Deon V. Eirenios [2]

For the second time in one day, Walid's eyes suddenly opened, as the sharp, persistent pain caused his head to jerk back. His whole body trembled, as he became fully awake, no trace of drowsiness in his mind.

"A dream... just a dream!"

But the pain in his head continued, preventing him from..?

'Where?..' 

Which, ironically enough, was the carpeted floor—not the bed.

A feeling of déjà vu touched Walid's senses, so he tried to move his head, which felt stuck between some—thing.

As he looked to the side... The first thing Walid saw was the figure of a young girl with her alien beauty. Her gray obsidian eyes and long strands of white hair caressed her sad facial expressions.

Walid tried to lift his head from her lap, but her hands firmly held his head, refusing to let go. It left him in an awkward position.

"You are awake, thank your soul!" Vierenna commented, looking at Walid, who stared at her with an expressionless face while repeating the word 'dream' like a broken record.

"A dream? What are you talking about?.."

Finally, she let go of Walid's head when he ceased his struggles. But Walid didn't make any effort to get up, which prompted Vierenna to call him again, gently caressing his cheek with her pale, delicate hand. "Baby Brother?!.."

As Walid snapped out of his zone-out state, he lifted his head from Vierenna's lap, but he didn't look her in the eyes. He just bowed his head down in despair and disbelief.

There was no room for denial now.

Nonetheless, his stomach churned in rejection.

"I just had a strange dream." That was all Walid said to Vierenna in a barely audible voice.

She seemed to understand something Walid himself struggled to grasp.

"I know what father said, but I don't think he meant it. Even if he did, you don't have to worry because I'm here." She said in a reassuring tone. The texture of her voice somehow calmed his thoughts enough to regain some composure.

"Thank you…" Walid said, his voice still faint, as he couldn't muster the strength to speak loudly.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you before... I'm really sorry." Walid apologized for something he didn't understand, but it was a logical thing to do until he figured out his current situation.

Vierenna shook her head with a heart-warming smile on her face. "It's okay... I understand, and you don't have to worry about anything. You'll be just fine."

She stood up from the carpeted floor and held Walid's hands to pull him up. "I've taken waking you up every morning as a routine since mother's passing. You can imagine my shock when you started asking for my name out of thin air."

"But with yesterday's events, and father snapping at you... well…" She bowed her head slightly while still holding Walid's hands.

"But I stood up to him, it's not his right to yell at you for something you were born with." She said with a proud expression, her gray obsidian eyes locked with his.

Walid remained silent the whole time. He didn't want to say anything that might reveal he wasn't the person she thought he was. So, he just absent-mindedly nodded to all of Vierenna's words.

Vierenna seemed to notice his behavior, so she released his hands and took a step back.

"You're still in your night clothes, and... breakfast is ready. I'll wait for you downstairs."

She made her way to the door, as sad expression evident on her face.

Walid didn't say anything, he just watched her bowed back as she walked steadily toward the rooms exit, which was left wide open.

Remembering his situation, Walid called out to the girl before she exited the door, his dead tone refusing to change. "Can you wait for me by the door?.."

Vierenna turned to look at Walid and then nodded with a smile. He couldn't call her 'sister' either, his heart didn't allow him to do so.

"Until I change and we go together."

The reason for Walid's strange request was because he still didn't know where he was. Although he had solved a bit of the mystery he found himself in, there were still many unknowns left for him. The simplest, ironically enough, was the 'downstairs' Vierenna mentioned.

Vierenna nodded again and left, closing the door behind her. She didn't forget to flash a smile in his direction before closing the door completely.

Walid stood still in his previous spot, his eyes still fixed on the closed door. He looked around the room, searching for a place to change clothes, if there even was one.

Thanks to the room's organization, it was easy for him to spot the gap in the shape of a door with a red curtain covering it.

With trembling steps, Walid moved towards the gap.

His goal was clear.

If what was behind the curtain was a changing room, there should be a mirror inside.

Walid tried to hold on to the thin thread of hope he had, but he knew already that the end of the thread had been cut a long time ago, or led to nothing at best. But either way, he still wanted to see for himself.

With that in mind, He pulled the red curtain aside and entered the changing room.

Walid didn't pay much attention to the room itself as his eyes were drawn to the full-body mirror on the far side of the changing room.

To his relief, the mirror wasn't facing him.

But soon, that relief was destined to be shattered.

With trembling steps and a heavy heart, Walid took his first steps towards the mirror. Each step closer to the mirror pushed his hope and mind further away from the reality he didn't want to face.

Upon reaching it, the indifference he had built to protect himself shattered like thin glass on the side of the street. Walid didn't have the strength to collapse to the ground or to remain standing, but somehow, his legs kept his balance despite his minimal control over his body.

'This can't be!..'

'This can't be true!..'

'It shouldn't be!..'

Walid's thoughts were chaotic, but it didn't prevent him from recognizing the reflection in the mirror before him.

Dark, messy black hair reaching the shoulders like moving shadows threatening defiance and chaos. Wide violet eyes with intricate patterns on their spherical surface like fragments of twilight enveloped in sickly light. Pale, sickly white skin, like an untouched canvas reflecting light with cold elegance. And other details of a character supposed to exist only as words on paper.

Walid just stared at the reflection, unwilling to mentally acknowledge the reflection that wasn't his.

But his ears heard the words he didn't want to speak.

"Deon V. Eirenios."

And it was him speaking, even though he didn't know it and didn't acknowledge it.

Despite that, what choice did he have?