Chapter 89: A dream
*******************
I slowly drifted off to sleep.
The last thing I remembered was Lillith’s warmth beside me and the faint sound of winter wind brushing against the windows.
Then—
I woke up.
Immediately something felt wrong.
The bed was gone.
The room was gone.
Lillith was gone.
I sat upright and looked around.
White.
Nothing but white.
An endless empty void stretched in every direction.
No walls, ceiling or floor that I could actually identify, yet somehow I was still standing on something.
I blinked.
"This is..."
I looked around once more.
"...a weird dream."
No response came.
Just endless white.
I scratched the back of my head.
Then a voice spoke behind me.
"Welcome."
I immediately spun around.
"What the—"
My words died in my throat as a table had appeared behind me.
Not just any normal table.
It looked as though it had been carved entirely from glass.
Two matching chairs sat on opposite sides.
And seated in one of them—
Was me?
I stared at myself as the other me stared back.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
"Okay."
I paused.
"This is officially the weirdest dream I’ve ever had."
The other Leon didn’t react.
His expression remained completely neutral.
In fact—
The longer I looked, the stranger it became.
He wasn’t blinking.
Not once.
He wasn’t shifting in his chair, breathing intact not a single muscle was moving at all.
The only thing that seemed capable of movement was his mouth.
"This isn’t a dream."
I immediately pointed at him.
"That’s exactly what somebody in a dream would say."
The other Leon ignored me.
Instead he gestured toward the empty chair opposite him.
"Sit."
I looked at the chair.
Everything about this situation screamed bad idea.
Unfortunately curiosity has beaten me.
Slowly I walked over and sat down and the moment I settled into the chair, the other Leon spoke.
"Who are you?"
I blinked.
"What?"
"Who are you?"
I stared at him before then pointing at myself.
"I’m Leon."
The other Leon remained expressionless.
"Incorrect."
I frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"You are not Leon."
I immediately regretted sitting down.
The conversation somehow became irritating within ten seconds.
"Pretty sure I know who I am."
"No."
The other Leon stared at me as a long silence followed before he then continued.
"You were never supposed to be here whoever you are."
For the first time, I felt a slight chill.
"What does that mean?"
The other Leon folded his hands together atop the glass table.
Or at least I thought he did.
The movement felt strange and incredibly artificial.
Like watching a puppet imitate a human.
"A significant catalyst perished far before its intended point."
I stared.
"A what?"
"A specific human."
That explained absolutely nothing to me but the other Leon continued speaking anyway.
"The event caused me to investigate this world."
His gaze remained fixed on me.
"And during that investigation, an anomaly was discovered."
I pointed at myself.
"The anomaly is me, isn’t it?"
"Correct."
I rubbed my forehead.
Of course it was.
The other Leon continued.
"Soul 56,432,296,513."
A strange series of images flashed through the white void.
A small child.
Snow-covered forests.
A grown couple that seems to be hunters.
And a completely unfamiliar life.
"Was born in the northern regions between two hunters."
The image vanished.
Another appeared.
Fields.
A large family.
A small village.
And a young child.
"Soul 56,432,296,514."
The image lingered briefly before it disappeared.
"Is then born right after between two farmers within a specific eastern kingdom."
I stared at him.
The numbers alone were giving me a headache.
Then the other Leon pointed directly at me.
"Instead."
The white void around us rippled.
"You arrived."
A strange feeling settled in my stomach.
"What?"
"You were not scheduled to exist at that point."
The other Leon’s expression never changed.
"Your soul was intended to be conceived approximately three hundred and ninety-two cycles later."
I stared.
Then pointed at myself again.
"You’re telling me..."
A pause.
"...I showed up early?"
"Correct."
That was somehow the least concerning part of what he’d just said.
The other Leon continued.
"And after arriving, you deviated entirely from your designated path."
"Designated path?"
The images returned.
I saw villages burning.
Cities collapsing.
Purple mana spreading through the sky like veins.
Lillith floated in the sky.
A much older Lillith.
A far more terrifying one.
The image then disappeared.
Then the other Leon spoke again.
"You were originally intended to perish alongside countless others during one of Lillith Nightbane’s future rampages."
"You would die having grown up another knight within the Aldric territory, not even seeing Lillith until your death."
For several seconds I simply sat there.
Processing.
Then giving up entirely.
"Okay."
I raised both hands and put them behind my desk as I leaned back on the chair.
"No."
The other Leon remained silent.
"Nope."
I stood up.
The chair scraped across the invisible floor.
"This is a dream."
"I can assure you it is not."
"This is absolutely a dream."
"It is not."
I pointed directly at him.
"You’re me."
"This is simply a form."
"You’re sitting at a glass table in an infinite white void talking about soul numbers."
"Correct."
"Do you hear yourself?"
The other Leon didn’t respond.
Because apparently he had no sense of humor.
I sighed and reached up.
If this was a dream—
There was a very easy solution.
I clenched my fist.
Pulled my arm back.
And punched myself directly in the face.
The impact echoed throughout the endless white void.
For a moment everything went silent.
Then I slowly lowered my hand.
"...Ow."
The other Leon stared at me.
For the first time since arriving—
I thought I saw the faintest hint of disappointment on his face.
It still hurt.
Which was concerning.
Dreams usually didn’t hurt.
At least I didn’t think they did.
I stared at the other me for several seconds before letting out a long sigh and walking back toward the table.
"Okay."
I pulled out the chair.
"If punching myself didn’t work, I might as well hear you out."
The other Leon remained motionless as I sat back down.
Not a single blink.
Not a single twitch.
Honestly, it was becoming increasingly unsettling.
The moment I sat down, he spoke.
"I will return you once I am finished."
"How comforting."
The other Leon ignored the sarcasm.
I rubbed my forehead.
Then remembered something.
"Wait."
The other Leon remained silent.
"You said a catalyst died too early."
"Correct."
"Who?"
The answer came immediately.
"The human who goes by Adrian Eirvale."
I blinked and paused before then blinking again.
Of all the names I had expected—
That wasn’t one of them.
"Adrian?"
The other Leon nodded once.
"Correct."
I leaned back in my chair.
That made absolutely no sense, I had so many questions what killed him, what was he a catalyst for, why was this dude so interested in him?
"Why?"
The question escaped before I could stop it.
The other Leon stared at me.
"Why was he important?"
"Why was he a catalyst?"
The white void around us rippled slightly.
Then the answer came.
"He was a catalyst for the destruction of the world, being a major reason behind the actions of Lillith NightBane."
For several seconds I simply stared.
"Adrian was supposed to become the hero and stop Lillith."
The other Leon didn’t react.
Silence.
"The entire point was that he fought her."
"The two of them were enemies."
Finally the other Leon spoke.
"Correct."
I frowned and spoke again.
"Then why would him dying early stop her rampage?"
For the first time since arriving, the other Leon tilted his head slightly.
A tiny movement which was barley noticeable.
Yet somehow it felt more unnatural than anything else he’d done.
"Curious."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Why do you also know the future outcome of this world?"
Immediately I regretted opening my mouth.
The conversation had just become significantly more dangerous.
I crossed my arms.
"You answer mine first."
The other Leon remained silent.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then he finally answered.
"Adrian united the world against Lillith."
"He isolated and ostracised her."
The white void shifted around us.
Images appeared.
Crowds.
Cities.
Kingdoms.
Armies.
All turning toward a single figure.
Lillith.
"They feared her."
The image shifted.
Then again.
And again.
Everywhere she went—
Hatred followed.
"They vilified her."
The image changed again.
Lillith stood alone.
Completely alone.
"The world became her enemy."
The images vanished.
Then the other Leon looked directly at me.
"And she responded accordingly."
A strange feeling settled in my stomach.
I didn’t like where this conversation was heading.
Not at all but the other Leon spoke again before then demanding.
"Now answer my question."
I sighed.
"What do I get if I tell you?"
Silence.
I waited.
Nothing happened as the other Leon simply stared at me.
Eventually I threw my hands into the air.
"Fantastic."
Then another thought occurred to me.
"Actually."
I pointed at him.
"Who are you?"
The other Leon paused.
For the first time since arriving, he didn’t answer immediately.
Several seconds passed.
Then—
"I am a fragment of [%#@:£#]."
The sound that left his mouth wasn’t language.
It wasn’t a word.
It wasn’t barley even a noise.
It was something else.
Something wrong.
The instant I heard it, pain exploded through my head.
It felt like a thousand voices screaming at once.
Like metal grinding against metal and reality itself rejecting the sound.
I immediately jumped backwards from the table.
"What the hell was that?!"
My hands shot up to cover my ears.
Even after the sound ended, the pain lingered.
The other Leon remained seated.
Unmoving and unbothered.
"I am unable to properly communicate the designation."
"Good."
I winced.
"Keep it that way."
For several moments I simply stood there recovering.
Then I remembered the more important problem.
"What are you planning to do about all this?"
The other Leon looked at me.
"The altered future?"
"Yes."
He answered immediately.
"As long as the end remains unchanged, nothing."
The words immediately made me uncomfortable.
"What end?"
Silence.
Then—
"The destruction of the world, and the loss of billions of human lives."
I stared in shock other Leon stared back with his usual emotionless expression.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then I pointed at him.
"Hold on."
The other Leon remained silent.
"Are you telling me that you or some other cosmic entity or whatever your kind consists of is going to decend and murder the world.?"
"No."
The answer came instantly.
I sighed in relief.
Then the other Leon continued.
"It must be Lillith."
The relief vanished.
Immediately.
"What?"
"It must be Lillith."
I stared at him.
The other Leon stared back.
"That is her purpose."
For a moment I genuinely thought I’d misheard him.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny but because it was absolutely ridiculous.
"Yeah."
I waved dismissively.
"I’m not worried about that."
The other Leon remained silent.
I leaned back.
"The current Lillith isn’t going to destroy the world."
I said it confidently.
Without hesitation.
Because I knew her.
Sure she was possessive and violent at times, sometimes being completely insane on occasion.
But world destruction?
Not happening.
I shook my head.
"You don’t need to worry."
The other Leon remained completely expressionless.
Then he spoke.
"That is the problem."
For the first time since arriving, the atmosphere around the table felt genuinely heavy.
I looked directly at him.
"What do you mean that’s the problem?"
The other Leon folded his hands atop the table.
Then for the first time since our conversation began—
I felt something resembling interest from him.
"The current Lillith Nightbane would never destroy the world."
A pause.
Then—
"Which means the world won’t end at its designated outcome."
Something cold settled in my stomach.
And suddenly—
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he said next.
The other Leon remained motionless.
Not a single blink nor a single twitch.
His expression didn’t change as he looked at me from across the glass table.
"I am unable to directly intervene."
I frowned.
"What?"
"It violates the laws of creation."
The way he said it made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world.
"As such, I am unable to directly interfere in order to alter the outcome."
I leaned forward slightly.
"But?"
The other Leon remained silent for a moment.
"I can make minor adjustments."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
Adjustments.
For some reason that sounded more malicious than intervention.
I folded my arms.
Then asked the question that had been bothering me ever since he started talking.
"Why?"
The other Leon stared at me.
"Why does the world have to suffer like this?"
My voice became more serious.
"Why does Lillith have to suffer like this?"
The white void remained completely silent.
Then the other Leon asked a question.
"Have you ever seen a messy stack of papers on a desk?"
I blinked.
The question was so random that it took me several seconds to answer.
"...Yes."
"What do you do with them?"
I frowned.
"I pick them up and straighten them."
The other Leon nodded.
"I am doing the same."
For a second I genuinely thought I’d misheard him.
Then I sat up straighter.
"Excuse me?"
"The principle is identical to our current situation."
"You straighten the papers which would disrupt the life of any microorganisms on them."
"Possibly even killing them if they happened to require being in that specific space due to factory’s such as sunlight."
My disbelief immediately turned into irritation.
"No."
I pointed at him.
"No it isn’t."
The other Leon remained silent.
"What you’re talking about is killing billions of people."
I slapped a hand against the glass table.
"That’s not the same thing as straightening a pile of papers."
The other Leon didn’t react.
Instead he simply continued.
"To the microorganisms occupying one of those papers, the paper is its world."
I frowned.
The other Leon continued.
"It may even be its universe."
The white void rippled slightly.
"The stack of messy papers is this world."
"The microorganism’s living upon it are humanity."
"I am the one straightening the papers."
I stared at him.
Then laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was ridiculous.
"You can’t compare human lives to bacteria."
The other Leon tilted his head.
The movement somehow still felt wrong.
"Why not?"
I opened my mouth and immediately answered.
"Because we’re human."
The other Leon waited.
"We have culture’s."
I pointed at myself.
"We have language."
Then at him.
"We have emotions."
"We live."
"We love."
"We create things."
I leaned forward.
"We experience life."
The other Leon remained silent.
I gestured between us.
"Hell, we’re having a conversation right now."
He then spoke.
"Humans consume resources."
"Okay?"
"They reproduce."
The other Leon continued.
"They create offspring."
His voice remained completely neutral.
"They organize into groups."
The white void rippled around us.
"They compete."
"They cooperate."
"They evolve."
A pause.
"Microorganisms do the same."
I opened my mouth but then the other Leon continued .
"The exact methods for each do differ to varying degrees."
His gaze remained fixed on me.
"The scale differs."
"The complexity differs."
"But the principles remain comparable."
For the first time since the conversation began—
I didn’t have an immediate response, I was unable to find the words to respond.
The other Leon noticed.
Of course he did.
Silence filled the white void.
Then he spoke again.
"You may leave now."
I blinked.
"What?"
A door had appeared behind me.
I hadn’t even noticed it.
Standing alone in the endless white void.
A simple wooden door.
I slowly stood up as my chair scraped softly against the invisible floor.
Then I turned toward the door.
Something still bothered me.
A lot of things bothered me.
But one thing especially.
I reached for the handle.
Then stopped before turning around.
"Wait."
The other Leon remained seated.
"How did Adrian die?"
The other Leon opened his mouth.
And at that exact moment—
My hand twisted the doorknob.
The door swung inwards.
Immediately an overwhelming force erupted from the darkness I saw beyond the door.
Wind.
Pressure.
Something.
I didn’t know.
All I knew was that it was pulling and it was pulling incredibly hard.
The glass table rattled.
The white void distorted.
I grabbed the doorframe with both hands.
"What the—"
The force intensified.
My feet left the ground.
The other Leon was saying something.
I could see his mouth moving.
But I couldn’t hear a word.
The roaring darkness drowned everything out.
My grip slipped.
For a brief moment I hung there falling in a empty void, it didn’t even feel like I was falling.
The darkness swallowed me and everything vanished.
And then—
I woke up.
My eyes snapped open.
A familiar ceiling greeted me.
The warmth of blankets.
The smell of the room.
The faint morning sunlight filtering through the windows.
I stared upward for several seconds.
Then let out a breath.
"A dream..."
Definitely a dream.
Hopefully.
I turned my head.
Lillith was already awake.
Of course she was.
She was lying beside me staring directly at my face.
The moment our eyes met she smiled.
A huge smile.
"Good morning darling."
Normally that would have startled me.
But after enough times of waking up to find Lillith staring at me, I was unfortunately becoming accustomed to it.
Something I deeply disliked.
I sat up and stretched.
The strange dream still lingered in the back of my mind.
The white void.
The other Leon.
Adrian.
The conversation.
None of it made any sense.
Which was exactly why it was definitely a dream.
The best solution was to forget about it.
Lillith scooted closer.
"Can we stay like this a little longer?"
I blinked.
"A little longer?"
She nodded.
"I’ve had a terrible day."
I stared at her.
"Lillith."
"The day just started."
She froze for half a second.
Then immediately corrected herself.
"I meant night!"
I narrowed my eyes.
"Right."
Lillith nodded rapidly.
"I was really worried about you."
Her expression became softer.
"You weren’t sleeping very well."
I rubbed my eyes.
"I just had a weird dream."
Lillith immediately looked interested.
"What was it about?"
I considered answering.
Then shrugged.
"There was another me."
Lillith nodded thoughtfully.
"That doesn’t sound unusual."
I stared at her.
"It doesn’t?"
"No."
She looked completely serious.
"In my dreams there are usually hundreds of Leons."
I regretted asking.
"They all pamper me like a princess and tell me how wonderful I am."
I sighed.
Of course they did.
"So one Leon doesn’t sound strange at all."
I decided not to continue that conversation.
Instead I climbed out of bed and started gathering my work clothes.
Behind me, Lillith happily hummed to herself while retrieving her academy uniform.
For a brief moment, the dream crossed my mind again.
The white void.
The other Leon.
The things he said.
Then I shook my head.
Definitely a dream.
Hopefully.
And with that thought, I pushed it out of my mind and focused on getting ready for the day.
