An Accursed Gift (2)

"REN!!"

Lucas shouted on the top of his lungs, many of the people passing by heard this and some were startled.

He then turned back inside his room and went straight towards the door, exiting his room while thinking-

Ren! I need to know if there is a 'Ren' in this world!

He hurriedly stomped down the stairs, alarming his parents who were in the back kitchen preparing for work tomorrow.

And as he arrives on the closed pub on the ground floor, Teresa got out of the back kitchen and saw Lucas in a hurry.

"Lucas? Why are you-"

She was about to ask why he was in a hurry but it was too late as Lucas did not even acknowledge her presence and went straight for the main door.

And just like that, the door slammed shut, leaving behind a baffled Teresa and an an oblivious Simon who was just about to come out of the Kitchen.

"That son of yours has really been acting weird since he woke up last week"

Teresa commented as she holds some plates, she then continues doing her preparation and suddenly realized something and yelled at her husband saying-

"Simon! Follow him! We can't risk him collapsing again! Especially outside!"

Hearing this, Simon clinched back but quickly pulled himself towards the main door, dashing towards the direction his son went to.

---

Exiting the one place he was at the very least familiar with, Lucas was struck by the unfamiliar surroundings outside their house.

At first, he felt a little light-headed from the emotions within him starting to overwhelm him.

The unfamiliar sounds of people talking in Japanese but all look different from a standard Japanese person, along with the smells of the medieval era, which was quite unpleasant to the nose.

The dirt road laden beneath his feet, the semi-concrete wood houses along the road, and lastly, the medieval culture were everywhere. Such unfamiliar yet known concept was something that somehow rubs him the wrong way.

However, he found his previous experience here regarding feeling light-headed unpleasant, and so he soon breathed in and out, calming his nerves down.

And afterwards, he felt compelled to at least try and search for anyone resembling his beloved Ren.

He then started walking amongst the people on the road. Setting his eyes on the people around, he can't seem to find anyone at all. The people around him have even started looking at him weirdly because of the way he started at them.

But his conviction was strong, he didn't want to falter just because of weirded stares, this was his first love being talked about here. He can't simply let go of him just like that.

And so he continued searching for him, even going so far as forgetting about his parents' worries for him.

---

At first, Simon wanted to dash towards Lucas immediately, as he was extremely curiousnas to why his son would suddenly try and exit their house alone after what happened to him.

But he then started to feel the need to slow down and observe his son from afar, only following him closely but not getting too close to alert the latter.

It did not take long until he realized that Lucas seemed like he was looking for something, or, basing from the fact that he was looking at the passerbies, he was looking for someone.

And Simon, as an innately curious man, let curiosity get the better of him, and so he continued following and observing, completely forgetting the fact that his wife would be angry if both he and his son would go back home late in the night.

---

It has been a while since Simon started to follow but only observe Lucas, the former had started to get worried at the latter.

Lucas was now starting to show an expression and behavior of helplessness and severe anxiety, something was greatly bothering his mind. Simon, even from a far was able to notice this, meaning, Lucas was in genuine distress at this point.

And so he started upping his pace to finally directly approach and contact his son.

Stupid Simon! Why did you even do that?!

He scolded himself for letting curiousity get the better of his fatherly affection.

But as he started to dash towards his son, a passerby, who knew him, blocked his way and sight of his son.

"Oh hey Simon!! Its a good afternoon-"

Simon ignored the person and wanted to see where his son was going, but to no avail, the person continued blocking his path.

"Hey Simon, are you ignoring me-"

The girl wanted to ask if he was ignoring her, to which the other responded by saying-

"Yes"

But as he finally gets past the girl, it was all too late, Lucas was now gone from his sight.

---

It wasn't long until the afternoon became closer to night as the Clementine colors of the dusk started permeating the sky.

Lucas was still walking on the dirt road, no longer aware of where he is, and no longer caring where he is.

Helplessness and self-pity for his current situation took over him once again. And this is only normal considering that it had only been a day since all of this happened.

He began wondering for the third time again if this was all a dream.

Looking down on the ground, no longer caring as to where his feet would take him, Lucas' expression could be described as the face of someone who had gone through something akin to a war.

Where am I? I don't care anymore honestly...

I mean what's the point? If this was all a dream then if I somehow get into a bad situation and die, then I would wake up...

But if this was reality, then it would be no different, If I get cornered by dangerous night people and die, then at least I won't have to live in this god-forsaken reality.

His thoughts were nothing short of depressing. They were full of self-apathy and neglect.

After a while of walking, his knees has started to shake from severe overuse and exhaustion. He stopped walking and touched his knees while thinking-

My knees are tired.... But so what? Maybe it's better to just die of exhaustion....

Terrific thoughts.

---

Several more minutes passed by and Lucas was now pushed to the point of severe exhaustion.

The chilly wind of the night has already seeped into his skin, while his tired bones were now basically rattling him from the inside out.

His thoughts were not any better either, only being filled with extremely negative notions and statements that further pushed him over the edge.

This is all real, none of this is a dream at all. I have now been somehow reincarnated in a place where someone who looks like me, and have parents who look like mine. Meaning, not only did I steal his life, I've also left behind mine in my true reality because of my apparent death.

Lucas continued his self-deprecation.

Several minutes later, his knees gave out due to his severe condition.

*THUD

Even the pain from his kneecaps colliding with the dirt ground below couldn't reach him.

The combination of mental exhaustion and pain, along with physical exhaustion and pain has taken a toll on his previously lively and active body.

And just like that, Lucas kneeled in the middle of the road, under the cruelty of the nightly elements pressing over him along with his personal conundrums.