The man in the mirror wasn't me.
The man who spoke for now wasn't me.
'I am who I am.'
"There must be something."
With clarity like none other, I pressed down on the granite and stared deeper into the mirror. The mirror that shows only 'you' now showed me someone else. I wasn't one to have faith in a mirror's capabilities over my own.
Something…
My eyes cut into the sight of 'Eugene Hall' as I observed his face.
Seeing a face… made me want to puke. It felt as if something deeply wrong was going on, afflicting my soul itself. But I had to.
I must.
I swallowed my discomfort and continued staring. From the clothes to the hairstyle. His eyes that were deep red with the color of blood weren't mine. After using World's End mine had slightly faded toward purple, is what I had heard from Lethe.
Everything. Eugene Hall was different in every aspect. No one could call him me.
This body wasn't Eugene Hall's… it was mine. That was what the mirror said.
But…
But….
Clenching my teeth, I frowned deeper. Slowly, I raised my palms in front of the mirror and at last, my eyes fell on the strip of silver wrapped around my finger, a purple ring at its fore.
Charlotte's ring, the same thing was on 'Eugene Hall's' hands.
"This fucking…"
I yanked the ring out of my hands. Right then, the man inside the mirror's ring started sweeping outward. The ring started glowing wildly as it resisted. Even the one in the mirror seemed to be pushing the ring into his hand deeper in, and with it went in my ring.
"What in the fuck?" I yanked it out with all my strength. Unfortunately for them, they weren't anywhere strong enough to contain me.
The ring neared the tip of my finger.
And then it swooped out.
The ring clanked against the granite and rolled over to the wall before falling limp on its side. Heaving a sigh, I looked up at the mirror.
"HEH."
He was smiling.
The Eugene Hall in the mirror was smiling.
On his own, without mirroring my movements, that Eugene Hall reached out toward me.
As if the only thing holding him back had gone, his fingers gently touched the mirror, and passed through it.
"Hahahaah!" He laughed.
This fucker.
"Haha… heh?"
"Did you think… you could take me on?"
With that, I grasped out. My fingers went through the mirror as I grabbed Eugene Hall's collars, and dived inside the mirror.
The battle of two minds, remained in the mind.
As 'I' dived onto the battlefield, my body fell limp on the ground.
***
Lethe flinched at a light thud.
It had begun.
She wasn't sure what or how, but she knew that something had started.
Leaning against a wall, her fingers clenched her hands tight as she took in a deep breath.
"Are you scared?"
A voice interrupted her.
This annoying brown-haired bastard was the Prince of Pinot, and apparently her love's best friend from an old world. She had heard his name and that he was a blabbermouth, but if this blabbermouth hadn't rushed to her right as he noticed something odd with him, things would have been different right now.
"Scared of what?"
"That he might lose his feelings or whatever?"
Ok.
Maybe he was a blabbermouth.
"Shut up, I do not worry about such measly issues," Lethe answered right away, her gaze shifting toward the man through her veil. The man stared back at her with an equal fierceness.
The sound of whistling interrupted them.
"Ah, toilet!" A student was rushing toward the men's room while whistling.
Albert and Lethe turned toward the approaching student at once.
"W-what…?"
"Scram."
"I'll kill you."
"Heh? W-what… d-delinquents?!"
"Tsk." Luka clicked his tongue and walked over to the student. "Look there's someone sick inside. You don't want to see it, just go a floor up."
"Ah…"
"Please."
The matter was diffused.
Luka shook his head and returned over to the other two.
"Look, I get you're friends somehow, Albert," Luka said. He had a soft spot for his friend from the last timeline, no matter how much he had changed. "But who is this woman?"
Both Albert and Lethe flinched.
It wasn't uncommon to find people who didn't know of her. After all, the entire world had forgotten about her. Unfortunately, this man had never known of her even in his previous life.
Albert didn't know of her either until his friend had reminded him. In the game's timeline, she had been offered up to the Demon King, and all the deaths that took place in hell along with hers were hidden by using the Imperial Spell.
"Who are you first?" Lethe asked. "I brought you along, but that was only at this kid's request."
"My name's Luka Rune," Luka answered, flashing her a smile that suited his reputation as an Eroge's protagonist.
"Ew."
It was a smile that Lethe found disgusting. The evil type that her lover had was more to her taste.
"So, you are?"
"She was his lover," Albert answered in her stead.
"Was? Like an ex?"
Lethe's grip hardened even more.
Albert, flashing a cunning smile, looked over at Lethe.
For 'that' man to love, to care about someone else, all of it was too wild.
But he knew now.
He was always being influenced by the other. And now, if that other was gone.
So would his thoughts and feelings towards the others. Even if his memories stay, his emotions surely won't.
Albert, just like Lethe, had faith in his friend.
He would win.
But the victor will be 'his' friend, not the one she was hoping for.
"Whether she's an ex or not… we'll know soon enough."
"Petty words won't rile me up, if that's what you want."
"Heh…" Albert scoffed. Without knowing, his emotions were leaking out. "I always found it odd that Yujin Han would care about someone else. To think he would be worried about his people, have an ensemble following him and even have a lover, all of it was deeply disturbing."
Luka watched the two carefully as they spoke.
The change in this world was far too great.
"It's as if you wish for him to be different."
"Love, fear and regret. All these only come in your way. He knows that better than anyone, and that man has had a goal for ages."
"What… goal…?" Luka finally intervened, the fear of the worst consuming him.
"Of course, it's to be the strongest." Albert smirked widely and looked at Lethe. "He had piled up a lot of weaknesses…"
"The one cared for others was not him. It was the influence of that bastard. He didn't change, he was becoming someone else all along. But…"
Albert leaned back and closed his eyes.
"I know he'll win. Even I don't know everything about Yujin Han. But this half-assed human being that I have seen all these days, who claims to worry about being strong but can't even sort his relationships out. This half-assed son of a bitch that dares say things like 'give me your fingers' but has not the guts to pull through. Half-assed is what he is. Just a half-assed living being. Not fully one thing, and not fully another. He is just a hypocrite and a loser."
Albert opened his eyes.
"That kind of bastard… can never win against Yujin Han."
Lethe bit her lips.
"You don't know much, kid. 'I am who I am,' that creed has guided his life. He is simply who he is, the one you think of is long gone."
"Oh, yeah?" Albert asked. "Then why can't he or you accept him as he was becoming right now? Why couldn't you accept Eugene Hall turning fully into Eugene Hall? Yes. Eugene Hall. That lech who leers at women and asks them out is who Eugene Hall is, not this scarred, long-haired evil bastard."
"You…"
"'I am who I am?' Don't make me laugh."
If that is the case.
"Then who even is he?"
Though Albert asked, he already knew.
All that he was now, was just a half-assed creature.
A fake.
***
A child.
No, even younger.
A baby, maybe a few days old.
Trapped inside a glass cell with white walls surrounding the entire place, was a small baby sleeping in a cradle.
"Beginning first sets of tests on Subject Apate."
"All members of the Aion laboratory are hereby congratulated. In this tumultuous world, we're on our way to create the greatest being of all.
With the mechanical voice's announcement, a file of robots started rolling into the glass chamber and moved toward the baby that lay emotionless in its cradle.
Years back.
There were two people in the world. On Earth. That were hailed as the strongest of all beings. The greatest Hero in the world, and the greatest Villain. A love story like none other
This tale was tied to them in a way they would never come to know.
A child, trapped in a lab.
Those were the first of my memories. The oldest ones.
The oldest ones that I…
Eugene Hall…
That I….
Yujin Han…
That I…
Those were the earliest memories that I held.
I…
A fake.
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