[4] AWOKE TO SLEEP

"You shouldn't eat that, Sliff," Arlo said. "It's no ordinary apple."

Sliff snatched the apple off of Arlo's hands, chomping on it right after. "I don't care," he said, turning away. "I just want to win this." He chomped and chomped until the sweet fruit was entirely in his belly. "See," he said, turning back. "It wasn't difficult at all."

Arlo placed a hand on Sliff's either shoulder. "I knew you could do it. I believed in you."

Sliff glanced up at Arlo's face with a smile. "Thank—"

Arlo's face was slit vertically into two, past his throat. "I believed in you, Sliff, and this is what you do in return?"

Blood dripped on Sliff's face as Arlo pulled him closer. Sliff's body got colder as Arlo tightened his grip.

"Look what you did to me, Sliff," Arlo said. "What're you going to do now?"

Murmuring, Sliff tried to think what to say.

"It seems," Arlo said. "You don't deserve to be treated like a human, after all. I should've also treated you like the others."

Sliff gasped, his brows contracting. How was he to respond?

"But I will not, Sliff," Arlo said. "I will always believe in you. Come here, give me a hug." The vertical slit started growing deeper, splitting him more and more, blood and intestines spewing out.

Sliff pulled back his head, not a sound would come out of his mouth. He gulped. "What do I do? I… I…"

Arlo pulled him closer, organs rubbing against his body.

***

"AAUGG!" Sliff yelled, breathing heavily afterward.

Looking around, he found himself in a moderate sized room, on a comfortable bed, beside him a stool and a big window decorated with green curtains. On his other side, an iron cupboard stood behind several medical equipment.

He pulled a hand to scratch his head, only then he noticed than a needle had been injected into it, supplying him with blood.

"So, it was just a dream, huh?" Sliff thought. "But, where am I?"

He looked around further; staying in bed, as moving even a little was aching every inch of his body. The only door of the room was to his left, opposite to the windows. Wherever he was, it was an expensive place. The tiles were crystal clear, and toward his right, beside the legs of the stool, lay a young man with yellow-orange gradient hair, a black suit over his white shirt—

"WHAT?" Sliff thought. "Why's he down there?" The man's face was farther away, so Sliff could not tell who he was. "Hello, s…" He trailed off, remembering his promise. "Hello, sleeping man? HELLO?"

The young man jolted up, sitting upright in the next moment. "I wasn't ashleep. I'm awaik." He yawned.

"Wh-You…" Sliff said before raising his voice. "Vyzen? Vyzen!"

"S-Sli…" the man, who was Vyzen all along, stuttered.

He got up from the tiled floor, his eyes widening, before tears started flowing out of them. Vyzen leapt toward the partial-inclined bed, straight at Sliff, embracing him. "SLIFF!" he yelled in relief. "You woke up!"

"OW!"

"Sorry…"

They looked at each other then chuckled.

"So… How're you, Vyzen?"

"Forget about me, stupid," Vyzen said, rubbing his eyes. "You scared the living crap out of me, Sliff. I really thought you left me. Don't you ever do that again, you idiot."

Sliff chuckled. "Alright, alright. But where are we?"

"White Wing," Vyzen said. "The best hospital in all of Esbara."

Sliff scanned the entire room again, gazing in awe. "Woah! So this is what a hospital looks like, huh?"

Vyzen snorted quietly. "The autopsy technicians got super scared when you woke up at the morgue out of nowhere," he explained. "But as soon as I returned from my mission and got the news, I made the doctors transfer you to this hospital."

"You mean," Sliff asked. "'You' chose this expensive hospital?"

"I mean… Yeah," Vyzen said. "I wanted you to get the best medical treatment out there."

"But this will cost money, Vyzen," Sliff said, frowning. "And that, I don't have."

Vyzen's expression soured. "Don't care about stupid stuff like money, Sliff. Just relax, okay?"

Sliff looked deep into Vyzen's dark eyes. He leaned back, nodding slowly. "Alright."

Sliff jolted toward Vyzen immediately. "Wait… Did you just say that this is the best hospital in 'Esbara'?"

"Of course," Vyzen said, looking around. "What? You disagree or something?"

"That's means…" Sliff realized. "I'm in the Kyubu region!"

Vyzen nodded. "Yeah. We found your 'corpse' in the Goltara Mountains. The medics declared you dead on the spot. But then, three days later, you woke up in the morgue. That was more than three days ago. The doctors are still unsure how all this happened though."

"Goltara? I was in Taaskov cave," Sliff said. "How did I end up in Goltara?"

Vyzen shook his head. "We're still trying to find that answer ourselves," he said then leaned toward Sliff. "But… There's something I want to ask you, Sliff. Be honest, okay?"

Sliff chuckled. "Of course." He never lied to Vyzen, after all.

"Why did you never tell me that you were a slave?"

Sliff's smile turned upside down as he realized that one of his biggest fears had come true. He had never lied to Vyzen…but once.

"Why, Sliff," Vyzen asked. "You told me you were still working under grandpa Toro. If I had known you were a slave, do you really think I would've left you all alone like I did?"

"That's the only reason, Vyzen." Sliff said with a frown.

Vyzen's eyes widened. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed Sliff by the collar. "What do you mean, you idiot? Do you think Kyubu doesn't have slaves? I've seen them get killed without even a blink of hesitation. They are murdered openly and people don't even care enough to look at them. They act like its normal. They found your current master's body in those mountains as well. Do you know what the doctors told me after they found that out, Sliff?"

Sliff hesitated to meet Vyzen's eyes. But when he did, he found his friend tearing up.

"When I asked them to switch the hospital," Vyzen said. "They told me to just let you die. Do you know why? Because your master is dead, Sliff. If you had just told me that you were a slave, I would've never moved here. I would've never dreamed to become a Seeker—"

Sliff grabbed Vyzen by his collar. "Don't you dare say it, Vyzen! Don't you dare make little of our promise!"

"What promise, Sliff?" Vyzen said. "You promised me that you won't ever leave me alone. But you broke it."

"Do you have any idea how much I want what you have?" Sliff asked.

Vyzen stared at him, silently. "Alchos?" he whispered. "But you supported me to learn Alchos—"

"The freedom to dream!" Sliff yelled, tearing up. "I don't have it, Vyzen, but you do. So, don't belittle it just like that… I supported you to move to Kyubu, as it was the only way I could live my own dream. I was living my dream through you, you idiot! And you just go and say something like that, so easily?"

Vyzen fell silent. He pulled away his hands from Sliff's collar, settling back. "I'm…sorry, Sliff. I never realized it before."

Sliff took back his hands as well. Silence enveloped the room.

"How am I still alive, Vyzen?" Sliff asked.

Vyzen sighed. "Because of captain. She convinced everyone that you could help the investigation of the Goltara incidents."

Sliff's head fell slowly. "Is that so, huh?"

"They said a council meeting will be held," Vyzen said. "As soon as you are ready, that is. They really want to solve this mystery, with our mission failing and all."

"Failing?" Sliff asked. "Is this the same mission you spoke of earlier?"

"Yeah," Vyzen said. "We excavated the entire Goltara Mountains. Five of the best Guilds were involved. Even then, we found nothing and returned after two days."

"Nothing at all?"

Vyzen glanced toward Sliff. "We did find bodies. Many bodies. Humans, orcs, goblins, giants. You."

"So Zomir wasn't a nightmare," Sliff thought. "I remember the promise I made with Galarax, so he's real too. Should I tell Vyzen? Will he believe me? Now that I think about it, what will I tell the council?"

The door slammed open, stopping Sliff's train of thought.

"Ma'am," a nurse in a green outfit, standing on the other side of the door, said to another woman, who wore a black suit similar to Vyzen's. "I told you to open it slowly. The patient is still not stable."

"Pardon me," the woman in the suit said. "But, this is an urgent matter."

Vyzen jolted onto his feet. "Captain!"

"Captain?" Sliff thought in confusion, looking at the newcoming young woman. "Wait, that means… She's…'Ironbringer' Valisha?"

"We have a mission on hand, Vyzen," Valisha said.

"What is it, captain?" Vyzen asked.

"We discovered that the man who had an open chest wound is called Devo Grovon," Valisha explained. "And it turns out that Devo was part of Tane's party. You remember Tane, right?"

Vyzen frowned, turning his head toward Sliff. "Yes, ma'am."

Valisha raised an eyebrow. "Oh!" She stepped closer to Sliff with a hand on her waist. "So, you're finally awake, huh?"

"She's way taller in person," Sliff thought as the black haired woman approached him, her hair ruffling as she leaned. He buried the back of his head into the pillow.

"Have you told him about the council meeting yet?" Valisha asked.

Vyzen nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I did."

"So," Valisha asked. "Do you think you'll be able to attend the council tomorrow?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Sliff said. From the corner of his eye, he saw Vyzen face-palming himself then shaking his head. "Huh?"

"Good," Valisha said, standing upright. "You'll be escorted by one of my men. Be sure to sleep early. The meeting will be held before nine."

"Okay," Sliff said. He saw Vyzen turning away. "WHAT?" he thought.

Valisha turned to Vyzen. "Do you understand what this means, Vyzen?"

Vyzen sighed. "That I won't be the one escorting him to the meeting."

"Correct," Valisha said. "But your mission is of great importance too."

"Huh?" Vyzen said in confusion.

"As I was saying," Valisha said. "We also found out that this Devo guy had a slave that he used to take on his quests and such. So now, the council wants her presence in the meeting as well, for a testimony."

"Wait…" Vyzen said. "That means I 'will' be able to attend the meeting—"

"You're going to accompany Alaric on your mutual journey to Fleya in Osto," Valisha explained. "Escorting the girl will be Alaric's mission. You'll be joining up with some Kosmos guild members in Fleya."

"I don't understand," Vyzen said. "What's my mission, then?"

Valisha sighed. "It has been weeks since Dubius ventured on a solo mission," she explained. "Kosmos wants so send a search party after him. They wanted Buster's help, so I promised them that I'll send one of my best men to aid their mission. That's the gist; Alaric will fill you up on details."

Vyzen exhaled softly, looking at the floor. "Understood, captain."

Valisha stepped next to Vyzen. "Look at me," she said, raising Vyzen's chin with a finger. "Do not disappoint me, alright?"

"Of course," Vyzen said. "I'll do my best, captain."

Valisha smiled, stepping away. "Good. Go meet up with Alaric in the stronghold."

"Just a moment, captain," Vyzen said.

Valisha nodded. "I understand." With that, she exited the room, closing the door slowly.

Sliff noticed Valisha peeking through the slit until the door fully closed. "What—?"

"Sliff, you idiot!" Vyzen said, falling back on the stool. "What was that about?"

"Huh?" Sliff said in confusion. "What were you even doing?"

Vyzen frowned, hands over his face. "Me? You don't even realize what 'you' just did, stupid. What do you think will happen after the council gets your testimony?"

Sliff fell quiet, realizing Vyzen's point. "Oh…"

"The council does not gather every day," Vyzen said. "I thought if I was present in that meeting, at least I would be able to somewhat change their decision about your life."

"But you have a mission in Osto—"

"That's not the point, Sliff," Vyzen stood, toppling the stool. "You said it yourself that you'll be present tomorrow. If you did not open your mouth so quickly just now, I would've been able to attend the meeting, after finishing my mission."

Sliff lowered his head. "Right… My bad…"

"Your—" Vyzen said loudly but then composed himself. "You just called death on yourself. Are we not on the same page? Oh, my lord! The hell am I supposed to do now?"

Sliff sighed. "I'm so stupid…"

Silence took over the room…then the door creaked.

"You done?" Valisha said, peeking through the door crack.

"Yes, captain," Vyzen said slowly, facing Sliff with a frown. "Should I go, Sliff?" he whispered.

"Definitely," Sliff said without hesitation. "Dream. Remember?"

Vyzen stepped closer, hugging Sliff. "Don't you worry, Sliff. I'll think of something, okay? You just…wait, I guess."

"Sure."

Vyzen backed up, leaving the room shortly, with a somber expression on his frowning face.

Sliff sighed afterward, placing his hands behind his head as he leaned back.

He stared blankly at the ceiling.

"So… I came back only to die again, huh?"