Chapter 1
Collision; Eden and "Eden?"
Pain. That was the first thing I felt. On its own, pain is a problem. But pain without explanation stops being pain, and it becomes depression…. sometimes it borders on madness. Everyone had an excuse as to why they were in pain, excuses like, "Oh, I'm old," or "I just broke a few bones." Not me, I just got slapped with a world of pain after my uneventful afternoon. Well, it wasn't uneventful per se, rather the events that took place that afternoon were events I'd rather not talk about. Here's a hint though: it had something to do with watching the final episode of my favourite show and witnessing my favourite character die at the end of that show.
People may think me irresponsible for this, but I had based most of my personality on that guy. Ok, maybe less irresponsible and more childish, but I mean, hey, everyone has their own quirks, right? Anyway, back on topic, the topic of pain. It felt as though my head was cracked in two; not only that, but my ribs felt like glass. I could tell even without an X-ray that there were, at the very least, several hairline fractures and more.
"What happened to me?" The words left my mouth without permission.
My voice came out hoarser than it should've, a result of all the energy drinks I had, no doubt. When I tried to pull myself upright, I felt a wet towel fall from my forehead. The sound of my own bones rattling rang inside me, followed by a stabbing pain all over my body.
"Aghh!" I groaned.
What the Hell kind of position was I sleeping in?
As I wondered that, I caught a glimpse of my arms- my one arm. My left arm was there, my right arm…. wasn't. My left arm itself was covered in bandages, while my right arm was a stump that barely extended beyond my elbow. With each passing second, my situation felt less like a joke and more like a nightmare. It was a nightmare; it had to be.
The proof was in the room itself; it was made from stone. My room was made from concrete. And my room had a TV that faced my bed, it was great for late-night binging, I could box a whole series from the comfort of my bed. This current room I found myself in was different. Save for the bed I was on, there was another right across from my own, stone walls on all four corners, a mirror, a chair, and a rug on the floor. Basically, everything a standard bedroom would have, but at the same time, it lacked everything my bedroom had.
I stumbled off the bed I was on and dragged myself to the mirror. God, even my legs felt as though they were about to break. When I got to the mirror, I almost had a heart attack.
Bandages were covering the left side of my face. My hair was the wrong length- heck it was the wrong colour. I don't remember dying it any colour, let alone white, not to mention it was long enough to cover my nape. My right arm was missing- missing. Gone even.
I had so many questions with little to no answers. No, the answers were flowing into my head with the force of a hammer. I remembered everything.
R-Reiya. I stumbled on a random thought.
She isn't a random thought, you bastard; that's the mother of your child!
Mother of my child!? I'm a twenty-year-old college student who writes online to pay for tuition. What "Mother of my child" could I be thinking about?
I was actually arguing with my own mind. I had to be going insane; it had to be the only thing that made any sense at this point, otherwise all the memories I had were a lie.
My childhood was occupied by cartoons at 7 AM every Saturday, school from Monday to Friday, a high school crush here, some emotional maturity there, and I was well into my early twenties, last, I remember. These other memories, a nun for a mom, a dark elf sister, a university for magic? HUNTER?...Reiya. My wife. The woman I risked my life to protect again and again. A genius who was on her way to becoming a doctor, the woman who was carrying my child inside of her.
She was…killed? Right. It all started to play out now. These new memories of mine. We were attacked by a high-class demon, a strong one at that, maybe even the strongest. He wrought havoc on the capital. I, along with a few dozen knights, tried to fight him off. We were beaten. Hard. I lost that fight, and he took my eye. Reiya tried to jump in, but she was stabbed right through the chest. Everything after that was a blur.
"Kgh…...Graahh!!!"
Suddenly, I was weeping. For a woman I'd never even met before. In that instant, I felt as though two pieces of myself were finally reconciling. The viewer was me, who watched all these memories play out. And the actor who was Eden Connor, who lived these memories for the past sixteen years. Were we two different people? Or just one person living different stages of the same life?
It didn't matter. As I sat there weeping for the life I remember having but couldn't recall living. Both Eden and I, mourned for Reiya.