OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 243: Reflecting Truths

Chapter 243: Reflecting Truths

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***

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."

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.

Nothing but pain surged through my body.

They were like ants, crawling under my skin, my organs, my nerves, and my cells.

My mind woke up, and I began to scream.

'Make it... stop...'

However, my mind didn't register that scream.

I could feel my throat expandin

mouth widening, and my lungs burning...

All were telltale signs of a deafening roar.

But my ears heard nothing.

'Why?'

Such a question came.

'Because of the labyrinth.'

And it was answered shortly after.

I grabbed a couple of old-world medicines from my pockets and shoved them in my mouth.

'Scared... can't...'

My mouth had not swallowed them, however.

Both my arms extended to my waist and unsheathed my twin swords.

They rose to meet my head.

Slowly, the swords approached by ears, and then...

'Go away... go...'

I gulped down the pills while simultaneously puncturing both my ears.

The medicine healed them quickly, not allowing much blood to spurt out before the wound

was sealed.

Now I heard static.

'An improvement.'

After my musings... I did it again.

I stabbed the inside of my ears over and over again.

Blood began to sprinkle onto the ground, yet it never once stained my immaculate suit.

Slowly, my brain began to accept the noise.

Not as static, but as something comprehensible.

"Oh, yeah, he's gone schizo alright."

The drone spoke, and I heard it.

That's when I knew the time for stabbing had ended.

'Everything... fading...'

My ears were fixed.

The pain was for the nerves to wake up, not only for my ears but most of my body.

After all, one's ears controled balance.

I was now able to stand up.

'Too much...'

I hadn't done that yet, though; I needed to stab myself somewhere else too.

My blades grew closer to my eyes.

"Hoooooh....."

Squelch.

I couldn't see.

I was blind again.

Then, after a blink, my vision returned.

'Better.'

I repeated the process a couple of times until I was sure that my nerves were fully awake.

'Not now... not yet...'

Then I stood up.

And when I reached my highest, my arms, which were still next to my head, stabbed my ears

once again.

The old-world medicine I swallowed had run out of energy, and now I needed more pills to

heal myself.

But I wanted to stay deaf.

***

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?!"

An enraged Isidore began stomping at the ground, causing the very earth beneath the

building they were in to shake.

"What he did before made sense, but now-"

***

Emir moved forward and reached the end of the dark room.

An obvious door of white contrasted sharply against its surroundings.

With a click, he opened it and arrived at the other side.

'Lost... so lost...' This time there were no stairs, and he simply moved forward, entering another room.

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.'