"How do you feel, Eric?"
"For the millionth time. I'm fine, Grandpa."
Eric went home in a public bus with his grandpa and little sister on their way home. "I'm just checking."
"I already told you, Grandpa. I'm fine. Besides, you heard the doctor. He also said I was fine and okay to be discharged."
"Yah, well, he also said there was nothing to be done when you spent three years in a coma." Eric's grandpa said with clear irritation.
"You can't really blame the doctor for that. Even now they still don't know what caused me to go into a comatose state. It really was so sudden."
His grandpa flinched as soon as Eric said that. The subtle movement didn't escape Eric's eyes, but he let it go.
"How did it feel in the coma?" Erica asked.
Eric looked at her face, but then his vision blurred as he remembered the colorful sky of the dreamscape, the hideous monsters, each one scarier than the next, the phantom beasts, and the abomination.
'I wonder what happened to that guy,' he thought.
Then he remembered the two priests.
'They were the ones who brought me here. Well, I guess that was the least they could do since they tried to kill me. Why did they suddenly believe me, though? The black-haired one was definitely trying to kill me until the white one came. I couldn't hear them because I was gasping for breath under that guy's pressure... Still, they must be really strong. He slapped a phantom beast to death? Can a human do that? Well, I don't think they're human in the first place since they were in the dreamscape. probably some type of humanoid monsters.'
"Brother?"
Eric's thoughts were interrupted by his sister's voice. His vision came back, and he saw her small face staring back at him, reminding him that he had not answered her question.
Raising his hand, Eric patted her head. "It felt just like a dream."
He looked outside the window, taking in the almost lost sight of stalls, houses, and people walking to and fro on the busy streets. A small smile appeared on Eric's face.
'I wish, I could have thanked those guys.'
--------------------------
Eric arrived home and was assaulted with a barrage of hugs and tears of joy. He couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Eric was adopted by his grandpa when he was 5 years of age. He had no memory of the time before he met his grandpa; if not for the fact that he was told, he would have lived most of his life thinking they were blood-related. He didn't know who his parents were or if they were still even alive, and his grandpa never told him. His grandpa, Fredrick Harrison, owns one of the most popular restaurants in town. The restaurant did so well, Grandpa Fredrick had enough to send four kids to school. Eric once thought that the reason his grandpa adopted so many kids was because he never had one. Eric's adopted younger sister, Erica, was seven years old. He also had two other adopted siblings, Lyon and Lynda. The twins were going to be 15 this year. They all shed tears as soon as they saw him. Lastly, the final member of the family was Julia. She was a maid, and no one of them knew her age. Eric could swear she had taken care of him since he was a kid, and yet that woman didn't look a day older than 20.
Even after his coma, when he saw her again. It was almost like she didn't even age. Eric made a mental note to inspect her cosmetics later. After a session of happy reunion, the little family had one of the happiest meals they would ever have in their entire life.
Eric went to bed with a smile.
Tomorrow, he would wake up to his family's happy faces.
----------
'So why?'
'Why was he back here again?!'
The thought rang loudly in Eric's head as he ran across the familiar terrain of dreamscape. A look of panic was on his face. He had just had dinner and said goodnight to his family, but as soon as he drifted into sleep, he opened his eyes to the colorful sky of dreamscape.
'No no no, this is impossible. I left. I made it out. Why am I back here again? Was it all a dream?'
Eric's face paled instantly. At the thought that his dinner, the hugs, and the tears of his family might have been a dream, his heart rate began increasing as his panic soared. Suddenly he stopped. He rested against a tree and began taking deep breaths.
'Let's take it easy. Panicking won't solve anything.'
Amidst deep breaths, his breathing soon became regulated. His thoughts became clearer. "It was definitely not a dream." Eric said to himself.
'That was real. I just have to think about it calmly. The most obvious conclusion is that I've somehow been transported back into this place. Is there some kind of higher power at play? No, relax, Eric; you read too many mangas. Is there some kind of condition? My bed? My posture when I sleep?'
"What is this?! Am I supposed to monitor the way my body is positioned when I sleep?!" Eric cried out in frustration. He slid down on the tree and sat.
'Dammit, will I go into a coma again? How will Grandpa feel? Erica, Lyon, Lynda, Julia.' Eric buried his face into his knees. Suddenly he sprang up. Right where he was sitting were footprints other than his own.
His face lit up as he remembered something. 'The priests. They got me home the last time, right? If I can just find them...' He looked at the footprints and traced the direction in which it went, that's when he saw it.
Previously Eric had been too focused on the fact that he was suddenly back in Dreamscape; he didn't notice that it wasn't the Dreamscape he knew. To be more accurate, he wasn't in the part of the dreamscape he knew. Looking around, everything was destroyed.
Everything he could see looked like it had been cut. The trees, rocks, and everything were in cleanly severed pieces. About 20 feet to his side was a mini fault in the ground; it looked like a small-sized earthquake that stretched as far as he could see, but deep down Eric knew that was a cut. For some reason, as he looked at the clean, precise cuts on everything, he felt like Eric felt like he could see the swordsman raising his sword and bringing it down. A terrifying thought soon crossed his mind: if everything was cut...
'Surely not,' Eric thought as he slowly looked up towards the sky. He subconsciously let out a soft chuckle. All the colors in the sky had parted, leaving a dark, colorless void in the middle.
The sky had been cut.
Eric stared at it in wonder for a while before snapping back to reality. He looked at the footprints. Taking a deep breath, he followed them.
----------------
In the far east of the dreamscape, way beyond the forest, was a kingdom. This was a place that, if Eric found out existed, would have cursed his three years of solitude. It looked like a fantasy world.
Humans with animal ears and tails walked around carrying out various activities. It was just like a normal city with houses and stores, roads, horses, and wagons. Some of the men carried swords and weapons; it was like a world from a manga or anime. Looking closer, you could spot elves and other humanoid monsters. Some of them could even hide their excess body parts and look just like humans. It was a very large kingdom. In the middle of the kingdom were two large buildings. One was a tower, and the other was a palace. In the palace halls seven people stood before a throne.
On the throne was a powerful-looking man. On his head was a golden crown, signifying that he was kind. He looked at the seven people and said with a tired voice.
"What was the disturbance about?"
"We do not know, my king, but according to the scouts, a large part of the west has been laid to waste; even the sky was cut." One of the seven people, a female elf, answered.
"What do you mean, the sky has been cut?" one of the seven, a large man with fang-like teeth, asked.
"There's a sword mark in the sky, Maximus." The elf replied.
Sounds of deep sighs echoed among the seven.
"My king, the reason you summoned us battalion commanders. Is it because you think it might be them?" A short person in a cloak asked. The voice sounded like that of a little boy.
The king straightened his back on the throne. "Yes, Niel. If it's those priests, you see why it is urgent business."
Silence descended on the hall.
Suddenly a manly voice sounded.
"Hello"
Every one in the hall turned to the source of the voice. A huge man dressed in black knight amour walked into the hall, his head was a burning skull with blue flames.
"Huh? Fredrick?" The king said with a happy voice.
"Woah woah. You look to happy to see me, your majesty." The knight spoke jokingly. All the other battalion commanders greeted the knight.
"Lord Fredrick, you're back"
"Fredrick ever since you left for the human world. Your visits have reduced." The king said
"I've been busy." The knight said waving his hand at the king. The interaction between the king and the knight seemed more like friends.
"What is this? You seem even happier than usual."
"Hehe, My grandson woke up."
"What? Your human grandson. So he finally woke up from his coma huh"
The elf let out a cough. The knight and the king, looked like women about to gossip.
They quickly aligned themselves.
"Alright, your majesty. I'm in a good mood. Tell me anything that's been troubling you; I'll volunteer my battalion to do it."
The king's demeanor suddenly changed.
"Seeing as your face changed, I'm guessing there really is a big problem. Alright, tell me, a knight doesn't go back on his words." The knight said.
"It's the priest—"
"Nah, I'll pass." The knight said instantly.
"What? I've not even said anything yet. What happened to a knight doesn't go back on his words?"
"Well, they do when it'll cost the lives of half of their men. I haven't met these so-called priests yet, but I've heard you guys talk about them, and I saw the condition Yera's battalion was in when she clashed with them. These guys are not pushovers."
"So even you catch beat them, Sir Fredrick?" The little cloaked person said.
"What are you talking about, Niel? I could do it."
"That's why I asked you to do it. Why did you say it like it's a lost cause?" the king said with an annoyed look on his face.
"I could do it, but I'm not taking my battalion to die."
"What do you suggest we do?"
"Is there a law that says two battalions cannot work together? We can't send everyone because of the kingdom's security. Give me Maximus, and I'll do it."
Maximus, the beastman with fang-like teeth, smiled. "I'll willingly go into war with you, Lord Fredrick."
"Hehe, not today though. I have to go back to my grandson." Fredrick said, already walking out of the hall.
"Huh? "Fredrick, you bastard, you just got here!" The king shouted.
Fredrick stopped at the door and turned to the king. "Hahaha, I'm a family man, your highness." The flames on the head slowly died down as flesh began covering the skull. As the last skin came on, the face of a fairly old man came into view.
Frederick Harrison, Commander of the Third Battalion, the undead knight... Eric's grandpa.