Cane had a beautiful dream.
It was a glorious day in spring. There were no buildings in sight - only an open meadow, with rows and rows of neverending trees surrounding it. Flowers of all kinds of shapes and colours populated the tallgrass, with the hum of crickets and the twitting of birds to fill the silence.
There, he saw his family once more. The children he'd once raised as his own siblings, their nameless faces flashing past in a smile.
"Hahaha! Big brother Cane, come and play tag!" One of the younger girls ran past him, disappearing into the tallgrass in the next moment.
It's her. I remember... I once stole medicine for her when she was sick.
Cane stood, dumbfounded. Then, a pure, lighthearted grin crept onto his face.
"... Alright! But..." Cane crouched into position. "I'm it!"
He chased after the children with his Apprentice Warrior speed, laughing and giggling all the while. Like a child - like how he was supposed to be.
In an instant, he'd caught all of them, picking them up by the collars of their stolen shirts.
"Hehe, hey! No fair, you cheated!" A young boy sulked midair, kicking his feet in protest. Cane only smiled.
I remember you as well! You once almost got us caught by the police... Cane shuddered inwardly. That day, I had to hide with you inside of a dumpster.
"There's nothing cheating about being fast!" He flicked the kid on the forehead - lightly. "You guys are just too slow."
As he let them back to the ground, the unruly boy spoke once more. "You were already the fastest and oldest, so it's no fair! Plus, you're super-strong now, big brother." He playfully glared at Cane.
"Give us a head start, then it'll be fair! Hmm... count down from... one hundred!"
Another kid butted in.
"No, two hundred!"
"No-"
"Alright, alright! Two hundred it is." Cane stopped them before they could go any further. If he let them continue talking, he might have to count until he died of old age!
Cane shut his eyes and began to count. With that, all the kids rushed away from him, giggling all the while. Cane smiled as well.
One, two, three...
...
"Two hundred!"
Cane finished counting relatively fast, but when he looked up, he was no longer in that beautiful meadow.
Instead, he was at a familiar place.
A very familiar place.
Cane once again saw the walls and ceilings of the abandoned apartment, coated with blood. The floors had huge puddles of red. Cane remembered this sight. He'd seen it after that meeting with the mysterious cloaked figure, gained powers and awakened.
The day he'd won it all, and the day he'd lost it all.
The surroundings seems to stretch and warp, continuously moving away from Cane as he stood, locked in place.
A shadowy figure appeared behind Cane, causing him to turn around in alarm. "Who are you!"
Cane reached behind his back for a weapon, and somehow found a dagger in his hands. He lunged at the shadowy figure, only to be countered.
What!?
The two fought, but were evenly matched. In fact, they were the exact same. One was Cane, as he'd once been in the past, and one was Cane, as he was in the present.
Past Cane woRe simple clothes - stolen, of course. The tags had been stripped, the colour had been bleached, the long sleeves had been cut to fit it into a t-shirt. He worE cargo shorts aNd shoes which were almost too small, but somehow still okay.
Simply put, it was purely for function.
Present Cane wore a Dark black clOak with a white mask. Beneath the Velvet cloak, he worE luxurious scales. Everything, fRom the cloak to the belt to the clothes had been expensive. He even had custom-fitted boots, gilded at the heels.
They didn't even serve a good purpose, truth be told. The scales added nothing in the way of defence, and the extra colours was terrible for stealth.
Cane looked at Cane in amazement and shock. How unrecognisable. Is this... really me?
Then, Present Cane spoke. "It's time to stop living in the past. We need... we need to remember. Just who killed our family? WHY did they do it? AND WHERE ARE THEY NOW!!!"
Past Cane was silent. He had no words to say. In that moment, Present Cane lunged forward and stabbed his dagger at Past Cane's neck.
Past Cane shut his eyes tight in anticipation, but...
But nobody came.
Cane was back in a different location. It was a warm, familiar one once again.
He was in the main hall of the Border Control dorms.
Off to the side, Abel was drinking different concoctions. Cane never knew what they were, but he wasn't willing to find out either. Chuck and Noelle were chatting on the sofa, poring over schematics.
"Heya, Cane! What are you staring at?" Krouse sidled up next to Cane, who was still frozen in the shock. Cane snapped back to reality.
"Uhh, nothing really. I was just... thinking."
Krouse nodded, looking quite serious. "Yes, indeed. I don't usually spend much time thinking either, so whenever I do, I make sure to think as much as I can!"
Krouse suddenly paused. He cocked his head, looking at Cane.
"You're not Cane. Not the one I know, anyway. You... you're older."
Cane's heart skipped a beat. "... What?"
Krouse smiled, and Cane could only sigh in defeat.
"How did you know?"
"I'm a Healing Personality. I could tell that you weren't the Cane I knew the moment we talked." Krouse sat down, motioning for Cane to sit down with him.
"Healing Personality? What's that?" Cane had never heard of such a term.
Krouse thought for a moment. "I'm not too sure either. But anyway, they killed a lot of children, all so they could create it. And I'm the host for it! Really, it's some frightening stuff, what they're doing." Krouse leaned in conspiratorially.
"Y'know, whenever they kill those kids, it doesn't even leave a trace of their bodies? Instead, it just splatters all the blood everywhere and leaves behind that coloured residue they all collect."
No bodies... blood splattered everywhere... "They" killed a lot of children...
Cane's mind suddenly connected the dots.
"Wait, WHO WERE THOSE PEOPLE!" He yelled at Krouse in a fit of desperation and threw himself at him. Krouse opened his mouth to speak.
"Hell's Researchers, of course. They -"
Stab!
A dagger through Krouse's throat cut his words short. Behind Krouse stood Present Cane once more.
"What use is it, playing with these stupid memories? Get back to the PRESENT!!" Present Cane reached out and grabbed the throat of Past Cane, who was still frozen in shock at the sight of his friend's death.
"They're already dead. The only thing we can do for them is take revenge." Present Cane began to tighten his grip. "And that means doing whatever it takes! Forget your past friends. Forget your past family. F*ck, forget your current friends too."
He threw Past Cane to the floor.
"Kill whoever gets in our way. Accumulate wealth, take control of the ENTIRE F*CKING CITY!!! Become one of The Wealthy Ones. And kill the rest."
With those final words, a knife was lodged into Past Cane's temple.
Cane watched in silence as Cane bled out.
Cane couldn't believe Cane would kill him, but he did.
Cane turned to leave, leaving behind Cane as he died right there on the floor.
Cane's surroundings disappeared, revealing only an empty, dark room. Cane left the room, and Cane stayed behind.
It was time to step into the light.
It was time to wake up.
WAKE UP.
WAKE UP.
WAKE UP.
...
"WAKE UP, CANE!!!" A slap came across Cane's face as his eyes shifted into focus.
"... Huh?" Cane blinked away the sleep, feeling an odd sense of pain which reminded him of that day. Cane couldn't help but wonder to himself. Did that mysteriously cloaked figure show up earlier?
"Cane, please wake up!" Another slap came flying, and Cane quickly caught it. The hand belonged to Cassidy, who'd been frantically calling for him and also periodically hitting him.
"Cassidy? What are you doing here?" Cane stared in bewilderment. It wasn't just her. All his other friends had come too, and they stood around his bed with concern visible in their eyes.
"You were unconscious in the hospital for a few days, so we thought you'd be okay. Who could've thought that you'd suddenly started screaming while asleep?" Frytz spoke up in a marveling tone. Jeremy also stepped forward.
"Did something happen while you were unconscious? Any sort of dreams, or memories?"
Cane thought for a moment, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything. It was like a portion of his memory, a portion of his brain was missing. Or dead.
"No, I don't think so."
Yes, there was nothing. Nothing left, nothing anymore.
Gabriel shrugged with a smile. "Well, if you say so."
He and Susie took one of Cane's arms each, helping him to sit up fully and get off the bed.
Cane took a few steps hesitantly, then stood up, back straight.
"I think I'll be okay. Let's go!"
With Cane's words, everyone nodded. Cane and his friends left the hospital without looking back.
The group began to chat and joke around once more. Cane also laughed and chatted, though he felt a slight sense of disconnect. He brushed it off.
Nothing important.
Jeremy caught Cane up on the info of everything he'd missed while unconscious. Cassidy also handed Cane his weapons and cloak, to which he took and held with a newfound sense of ease, as if he was more comfortable using them.
Looking from any outsider's perspective, all anyone might see would be a group of good friends, having a trip outside.
Nothing seemed off, and everyone looked happy.
But secretly, without anyone knowing, not even Cane himself, something was changing within him.
A shift, from past to present.
The Dream Reaffirmed.