I found myself sitting on the same train seat, and my hands shook in fear out of both the past and anticipation of what was to come. I noticed my deep breathing and tried to control it. I knew I must not expose this weakness of mine to anyone, else they will lose their trust in me.
"What is the matter, Wolff? Your face looks pale."
I let out a smile to distract him from my loss of words. Nonetheless, it seemed he had noticed something odd with me. I looked from my side gaze and he seemed to wear a worrisome look. He sighed, and picked up the daily newspaper. It would have felt like babysitting to him; to watch a sulking grown man.
"Would you believe it if I said I saw the devil?"
I mumbled it out, and I was struck with the sense of premonition that continued to linger. It was as if I had watched the future unfold right in front of me. I was reminded of a similar case then, which I remembered now clearly.
"Sir, this is the eye-witness which saw the spirit. He does not possess any mana."
At first, I believed that it was a made-up story. It was common sense that no person could see a spirit without possessing mana. The man looked horrified, with eyes constantly looking down on the floor. His eyelids felt it shook in fear, his hands on the sides of his head, covering his ears partially. It felt he was not closing his ears completely out of paranoia. He was scared of what we might do with him.
"Relax. You will be sent free soon. I have a couple of questions to ask."
I sat down on the chair in front of him, and he looked at me directly. He lifted his head almost mechanically, as if he was brainwashed to obey commands. His eyes did not blink once.
"What is your name?"
"Lukas Weber."
He was a commoner unrelated to the service, most likely encountering the events out of pure accident. To begin with, spirits do not interfere with people who are strangers to mana, lest appear to them. It became unlikely that he saw an actual spirit, and it was more likely that it was a psychological interference cast by someone. Despite knowing all that, I feared to ask the main question.
"What did you see?"
"Would you believe it if I said I saw the Lord?"
I did not say a word.
"Well, I saw a spirit descending from the clouds, from the Heavens above. And, there I saw all of time in one place, as if I was omniscient. I saw my future unfold right in front of me, I had felt that, at the least. While nothing of that sort happened in reality, it was definitely the future, and I could tell that with clarity. I felt the pain right here, in my ears, from the air shrieking. And, it did not shriek for help. It was mocking me."
The man concluded with fear in his eyes. I could not shake it off, this look in his eyes that I saw. Despite all that he said, that glare gave the most credibility to his words.
"It mocked all of us! Oh, the Heavenly Lord has come to save us! He has come to make us free of this sin."
"He has come to free me of this sin."
The man had stood for a moment, and sat again, with his voice gasping.
I was about to laugh, and a smile did go through my straight face. The man was crazy enough, and I could not take him seriously.
"You may go now."
The man did not move. He sat there, with stillness.
"You do not believe me, do you?"
"You must wake up soon."
A second voice interluded in between. I felt a strange fear develop within me. Now, I felt there was relief in the man's eyes, as he saw me feel the same terror, albeit briefly. The fear felt foreign to me, yet it was strong. It was fear from the unknown. I could tell this just from mere instinct.
"Friedrich, take him away!"
I shouted, and I could feel that it was for help. All the while it took him to exit, he was laughing with conviction in his voice. I tried to get up on my knees, supporting myself from the wall. I was shaking with fear, from something that I had not seen yet.
I felt I now knew what the man was saying, although I did not know why he said that. The voice that interrupted in between felt a strong resemblance to the spirit I just met.
"Wolff, we have reached."
The train had reached Central, this time safely. The sights, which I thought was the future, did not happen. I now felt relief, and free of terror after a long while.
"Who is there?"
Heinrich spoke with alertness in his voice. I too felt an ominous presence nearby. Some spirit was interfering with our minds. I now saw the two futures again, as they clashed together. In fact, I saw many threads, which I felt displayed the future, branch out infinitely.
"And, there I saw all of time in one place, as if I was omniscient."
I remembered the man's voice, and I could relate to his experience now. I felt that the air was shrieking, and it mocked this futility of mine. After all, it was futile to watch this future branch out, as I could do nothing about it. It was all done without my volition. It felt like the Heavenly Lord was punishing me, mocking me as I played this game of his. I knew I was stuck now in a limbo, unable to escape from time itself.
I gazed as if I was looking through the mirror, through the image of myself.
"Wolff, are you alright?"
I woke up, lying on the floor. I knew that I must tread carefully. The spirits seemed to reside in every nook of time. I now knew that I was stuck in playing this game, and I must play it through to solve this mystery.