I'm Back?

Right before the teleportation Mark heard Pass announce something.

[Connection Complete]

After that, he was immediately teleported alongside Amelia. He opened his eyes and looked around, just as Amelia did. What Amelia saw confused her, but what Mark saw sent shivers down his spine.

"Hey Mark, do you know what that is?" Amelia said.

He did. He knew what most everything around them was. Knowing what everything was didn't make Mark happy. On the contrary, many negative emotions swirled within him.

'Pass,' he spoke in his mind, 'why are we here?'

[In order for you to grow stronger. I judged that coming here was the most efficient way of increasing your strength]

"I don't want to be here!" He yelled in anger. His loud voice, however, did not affect Amelia. She was currently in a daze, looking around herself in confusion.

[Then you will have to become stronger. I have to use all of my power to allow your power to exist in this dimension. If you want to leave, you'll have to either become stronger through this dimension's laws, or the laws of the previous dimension]

Now Amelia was sure she was hearing things. There was nobody around her besides Mark, who, to the best of her knowledge, had not spoken, yet she was hearing something speak.

She walked over to Mark and started calling him, "Mark. Mark. Mark!"

Mark woke up from his anger and fear and turned to pay attention to Amelia. "Yes, what is it?" Although he had calmed down somewhat, some of his emotions still showed through his voice.

"U-um, sorry to bother you," she said, feeling a little down by his anger, "It's just that I keep hearing something speak."

"Hearing something? What does it sound like?" Mark asked and fully calmed down from his spiking emotions. This place had left him traumatized after he left it, so coming back upset him greatly.

"It sounds like, like a *arghh*, I don't know. It doesn't sound human," Amelia tried to put to words what she heard but failed to do so.

'Could she be hearing Pass,' thought Mark. To test his theory he asked Pass in his mind, 'Pass, where is this?'

[You are currently located in the same location you were at before I teleported you to the other dimension]

"Ah, I heard it again! It was saying something too. Something about dimensions…" Amelia began talking about what she heard Pass say, ignorant of who had caused Pass to speak.

'So she can hear him,' Mark asked Pass, 'Can she talk to you as well?"

[Yes]

"Yes?" Spoke Amelia, "It said yes. What does it mean yes? Yes to what?"

Mark was now place with a dilemma. He could either choose to tell Amelia everything, or he could try and hide it. From his experience, lying was hard to do, brought more problems in the future, and it hurt the person being lied to. At least, it had hurt him every time he was lied to. He didn't want Amelia to be hurt, and he felt like lying was the wrong thing to do, so he decided to tell her everything.

"Amelia," he said.

"Hmm, what is it? Do you know what's happening?" She responded with questions.

"I… need to tell you something," looking straight into Amelia's eyes, Mark said, "I have a lot to say, so prepare yourself."

Amelia thought about everything that had happened so far, but she didn't really understand. They were supposed to be going to the battlegrounds of the tournament, but this didn't seem like one. Also, there was a strange voice and strange things all around her. Mark sounded like he would be able to clear up her questions, so she nodded her head.

"I'll start from the beginning then," mark said in nostalgia and melancholy, but also relief. He had never had anyone to share his trouble with before going to the other dimension. There he met Amelia, and now he was going to share his life's story. He didn't like to remember it, but it was good to finally get it off of his shoulders.

"There once was a boy," Mark started to tell his story. "The boy was orphaned, without any family of his own." Mark paused as he thought about his life.

"The boy was taken into an orphanage, one that helped protect and raise children," Mark's mind drifted back to his days at the orphanage. All of the words he spoke after this came straight from his heart and memory.

"The boy had fun at the orphanage. Although he didn't have many friends, only one, he still enjoyed his time there. They would be taught things during the day, but even then he still laughed and had fun with his friend."

Amelia didn't know what the story had to do with their current situation, but she could tell that the story was about Mark. He had told her some things about his life, but most of it remained a mystery. She cared more about learning of Mark's life than understanding her current situation.

"The boy's fun did not last forever though. It was soon interrupted by a series of events that ruined it all."

Amelia's heart started beating as she worried about Mark. Even though it had already passed, she couldn't help but worry. In her heart, she hoped that it wouldn't be too bad, and that his life wouldn't be horrible.

"His best, and only, friend was murdered by the very caretaker that had raised them. The caretaker had been intoxicated and angry. She came to their room while they were sleeping and she beat his best friend to death."

"After that, the boy was very scared of the caretaker. He stayed away from all of the other children and tried to stay in a corner as much as he could. Being surrounded by walls calmed his sad, scared, and shaky mind. Not much later, the wall that protected him were gone as well."

Amelia's hope was crushed as she heard his story. She knew that no matter how his story went, it wouldn't be happy. However, she didn't think that it would be this bad. Tears started to form under her eyes as she thought about how horrible that would feel. She had lost much in her life as well, so she knew that it hurt, but she had the memory of her mother to keep her going. Her life also wasn't as horrible as what Mark described next, which caused tears to stream down her face.

"The orphanage was struck by lightning, burning it to the ground. The boy heard the children's screams as the caretakers left them behind. They cried out in pain, but he couldn't go back. The boy didn't want to die, no matter how hard his life was, he still wanted the chance to have fun like he did when his friend was alive, so he ran."

"The boy ran as much as he could, but he was still only a child, so he didn't get that far away before stopping. He found a dark alleyway with no one else inside it, and he decided to stay there."

"His small and feeble body wheezed on his way to the alleyway. His body hurt from overuse, so he rested against the wall."

"Days past, and to survive he had to drink any water he could find. It never tasted good, and it couldn't be compared to the water at the orphanage, but it was better than dying, the young boy had thought. He wanted to regret his decision later, when he became sick from the water, but he couldn't. He either drank the water or died, so he had to deal with sickness."

"The boy's body had already been in terrible condition, but not eating for weeks caused it to be much worse. With no other choice, as no one would help him, he ate out of a nearby trash bin. His sickness grew even worse, but he continued to survive through the harsh conditions."

"The boy had at least managed to reach a position where he wouldn't have to worry about survival as much, but that changed as well."

"His water source wasn't stable, so he often had to travel to find water. One such time, he was severely burned by a liquid he didn't know of. He even though that he had been killed, but he somehow managed to survive."

Amelia's eyes turned red from sadness as she listened. 'How can someone go through so much pain? It's not fair,' she lamented.

"That wasn't the only incident that pushed his survival. When he went to get food from the trash bin one time, it fell on him, perhaps someone had pushed it, or it just fell for another reason, but the boy had no way of knowing why."

Amelia gasped as she heard him. 'Was that when he lost his arm?' She thought as the tears stained her shirt. The story hurt her heart in a way she didn't know was possible. It ached so much that she thought it would burst. She didn't want the boy, Mark to go through more pain. She hoped that the story would finally end, and Mark would gain a chance to be happy, but that still didn't happen.

"The boy lost his arm in that event. His life became even harder then, but he once again managed to survive through it all. He almost made a new friend as well."

"However, the new friend he found betrayed him for a coin. The boy secluded himself into his alleyway and stayed away from people as much as he could after that, just like his time in the orphanage."

"After years of struggling to survive, the boy's life neared its end."

"In what the boy would describe as a miracle, he was saved at the end of his life. An entity named Pass saved his life and took him to a different dimension, your dimension," Mark pointed at Amelia.

"Once he reached that dimension his life wasn't as hard before. Using an ability of his, the boy named himself Mark."

"This is the story of my life. Were we are is my original dimension."

Mark stopped talking and he smiled a sad smile. One which held all of his struggle and pain. All of his life in just one, sad smile. Amelia felt that the smile was even more important than the story.

Looking at the smile didn't make her smile, instead she felt pain. She walked up to Mark, tears still running down her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," she said in heartfelt sadness, grief, and regret. She hugged Mark in hopes that some of his pain would lessen. She hugged tightly in hopes that she would be able to always help him in the future. She hugged him in love, hoping that she could share all of her future happiness with him.

Mark was stunned by the hug. He couldn't remember ever being hugged before, so he didn't no what it was supposed to feel like, but he liked the hug. It felt warm and comforting, as if he didn't need to worry about anything while his was in Amelia's embrace.

His soul shook, tears fell down his eyes, and he cried. He couldn't control it. His mouth let out sobs and cries all on its own, without permission from Mark himself. He felt relieved, even happy, so why was he crying, Mark thought.