Euforia

11. Perception

Germany, Year 2XXX

While gazing at the vast expanse of grass a young man, eats his favorite pretzel with great joy. The sunny weather is also a little breezy, which really makes everything perfect. This picnic felt so special.

"Did you enjoy it Regen?" asked a man who seemed to be struggling to uncork a bottle of cabbage juice.

"Of course. How about you Grimm? I hope you're really enjoying this picnic and not busy with that damn bottle cap." Regen wanted to laugh seeing his friend Grimm struggling to open the lid of his favorite juice bottle. "You always do that. Want me to help you open it?" Regen offered.

"No, you don't. I'll do it. It feels bad to let others help when I want to do it myself," Grimm refused.

Regen chuckled. "You're always like that. Anyway... do you still intend to go ahead with your plan to create the clone?" asked Regen curiously. "I hope you do so wisely."

Grimm pensively gazed at the expanse of grass outside in front of him. "I realize I'm too far gone to do something like this. But Maroon and Karen are the last things I have left to hold on to. If all this fails and the clone is never born perfectly, I'm ready to quit and die too. I have no reason to survive any longer without those two."

Regen was silent he did not know what kind of words he could say at this time. His close friend Grimm had indeed gone too far. If one had already walked too far, then there was no place for him to turn back. Telling Grimm to stop in the middle of the road was not a possible thing to do.

"I know this is all purely your wish. It's useless to tell you to stop. It's just that I can't help but feel sad if things end up getting worse. Whether you succeed or not... I have a bad feeling about you," Regen said.

"Thank you for your concern Regen. I may not be able to promise it will end well. But can I ask you something?" pleaded Grimm.

"What do you want from me Grimm? If you're asking for something related to extra lives, I can't give it to you." Regen still managed to slip in a sarcastic joke at his friend.

Grimm smiled and his smile seemed genuine. "Please don't ever forget me. Whether I end up dead or alive, I want you to never forget me in the slightest. I just want a friend to remember me living in this world."

"I promise that I will never forget you even once in my life. I promise I will always remember you," Regen said sincerely.

***

"You shouldn't have made trouble for Fallen." Regen who was standing not far from Fallen gave the man a sharp look. "There should never be anyone dying here!"

"Trouble? Ah wait you misunderstood... it's not me but 'him' that's the problem, isn't it?" Fallen did not seem to care.

Regen sighed as he knew arguing with Fallen would lead to nothing. "As you wish. It's horrible when you're dealing with monsters. No matter where you run, you'll still come to a dead end." Regen looked regretful.

Realizing the look of regret on Regen's face made Fallen, walk over to Regen. "Too bad, everything was set up like this from the start. You are just a chess piece here in this game," she said in a calm voice.

Regen had to hold back his emotions when dealing with someone like Fallen. It would obviously never be to his advantage, if he followed up on the madman's annoying remarks.

"Fallen I am a human not a chess piece like you said. I was never at all involved in that game you mentioned. You should have realized that from the very beginning, I was never under your control. I move and do everything according to my personal will, I am free, I am not an object that you can control!" said Regen without any hesitation. The look in his eyes as he said those words was also filled with confidence.

Fallen laughed at those words. He looked indifferent then turned to leave Regen, but before he left he took the time to say his favorite phrase, "Regen know that humans will always be humans. Evil is good and good is evil. Nothing is absolute just by achieving it through unilateral means. I have lived long enough to prove that those words are indeed true." After saying those words she walked away, leaving Regen with a look of disbelief on his face.

After Fallen's departure, Regen was completely baffled by the strange man's behavior. "Is that what it's like, people who have lived in hell for too long and then released to earth?" he m

After Fallen's departure, Regen was completely baffled by the strange man's behavior. "Is that what it's like, people who have lived in hell for too long and then are released to earth?" he muttered to himself.

***

"I'm not sure that today's weather is really hot, I mean look at those clouds over there."

I didn't nod in agreement with Nakamori's words. A few days ago he looked like a person who would never want to see me again. But now everything changed quickly. He said he wanted to see me.

"Why are you suddenly being nice to me? Wasn't it obvious you didn't like me before?" I stopped walking and let Nakamori walk past me.

"Looks like it's not entirely your fault. I tolerated you," Nakamori replied. The girl stopped her footsteps as well.

I still couldn't believe it when I heard her answer. It felt like I still needed more answers than this. "If you don't mind, could you give me more? I'm just not satisfied with your answer," I asked her.

Nakamori sighed. He looked up at the bright blue sky. "Last night I had a strange dream. In my dream I saw you saving me from a crazy woman who wanted to shoot me in the head. I knew it was just a dream, but I still felt scared and believed it was real," he said in a hoarse voice.

My forehead furrowed at her story. "You believe in something as unreal as a dream?" I was surprised to find that this wild girl secretly believed in the unreal.

"Whatever you think. But I believe in my dreams. To be honest, before meeting you, I already knew that there would be a red-haired boy who would be stalking me."

"You knew it from your dream?" I asked skeptically.

She smiled and now her signature Chesire Cat smile spread across her face. "Saeran, you previously lived in an orphanage until you were 12 years old, right? Your mother killed your father because she was angry and disappointed at your father's infidelity. After that incident, your mother was sent to a mental hospital and you were sent to an orphanage. You also have a unique habit, where you like to carry stork-patterned chopsticks when eating out. You like those chopsticks because they remind you of your mom, right? And you also have the problem that you have trouble remembering all the events of your childhood. What do you think Saeran, do you believe that I know these things only through dreams?" Nakamori challenged.