" I wish...this world would just end. "
Every day, I used to wish for the entire planet to stop revolving. To be erased, every bit of life and inorganic matter must be extinguished. I thought it could bring an end to my suffering.
Has it?
I've been drifting through my dream for what seems like years, but could only be minutes at best. I put my head down on my desk...and I'll wake up in thirty minutes once the bell rings. In this endless space, I'm aware I'm dreaming.
This has to be a dream.
The planet Earth is gone. It's nowhere in sight. Instead, I'm consumed by darkness layered upon darkness within the vastness of space. The cold embrace wrapping around my drifting body and its extremities is chilling and unnerving. It feels like death is washing over me every second I spend within this dream.
And yet...it's not a nightmare.
This is the dream I've always had—ever since childhood. An end to the world. A describable and observable finality to the world I called home. I wanted it all to disappear.
Was I discontent? Probably. Was I bored? Definitely. But you know...there were some good parts.
I had friends.
" Ah...I'm still tired. "
The bell didn't ring...But I opened my eyes anyway.
What's this?
Had been all I could think of while lying flat on my back and looking up at a white expanse. It was as though the thing against my back was an impossible-to-quantify amount of nothingness, and yet that nothingness held substance. It kept me grounded. My elementary request for all to disappear had been achieved. Slowly, I started to sit up,
" I wonder where my friends went... "
I had been silent for a while. Letting my head fall, my tone dropped even lower than it normally was. My hair covered my eyes—
Was I sad?
" I— "
" Finally awake? "
* SHOCK *
Immediately upon hearing another voice, I sprang up from my head-hanging sitting position and looked around. Nothing. There hadn't been anyone in sight at all. But I was sure I heard a voice. There was no way I didn't.
" Where might you be looking? I'm right here. "
I turned around much more calmly, in stark contrast to how I first stood up upon hearing the voice the first time. It didn't startle me this time, and it was revealing itself to me—the origin of the voice.
" Well, hello. It seems you've answered my call. "
" Hm? Your 'call'? "
I spoke while turning around. The being that had been in front of me was a pale-faced man. His hair was steel blue, his eyes a pale green. To say his skin was white was not an overstatement. It was the truth. His hair was long and messy with wild strands going all around. His body was toned yet also gave off hints of fragility. Despite his scruffy look, hair-wise, he was tall and handsome. Clearly a looker if he took care of that hair. And under that messy hair that stretched to his back, he had sharp and pointed ears—what was he?
His face, however, was familiar.
" That's right. You answered my call and have awoken in what I call 'Void Space'. "
Even in his tone, he came off as bored. Maybe that had been why his face was so familiar. He makes the same expressions I do in the mirror.
" Shouldn't a void have no light? It's almost blindingly white here. "
" It happens to be only a void in name. The true nature of this space is something beyond even me. I simply know the spell to enter it. "
Spell? Ah, was this some sort of fantasy thing?
" You're taking this rather well. Why is that? "
Well, one would typically freak out about this sort of thing, right? I just wasn't that sort of guy. This could've just been a dream. And even if it wasn't, what would I gain from being overly excited and up in arms?
" Does it matter if I'm shocked or not? "
He looked at me and, for a moment, his eyes widened with clear emotion. Shock? Maybe not. It seemed more like intrigue.
" I suppose not. Whether you like it or not, you've answered my call. "
" Not that I really did anything. I was just sleeping. "
" The sixth-circle spell I've employed works beyond your will and physical action. It uses your soul's base nature. "
" That means what exactly? "
" It means your soul and mine are connected. As if through a…phone line. Yes, that's what this sort of connection would be called in your world. "
My world? Then that can only mean he's not from Earth, right?
" So what, we're soul friends now? "
" Soon you'll awake from this space. And you will no longer just be you. Your dreams will be replaced with either my own thoughts or memories. And from time to time, you and I may meet face to face, like we are now. "
" Judging from how you're speaking, you don't have time to fully explain everything to me, right? "
He again looked intrigued. This time, his face settled. A small smile perked up across his otherwise bored and nonchalant facial expressions. He moved his hair out of his face a bit before nodding.
" You and I will become one, Sora. You can call me Draesil. But soon you'll be called that too. "
Why's that?
I tried to speak once more, but my mouth would utter no sound. And neither would Draesil's. Though he didn't even try. It was like he knew our time to talk was up. The sensation I felt now was similar to that of all my past dreams when I was beginning to wake up. A slow wind into consciousness, a reminder I still breathe.
And that the world has yet to halt.
. . .
" Oh, Young Master...you were so young...and so beautiful...How could your father ignore you for a human like this... "
I could feel a weight on top of my chest. But that was weird because I fell asleep at a desk. Who would have moved me to get on top of me? And for that matter—
" Who's this 'Young Master' supposed to be? Is that you, Haruo, on top of me? "
I grumbled while trying to open my eyes and swipe off whoever was on me. And yet, in even those simple movements, I was riddled with pain and shock. Every inch of my body felt as though it was being pricked with countless needles and rods. Tormented by fleshy pain, I couldn't help but groan.
When was the last time I felt pain?
It was the second grade, right? I stopped ever getting hurt after that...So why—
" Young Master!! "
A force gripped onto my hurting body and squeezed me, sending enough shocking pain through my muscles that I acted rashly and pushed the person away, feeling the last of my strength slipping as I fell back down.
Wait, down onto what?
Was this a bed? In what world would these guys be able to move me from my desk and onto a bed without me waking up? And why was I feeling this unquantifiable amount of physical agony? Just what the hell happened to me?
As my eyes began to settle from the pain of being opened and finally take in the light, I could see nothing more than unfamiliar surroundings, a room made entirely out of a fantasy I couldn't possibly be existing within. And as I brought up my hand and looked at its delicate yet clearly masculine features along with its ghostly pale color...And then, right by that hand I raised, had that same steel blue hair. Only one word left my mind and lips.
A name.
" Draesil? "
. . .
It took a moment for the person who had been on top of me, who I had come to learn was my, or more accurately, Draesil's servant, to finally leave me be. She was quite attached for a bit. And once I finally got her to calm down and remove her arms from around this aching body, I examined both my surroundings and my situation.
For someone like me, it was easy to understand what was going on and piece it together neatly. Draesil had called out to my soul, I took over his body, and had been effectively isekai'd. It made no sense when I kept in a human from Earth's perspective. However, considering fiction often mimics reality, I could accept this new reality brought to me.
What I couldn't, however, simply accept was this pain.
Even the slightest twitch of my fingers sent a shock up my hand. And forget walking, the feeling of the floor pressing against the soles of this body's feet would send me straight into shock.
Just what the hell was Draesil doing?
" Hey, what do you remember me doing before I fell asleep? "
" Young Master, you didn't just 'fall asleep'! Your heart stopped beating entirely! Your body even started to go into arcane decay! "
" 'Arcane decay'? "
She stood up from her chair at my bedside and slammed her hands down on the bed by me. It didn't faze me much, but it was interesting to see her reaction to that question.
" Arcane decay! Y'know! The thing that happens when Arcane Creatures like us die! When the arcane core in our bodies go inactive and disperse into the atmosphere?! "
" Right...Arcane decay. "
Now I get it. Whatever happened before Draesil and I met caused him to die. And this pain I'm feeling is the result of what I could only assume to be the decomposition of something fundamental within his body.
And now that his body was my own—
" That's why I'm in so much pain, hm... "
" Obviously! Jeez, Young Master! You're so worrisome! "
This was the first time someone fussed over my health. Even though this was Draesil's servant and his body, it was I receiving all this worry.
A total pain.
Draesil had a servant to his name, and so I wondered for a moment about what sort of man Draesil had been. Who he had been.
" You said something about my father a bit ago? What's up with him? "
" Your father? Our King? "
King?
" He's just finished a meeting with a human! Could you believe it—you're sick and almost died, and he's ignoring you! "
Draesil didn't seem sick. But then again...
" Your name, tell me your name again. "
Looking at the Elf woman who served Draesil and now would be serving me, she was quite fair-skinned. Her complexion was...natural, human even. She didn't look like an actual ghost. Not like me. Even the palms of her hands had more color than my arms.
" H-Huh?! Y-Y-Young Master...D-Do you have amnesia?! How could you forget my name?! I've been serving you since you were one hundred and ten! "
Amnesia wouldn't be a bad story to go with. And if I isolated it to just her, I wouldn't be found out. It could be bad if a King's son, a Prince, were found out to have amnesia. Who knows what sort of trouble I'd find myself in?
And so, I went with that. Nodding my head, I kept it short.
" I remember some things. Like my name. "
" Oh dear...you truly are an amnesiac... "
" For your sake, I'd keep it to yourself. "
I felt something crawl up out of me while I uttered those words. What was that...? It felt like something dark and twisted took the wheel for a moment and manipulated the way I acted. For just a small moment.
That wasn't me who said that.
" R-Right! Of course, Young Master! "
She quickly fell into line and didn't utter another word outside of what I had asked her previously.
" My name is Flora. I have no family name. And I serve the heir to the Elf Kingdom, Draesil Archwood. "
Draesil Archwood...That's my new name.
Draesil said I would soon take that name. He just failed to mention how soon soon was. There was a complex nebula forming in my emotions. Typically, I'd find things boring, unsatisfying for any longer than the moment in front of me. Things were predictable, easy to see. It was as if my brain knew the patterns of the test that was life and filled in all the answers before I could even reach for my pen.
There were only a few moments when I felt excitement. And that was during the unpredictable days I spent with those three idiots.
But for once...I was feeling curious about the world. And so with that curiosity I felt...I decided that, at least for the moment, I'll live as Draesil Archwood.
Hopefully, I won't get bored too soon.
CHAPTER 30 END