My Lost Soul

Chapter 48 - Our Realities

Omega sat down at a shoddy wooden table, feeling each splinter of the wood in the holes in his clothing. The house seemed very old, and shoddy as a whole, but the smell was completely new. The young man went to the kitchen and a mass of clacking wood ensued.

Omega looked down at his hands in sizzling discomfort. They tightened as a flash of Steele crossed his mind. He clenched his lips, halting his breath.

"These...are for you." The man showed back up with a t-shirt and shorts in his hand, both of which were mediocre in quality.

Omega grabbed the clothes out of his hand without looking up, "Thank you."

"Thank you..." The man repeated curiosly, "I am sorry, I am still learning. It's my affinity, to learn languages from others."

Omega's eyelids lowered as he clutched the clothes in his hands.

"Are you okay? You need food, maybe. Break...fast?" The man ran back to the kitchen.

Omega jerked his body up out of the chair. His breathing grew fast and heavy and his body shook in place. A groan in his throat erupted in a complete cry. With a thud, his knee knocked the table over as he stormed out of the house. His feet, still red and scarred, slapped against the mud as he clawed away at his hair. He ran through the meadow and into a forest, ripping strands of his hair as he cried. Blinded by his tears, Omega ran into a tree and fell on the grass.

He sprawled his body out and kicked his legs, "Yama..! Yama..!" Blood poured down his scalp as he tried to stop the pain in his head.

"I'm sorry! I—I hate this! Myself! I hate my—"

QUIET!

Omega's body froze and blood dripped from his hair. He felt a wave of unease in his head. Omega widened his eyes and thought, What was..?
He sat up, the grass rustled quietly. He put his hand on his head, This static...why am I hearing it?
Then he put his hand on his chest, It feels...full. No, whole. Am I—Did I do it? Is this... he squeezed his chest and his brows furrowed, who I really am?

"This is the real me?" He whispered as he watched the blood drip from his hair. Then his eyes went down to his ragged body.

"That's what it took?" His mind flashed back to Uyama, but everything afterwards was blurry, and only Steele was in focus. He went back further.

It's time to wake up? Did Ael...know? Why didn't he—why didn't he do anything about it?

...Maybe I didn't try hard enough. I'm sure there was a way.

Omega let his body fall into the dirty grass. If that—this...is the real me, then...

I don't want to be real anymore.

Omega laid there for hours, letting insects crawl over his body and fallen leaves cover his face. The wet smell from a recent rain carried like a mist. He stared up at the rising moon, his mouth agape. Finally, when the moon hit its peak, he closed his eyes and loosened his body.

I found it. A real forest, Uyama. I'm here. I think I'll stay here—just for a while.

He took a deep breath and let himself go.

———

"I'd like to personally welcome you to our rehabilitation center." A doctor greeted Enjō and Omari at the front door of the Shacian Military Rehabilitation Facility. "We heard of your effort against the terrorists."