The room was quiet, too quiet. For a moment, I thought I might still be trapped somewhere between the past and the present, suspended in that endless void of nothingness. But no, I wasn't floating in the dark anymore. No more empty silence. No more endless suffering.
I was here.
I blinked a few times, as if trying to convince myself that my body actually existed. I had gotten used to being on the edge of something—whether it was pain, grief, or some other mental abyss. But now? Now, I was... well, I was here.
The room smelled faintly of incense and something herbal. Maybe it was sage. Or, more likely, it was just some kind of weird "mystical room scent" to make you think you were in a meditation retreat or something. I wasn't sure which. But it wasn't the sterile, cold hospital smell that had clung to my memories like a bad cologne.
I was still trying to make sense of the world around me, my body aching like I'd been run through a meat grinder and thrown into the abyss for good. Something inside me knew–this peace–this was only temporary. A break, maybe. A reprieve before the real storm came again.
"You good?" Gerard's voice broke through my thoughts, steady and calm as always.
I looked up to see him standing in the doorway, arms crossed, face unreadable. He looked... different. Not the kind of "different" where you're noticing someone's new haircut (which, by the way, would've been kind of ironic considering his hair never moved). A kind of 'different' that came after someone had seen things–done things–that made you wonder how they still smiled.
"Yeah," I muttered. My voice was hoarse. "I'm ok. Sort of.."
Gerard raised an eyebrow. He knew I wasn't fooling anyone. But for once, I didn't feel like explaining myself. After everything, I could live with that.
"Look, kid. I'm not here to break the news to you that everything's sunshine and roses now. But... you did it. You survived, and that's something."
"Yeah," I snorted, which I knew sounded less impressive than I wanted it to.
"If you count being emotionally wrecked and physically broken a win."
Gerard gave me that look–the kind that said he knew I was only half-joking. "It's a win, Felix. It's a win. Because it means you're still standing. And standing means you can make choices.
Right about now..."
••••••
The wind whispered through the tall grass as the sun dipped behind the hill, casting long shadows over the quiet field. Gerard stood with his arms crossed, his cloak fluttering like an afterthought in the breeze. I stared at him, still catching his breath from the day's chaos—the training, the questions, the silence that had built between us.
"Now, you just have to go back home," Gerard said, voice low but firm. "This part of the path… you walk it alone. The next time we meet, I hope you'll be in good shape."
"Wi-wait wait.. What do I do next? How should I contact you?" I asked, taking a step forward, the weight of uncertainty pressing on my chest.
Gerard didn't smile, didn't turn. He simply looked over his shoulder, eyes glinting with something between mischief and fate.
"You'll know," he said.
He walked away... one, two, he took three steps–swallowed by the wind and the horizon.
I'm back at the alley...
••••••
"So you're telling me... two weeks ago, right after we met at the office..."
"Mm-hmm." I nodded.
"...you saved an old man...
"Mm-hmm." I nodded.
"The universe is hanging by a thread, and you—a guy who once got lost in a revolving door—was chosen to save it?" Dave said.
"Yep." sipping from a La Bibiana macchiato with a loud slurp, twitched between my eyebrows.
"We're doomed."
"I know."
"I believe in you, Felix." Dave leaned forward dramatically.
"Wielded by the right person, leaving selfless, making your way for the greater good!"
I smiled. He's my friend after all!
'Till I realized: yeah, no.
"You don't believe me, do you?" I said.
I launched into a full breakdown—what a licensed psychiatrist might diagnose this as, the possible delusions, cognitive stress, the whole nine yards.
"You know what? Screw it." I threw up air quotes. "How's your 'new business' going?"
We were back to our usual banter—friendly jabs and relentless teasing, standing outside Caffè La Bibiana like the fate of the universe wasn't even on the menu.
••••••
After our usual conversation, Dave gestured to leave.
"Family?"
"Yep."
Right after, we bid farewell, and right after, Dave left. I caught a glimpse of a man I recognized walking through the doors of the cafe. Ringing its chime again... hurried inside, but instead of the usual lively place of chattering, I found myself in a quiet, a mix of woody-vanilla notes associated with the decay of paper materials...
It's a broad library.
An old man sitting at the left far side of the library was drinking a cup...
An elderly man sat at a table on the far left, sipping from a cup.
"Hmmm. It's good," he muttered, almost to himself.
Footsteps echoed lightly on the floor as I approached. Moved to sit, dragging the chair out with a faint screech.
"Please... lift the chair instead of dragging it," the man said, his voice tinged with mild annoyance. "It's... distracting."
"O–oh, sorry," apologized, quickly adjusting myself.
"Long time no see," the man said, finally looking up.
"Long time no see," I replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
I sat down, careful this time not to commit further chair crimes. Gerard didn't look a day older... I'm being sarcastic. But better compared to the last time I saw him, he was being dragged into a place that looked like IKEA got possessed by Cthulhu.
He sipped from the cup with an exaggerated slowness of a man who definitely knew more than he was letting on.
"Hoo~ I'm not asking what or where this place is." Scanning the massive shelves around us–books stacked high into an impossible ceiling, some floating, some vibrating ominously. There was also a cat wearing glasses. The cat nodded at me. I nodded back at it because that felt polite.
Gerard slightly raised his hand,
"Every door is a gateway." he looked at his cup.
"Even for Caffe La Bibiana."
"Well occasionally... a bowling alley on Tuesdays," I said.
Gerard simply smirked.
"A quantum fluctuations. The universe is weird," he said.
"Want a bite?" handing me a half-bitten doughnut.
"That's.. mine... actually."
"The organization finally caught up with their calendar, and so it caught up with you." Gerard, pointing his four fingers at me.
"Sounds like a problem."
"Sounds like a must-take ladder. Trust me, this one time, it'll be enjoyable."
A violin played itself.
*I sighed.* What a coffee break.
"Come on," Gerard said, pushing his chair back with that casual finality of someone who knew the next scene would begin whether I followed or not.
I followed. We stepped through a sliding door that had not been there a second ago.