Minutes had passed since the ga began, and Arthur was frantically searching through every docunt, record, or ntion that could reveal the true na of the anomaly.
His eyes were desperately scanning the pages, looking for any clue, no matter how small. anwhile, on the other side of the room, I was lounging on the living room sofa, in no rush, simply observing his agitation with an almost lazy indifference.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t trying to figure out its real na, but it was as if I didn’t need to. I already knew, without a doubt, but for so reason, I just couldn’t rember.
Its na was right there, on the tip of my tongue, ready to be said, but sothing—an invisible, strange presence—was preventing from uttering it. It was as if an anonymous force was sohow blocking the words I knew so well, stopping them from coming out of my mouth.
Instead of going madly searching for the anomaly’s true na, I decided to simply wait until, sohow, whatever was preventing from speaking it disappeared.
Of course, there was the risk that it might never happen, but honestly, what more could I do? I doubted we would find a solution through conventional thods. After all, it was already clear that the conventional route wasn’t getting us anywhere.
One of the first thoughts that crossed my mind was to try communicating with Nekra, even though she had said she barely rembered the other virtues. Seeing the little girl there, in front of , flesh and bone... or maybe spirit? What mattered, in the end, was that she was there, so close, and maybe, if I put Nekra in front of her, it might awaken sothing in her mory.
No matter how much I tried, the ssage just wouldn’t get through. It was as if an invisible force was blocking her exit from the neighborhood, preventing any attempt at communication.
Even if we decided to go to the facility to find Nekra, ti was against us. With every passing second, the feeling that we wouldn’t have enough ti to return in ti only intensified. In the end, it seed like fate was already sealed—the end of the world had already won, or sothing close to it.
"Damn it! I didn’t find anything in my files that leads us to a na or any useful clue. To start with, I don’t even know which conceptual virtue we’re dealing with here!" Arthur exclaid, his face tense and his expression growing more anxious, his fingers restlessly flipping through the papers on the table as if they were trying to find sothing that could sohow make sense of the situation.
At that mont, I noticed that Arthur was about to chew his nails from nervousness, a palpable tension in his posture. His eyes then fixed on , as if he was placing all his last hopes on my shoulders.
However, to his frustration, I was in a similar situation—though, in so ways, a bit different. I was convinced I knew the na of the anomaly, but, despite everything, the na continued to slip away from my mind, like a word on the tip of my tongue that refused to be rembered.
(Trying... we’re almost there... we’ll make it...) I sent ntally to Arthur, focusing all my energy on transmitting the ssage clearly and strongly.
Seconds later, I could clearly see Arthur’s expression softening at my words. In the next mont, he sat beside , letting out a deep sigh, but unlike before, he seed much calr, as if the weight of the tension had eased considerably.
"I think you’re right" Arthur comnted, a subtle smile finally appearing on his face. He looked at with a gleam of curiosity in his eyes: "By the way, your voice is strangely sweet and lodious, sothing that makes think I could listen to it all day without getting tired. There’s sothing about it... it seems to have a calming effect"
Arthur’s gaze narrowed even further in my direction after he said those words. Although I didn’t fully understand what he was saying, a strange sensation took over .
I couldn’t hear myself, which seed impossible since, even when speaking ntally, where you’d normally hear your own voice, I felt my thoughts but couldn’t identify the tone or any characteristic of the voice, as if it were sothing entirely undefined.
It was like my voice was an absence, an intangible presence that had never truly ford. After all, I had never really spoken physically.
In the end, I never imagined the fog obscuring my mind would clear up with the simple act of lying down. However, unexpectedly, with a swift motion, I stood up and, without hesitation, began walking toward the exit door.
Arthur, behind , watched closely, his gaze fixed on , but he didn’t make any effort to stand up or follow , nor did he try to stop .
My legs moved across the garden now stretching before , surprisingly beautiful, as if the world had transford around , revealing a haven of tranquility.
The weather was as pleasant as before, with the sun not too strong. Well, actually, not that it mattered much, even if the heat was more intense; changes in temperature hardly affected .
In my current state, I was constantly in a type of balance, where cold and heat coexisted without really feeling either one clearly.
It’s like I could sense their presence, but without the physical sensation of temperature. It’s a bit strange, I know, but what can I do? Anyway, that’s just how things are.
Across the street, in a house ahead of the one I was in, two children—probably siblings—were playing joyfully on the lawn. The sound of their laughter mixed with the gentle breeze swaying the trees.
Suddenly, they both seed to notice , their eyes locking onto with an expression of curiosity and confusion. I, instinctively, stared back at them, our gazes eting and holding for a few monts, almost as if ti had slowed down.
It was then that the little girl, standing next to the boy — who was probably her brother — smiled with pure innocence and began waving at , the simple gesture but filled with spontaneous and innocent kindness. The boy looked confused, not fully understanding the situation, but still followed the girl’s example. They both just waved at .
I didn’t know what had motivated that gesture, but instinctively, I did the sa. We stood there, exchanging waves for a few seconds, until, just as suddenly, they went back to playing on the lawn.
Sothing about that scene made rember two children I had seen in the village before Nekra’s power turned them into zombies. Two siblings who, sohow, now seed to reflect the sa innocence as those two.
I don’t feel sadness for their end; in fact, honestly, I don’t think I feel anything about it. However, sohow, the mory surfaced, without any apparent reason. It was as if the mory had spontaneously arisen, among so many others I’ve kept in my mind, like scattered fragnts of a distant past.
Ignoring everything around , my eyes scanned the environnt, stopping on the butterflies gently dancing in the air and the little birds singing joyfully, filling the space with their lodious sounds.
However, a gaze directed straight at broke the tranquility. Turning around, on the balcony, I saw two pairs of golden eyes, exactly like mine, watching with an unsettling intensity. It was the little girl from before, the one who called herself an anomaly.
***
(POV - ???)
(Hmm... Will she make it in ti?) thought the little girl, her small hand resting on the wooden railing of the mansion's second-floor balcony.
She gazed at the horizon with a worried look, the gentle breeze tousling her hair, and the creaking of the balcony planks echoing in her ears, as if the wait was taking shape around her.
Her eyes briefly scanned the being below her, observing its white, translucent body, which seed to glow softly in the light, with golden eyes, intensely vibrant, as if they held all the sunlight.
Two small horns, spiraling like a ram's, adorned its head, giving it a mysterious air. From any angle, one word ford in her mind: cuteness. The little being exuded an innocent charm, as if its ethereal and delicate appearance was an invitation to tenderness.
(Although playing with you is fun, we'll have real problems if you don't rember my na) thought the little girl, her eyes fixed on the vast blue sky above her, as if searching the clouds for an answer that didn't co from words.
(Just like "She" told , this place is undoubtedly unique, and it stands out from all the others I've explored. Here, there's an energy that makes it... so incredibly alive) thought the little girl, a subtle yet genuine smile lighting up her face.
Once again, the little girl's gaze fixed on the being before her, which, at so point, had been surrounded by butterflies and birds. Her golden eyes blinked with a confused expression as the being carefully tried to avoid touching the small creatures that surrounded it carelessly. A half-smile ford on the little girl's face, but it quickly faded when a slight pain in her hand made her shift her attention.
As the little girl looked at her hand, a faint glow emanated from her skin. The small part of her hand, which had once seed human, now displayed a surprising transformation: the flesh and skin had been replaced by sothing radiant, a material that clearly didn't belong to this world.
The little girl let out a soft sigh, feeling a mix of fascination and uncertainty as conflicting thoughts and emotions rushed through her mind.
(I think I have much less ti than I imagined) thought the little girl, gritting her teeth hard to endure the growing pain pulsing in her hand. It felt as if sothing inside her was trying to break free, forcing its way out at any cost.
The sensation was intense, as if, to reach freedom, she had to tear through every layer of flesh, stripping away even the last piece, rcilessly, in a desperate struggle to erge.
(Zentharys, I really hope you rember my na soon. I don't know how much longer I can endure this pain) thought the little girl, her eyes narrowing with worry.
She shifted her gaze to the being, who, unaware of her distress, continued to play joyfully with the colorful butterflies dancing in the air and the birds hopping around, creating an almost surreal scene of carefree joy.
***
(POV – Protagonist)
I blinked in confusion, my gaze, as spontaneous as the wind, instinctively turning toward the second-floor balcony of the house behind . However, when I reached it, I found no one. The little girl who had been there was gone without a trace.
(That was... strange) I thought, trying to process what had just happened: (I could've sworn soone called... my na) The strangeness of the word echoed in my mind, as if it wasn’t mine, and I noticed the disconnection the mont the syllables left my mouth, as if they were coming from sowhere else.
My na? Did I still have a na? I couldn't rember, as if the mory of who I was before becoming an anomaly had completely vanished.
It was like a blank page in my mind, shrouded by a dense and impenetrable fog, making it impossible to see what lay beyond. Yet, despite this obscurity, sothing remained: the persistent feeling that, at so point, soone had said my na.
(Zentharys) I said, briefly and almost hesitantly, the na that seed to have echoed in my mind, as if it had been whispered directly into my consciousness.
Was that my na? But who had said it? A strange feeling took over , as if a voice had echoed from the balcony, even though no one was up there.
The sound of the na reverberated in my mind, and without realizing it, I started repeating it in my thoughts, over and over, until, little by little, the word began to feel familiar, as if I had heard that sound countless tis before.
Not because I was repeating it incessantly, but because, sohow, it felt right, even without understanding why. The na echoed in my mind, as if it wasn’t the first ti I had said it, or rather, as if I had already heard it before.
Sohow, I felt like I had already been called that way, by that sa na, as if it were an echo from the past, familiar and enigmatic at the sa ti.
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