Pyramid

I snapped out of it at one of the most intense moments. After quite a long time, I was alone once again, in a cave lit by the yellow glowing dust.

"Enjoying the experience?" I was asked by a familiar voice, in an alien tone. It was what I have been told to be my future self.

I looked around to make things out through my tears blurring my vision without saying anything. I was disoriented and very confused.

"Well, well; just like thought." the voice answered himself. "I will leave you alone for now."

I couldn't understand. I had snapped out of the false reality, yet I was still feeling the sorrow of leading people to their death, including myself. I was still thinking of Aya, like she really was my daughter... But this wasn't true. These events I had seen had happened many years ago. I wasn't that doctor, Aya wasn't my daughter; and if she got to live after all that, she would've died of old age by now, a long time ago in fact.

I knew that, yet it took some time to convince myself. I wasn't that doctor, and those were simply the recreations of events far back in the past.

I saw rays of light appearing from somewhere behind me. Rocks moved apart and created an opening in the wall.

"Friend, well done." - I remembered the voice of the old Mr. Engin. That elderly man was calling me out of the room. "It is over, you may return to your current perspective at will."

I turned around and walked through the passage on the wall. The opening closed after I went through.

"Well..." he said. "You did good, my child, you did very good indeed."

"The history..." I said.

"Yes." he said. "The story of this mountain enclave you asked for."

"I didn't get to see the temple." I said.

"You didn't get to see the whole story." he said in return. "But take heart. This, by far, was the best first attempt anyone had done so far, including my very own self."

"You were watching me." I said.

"I was watching you." he said. "This was the most important part of your training. Well, a little scared at first, you managed to come up with some poorly made choices. And actually through the entire thing, to be honest..."

"And how does that make a good attempt?" I asked.

"As far as I know, no one could stand so much pressure for so long without any prior experience of being subjected to such hellish scenarios in such a... stimulating way." he said.

"How can I get to see the remainder of the story?" I asked him.

"You were not strong enough to make it past a peak point in the story. You will be trained, and you can try again when you feel you are ready." he said. "The story itself is not necessary for completing your training, but I know you want to see it. Everyone does, everyone did."

"You knew I wouldn't make it to the end." I said.

"I knew very well what was going to happen to you." he said. "It was necessary for your journey into a new world that you wouldn't believe in if you were told by a stranger in the street."

"What happens now?" I asked, finally wiping my tears.

"Now, you rest." he said. "Oh, let me take you to the pyramid."

"The pyramid..."

He patted my back and guided me to the pyramid I've seen earlier. A smooth stone door opened. Interior of the pyramid was decorated by many shiny stones in beautiful and interesting patterns. It was glowing in a dark purplish tint instead of the usual yellow I could see everyhwere else.

Towards one of the walls, there was a bed made out of wood and stone and covered in white wool. Towards the opposite wall, there was some sort of stone lectern - I couldn't quite understand it's purpose.

"Here." Mr. Engin said. "Go ahead, have a good sleep. You may not have noticed while you were in those false realities, but it's been quite some time since you last slept."

"I feel tired indeed." I said.

"So, go ahead." he said again.

As soon as I stepped into the pyramid, the light turned from purple to green.

"What does that mean?" I asked. Mr. Engin knew what I was referring to.

"You will see." he said. "I am closing the door."

The pyramid's stone door slided to cover the enterance completely. I was left alone by myself. Feeling tired and having nothing else to do at the moment, I laid down on the bed.

The green light intensified. I felt a pleasant vibration through my body. A warmness covered all my naked skin. My body was feeling heavy, but it was comfortable.

But most importantly, my mind was put to peace. The emotional residues I had gathered through my recent experiences were slowly being washed away. I was now thinking of... pretty much nothing - which was usually a very hard task for me.

I slowly closed my eyes to give in to sleep. Just then, I remembered.

"Sena?"

All this time, what was she doing? Also her mother Ms. Saka... I haven't seen them. Where could they be?

I got back up and went to the pyramid's door. I wanted to open it, but there was no button or handle I could try. I simply put my hands on the tilted door to get a grip and try to slide it open. It moved a few centimeters, but that was it. The spark of hope I was given didn't last long.

"Mr. Engin?" I said. "Mr. Engin, are you there?"

He obviously wasn't. I was getting anxious and a bit claustrophobic in the pyramid, which was actually relatively large in size. Mostly because my claustrophobia wasn't about the actual size of the pyramid, but rather the feeling it was giving to me.

My body was now feeling a bit too heavy to keep a bipedal upright position. I went back to bed with no choice.

My muscles forced my eyes shut. I lost control over my body, and soon after, I was in deep sleep.