Finishing touches to waking up

A short time later. Liam appeared near Haru and Irma, with Pollen tagging along.

"I should be able to control the barrier now. Irma?"

"Yes," she was startled by their appearance. After all, she had lived alone for a long time now.

"I will find a way to visit you before I leave and bring her with me. That I will promise." He said firmly.

"Don't trouble yourself," Irma's voice sounded lovely and affectionate as she refused the offer.

"Stop! I will bring her along so you guys can meet in real life. You will regret this for the rest of your life if you refuse. So, I won't take no for an answer." Liam was stubborn about this.

The firmness in his voice made both the felines look at his serious face and believe his words. Pollen was also nodding along.

"Another thing Irma, do you live with a tree?"It was nearly impossible for Liam to encounter another demon beast any time soon, so he wanted to confirm a few facts before it slipped his mind. That wouldn't be a bad result if he got some excellent information.

"Yes, why do you ask?" she couldn't understand why he would ask about something like that.

"Have you shed blood on it?"

"Yes, I was injured once, and … Why do you ask?" she explained but still didn't understand.

"Has the tree shared its blood with you?" he replied with another question, making Irma frown as she answered yet again.

"I don't think so," she said hesitantly. The questions seemed to have gotten even stranger.

"Can you describe the tree?"

"It is not one tree but many, and it is kind of strange. It has a distinctive smell that at random times pulls in creatures that die soon after, making them also decompose faster."

"Hah… hahaha," he started laughing as he recognized that the tree would be perfect for Nio.

Both felines looked at his laughing form strangely. Pollen had a knowing smile plastered on his face. After all, he already knew all of this.

"It seems that you are also on the wrong tree, and the tree should be Nios." This made her wonder, who was Nio?

"Do you know how far you are from us?"

"About two thousand kilometers," she answered without thinking.

"WOW, you can sense her this far?"

"That's only because we have a connection," she said rather proudly. She was even puffing out her chest.

"A connection?"

Irma flips her front paw over to show them a mark that seems to be blurred. It wouldn't matter anyway. Haru would start speaking with her at some point, eventually leading to a time when she would tell everything to the boy. "It is on my physical body. It won't show up here, but Haru herself left it."

"I left such a mark?" An innocent voice belonging to Haru asks.

"Yes, you did," she answers affectionately.

"What does it do?"

"It would allow us to talk to each other and find each other when one is in trouble." She carefully explains.

"Can I make such a Mark to Liam as well?"

"Y-yes, you can," she answered, but her tone was sad. It made Liam understand how offended she was by her daughter's thoughtlessness. It even made him mad.

"Haru, this is not acceptable. I won't accept such a mark if it makes your mother sad," Liam couldn't agree with what Haru was saying. The most important thing to Liam was family, so he'd feel blessed if he had such a way to communicate with his family.

"Wh-why not?"

"This seems to be a special bond shared between loved ones. Like mothers and daughters. I am neither." Liam needed to set some boundaries, especially with Haru. He had to make sure that Haru would make use of that bond. Maybe even grow close to her mother. After all, her mother could teach her many things and maybe even unlock some of her body's secrets.

"Bu-but…"

"If you still want to give me this bond, then first figure out who or what you are by communicating with your mother. I can not force you to become family in this instant. I only ask that you two try to talk to each other, and there seems to be a good solution even though you are far away from each other."

"We will talk about this later." Liam decided to finish this topic.

He focused on the energy around him and pushed the two felines out of his consciousness. He saw the tears in Haru and Irma's eyes, but hurt feelings are mendable; death isn't. He needed to focus on more pressing matters.

Liam didn't push Pollen out on purpose. He didn't think that he could push him out. So Pollen would have to leave on his own.

"Why didn't you try to push me out?"

"Can I?" sarcasm, plain as day, spilled out of Liam.

"No. That was a smart decision. If you'd tried that, you would have exhausted all the energy you have collected up to this moment, and it still wouldn't be enough even when your core was full."

"Thank you for abiding by the promise."

"It's what we promised." Pollen left, thinking the boy didn't ask anything he thought he would or should ask. 'What a stubborn being?!' instead, even he collected some interesting information.

Liam sighed and started concentrating on energy gathering, but it was easier said than done. He couldn't feel his body and couldn't actively pull the energy through the channels that led to his core. He was getting quickly frustrated but changed his tactic every time he tried. Eventually, Liam found a way to gather energy even in this state.

It turned out to be simpler than he had thought and also harder. He had to imagine his body, all the tiny necessary parts, to make the energy gather and move as he liked. It was an unbelievably slow prosses, but he couldn't figure out any other way.

After a time, he started feeling his body and slipped out of his consciousness.

He started to feel his own body and how empty it was. His core was devoid of energy. Only a sliver that brought him out was available. His stomach was hurting from the emptiness, and his throat was dry.

'What the heck? Where are all the kids and the old man?'

He focused on energy gathering at the moment. He felt that this was the most crucial part.

Three hours later, he was done. His core was decently filled. It wasn't entirely filled, but he could manage with that. He opened his eyes and found himself in a dark, closed space. There didn't seem to be any light around.

He tried moving and touched a rough surface, identifying it as wood. He tried turning, but it didn't work. The space was too tight, like something had been stuffed inside so he couldn't move.

He drew a symbol on the wood. It expanded, fulfilling his command. He was finally able to move a bit and found the skins shoved inside the space. He pushed the skins, hoping that it would make a way out appear. Thankfully, it did.

He climbed out of the hole and found himself in the same place he discovered the old man.

"Why am I here?"

He looked around. Everything seemed calm.

"Where is everybody? What did they do? What is going on?"