Chapter 4546: Illusion II

"Marina," I said as I stopped in my tracks.

She is there, collecting the flowers in a basket. She is wearing a yellow pleated skirt and a white sleeveless blouse; they are simple, but they look incredible on her.

She seemed to hear me as she turned, and a surprise appeared on her face, before it turned into a big, radiant smile.

"Michael," she called.

Her voice felt like rain for my barren heart. I moved toward her before I could stop myself.

My mind is screaming at me that she is not real, but everything about her feels real—her clothes, her smile, and the tiniest expressions.

My mind is telling me that the powers here could pull my memories and could bring out illusions more real than real things, but I didn’t listen.

I have a strong heart, but this is the power of Golden Prime.

It will get stronger the more I believe in the illusion; it is already getting stronger as the voices in my mind grow lower and lower, until I can barely hear them.

I appeared beside her and looked at her face, which I had missed so much.

Sometimes the nights become torturous, keeping me awake for hours. Now, she is in front of me, and the only thing I want to do is take her in my arms.

"I have missed you so much, love," she said, stepping closer to me. "Me too," I replied with tears flowing down my face.

"No more. No more, now that we have met again, I am not going to leave you ever again," she said. "I don’t want you ever to leave me," I replied, shaking my head.

"Don’t cry, love. This is a moment of happiness, tears have no place here," she said and moved her hand to wipe away my tears.

It touched me, and my whole body shuddered, and I took a step back.

The touch snapped me out of the daze, this magic put on me. Seeing Marina, my defences collapse, letting the magic enter me, get in greater hold, but the touch brought me back.

I know her touch, and it felt real. Yes, it felt like it was not the touch of my wife.

"You are not Marina," I said, looking at the illusion, who wore the face of my love. It brought such anger that I had never felt before.

I suppressed it a moment later. Extreme emotions are bad; they become a gateway for the magic of this place to enter one’s soul.

"I am love," she replied and took the step toward me, while I took the step back, wanting to get away from the illusion.

"I know, this will change after we leave the world, but I didn’t expect they would change so much. That you would not even recognise me," she said, with her full of hurt.

I know, she is an illusion, but still seeing those expressions on her face made my heart ache.

I didn’t reply and kept moving. It is better not to engage with the illusion. The more I do, the more it will take hold in my mind.

I am fighting it with all my might. It wants me to believe she is real and to embrace her.

"Have you forgotten my pregnancy? And your child?" she asked, and a moment later, a five-year-old body came running toward her.

Seeing him, I stopped in my tracks.

He looks so much like his mother and me; I could even see elements of my parents and aunt in him.

"Father, hug me," he said cutely, and I wanted to so much.

Instead, I begin moving again, not daring to look at them, but they appear in front of me.

"Have you forgotten the promises you have made, Michael? That you always love me and protect me?" she asked, and now she was angry.

Her emotion is so much like hers.

’She is not real,’ I said to myself and kept moving as fast as I could. Which is torture, I want to stop every moment and embrace them.

I am now really regretting taking this shortcut. I shouldn’t have, I should have taken the long road and faced other danger, than this torture I am feeling right now.

Nothing had hurt me like these illusions are doing.

’Have you forgotten me, too, brother?’ asked the illusion of my sister. ’And us too, Michael, the person that birthed you and raised you?’ asked the illusion of my parents.

I wanted to scream at them that they are not real, but I kept my mouth closed and kept walking.

More and more people appeared around me. Professor, my ex-girlfriend, friends, and many others. It became harder to resist them, but I did and kept walking.

Hun!

As I was doing that, I noticed someone—a man sitting on a bench, with a serene smile on his face.

I shuddered at the sight of him, not because I recognised him, but because he is real. He is a Prime who had been caught in the illusion of this place.

I didn’t even try to wake him back to reality. Not because I cannot afford to lose focus.

That too, but mostly importantly, it is too late for him. This place is extremely powerful; I will be gone forever if I lose myself for a few minutes.

This man had been here, god knows how long. There is no way to save him; he is gone.

A few minutes later, I noticed another woman with an ecstatic smile. I shuddered once more and kept moving.

The voices grew; they became loving, angry, mad, but I didn’t focus on them, no matter how much I wanted to. Instead, I kept moving without a pause.

I cannot afford to give them even a moment of my focus. If I did, I would lose myself here.

I can’t do that; it wouldn’t be fair to my real family and friends. I need to embrace them, not fake illusions.

I don’t know how long it had passed, but I have reached the exit of this place. It is not a fake exit; it was showing, but the real one.

"Michael, don’t abandon us, we need you!"

I reached it and stepped outside, even when the faces kept pleading it. It was heart-wrenching, but I did it and stepped into the realm world.

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