…

When Zia opened her eyes, she was met with a ridiculous scene. High-rise buildings, all sorts of vehicles, and the people… they are a lot of them. Even the most prosperous empire cannot compare to this place.

“It feels like…” She paused on her words, hesitant about how to describe this place.

“A different civilization.” At the end of her words, he showed himself. A familiar mole, dark hair, the same eyes— it’s him, but older, more mature, and more dangerous.

But… A different civilization? How does he know this? Zia backed away, an unknown fear creeping into her. It’s a mistake, she shouldn’t have come here in the first place.

“Empath,” He called. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Who are you?”

“I am certainly not the guy you were fighting outside.”

Huh? What is this? A split personality? There is too much unknown here. Zia has entered many mental worlds but none like this world before her. It feels like the real world.

There were some kids bickering while their parents admonish them. An office worker faring for a cab. The warmth of the sun above is too detailed. The honks of the cars are loudly vivid to her ears.

“Empath, you shouldn’t be here.” He repeated.

“Why?”

“If you stay any longer, you might be stuck in this world forever”

Chills… soaked her bones. The Alfir in front of her turned his back from her and disappeared with the wind. The mystery, it’s more than she can bargain for. And now, a fate far worse than death is threatening to engulf her.

Fwwwshhh… Tud…

It was the sound of the wind, and something… a tud… a sound, a slight impact. When she looked over, what she saw was her own body spraying a fountain of blood from its severed neck.

“Aaa-AAA-aaa-a-AAAaaAhHHHHHHH!”

The horror is real. Just beside her limping carcass is another her. The beautiful pink hair, she can’t mistake it, it is her. However, this version of her is quite an outrage. It has serrated teeth like that of a wolf. And a set of hungry eyes that seems to devour her by sight alone.

“Hiiieeeee~” The monstrosity uttered a strange sound with a smile, it then severed Zia’s limbs, mangled it, disfigured it… Like an expert processor, the monster made mincemeat of her. The head remained untouched, but that didn’t offer any relief to the horror-struck Zia.

Watching herself getting dismembered bones to bones pushed Zia to the edge of her sanity. Fear, it’s not just painful… it’s torturous.

Zia wanted to speak, to remain logical and objective. Ask the monster questions, and get as much information as she can. However none of that matters, the primal fear robbed her strength away. She is helpless.

The monstrosity pulled a box out of nowhere, Zia can feel her head being dragged. She was put in the box together with her dismantled flesh…

…

An instant passed. Zia opened her eyes. She was met with the silence of the crowd of people. It’s the arena. She shuddered, her experience inside that mental world remained in her mind like a stigma. Her gloomy complexion, trembling lips, the fear— she remembers it.

Zia touched herself, her shoulders, fingers, and lips… the smile on her face is real… she is here, alive! A uniquely relieved face etches itself into her face. The turmoil in her mind was still there, but that doesn’t matter anymore. If you saw the things she saw, nothing matters anymore.

“What did you see?”

Huh? Zia looked at Alfir, the person who called to her, the very owner of that mental world. His eyes are bloodshot. He cracked his fingers as if trying to remove the obscure itch in his skin, the feeling of discomfort is not leaving him.

Alfir puked blood, clearly a sign of internal injury. Zia observed the silent crowd, “What happened?”

…

It was only a microsecond, but Alfir immediately realized it. Zia entered his mental world, an act that is only possible if her opponent’s mind is in disarray, however, Alfir’s mutation shouldn’t have permitted that.

‘Possibly, was my mind always in disarray in the first place?’ Well, for one, he hears voices in his head. And two, he’s not really in good mental health.

Entering a mental world, it’s a dangerous skill that might put its user into a coma. Zia’s recklessness confounds Alfir, just what did she see?

‘Just what did you see to make a thoughtless move like this?’

Alfir spurned his mutation to work, [Mind Over Body]…

By inflicting internal injury to himself, erratic neural impulses, and forcing his involuntary organs to move as they were not intended, Alfir was rendered into a perfectly ‘thoughtless’ state. His body convulsed, and quickly, Zia’s mental invasion was rejected.

The sight of the suddenly convulsing Alfir made the crowd scared. Just what is really going on?

It took him some time to gather his bearings, but when he did, he discovered his shadow/s slithering as if they were alive. Alfir observed Zia, maybe… is the reason she did what she did is because of this?

The nature of these shadows is indecipherable and chaotic… Alfir intuitively imagined it, yet he cannot describe it. The crowd can’t see these slithering shadows. Even the academy principal and Jimmy Simmons can’t…

Only Alfir and Zia can observe this.

“What did you see?” Alfir asked Zia.

But before even Zia answers, Alfir started to puke blood… and more blood… and more… The shadow, Alfir felt it looking at him. The sun is at its peak, and its high noon, making his shadow embedded in the stone-clad floor look more vivid in contrast.

“What did you see?” Alfir gritted his teeth, demanding Zia to answer.

“I… I sa— $*^$$%@^(*(*)[email protected]”

Huh? What? Alfir felt his ears getting hot. It’s bleeding. He dropped to one knee, uncertain why this is even happening to him. Zia panicked at the sight, she rushed to Alfir and reached to offer her hand.

Zia doesn’t know why she is reacting like this, but since it already came to this, she might as well finish it. When she was about to yell to the referee and ask for help, Alfir unexpectedly held her arms… His grip is strong. He looked into her eyes and begged “What did you see?”

And from Zia’s lips, Alfir read…

‘Have you ever been put in a box?’ Zia probed.

‘What?’ Anger, remorse, and confusion. Even without using her abilities, Zia can detect the chaos in Alfir’s heart. Alfir himself doesn’t even know why he is feeling these emotions

Zia, a villain of the story thought to be incapable of expressing sympathy, is directing Alfir with a sympathetic gaze. ‘I met a monster inside you, and… it looked like me… It was horrible. And… That world, where is that? Just who are you?’ She whispered soundlessly to Alfir.

Questions are piling up… And Zia can’t suppress her curiosity anymore. An awfully wrong move on her part… for it triggered something…

“Empath, you shouldn’t be here.”

“!?”