"I've never known you to be this weak!! John Abraham..."
It was a calm voice, piercing the fog of failure and despair that had begun to thicken around me after the valley's river turned slightly black.
A voice unlike the poisonous whispers of Despair or the annoying roar of Anger or even the steadiness of Patience... it was a different voice.
"Wh-.. what? Who's there?"
I opened my eyes, or tried to, only to find myself surrounded by utter darkness, a darkness deeper and denser than the blackness of night after overwhelming oppression.
There was no valley, no river of rocks, no Patience, no Anger, and no Despair. Just me and this voice hiding behind the shadows.
"Who... who is speaking?" I wondered, my voice sounding weak and hoarse amidst this frightening void.
No direct answer came, but instead, I felt the voice again, its spoken tone touching your soul before it touches your ears.
It was the voice of a young man, carrying a strange tone of familiarity, like an old melody heard in a forgotten dream.
A feeling of nostalgia, a strange sense of belonging, began to wrestle with the curiosity and fear that still gripped my heart... but I regained my courage a little, only for it to vanish as soon as I heard this sentence:
"You never gave up in your past life no matter what happened to you..."
The voice echoed this time not as an answer to my question, but as an absolute fact, like a mirror reflecting a part of me I had forgotten or tried to forget.
This affirmation brought me back to my senses a bit, pulling me away from the edge of despair I was teetering on.
Wait... Who could this be? How does he know about my past life? He knows I'm from another world! Does... does he know I'm not Opt—
"Heh heh... Yes... Of course, I know..."
The voice came interrupting my frantic thoughts, accompanied by a faint laugh that seemed to dance in the darkness, then continued as if announcing the beginning of the real mystery:
"For I am the one who summoned you here."
Complete astonishment took hold of me, an astonishment colder and harsher than my previous realization...
This mysterious entity... is... is...
"Wh... wh... who are you?" The words barely escaped my constricted throat, I don't even know how they came out in the first place.
But the voice chuckled again, carrying not sarcasm so much as mysterious amusement, before stunning me once more:
"It doesn't matter who I am now... but the real question is... you... who are you? Are you currently John Abraham, the weak and lost, drowned by his memories and fear? Or are you Optimism, the entity born from the womb of a harsh life to resist it? The choice is yours... for you are the only one who decides."
I didn't understand... I didn't understand anything... I didn't understand what he was trying to convey to me... Choice? What choice? Can I simply choose who I am?
My tension and confusion increased, but amidst this chaos, I began to realize something.
My current situation... this darkness... this dialogue... it's not entirely real, it's happening somewhere inside my mind, or my soul, while my body is still there in the deteriorating valley.
I tried to ask more, to understand the nature of this choice, to know the identity of this voice...
But he cut me off one last time, with a tone carrying sudden seriousness:
"So... Optimism... if that is your name... what will you do in this situation? Will you surrender to the Despair that has begun to flood the valley and flood you along with it? Will you lose again as you lost before? You must—..."
He didn't finish his sentence before another voice pierced the darkness with its light, a familiar voice frantic with panic:
"Optimism! Optimism! We have to move! The valley... the valley is turning black!!"
I opened my eyes to find Patience standing before me, his calm face no longer so... he was unusually tense, still hurting from my misguided blow, but the fear in his tone was directed towards the disaster befalling the valley.
The black river was expanding, overflowing its banks, and the darkness emanating from it began to devour the vibrant colors of the place.
I let go of everything, even forgot the mysterious voice in the darkness, forgot my questions, my confusion, and my dual identity the moment I saw Patience, this entity embodying constancy and calm, in such a state of obvious fear...
If the situation was alarming to this degree, to the point that Patience himself was afraid... then I would do whatever I could to remove that feeling from him...
I would be the Optimism he needed now.
(But... do emotions have emotions? Another question I'll leave for another time).
I looked around, observing Despair who stood victorious, looking down superiorly at Anger, as if indifferent to our presence... No, he truly was indifferent.
Even Anger, for his part, growled in a harsh tone:
"You! What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that, you scoundrel? Do you think just because you won here you'll become great?"
His win? What is he talking about?
Are their victories commonplace? Does this mean they've never lost before?
This darkness... this defeat... I must stop it here and now...
But how? How can I face these two monsters?!
"Optimism! Optimism, can you hear me? It's me, Wisdom... The Citadel... The Citadel is under attack! The situation is critical!"
A new voice confirming its arrival at the peak of events...
But it didn't echo in my mind like the first mysterious voice, but rather as a direct communication like what happened with Patience.
Damn it! The situation is getting worse! Problem after problem after problem after problem! The Citadel? What citadel? Are you kidding me?
Another attack while we're suffering from two demons? Damn this... Wherever I go, I find no peace... Torment follows me even here, follows me as if I were one of the most important criminals who broke its laws...
Just leave me alone! Can't I get a moment to catch my breath? A moment to understand?
W-.. wait... a moment...
I raised my head suddenly, looked directly towards Despair who was still smiling coldly, towards Anger who was preparing to pounce on everyone, and towards Patience who was recovering from his blow...
Then I said in a loud voice, a voice I tried to make sound confident, although inside I was collapsing and wishing that what I was about to do was right:
"You!"
I directed my words towards the source of the voice but in an audible tone, towards the alleged "Wisdom"...
"Do you think I'll be fooled by this? What do you take me for?"
There was something about this "Wisdom's" voice... it sounded different...
The tone of urgency was exaggerated...
I grasped the situation in a fraction of a second, before drowning in a new wave of panic...
Silence fell for a moment that felt like a year, during which I thought for an instant that I had made a fatal mistake...
But relief came from another voice, the voice of the real Wisdom this time, a calm, steady voice, carrying no artificial panic:
"Optimism. Update me on all developments in your battle... The Citadel is under complete control..."
Yes... this is—
I felt a wave of relief wash over me, followed by a wave of confidence, perhaps excessive confidence, but necessary in these moments...
With a defiant look, I smiled... a smile expressing optimism for victory, and I directed my words once again to the deceitful voice that claimed to be our ally a second time:
"Why all this beating around the bush? You ignored my previous question, you idiot... What do you take me for?"
What exposed him this time was the message itself... "The Citadel is under complete control" although I don't know Wisdom yet, a feeling haunts me with unparalleled suspicion...
After that I heard a strange laugh, a laugh unlike the first mysterious voice's laugh, nor steady like its second tone, but deeper and more terrifying, shaking my being with its power, the laugh of a criminal enjoying torturing his victim before finishing him off...
(Ohh... it's me... I'm the victim)
After his provocative laughter echoed in my mind, he answered me, and I felt his presence materialize before me:
"You seemed distracted lately, lost, easy prey for doubt... so I wanted to exploit your weakness... No need for all this shouting and pretense... You want an answer to your question? Fine... I think... that you are not the original Optimism."
But he continued sarcastically before I fainted from shock:
"But... since you managed to uncover my trick, since you distinguished the real Wisdom's voice from my disguised one... this means you are Optimism, one hundred percent..."
I felt a mixture of shock and confusion interspersed with a strange feeling of victory...
"Don't forget the black liquid in the valley, for it won't wait for you... Don't think yourself the hero of the story who saves his friends at the last moment with some miracle, we are in an eternal war, a war to impose self-control..." he added in a final warning tone before his presence vanished completely, leaving me alone in an ocean of infinite mysteries...
Damn it! Damn him and this whole world! I just want clear answers! I want to understand!
— End of Chapter —