‘Damn it! What were her words again? I knew it was something important, yet I had forgotten about it!’
Allen cursed in his mind as he tried whatever he could just to remember her words again.
He didn’t know how long he had kept on meditating in the void, but he knew that it was the same amount of time that he had spent wandering in the void. In other words, he had spent trillions of years just remembering his lover’s words.
And just when he was about to give up and wander into the void again, he remembered it!
‘Amor Vincit Omnia’
At first, he didn’t know why she had told him about that quote, of all things that she could have said to him. But after spending time with Asther and having to torture the system, he now knew what she meant.
The quote known as “Amor Vincit Omnia” was from a language known as Latin. In English, it means “Love conquers all”.
So the message that his lover wanted to convey to him was that their love for each other could conquer all problems that he or she would experience. And since he was currently stuck in the void of darkness, it could also mean that the only way to get out was to remember her love for him and to remember her identity that he had forgotten.
That was why, even if he had forgotten about her and he didn’t have any memories of her, his heart still remembered the feeling of her love for him and how much he had loved her.
It might be a cliche from a novel that friendship or love could conquer all problems, etc. And he knew that it wouldn’t work in this dream or this void.
He might have misinterpreted what his lover’s quote meant.
‘It is unlikely that remembering my lover’s love and identity would let me escape from this void.’
Allen knew that he didn’t live in a fairytale or cliche novel, so it was unlike for that to happen. But it also didn’t mean that her lover’s words wouldn’t help him get out of the void.
After all, it was unlikely that his lover was just speaking nonsense to distract him. If she was, then he might have to “teach” her how to behave.
‘I have been in this void for trillions of years. But the time in this void must be faster than the time outside, so even if I had spent trillions of years here, only a few hours must have passed in the real world.’
‘Even after spending trillions of years wandering in the void, I still haven’t found the exit, but my lover’s words might be able to help me navigate in this void.’
‘Since love comes from the heart, or at least metaphorically, then instead of using my five senses to navigate the void, I will shut down all of my five senses and only walk to where my heart will lead me to.’
Allen’s plan was simple. He would close his eyes and his other senses forcefully, even if he had to destroy some of them just so that he could achieve the result he wanted.
Afterward, he would wander into the void to where his heart felt that the direction he was going in was the right path. And while he would do that, he would also feel the love he had received from his lover so that her love could guide him to the right path.
For Allen, that was more practical than just thinking of his love for her and his lover’s identity to get out of this place. So in his plan, he would use love as his compass that would direct him to the exit of this void.
He didn’t know if it would work, but it was better than nothing. After all, he had already spent trillions of years in this void, so he might as well spend another.
With that plan in his mind, Allen shut off his five senses. Of course, other senses of his couldn’t be closed, and he only shut off the senses that would help him navigate this void, which was his sight and hearing.
Since he could shut off his sense of sight just by closing his eyes, it was easy to do so, but it was different for his sense of hearing. He didn’t have any ear mufflers and he couldn’t just stab his eardrums with the pen he had in his pocket, right?
Well, that was what he did. He took out the pen he had in his pocket, opened it, and stabbed it into each of his two eardrums.
Did he feel pain? Not really. He had already noticed that his pain was nonexistent in this void, and his sense of touch was numbed as well. His sense of taste was also not working in this void, and only his sense of sight and hearing worked.
Although, he could only see nothing but darkness and could only hear his thoughts, he might also be mistaken.
Well, it didn’t matter considering he would get out of this void after he found the exit. With that in his mind, Allen closed his eyes and just wandered in the void while using his love as a compass.
He didn’t know where he was heading, but he would go wherever his love would lead him to. You could say that he was “blinded by love”.
Allen kept on walking in the void, wandering to wherever he could walk to. It was a strange feeling for him, he was wandering aimlessly to where his love would lead him to. There was even a time when he walked in circles, but he didn’t question it and did just that.
He kept on wandering in the void, using his love as his compass. He didn’t know how long since he didn’t count nor estimated the time he had spent in the void. It was pointless to do so anyway.
As he was wandering in the void, his heart told him to stop his movements and he did that. What greeted him afterward was a warm embrace.