Currently, Ninzhe and Zhenin had their own thoughts. It was as if nothing else exist at this point.
"What's happening?" mumbled Jack.
Both the boys have no awareness of their surroundings.
"Is my brother dead?"
"Did my twin become a retard?"
"What happened to you?"
"Why are you crying? Stop it."
This was Ninzhe's thoughts. Cold and a stranger. In his mind, he knows this is his brother, but his thoughts treat Zhenin as a stranger.
"Am I this weak?"
"Please, God, I'm so sorry. Forgive me."
"Ninzhe, I am sorry I fucked up."
"Mom, Dad, please come back."
This was Zhenin's thoughts. All of his hopelessness contained his struggles, all of his ego held his pride. Without those two, it was as if Zhenin had been born in a peaceful world with the apocalypse just happening a day ago.
Jack, whose currently on the lookout for potential threats, decided to stop hearing their thoughts. It was flooded with pain and anguish.
Not because he wanted to turn a blind eye to the twin. But, somewhere, deep within his soul, is a sob.
It sounded young, comparable to a toddler.
When Jack stopped listening to the two, the sobbing stopped.
He felt relieved.
Still, Jack knew why it happened.
Jack's physical body is a white stone with unknown properties. Besides being infinitely dense but is still weighed as a regular pebble, his body is completely immobile. Over the years, he's been awakened by a jeweler, he learned to have his soul sense physical reality.
Just like Hjuutza, Jack is a personification of his years of living. Including his youth when he was orphaned.
Sure, what happened to Zhenin and Ninzhe was completely different from his own experience, but it was still similar. Orphaned kids who were loved by their parents would think the same.
Jack snapped at Zhenin because of how much of an ingrate his thoughts are. If the roles were reversed, Jack would've done everything he could to restore his parents. Who cares about the seemingly unfair labors? That's what a peaceful life looks like anyways.
Over the course of his life, there was a time he was a filial kid, a rebel, a peace-loving hippie, a leader, a father, a researcher, and all other personae he developed along with experiencing life.
Just like Hjuutza, as a soul, Jack is every persona he ever was at the same time.
It's just that, most of the time, Jack is able to control himself to his peak, which is the cruel and cunning captain Jack Hemmons.
Now, looking at these two, who currently looks like two quarreling kids, Jack's fatherly persona took over.
While he doesn't know what is currently happening or why their thoughts and awareness froze at the same spot. The soul forming a small, ethereal tether is something he is aware of.
The concept of family isn't just blood-related. Even those who are adopted will start considering their foster family as their real family.
These people, who care for each other, would begin to form connections. These connections are what make these people grow together.
In the case of Zhenin and Ninzhe, who are actually twins, they would compliment each other's growth.
Yes, this is a treatment. Both of their souls had been tampered with. Fortunately for both of them, Ninzhe's soul wasn't wholly obliterated, while Zhenin's soul was barely hit.
Standing at 5 meters away from each other, a thread-like connection has finally been established. The moment it connected, Jack resumed his hearing.
"You."
"You."
At the same time, their thoughts synced into one. Their complaints and ridicules stopped.
Physically, Zhenin turned around to see his twin brother Ninzhe.
One was looking down to the ground, and the other was looking up.
Even with the difference in angle, it was their first time seeing eye to eye.
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
From Zhenin's point of view, he saw Ninzhe, who's only as big as a basketball. This was the only part of him that he was born with. Sitting on the ground, Ninzhe breathed loudly almost to the point of wheezing.
Compared to the fearless little brother that he knew, this Ninzhe looked like a kid curling on the corner of the room terrified of a monster under his bed.
Zhenin looked around, and then at himself. Looking down, he saw one of his legs missing.
"No wonder I couldn't run to him," He thought.
Standing straight perfectly balanced on a single leg, Zhenin was stuck to where he was.
At that moment, Zhenin did not know how to hop, slither, nor crawl on the ground. Yet, there's nothing that prevents him from moving.
Unaware of his own fear towards what Ninzhe is currently afraid of, Zhenin was reluctant to move.
Unmoving, he began to hope for Ninzhe to help him.
Still, he kept his mouth shut. What if the monster hears him?
Zhenin began to tremble.
He did not know what to do. Losing his hopelessness, shouldn't he be more optimistic? Losing his pride and ego, shouldn't he be selfless? Unfortunately, he was still unaware that he lost something. How could he know the answer to his reluctance?
Staring at where his leg was supposed to be, Zhenin couldn't push himself to move at all.
…
From Ninzhe's point of view, he was staring up. Blocking the source of light, the only thing he could see is a silhouette of a man.
But then, the light began to flicker and gradually weakened. Once the light levels reached a certain point, Ninzhe was able to see the man.
It was himself.
Still, unlike him, who's currently on the ground looking up. The one standing had a dead expression. There was no luster in his eyes nor a breath on his nose.
Ninzhe did not know how to respond to what he was seeing. First, he was curious, and then he was terrified.
"Am I dead?" he thought.
Already aware of the answer, he tried once again.
"Hey!" he shouted.
Ninzhe did not expect anything to happen; his own body was not even breathing, so he thought it'd be impossible.
Suddenly, the light source began to tremble. Along with the trembling is his body moving. Slowly the head turned downwards to where he currently is.
When his body moved, he was a little bit surprised, but he did not flinch. So what if it moves?
At that moment, the two had their eyes locked.
One was a shadow with an attitude, and another is a body void of life.
After a short pause, the body moved again. Towards the source of light, the figure raised his hands and pointed his finger.
From where the flickering light is, there were three other humanoid shapes. Holding the light is the figure that Ninzhe would never not recognize, it was his twin brother Zhenin.
The moment his eyes glanced towards the source of light, Ninzhe was assaulted by a strange feeling.
It was as if everyone in front of him was a stranger that he just met recently.
Staring at his own figure and back to his twin brother, he felt very wrong.
*badump* *badump*
His heart rate increased the more he tried to think about it.
Words like who, what, you, me, and several others floated in his mind. Even so, he wasn't able to form a single phrase, let alone a sentence.
After staring at the two figures, Ninzhe tried to calm himself. Still, no matter what he did, it didn't work.
*Badump* *Badump*
The more out of control he felt, the more his heart rate increased.
*BADUMP* *BADUMP*
It was then that he realized that while he could feel his heart beating on that same rhythm, it wasn't his heart that was beating loudly. It was the figure in front of him, not only him but the others behind the figure as well.
Succumbing to the terrifying pressure brought upon by the eerily synchronized heartbeats, Ninzhe wasn't able to move.
Doubt flooded his mind as fear enveloped what little form he was. It was only then that he realized that he's only a shadow of the figure.
Outside the hallucinations, from Jack's perspective, the soul has formed a thread-like connection. As time passed, the tether began to vibrate as if a guitar string getting plucked on the opposite ends.
While both sides vibrate, the depth of the waves formed by the string varied. At the center where the waves converge slowly regressed into something that looked like two strong waves hitting each other only to disperse away in the sea.