Never would I have thought that I would be talking to another 'me'. Well, I can't really say that he's me since he's practically separate and distinct from the actual me. I wonder how he is? Do we share the same thought process? Same IQ or EQ?

"So... how... what should I call you?"

Surprised by my sudden attempt to start a conversation, the other me's hateful gaze disappeared as visible surprise and confusion surfaced from his face. So that's what I look like when I get surprised. Better take note of that.

"How can you act so casually after threatening me like that?"

"Should I've been scared? I mean, you already took two years out of me, so I don't really care if you make me disappear completely or if you decide to make me sleep for a long time again. I wasn't really bluffing when I threatened you."

Some kind of bladed weapon then materialized in front of the other me and he held it in his hands. He then brandished this weapon as he charged at me, but before he could hit my head, the bladed weapon stopped and his momentum disappeared.

"Cool sword, I guess?"

The bladed weapon then disappeared from his hands.

"It's called a rapier."

"Well, I'm not that knowledgeable with non-lethal flimsy weapons."

"So you're really not afraid of dying?"

"Why would I?", I scoffed at him. I thought he's supposed to be another me, and yet he acts like he doesn't even know who I am. Is this what an alternate identity is supposed to be? If I could kill him, I'd kill him already!

"Welp, I'm disappointed."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I'd be meeting my other half but it seems that all I'm seeing in front of me is a kid who thought he could act tough."

"You're a kid too!"

Yeah, this other me is a total disappointment. How did this kid manage to keep me unconscious for two years?

"You know what? The deal's off. No more compromise."

"What? Why!?"

"Honestly, well it's not like I can lie to you, but you're disappointing. I expected to have fun trying to outsmart an equal, but instead I met you. Now that I know that someone like you is taking control of my body, I'd rather just let it all end as soon as possible."

The other me was silent as he heard my criticisms of him. I decided to push it further.

"You studied the geography of this place we're going to, right? Let me think... Oh, here it is. A large cliff just at the far north of this city, passing the dense forest. Either some monster there is going to kill me, or I'll just fall off the cliff. That's one way to go, can't guarantee it'll be painless though."

"... stop"

"So how do I get out of this place? Do I have to pinch myself? Hold my breath? I really don't think I'll have a good conversation with you. So we might as well end things here while I still have a slightly favorable opinion of you. I mean, sure, you seem a lot more mature for a five-year-old, but that's when compared to a five-year-old, of course."

"You..."

"So you're getting angry just because of mere words? Does the truth hurt? How fragile are you? You definitely should t-"

"STOP"

I thought those words came from the other me, but instead, that voice that issued such a demanding order reverberated in this entire space where I and the other me where confronting each other. Looking around, I noticed another one that looks like me, far behind the 'disappointment'.

"You've said too much already."

A composed looking 'me' slowly walked towards the side of the 'disappointment'.

"I'm guessing you're the one actually in charge?"

The 'composed' me shook his head.

"No. That would be Alkef here.", he said as he presented the 'disappointment' once more who looked like he was holding his tears.

"You think I'm stupid?"

"No. Both I and Alkef understand that's not the case. You actually know too much. How you act is always calculated. How you see things in a very detailed way. We realized that we lost on a lot of opportunities when we decided to close you off. And when we tried to reverse it, we couldn't and things have eventually escalated to this..."

The 'disappointment' decided to talk again as well after calming himself.

"We actually tried to wake you up a week after you fell asleep. I wasn't the one who made you like that. He did that.", the 'disappointment' clarified as if implying that he played no part in this whole fiasco.

"Yes. I take full responsibility for it. Back then, the moment you played that song, even if no words were spoken, we felt what it meant. It was despair, hopelessness, and apathy. Such emotions overwhelmed the two of us to the point that even Alkef started to incorporate it within him. Thus, I thought it was necessary to stop your consciousness for a while."

"You said for a while, but I don't think two years is a while."

"As we mentioned, we tried to wake you up."

"I couldn't wake up for two whole years after I was put unconscious. Things don't happen just because. There's gotta be a factor here that you don't understand. Considering that, never do that again."

"Yes. I can promise that."

"Also, for my loss, I require compensation."

"Compensation?"

"Yes. Give me a bit more freedom in doing things."

"I can't promise that. You are... quite violent. Both of us disapprove of that part of you."

That's an understatement. Wait. Doesn't that mean that they don't know about that? I decided to test it out.

"Hey, do you have memories of our past life?"

"We don't have that yet. As Uncle Terpet did say that we'd need to unlock more [Blessings] for that to possibly happen. Well, we don't, but that doesn't mean it applies to you as you once called yourself Samuel Tuckerman."

Confirmed. So my past memories are indeed in my unconscious mind, which only I have control of. By applying Freud's theory, this 'disappointment' holds control over my preconscious, while this 'composed' me has control over my conscious mind. Maybe they should've already had access to the memories of my life as Samuel Tuckerman, but as I separately exist from them and as I have control over the unconscious mind, the flow of memories is probably blocked by me. As long as I don't want them to know, they'll never know. Maybe my situation isn't as bad as I thought. I can take advantage of this.

"Back to the main point. I still need compensation for the two years I lost. If you can't give me freedom, then what can you give me?", I then said to try to prevent the topic of sharing past memories to be possibly brought up.

"... I can tell you how you were put to sleep if that's enough?"

"Oh, so you can at least share that? Fine, that will do for now, but that isn't enough though."

"I used this.", as the 'composed' me said that, he lifted his arm, and as he opened his hand, a floating white translucent text written in English appeared above the palm of his hand. What was written was:

[THE TRUE PACIFIST]

So it really is this thing's fault. I remember actually having more freedom in my movement before this showed up. Although I didn't do anything wrong or bad while I had complete freedom, well that's also because of my physical weakness, but still, I can say that I was definitely free back then. It's only when this thing appeared when things started going out of my control.

Maybe I actually had control over all parts of my mind back then, and these two may as well be the mental manifestations of the [The True Pacifist]'s correction. Maybe I'm getting tricked again. Unless there's some arcane tool that can actually analyze every detail of the mind, all I can really do is just go with the flow on this one. If this is how things actually happen inside my head, then I can proudly say that I have truly uncovered the secret behind the sentient mind, but if this isn't the case, then no harm should befall me while I go along with this for now.

"Do you always have that on you? Can I use it?"

"You can try.", the 'composed' me said as he moved to hand it over.

As I tried to grab this floating anomaly, my hand stopped before I could grab it.

"So it happens to you too? Even Alkef can't touch it."

The 'disappointment' also tried to take it from the 'composed' me but it seems that the outcome was the same.

"Well since you have sole control over that thing, it's best that you don't misuse it again."

"I know the consequences already."

Of course, the one that has control over my conscious mind also has control over the [The True Pacifist]. That's how much power it has over my physical actions and words.

"So how do I leave this place?"

"Ah, let me do that.", the 'disappointment' volunteered.

"Wait, before this mental meeting is over, I'd like to ask what should I call you guys to avoid confusion later"

"I insist on being called Alkef.", the 'disappointment', or as he demands to be called Alkef, insisted.

"I'd prefer to be called Al.", the 'composed' me says as if he was already used to such a name.

The two stared at me as if they expect me to respond appropriately. Following the trend of the conversation, they may want to call me 'Kef'. Although I would've preferred Sam since the 'disappointment' decided to take the full name of 'Alkef' for himself, I'll play along for now.

"Fine then. You can call me Kef. Also, don't forget, you guys still owe me."

As the 'disappointment' named Alkef and the 'composed' me named Al smiled approvingly, the dark abyss that is my mind was eventually replaced with the setting that is inside the vehicle.

Although I'm requesting for compensation from those two, I should actually be thanking those two idiots. They helped me skip the long and boring experience of the Church of Hure indoctrination as well as the inconvenience of having to act like a normal child around people for two more years.

Also, I have a new set of toys to play with. I then controlled something within my body, and my right hand started to glow with a shade of yellow. I just invoked [Stamina Boost] and blessed myself. This feels great. I can't wait to further explore the natural concept called Arcane in this world. This two-year sleep wasn't so bad after all.