Dès Vu

"Ok. First off, my name is Rin, and I'm not actually a gemstone. I'm… a person. Better known as a female…"

She said it with a teasing lilt, like she thought I'd never heard the word female before. My head was still pounding, and my thoughts felt sluggish, but I managed to give her a blank stare in response.

"Hehe, sorry, sorry. I'll continue." She cleared the phlegm from her throat before continuing. 

"We currently reside in the R-Sequence known as R-001X. To break it down—the R stands for reality. 001 determines which set of variants we're in. And X is the specific variant. All Sequences have a similar order, it's mad confusing, but I don't have the patience for that at the moment ."

She spoke fast, almost rehearsed, like she had given this explanation before. Before I could fully process what she was saying, she pushed on.

"All residents of a Sequence are aware of the name of their Sequence due to a group of people called Reality Walkers. Walkers for short. You'll also hear the name 'The Boundless' thrown around by the community. And the people who dislike Walkers often call them Drifters, since we're able to essentially 'drift' to other R-Sequences."

Walkers. Drifters. Boundless. The words bounced around in my head, meaningless and hollow.

"Most Walkers only jump when their current Sequence becomes unstable or when they aren't satisfied with the Sequence they're in. But very few even do that much. You, on the other hand..."

She hesitated.

I didn't miss the slight shift in her tone, the way her voice dropped ever so slightly, like she was stepping into dangerous territory. I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could, she spoke again, more cautiously this time.

"Alright. So from what I gathered after binding with your soul shard, you woke up about an hour ago and don't remember anything about the R-Sequences, Walkers, or even who you are. Nothing I just said made sense to you, did it?"

Soul shard?

I blinked. My mouth was dry. "No," I said, unsure what else to say.

Rin let out a slow sigh. "Alright. What I'm about to tell you might shock you, but I promise—it's all true. And… I couldn't even lie to you if I wanted to. That's part of soul binding. You've probably already noticed that you can feel my emotions, right? That means if I lie, you'll know."

The moment she said it, I became aware of the odd sense of certainty I had while listening to her. As if my gut instinct was no longer mine, but something woven between us. A tether.

"Okay… that makes sense," I murmured, though, it really didn't.

Rin took a deep breath.

"Alright. Alex, you are a Reality Walker. At least, you were up until an hour ago. A famous one."

I felt a cold weight settle in my stomach.

"That's why I was so shocked when I saw you. Everyone across most realities knows your name. You're Alex 'Voidstrider' Vale."

A chill ran through me at the name. She'd mentioned it before, but with this context the feeling overwhelmed me.

"You're known for your innate ability to jump across the Sequences with more ease than anyone else. You can precisely pinpoint the Sequence you wish to travel to, you don't damage your soul when you jump, and it takes you far less time than anyone else. You're—"

She hesitated.

"You were considered a living legend, Alex."

I swallowed. My hands curled into fists. Nothing about those words should have meant anything to me. But the weight of them did. The name. The title.

This wasn't a mistake.

I wasn't just any Walker.

I had lost something. And I didn't even know what it was.

May I ask questions now? I inquired. Hoping to get some more concrete answers.

"Go ahead, and by the way, you don't have to be formal with me. When a relic gets bonded with a soul, that soul's memories all get transferred to the relic, I'm surprised you haven't noticed any of my memories floating around in that brain of yours." 

The second after she said it, I felt another presence in the corner of my brain, almost like I had a secondary brain. After reaching for that conscience I was flooded with memories too scattered to make any sense of, though there was one still image in that sea of memories, the image of a girl around my age in appearance, she had long blonde hair that flowed like waves, bright green eyes that lit up like a flower in bloom, she was smiling wide, the sight of her was enough to cheer anyone up. In short, she was beautiful.

Was that... You? I asked.

I felt her blush, and her mood turned somber. "Well, it used to be. My physical body was taken from me years ago. I'm sort of a defect. That's why you were able to find me laying on the floor instead of locked in protective case, ready for purchase. You see, most relics start in a gemstone form, but are able to appear as their humanoid self when permitted by the soul they are bound to. I, on the other hand, used to have a humanoid body, but it was taken from me by my previous owner who also was a Walker. Nobody really knows how it was possible, it's not like he could do anything with my humanoid body anyway, once it was no longer mine it should've disappeared, their would be no life force sustaining it." 

Oh, I'm sorry about that. Sorry to ask, but didn't earlier you mention that you are a person, now you're referring to yourself as a relic, why is that?

"Observant! Yes, I'm still a person. 'Relic' is just the term most people use for us, since calling us 'people' tends to cause some confusion. I was born from two parents, just like you. See, there are certain Sequences that are extremely unstable for newborns. Not sure exactly how it works, but—parents conceive, some sciencey shit happens, the Sequence doesn't like it, and boom! A relic gets born. I still don't know why it happens, and I don't think anyone really does.

It's a sad moment for most parents, though. It means their child is going to become a commodity—something to be bought and sold. I don't remember my parents. I hope they don't miss me as much as I don't miss them. Maybe that's just part of being a relic... I don't feel a connection to anyone."

Her mood seems to have fixed itself rather spontaneously. I'm glad.

"Can still hear your inner monologue. Thanks though. I appreciate it."

I could feel my entire face turning bright red. Silently thanking the Gods that she couldn't see me right now. 

Ok, back to the questions.