David POV
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Hey... Have you had deja vu?
Like a feeling of having experienced something that you can't remember.
Of knowing things you didn't learn or missing something you haven't lost.
From a past that repeats itself like a vague memory or a future that reveals itself as a realistic dream.
That feeling so annoying and so inexplicable... Are you really experiencing it for the first time in your life?
- Did you finally wake up, honey? Have you returned to your body? Where were you? Who were you just now?
I don't know when I woke up, but somehow I can feel warm arms around my back while my head rests on delicate shoulders. The long black hair that turns red at the end is blown slightly in the wind, and the rhythmic sound of a heart and rhythmic breathing make me realize where I am and who I am.
-I... It was Lorenz... he was on a plane with Debbie and David and then... He fell into the void... I don't know what happened next...
I need to do a little mental review, just to remind myself that this wasn't real, this wasn't me, and this time wasn't now.
-I see... But you're not Lorenz, Cielo, you're his older brother. The little albino and your sister Debbie have been missing for two and a half years...
I feel my mind slowly clear as his hands slide down my back. A sigh, two sighs, a pat, another pat, each one of those simple and tiny actions gives me such immense relief that I can only hug her back and fall into her skin.
- You're David, remember? DavidBrown. My troublesome husband, the loving father of my children, and the general known as ´´War Machine´´ whose head is priced at 27 million.
... Oh. This bad girl has a great talent for bringing me to my senses. Is this what they call shock therapy?
That's right, I'm David, not Lorenz. It's just that right now, I was experiencing a memory that belonged to that person. It is because I am a user of Racconto, the key to warmth and experience. That key gives you that kind of special ability.
But Racconto is not the only key I have. Unfortunately.
- Oh! That reward is just a screen! You are not a criminal! You are a war hero, the stormtrooper general of the special forces, the only elder by birth, and the second native user of Aether. Do you know how amazing you are?
Incredible? No way. That Ether is the beginning of all my ills.
On this Island, Heaven, there are hereditary abilities that work with emotions. There are also assistants to facilitate the use of these skills: the keys, of which there are 25 types. And Aether, the key to the void and infinity, is the strongest of all, also the rarest.
But currently there are only 7 Aether users left, because everyone else who has awakened that key has died or disappeared in suspicious incidents.
Like the plane crash I just dreamed about.
- I looked for you every day, you know? I missed you so much. I hadn't felt your aura for two years, I was beginning to believe that we had lost you. And when I found you, you were so hurt I didn't know what to do. Do you have any idea how scared I was? And your mind was much, much worse than your body. You were terrified, you remembered absolutely nothing and you had lost almost all your abilities.
Like fish being pulled by a fishing rod, the last six months pass before my eyes, surfacing in my memory with every word she says.
Waking up in a bay in a rag-like state, seeing her cry on my chest as she healed my wounds, feeling myself drowning in emotions when I looked into her eyes and the stupid words I said to her when I saw her.
- ...Be my wife.
I could swear that while she was looking at me in disbelief with that cute and teary face, she was debating among herself whether to laugh, kiss me or punch me hard in the center of her face.
She ended up doing all three.
- ...Moron.
And so I found out that on that day, it was our ninth anniversary.
- I... I don't remember much.
I hug her tight, just because. As she says, my mind was worse than my body turned into a rag. Sometimes, like now, I see other people's memories. Others saw something similar to premonitions. And other times I just woke up with a desperate sense of danger, feeling that someone or something wanted to take over my body, destroy everything and burn it to ashes.
However, contrary to what my beloved wife thinks, that thing about not remembering anything at all... It's a huge lie.
- And you made a lot of progress in these six months. You have almost completely healed, regained some abilities, returned to the military, became a member of the council, and have searched tirelessly for your brothers. Do you know how proud I am of you? So you can take your time to remember, you're doing
going very well.
I let myself be carried away by the soft words and give myself to her embrace without being able to resist. How can I deny myself such pure love when it makes me feel so much peace and comfort?
But that peace and comfort only lasted a second, until I noticed an intense white glow in her eyes and back. Restoration, the control of a key type Healer.
But skills come at a price. As everything in this life.
- Honey... The Healer makes you very childish. It's kind of cute, but I prefer your original personality.
- Good, good, now you do sound like my beloved problem child.
- Don't tell me child, Bella, I don't like it.
- But you're cute! And you like almost nothing!
- That is not true.
I like her black hair, her beautiful smile, her soft plump cheeks and her big shining gray eyes, which make her look so sweet that you would never think that she is a crazy freak. That's the part I love the most about her though.
- I really like my crazy little wife.
Bella Holmes. Military doctor with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, holder of 5 native keys and 67 awakened keys. But the most important thing is that underneath her terrible character, she is so bright, so cheerful and so warm, like a restless campfire that lights up my world. I seriously love every part of it. She is the perfect woman, at least for me.
- Awwww... Does my husband think so highly of me? God, you are so cute!
- That I'm not pretty, Bella. And she stops listening to my mind, it's a violation of privacy.
- I do not can! She is a native key!
- But it's unfair. I can't hear what you think.
- Honey, I like you a lot! You are trustworthy, gentle, a good husband, a good father and on top of that, you are also sexy! You are a total scam! The only unfortunate thing is that you're crazy overprotective. And a little, but just a little paranoid.
- But you're not going to leave me for that.
- Honey, why the hell would I leave such a handsome husband? I'm in love with you!
- How can you say something so cute as if you were upset?
- Because it's so annoying! It's unfair that I like my beloved troublesome husband so much! But I love you so much!
I want to laugh because she seriously looks a little upset as she yells that she loves me. Ah, I love to see her upset, she gets so cute… will she be more upset about her if she pecks her…?
- I love you so much too, my crazy little wife. But I don't like that she uses the Healer a lot...
As always when she gets angry, her beautiful gray eyes turn bright red, as intense red flames begin to surround her. It's kind of interesting every time I see it, that's why I like to piss her off so much.
- I used it because of you! You know your keys go haywire when you fall asleep!
- But why the hell use a Healer just to wake someone up?
- Because "that someone" is the strongest native controller in Heaven. Do you have any idea what a mess you made? You saw it? Hey!?
Oh, looks like I overdid it. I was only complaining to see her upset, but she is really furious. God, she's so cute, her eyes and red flames changed to a deep purple. Should I kiss her to calm her down or tease her a little more...? No, more than kissing her, there is a much more fun way to calm her fire... And mine...
- Hey, the dwarfs are watching...
Tsk. The voice that interrupts me at such an inopportune moment sounds so amused that it instantly chills me. Haaaa, that puppy has drawn all my bad blood, I'm sure he stopped me only to see me bitter at having to suppress my less than pure intentions.
- But I don't see anything...
A pair of horn-rimmed glasses falls onto my outstretched hand, courtesy of my vacuum wrench, of course. And now that my vision has been set to high resolution, I can clearly see how we are at...
- ... The forest?
Oh, so my girl's anger was well justified. This is a disaster, an unprecedented one.
Swords of light and black holes. Stone golems and small volcanoes. Magenta lightning, colorful flames and five children running on floating debris playing "the floor is lava" in its most extreme version.
- Don't tell me, did I kill the house again? Damn...
A family camps outdoors under a bright full moon, in a forest recently destroyed thanks to someone's skills.
Of course, I am that someone.