WMMAP - [S2] Shelter You

26: My Present, Your Gift

Lucas wasn't sure what was going on, but he remembered feeling vastly enraged. One moment he was in the blank slate of a space, running aimlessly, trying to search for an exit then the next moment he heard a voice, crying.

He stopped, head inclined to the ceiling of the white fortress above, wondering whose voice was it just now.

I'm sorry I had to do this to you until this very moment, my love... Goodbye, Lucas...

He couldn't even recognize the voice, yet he wondered how a single phrase as such made his heartache in the strangest way possible. It was dreadful to say at least and he was scared by the way the voice called out his name like that.

Lost in the echo of the voice, an intruder entered the atmosphere.

Lucas looked at the person in front of him whose expression was in desolation. He completely ignored the fact that it was like he was staring at a mirror.

He ignored it because nothing made sense anymore.

The stranger suddenly dropped to the ground, kneeling and Lucas' eyes went slightly wide.

A gut feeling was telling Lucas that the person in front of him meant no harm anymore. The desperation in his red eyes was telling Lucas that the priority was elsewhere.

Go. Lucas dipped his head slightly into a nod and urged the person in front of him to go back to where he needed to be.

Without a single verbal exchange, the stranger disappeared in thin air and Lucas was left in the limbo again by himself.

But if only Lucas could read that person's mouth movement, then he would have seen the sad stranger mouth a low 'Thank You' at him.

Unfortunately, Lucas seemed to lose sense of everything as soon as his mirror self had vanished. Everything from there vanished without a trace. As if someone took a chunk of his memory and crushed it in their hands to make stardust.

The only encrypted memory he had was the echoing words, blaring with the fleeting image of two people. The person in front of him placed something in his palm.

As a token of my gratitude and apology, I want you to keep this. It means a lot to me. Protect it like you will protect her.

Lucas couldn't tell what it was. By the time he looked up, the strange person was already retreating backward and toward the other humanoid figure.

Focusing as hard as he could, Lucas still couldn't tell who they were. His vision was what he would describe as someone who was in need of glasses.

What he could make out was those two were holding hands, walking ahead and they came to a stop. Their bodies shifted in his direction; they were looking back at him, it seemed.

One of the two people, the smaller frame, waved at him, yet Lucas could only stare mutely. He didn't know how to react for he was beyond jumbled.

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed and Lucas whined as he shielded his eyes. Though he peeked through the breaking light between his fingers out of curiosity.

His vision got fuzzier than ever the more he stared and the two people started to fade away before his eyes like a paper burned by an invisible yet gentle flame. Then a gush of wind swept through his body, heaving off the ground. The swirl and anti-gravity of the space messed up his inside and he felt like throwing up.

The invisible force abruptly stopped and his body fell freely. He couldn't move through the air. It felt like he was falling off the endless edge of a cliff.

What could it be down there? Water? Rocks? Lucas was afraid to look down.

Every pulse of his rapid heartrate intensified his fear and he had no choice but to squint his eyes shut tight and brace for impact.