Chapter 243: Reflecting Truths

Chapter 243: Reflecting Truths



***

Bzzzzz.

'Stop... can't...'

My mind was no longer calm.

'Can't see...'

My eyes couldn't see.

'Please... make it go...'

My ears couldn't hear.

Bzzzzz.

My body couldn't move...

'Help me...'

It couldn't feel.

Where was I?

'Where... am I...'

What was I doing?

Bzzzzz.

Why did I keep hearing whispers inside my mind?

'Dad... is that you?'

Who were they?

Bzzzzz.

And what the hell was that annoying sound?

'So much... hurts...'

...Wait, sound?

I tried to move my body, and slowly...

I rolled over.

Somehow.

Since my face was no longer buried in the ground...

I could now see... albeit barely.

'Not ready...'

Everything was foggy.

'Ah, so that's why...'

And I could think; however, my mind was cloudy as well.

But that didn't matter for now.

'Hold on... can't...'

I needed to know something...

My eyes searched the dark sky above me until they stopped at a flying drone.

'Love...'

That was the source of that annoying sound.

It reminded me of... of everything.

I, Emir, was on a test.

Those rat bastards above were watching me.

Like an actor dancing on stage, I entertained them.

'It's here... it's coming...'

And now I needed my compensation.

'But man... I don't feel like talking.'

An idea soon popped into my mind.

My lips parted...

And they formed two words.

"Watch me."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yes, I needed them to watch me.

Or rather, not all of them, as I only needed him...

Isaac Klein.

He had to be interested in me.

'I'm sorry...'

That man was the one who would give me the ticket to my revenge.

My plan needed his involvement, and this was all but a step towards that.

I soon took my eyes off the drone and attempted to stand.

'Can't move...'

Yet I felt... lazy.

'I should relax a little bit... I walked for too long; my legs need rest too.'

Many excuses flooded my mind, but then...

Snap.

Pain.

What existed before him was darkness, similar to the room he just left.

Yet there was a stark difference.

Mirrors populated the place.

They were everywhere.

"Too much... can't bear...'

On the walls, roof, and ground.

Some floated, and others hung from the ceiling.

In a room such as this, those mirrors shouldn't have reflected anything, as light didn't exist.

But they did.

An Arcanist's masterpiece.

The 'Puzzle Of Mirrors.'

'Fading... into nothing...'

A phase designed to test the candidates' aspects, their personalities.

Its second purpose was to help root out enemies.

After all, when confronted with one's past in those mirrors, many would think thoughts

related to said past.

'Lost... can't find...'

Emir was an exception in this case, as his real thoughts were cut off.

So while his past would be shown, the thoughts in his mind wouldn't.

'Let's begin.'

Pulse.

In an instant, all the mirrors in the room showed a certain scene.

It was the day when Emir lost his innocence-

The scene changed to another.

His forced confession to his family-

'Don't leave... don't...'

Another scene.

It was back when Emir was tortured for three days.

His body was broken, eyes tired and hazy.

Blood covered his face-

Another.

The time when he was awoken from lies-

'Can't breathe... suffocating...'

Another.

His first loss against-

Another.

The court hearing-

'Hold me close... slipping...'

Another.

Kiera's slaughter, one caused by his inaction-

Another.

Alex's death by his-

Another...

Or not.

It paused.

And the mirrors turned dark.

The scenes it showed did not affect him at all.

'Don't understand... why...'

Emir was someone who had long since confronted the great evil he housed within himself.

The world of blood was HIS mindscape.

It was HIS truth.

A man with a great capacity for evil.

And he didn't run away from such a notion.

'It's dark... closing in...'

So this test needed no preparation, as he had nothing holding him back.

The monsters that were supposed to appear couldn't because of that fact.

'Help... fading away...'

Those mirrors, together with the relic, could not find anything to latch onto.

This phase was a failure.

Emir stepped forward and reached the door at the end of the room.

'Mom, where are you?...'

'Hold me...'

Click.

'Please.'