Beyond

Chapter 39

Jesse

After Payne got rid of the blood all over him, we went outside for breakfast before heading straight to the Keeper. He went back late because he had to show the Elder's location to the knights to prove that it was dead.

"Since we're departing early in the morning, let's head back early and rest," Payne said.

Pierre yawned. "I don't mind that."

It was our last chance to find what we were looking for. The three of us split up, and I passed by Payne's clones once in a while. There was a time when I tried to distract a clone, but it only looked at me and apologized that it couldn't speak to me at the moment because it had something to do.

I could tell the difference between the real one and the clone because whenever I approached Payne, he would look in my direction with a smile, while his clone would only focus on the task given and would ignore me unless I started a conversation first.

"You're working hard." I smiled at Payne.

He mirrored my smile and closed the book he was reading. "Some people do tell me that I'm diligent with my task," Payne said. His attention was now all on me. "Today is the last day... Perhaps I'm not worthy enough to seek the book's knowledge that I'm looking for."

"That's probably just a myth," I said, comforting him. "I begged some random book yesterday to show me the book that I'm looking for, but it didn't appear."

"You begged a book?" he asked. There was amusement coming from the tone of his voice.

"Yes..." I admitted.

"What are you two talking about? Let me join too!" Pierre appeared, smiling at us.

"Go do something," Payne said, dismissing Pierre.

He frowned. "I feel like I don't exist here for some reason..."

"That's what you think. There's a book I've read that says, 'You exist, but you're just not wanted.' You can find it in the section over there." Payne pointed to his right, and Pierre glared at him.

"Fine! I'm borrowing Jesse by the way!" Pierre said and dragged me with him. I waved Payne goodbye. "I can't believe he said that!" Pierre fused out in anger.

I chuckled at their banter. I'm sure Payne didn't mean any of those words.

"What do you need me for?" I asked him.

"About that, could you help me return these books back to their shelves?" Pierre requested and pointed at the pile of books on the table.

"I see... but couldn't you just clone yourself?"

"I can't do that. I could only make a maximum of four clones. It's going to be tiresome if I make more," Pierre said.

"Didn't Payne just make like... an army of clones?"

"Well... this is Payne we are talking about. It has its side effects, you know? Not only do you have to use so much power to create and retain the clone until their task is done, but you also have to absorb their memories and experiences after that, which can be too much for one's body—so many memories drilling into your mind all at once. That's why some Dusks could only master one or two. If you underwent intense training, maybe three or four.

"I could only master three clones myself. The other one keeps vanishing sometimes since I can't control it properly," Pierre explained.

Wouldn't that mean Payne's mind is probably tearing apart right now, or he's getting such a big headache that his head is splitting in half?