OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 27: Death

There was a long moment of silence as they tried to process what Emir had just revealed to them.

Laura looked at Lily, as they both struggled to keep their emotions under control.

"If you are not Emir, then who are you?" Laura finally asked, her voice shaking as she looked back at Emir.

"I am, or rather, I was named Asher." He replied.

A soft gasp escaped Lily's lips, finally realizing that Emir was actually being serious, and Laura looked at him with a mix of confusion and fear in her eyes.

The room fell silent again, until seconds later, when Laura was finally able to gather her thoughts.

She reached out a hand toward Emir's face as if trying to grasp the truth of what he had just shared but retracted it, almost afraid of touching him.

"Why did you do this?" she asked, her words trembling with emotion, looking at Emir with tears in her eyes.

"Why did you take over my son's body?"

"I just died in that other world and then woke up here, that's all that happened, don't bother asking me how, I can't answer something I don't know." He answered plainly.

There was another long moment of silence as they tried to understand what Emir had just said.

Ending that silence, Lily spoke up, her voice filled with anger and confusion.

"So, all this time, you've been pretending to be our family, acting like how you thought Emir would be?" Her bloodshot eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I tried to act normal, but that was only for the sake of hiding all of this."

"Emir, this joke is a bit too cruel, isn't it? You almost got us there, but you can stop now, it's not funny," Laura said, her voice trembling.

"Please tell me that this is a joke, Emir," she pleaded.

"You can't be some fully grown man that died and was transported into the mind of my newborn child, right?" She asked as tears continued to spill out of her eyes.

"I don't know why or how it happened, but it did, and this is no joke, Laura." He said.

His replies and almost unnatural way of talking, caused her to stutter out, as if was she going through a mental breakdown:

"No, no, no, something definitely happened to you... You are sick, y-you can't be believing him, Lily? Right, Lily?"

"I-I didn't nurse a grown man, did I?"

"First they take my husband and now even my own son?!"

"MOM STOP! Just stop, it's obvious that he is not lying. So please, calm down. You don't want to talk more in your state, you might say something that you would never be able to take back." Lily reprimanded.

Ignoring her, Laura continued, "But why now? Why tell us? Why not just hide it? WHY?!"

"I couldn't keep it a secret anymore," he said.

"It was something that I had to do, I can't keep living a lie, I wanted to stop hiding everything, and just be honest for once."

"But why did you have to Asher?" Laura asked, her voice shaking.

"Why couldn't you have just told us the truth from the beginning?"

"I was confused, and I didn't know how you both would react. I thought that if I pretended to be Emir, everything would be okay."

"But it's not okay," Lily said, her voice softening. "You lied to us, and that's not okay."

"I know," he said.

"And I never meant to hurt you both, in fact, I wanted the opposite, to protect, but it seems that I failed, majorly."

"I replaced the baby that could have been your son, and I didn't want to keep hiding this from people who considered me family."

The air was thick with tension as they grappled with the reality of his words. Seconds felt like an eternity as they sat there, suspended in time.

Laura finally spoke up, her voice trembled with emotion, and Emir could see the struggle within her as she tried to process his revelation.

"So, what happens now?" She asked.

"Do you just go back to being Asher and leave us behind?"

"Y-ye-" he coughed out, barely stopping himself as he covered his mouth.

"No...nothing but that." He stuttered while letting out a sigh of relief.

Emir was just seconds away from ending their relationship then and there, finally able to take back full control of his body. His mind.

[LYRA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!] He roared, his tone seething with rage.

[I'm sorry, Emir, I really am.....but you will know everything in due time, I can't tell you now, or it will all wash down the drain.]

[You have ruined everything.]

[…..I'm sorry.]

[Tell me this at least... Did you do this on your own accord?]

[No, please believe me when I say this, I'm forced the same as you, I even... I-I'm sorry, but I can't say that....I-I beg you, just continue moving forward, and when the time is right, the reason for all of this will be shown to you.]

Cutting off their conversation, Lily spoke, "We need time to think, we need time to process all of this."

"Of course," he replied, somehow able to compose himself as he nodded.

"Take all the time you need."

With that, Emir quickly left for his room, not wanting to show his face to them.

He looked straight ahead as he sat alone on the bed, a multitude of thoughts going through his head.

His pitch-black eyes were hazy and unfocused, while his face showed no emotion as if he couldn't yet process what just happened.

Letting out an exacerbated sigh, he leaned back on the wall as he looked up.

[I swear to whatever you believe in Lyra that whoever is responsible for this will pay the price, even if it's the last thing I do.] He said, his telepathic voice seething with fury, as he gripped his hand so tightly, almost to the point of bleeding.

[I'm sorry.] Lyra repeated, as all that she could do or say, was apologize.

Emir ignored her, but knew that he, or rather, they, had deeply hurt his family and that there was nothing he could do about it now; he didn't even know if their relationship could ever be repaired.

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