Author’s note- I have another chapter ready for you all! And although the hiatus is still in effect, I don’t plan on dropping this story. It’s pretty fun for me to write it, so I do it whenever I have access to a public computer. And as for comments about Breath of the Wild, don’t worry about it. If this situation continues, I’ll only be able to play it about 1 day every week. That shouldn’t be too much, right?

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Back to the Dreamspace

We talked for a while, before our conversation was interrupted by a loud voice that cried out,

Mom- “DINNER!”

Dinner? Oh, did I miss lunch? Thinking back, I realized that I had left after breakfast, and it seems during my absence, lunch was served.

I didn’t think too deeply about the events, but instead I got up from the couch. What was for dinner?

It was a simple meal that consisted of mashed potatoes along with ground beef. Shepherd’s pie, I believe.

I sat down at the dining table, the fancier table in the house that we used only when we had guests. It was ironic, considering the fact that we had a simple shepherd’s pie to eat. But I digress. At the head of the table was Dad, to his right was Mom, and Grandma and Granddad sat to the left and right of me respectively.

Thinking back to the events from earlier, I looked over at Mom. There were no signs of the emotional breakdown from before, but instead, she looked even more vibrant than before. But that was only on the surface. I knew for a fact that this was the result of applying extra makeup, not from an improvement of mood. Perhaps it was simply a mask of beauty to hide her insecurity.

Sticking my fork into the food, I asked probingly,

Me- “So Mom. How are you feeling?”

Yes. I knew that the question was somewhat blunt. But it expressed my feelings of sympathy, as well as allowing me to better determine how she was really feeling.

Her expression didn’t change as she smoothly responded,

Mom- “Fine. Thanks for asking.”

The first part of her response was normal, but the second part was overly polite, much politer than normal. Was she really ok? Or am I reading into it too far?

Me- “You’re welcome.”

The dinner continued on, and we made small talk with a bit of humor added within. Looking in from the outside, this could be considered a happy family reunion. But with the knowledge of recent events, an unspeakable heaviness seemed to form an invisible pressure that weighed heavily upon me. Therefore, it was to my delight when everyone had finally finished their food.

As a show of courtesy, I gathered the finished plates of everyone at the table. Then, I brought them to the sink and rinsed them thoroughly. Once this was done, I went upstairs to my room without dismissing myself. And as I went up, I heard comments on how well mannered I was. Unfortunately, I could garner no joy from this.

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As soon as my eyes closed, I opened them again to find myself staring into the clouds while lying in a pool of water. This again!?

Sitting up immediately, I found myself observing me with a serious expression on his face.

Me- “What are you doing?”

Me?- “Nothing. It’s just, this is the same expression you had when you asked Mom on how she was feeling. Too obvious…”

The corner of my mouth twitched, as I tried to keep up an indifferent expression.

Me- “So? I got my point across, didn’t I?”

The other me smiled knowingly,

Me?- “True. But you didn’t get the answer you wanted to hear either. I’m sure that Mom was just putting up a front to calm you down. To make sure that you didn’t do anything crazy again.”

Me- “Crazy? What do you mean?”

Me?- “… Did you lock that memory away as well? Was it really so terrible that you can’t even think about it?”

A conflicted expression appeared on my face, as it felt like something dark was tugging at the corners of my mind. But just before I could figure out what it was, my thoughts suddenly went blank.

Me- “Crazy? What do you mean?”

Me?- “Never mind. If you learn to use our power well enough, this won’t of concern.”

This? What is he talking about?

Me- “You aren’t making any sense.”

He smiled mysteriously, and started to step back.

Me?- “Come. You want to get stronger, so we can protect both Chloe and our pride as men, right? Well, you’re going to have to get better at using our powers in order to do so.”

I knew that he had changed the subject, but for some reason, I didn’t want to explore deeper into it. And plus, getting stronger was more important than that, right?

Me- “What do you want me to do?”

In response to my question, the other me summoned the golden aura in a way that it covered his whole body.

Me?- “I think I told you already, but our golden aura is literally ‘liquid’ luck. And the way you have been using our ability tells me you don’t truly understand what luck really is.”

Me- “Just get to the point already. No need for all the background information.”

He frowned.

Me?- “Listen to me. I have a full 8 hours to talk. 8 hours! And I could extend our time even further if I wished. We have all the time in the world, so if you keep interrupting me, I won’t even say anything. I’ll just extend the time we have together in here.”

I shut my mouth, but not because of his threat. In reality I chose to do so because I knew that without his guidance, it would take me much longer to train my ability.

Me?- “Good. Now back to the point. You have been using the golden aura to provide information about the present, like ‘what’s the best way to reach this location’ or ‘where is this person.’ That’s all fine and dandy, but I would advise you to not take this route any further. Especially when it comes to the future; things like that are better left unknown.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Me- “Are you implying that it would work?”

My other self’s face turned solemn.

Me?- “Listen carefully when I say this; the day that you try to divine something pertaining the future with our ability is the day that we die. And a simple mistake in the wording in which you choose to express your desire can lead to our deaths. That’s why I suggest that you stray away from obtaining information from the present; there is a fine line between the present and the future.”

Me- “Ok.”

Me?- “Good. Now luck at its core is not a combat ability, so it will not be nearly as effective as our body strengthening to attack or defend against the enemy. But, it is a very effective support. For example, take a man who wins the lottery. He gets millions of dollars, but that money can be useless to him if he squanders it on gambling, or some other ineffective means. But if he uses it to buy something, he can transform that money into something useful to him.”

He paused.

Me?- “You… Have only begun using this concept. The flame tornado, the flame point series, even the ice bullets are like transformations of your ‘money.’ But why are you so focused on ways to directly attack or defend with our ability when indirect means suit our ability so much better?”

Me- “What do you mean?”

He gave off a toothy grin and said playfully,

Me?- “Watch.”

The golden aura emerged from his skin, swirling around to areas without much aura. Soon it enveloped his whole body in a golden radiance, yet I could still see his features. Was that how I looked when I tried to make a golden mask with my aura?

Suddenly, I felt a sense of shame, and I started to remember those events as clear as day-

Me?- “Focus!”

I looked back up as his voice awoke me from my thoughts. But there was no one there...?

Me- “What in the world? Where’d you go?”

Me?- “Over here.”

The voice came from my right; so my head whipped around to face, empty air?

My scalp prickled at the eeriness of the situation. Had he merged with the dreamspace?

My other self taunted me, saying,

Me?- “No. This is something you can do in real life.”

Behind me!

Instead of turning around only to face empty air again, I froze the water that surrounded me until I heard an exhalation of surprise.

Me?- “No fair!”

I turned around to face empty air once again, but I wasn’t surprised. Instead, I looked down at the ice, seeing two small pools of water that each looked big enough around to encompass a foot. Got him!

Me- “So you turned invisible?”

He seemed to materialize from thin air, and then a flame appeared from mid-air, melting the ice around his feet.

Me?- “Well, the phrase ‘turning invisible’ isn’t entirely accurate. Instead the phrase “bending light” would be a better word to use.”

I frowned.

Me- “Doesn’t light spread out uniformly? How is it that my ability can influence chance to make the light bend around me?”

Me?- “… I guess this is my fault for not explaining things clearly. As long as it isn’t part of something living, our ability can manipulate it. But although all abilities can draw on the limitless world energy existing everywhere, the power of each is also limited. In our case, the power threshold for our ability is incredibly low. However, our ability can also manipulate things in the most efficient way possible in order to achieve your desire. Even though light goes incredibly fast, its mass is also incredibly small, so it is easy to manipulate.”

I slowly nodded my head; I was starting to get it.

Me- “So I can go invisible whenever I want now?”

The other me frowned,

Me?- “Not exactly. The more things you choose to do with our ability at the same time, the lower your power threshold will be for each thing. So if you choose to create something like a flame point X10 while you have invisibility active, you will become visible, and the point will be weakened drastically.”

Me- “Anything else to worry about?”

Me?- “Yes. The faster you move around, the more likely you will become visible. So invisibility is not something that I recommend using during open conflict. In fact, I wouldn’t worry about using the flame point at the right time, or freezing something to fire out during combat either. All of that is actually lowering your combat effectiveness.”

This statement kinda ticked me off. If I didn’t use my ability in the way I did, then how would I ever survived?

Me- “Then what would you suggest, oh smart one?”

He smiled irritatingly.

Me?- “The smart one would suggest that you voice a simple desire such as, ‘first priority, ensure survival and second priority, eliminate threats.’ Although it kind of sounds robotic, it would use your ability to its full effectiveness in almost every situation. There is no need for freezing a whole lake, or worrying about manually avoiding bullets from a sniper. Almost everything can be taken care of.”

Me- “Then what is my role? Just to try and avoid getting hit?”

Me?- “No. That would be making complete waste of our other ability, the body strengthening. What you need to do is to learn how to fight and fight well.”

Me- “But aren’t I good enough to beat both dad and granddad? I already know how to fight well.”

Me?- “Oh please! You’re just a freaking beast that relies solely upon basic moves and its strong body to fight. If you didn’t cheat with your ability, then you never would of won against dad. And plus, that’s only close combat. If some dudes with sturdier weapons come to play, you won’t stand a chance.”

My voice rose a bit in anger from the provocation, especially because it was the truth.

Me- “So what am I supposed to do!? Just sit down in sorrow because of my incompetency?”

Me?- “No. We fight. I’ll teach you what you have forgotten over the past few years!”

He launched a roundhouse kick at me, and we began my training.

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Author’s note 2- So… I kinda said everything I wanted to in the first author’s note, so you guys can read that one if you haven’t already and if you care.