Chapter 155 Choices And Effects
[Welcome back again]
I saw Amon's message and it kind of made me confused, wondering what happened in such a short amount of time.
'Didn't I just come here this morning? Did someone 'special' come again?' I thought as I looked around to see if there was anyone before I found a man at a distance sitting… laying in a fetal position. Because of the distance, I was unable to see him properly, but I could make out that he was someone really old.
He was a thin old man who was probably crying? I heard some sobbing sound as I moved towards him, wonder what his story is. As I was walking, I finally noticed Elizabeth looking at me with a slightly complex expression, which made me look at that man again, this time with a slightly serious gaze.
If his presence can make Elle serious, then something must be about him that is really significant. I reached him and tried to look at his face, which he was trying to hide with his thin arms. Though, I still was able to take a peek at his face and then… what I saw made my heart skip a few beats.
I knew this man… I… what?!... just how?!... I was confused because… this man was… Reagan Wessex.
[Author's note: If you remember properly, Zero saved a bunch of people from the facility in the starting chapters. One of those guys ran a herbarium where Zero had stopped by to buy some herbs when he was in Bryxton. He had a daughter and a wife, with whom he was reunited after a really long time. Reagan Wessex is this same guy. Reference: Chapter 32- Calm before the Storm#3]
'I still vividly remember the smiling old man in his late 30s with his daughter behind him. Just what happened to him… wait it's not exactly him… it is the man in the previous timeline who probably did not escape from that facility… but to have changed him into something like this?' I thought as I looked at the boney figure of the man in front of me with his skin almost adhered to them.
He had white hairs on his head and only had undergarments on, which made him look nothing more than a beggar who hadn't eaten for ages.
Looking at him made me feel goosebumps all over my body, which later turned into a slight fury that I developed for those inhumane workers at the facility… I guess I need to have a talk with Mark Leeway again.
"Amon… heal him back to normal," I hurriedly spoke and then mana started surging in his body, getting back to normal at a rapid rate. I saw him turning more and more into what he actually looked like.
After a few minutes of this and that, he was standing in front of me wearing proper attire and looking like a proper man. If he weren't shivering like he was and looking at me with those frightened and lifeless eyes, I guess things would have been much better.
I activated my charm magic and kind of erased at least a few months' worth of memory, making him fall unconscious right there. Elizabeth was looking at me quietly with a sombre expression from a bit of a distance as everything was going on.
I then waited for sometime before Reagen gained consciousness slowly by himself and looked around with a horrified face as he shouted with agony on his face,"did I die? Where is my family?!!! My daughter!!"
And I simply spoke,"yes, you are dead… but your family is fine. Both your daughter and wife are doing good," and hearing my words, he immediately turned towards me with focus in his eyes.
"Really?" like a child he asked to confirm, and I nodded slowly before calming him down and handing him some water that I asked Amon to create in advance. He drank that water before turning silent for sometime and after he finished thinking whatever he was thinking of, he made a sad smile before turning to me.
"I guess I couldn't uphold the promise of returning to my family, huh?"
I looked at him for a few moments before speaking,"well… about that…"
I then began explaining everything that was going on here and from the starting to the end, he kept listening to me without uttering even a single word. To make things easier to explain, I told him about Elizabeth's situation and also about the people here, along with introducing him to Amon, too.
He was a little surprised, but that was all. And after I had explained everything to him, he just stood there for a few moments. Silence covered the area for a few moments before he finally spoke,
"I… I don't know how to take all of this… it is a bit overwhelming honestly… I… thank you…?"
I looked at his confused expression and then sighed before sitting on the floor slowly before speaking.
"I am not really someone who should be telling you to do this, but wouldn't it be the best to just accept whatever happened?"
He looked at me without any change in his expression and I continued,"I know it is hard but… when your wife and children will come here, they will pass on too and honestly in a way everyone will be happy. You can't change the past and what has been done has already been done. You can take it as advice or what not, but passing on will be better for you than letting your desires make you suffer."
He looked at me with a slightly sad gaze before he muttered,"you are a kindred soul, aren't you Zero?" and I looked at him with a confused expression before he continued again,
"Well, my other half is taking care of his wife and children, and I am sure he will repay you with the best of his ability. You saved him and changed his fate, and I think I, too, will always be thankful for that. As for myself, pardon my stay, but… I think I will stick around and wait for my wife and daughter. And this new timeline… I don't think it has anything to do with my timeline."
I kept looking at him before my vision turned white again before I got back to where I was before I entered the White Dimension.
'Well… that was something unexpected,' I thought as I just stood there as I recalled whatever Reagen just spoke.