“Well, that was boring.” A voice said from the emptiness of space. It sounded as if two beings speaking in tandem. There was nothing except the stars around but the voice remained. Cold and distant but still alive. Like a spectre of inconsistencies with a purpose.

“I wonder how we should change things this time around?” the spectre-like being said as it gazed upon a human. The tone in which it sounded as if it had ended its sentence with a devilish smirk.

“Well, I guess this guy is the lucky bastard who gets to use our power in this universe.” the voice said again before taking a human-like form. The form of a mischievous yet blameless child with vibrant hair extending beyond its feet and wearing a classic Greek himation. Though it lacked the features to define it as a man or a woman. It was simply a being that looked as if it were emulating a human.

“Really? This is how he subconsciously thinks we look? Well, it’s not so bad I guess. Lou Barret, I wonder if you’ll be the one to finally end our boredom?” It said with a sinister and intrigued smile. 

* * * 

There was a dream. Though to say it felt more like a nightmare would not be an exaggeration. I saw a sword being sharpened by a humanoid-like being covered in thick cloth and with a blue-ish black smoke veiling the body below the cloth. As I walked up behind the being it turned to face me. Covering its face was a white mask with a single black stripe going from the upper left of the mask to the bottom right. The creature's mask instantly formed an inhuman smile with a row of disturbing teeth under it as if the mask was the creature's face. I couldn’t help but back away from it as from its eyeholes ran fresh streams of blood-red tears.

As quickly as I saw the mask I noticed I was not standing in front of that disturbing creature but rather, in front of a young child dressed in a himation and with extremely long hair. Looking around with a confused look I saw nothing else but as soon as I looked back, I saw myself standing before the masked being as I was a second earlier. Both beings disappeared leaving only myselves. The other me turned and looked me in my eyes. 

“Who are you?” The other me asked with a cold and distant voice devoid of any emotion other than indifference.

“I do not know. Who are you?” I asked in reply as I truly did not know myself.

“I am you and you are Lou Barret, as are they.” The other me answered as he gestured around. Looking away from my other self I saw what looked like an optical illusion. There were what seemed to be an infinite number of myself scattered as if copied by a mirror illusion. 

“What am I? What is this place? Who were those beings I saw?” I asked with a scared look on my face.

“You are what you are and this place is you. As for those beings, well, I cannot say.” The other me said cryptically.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked my other self with a confused and annoyed tone. Every one of myselves turned to look at me.

“You will find the answer when you succeed.” They all said in unison as if they’ve said it a thousand times before and were tired of it. Then everything went dark. I felt my head hurting a bit and I was pretty tired too. In the distance, I saw light only to realize that I was just opening my eyes.