Elmer stared straight at the floating silhouette of coalescing smoke before him without a single blink, his gaze narrowed and dulled as low as any human's could get.
The dark circles beneath his eyes, ones which had originated from his constant evasion of the natural necessity that was sleep, had become quite vivid. They made his countenance take on the expression that was usually akin to that of a laborer who was upon dropping dead from overwork or emotional stress.
In truth, he was actually in possession of both of those things.
He was unable to control his body, he had instantly noticed, and that had given him a bit of understanding of what might be happening.
Since he hadn't gone to the dreamworld for this procedure he had taken to become an Ascender of the Pathway of Time, then the only plausible reasoning was that the dreamworld had come to him.
Was that really the case?
If so, then that would explain the absence of the void of white he had been in when he had met this smoky silhouette in the dreamworld. Since unlike the last time he had ventured into the world of the supernatural, the supernatural was the one that had ventured into his world, therefore his scenery would remain the same—unchanging in its design.
Through all his thought process, the smoky figure just kept peering at him, faceless face swirling ethereally.
Elmer had not gotten a cold feet when the floating figure had appeared suddenly before him, since he couldn't move even if he wanted to. But he still had a surety that he would have equally been unfaltering if he'd had the control over his body.
There was nothing in particular to fear about this being.
From their last encounter it was obvious that he was the ruler of the mansion that was his body, and the smoky figure was just something akin to an illusionary prisoner trapped in it, one wishing for freedom it would never attain.
This lapse of not being in control over his body was just a momentary thing—temporary. Some sort of rebellion from the prisoner, and sooner, rather than later, he would gain his master role back.
Elmer finally blinked as the ethereal figure before him was unrelenting in its blank, swirling stare.
"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice barely above the whispering tone gossips between ladies with hand fans were usually spoken with.
And with those words, the smoggy silhouette of white swirled about playfully with a cackle, soft and wind-like, before disappearing from Elmer's view with a speed no normal human could possess.
It was an action Elmer had already seen before, and he was of a great surety that he would see more of it. Once was not enough for this being to behave like a mentally depraved thing.
"What a question." Its voice was distant, but that had been barely for a moment. Its next words were a lot closer to Elmer's ears as two smoky hands crept over his shoulders to embrace him from behind. "Didn't you say it yourself? I am you."
"Wrong answer," Elmer said instantly. "I asked why you are here, not who you are."
"Oh!" The ethereal figure of smoke appeared before Elmer high up in the air. "Outspoken now, are we?"
"I've always been outspoken," Elmer glared at it without emotion in his eyes.
"And you've always been stupid and a tad too slow in the head…" The smoky figure crept up leisurely in some sort of suppressed eerie manner from under Elmer's left arm… "Until now."
The words spoken caused no spike in anger in Elmer, and in that regard he gently turned his eyes downward diagonally to his left; the part of his body where he had noticed the soft wind that was associated with the sensation of him coming in contact with the smoky figure. But before his organs of sight could successfully arrive at their destination, he felt the same sensation on his right arm.
The figure was abnormally quick.
"Mind elaborating," Elmer demanded. Not that it mattered much though, but he was curious as to why this prisoner in his body no longer thought of him as a stupid person.
The ethereal figure kept on flying about, disappearing and appearing in intervals with its voice occasionally switching between a whisper and a loud enough tone as it spoke.
"Do you know what it's like being in the passenger's seat and watching the driver of the car you are boarding move it about recklessly?" The figure scoffed. "Obviously you don't. You've only had the chance of being in a steam car once after all."
Elmer inhaled sharply, and even though his emotions had been caged because of the enigmatic moment he was currently a part of, he felt some sort of weak sensation of his heartstrings tugging.
"How…" He trailed off first with downed brows. "How come you—"
"Know that?" the figure cut him off as it appeared instantly before his face. It chuckled. "Have you reverted? Become stupid once again? Do I have to spell it out for you?"
Elmer's eyes darted for a quick second or two.
From his landlord's words he had thought of this being as something of an alternate, fallacious manifestation of himself that had come about as soon as he'd taken the essence elixir. A little part of his being formed in the dreamworld in order to prevent him from escaping, and in return cause him to become a Lost.
But if that had not been not the case, if this being that he'd thought to have been conjured by the supernatural when he'd tried to become an Ascender, knew about what had happened long before he'd tried to become one, then what did that mean? That it had been present in him all this while? Right from the moment he had stepped into Ur? Perhaps, right from his birth…?
Those thoughts, to Elmer, felt like a stretch. He was not having it.
He also could not quite recall how his and this figure's interaction had gone in the dreamworld, but if their discussion had hinted on something such as this he couldn't have missed it, right?
Surely.
The being, after manifesting in him, could have simply just been able to tap into his memories. It was simply impossible for another entity to have been in his body all this while without his notice.
Or was it?
It was the supernatural he was thinking about. Anything was possible.
Suddenly, through all the important thoughts he was having, a lesser ranked one cropped up—one concerning the gender of this figure. Its voice was not giving that off in any way, and somehow Elmer found himself drift to focus on that.
Was it a she or a he?
"Why the conflicting thoughts, Me?" The smoky figure's voice was barely a whisper at first, then its tone increased from behind Elmer. "There's nothing to be confused about. You were right, I am simply you, and you, me. We are one. Think of me as your twin. We were born together, we grew and learned together, and I've been with you all this while. We are simply two sides of the same coin.
"Whether you believe me or choose to hold on to your thought of me being a manifestation of your venture to becoming an Ascender, I care very little. I will not proceed to say what your best food is, or what your best color is. But what I will say is: it's because I've been with you all these years since birth that…"
The calm wind-like tone of the ethereal figure quickly spiraled into nothingness, then suddenly it became harsh like the crazy wind that usually came upon ships when they ventured into a stormy sea…
"I loathe you with every single inch of myself! You are pathetic and weak! You have always been for so long. So why are you the one who gets to take control over the body?"
The raging silhouette appeared before Elmer in an instant, though the boy from the countryside remained undeterred in his stance or mind.
"Why was it not me? What criteria was chosen that put you in the driver's seat? I can do better. I know I can. You've always let simple things slip past you. Even after what happened to Mabel, you still choose to trust people mindlessly. Who exactly do you think you are to take mindless risks on your own?! What gives you such audacity?!"
The warehouse fell silent as the smoky being put a stop to its words for a moment before hovering backward away from Elmer.
"But I did not expect such an action from you today. Splendid, I must say." Its voice had a significant reduction in pitch. "And for that I have chosen to give you the benefit of the doubt."
Elmer laughed softly as though he had just heard something foolish. Then after a couple of seconds he slowly lowered it into oblivion before downturning his lips and further narrowing his eyes.
"And why should I care what you think of me?" he questioned. "You loathe me? Go ahead. Loathe me all you want. It's not like there's anything you can do about me being the driver and you the passenger. Blame fate for your plight, and stop being a child."
And for the first time, Elmer noticed that his supposed 'twin' had been genuinely angered.
It flew at him, streaking through the air in a flash of white, and wrapped the outline of hands across his neck, trying, in some sort of futile attempt, to strangle him.
But just as it had said, it was in the passenger's seat, Elmer was the driver.
Its smoky hands wrapping tightly around Elmer's neck just gave the sensation of wind swirling harshly—like something of a harmless tornado lesser than the size of a newborn baby.
There was no pain or any sign of death looming from the actions of the smoky silhouette. It was just… wind.
Elmer wanted to smile at that, but he had no energy or enthusiasm for such. He instead just gazed at the figure fused from smoke with no depth in his eyes. Neither life nor emotion were in them. His brown eyes had become narrow and empty.
The smoky figure visibly slumped, then, all of a sudden, it shrank backward with a loud giggle.
"You have changed, Elmer!" it hooted as it swirled about, vanishing and reappearing. "I think watching you will prove to be fun now."
Elmer scoffed weakly. "What? You've given up on trying to take over my body so quickly? Quite pathetic for a being that continuously throws that word at someone else."
"No!" the smoky figure voiced, not in anger but in denial. "You are quite the stubborn man, I know. So it's pointless asking for you to give up your body. Like I told you before, you might just wake up one day and find yourself in the passenger's seat. I'll gladly wait until then."
"Eighteen years and I've not once faltered enough for you to take over, and during those periods I didn't even know you existed. If anything, it's going to get harder for you from now on, seeing as I know I'm no longer the only one who owns this body." Elmer closed his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry, twin, but I have a sister to save, there's no way I'm leaving my body up for you to take over."
The silhouette built from thick white, rose up from behind Elmer saying, "You don't get it, do you? Mabel is our sister. I want to save her just as much as you, so me taking control will not change that. Also, it's the opposite. It will get easier for me from now on." It flew to Elmer's front, throwing one of its hand outlines onto his hair while placing the other on his cheek, both creaming the parts they touched with a cool breeze. It seemed to stare into Elmer's eyes for a moment before laughing. "You're already dying inside. Slowly, but surely, you will falter. You will lose yourself, and I'll be there to scoop the steering wheel from your hand once that happens."
Elmer wheezed an indistinct laugh back at it before tacking on a scoff. "Dying inside? I'd love to see you try."
The smoky silhouette cackled gently as it flew to somewhere that was beyond Elmer's point of view. And from that place it spoke in a faint voice, "How will you get it done now, I wonder?"
Elmer's brows pulled in almost immediately.
What sort of question was he being asked? How would he get what done? Prevent himself from losing control over his body?
"I don't understand." Elmer hid not his ignorance for the question. He felt that there was simply no need to. "Elaborate, twin."
"How will you go about ascending the Echelon ranks?" The voice appeared behind him, a bit close while at the same time somewhat distant.
How will I go about ascending the ranks…?
That was a question he should have asked himself long before now. He had been completely focused on joining the Pathway of Time that he had not taken a moment out of his time to think about how to ascend it in order to get the knowledge he sought out.
Elmer fell into his thoughts for a moment. But no matter how much he wallowed in there, he was unable to come up with a way that would save him time.
The quickest option his mind had brought up was one that involved a slot in a higher rank opening up and him going on to take a deed for it.
It was either that or he had to wait until Ms. Edna was forced down by the Church, or became insane, or… He did not want to even tread upon that possibility—in fact, he did not like that he had allowed his mind to drift toward the former two options.
Although, even if a slot opened up and he successfully cleared the deed associated with it wouldn't he be in trouble?
The seal on his certification form had been done illegally, and unless the Church was lackluster in their handling of the information of the Ascenders they had personally certified, then him going to the Church to take part in the ascension ritual would get him reprimanded.
Now that he thought about it, he was lucky Ms. Edna had not personally gone to confirm directly with the Church if they had been the one to certify him. He would have been in a slump he would have never been able to escape.
And those thoughts also brought him to the conclusion that getting a license did not directly tie in with the certification. That is, the Synod of Churches and the Emperor did not personally check through every submitted licensing application to confirm if the Ascenders had gone through the processes appropriately.
Joining in with the fact that the signing of the licenses only took three days made Elmer instantly believe that that was the case. Probably because they get a lot of applications and did not have the time to settle down and confirm each one, so they chose to believe all had been done well before getting to that point.
Elmer sighed.
In short, there was no way he could ascend using the 'deeds' method. He was going to be practically giving himself up for arrest. And with all the crimes he had stacked under his belt in less than a month since coming into Ur, he was probably not going to be let off easily, if at all.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Streaks of smoky white outlining a humanly figure, flashed into Elmer's view as though it had always been there, at the same time forcing his thinking to a close. "Blimey bugger, Elmer! Why are you doing that? Don't you want to bring Mabel back?!"
It sent its hands onto the confused Elmer's cheek, bringing upon them so many chills that Elmer suddenly had an urge to chase them away. But since he had no control over his lower neck down to his feet, all he did was stare—at least until he spoke.
"What are you talking about?" Elmer queried with pinched brows, his face stained with utter befuddlement.
"You…" the soft wind-like voice of the smoky being trailed off for a second. "You are subconsciously burying it. Why are you doing that? It was in the letter—the messenger's letter. You read it, so why are you subconsciously burying it deep in your heart?"
The smoky figure suddenly drifted backward as though it had come to a realization of something—Elmer though, remained puzzled.
Then it said in a tone lowered in pitch, "Is it… Is it because of Ms. Edna…?"