent place, "Where am I? I have to get out! What will happen to Max without me?"
Looking at this little boy, Eric's eyes widened a little and became watery. He couldn't help but breathe deeply to not cry.
This boy had short pink hair and heterochromic pink eyes—his left being pink and the right one rose pink.
This was undoubtedly no one else but Eric when he was fourteen.
Eric understood the perspective, mental, and emotional state of this younger him. He had been through this once before, after all.
Eric heaved a deep sigh and wiped his eyes before taking a step out of the pink fog.
Little Eric startled upon seeing someone walking out of the fog and his body subconsciously took a step back.
Eric looked down at this younger him with a gentle gaze and warm smile.
Looking at this tall man, young Eric was in shock looking at himself but all grown up.
"W-who are you? Where is this? Is this related to these mysterious Auras too?" young Eric blurted out. His eyes were widened in shock and surprise. His heart was beating fast, but soon he calmed down.
Eric nodded inwardly, looking at the younger him being able to calm down so quickly.
He didn't answer his question and pointed toward the bench, signalling him to sit. Younger Eric understood and sat on the farthest back corner on the left.
Eric meanwhile sat on his direct opposite. Eric waited a few minutes before starting the conversation.
He understood himself. He knew that he required time to become comfortable and set his mental state on track.
"I am going to be direct and blunt. I am you but several years older from the future. A lot has changed in my life. This is a dream that I also had when I was fourteen and met my older self. And now that I have grown up, I entered this dream again and met you. In the future, when you walk your path and become older, you too will enter this dream and meet your younger self!"
Eric wasn't stinting on telling his younger self. The reason for this was simple.
Because he would forget most of the dream when he woke up anyway. It would at least take a decade before this younger self of his grew up and entered this dream to meet his younger self. It wouldn't matter till then anyway.
His younger self didn't show any over-the-top expression and just kept staring at the ground before slowly raising his head and looking at the face of his older self. He slowly asked, "I understand. I only have one question. How is life now? Did we make it?"
Eric's heart ached at this question. He closed his eyes and simply answered in a plain voice, "I won't say that we won, but we are in a much better place now than before. Max is still with us and he is very happy. Both of us have gotten married. We still move from here to there and work all sorts of jobs. We are now police officers and are stuck in some mysterious Paris operation, with the four great bodies encircling us and trying to lure us into their factions."
Younger Eric nodded and asked another question, forgetting that he said he only had one question. "Did we… fulfil our dream?"
Eric shook his head in denial. His eyes still closed. "No, we still haven't achieved it, but we will one day. Surely, one day, we will…"
Young Eric chuckled at this for some reason. Eric raised his head and opened his left eye in a slit as he side-eyed his younger self and asked while his face showed a smile, "Why are you laughing so much?"
"B-because it means that we still have a long journey ahead of us! Problems are a constant in the pursuit of one's journey to their goal and dream!"
"You have quite the wisdom for a teenager."
"I am you after all," younger Eric retorted back.
"How are Max and Visie at your side?" Eric asked his older self.
"They are fine. Max is still as chaotic and air-headed as always. He has grown and can make strategies and traps without me now. He has never once left our side. And Visie is as lively and curious as ever. She still tries to read and divine about stuff she can't comprehend. I know giving you this warning is useless, but Visie is going to get a heavy injury that will make her unable to advance higher than Lysi Nova."
"I guessed something like this would happen one day. She is too careless after all. Haha. I am happy to hear that Max has grown up." He then looked ahead and asked a little shyly, "Who did we marry?" His cheeks a little red.
"Sigh, my younger self, you still haven't lived through that accident. Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking this." Eric sighed inwardly as he answered, "We married a beautiful woman named Ruby. Max married a woman named Zoe. They both have their own crazy streaks, but they love us a lot and are very caring."
The younger Eric's brows furrowed a little as his tone became a little disappointed. "So we didn't marry Visie? Weird."
"There were reasons." Eric didn't want to explain the entire story; the time here was limited.
After exchanging information about some more things, Eric decided to say the most important and crucial thing. This is what would help himself grow up and not be depressed all the time and help stabilize his mind when he is stressed.
He straightened his back and sat right. Younger Eric also noticed the change in body language and realized that his older self was going to say some important things.
Eric took another deep breath as he looked at his younger self with watery eyes. His voice was shaken. "Eric Heisenberg, you are a very special person. You are talented, smart, observant, kind, a little selfish. You do not trust others much but your childhood friend—keep doing that. You can think of the best solutions at hard times and can endure hard times. You try your best to make ends meet for yourself and your friend Max. You are able to end the lives of others easily with no regret, but it shouldn't be like this. Doing this will make you cold and a monster after you lose control. Always retain humanity in your heart and be determined to take decisions and act on them no matter what! Cherish your friends and family and be aware of your feelings for them!
"I understand that sometimes might be hard and it may seem that there is no hope and only despair awaits… but there is always hope. You just need to persevere and keep walking and everything will become fine. When in doubt, always trust Max and Visie."
"You may not be able to understand all that I am saying, but it is fine. Just remember to never give up. You are destined to not be a poor soul forever. Find your path and walk on it—even if you forget it."
Hearing his words that he blurted out with a shaken voice, younger Eric was frozen in place. There were subtle meanings behind his older self's words, but he couldn't find what they exactly were. He had nothing to say. He simply nodded and smiled.
His eyes were no longer full of fear and hesitation; they were shining with pride and excitement for the future. His heart was clear. He knew what to do.
Eric, whose eyes were now black, looked down sadly at his younger self, but he didn't warn him of the future or anything else. He just smiled at him. Even if he told him, what difference would it make?
Even if he could have made a difference, he wouldn't have told him. The suffering, setbacks, difficulties, and betrayals he had faced in his life were his treasure. They were the experiences that had made him who he was today. He was not going to run away from them.
Both Erics looked at each other. Their bodies and minds calm. They smiled at each other for the last time before saying one last sentence to each other.
"Thank you for never giving up," Eric thanked his younger self.
"Thank you for reaching the point that you are at now," younger Eric thanked Eric.
With this, the dream world started to break apart and Eric woke up in real life.
The warm light shone in Eric's bedroom, illuminating his room with its radiance. Eric, who was shirtless, slowly sat up in the bed. He looked around and saw that Ruby wasn't in the bed. He only heard the sounds of food being cooked from the kitchen.
Eric looked at the blue sky outside the window as the corners of his lips curled up in a small smile. He was at peace after so long.
He was tranquil.
He may not have gotten all the answers to all of his questions, but he had gotten one thing.
That was the courage to face the future and the questions that had been halting him in his advancement for so long.
Eric touched his face with his left hand softly and whispered, "I am finally ready."