3 Why Not Both?

The Pool of Memories.

As the name suggests, the feature was meant to erase a soul's memories before transitioning them to their new dimension.

In any case. Knowing a soul's trajectory beforehand was impossible. There 'were' those who attempted to decrypt the Pool's transiting pattern. But all failed, of course.

[ Haha. Idiots. ]

...

~Glen POV~

"We're here," the alluring young man with short silver hair said to me, his eyes that were shut close fluttering open.

The silver-haired youth's glassy blue eyes looked at me in the eye for a moment, and a flicker of empathy seemed to cross them.

Huh; empathy? My eyesight is really failing me these days. I really need to visit an optician.

The young man before me was the silver-haired young girl('Silver-Hair') from before. I don't know what went on in her brain—really, I have no idea—but she had suddenly decided to escort me to the [Pool of Memories] in a male disguise.

Were they doing something illegal, or possibly something incredibly dangerous? Otherwise, why the tense look? Her intense gaze and rigid posture made anxiety mix in my blood, especially with the silence we had been traveling in. I rested my chin on my semi-transparent hand and peered out into the infinite dimension of nothingness.

I released a soft sigh. Then my feet drifted to stand before the massive, deep 'hole' before us. It covered a wide expanse of space and went farther than the naked eye's perception.

I squatted, inches from the chasm's edge, and ogled into the bottomless darkness of the [Pool of Memories]—

I exclaimed inwardly with my eyes dilated, "Wow! This is the [Pool of Memories]? Isn't this just a monstrously deep and large hole? Also, where's the water; pools usually have water, right? Wait... Don't tell me..."

My pupils trembled in sudden realization.

"Jump," Silver-Hair coldly remarked, suddenly. Her gaze that was fixed on my back made my spinal chord tingle with cold chills.

Smiling awkwardly, I stuttered uneasily, my feet straightening to stand up, by which I mean hover in an upright posture, "Haha, jump... Uh, do you really mean..."

"Yes. Stand upright, breathe in, breathe out...or do whatever you do before diving into a pool. Then jump INTO the Pool of Memories," she uttered slowly, asserting each word like a death sentence, "Now, that ain't too hard, is it? Or, are you too chicken, mama's boy?" She ridiculed with an evil-doing simper twisting up her fair face. She resembled a bewitching demon forcing a little boy to commit suicide.

I looked down into the deep darkness of the chasm. What was down there, if there was a 'down' in the first place? It seemed I would soon find out, but I was not eager at all.

A crooked smile stretched on my face as I glanced at her. "Do I have a choice?"

"Of course not," she answered matter-of-factly before sending me an impatient look of: 'Well? Get on with it, will you.'

Roger that.

Stretching my semi-transparent arms and taking in a burst of superficial chivalry into my system, I closed my eyes tightly. "Okay, now that I don't see it, I guess I feel a little better," I chided myself and balled my hands into tight fists. Sighing, I allowed my left foot to slowly inch closer to the chasm's edge. Okay. In the count of one hundred.

1...2-

Suddenly, I lost my footing.

"What the-!"

My face blanched with shock...

"!!!"

Silver-Hair's eyes, I vaguely saw, had flickered with a blunt glimmer as she watched me fall.

"You—!!"

She smiled. Her lips moved, but I barely heard anything amid the sound of my own screams.

Several seconds passed.

...

...

...

Huh? I fell silent. Why wasn't I falling?

I finally opened my tightly shut eyes.

I looked around me and discovered that I was suddenly surrounded by flakes of blue, green red, and pink lights. It was a sea of dancing lights that shone and sparkled like diamonds in the earth. Astounded, my lips twitched at yet another discovery...a rather embarrassing one. I was a soul. And what do you know? Souls float or hover. So how can a soul fall and die?

Pursing my pale lips sheepishly, I looked up and noticed that I could no longer see the top of the pool. There was no longer any 'top' in the first place. Was this an illusion or was the [Pool of Memories], in fact, a gate to another dimension?

There were many possibilities but I held no interest in cracking the puzzle. I hovered amongst the lights for moments, pondering my next course of action. At this point, I was most likely supposed to have my memories erased. That was my assumption. However, nothing was happening.

The lights blinked at me like dying embers in the ash before suddenly scattering and gathering into one, large golden light and another equally large grey light. They hovered several feet away from me and I could feel an intense attraction towards them.

How should I put it? The feeling was varied. I felt as though I was linked to the two lights somehow, and they were calling out to me subtly. They lingered there unmovingly, shining and shimmering, and an idea suddenly hit me.

'Do they want me to choose?'

It seemed likely. I carefully approached and only when I was several inches from the two lights did they react. It was not a big reaction. Their glow became slightly more resplendent. It gave me the absurd impression that they were competing over who was brighter.

My eyes riveted from each light before quietly staring at the grey and less flashy light. It glowed, apparently with anticipation. Its feelings of eagerness were transferred to me and something within me bobbed in response. I returned my gaze to the golden light that had whitish flakes surrounding it, unlike the grey light which had pitch-black sparks scattering from its core.

"I've decided," I finally said and the two lights appeared to comprehend my words as they shuddered lightly. I sighed with a helpless look.

"I can't choose."

The endless realm fell silent. It was already considerably quiet but the silence that ensued was deafening. The pair of massive lights, one grey another golden, weren't sparkling as they did previously. They seemed to be glaring daggers at me, puzzled by my questionable decision. I felt their turmoil bombard me coupled with intense anger and resentment.

Creasing my brows, I looked at them helplessly: "Don't you think it's too cruel to choose? Leaving one behind after taking another. That would simply be cold-blooded, which I cannot accept." I lied between my teeth with an all-righteous expression etched on my face. I had no problem with choosing but I was uncertain as to whether my choice would be a good one and the repercussions that would follow it in my next life. If at all possible, I would have taken both and allowed nature to take its course. But would these two competitive lights allow that?

I was hoping that they would be touched by my 'heartfelt' words and offer some kind of solution. However, it was clear that I had miscalculated.

The two lights remained silent, the same as before. There was no response and, just as I was feeling jittery, an emotionless and immature voice echoed, "Cut the crap and choose! If you're at least half smart, you should know that I'm the better choice!"

"Shut it, you ball of grey! I'm the better choice! Rather than your drab and boring features, my dazzle is more refulgent and eye-catching! Once my master is reborn, his gains will be endless."

Huh? My left eyebrow twitched. Wait, wait. Cut, director. This is some messed-up shit. What are these voices?

Two voices quarreled tirelessly in the small realm making it feel cramped. As the squabbling intensified, Glin quickly realized that, in the first place, he was not expected to choose. No, no, no. Of course not. He had no right to decide here. 'They' were the ones who were fighting over him. Was he flattered? Haha, no. Of course not! They're f***king ignoring him!

Glin pursed his lips in clear frustration while massaging his brows. "Calm down, Glin. Its just two unknown beings of inferior birth. Nothing to curse about–"

As Glin was occupied with calming his strong emotions, the realm had unknowingly fallen silent again. The two lights were once more fixating their attention on the soul before them. A gentle whisper softly voiced their opinion, "Appearance-wise, not very impressive. Previous life...eh, the very definition of awful. Normally, I would instantly reject such a mediocre host but my situation is special."

The impertinent voice from before followed with a snort, "Although I hate to agree with the likes of you, I will, but only this time"—the voice paused—"...but if he doesn't decide between the two of us, there will no benefit for either of us. It will take another five milleniums before a worthy individual appears again, or maybe even longer. What should we do? Force him?" This voice sounded immature but contained a faint bloodlust. If cultivated, that bloodlust would one day flood and become incredible power. But that would take many experiences and more importantly, time.

"Force him? Haha..." the gentle voice from earlier chuckled in reply, "Have you forgotten the rules? Though we have some freedom of will, the one with the final hand is our host. And we are not permitted to resist the host's will for whatever reason."

"Tsk. So? What do we do?"

"Nothing. It is just as I said. Our host will decide."

The realm fell silent again after this remark and the two lights—one golden, one grey—returned their attention to the soul before them that resembled a young man. The young man was gazing directly at them with an odd expression, "You guys... You do know I can hear everything you've been discussing?" He had been standing right there while they were discussing whether they should force him or not. He felt insulted but also strangely amused. From their conversation, he had also realized that the two voices were indeed the two lights before him. Who knew that lights could speak? First, it was a lounge full of dead beings, then some "Hole of Memories"(haha, see what I did there? "Hole") and now, two sentient balls of light? What next, a world full of talking animals, ruled by reptiles where humans were only powerless slaves? Pfft, impossible!

"Haha. If you can speak, then that makes this so much easier," Glin spoke smilingly. Somehow, his smile appeared terrifying. "So, tell me, what will happen if I choose either of you?"

The two lights remained silent. Glin knew however that their attention was fully concentrated on him since he could feel it. But then why were they not responding? Was there a rule against speaking to souls? Fck it! If they're going to make a rule against everything, then what's the point of making this decision? He suddenly grew impatient and fatigued. "You know what—I'm not choosing! I've lived my whole life making the wrong decisions and trusting the wrong people! Surely, one more wrong choice won't make a difference, but I'm tired of decisions! Decide this, decide that! What a hassle! But this time... This time, I will not allow circumstance or coincidence to force me to make one choice! I... "

Wait, wait, wait. Wha— Tired of decisions? He felt confused at where all these extreme emotions were coming from. He did not resist them though. No. He let it all out.

"I CHOOSE BOTH OF YOU!!!!!!"

His voice was loud and rang clearly in his own ears. 'Hmm... I didn't mean to be that loud. But okay. I'll take it.'

The realm shuddered and shook as though some sort of force was shaking it vigorously and the two lights looked disturbed as they quivered and trembled. Then a loud cracking noise sounded in the realm.

Huh? What... What's happening?

He looked around him and noticed the two lights dissipating... Then, they began assembling into one!

Was this happening because of what he said—about wanting both of them?...um...okay, I'll take that.

He accepted it with a nod, gazing at the single light that was beginning to form rapidly. Suddenly, the realm stopped shaking and "vomited" him out. He uses the term "vomited" because it indeed looked as though he had been puked out (from his perspective). He had suddenly been pushed out by an unknown force into an opening in the void. Afterwards, his consciousness had blanked and he was forced into a semi-comatose state.