" Taweret, you said I will reincarnate after going through this door but that doesn't mean I will go back right? So, I want to make a deal. You let me go there and give me a chance to redeem myself one more."
Taweret's face changed when she heard his words because this was the worst idea for anyone even if they had great strength. In this soul desert, no one would escape from eternal suffering and those who enter this area would be doomed forever.
" No, I won't allow that. Do you know what is waiting inside that sand? You got out thanks to Steven, now obediently go through the door."
She tried to push him toward the door but Marc didn't budge a bit. His calm eyes were locked with her black eyes, seeking salvation from her heart.
Taweret who wasn't an evil God, felt helpless in this situation because she couldn't say no to him.
" Fine, but I don't guarantee your safety. Remember you have only one chance and you must get out of the dream once you find him."
Taweret's giant hand went through his chest and Marc found himself in a peculiar room. He was sitting in front of Arthur Harrow who was wearing a doctor's robe. He was writing something on the paper while looking at the clock.
" So, you are saying that there were people that could rival humanity's strongest weapon and gods who could turn the time? What a strange world to exist in?"
He smiled at his words, not calling him insane or something similar, yet his demeanor was telling the opposite. The cold look in his eyes along with the droopy writing on his hand suggested that he didn't have a reason to agree with him.
" Tell me, Marc. Why do you think you are in such a world? Is it out of imagination or perhaps is it guilt and trauma? You see human's answer to trauma is a false memory."
Marc couldn't tell whether it was true or not because he realized he couldn't use his power here and oddly he felt something was off. A something that should be happening here yet he couldn't find an answer for that.
A screw was missing from his head but he couldn't find what kind of thing was missing.
" When I was young, I had a brother. He was weak yet a kind and smart boy compared brute like him.
One day, rain came to our home and we were playing outside. It was raining heavily but we wanted to play. No, I wanted to play despite his protest.
So, we went to the nearest forest. It was fun at first but I could tell his strength was leaving and he was hungry. He begged us to return home in spite of my selfishness.
Then it happened. I snapped at his nagging and pushed him to the hole. All I could see was red and his shoe on the ground.
I tried so hard to help him and begged him to stay awake, yet he closed his eyes. He died in my arms because of my selfishness.
I regret that day. I hate myself for being self-centered."
Marc's hand trembled from the memory of the past as he hung his head low. However, something changed in this calm atmosphere, he also recalled something new.
" Hello, my name is Steven. I am a smart and good boy."
The images of him trying to appease his parents rushed into his brain as he got up from his seat. The poor boy attempted everything to please his parents until he gave up on himself and turned into a different version of a new boy.
That was the story of how Steven Grant came to this world. All of these memories were just mere fragments of false memories in this endless sea of imagination where he wished to live as a normal boy. Hence, he shunned his real self back to the corner of his heart while creating a perfect image of himself.
" I remember. Steven, I know you and you know me."
Marc opened the door widely while looking at the white halls with a calm face. He slowly made his way to the ward he found his other self in the room.
" Let's go, my friend."
He opened the door and smiled broadly under the light.