Friends

Two more days passed since Rey woke up and was finally discharged from the clinic, but instead of going back home and resting he insisted on staying with Ed who was still unconscious.

His parents tried to talk him out of it as he still needed to rest his body, but Rey was adamant on being with Ed till he wakes up.

Meanwhile, the news about them being injured was conveyed to the Levingtons who immediately departed for Rosewood.

(Ed's POV)

After Ed fell in the forest, instead of fainting, he felt his consciousness being transported somewhere,as a result of which he lost his control over his body before he finally fainted.

For others who were oblivious to this fact, Ed had simply fainted but for him, he was floating in pitch black darkness.

At first he tried to search around the place for anything that can give him a clue about where he was, but even after spending a lot of time (according to him) and exploring every direction, he couldn't find anything except for darkness.

"Sys you there? You have been awfully quiet lately, everything alright?"

He tried calling out to his system, but got no response in return.

"Tsk... even my system is not accessible in this place. And how long have I been here for? What if when I go back, everyone is old and I am the only one young and handsome and charming and....."

Ed strayed from worrying about his situation to getting narcissistic in a matter of seconds.

Technically it had only been 2 days in the outside world but to him it felt quite long because there was no concept of day and night.

So he just kept wandering aimlessly, thinking over the events prior to his fainting.

"When I go back, I should get some more useful skills, otherwise I'll be useless like earlier. I also can't rely on my special move everytime, it is too powerful to be used recklessly.

Now that I think about it, I also need to train for the upcoming entrance exam. I have to atleast be level 50 to even attempt it.

Tsk.. tsk.. so much to do and so little time, but it is not a big deal for someone as talented and intelligent as me."

Ed again diverted from the important topic and started his narcissistic behaviour.

But this helped him district himself by thinking about various other things he was good at. At some point, he also started to seriously consider whether he should get a girlfriend in his first year at the academy or wait and just explore his options.

After quite a lot of time passed (about 3 more days in the outside world), he started getting restless. He had been in that place for way too long and it was tiring and making him uneasy. Moreover he was starting to miss Rey.

"Why do I miss that idiot? I am sure he doesn't even care and is up to some other trouble while I am here *sigh*."

After his family, Ed cared the most about Rey as he knew what situation he had been in as a child and took care of him like a brother.

Though he didn't show it explicitly, he was always worried about his friend who has a knack for getting in trouble.

While thinking about Rey, he started reminiscing about the first time they met about 5 years ago when Rey and his family moved to Rosewood.

Though their fathers were close friends, because they lived in different towns, Rey and Ed didn't get a chance to meet each other till they were 10.

He remembered how Rey was very awkward around kids his age at first especially with those who tried to approach him and how difficult it was for him to get him to even start talking.

He asked Rey's parents many times about his behaviour and why he acted the way he did, but everytime they just told him that Rey will be the one to tell him about this and that will be the day, they will become true friends.

Ed was puzzled by their words, he thought they were already friends but according to Rey's parents this was not the case. He tried to understand what they could have meant by that but because he was a kid at that time, he just let it go after some time.

It has almost been a year since he met Rey when Rey and his family had to go visit the town they previously lived in due to his father's work.

For Ed, the day Rey returned was as clear as crystal in his memories. It was like Rey had reverted back to his old self- awkward and distant from others.

He tried to approach him normally, but just like before, Rey kept his distance from him.

At school also, children started making fun of Rey for his awkward behaviour. Ed decided to step in for his friend after some students started picking on him.

That was the turning moment in both of their lives and friendship, as one day they finally decided to tell him everything.

Though it took almost 2 years for Rey to open up to him and consider him his true friend, for Ed it was worth the wait.

After hearing how Rey was bullied in his previous school, he decided to be there for him forever- as a friend and as a brother.

Slowly after that, Rey started to open up to him and his surroundings and that's when he got to know about Rey's intellect.

Until now for him, Rey was just an average kid at best, but after that day, he found out that Rey was as smart as and probably smarter than him.

And instead of being jealous and acting like a jerk like most others did, he was genuinely happy that his friend was at least coming out of his shell.

After all these years, his only regret in relation to Rey was that, because of what happened to Rey in his childhood, he had created a pretty thick shell around him to cope up with everything and even though he managed to get him out of it, Rey still couldn't get over acting like immaturely, which pained him.

A week passed and Ed was still stuck in that damn place with no way out. Fortunately he didn't lose hope because he felt that someone was with him, waiting for him.

"I am impressed by your resolve young man!" a deep and heavenly voice suddenly came out of nowhere.

"?!" Ed was startled and confused. All this time he had not seen even a flicker of light much less a voice.

The voice again spoke, "Tell me young man, how much do you treasure you friend?"

Ed tried to look around for the source of the voice but we far as his eyes can see, it was only darkness.

"M-my friend?" Ed was confused at the unexpected question.

"Yes. Think about it and then tell me what answer you came to."

Ed paused for a moment to think about it and then opened him mouth, "There is no need for me think about such thing. I promised myself to always be there for him and I still stand by my word."

Ed patiently waited for the voice to respond back, but no matter how long he waited, there was no reply.

"*sigh* This place is making me go insane now that I am starting to hear weird voices asking weird questions. But am I also weird for answering them sincerely? Hmm...."

Ed went back to floating in the darkness and for some reason hearing that voice calmed him down. The slight sense of restlessness was gone after that moment.

Some more time passed without anything happening and Ed was starting to lose hope when the same voice was heard again.

"Young man, this come as a bit sudden but I can't keep you here any longer."

"????"

"I would have liked for your body to get more accustomed to it but i guess this will have to do for now. And as much as I would like to answer your questions, unfortunately we are out of time.

If you want to know the answers, come to the Quartz-Dust Peak."

"What do you mean and why was I brought here?" Ed was having a hard time digesting all this information at once.

"You have to go now boy but before that, a little present from me for coping with me."

"Wha... what?" before he could say anything, he was engulfed by a bluish-purple light which resembled lightning. He felt the same way as felt previously, before his consciousness started fading.