Confusion
A world like this has no value in continuing to exist.
Someone spoke through the darkness.
I ░ade a pr▜mise.
That I would ▞nd this world and f▒ee you from your s█ffering.
That's... me.
...No. Or is it me?
░veryt█ing ▙s r▙ady no░.
The static grew louder until a ringing filled my ears.
...My head ached unbearably.
...
...Where am I? And who am I...?
It was familiar. No—a place I should never have grown familiar with.
And there, before me...
Someone stood.
...
Asherah...?
...
Why... are you alive again?
I know I... killed you.
...No. I never died.
I'm right here. I've been alive inside you all this time.
...Spare me your nonsense.
You knew it too, didn't you...?
You might have thought you'd killed me, but...
Deep down, you knew I couldn't really die.
No... That's not true.
There's no use denying it.
The truth is, you're wavering even now, aren't you?
...No. That can't be...
I've finally found myself again.
...You are me.
Asherah.
Don't... call me by that name...!
*Huff...* *Huff...*
Urgh... Hngh...!
...No. That can't... be true...
I'm... nothing like...
No...
...
My heart wouldn't stop pounding.
I was in the middle of a hospital room, surrounded by stark white.
I staggered to my feet and braced myself against the wall.
Hrrgh! Agh...
A fierce pain shot through my left leg. I couldn't put any weight on it.
It was the injury I'd received that day while shielding the Captain from a Voidborn.
Though the Voidborn had left its mark on me, I'd felt no pain.
...Why does it hurt now...?
The wound is gone, without so much as a sign of having been treated.
Then why...?
I struggled along the wall.
After a short distance, I saw a full-length mirror.
What expression was I wearing now? What did I look like?
...
Who... are you?
Who do these memories belong to...?
Who am I?
This, too, was surely a memory from another time.
A hunt quest I'd undertaken alone.
The arrogance of thinking I could do it by myself.
And the self-loathing that followed my failure.
...It's too late.
I've never once wished I could go back. Not after all this time.
Even if you really are alive...
There's no place for you in my life anymore.
...Asherah.
...I suppose I've gone soft as well.
To let something like this shake me, even in a dream.
Resting up, I see.
...Captain.
I couldn't answer him.
I had no memory of an injury serious enough to put me in the hospital. Of course I couldn't say how I felt.
No different than usual.
You're still worrying over me, I see.
It was the safest answer, and a lie from beginning to end.
...
Can I take a look?
I never said you could.
...Don't come any closer.
I had to push him away. He was the source of all this confusion, not the dream.
But I couldn't be as cold as I once was.
I suppose even if I push you away, you'll only come back.
But this is as far as it goes.
I can't... let it go any further.
...
Right... I'm sorry.
Still, it was the only way I could endure it.
Especially now that I knew she was still alive.
...
I'll ask you one thing, for the first and last time.
...Please leave me alone.
I want to... rest for a while.
I sat on the bed and turned my back to him.
How long he stayed, and when he left... I'll never know.