“Well, that was boring,” a disinterested voice bemoaned from the emptiness of space, sounding as if two beings were speaking in tandem. Amidst the nothingness around, the faint light from stars glimmered in the distance. Yet, the voice remained; Cold and distant, yet still alive, like a spectre of inconsistencies that shared a common purpose. Looking at the earth, the voice sifted the clamoring souls below till one of the many through the ages humankind lay barren and alone, chosen as the last by measure of chance.
“I wonder how this person will change the earth this time around? ” the spectre-like being inquired in anticipation and curiosity, gazing upon a human soul. The being's tandem tone of devilish intrigue and a satirical simper made form in its expression of a sadistic humanoid smirk where the voice had previously bemoaned. “The last one barely had the others intrigue, let alone enough interest for one to intervene,” the voice continued, forming from its tongue, a human-like form; The form of a mischievous yet blameless child with vibrant hair extending beyond its feet, dressing itself in a white cloth sheet similar to that of an ancient Greek chiton. Lacking the features to define it as a man or a woman, to all mortals it was simply a being that looked human.
“Really? Is this really how he subconsciously thinks we look?" the being said, looking over the perceived body it had formed. Holding its hand to the cosmos, starlight could be seen through the palm more beautifully than with the keenest of eyes. Satisfied and unbothered, a sinister grin formed before it decreed amongst the stars, "be it in present or past, Lou Barrett, be chosen for my purposes, to freely do with my power as he wishes, till rejection of this gift or death, it shall remain.”
There was a dream. To say it felt more like a nightmare would not be an exaggeration. Though the scenery, a vast forest filled with floating lights filling the emptiness, alone sat a person with their back turned to me. A thick dark cloth, frayed and worn, rested atop their scraggly form. As I ventured toward them, my view of their hands, veiled in a purplish-black smoke, showed a crudely weathered longsword, being patiently sharpened with a wet stone. Hearing the snap of twigs and brushing of leaves from my feet, the figure turned its head toward me, its face hidden behind an expressionless white mask with a single black stripe running from the upper left corner to the bottom right. Locking eyes with the ironically eyeless mask, it formed an inhumanly wide smile, as if it were made of clay. Opening to unveil a row of jagged, broken teeth behind its lips, gnashing in agonizing rhythms like that of hundred of broken clocks ticking out of time, I couldn’t help but back away. Standing to face me, the cloth covering draped over it like a mourning shawl, and like the mouth, eye holes formed as curved slits of glee, crying from them fresh streams of crimson tears.
My breath became visible as chills of fear ran up my spine, telling me to run. I was already turned around, dashing through the stationary lights of the forest for what felt like all I could muster before I considered to look back and see whether I was being pursued. Gazing back over my shoulder, the forest began folding outward to reveal the night sky, filled with more stars than the mind can comprehend. Amid the stars approached not the masked figure of smoke, but rather, a human half my size, draped in a plain white short-cut Greek-style chiton. Flashing a smile behind a raised finger, their gold and grey hair, flowing like a river between the chiton sheets creases, lifted towards the heavens. My attention drawn up to follow it, I stumble back in bafflement from the sudden replacement for the child being myself, standing in aloof confusion by the sight of me.
Straightening himself up as I usually would to seem more confident, the other me asked, “Who are you?” his voice just as curious as I was. Looking down at the ground, which had previously been dirt, now reflected a face that was not my own upon a mirror-like surface of water. Unlike my doppelganger, who bore a wider face, short dirty blond hair, and sunken eyes, I had a slimmer face with short grey hair. Taking it in, I shook my head.
“I do not know," I replied, lifting my head. "Who are you?” I asked for I truly did not know who I was in this moment.
“I am you, Lou Barrett, as are each one of them,” the other me answered, gesturing around him to reveal an infinite number of the grey-haired me, scattered as if copied by a mirror illusion. Turning their faces toward me, each bearing different expressions and emotions from sullen to overjoyed, fearful to fortunate, each sank into the water beneath them in shock.
“Tell me, what is this place? Who were those people I saw?” I begged of the one before me, trying to reach toward him. Though my body was unable to move closer nor further from him, trapped in place by the waters reflecting this new me.
Before I could question further, he answered, “You are what you are, and this place is you. As for those beings, well, I cannot say.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, confused.
“You will find the answer when you succeed,” he replied as if he’d said it a thousand times before and were tired of it before falling through the water floor. Looking down at where he had stood, the water below me gave way, and I fell with a loud thump onto my back. My head was pounding, I felt physically drained, and my back hurt slightly worse than normal. In the distance, I saw a bright light, only to realize that I was just opening my eyes.
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