I thought I'd died. That's the thought that first occurred in my mind before a pang of pain struck my head. Strange enough, I was feeling pain.
Not an afterlife.
I could feel a warm sensation, like the heat of the fire. I quivered my hand and opened my eyes to see what greeted me.
Surprisingly, a blurry blazing light was the center of my vision and around it was darkness, which was what I saw before the outline of the world cleared.
With a groan, I looked around me. What left my eyes wide open was when I glimpsed at a familiar face illuminated by the fire. The shadow on the face danced back and forth, his face orange, covered in bruises on his face.
"You're awake." Said Joseph.
It wasn't him alone; Maya, Jaran, Amani, even Canny alive; the only exception was that they had bruises on their faces, excluding Maya; her face was perfectly fine and the light in her eyes glistened.
All of them had worn an inscrutable expression; they were fixed on me. I wasn't sure the reason for this; instead of being relieved, they were… on their guard.
[Watcher 'Golden Moon Light' is curious about you.]
[Watcher 'Hero of Hundred Worlds' wants to know about your real identity.]
[Watcher 'Selfish Pig' is still surprised by what he had seen.]
[Watcher 'Kind Devil' wants you to become her vessel.]
The unpleasant sound of their messages blared in my mind; I kept my cool and looked for Clyseus. Maya understood and spoke.
"He's outside. He will be back." She spoke.
There was no ceiling, but the roof was the night dotted with shimmering stars and the white, crescent moon hovering above us. Three walls were standing, while the fourth had been ravaged.
"The next scenario will be starting after two days." Maya said, her voice was hollow.
Clearing her throat, she poked at Joseph with her elbow. The spaced-out Joseph came back to the bitter reality. Whatever he was thinking, I had a guess.
Reverie of happy times in his office working with his colleagues, their banter, and his chuckles. Even though he wasn't social, he had one or two he felt comfortable with and conversed with.
Currently, his colleagues' conditions aren't known. He wasn't sure if they were alive or not. However, the harsh truth was. They were dead. His comfortable friends were dead, and he couldn't bring them back nor knew about it.
Rubbing the back of his neck, in his usual awkward manner, he asked.
"Since you know about the future, shouldn't we, you know. Start preparing?"
I gave them a curt shake of my head and spoke.
"Not yet; the ability doesn't work like that. I still need a day or so to recharge my ability."
Understanding it, we felt silent for another few seconds before I asked them. That was a fine excuse. Fortunately, they couldn't see through my information nor could the watcher. Albeit, I was still uncertain about the latter.
"By the way, what happened when I lost my consciousness?"
Canny's eyes lit up, and he raised his finger. As he was about to say something, Maya placed his hand on his mouth, frowning at him.
Alright… what's with this cranky comportment? Whatever question I asked, Maya would stop them from speaking.
I had to confront her. "What's wrong…"
"Nothing, it's just… You better ask him instead of us." She pointed at me, not exactly at me but at the person behind me.
I craned my head to look behind me; Clyseus was looking down at me. The devil had a hideous face when the fire cast its light on him; more frightening were his black eyes with red irises.
For a split second, I was petrified. I inhaled the air and exhaled before opening my mouth.
"Change of mind?"
Not sure what words would be the best; I said what came to my mind.
"Come with me; we will have a small chat."
His hand grabbed me from the back and soared into the sky. I gasped for air. Why so suddenly? The fire and my comrades all turned into dots until mixed with the darkness; what was left was the little dot of burning light.
Clyseus glanced around to find a spot, he fluttered towards the tall building and heaved me on the roof. I rolled before hitting the parapet. I groaned and pulled myself to my feet.
I wanted to lash out at him, but the manifest between our powers had my mouth shut. It was a wise choice. I kept my composure, and fixed my coat, which had been damaged a little.
"That's quite something of you; I thought at least you would yell at me." He spoke.
My response was a cold stare. There was no reason to say anything; what I wanted was an answer.
Looking closely, his body was covered in scabs and the cuts visible under the faint moonlight. The clouds had disappeared.
"Your comrades were a hell of a thing; no wonder you picked them. mostly, that ginger-haired one and that little beast tamer."
Without concealing my smirk, I walked up to him. It was unexpected; were they really that strong? Mostly not; if they were, we would have won against the boss monster without a bead of sweat.
The sword of Loyalty manifested in my hand. The sword had the ability to appear in the master's hand on the call, wherever it was.
"You can speak lies; I don't trust you." I blatantly said.
"I like how curious humans are when the lies are clear to them. However, I speak no lie here. half-truth."
"What's the other truth, then?"
"A monster—I fought a deadly monster."
A monster—a little of what he said I grasped; other than that, It left me boggled. How can I fancy the deadly monster? I tried remembering anything that happened before I fainted. Nought came to mind.
"What deadly monster? Other than you, who else could it be?"
Keeping my hostility away and keeping the conversation friendly. However, not once did I let my guard down. This guy was unpredictable; he will be your ally and then suddenly your enemy.
Everything will be so quick; maybe you will be dead before you know he turned on you.
I jabbed his jagged, metallic finger at me and spoke.
"You."