He felt as if he owned the world in that moment— in that memory.
Even the crowds of people, ranging from alleyway dwellers to the wealthy elite, all knew and admired his name.
A smile crept onto his mouth; that was his past.
He was owed his past back, wasn't he?
Whoever stripped him of that past had taken that part of him and reduced him to dealing scum.
'Elias' was above that. So much more than that.
Elias pushed himself up now, that same smile still plastered across his face.
[???] "Elias, stop smiling like that, you look… weird."
There was hesitation between those last two words—hesitation tinted with genuine concern.
That finally snapped Elias out of his trance.
His smile gradually dimmed, and he returned his attention to Claire.
[Elias] "I'm sorry."
The apology sounded even weirder out loud; it almost came out robotic, hollow, rehearsed.
For the second time today, Elias was slapped.
This time it was a little harder. Actually—no, not a little. A lot harder.
His hand reflexively touched his cheek as he flinched.
'What was with this woman?'
Finally, Claire's warm smile returned to her face, completely wiping away that cold seriousness that had briefly taken its place.
[Claire] "There you go."
The sudden change in mood bewildered Elias. How in the world could she switch moods so quickly?
Again, maybe figuring out Claire was a waste of time; he would never be able to understand what went on in her head, no matter how long he tried.
[Claire] "So… where are we?"
That was rough to answer, because in all actuality, he wasn't sure where they actually were in the World In Between.
[Elias] "We are in a place called the World In Between."
Claire froze, then spoke:
[Claire] "Repeat that?"
With a quick breath in, Elias repeated himself once more.
[Elias] "You and I are in a place called 'the World In Between.'"
A wary expression settled across her face. What was she possibly so worried about? She didn't even know about this place.
…Did she?
[Elias] "Do you know anything about this place?"
Claire still seemed lost in thought.
She stayed silent for at least a few minutes, unmoving except for a faint tremble in her breath.
Finally, she spoke:
[Claire] "Is this world separate from the one we just left?"
What an odd question.
Clearly, she didn't know anything about this world, as he originally thought. Even if she did, she was hiding it exceptionally well.
If so, then why did she look so worried when asking that specific question? It wasn't the kind of concern someone could fake out of nowhere.
And on top of that, wasn't the answer obvious?
[Elias] "It's not called the World In Between for no reason. Its name literally answers that question."
Upon hearing his words, she dropped back down and looked up toward the white ceiling of the corridor they stood in.
Whether it was out of relief or defeat, Elias couldn't tell.
He was certain it was one of the two, though.
Soon, he noticed her eyes beginning to dry, and faint gasps—like the leftovers of swallowed sobs—escaped her mouth.
It was most definitely the latter.
Elias knelt in front of Claire, prompting her attention toward him.
When her eyes finally met his, he reached up and gently wiped her tears.
[Elias] "It's fine. I'm here."
Her eyes widened a bit in shock.
Maybe it was something 'Elias' used to say to her.
Actually… was Claire also a crybaby around 'Elias'?
A rather funny thought—definitely something he should ask one day.
[Elias] "Could you get up now? We need to get moving; staying in one spot could be dangerous for the two of us."
Still, even after those words, she didn't budge.
She stayed kneeling.
Whatever the issue with her being here was must have been serious—serious enough to break her composure this badly.
There was one simple solution to Claire being complicated, though.
Elias placed his hands around her and pulled her onto his back.
[Claire] "Hey! What the—"
He started running.
To be perfectly honest, he had no real reason to run.
Elias just really, really wanted to annoy Claire.
It was surprisingly easy to run with her as well; she was extraordinarily light, almost weightless.
[Claire] "Put me down!"
Complaint after complaint came from behind him, and each time, his smile grew a little more—just a fraction, but enough.
Gradually, he lessened his pace.
He'd rather not have Claire actually hate him for overdoing it.
The run became a jog, then the jog became a slow walk.
Her protests faded as well; she grew silent.
Maybe she knew Elias wasn't budging on this.
And from everything Elias had heard about Claire, he knew that she'd be more than capable of forcing her way down if she really wanted to. She could even do it with ease.
So as much as she pretended to hate it, Elias still caught the faint flush across her cheeks.
[Claire] "You can put me down now. I'll walk, I promise."
The mutter was quiet, but Elias heard it.
He let her down very slowly—
[Claire] "You can't just drop me!"
She stood on the floor now, pointing a finger at him.
The gesture felt so forceful that Elias almost thought the finger itself was accusing him.
Laughter erupted from Elias, and that laughter spilled over to Claire as she stood up fully on her own.
[Elias] "You feel any better?"
Claire looked at him for a long moment, almost searching for something in his face.
Then she smiled.
[Claire] "A bit."
After she affirmed it, he nodded and smiled back.
Then he turned around and started walking forward.
Soon, a second pair of steps followed.
Both Claire and Elias walked in silence for a while, giving Elias plenty of time to think. He thought about a lot of things—especially his earlier memory.
Was he once a prince?
If so, wouldn't his family have come looking for him?
Anyway, the thought of Elias being a prince was utterly ridiculous.
Repulsive, even.
Maybe he had been a highly respected officer; that made more sense, especially given the repeated theme of him being a 'hero' in the memory.
Or maybe he was a—
[Claire] "Elias."
The sudden break in silence slammed into his thoughts.
[Elias] "Yeah?"
She looked at him again, breathing inward.
[Claire] "Elias… have you had any strange dreams recently?"
It was then that Elias finally stopped moving.