I had a strange dream. I was sinking in black grime. I splashed, gasped, and struggled; but it stuck to my body and pulled me down. The bottom of the sea—a graveyard for ships and sunken sailors. The loneliness—a trick to pass the time or a consolation prize. The darkness—a veil that hid the victim from the closest eyes. But then I raised my left hand, and it began to absorb the treacherous waters. No one helped me reach the surface, so I drained the seas to breathe the fresh air and watch the blue sky.
I woke up.
I opened my eyes and blinked several times until my blurred surroundings took shape. I was sitting on the ground. The air was slightly foggy. My back was resting against a tree, and my hands were tied behind me. Am I still Faust's prisoner? The possibility remained, but it was slim. Faust wouldn't gain anything by keeping my body. It was in his best interests to dispose of it. After all, destroying it would sentence me to an eternity in the Maida.
But who tied me up like this if it's not him?
I looked around me and found a girl standing a few steps away. I saw her small shoes, then her simple dress, and finally her red hair. It was Marie. Although she gave me her back, I could tell that it was her. She held a wooden stick and seemed as vigilant as a town guard.
I got up slowly and called, "Marie..."
She turned around. A sad look appeared on her face for a moment before she turned cold. She bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on the stick and then attacked me without warning.
"What's wrong? Calm down!" I avoided the stick but almost lost my balance. "Marie, what are you doing? It's me!"
"Your cheap tricks won't deceive me, demon." She waved the stick again. "Go back to sleep!"
"No, no, it's me." I teetered away.
"Stop running! You took Lance away. I'll never forgive you!"
Suddenly, I found my back against a tree.
"Marie, we met on the road, remember? You were being chased by three peasants. I saved you and found out that you had lost your memory."
She hesitated a little.
"I know, I know!" I said frantically. "Do you remember Arthur's cat? You were so scared of it, and I said to myself, 'How's a cute girl like you afraid of cats?' "
Marie dropped the stick and stared at me.
"I thought it was weird. You know, cats are adorable, and many people like to have them as pets. Dogs are nice too. But I heard they bite if you don't train them well. Rick once..."
I continued my nervous ramble until I suddenly felt Marie's embrace. She hugged me so tightly that I almost suffocated. Did Archidox send me to heaven by mistake? The hug lasted for a full two minutes. On the count of 120, she let go of me and said, "We thought you were gone forever. A demon was controlling your body, so we had to keep you unconscious."
"I won't ask how many times I got smacked on the head."
"Demetrius said you'd never come back, but I didn't believe him. I knew he was wrong." She turned me around and untied my hands. The rope fell to the ground, and I was free.
" 'Now, I'll steal your body too!' " I raised my arms like an attacking bear. "So said the demon inside me."
"Yeah, it's really you, Lance," Marie smiled.
"You should tremble in fear!"
"No, not at all," she smiled again, but her eyes were tearful. "I'm glad you're back. It gives me hope that father and mother..."
Before she could finish, the bushes around us rustled. I picked up Marie's stick and searched for the source of the noise. I expected danger, but she pulled my sleeve and said, "Don't worry. It's Sir Reinfried and Demetrius. They're back after scouting the area."
Reinfried appeared from among the trees. He was scratching his shaggy hair with one hand and talking with Demetrius. The self-proclaimed clown was a few steps behind, still wearing his peculiar top hat along with a brown coat. They looked calm and confident, but this changed when they saw me untied. Demetrius prepared to cast a spell, and Reinfried drew Silverthorne.
"Marie, darling, what is the meaning of this?" Demetrius said. "Why is that thing free?"
"Lance is back, Demetrius," she said.
"See, Reinfried? It was a mistake to leave her alone with that thing."
"Stop calling him a 'thing.' "
"Marie, sweetheart, I know it's hard on you. But like your parents, Lance will never come back."
Tears rolled down Marie's face. They left a glistening trail down her soft cheeks and fell to the ground like tiny pearls.
"You're being too harsh on her," Reinfried whispered.
"She needs to let go," Demetrius said. "We tried to save Lance, but it's too late. I don't even know why we're keeping his body."
"Who decided that it's too late?" I said.
"No one can return from the Maida, demon," Demetrius said. "You may have tricked her, but you can't fool me."
"I didn't trick anyone," I said.
Demetrius ignored me and recited an incantation. When he finished, his hands started to glow, and he said, "Marie, come here so that I can knock the demon cold."
She wiped her tears, stamped her foot, and said, "I'm not going anywhere. I believe Lance."
"I met Zeke Yuchi in the Maida," I said, encouraged by her support.
"What? Yuchi?" Demetrius hesitated, and the light of his spell disappeared.
"Zeke Yuchi guided me to the source of his power. He showed me how to return to this world."
"This is nonsense," Demetrius said. "Do you even understand what you're implying?"
"And it wasn't just him. Wilhelm Adler and Alex Rosenberg were there."
"You met Alex?" Reinfried said, taking a step forward involuntarily.
"I have a message from him. He says that he doesn't regret what happened. He's first and foremost your second in command."
Reinfried's eyes opened wide. He remained silent for a few moments before he put away Silverthorne. A smile replaced his scowl, and his muscles relaxed as if after a strenuous exercise. He said, "Marie's right."
"What do you mean?" Demetrius couldn't believe his ears. "You fell for it too?"
"You don't understand," Reinfried said. "Alex Rosenberg and I talked the night he died. I told him that he should stay behind. He was a month away from being transferred to the capital, where he had plans to marry and settle into an office job."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Demetrius said.
"When I told him to prioritize his happiness, he answered with the same words that Lance said. Only the real Alex Rosenberg can send me this message."
"But this means..." Demetrius trailed off and seemed lost in thought. I couldn't blame him for his excessive caution. Reinfried and Marie cared about me and wanted me to be saved, so their emotions had to be balanced by his cynicism. He maintained his distance, physically and emotionally, even while Reinfried was rushing to my side.
"You survived, Lance," Reinfried said and clapped me on the back. "You said you'll fight by my side till the end, and you're keeping your promise."
"Yeah, you won't get rid of me that easily." I grinned.
"You met my men... They must hate me for what happened..."
"No, they said you were the bravest among them."
"Tell me the truth."
"That's the truth. They believe in you, even now."
Reinfried closed his eyes and tilted his head back. I couldn't imagine how he felt after he heard my words. He stayed still for a few silent moments—as if he had been watching a scene that played on the back of his eyelids. Then he took a deep breath and opened his eyes again.
I said, "What happened while I was away?"
He was about to answer, but the bushes around us rustled again. This time, Marie started with fright and hid behind me; Reinfried drew Silverthorne; and Demetrius prepared his spells.
"What's going on?"
"They found us," Reinfried said.
***
My cape wrinkled in Marie's hand, and her eyes closed tightly as if she had been trying to prevent the danger from slipping inside them. The forest that had been quiet and peaceful was suddenly as noisy as an arena. There were shouts, footsteps, and growls. It was as if the menagerie of the Imperial Zoo had been released into the nearby shrubbery.
"Is there a way to avoid the fight?" Reinfried said.
"I don't know," Demetrius said. "I think it might be too late."
"In that case..." Reinfried removed an extra sword from his belt and tossed it to me. "Catch, Lance."
"Why are you giving that thing a weapon?" Demetrius protested.
"He'll fight with us."
Demetrius clicked his tongue, backed away from the bushes, and stood next to me. Looking at me askance, he said, "I don't trust you yet, but we have to deal with this first. We're being pursued."
"Pursued?"
The noise died away.
"Here they come," he murmured.
Without warning, an ice spear was hurled at us from among the trees. It missed my head by a few hairs and landed on the ground behind me, where it froze the grass and the soil alike.
"Reinfried, protect Marie," Demetrius said.
After the enemy's position became apparent, Reinfried carried Marie and raced to a safer place. Simultaneously, a barrage of ice spears was unleashed. I broke two projectiles with my sword before I jumped away to avoid the rest. Demetrius, on the other hand, created a small magical barrier in front of him and waited out the attack.
"Your pursuers—are they cultists?" I said after the barrage stopped.
"Yes, and they have Laikos and ghosts," Demetrius said. "Watch out!"
Two Laikos pounced on me from the trees. Their claws aimed for my neck, but I had fought so many Laikos before that I found their attacks a total bore. I needed only to swing my sword twice to kill the two miserable Aberrations. Then, like a revelation that a mystic feels, a strange instinct took over me. I reached out with my left hand. The black fumes that ascended from the Aberrations' corpses gathered around my fingers. They began to seep into my skin: I was absorbing them.
"Here comes another barrage," Demetrius said. "Stand next to me, quick!"
I turned around and rushed to do as he said. He raised a barrier to protect us from the ice spears, which cut through the foliage and swished through the air.
"There are five cultists in the bushes," he said.
"You can tell?"
"Yes, but it's a rough estimate," he smiled. "You see, they're four now."
He deactivated the barrier to let only one ice spear through. Then, with a flick of the wrist, he sent this spear spinning upward toward the sky. Before it fell back to the ground, he flicked his wrist again, launching it with incredible speed toward the bushes. Immediately, we heard a painful shriek.
"See?" Demetrius smiled again. "Only four."
The barrage stopped again.
"This is our chance," I said and rushed forward.
"Wait," Demetrius said.
But I didn't stop. The battle couldn't be won from afar, even with Demetrius by my side. I needed to sneak up and attack from close range. Jumping past the bushes, I confronted two cultists and seven demonic ghosts.
"Paralyze him!" the cultists ordered.
The ghosts swarmed around me, but they were like insects attracted to a trap. As soon as they touched my body, they were sucked into it by an unopposable force. From the cultists' perspective, it seemed as if the ghosts had been taking control of my body. The truth, however, was completely different.
"Wow, seven at once?" I smiled. "I'm such a glutton."
"The demons... Where did they go? How..."
"It's that adventurer! This can't be! Why isn't he..."
"Why am I not your puppet? Well, you see, in the Maida, I met―Wait! Why am I explaining anything to you?"
Desperate to kill me, the cultists began to recite new incantations, but it was already too late. I neither dawdled nor hesitated. My sword cut the incantations short. The cultists fell to the ground and never stood up again.
This leaves two more.
I heard a noise from behind a group of trees. There were explosions and shrieks. It seemed that Demetrius had found the enemies before me. I ran in the direction of the noise and arrived just in time to witness his victory. He was the only one standing. The cultists were on their knees inside a box made of four transparent walls. Demetrius had created it with his magic, and he was reciting another incantation now.
"Even if you kill us," one of the cultists cried, "even if you rip us apart, the cult will chase you to the ends of the earth. The other search parties are coming for you. They won't let you escape."
"I don't want to die! Spare us!" the other said. "Our dream! Our dream!"
Demetrius finished his incantation. Hundreds of stakes emerged from the magical walls. It was a quick, painless execution. After the walls disappeared, Demetrius said, "One makes threats, while the other begs. Who's the clown?"
"That was ruthless," I said.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." He turned and walked away. I hurried after him, fearing that he would leave me behind. We stayed silent for a while, and the atmosphere between us was rather awkward and thorny. Then he said, "You're a Void Mage. I saw you use your power. You did meet Zeke Yuchi in the labyrinth, didn't you?"
"That's what I said, but you didn't believe me."
"I'm sorry," Demetrius said. It was strange to hear him apologize; it would've been more like him to gloss over the matter. "My hideout is a short distance from here. We were heading there."
"Your hideout?"
"It's a safe place, and it will allow us to talk without tasteless interruptions. I need your help, dear Lance. After what happened in Ashenbrook, only your power can save us."