Noel opened his eyes and blinked a few times before registering his new location. His eyelids fluttered as the light overwhelmed his sight, causing him to see nothing beyond the hazy picture that lay before him.
When everything became clearer, he discovered that he had returned from the pocket dimension. However, he wasn't on the staircase that he passed out from.
"Where am I?"
But before he tried figuring that out, he hastily examined his body, making sure that his 'fears' weren't true.
Ah yes. I'm perfectly fine.
There were no wrinkles on his arms, and he did not have the appearance of a corpse spending overtime in life. He was completely fine physically. And mentally, maybe.
"Ofcourse I'm okay." Noel muttered to himself, rubbing his temples. The aging effect that he experienced was purely illusionary. As to why that was, he had no idea.
Noel grudgily looked from side to side. He was laying down on a white bed, and was covered by a soft white blanket that rose up to his chest. A thin IV line ran into his arm, with its tube connected to a discreet stand by his right. As he explored, he also discovered a strange rectangular device that resembled a box. It had a screen just like the wardrobe in his room, but there were lines moving in strange patterns on it.
'Probably another strange tech' he thought to himself.
"It's a heart monitor."
Noel suddenly jolted to a seating position, his lingering sleepish feeling vanishing into thin air. The voice had startled him, but when he realised who it was, he suddenly went calm.
"Don't suddenly go yapping, Gregory."
With eyes clearer than ever, Noel examined his surroundings. The things he saw were foreign to him, but hey, nearly everything was. Still, it didn't take too long for him to realise that he was in a hospital.
"Why am I here?"
Noel rubbed his forehead again, pulling off the blankets as he attempted descending from the bed. But a pang of pain struck him like lightning.
"Tch!"
He had a sudden, unusual but agonising headache. His brain suddenly felt like wax, and his skull felt like they could shatter. Weakly, he receded, retracing his actions as he helplessly snuggled back into his bed.
I should sleep a little more.
Wait no!
What was even going on?
Noel sat up at once, resisting the pain he felt. Ominously, he realised that his lower legs felt numb and wouldn't respond to any command he gave. Stricken by fear, he squeezed his toes with his hands, massaging them in an attempt to give them 'life' again.
Fortunately they responded shortly after, each of his toes wiggling in unison. Noel could finally catch a breath.
"You know…" Gregory said. "She's been waiting for you."
She?
"Who are you referring to?" he asked.
Noel heard a sigh, and then a response. "Look again to your right."
Feeling curious, he obeyed, glancing over to his side. The golden rays of evening sunlight from the setting sun met his face, illuminating the sight before him.
Then suddenly, his black irises froze in place.
On a black sofa situated by a window mounted with flower vases, was a woman. She wore a black suit, and a pair of glasses whilst she sat. The colourful flower pots by the window danced as the wind washed over them, contrasting with the monotone black palette of her appearance. However, she was slumped over to the side, with her head bent towards the ground, causing her flowing black hair to cover her face.
She was asleep.
"Errm…" Noel tried to speak but no sensible words left his mouth. He was in such a daze that made him wonder how he missed her the first time.
She wore a white shirt beneath her suit, which clung nicely to her rather athletic figure. The little skin Noel could see from her hands, and her swan neck appeared lush, youthful and well toned—a sight which was rare for ladies in the apocalyptic period he was born into. Although Noel couldn't observe her face, she had this professional feel to her that starkly contrasted with her posture.
"She slept off this evening. Was wide awake last night." Gregory added, seeing as Noel was confused. But his words only worsened his turmoil.
"Last night?" Noel inquired, completely stupefied. "How long have I been here?"
"....."
Gregory suddenly went silent as if he had been kidnapped or something. Then after what seemed like several contemplations, he responded.
"I'm afraid my body tends to give into fatigue." He explained, blatantly dodging the question. "With all that activity, it needed rest, you know?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Noel interrogated, trying not to yell so as not to wake up the 'sleeping beauty' that sat beside him.
Unfortunately he failed.
As if tased by a live wire, she suddenly jolted awake, her black hair whipping upwards before cascading slowly. Her glasses were bent to the right, causing her professional demeanor to fly through the window, replaced by a messy, disorganised appearance.
As her flared out black hair slowly assembled whilst they fell, the woman sat still, as if frozen in place.
Her nightly black irises stared right at Noel, with few of her hair strands clinging to the sides of her face—probably due to sweat. Her two small ears peeked through the hair on both sides, rounding inwards like a crescent. She had a thin, tender nose, and lush red lips which had no lipsticks. Her face was a well formed oval, with two rounded almond eyes that could warm the hearts of any observer.
Even to Noel, she was quite….beautiful. To him, she was cute, yet elegant. Professional, yet absolutely not. He was at a conflict on how she appeared to him.
Strangely, she kept staring.
Gregory sighed in Noel's mind. "She's in a sleepy daze. Wake her up."
Huh?
"What do you mean?" Noel mumbled, muttering under his breath.
"Just do it." Gregory replied.
Noel stretched out his right hand and lightly tapped her by the shoulder. Then once again, as if tased by a live wire, her shoulders jerked up as she jolted to her feet.
"...."
She quickly removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Then for whatever reason, she slapped both sides of her face, looking like someone who was unsure of reality.
When she put her glasses back on, she adjusted them by the edge, before turning to look back at Noel.
"Good evening." She greeted, in a soft, warm voice. However, there was a slight undertone of fatigue beneath it.
"Uh..good morning." Noel responded, unsure of how to respond. He had greeted her wrongly too.
At that moment, Gregory suddenly warned him. "You shouldn't have done that."
Done what?
PA!
Noel's head recoiled backwards, crashing on the bed as pain signals spread over his face like wildfire.
What just happened?
His forehead was now red at the point of impact. And Noel had no idea what had suddenly smacked him in the face.
While Noel was still bamboozled, she came closer to him, blocking the sunlight with her body.
"Well let's try that again." She said with a smile that strangely appeared disturbing to Noel. The sunlight beamed off the layers of her figure, coating her frame in a warm, yellow glow.
Then as if she didn't just assault Noel, she greeted once more. "Good evening."
"G-good evening." Noel immediately replied, covering his forehead with his palm in case another hypersonic lash came hurtling at his face. To him, it was terrifying that he didn't see the attack coming. Heck! He didn't even see her move.
The woman's smile changed from the demonic expression she had to one of satisfaction. Then nodding to herself, she retreated to her seat and sat comfortably. "I'm your assistant in case you have forgotten."
But she said that jokingly, forcing Noel to respond with a wry smile that couldn't further expose his terrible acting. Noel quickly reasoned that if she was Gregory's personal assistant, then they might have known each other for a while.
Ignoring his unusual expression, she continued. "We haven't met for a while I believe."
"But it's only been 4 days," Gregory grumbled. Unfortunately, only Noel could hear him.
Immediately Noel took advantage of it and repeated his words. "But it's only been 4 days."
Her eyes lit up in a strange way that made Noel wonder whether he should panic or not. And her gaze intensified almost immediately.
"Ah. Is that how eager you are to get rid of me?" She questioned, with a terrorising glint evident in her eyes. Noel gulped, rethinking his next answer. Copying Gregory seemed like a bad idea.
But he didn't have to say anything.
Swiftly, she pulled out a note and a pen from her pocket, penning some things down before speaking. "You were unconscious for three days, 15 hours and….."
She lowered her gaze as she raised her arm, observing the analog watch on her wrists. "...and 52 minutes."
"...."
3 days?!
"That's assuming you woke up a few minutes before I did." she concluded, sounding all professional out of the blue. But Noel was less caring of that, and more flabbergasted by the fact that he had slept for 3 straight days.
"Oh my…" Noel exclaimed, holding his head as her previous smack had worsened his ache. It now felt less than an aggravated headache, and more like a parasite that was actively eating his brain from the inside, whilst a sledgehammer pounded at the base of his skull.
If his headache was bad, she had made it worse.
"Tch!" He grimaced, with mixed feelings bubbling inside of his head. His vision had started to grow blurry again as well, causing the slim figure of his assistant to stretch and blur into a mess in his eyes.
Noel saw her lips move, and his ear could pick up words—but they were of a broken, incomplete sentence. Her expression was impossible to tell as everything he saw or heard started vanishing beneath the depths of the silence that slowly pulled him in.
And at some point, Noel wasn't hearing anything. With his eyes closing shut, his mind began to drift into the world of many dreams.
Yeah..I really should sleep.
PA!
A loud sound echoed in the room, bouncing off the four walls of the white room. And the mind that once drifted was quickly snapped back into reality.
"Ah!" Noel yelled, holding his swollen red cheek. Just a few seconds ago, he had an intense headache that made him feel like his time was up. And for some reason, his assistant believed the best way to heal it was with a hot, resounding slap.
As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, it worked. Oddly enough.
Like the pain never existed, Noel's head felt completely fine. And the torment in his skull had disappeared.
"What the…?!"
Noel was astounded. Just as he was about proclaiming it as one crazy coincidence, he saw—he sensed mana.
Not just that, a message appeared before him.
[Skill 'Speedy Recovery' has been used on you]
"....!"
Noel shot his eyes at his assistant. She now stood by his side, with a proud smile on her face. She resembled a child waiting to be praised, but rather than appreciation, he had questions.
"Truthfinder." He muttered instinctively. The woman raised an eyebrow, either questioning what he meant or believing she had misheard.
[Truthfinder has been activated.]
Noel's irises took on a darker colouration. Distinct, but not enough to make her notice. And while she threw inquisitive glances at him, his eyes were scanning her from head to toe.
[Name: Tasha Belrose
Race: Human
Role: Apostle]
Ah…
Noel felt slight dread seeping into his heart. He knew not the cause, but It was a forerunner of the news that would strike him next.
[<1 signed contract>]
…
[Deity: Watcher of Ages]