Twilight Bridge: Immersion (Volume 1)

Chapter 24: Forward

It was still just the beginning of the day when the sun was hiding behind the thick gray clouds. Wind blew in turbulence as golden leaves fell from every tree at the cemetery. The graveyard was filled with people in black. Grief and sadness painted the entire scene in dim gray, and pale textures. It was utterly quiet. No one spoke a word except for the priest.
"From it stream we came, and to stream shall we return.." he iterated. "O' heavens above, in the name of the Almanac, deliver these holy souls onto Etro's gate.. Cleans them from their sins, and plunge them in grace.."
The priest continued as he stood on the graves of those died in the battle on Main Street three days ago. Yes, the brutal battle had become history, and the town was left to deal with the aftermath. With all the casualties and the damage that both Death Gun and the dark giant had inflicted, Maplewood had a long way to heal.
Among the mourning people, Jaden and Eugene stood in their formal suits, standing by the town folks to farewell those who had tragically fallen. But Jaden's mind wondered as he heard what the priest was uttering.
Even in an artificial world, he thought. The concept of death and afterlife is not that different. Being AI or not, life is still precious and death is yet eternal. It all seems true enough that these people are never gonna see the ones who died ever again. This gate that the passing souls wishfully go to; it resembles how heaven is for us in real life. After all, this is real life to them. But who is this 'Etro'?! Another deity, perhaps. Does it have some authority in the afterlife?

  — This virtual reality is getting darker by the hour!, Jaden felt his chest tighten.

"Are you— Jaden?" a soft spoken voice asked behind him.
"Yeah, he's the one!" another person exclaimed as Jaden turned to face them.
Before he knew it, a flock of people gathered around him and Eugene.
"It's incredible what you two had done!"
"You saved our town!"
"You're true heroes!"
"They must have fallen from the skies!"
"Yeah, well.." Eugene scratched the back of his head.
"We really did nothing.." Jaden stuttered.
"Aww, they're so humble!" said a lady from within the crowd.
"You saved us from the masked assassin!" another one said.
As the crowd enlarged and became very overwhelming to him, Jaden retreated tactically, and told everyone how Eugene was the one who actually fought Death Gun. He then walked away from the crowd as the lights shifted towards his more approachable friend.

I need a time out, he thought to himself as he walked by few newly sat graves. The sound of crunching leaves was accompanying every step.
"Huh!" his eyes locked on an approaching figure. "It's you.."
"You became quite popular!" said Julia to him. She was wearing a long black coat, and her ginger colored hair danced with the blowing cold breeze. "Reminded me of when we have finals."
"You're talkin' about real life?" Jaden asked.
"Of course!" she looked towards the grave nearby. "Nothing else counts, right?"
Jaden's eyes traced hers towards Kim's epitaph.
Three days ago, Julia and Kim were a thing, he thought. The fact that Death Gun was forcing Julia to cooperate with him is solely enough. All this time, she was protecting him. But he got shot protecting her, Julia's dark powers erupted afterwards, and almost erased the town. She felt her purpose for existing had perished. Thank goodness nobody suspected that monster to be coming from her! They believed it was one of Death Gun's tricks.
He gazed back at her face before he said "I'm truely sorry— but he—"
"It's alright.." she sight. "It wasn't real, anyway.."
Jaden realized that she already knew what he was planning to say; so, he went straight to the point. "So, you're leaving Julia behind, huh?"
Julia smiled wistfully, "Julia— had everything I ever wanted. Friends, love, popularity, elegance, talent— she had it all! And in an instant..."
Jaden saw the ginger headed girl gazing at her feet as the wind kept her hair twirling.
He looked away towards the less cloudy horizon. "Isn't better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you're not.." he said. "This reality is all fake. There's no running away from that.."
"This reality.." she muttered.
"Yeah. Fake realities will only create fake humans.. Fake dreams, fake lives, and fake connections.." Jaden's eyes rested back on Julia.
"Heh," a laugh managed to escape her mouth. "Funny how does it show us how fake some of us really are, too.."
With saying that, Julia's looked Jaden in the eye. The latter couldn't muster the strength to sharply reply. It was futile to try to reason with her. After knowing her true desires, Jaden simply couldn't call Safi a friend anymore.
I wish—— if I could go back in time and not get to see all those memories, Jaden thought. But that's sadly impossible. You can't alter anything that had already happened. You can never wipe out a bad impression; even though the opposite is so simple in comparison. A word can make someone sound hateful. A simple action can make you seem hateful. That's why excuses are meaningless. Because they too, will make you look hateful..
Jaden sighed, "I suppose, only time will tell.."
She kept staring at him, a look of betrayal in her eyes. Julia gritted her teeth together, as if trying to force the look off of her face; but Jaden had already seen it. He quietly looked downwards, unable to see her face any longer. Both of them remained silent for few seconds as leaves and grass around them danced with the wind.