SL Chapter 13 Memory


    Eric gazed at the vial that had finally made it into his hands with fervor. The sloshing yellow liquid was as dazzling as the Sun itself to him. It was the only thing that was occupying his vision right now. He had even temporarily forgotten his surroundings. His vision blurred as liquid pooled within.


    How long had he toiled? Memories of absurd deadlines, horrible bosses, annoying coworkers, monotonous and boring work hours. And many other things, no matter how tiny, played within his mind. Yet all that, led to this sense of accomplishment he felt when he held the vial within his hands.


    He was now qualified to pat himself on the back and speak words like, ''Hard work pays off.''


    "The potion is to be taken right now, before us." The boss lady spoke, having made herself comfortable by leaning back against the sofa, with her purple hair spread out behind her. One of her legs was crossed over the other, and her exotic eyes were gazing at all three with no emotion.


    Eric saw the frowns that appeared on both Jeffrey and Allan''s faces with that order. Allan had even already placed the hand holding the vial within his pocket.


    "Is there a problem with that, gentlemen?" No sound was made as Iris walked upon the floor to stand right beside her lady. She was barefooted, a tiny detail Eric noticed.


    "On what grounds do we have to do that?" Jeffrey asked.


    "On the grounds that should any mishap happen, we could save you." answered Iris, her irritation clear for all to see.


    "Those are lies!" called out Allan.


    "Why are you so averse? Do you have any secrets you are hiding from us?" Iris pressed.


    "There is a possibility that you might take the chance to do something to us in our incapacitated states." Allan spoke candidly.


    Though, Eric didn''t feel anything out of place. Why would someone deal with him after taking the potion? Unless of course he was a spy. Which he wasn''t, so he wasn''t worried.


    "Either way, you will have to take the potion right before us, or it will forcefully be repossessed. Do trust me on this gentlemen, you wouldn''t want to get into a scuffle with a Spirit Lord." a glint appeared within Iris'' eyes. Eric had a feeling that the woman was eagerly looking forward to the two men acting out.


    Getting tired of the verbal back and forth, coupled with the growing desire to consume the yellow liquid, he tilted his head back, unscrewed the cap, and dumped the contents of the tiny glass bottle down his throat.


    The moment the liquid hit his taste buds, he felt the desire to regurgitate everything. Though, before such a desire could overpower his rationality, the liquid that had been supposed to reach his stomach vanished before reaching there, almost puzzling him, if it wasn''t for the distraction that appeared, in the form of a throb, originating from the scar running down his chest.


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    His vision blurred before being severed completely. When he regained himself, he was in a dark void, only bright because of the countless white spheres of white within it.


    ''Where am I?'' He wondered, though, the fear and terror that should have manifested with being dragged into an unfamiliar place didn''t manifest itself. Instead, only curiosity existed.


    He spread out his hands to get a glimpse of himself, becoming somewhat shocked when he saw that they had become akin to a soft light. Had he become an energy body? How?


    He maneuvered himself, as if by instinct, appearing right before one of the spheres. He gazed at it, only for the light to become faint, before a blurry image surfaced, then it became clear. He saw a familiar hologragraphic keyboard, one he had gotten used to in the nine years he had worked tirelessly. His hands were moving across it, even as his gaze moved to the screen, where code was being written.


    "Is this a memory?" He asked no one in particular.


    He tried to move towards another sphere in order to confirm his theory only for a powerful tug of force to get a hold of him, dragging him towards the depths of the void. Spheres, uncountable in numbers blurred before him as he tried to fight the force, yet to no avail. He couldn''t resist it, as if a chicken captured by a human.


    Eric didn''t know how long that went on before he appeared right before a sphere. This one was different, radiating a fiery red color and giving him the sensation of burning.


    ''I can feel as if I am in my own skin?!'' He inwardly exclaimed.


    He was pulled towards the sphere, and for some reason, he felt a powerful feeling of rejection. Not from the sphere, but from himself, as if he didn''t want to see whatever it was, that was inside.


    He regained himself after being sucked in, with his first image being the small hands resting at the brown wooden table. They were his, that he was certain of. His other sensations returned to him, yet he couldn''t control this body, as if he were a mere passenger within it.


    ''This table.'' It was familiar. This was his family''s home. This table was the dining table that his parents had loved because of being an authentic hand carved wooden craft. The young him hadn''t known this, but the him that was the passenger, knew, as if every other memory of his childhood could vividly be remembered.


    "Little Eric, what do you want to eat today?" A voice asked from behind and above him, one which cause the old him to tremble in both excitement and sorrow.


    Thankfully, the young him tilted his head, and looked up to the woman''s face above him, whose expression was radiating a warmth unlike any other.


    His heart would have accelerated if he had been the one in the body. The familiar brown hair, woven into many small braids that were cascading down her back, while two or three of them fell down the front, scratching his little face, causing the young him to bat them away in annoyance.


    "I wanna eat biscuit!" The urge to chuckle at the thoughts of the young him were stifled as the woman''s brown eyes moved away from him and gazed towards her side.


    "I didn''t spoil him! It was his father!" She said in exasperation to no one in particular.


    "Who are you talking to, mom?"


    "Your grandmother. If you grow up a little more, you will also be able to see her!"


    ''My grandmother! I don''t think my mom was crazy. What was she talking about? Was someone there? Or was it her ability as Spirit Lord? But, I haven''t heard of any creature or thing that could speak with their Spirit Lord. And she spoke about me having to grow up before being able to see... But I am almost reaching 30 yet I have never been able to see any abnormal things, or spiritual entities... Maybe it''s related to that...?'' pondered Eric.


    "I wanna eat biscuits!" shouted out his young version.


    "Did I just hear that someone wants to eat biscuits? Should I call the tooth devil over?"


    A male voice entered his ears, causing his young self to shiver in fear, while he, the grown up version hitching a ride, became somewhat excited.


    His vision was directed towards the origin of the voice, with the brown wooden door being pushed open to reveal a man garbed in a dark robe with its hood dangling behind his back. He had a clean shaven face, magnetic dark pupils, and his face was currently adopting a menacing expression while gazing at him.


    "Darling, don''t scare my little Eric!" chastised his mother while hugging him even closer to herself.


    ''How I miss this!'' lamented Eric.


    "You are always defending and spoiling him, Stella. How will he survive in the real world?!"


    "I will look after him forever!"


    "It''s not a joke, mother!" shouted my mother after abruptly shifting her eyes towards the empty space.


    "Stella..." sighed my father before moving towards the table and picking a banana, one of the many within the porcelain bowl.


    "...a few people have been sniffing around our borders." spoke my father.


    ''Could they be the ones that annexed my clan?'' wondered Eric.


    "There have always been people like that. But... Judging by that expression on your face, it seems that this is serious."


    "It is serious. The traces indicate that we are dealing with Crystal stage intruders."


    Eric felt his mother''s hands tighten around his small body. The old version of him could feel some fear oozing within her.


    "Have they found out?"


    "Your grand father believes so. But we have no idea who." Charles'' voice was heavy.


    "I believe preparations are already in order, right?"


    "Yes. It seems that we are going to have to fight or flee."