Past memories part 3

"Son, you cannot give up. Wake up now."

This time, the voice was louder than before. I looked around but was still unable to see anything in the darkness.

"Is someone there?" I asked calmly, my voice echoing everywhere, and I waited for a reply.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared before my face, diminishing the darkness everywhere. The wounds on my face and body healed, and all my worries faded away. I was astonished to see this; it felt like magic, just like what I used to see on TV.

The bright light continued to shine on my face and soon began to change shape, taking on a human form. He was a man with features similar to mine: a slender, feminine body, white hair, glowing skin, and two white, sparkling eyes. He wore Chinese-like robes with a transparent veil over his head. He was a few inches taller than me.

I was bewildered as I witnessed the bright light transform into a human. I wanted to scream, but his gentle look toward me somehow made me quiet. I wondered who this beautiful person was.

He looked at me with a tender and soft gaze. "Yes, I'm here, my son," he said, hugging me tightly as tears formed in his eyes. "My son, how could you think of giving up? Don't you value your life? You have an entire life ahead of you."

He gently caressed my back and comforted me with love. He acted entirely like a woman, but I was bewildered to see this man calling me son. I remembered my father, Suzon, as a masculine man with average looks, but this man was like a doll with exquisite beauty.

"W-who are you, and why are you calling me your son? I'm sure I've never seen you before." I pushed the man back, and he became shocked when I did that and heard my words. Realizing he hadn't introduced himself, he calmed himself and began to explain.

"Yes, you are right; you might not remember because you weren't born when I was alive. Let me explain to you I'm your father, my son, Ariel Sylveris, and you are my son." Ariel caressed my jaw and looked at me gently. I was stunned to hear him; I couldn't believe this beautiful, handsome man was my father.

Seeing that I was still clueless, he sighed and looked at me with understanding. He moved his hand toward my forehead and touched it. I closed my eyes and felt a sharp pain in my head. Soon, I received all my memories: from my transmigration to another world, meeting Rose and Sendra, both my wives, Luna my little sister, and Frosty sending me to this illusion world.

All the torture I received from those people, the treachery I found from my Mom, the sharp pain I received from Shaitan and my family was taken away from that dark-skin man because of him Mom left Dad for him, Dad disappeared after that and I left alone. Even though they were illusions the hurt that gave me is still there.

I opened my eyes and wiped my sweat, letting out a long, panting breath. "Hhhaa! Frosty sent me into this illusion world without letting me decide. I almost gave up. If this man hadn't appeared, I would not have left that bitc—"

"Clap!"

Before I could finish my sentence, Ariel slapped my cheek, leaving a handprint. I looked at Ariel and saw he was angry.

"My son, how could you speak such a degenerate word? It is disgraceful for a man to speak that way, especially you. You are the son of Sylveris, and my son. It is taboo for us to say such things. Promise me that you will never say that again," Ariel said seriously, looking into my eyes. I stared at him as I rubbed my cheek. I pondered why he said it was bad for a man to speak slang and slapped me for that. Don't all men speak slang at least once in their life? However, my mind started reminding me that he was calling me son.

"Wait... Is this man my father from this world, the divine bloodline I received? No wonder why I look so much like a girl rather than a boy—because he is almost my mirror image except my hair and eyes are different!" I mused, looking toward Ariel, who appeared to be my dad.

"What happened? Why are you taking so much time to reply?" he asked, waiting for my response. I lingered, looking at him, wanting to ask several questions.

"Huh? Dad..." I mumbled softly, calling him Dad. His eyes brightened when he heard me, and he tightly clung to me.

"My son! You have grown up so much. I'm so happy to see you become such a fine boy! Wait, I haven't gotten your name. What is your name, son? Tell me," he asked with excitement and waited for me.

I was again shocked to hear that he didn't know my name, but he had previously said that he wasn't alive at the time when I was born. I don't know what happened to him that he died before I could be born, and I wondered who my real mom in this world was.

"My name is Xzson, Dad," I said, telling him my real name. Ariel looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, then nodded his head.

"Xz-Xzson... Xzson is such an odd name, but it is beautiful. I feel pity that I couldn't give you a name as our family always does, but I can't change fate. My son, your name from now onward will be Xzson Sylveris," he smiled and patted my head.

"Xzson Sylveris..." I pondered thinking Ariel gave me the family name, judging the family Sylveris I could say it's something big. Suddenly, a thought went through my mind as I looked at myself. I was in my original body before I transmigrated to another world, but how did he know that I was his son?

"Wait! How can you say I'm your son? Look at me!" I said. Ariel looked at me, examined my body, then nodded and agreed.

"Yes, you do look different, but I know you are still my son," he said, rubbing my shoulder. His answer perplexed me for a moment, and I didn't find his reply reasonable.

"That doesn't give me any reasonable answer—" He interrupted by putting his finger over my mouth.

"There is no doubt that you are my son. Look there!" He pointed behind me into the darkness. I turned around, curious about what he wanted me to see, but then my eyes opened in shock as I saw another body I had been living in since coming to this world, floating there with its eyes closed.

"The body you are currently in is part of your previous soul, which no longer exists in space. What you are looking at now is your original body, which you are going to inhabit forever," he said, calling that body toward us.

"But Ariel—"

"What did you say? How could you call your father by his name?" He became enraged when I called him by his name and looked at me with cold eyes.

"Dad... I'm sorry," I immediately apologized, finding it very weird to call him Dad. His face returned to a tender expression as he looked at me.

"Well, don't make me repeat that same mistake. But more importantly, what do you want to say?" he asked, examining my other body closely.

"I wanted to say... You said that my previous soul—does that mean I'm the reincarnation of someone?" I spoke hesitantly and saw that he was staring at me with a smile.

"Yes, you are originally a soul from another world and have become my son. Are you thinking that I won't accept you? I don't care about any of those thoughts. You are still my son and always will be!" Ariel spoke and soared toward me, hugging me. I felt relief when I heard him, knowing that even though I was someone from a previous world, he still accepted me as his son. If someone else were in his place, they would probably reject me after knowing my secret.

"But Dad, what happened to you? How did you end up dead? And who is my mom?" I asked desperately, wanting to find out who my mom was. To my surprise, he clenched his fist and made an uncomfortable expression.