I wrote this story quite some time ago on Wc3campaigns, and it didn't end up bad. I guess I could post it here again to fill this section a bit up 
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Rain? Is that what I felt? Those sudden drops that fell from out of nowhere; is it rain? I must see it for myself... but why... why are my eyes so heavy... and why does my chest hurt. Exactly the part between my ribs, as if someone managed to outclass me in speed and stuck a fresh blade between my ribs. No, that must be impossible. No one can outclass me in speed, no human, no creature, nothing can; at least, not in battle. But... why, does it hurt? And what are those wet drops I feel? I cannot recall I was brought inside, as a matter of fact, I cannot even remember what I was doing and I..." my thoughts were forcefully interupted when I could hear a young girl screaming for her mother. Out of shock, the pain temporarily dissapeared and I opened my eyes and rotated my head in an instant to where the sound came from, the tears that were rolling from my eyes, that I thought was "rain" flew from my face as I turned. "Tears"?
"Mom! The man woke up!" I could hear the girl shout as she ran away while still being confused on the tears on my cheeks. Were those my own? I could not see past the wooden door that was closed the moment she closed it. It was clear that this house was made of several floors, I could hear her running down on the stairs. While I looked at the door, I knew that I was not crying, my eyes were not wet, but salt-water rolled down my face, as if I have just lost the most precious person in the world. I looked back to the door moments afterwards, wondering why the girl ran away and surprised that she was still running on the high stairs. Slowly, but eventually, the sound dissipated and I could hear soft voices mentioning about something like "he's awake" and "he opened his eyes". Could it be that they were talking about me?
If I look to the right from the bed I am lying on I can see the door, but what about left? A closed window is giving me sight of the world beyond it. I can also see a small house located on the other side and I see some animals walking around freely. This must be a farm where I am located, but why such childish curtains? Little bears are painted on it and I see some dolls in the corner, a childs room? It must be, an adult doesn't have such things.
...I should try to stand up. I am being a bother here, I did not ask to be brought here, and speaking of which, how did I come here anyway? But first standing up. That's my first priority, standing up. Turning my head, moving my hands behind me to support me and then move my weight so I can. "Agh!" I could hear myself saying. As if I'm not the same person, I can hear myself grunting, I don't feel the pain, but my body can... and... the room is spinning...
---
"Are you okay, mister?" a childish but friendly voice asked me. I opened my eyes yet again, this time easier, not with the help of anyone, but out of my own free will. I once again, turned my head and saw a little blonde girl sitting only inches away from me.
"W... where am I?" was all I could ask before my head starting spinning again. I instantly closed my eyes the moment after, as if it was a reflex that my body couldn't handle the pressure.
"You're at mom's farm" the girl answered me, with an innocent smile crossing her face. Only moments after she finished her sentence, she pushed some of my hair out of my face to see me more clearly. "Are you OK now?" the girl repeated her question to me. "It is clear that I am dealing with a young girl here, a young girl, not understanding what happened... but, I don't know what happened either" was all I could think of. I opened my eyes once again and turned back to her, and softly asked if this was her room. A small nod was all that answered me.
"I... I'll get... out" was what I could blurt out but I knew that I was unable to move. If I couldn't even keep my eyes open, then moving was out of the question.
"Should I bring my mother?" the girl suddenly asked me, not hesitating a moment when she saw that I was trying to touch the place where it hurted the most. I tried to nod to answer the girl, but I was even too weak to do that. Before I knew it, I lost conciousness yet again.
---
This time I woke up with my head towards the window and I saw it wasn't noon anymore. The sun has gone down and a beautiful full moon was on the place now. "Was the girl still here? This was her room!" I managed to think of as I quickly turned my head, but I saw in the moon light that she wasn't here anymore. "But perhaps I should try to stand up again?" was what gone through my mind and before I knew it. I sat up straight in the bed, not making any hard movement.
I turned my head back left and watched the window once again to confirm it for myself that it was night, and that I could freely explore the house if I had the strength. As if I still wasn't in control of my body I stood up and took a final look at the window.
"A girl" I managed to say when I looked out the window. I saw a teenage girl sitting against a haystack outside. She was playing a harmonica and I could hear it here. It was a song that sounded familiar in my ears, I could not control myself to listen from a closer area. I quickly looked around to find some clothes as I find a small shirt and some pants. I quickly put them on as I walked towards the exit of the room and nearly ran down the stairs while trying not to make enough sound to wake up anyone.
When downstairs it took me only a moment to find the door that was the only obstacle to come outside. As quiet as possible, as I was trained, I opened the door, not disturbing her music.
At that moment I noticed it, the running around was definitely taking its toll on my not-yet-recovered body and I had to use all effort to keep standing. I quickly pushed my back against the wall as I stood firm against it. A third leg, to keep myself standing and listen to the beautiful song she was making with the harmonica.
"So... familiar" I was able to softly speak to myself. I was out of her sight and I could only barely see her from the place I accidentally placed myself, but I could hear the tune very clearly. It was beautiful, and so familiar to my ears. Did I hear the full song elsewhere? This girl was repeating the same few tunes over and over, as if she couldn't remember the rest of the song.
While I was thinking about the song, I clearly forgot that my body was tired and still injured, regardless, I did not collapse, as a matter of fact, I stood firm and it looked more like I was recovering faster and faster. "I am sure I am at the point of moving again" I was able to think of, while I tried to move yet again. But like I was watching from afar, my body ignored my order and just stood firm, my body even stopped breathing for a short moment.
That exact moment I could hear the girl loudly sigh, as if she was tired from the same tunes over and over. "Naturally, I would be annoyed as well if I like a song but can only remember the same tune" I thought to myself, showing that I understood well enough what she meant.
In my bad position I could still see what she was doing as I looked at her. She looked at the harmonica as she sighed again. She had a sad look on her face as she placed the harmonica to her lips again only to create an unwanted tune. Sighing and playing the harmonica is not a good combination. But from the distance she and I were, I could not see the tear she pushed away with her left hand, as she took a deep breath and placed her lips against the harmonica again.
"If, and only if I could" I sang with the song without that I even noticed it. My body ignored my orders of standing still as well, I seemed to walk to her in a very slow pace. She was also clearly shocked that someone was there and perhaps even more shocked that that person sang at the tune she was playing. It was clear that she decided to test me as you play another tune on her harmonica. My body reacted with another complet of the song by answering with, "If I could become immortal" and she tried it again which I answered with the right complet again, "If you could see me..." but it was also the last tune she knew how to play, I apparently made a gesture of, 'all together now' as she played the few tunes after each other, in the right combination.
"If, and only if I could...
If I could become immortal...
If you could see me..."
Unfortunaly, that was all the tunes she knew, but I knew the song and comfortably continued to sing.
"If, and only if you could see me...
We would stay together...
In an eternal life...
A life filled with happiness and joy...
A life of immortality...
A life of immortality..."
I looked at her with a friendly smile after finishing the last word from the song. "'If' from the Eyes of the Empire" I told her, with a friendly smile crossing my face.
Her eyes sparkled, she was probably waiting for someone to know the song, to learn her the other tunes that were available. She looked like she was ready to thank me in any way, but 'who are you' could also be read out of her expression. Of course, it could not be denied, the first question she asked was who I am. But the moment she asked, I asked her the same question. A small laugh came out of us as she made a somewhat more stern face, answering:
"I'm Claes"
After asking the same question at the very same moment we both shocked each other a bit. The short blonde hair of the girl fell a bit forward and covered her face a bit, instantly she pushed the few hairs away with her hand. It was clear to me that the girl was not expecting to hear the exact same question from the person that she doesn't know at all - not to mention that I sang the song she played. Seeing her beautiful blue eyes sparkle as much as that time is a moment I cannot forget easily, no matter what I do. Seeing someone as excited and as happy at the same time as that is a rare sight indeed.
Fortunately her shocked state quickly dissapeared and a small laugh came into the place. A big relief for me, it wasn't my intention at all to scare her, but I could not control myself. I'm sure I would've mistaken her for a man instead of a young girl like this if I could not see her face. Her hair was cut short and she didn't really look very feminine to me, regardless, her face made much of a difference.
"I'm Claes" she suddenly replied to my question with a more stern expression on her face. Her sudden answer caught me off-guard and I started noticing the pain between my ribs and vision became blurry again. "Was I still not in the condition to walk?" Were the words that suddenly floated through my mind. Because her skills with the harmonica, my sudden singing and the small funny effect we made took my mind completely off my injuries, but the sudden answer she gave certainly did remind me of the pain I actually had.
"Falling to the ground without giving a proper introduction isn't my favorite style of a meeting with someone" was I still managed to think off as I regained my pose of standing. I straighted my back, made a friendly smile crossing my face and finally I moved my lips.
"Claes? That isn't much of a name for a girl" I managed to mention, eventhough knowing that I actually had to use more effort to remain standing. I was also afraid that I would insult her by saying that her name wasn't very feminine.
Apparently, she wasn't insulted at all, as yet another smile crossed her face, showing that she found my remark funny. She crawled up and smiled at me yet again.
"My parents couldn't decide a name, and they were more interested in having an other son than a daughter" she suddenly replied to my question. "But," followed not much after her first sentence, "but, you still haven't answered my question" she told me with a smile on her face.
"My name?" I answered cooly, trying not to fall because I was lacking energy. "It can't be, I cannot lose my conscious in a conversation in-... who knows how long I've been here" a part of my mind screamed at me, trying to keep me concentrated.
"Uh... sir are you..." that was all I could hear before I felt my muscles weaken inside of me and it was only a matter of time before my legs stopped supporting my body.
---
"Uh... sir are you..." was the last thing I heard before I suddenly saw the window where I could overlook the farm from again. "The room of the little girl" came to mind, as I managed to look the other side, the side of the old wooden door. "But yet again I could feel wet spots on my face. As if I was placed in the rain and-..." my thoughts were cruely interupted by a sudden flash of lightning. I quickly turned my head back to the window because of the sudden flash. Thanks to the hard rain, the furious lightning and dark clouds, I was not able to tell if it was morning, noon, evening or night, whichever it was, I was awake.
Being calmed down from the lightning, I managed to turn my head back to the door-side expecting any moment for someone to come in. It was as if someone was standing against the door, even though no sign showed that anyone was there, I just could tell that somebody was there.
"Could it be Claes, the girl I met outside? Or perhaps it is that little girl, I am in her room after all... I wonder where she is sleeping" were some of the thoughts that roamed through my mind. But wherever my thoughts dreamt of to, my mind kept coming back to Claes, the girl with the weird name. "Actually, I know very little about her, I only know her name" were the words that crossed my mind. Before I knew it, I fell back into sleep.
---
"Be careful! It's still hot!" I suddenly heard a girl voice yelling.
"More girls, I already met Claes and that little girl and none of their voices matches this one" I managed to think of before I opened my eyes. Opening my eyes was apparently not the best idea as I got a loud scream of "don't look!" at me and a painful hit in my face which was more than enough to send me back dreaming again. I did managed to see a very littled clothed girl around my age, with blonde hair, but I was not even able to see her face. "For all I know it was Claes who has a cold, but after all this time, I lost my complete track of the time and I am not even aware how long I already am here, in this bed," unfortunately, after the hit in my face, I lost my conciousness again.
---
I woke up yet again watching the window. "It was getting a trusting feeling after seeing it this often. The sun that watched me during the day and the moon that would guard over me during the night with sometimes a little rain to make a small variation. Even though I am sure I can stand up, I don't think I can walk much, but every little movement should be enough to get my back into shape" I managed to think off with my eyes closed as I heard an old door opening. It was clearly not my room, but perhaps the room next to this one.
It took only a moment before I heard a small conversation with a familiar voice. I stopped breathing unnecessary and tried to listen as carefully as possible of what they say. Learning rather fast that it was a boy and a girl, after hearing their voices at least once.
"Claes, did the man already wake up once?" a voice said, it certainly didn't sound like a girl, so it must have been a boy.
"Now, how many people have I met now? The little girl, Claes, the girl that hit me and now this voice. At least 3 girls and one boy? There is also supposed to be a mother, but I have yet to meet her" was everything I could think of. Slowly but eventually I could see myself lying on the bed, slowly recovering from any kind of injuries I had.
"No, after Caitlin said that he woke up and wanted to get out and Laura punched him, he hasn't woken up afterwards" I could hear Claes say. Did I dreamt that I met Claes? Or doesn't she want to say it? "Have you seen any difference in his condition, Alex?" Claes added to the boy who is apparently named 'Alex'.
"At least their parents have a boy, I wonder if Claes was an accident or something" I managed to think off before I got all quiet again to hear Alex's response to Claes.
"No, Caitlin isn't letting me into her room remember? After I broke her aquarium, she isn't letting me into her room again" the boy clearly explained.
"Of course, how could I forget" Claes responded with, she sounded very uninterested in what Alex is saying.
I didn't even have to be careful with my breathing style, without any warning the boy started yelling at her that could easily be heard in my room.
"Of course you forgot! You're barely ever home! I don't know where you're always hanging out, but it looks as if you are trying to avoid Dad and me!" the boy screamed, loud enough for me to hear it clearly. Without any doubt in my body, I automaticly stood up and stumbled towards the door, using every object to keep myself standing and walking, it took several moments before I reached the door and followed the sound of this, 'Alex' who was still yelling at her.
But even though I wanted to help Claes, I never have seen this hall before, except that I rushed outside, but I didn't bother to really look around. Luckily, I could hear where the sound came from, and I could follow that.
The sound came from where I thought it would come from, right next to my room. Left of my room was a room as well, but it was very clear that the sound wasn't coming from there.
Even though the room was only a several seconds-walk from the little girl's room, who was apparently called Caitlin, it looked as if I was taking a long time to reach the room, and was reliefed when I could finally rest my hand on the doorknob. I nearly used all of my remaining strength of turning the firm doorknob to open the door, but even though my first try failed, my second try was successful and I pushed the wooden door open where I could find Claes and this boy named, Alex.
With a loud sound and a wide swing, I threw the door open and quickly pushing my hands to the side of the wall in case I would lose my energy again and would fall to the ground, like last time with Claes.
What I expected to be a young-teenager I found that I was very wrong to see a man standing in front of me who was clearly a full head taller than me and his body looked a lot more impressive than mine, excluding the fact that I'm injured. I quickly took a small view to Claes to see her looking just as surprised as this Alex at me, but in opposite of Alex, she had a small sign of being slapped. Injured or not, it was enough to refill me with enough energy to stand up properly and have a nice-little-talk with mr. Alex here.
Alex's sight went down because he was taller than me and a grin appeared on his face. "Who might ye' be lil' man?" he asked me as he slowly approached me.
After a long time of what I can remember, I felt fear coming up in my body...
With using all my strength, I was finally able to open the wooden door. Was it that heavy? Probably not, but I didn't have any energy to spare. But if I would use every little bit of energy I had, then it was no doubt that I would fall back to the ground out of exhaustion - and that wouldn't help Claes any little bit. Learning the reason why that 'Alex' was shouting was a priority as well.
When opening the door I expected to see a completely different view than I had in mind. 'Expecting to see some kind of kid-trying-to-be-tough under my age' was what I had in mind, but instead, I found somoene who was a full head taller than me and his arm was about the double of my, or Claes' arm. Even though I can't say I'm muscular, I thought I was a bit better than this.
After my sight of awe was finished about this Alex, my vision quickly went to Claes, only to see that she placed her hand on her cheek and tried to get out of my direct sight. "Why" was the first thing that came to mind, and it was what I wanted to ask as well, if Alex didn't ask something before I did.
"Who might ye' be, lil' man" he asked in a flat tone - as if he never had a proper education. Would Claes, and the other 2 girls talk as flat as he did, then I wouldn't mind, but they talked properly.
"Leave him alone, Alex. He's the injure-" Claes was saying, only to be interupted by the man named Alex.
"Ah, so he is the injured one. Great, then I can ask who he is while I'm at it" Alex answer while he moved his hand through the place where usually your hair would be. Unfortunately for Alex, he was bold and for some reason, it looked as if he didn't seem to notice. He was aggresively searching for hair on the bald head of his with his right hand. Eventually he gave up, and placed full concentration in me.
"While you're at it?" I managed to say in a more painful voice than I actually planned. 'At least the sarcastic tone was still in it' I was able to hear and think, but it still didn't come out as I wanted'. 'I was supposed to be the model of confidence, not as weak as this' I was able to think of, "but I don't think it will be necessary how I talk. If the situation unfolded the way I think it was, I'm so going to kick his a-" while thinking, I was interupted by the answer of Alex.
"You're in the room of Claes, and I don't think you're welcome, mr... eh..." Alex mentioned, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Lince," I mentioned in a more normal voice, apparently getting used to the injured body and accepting the pain. A little smile crossed my face that was aimed at Claes, but her face was still not looking at me. "Embarassment?" was the only thing I could think of, but I didn't know Claes good enough to make an accurate answer for myself. "Why did I come here anyway?" I added to my previous question in thoughts.
"Well then, Lince. I suggest you go back to your bed and leave me here to talk with Claes" Alex bluntly told me with a large grin on his face. He was clearly enjoying the misery of Claes, and I didn't even know who he is. He did seem to take the responsibility of Claes leaving the house, if I heard it right that is. "A brother perhaps? He's too young to be her father, so perhaps it is her brother... or maybe her boyfriend? But does that mean they are living together in the same house with the family of Claes" too many thoughts were floating through my mind. By the intensive thinking I could feel the energy being drained away from my legs once again and I was ready to fall again. "No, not now! Not here!" I managed to think as I grabbed the doorknob again so I wouldn't fall.
"Hey, are you okay?" Alex asked me as he rose his pace and walked at me to keep me standing. He clearly had to bow a little, and that was everything I need.
I grabbed him at the edge of his shirt and moved it him closer to my face, trying to remain out of the sight from Claes.
"Your... relationship with Claes. What is it?" I managed to whisper at him from close range. Hostality could clearly be heard in my voice as I asked him, preparing my left arm if his answer wouldn't be satisfactory for me.
"Friend" he whispered in return, and released his self from my weak - and becoming weaker with a rapid pace - grip. I answered him with a confused look, and I could feel my conciousness falling away again. Using strength to get him near me just enough to push me to my limit.
I closed my eyes and I heard Claes asking in a worried tone, "what happened?" before everything become black before my eyes.
---
Darkness was all I could see. For some reason I could hear people mumbeling around me, but I could not open my eyes to see who it was. I could not concentrate to hear them better either, it was as if I was undergoing a heavy medic's actions. Being tied to a bed, eyes remain closed and they try to keep me still. But, it was different. If I really was at a medic, I would not hear them in mumbeling tones, and I must've heard that I was being moved to somewhere else.
But even though I cannot see, I am not able to move either. Not a finger, not a toe and it even looked like I wasn't breathing either. I was not controlling everything, and my body just lay there... somewhere. "Wait!" echoed through my mind. "It looks like I'm not breathing"? I took a final check and it really didn't look like I was breathing. I tried to listen to the mumbeling voices again and I could suddenly hear people screaming to each other. As if they were worried about me. "But why would they be? They don't know me" I managed to think of, until I got back to the point that my body wasn't breathing.
"But, if it wasn't breathing, then why could I clearly think? Why could I hear myself? Why can I even consider that I am not breathing? Is it because I lost my life and am now waiting until Lady Aceci is going to send someone to come and get me?" were some of the thoughts that flew through my mind.
While I was under influence of my mind, I could suddenly see a little light and I saw my body from a different view for the first time.
I was lying on a bed and 6 people were surrounding me. I could easily recognize the bear of a man, Alex, and I had no trouble recognizing the stranged-named girl, Claes either. Claes had the arm of Alex pushed against her as she looked at my apparently, lifeless body. I could finally see the little Caitlin, who's room I was sleeping in there too. She was looking at me, not knowing what was going on. Her blond hair was still short and only two pony-tails could easily be recognized from her. She was looking very childish as usual, and as I could remember her.
The third girl I could see, was different from the others. In opposite of the little girls not knowing- and Claes' sadness, the girl was looking at me like she didn't care. Her long blond hair reminded me of the girl who I saw a bit of before I was hit in the face and lost concious again. Finally, I could see her more properly and her body was so very different from Claes, who've I met earlier.
As a matter of fact, in opposite of everyone in this house I met, she looked quite busty and seemed to care a lot about her outgoing-appearance. The clothes she wore were the complete opposite of Claes as well. "As if it was a story. The not-knowing, the shy, the outgoing and the strong one" I managed to think of as I looked through them.
The clearly, older woman among them must have been the mother of the 3 girls. She was busy using all kind of medic equipment on my body. But if I already stopped breathing, it wouldn't mind anymore.
As I looked closer to the mother, I could see a boy sitting there on the ground, looking at me with a unknown look on his face, like the younger girl, Caitlin. His short blond hair reminded me of myself when I was his age. My black hair was as short as his and while he looked unknowingly, I usually looked uninterested, the expression was not too far apart from each other.
My sight went back to the mother, who was dressed with a white colored jacket and a brown skirt. Her color hair was also completely different from the 3 girls, her brown hair was very remarkable among them, seeing as they were all blond. She also looked a lot more feminine than most of them, even though the girl named Laura looked quite feminine as well. It was mostly Claes who looked very non-feminine.
"What the...? What am I thinking about anyway?" shot through my mind all of a sudden as my vision instantly went to my suddenly moving body. "Was I alive?" went through my mind, but I was wrong. The mother was trying to use several techniques to keep my breathing, but they didn't seem very useful. Not was it just hard to get a clean look at my face because of my long black hair which constantly fell back in front of my eyes, it was also a nearly useless action as my body was already cooling down.
"Let me help!" Alex suddenly blurted out, that clearly shocked me. He ran at my body and tried to help the mother in every way he could. For some reason, I could feel the places they were touching, but I was already here for awhile. "Does that mean I could be saved? Or does this mean it already is too late? If it was already too late, I wanted to thank them at least, and I-..." I was suddenly cruely interupted by a light that shined in my face. A light that was asking me to come near it, a light that was asking to follow it... 'death?' I asked before I started moving towards it.
I walked passed the bed and could see 4 dissapointed faces who were trying to keep my body alive. Only the busty girl named Laura and the younger boy didn't seem to care much. The boy had either no idea what was going on, or didn't care. "I hope that he doesn't care" flew through my mind. "The less people who are sad about my demise, the better it is" answered something in my mind as I stretched my arm, to reach the light that was calling out for me.
As I stretched my arm, I could feel freedom and a relaxed feeling surrounding me, a feeling I yearned for a long time. From the moment that Jade and I left our home-village, I yearned for the free feeling. It was something I missed in my life, something I couldn't deny, something I couldn't live without - and now, it was in litterally in hand reach.
I tried to stretch my arm a little further as I could feel the feeling slowly taking over my weak body that was getting weaker every moment as I reached my arm.
"Lince!" I suddenly heard someone screaming, that clearly surprised me as I pulled my arm back again. My body and head quickly turned to where the sound came from, and I could see Claes standing near the edge of the bed. Whispering something that was not meant for anyone, but I could clearly hear it. "Does that mean I am no longer here in the lands of the living?" I asked myself as I tried to listen what she said.
"Before... you leave... learn me... that song" I could hear her whispering to me.
I looked back to the light that was ready to kindly embrace me and give me all the freedom I want. Within a second of time, I turned my back to the light once again and walked t my body, confident that I wouldn't die just yet.
The moment the light noticed that I was not planning of leaving just yet, it suddenly dissapeared, not ready to show itself again for many years... or that was what I hoped.
I felt that the expressions on the faces of the bystanders were looking more happy to my body as I lay there. As if I was showing any sign of life and- I was cruely interupted by a large yawn of myself. "Was I bored?" I asked myself as I looked at my hand, that was getting a bit transparant. "I'm dead, for sure" I mentioned to myself with a little smile crossing my face.
I closed my eyes again, and placed my head on the edge of the bed, the opposite side of Claes and lay there. Hoping that I could wake up again, watching out of the beautiful window, looking across the farm, hoping to see Claes sitting there again, waiting for someone to teach her that song.
Before I knew it, darkness surrounded me again, but this time, I felt confident that I would wake up with my head turned to the window.
Suddenly... I could feel pain in my side, enough pain to tear my mind apart. I could not understand why I suddenly felt so much pain. Everytime I woke up, I was in pain, but this was different. It was as if something was tearing me apart, something was hostile to me and wanted to crush me no matter what. "As if I've met an Ancient Dragon in combat" my thoughts mentioned.
"Pain?" I suddenly thought, remembering that I could see my own body lying on the bed - lifeless. "Was I alive again" my mind added to the previous statement.
Without any further thought, I was able to open my eyes. While I was expecting to see either the old wooden door, or the window with the beautiful view behind it, I saw something completely different.
I saw... I saw a huge open area filled with grass and a beautiful little river streaming through the middle of it. Behind me was it filled with the same grass and the river looked as if it surrounded me. The stream was heavy and fishes played within the river. "Where am I?" was the first thought that came to mind while seeing the beautiful enviorment. "Didn't I recover? Am I in the spirit realm?" my mind could only think of, worried that I didn't make it after all, that falling asleep on the edge of the bed was the last limit of my mind, and that transported me to the spirit realm behind the Crystal Gate.
"Lince, you really need to eat" I could suddenly hear out of nowhere. I looked around, but no one was around. I could hear birds sing, I could hear fishes swim and I could hear the wind blowing, but those familiar words were far more clearer than all other things I heard.
"Open wide" I could hear as well, as an addition to the last sentence. 'I am Lince, an adventurer who fell in combat' was something that floated in my mind, as if I lost control of my mind, instead of my body earlier.
Without any second thought, I ran to the place I could hear the sound come from. Although it was only for a moment I heard it, it was enough to search for it. Standing still, and enjoying the enviorment was nothing too pleasant either.
---
"Open your mouth Lince!" I could suddenly hear as my eyes flew open, scaring the person who was feeding me as I accidentally punched the bowl with food out of the hands and into the air - only to receive the bowl apparently filled with soup, on my head. The word of "damn" and "I must look a complete idiot" came to mind nearly instantly. Having a dripping bowl of soup on your head really doesn't give the best expression to the person in front of you.
It took a moment before my eyes adjusted to the sudden light in front of me, but the moment I could see, the person was feeding me already left. I could see the door closing, but I could not see the person who was feeding me.
I turned my head to the other side, to see where I was. I learned that I was in a different room then before. I remember being in a small wooden room with a small desk near the end and a large closet that surely took a quater of the room of space. In the right corner, a small box with puppets could be found and the floor was usually filled with all kind of toys. From puppets to books, it was clearly a childs room. This in opposite of it, looked completely different. While I could see numberous of child toys as well, they didn't look as if they were of a girl. "Perhaps this room is of the little boy I saw when I saw myself lying on that bed" floated through my mind, remembering that I saw a boy sitting near me awhile ago.
I crawled a bit up, clearly feeling stronger than the days before, but only a bit dizzy of lying on bed the entire time. But with a small push of my arms, I finally managed to stand up, standing straight and quickly grabbed hold to the bookcase that was only inches away from me.
The moment I touched the bookcase, I could hear the peeping sound of the door opening and a short moment later, someone opened the door and entered the room. A short haired man entered the room who was carrying a small sack filled with bottles and boxes.
"You must be Lince" he mentioned as he closed the door. My answer to that was only a little nod as I tried to gain more momentum of standing. "I am Ryan Huub, doctor of the village" he mentioned as he made a gesture of going to sit, what I quickly followed as I could feel myself being more dizzy at every moment.
A moment later, the doctor stood in front of me, kindly asking how I felt, a little word of 'fine' was all he got from me. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with it and went into details by asking about if anything hurts. I placed my hand on my left ribs, where it felt like something was hanging inbetween. After touching it, the doctor decided to check it out and used his hand to feel the body part, a tickelish feeling, but it was to be expected.
Several moments later, and after I mentioned that I was feeling fine further, he left again, leaving me alone in the room until a bald muscular man entered. "Alex," I unexpectedly said in a tone that even surprised myself. A smile of him was my answer, as he asked me if I was OK, where only a little nod of mine was to answer of him.
"Thank lord Malathander" Alex mentioned, showing that he a lot of weight fell from his shoulders and that he clearly was relieved of hearing that I was feeling well. "I... eh... I'm sorry what happened the other day" he mentioned as he looked at me with sad eyes and a apology in his tone of words.
A small smile crossed my face, exactly remembering what he meant, "don't worry about it" I mentioned as I looked him in the eyes with a more friendly tone than usual in my words.
"You know Lince... I didn't notice before, but your two eye colors are different from each other" Alex mentioned while pointing a finger in my face that was quickly pushed away by my rising left hand. "The one is the usual green color, but the other one looks more like it is an emerald in your eye" Alex added to it, looking like he was planning of pulling that "emerald" out of my skull.
"I know, it was something people liked when I was a kid" I mentioned while looking in the eyes of Alex.
"You still be a kid, aye" Alex said with a broad smile crossing his face, clearly showing that it wasn't meant serious, but in a way, he was right. I was only 17 years old and Alex was in every possible way bigger and probably more superior.
Finally, after a moment of peace, I rose my left hand and brought it to my face, seeing a little scar in the middle of my hand. Not remembering that I had a scar on my hand, I looked up to Alex who was already looking with a sad face to it. "Don't ask" he mentioned as I started moving my lips, planning of asking about the scar.
"It isn't just there, Lince" Alex carefully mentions, looking not to insult me. My reply was only a touch to my left ribs, knowing that Alex was pointing to that.
"Anyway, you go to sleep, Lince. We'll wake you up in time for dinner. It'll be best if you'll rest now" Alex softly says, while turning back to the door, and only moments later opening it.
"Window..." I soflty mumbled before he left. There was a window in the room, but on the opposite side of the room, not easily reachable, especially not from the bed. But Alex was right, and I should rest for now.
---
Without knowing it, I slept through 2 days straight and people were feeding me to keep me alive. A worthy effort, but futile was it in my opinion. If I was in the condition of needing large amounts of rest, then I must have been in a very bad condition. "I wonder what happened" was what I thought as I kept sleeping. While sleeping, more thoughts gone through my mind like, "why did they save me?" or "what happened to Jade, my companion" were only some of the thoughts I could not find an answer of. But, the moment I met Claes outside at the hay stacks was a moment I could not forget while sitting here. Hearing the royal song of 'If, and only if' again, not to mention singing it was something I could not forget.
"I could hear the tunes clearly, as if I could hear someone playing it at this very moment, but I was surely just dreaming. I was in need of all the rest I could get, but-" my thoughts were clearly interupted by a sudden reopening of my eyes as I woke up and instantly sat straight, being far more agile than I could remember I was.
"No doubt," I was hearing yet another familiar tune of the harmonica, though this time not 'If, and only if' but the song called, 'an Ice Castle' which I learned as well when I was a child. It was a song that was sung by all bards and a song well known for the people who was born in the same village as I was. "We were raised with that song" I managed to think off. The moment the tune stopped, my mind stopped thinking and I stood up, walking to the window again, seeing the expected view.
Claes was sitting against the pile of hay again, playing the harmonica with closed eyes, though this time not alone. But Alex was sitting next to her, listening to the few tunes she could play with full interest as if he was under influence of it. A soft smile was crossing his face again, "and they are friends" flew through my mind suddenly and unexpected.
While I turned around, wanting to walk back to my bed, I could feel some hair covering some of my face all of a sudden. "Has my hair grew so long in such a short time" I managed to think of as I touched my hair, confirming it was really there.
I turned around, trying to see my reflection in the mirror and I was stunned of what I saw.
I was standing there, shirtless and far more muscular than I could remember myself, I could move a lot easier than before, I had less restrictions in my body. My hair grew longer, my left emerald colored eye was far more clear and I suddenly was filled with a number of scars I could not remember before. The one on my forehead, my ribs, a small one on my right part of my chest, several smaller ones on my legs and a clear one in the middle of my left hand. I did not look like the same Lince anymore as I remembered. My body changed, my personality changed, my behavior is twisted and my eye sight increased several notches.
"What happened to me?"
While seeing my reflection in the window I was shocked to see myself. I was taller and far more muscular than I was when I started traveling. "Did I changed during my travels" came to mind, but it was impossible. I traveled for a few months, changes of that size are impossible. But it wasn't just that I suddenly had a far more muscular body, I could feel myself being far more agile than before, I could easily bend my back, what I couldn't do before, or at least not as far as this. Not being able to bend it that much caused me a lot of problems when I was in battle because I could not evade all kinds of attacks.
But even though my body looked more muscular, the largest chance was my hair style. My hair was far longer than I could remember it was and my left eye, which has always been brighter than before was now very remarkable, it was far brighter than an emerald where the sun was smiling upon - bright enough to embarrass me if someone would mention it.
But as if my eyes weren't enough, scars were now all over my body as well, my legs, my forehead and more places I had no scars before. I was surprised after seeing a little scar on my hand, but I was far more surprised seeing that I this amount of scars suddenly appeared. But it was not only bad things, my sudden increase in strength, my easier moveable body and my suddenly increasement of eye sight are the better parts of it. "A reward for surviving?" flew through my mind which was discarded soon after.
Seeing that my body was changed in nearly every way, I could not denie the question of: 'Was I still Lince?'
Out of confusion and because I was scared, I stumbled backwards and sat down on the bed. Standing was something that was too much asked from a body like this. "How could I change?" were my words in the quiet room where only a little sound from Claes' harmonica came through.
With nothing in mind, I could still see my blurry reflection in the dirty window at the other side of the room. Seeing a small patch of hair covering my left eye was quickly dismissed by pushing it away with my hands; unfortunately, it kept falling back in front of it, blocking a part of my eye sight.
I couldn't believe the sudden change in my body if I would compare it with my memories. I looked as if I was looking at one of the heavy-trained soldiers from the Empire instead of my own young body. "No youngster can be this muscular" did my mind add to it.
I looked as if I was a regular on the battlefield and fought in many battles, leaving my body full with scars. "As if magic was swapping my bodies" flew through my mind, but it was clear that it was my own body. I could see still several parts of myself which were indentical to my previous body. My face was not changed at all, and the small scar on my right shoulder which was brought on my body by an accident during fishing, they were still here on my body, confirming it was still the same Lince, the same Lince that fell in battle.
While the music of the harmonica kept playing and pierced through the walls, I decided to go to sleep, and hope that this would be a dream where I could wake up from. Seeing a muscular body like this - though not comparable with Alex - was like a dream for a young boy, like myself.
While thinking, I could feel the small patch of hair falling in front of my eye again, blocking my left eye sight.
I sighed as response and pushed it back again, while picking up a little thin rope to hold my hair together for the night. If necessary, I would cut the long hair off the moment I would wake up.
---
Waking up was something that was easily said by the average person, but a question for the people who were on the brink of death. Without knowing, I was the entire night awake, afraid of closing my eyes, and not opening them up again. I decided to read some of the books in the room while using the moon to provide me with the necessary light, in the hope that I wouldn't wake anyone up.
By reading the books, I learned things I never heard of. Like Lord Glodich Valentine, Emperor of the lands and his younger daugther who's name was to be decided when the book was writen. Also, Cruz Black, a man with a large brown mustache was described in the book, a man who was the general of the forces of Lord Glodich and also his advisor, together with the prime mage and priest. They were already ruling the lands for a small 17 years with the same rules and laws, hoping that no difference would be made.
While reading, I became more and more interested and started to hum the songs I heard Claes play. Unfortunately, it were only two songs I heard her play, so not much variation was made.
Without I knew it, I kept reading the book and suddenly a brighter light was shining on the book that suddenly started to hurt my eyes. "The sun rised" I whispered to myself while I took my eyes from the book and looked outside, to the sun that was positioned gloriously in the sky.
"I should... move" I mentioned as I stood up and placed the book back on where it was, not noticing that a loose paper fell out.
---
"Die!" was screamed from a large man who drew his broad sword towards the bandit. It impossible to miss that the bandit lifted his shield to defend himself and his axe ready to strike. Regardless, it was not even necessary to defend, the blade of the sword dodged the shield and struck the bandit in his upper arm, forcing him to drop the shield. But from small range, it is best to attack, were clearly the thoughts of the bandit as he lifted his axe and brought it down to attack the man while still screaming of pain because of the blade in his arm.
"Suffer!" the sword carrier yelled at him as he pulled back his sword and easily dodged the effortless attack of the bandit.
"I'll get you for this!" the bandit screamed as he ran away and quickly jumped over the white bars from the flower garden.
"Amusing! Good job, Cruz" could be heard while a man was clapping his hands. The sword carrier finally sheeted his sword again and took off his helmet, to reveal a large mustache covering most from his face.
"If Cruz Black says that he'll defend the Valentine family, he will" Cruz mentions as he walked towards the clapping man who was easily recognized by his crown and royal clothes as Lord Glodich.
"My liege, the soldiers should be returning shortly. Shall we leave towards the gate?" Cruz politely asks while making an effortless bow not showing any politeness in that.
"No formalities from friends, Cruz" the Emperor replied with, nodding in reply of leaving towards the gate. "I heard that Sandjo was injured but still sent out with the rest of the soldiers, is this rumor true, Cruz?" Glodich enquired as he looked at the taller man who walked next to him, still dressed with a heavy chain mail.
"Yes, my liege. I've sent Sandjo on with the rest of the soldiers because he can prove to be a very important asset in combat" Cruz answered with while clearly overflowing with full confidence.
"Well, Cruz, if you thought the battle was this important, you could have send lord Gunthar and his personal team to handle it" Glodich replied with, clearly mentioning that lord Gunthar and his team were far superior than most soldiers.
"No, my liege. Lord Gunthar's team is only of average strength and Gunthar himself is nothing more than a below average-elite soldier, I don't believe he was able to handle the job" Cruz mentioned while still overflowing with confidence.
"Well, if we lost any soldier, I want you and Price to take responsibility for it, Cruz" Glodich tells him in a more stricter tone.
"Price?! Terres Price?!" Cruz Black answers with as he quickly moves himself in front of his Emperor in a face full with unbelieve. "You know Terres and I have a bad reputation throughout the Empire and-" Cruz begon but before he could mention anything else, lord Glodich interupted him with a strict look in his face.
The strictness completely dissapeared when Cruz became quiet and a relaxing and pleasant broad smile crossed the face of the old black haired man. "Well then Cruz, it is about time you two will make a difference about that, now isn't it?" Glodich laughingly quite loud tells Cruz who'd was stunned by the reaction of the Emperor.
"Lord Glodich, please, don't kid around like that!" Cruz quickly shouts after his Emperor who increased his pace and already walked several meters in front of Cruz.
"I am sure that my body is recovering, but I still feel somewhat weak at the edges. I'm sure to be back in form after a few more days," I told Alex who was just of planning of opening my door as I walked out.
"That's a relief. Where are you going now?" Alex mentioned in a kind tone while looking me straight in the eyes, clearly showing that he was worried about something.
"I'm gonna take a breath outside, mind it?" I bluntly answered him, not yet knowing what was going on. After I finished my sentence, Alex's face went blank and looked a bit worried back, while pushing me back into the room.
"I don't think it is smart going out now" Alex told me. Naturally, a 'why' answer of me was unavoidable. "Once a month a few ex-soldiers come around in the village for a small 'reunion' and they are not fond on any bystanders" Alex explained to me.
"Ex-soldiers? That doesn't scare me much, I'm gonna take a breath" I mentioned, completely ignoring the friendly advise Alex gave me.
I left Alex who had a questionable look on his face, more worried about me than any other expression that was available. He told me to be careful if I decided to go out after all, and that those "soldiers" weren't as kind as they may look.
While I ignored Alex's advise, I kept walking to the end of the hall, while clearly looking around. Like I expected, it was a wooden house with every wall and door made of wood. The atmosphere was great and it the temporature was excellent, someone who was raised in a stone house with a fire to warm himself up, it is unexpected to see such a sudden change in enviorment.
It was nice to see in the long hall that all doors on the right of me were rooms and left didn't have any doors, but only windows. I was happy that I could finally walk and explore the house a bit, that I was going outside was quickly forgotten. I heard sounds of people talking outside, but out of pure curiousity, I quickly forgot it again.
I learned that it was a hall with 4 rooms and one room on the end, the room I was living in, apparently. I learned that the first room near the stairs was the room of the little girl named Caitlin, the second room was of Claes, the third room was of a name I wasn't familiar of. It was of a woman named 'Jessica' which was probably the mother of them. Without any further thought, I went on to the next room, that was placed right next to mine. It was doubtless of who that room would be, but it was a nice confirmation for me, the room was of Laura, the busty girl that hit me back then. The last room was yet another name I was not familiar of by the name of 'Sean' who was the boy that I saw when I was seeing my body.
His age was definitely older than the little Caitlin, but I am sure he was younger than Claes, who apparently was younger than Laura.
No room of a father, nor Alex. Alex was apparently not living here, but seemed to be filled with a lot responsibility. The addict was made for a storage room with no in particular living there. It was far too small to let someone live in it as well, so it wouldn't really matter.
In terms of sound, I could hear that the kitchen was right below my, or Sean's room. The sound of kitchen equipment could clearly be heard from there and it was a lot harder to hear outside the room. If my memory worked carefully as well, a little part below the stairs is the door to the exit and the living room is 2 of the 4 rooms. The space of the other 2 rooms was one filled with a large bathroom and some kind of stairs to the basement, or so I heard. I had no intention of finding it out.
"Mr. Lince?" I could suddenly hear, that brought me back to my senses as I looked back, but did not see anyone. "Down here" the voice told me. I quickly followed her advice and looked down to see who was talking to me.
A very broad smile crossed the face of the little girl named Caitlin who was looking at me. "Can you stand already?" she asked me with the smile remaining on her face.
"It was definitely a kid, not knowing much about injuries just yet" floated through my mind as I kept staring at her smiling face. She was really the symbol, or model of a little kid, that didn't have any worry in the world on herself at the moment. Cute, but I more fond on more pressured people - like myself.
"Mr Lince, I had to ask you if you could come to mom, she would like to tell you something"
After hearing that someone called me, as a matter of fact, calling me 'mister' that made me feel a lot more mature I was surprised to sit down to watch her in the eyes. The little girl named Caitlin clearly had problems with her growth as she was far too short for her age, and my body grew far too fast in a small amount of time. Her always cheerful smile that was on her face did not dissapear for a second when she saw me, when I was out of sight to go to her mother, the smile didn't dissapear either.
"I never met someone like her" was what I thought. Seeing a cheerful girl like that was rare for me. We didn't have many children in the village I was born. And the children that were living in the village were absolutely not like Caitlin, cheerful no matter what happens. Alex already mentioned that some ex-soldiers were on a rampage outside and I am pretty sure they are able to destroy something precious to this family. "Would that sadden Caitlin" flew with light speed through my mind. "Nah, she isn't saddened by something like that" my mind answered itself.
While thinking and looking back to the girl, I forgot I was in the hall and nearly fell from the stairs. I could grab the side of the wall tightly so I wouldn't completely fall. But even if I grabbed myself, my weight was still pushed backwards and I was still on the brink of falling.
Suddenly, I could feel myself falling against something soft. The softness dissapeared not soon after though, as if it fell.
"Ouch!" I could suddenly hear someone say. I quickly turned my head to see what happened only to come to the point of not being able to believe my eyes. Laura, one of the girls of the house was walking there, without me noticing it. I clearly bumped against her, forcing her on with my weight and letting her lose her balance, falling on the little flat part of the stairs.
I quickly pulled myself up and ran at her, quicky asking if she didn't hurt herself. An awful look of "get out of my sight" was in her expression. I decided not to wait for her answer and quickly passed her to go and find the mother of the family - she did want to see me after all.
Downstairs I was finally able to explore the house a little bit more than usual. My expectations were correct and the main living room was placed under the hall and 2 of the rooms while the kitchen was under my room. Interesting to see, but I was downstairs to find the mother and talk with her, which was easier said than done. As for one, I don't know her, and the second part is, I don't know where she is.
I was surprised when she wasn't in the living room, nor was she in the kitchen. Even though there was a basement available, the lock on the basement kept me from entering.
"I'm sure Caitlin said that she was waiting downstairs" flew through my mind, filled with unbelief, that she was trying to pull off a joke with me. A small angry state of mine that I hadn't felt since Alex confronted Claes appeared to me again, getting ready to go back and have a talk with Caitlin. I was preparing my mind to do what I was planning until I heard someone calling my name; Lince.
I turned my head around, quickly changing my facial expression. I was glad I changed my facial expression as I saw Claes standing in the hallway between the kitchen and the living room where I stood.
"If you're searching for mom, she's in the backyard" Claes mentioned ignoring most of my sudden expressions of seeing her. She was also pointing to the door not far from me, but because of the colors, it looked more like a large window like more of those were around. I nodded to show I understood it, and I walked towards the door, opening it to breath the fresh air after a long time.
As if the sun that was standing glorious in the sky was attacking my eyes, my eyelids became heavy and I felt like dropping right there and right now. My body was recovered at most places, but my energy wasn't restored yet and I couldn't stand long.
It took a long minute until my eyes were finally adjusted to the open blowing air and the sunlight. When my eyes were finally adjusted, I could see the brown haired mother standing in the garden, talking with an armored clad soldier who had a broad smile on his face while talking with the woman.
Because of the stuff that happened around, she apparently didn't hear the sound of the door that I was outside in the garden with her.
For a while, I kept my distance while watching 2 two people. Both eventually with a broad smile on their face, clearly having fun with what they were talking about. While looking to the man, I reminded myself that I was an adventurer as well and would gladly take any offer to join the Empire.
"I know I am strong, I'm quick, I'm a good thinker, I would be a good asset to the Empire" were my thoughts as I looked at the man who suddenly changed his area of sight to me.
"Ah, you must be Lince" he broke the subject with the mother with and slowly started approaching me, ignoring the mother completely who was still looking with a smile at me.
"Y-Yes, I am Lince, how can I help you?" I quickly mentioned as he stood in front of me, watching me directly in my two different colored eyes. The man looked at me with a smile on his face and a stern look in his eyes, I really couldn't read what he was thinking.
"Ah, well then Lince, I heard from Jes. here that you might be a nice addition to the Empire's strike force here" the armored man kindly asked me. Being added to the strike force of the Empire is an honor, and certainly a dream for me to come true. But, why would they?
"Why would you accept me? You can't possibly accept me from a recommendation of someone" I told him, still strict in mind that you can't make a decision of someone you just know. It's impossible to say something like, especially because this mother of those children barely knows me, not to mention that I have been sleeping more than I have been awake since I've been here. And more important, a strike team is not something that everyone can join, they specialize in attacking something while having intense training.
"I'll explain that carefully to you. Jes. here, is our official scout to look who is fit for our strike team-..." before I let him finish his sentence, I decided to cut him off.
"Maybe so, but I have been sleeping more than I have been awake. How could she decide that about me?" I told him. I know better than anyone that I am not able to be added in a strike team, my body is still too weak and-
My thoughts were interupted by a huge strict view of the armored man. "I don't know why she thinks it, but I trust her words more than anyone. But we also have a lot of free time. It has been nearly 4 months ago since we got our last order and the most exciting mission we had in the area was 3 and a half month ago when a rat broke a valuable food storage" he told me. It was unbelievable, but true. The strike team of the Empire of this area was summoning me to train under the guidance. "It is only a request, you may accept or decline it, Lince" the man kindly told me.
My sight went automaticly to the mother who was looking at me with a broad smile on her face. She was clearly enjoying what was going on, and apparently was happy she mentioned me in her reccomandation. "Why would she pick me?" floated through my mind even though it was already filled with all kind of questions. Being summoned by the strike team of the Empire clearly gone through my head and I wasn
<div align="center">---</div>
Rain? Is that what I felt? Those sudden drops that fell from out of nowhere; is it rain? I must see it for myself... but why... why are my eyes so heavy... and why does my chest hurt. Exactly the part between my ribs, as if someone managed to outclass me in speed and stuck a fresh blade between my ribs. No, that must be impossible. No one can outclass me in speed, no human, no creature, nothing can; at least, not in battle. But... why, does it hurt? And what are those wet drops I feel? I cannot recall I was brought inside, as a matter of fact, I cannot even remember what I was doing and I..." my thoughts were forcefully interupted when I could hear a young girl screaming for her mother. Out of shock, the pain temporarily dissapeared and I opened my eyes and rotated my head in an instant to where the sound came from, the tears that were rolling from my eyes, that I thought was "rain" flew from my face as I turned. "Tears"?
"Mom! The man woke up!" I could hear the girl shout as she ran away while still being confused on the tears on my cheeks. Were those my own? I could not see past the wooden door that was closed the moment she closed it. It was clear that this house was made of several floors, I could hear her running down on the stairs. While I looked at the door, I knew that I was not crying, my eyes were not wet, but salt-water rolled down my face, as if I have just lost the most precious person in the world. I looked back to the door moments afterwards, wondering why the girl ran away and surprised that she was still running on the high stairs. Slowly, but eventually, the sound dissipated and I could hear soft voices mentioning about something like "he's awake" and "he opened his eyes". Could it be that they were talking about me?
If I look to the right from the bed I am lying on I can see the door, but what about left? A closed window is giving me sight of the world beyond it. I can also see a small house located on the other side and I see some animals walking around freely. This must be a farm where I am located, but why such childish curtains? Little bears are painted on it and I see some dolls in the corner, a childs room? It must be, an adult doesn't have such things.
...I should try to stand up. I am being a bother here, I did not ask to be brought here, and speaking of which, how did I come here anyway? But first standing up. That's my first priority, standing up. Turning my head, moving my hands behind me to support me and then move my weight so I can. "Agh!" I could hear myself saying. As if I'm not the same person, I can hear myself grunting, I don't feel the pain, but my body can... and... the room is spinning...
---
"Are you okay, mister?" a childish but friendly voice asked me. I opened my eyes yet again, this time easier, not with the help of anyone, but out of my own free will. I once again, turned my head and saw a little blonde girl sitting only inches away from me.
"W... where am I?" was all I could ask before my head starting spinning again. I instantly closed my eyes the moment after, as if it was a reflex that my body couldn't handle the pressure.
"You're at mom's farm" the girl answered me, with an innocent smile crossing her face. Only moments after she finished her sentence, she pushed some of my hair out of my face to see me more clearly. "Are you OK now?" the girl repeated her question to me. "It is clear that I am dealing with a young girl here, a young girl, not understanding what happened... but, I don't know what happened either" was all I could think of. I opened my eyes once again and turned back to her, and softly asked if this was her room. A small nod was all that answered me.
"I... I'll get... out" was what I could blurt out but I knew that I was unable to move. If I couldn't even keep my eyes open, then moving was out of the question.
"Should I bring my mother?" the girl suddenly asked me, not hesitating a moment when she saw that I was trying to touch the place where it hurted the most. I tried to nod to answer the girl, but I was even too weak to do that. Before I knew it, I lost conciousness yet again.
---
This time I woke up with my head towards the window and I saw it wasn't noon anymore. The sun has gone down and a beautiful full moon was on the place now. "Was the girl still here? This was her room!" I managed to think of as I quickly turned my head, but I saw in the moon light that she wasn't here anymore. "But perhaps I should try to stand up again?" was what gone through my mind and before I knew it. I sat up straight in the bed, not making any hard movement.
I turned my head back left and watched the window once again to confirm it for myself that it was night, and that I could freely explore the house if I had the strength. As if I still wasn't in control of my body I stood up and took a final look at the window.
"A girl" I managed to say when I looked out the window. I saw a teenage girl sitting against a haystack outside. She was playing a harmonica and I could hear it here. It was a song that sounded familiar in my ears, I could not control myself to listen from a closer area. I quickly looked around to find some clothes as I find a small shirt and some pants. I quickly put them on as I walked towards the exit of the room and nearly ran down the stairs while trying not to make enough sound to wake up anyone.
When downstairs it took me only a moment to find the door that was the only obstacle to come outside. As quiet as possible, as I was trained, I opened the door, not disturbing her music.
At that moment I noticed it, the running around was definitely taking its toll on my not-yet-recovered body and I had to use all effort to keep standing. I quickly pushed my back against the wall as I stood firm against it. A third leg, to keep myself standing and listen to the beautiful song she was making with the harmonica.
"So... familiar" I was able to softly speak to myself. I was out of her sight and I could only barely see her from the place I accidentally placed myself, but I could hear the tune very clearly. It was beautiful, and so familiar to my ears. Did I hear the full song elsewhere? This girl was repeating the same few tunes over and over, as if she couldn't remember the rest of the song.
While I was thinking about the song, I clearly forgot that my body was tired and still injured, regardless, I did not collapse, as a matter of fact, I stood firm and it looked more like I was recovering faster and faster. "I am sure I am at the point of moving again" I was able to think of, while I tried to move yet again. But like I was watching from afar, my body ignored my order and just stood firm, my body even stopped breathing for a short moment.
That exact moment I could hear the girl loudly sigh, as if she was tired from the same tunes over and over. "Naturally, I would be annoyed as well if I like a song but can only remember the same tune" I thought to myself, showing that I understood well enough what she meant.
In my bad position I could still see what she was doing as I looked at her. She looked at the harmonica as she sighed again. She had a sad look on her face as she placed the harmonica to her lips again only to create an unwanted tune. Sighing and playing the harmonica is not a good combination. But from the distance she and I were, I could not see the tear she pushed away with her left hand, as she took a deep breath and placed her lips against the harmonica again.
"If, and only if I could" I sang with the song without that I even noticed it. My body ignored my orders of standing still as well, I seemed to walk to her in a very slow pace. She was also clearly shocked that someone was there and perhaps even more shocked that that person sang at the tune she was playing. It was clear that she decided to test me as you play another tune on her harmonica. My body reacted with another complet of the song by answering with, "If I could become immortal" and she tried it again which I answered with the right complet again, "If you could see me..." but it was also the last tune she knew how to play, I apparently made a gesture of, 'all together now' as she played the few tunes after each other, in the right combination.
"If, and only if I could...
If I could become immortal...
If you could see me..."
Unfortunaly, that was all the tunes she knew, but I knew the song and comfortably continued to sing.
"If, and only if you could see me...
We would stay together...
In an eternal life...
A life filled with happiness and joy...
A life of immortality...
A life of immortality..."
I looked at her with a friendly smile after finishing the last word from the song. "'If' from the Eyes of the Empire" I told her, with a friendly smile crossing my face.
Her eyes sparkled, she was probably waiting for someone to know the song, to learn her the other tunes that were available. She looked like she was ready to thank me in any way, but 'who are you' could also be read out of her expression. Of course, it could not be denied, the first question she asked was who I am. But the moment she asked, I asked her the same question. A small laugh came out of us as she made a somewhat more stern face, answering:
"I'm Claes"
After asking the same question at the very same moment we both shocked each other a bit. The short blonde hair of the girl fell a bit forward and covered her face a bit, instantly she pushed the few hairs away with her hand. It was clear to me that the girl was not expecting to hear the exact same question from the person that she doesn't know at all - not to mention that I sang the song she played. Seeing her beautiful blue eyes sparkle as much as that time is a moment I cannot forget easily, no matter what I do. Seeing someone as excited and as happy at the same time as that is a rare sight indeed.
Fortunately her shocked state quickly dissapeared and a small laugh came into the place. A big relief for me, it wasn't my intention at all to scare her, but I could not control myself. I'm sure I would've mistaken her for a man instead of a young girl like this if I could not see her face. Her hair was cut short and she didn't really look very feminine to me, regardless, her face made much of a difference.
"I'm Claes" she suddenly replied to my question with a more stern expression on her face. Her sudden answer caught me off-guard and I started noticing the pain between my ribs and vision became blurry again. "Was I still not in the condition to walk?" Were the words that suddenly floated through my mind. Because her skills with the harmonica, my sudden singing and the small funny effect we made took my mind completely off my injuries, but the sudden answer she gave certainly did remind me of the pain I actually had.
"Falling to the ground without giving a proper introduction isn't my favorite style of a meeting with someone" was I still managed to think off as I regained my pose of standing. I straighted my back, made a friendly smile crossing my face and finally I moved my lips.
"Claes? That isn't much of a name for a girl" I managed to mention, eventhough knowing that I actually had to use more effort to remain standing. I was also afraid that I would insult her by saying that her name wasn't very feminine.
Apparently, she wasn't insulted at all, as yet another smile crossed her face, showing that she found my remark funny. She crawled up and smiled at me yet again.
"My parents couldn't decide a name, and they were more interested in having an other son than a daughter" she suddenly replied to my question. "But," followed not much after her first sentence, "but, you still haven't answered my question" she told me with a smile on her face.
"My name?" I answered cooly, trying not to fall because I was lacking energy. "It can't be, I cannot lose my conscious in a conversation in-... who knows how long I've been here" a part of my mind screamed at me, trying to keep me concentrated.
"Uh... sir are you..." that was all I could hear before I felt my muscles weaken inside of me and it was only a matter of time before my legs stopped supporting my body.
---
"Uh... sir are you..." was the last thing I heard before I suddenly saw the window where I could overlook the farm from again. "The room of the little girl" came to mind, as I managed to look the other side, the side of the old wooden door. "But yet again I could feel wet spots on my face. As if I was placed in the rain and-..." my thoughts were cruely interupted by a sudden flash of lightning. I quickly turned my head back to the window because of the sudden flash. Thanks to the hard rain, the furious lightning and dark clouds, I was not able to tell if it was morning, noon, evening or night, whichever it was, I was awake.
Being calmed down from the lightning, I managed to turn my head back to the door-side expecting any moment for someone to come in. It was as if someone was standing against the door, even though no sign showed that anyone was there, I just could tell that somebody was there.
"Could it be Claes, the girl I met outside? Or perhaps it is that little girl, I am in her room after all... I wonder where she is sleeping" were some of the thoughts that roamed through my mind. But wherever my thoughts dreamt of to, my mind kept coming back to Claes, the girl with the weird name. "Actually, I know very little about her, I only know her name" were the words that crossed my mind. Before I knew it, I fell back into sleep.
---
"Be careful! It's still hot!" I suddenly heard a girl voice yelling.
"More girls, I already met Claes and that little girl and none of their voices matches this one" I managed to think of before I opened my eyes. Opening my eyes was apparently not the best idea as I got a loud scream of "don't look!" at me and a painful hit in my face which was more than enough to send me back dreaming again. I did managed to see a very littled clothed girl around my age, with blonde hair, but I was not even able to see her face. "For all I know it was Claes who has a cold, but after all this time, I lost my complete track of the time and I am not even aware how long I already am here, in this bed," unfortunately, after the hit in my face, I lost my conciousness again.
---
I woke up yet again watching the window. "It was getting a trusting feeling after seeing it this often. The sun that watched me during the day and the moon that would guard over me during the night with sometimes a little rain to make a small variation. Even though I am sure I can stand up, I don't think I can walk much, but every little movement should be enough to get my back into shape" I managed to think off with my eyes closed as I heard an old door opening. It was clearly not my room, but perhaps the room next to this one.
It took only a moment before I heard a small conversation with a familiar voice. I stopped breathing unnecessary and tried to listen as carefully as possible of what they say. Learning rather fast that it was a boy and a girl, after hearing their voices at least once.
"Claes, did the man already wake up once?" a voice said, it certainly didn't sound like a girl, so it must have been a boy.
"Now, how many people have I met now? The little girl, Claes, the girl that hit me and now this voice. At least 3 girls and one boy? There is also supposed to be a mother, but I have yet to meet her" was everything I could think of. Slowly but eventually I could see myself lying on the bed, slowly recovering from any kind of injuries I had.
"No, after Caitlin said that he woke up and wanted to get out and Laura punched him, he hasn't woken up afterwards" I could hear Claes say. Did I dreamt that I met Claes? Or doesn't she want to say it? "Have you seen any difference in his condition, Alex?" Claes added to the boy who is apparently named 'Alex'.
"At least their parents have a boy, I wonder if Claes was an accident or something" I managed to think off before I got all quiet again to hear Alex's response to Claes.
"No, Caitlin isn't letting me into her room remember? After I broke her aquarium, she isn't letting me into her room again" the boy clearly explained.
"Of course, how could I forget" Claes responded with, she sounded very uninterested in what Alex is saying.
I didn't even have to be careful with my breathing style, without any warning the boy started yelling at her that could easily be heard in my room.
"Of course you forgot! You're barely ever home! I don't know where you're always hanging out, but it looks as if you are trying to avoid Dad and me!" the boy screamed, loud enough for me to hear it clearly. Without any doubt in my body, I automaticly stood up and stumbled towards the door, using every object to keep myself standing and walking, it took several moments before I reached the door and followed the sound of this, 'Alex' who was still yelling at her.
But even though I wanted to help Claes, I never have seen this hall before, except that I rushed outside, but I didn't bother to really look around. Luckily, I could hear where the sound came from, and I could follow that.
The sound came from where I thought it would come from, right next to my room. Left of my room was a room as well, but it was very clear that the sound wasn't coming from there.
Even though the room was only a several seconds-walk from the little girl's room, who was apparently called Caitlin, it looked as if I was taking a long time to reach the room, and was reliefed when I could finally rest my hand on the doorknob. I nearly used all of my remaining strength of turning the firm doorknob to open the door, but even though my first try failed, my second try was successful and I pushed the wooden door open where I could find Claes and this boy named, Alex.
With a loud sound and a wide swing, I threw the door open and quickly pushing my hands to the side of the wall in case I would lose my energy again and would fall to the ground, like last time with Claes.
What I expected to be a young-teenager I found that I was very wrong to see a man standing in front of me who was clearly a full head taller than me and his body looked a lot more impressive than mine, excluding the fact that I'm injured. I quickly took a small view to Claes to see her looking just as surprised as this Alex at me, but in opposite of Alex, she had a small sign of being slapped. Injured or not, it was enough to refill me with enough energy to stand up properly and have a nice-little-talk with mr. Alex here.
Alex's sight went down because he was taller than me and a grin appeared on his face. "Who might ye' be lil' man?" he asked me as he slowly approached me.
After a long time of what I can remember, I felt fear coming up in my body...
With using all my strength, I was finally able to open the wooden door. Was it that heavy? Probably not, but I didn't have any energy to spare. But if I would use every little bit of energy I had, then it was no doubt that I would fall back to the ground out of exhaustion - and that wouldn't help Claes any little bit. Learning the reason why that 'Alex' was shouting was a priority as well.
When opening the door I expected to see a completely different view than I had in mind. 'Expecting to see some kind of kid-trying-to-be-tough under my age' was what I had in mind, but instead, I found somoene who was a full head taller than me and his arm was about the double of my, or Claes' arm. Even though I can't say I'm muscular, I thought I was a bit better than this.
After my sight of awe was finished about this Alex, my vision quickly went to Claes, only to see that she placed her hand on her cheek and tried to get out of my direct sight. "Why" was the first thing that came to mind, and it was what I wanted to ask as well, if Alex didn't ask something before I did.
"Who might ye' be, lil' man" he asked in a flat tone - as if he never had a proper education. Would Claes, and the other 2 girls talk as flat as he did, then I wouldn't mind, but they talked properly.
"Leave him alone, Alex. He's the injure-" Claes was saying, only to be interupted by the man named Alex.
"Ah, so he is the injured one. Great, then I can ask who he is while I'm at it" Alex answer while he moved his hand through the place where usually your hair would be. Unfortunately for Alex, he was bold and for some reason, it looked as if he didn't seem to notice. He was aggresively searching for hair on the bald head of his with his right hand. Eventually he gave up, and placed full concentration in me.
"While you're at it?" I managed to say in a more painful voice than I actually planned. 'At least the sarcastic tone was still in it' I was able to hear and think, but it still didn't come out as I wanted'. 'I was supposed to be the model of confidence, not as weak as this' I was able to think of, "but I don't think it will be necessary how I talk. If the situation unfolded the way I think it was, I'm so going to kick his a-" while thinking, I was interupted by the answer of Alex.
"You're in the room of Claes, and I don't think you're welcome, mr... eh..." Alex mentioned, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Lince," I mentioned in a more normal voice, apparently getting used to the injured body and accepting the pain. A little smile crossed my face that was aimed at Claes, but her face was still not looking at me. "Embarassment?" was the only thing I could think of, but I didn't know Claes good enough to make an accurate answer for myself. "Why did I come here anyway?" I added to my previous question in thoughts.
"Well then, Lince. I suggest you go back to your bed and leave me here to talk with Claes" Alex bluntly told me with a large grin on his face. He was clearly enjoying the misery of Claes, and I didn't even know who he is. He did seem to take the responsibility of Claes leaving the house, if I heard it right that is. "A brother perhaps? He's too young to be her father, so perhaps it is her brother... or maybe her boyfriend? But does that mean they are living together in the same house with the family of Claes" too many thoughts were floating through my mind. By the intensive thinking I could feel the energy being drained away from my legs once again and I was ready to fall again. "No, not now! Not here!" I managed to think as I grabbed the doorknob again so I wouldn't fall.
"Hey, are you okay?" Alex asked me as he rose his pace and walked at me to keep me standing. He clearly had to bow a little, and that was everything I need.
I grabbed him at the edge of his shirt and moved it him closer to my face, trying to remain out of the sight from Claes.
"Your... relationship with Claes. What is it?" I managed to whisper at him from close range. Hostality could clearly be heard in my voice as I asked him, preparing my left arm if his answer wouldn't be satisfactory for me.
"Friend" he whispered in return, and released his self from my weak - and becoming weaker with a rapid pace - grip. I answered him with a confused look, and I could feel my conciousness falling away again. Using strength to get him near me just enough to push me to my limit.
I closed my eyes and I heard Claes asking in a worried tone, "what happened?" before everything become black before my eyes.
---
Darkness was all I could see. For some reason I could hear people mumbeling around me, but I could not open my eyes to see who it was. I could not concentrate to hear them better either, it was as if I was undergoing a heavy medic's actions. Being tied to a bed, eyes remain closed and they try to keep me still. But, it was different. If I really was at a medic, I would not hear them in mumbeling tones, and I must've heard that I was being moved to somewhere else.
But even though I cannot see, I am not able to move either. Not a finger, not a toe and it even looked like I wasn't breathing either. I was not controlling everything, and my body just lay there... somewhere. "Wait!" echoed through my mind. "It looks like I'm not breathing"? I took a final check and it really didn't look like I was breathing. I tried to listen to the mumbeling voices again and I could suddenly hear people screaming to each other. As if they were worried about me. "But why would they be? They don't know me" I managed to think of, until I got back to the point that my body wasn't breathing.
"But, if it wasn't breathing, then why could I clearly think? Why could I hear myself? Why can I even consider that I am not breathing? Is it because I lost my life and am now waiting until Lady Aceci is going to send someone to come and get me?" were some of the thoughts that flew through my mind.
While I was under influence of my mind, I could suddenly see a little light and I saw my body from a different view for the first time.
I was lying on a bed and 6 people were surrounding me. I could easily recognize the bear of a man, Alex, and I had no trouble recognizing the stranged-named girl, Claes either. Claes had the arm of Alex pushed against her as she looked at my apparently, lifeless body. I could finally see the little Caitlin, who's room I was sleeping in there too. She was looking at me, not knowing what was going on. Her blond hair was still short and only two pony-tails could easily be recognized from her. She was looking very childish as usual, and as I could remember her.
The third girl I could see, was different from the others. In opposite of the little girls not knowing- and Claes' sadness, the girl was looking at me like she didn't care. Her long blond hair reminded me of the girl who I saw a bit of before I was hit in the face and lost concious again. Finally, I could see her more properly and her body was so very different from Claes, who've I met earlier.
As a matter of fact, in opposite of everyone in this house I met, she looked quite busty and seemed to care a lot about her outgoing-appearance. The clothes she wore were the complete opposite of Claes as well. "As if it was a story. The not-knowing, the shy, the outgoing and the strong one" I managed to think of as I looked through them.
The clearly, older woman among them must have been the mother of the 3 girls. She was busy using all kind of medic equipment on my body. But if I already stopped breathing, it wouldn't mind anymore.
As I looked closer to the mother, I could see a boy sitting there on the ground, looking at me with a unknown look on his face, like the younger girl, Caitlin. His short blond hair reminded me of myself when I was his age. My black hair was as short as his and while he looked unknowingly, I usually looked uninterested, the expression was not too far apart from each other.
My sight went back to the mother, who was dressed with a white colored jacket and a brown skirt. Her color hair was also completely different from the 3 girls, her brown hair was very remarkable among them, seeing as they were all blond. She also looked a lot more feminine than most of them, even though the girl named Laura looked quite feminine as well. It was mostly Claes who looked very non-feminine.
"What the...? What am I thinking about anyway?" shot through my mind all of a sudden as my vision instantly went to my suddenly moving body. "Was I alive?" went through my mind, but I was wrong. The mother was trying to use several techniques to keep my breathing, but they didn't seem very useful. Not was it just hard to get a clean look at my face because of my long black hair which constantly fell back in front of my eyes, it was also a nearly useless action as my body was already cooling down.
"Let me help!" Alex suddenly blurted out, that clearly shocked me. He ran at my body and tried to help the mother in every way he could. For some reason, I could feel the places they were touching, but I was already here for awhile. "Does that mean I could be saved? Or does this mean it already is too late? If it was already too late, I wanted to thank them at least, and I-..." I was suddenly cruely interupted by a light that shined in my face. A light that was asking me to come near it, a light that was asking to follow it... 'death?' I asked before I started moving towards it.
I walked passed the bed and could see 4 dissapointed faces who were trying to keep my body alive. Only the busty girl named Laura and the younger boy didn't seem to care much. The boy had either no idea what was going on, or didn't care. "I hope that he doesn't care" flew through my mind. "The less people who are sad about my demise, the better it is" answered something in my mind as I stretched my arm, to reach the light that was calling out for me.
As I stretched my arm, I could feel freedom and a relaxed feeling surrounding me, a feeling I yearned for a long time. From the moment that Jade and I left our home-village, I yearned for the free feeling. It was something I missed in my life, something I couldn't deny, something I couldn't live without - and now, it was in litterally in hand reach.
I tried to stretch my arm a little further as I could feel the feeling slowly taking over my weak body that was getting weaker every moment as I reached my arm.
"Lince!" I suddenly heard someone screaming, that clearly surprised me as I pulled my arm back again. My body and head quickly turned to where the sound came from, and I could see Claes standing near the edge of the bed. Whispering something that was not meant for anyone, but I could clearly hear it. "Does that mean I am no longer here in the lands of the living?" I asked myself as I tried to listen what she said.
"Before... you leave... learn me... that song" I could hear her whispering to me.
I looked back to the light that was ready to kindly embrace me and give me all the freedom I want. Within a second of time, I turned my back to the light once again and walked t my body, confident that I wouldn't die just yet.
The moment the light noticed that I was not planning of leaving just yet, it suddenly dissapeared, not ready to show itself again for many years... or that was what I hoped.
I felt that the expressions on the faces of the bystanders were looking more happy to my body as I lay there. As if I was showing any sign of life and- I was cruely interupted by a large yawn of myself. "Was I bored?" I asked myself as I looked at my hand, that was getting a bit transparant. "I'm dead, for sure" I mentioned to myself with a little smile crossing my face.
I closed my eyes again, and placed my head on the edge of the bed, the opposite side of Claes and lay there. Hoping that I could wake up again, watching out of the beautiful window, looking across the farm, hoping to see Claes sitting there again, waiting for someone to teach her that song.
Before I knew it, darkness surrounded me again, but this time, I felt confident that I would wake up with my head turned to the window.
Suddenly... I could feel pain in my side, enough pain to tear my mind apart. I could not understand why I suddenly felt so much pain. Everytime I woke up, I was in pain, but this was different. It was as if something was tearing me apart, something was hostile to me and wanted to crush me no matter what. "As if I've met an Ancient Dragon in combat" my thoughts mentioned.
"Pain?" I suddenly thought, remembering that I could see my own body lying on the bed - lifeless. "Was I alive again" my mind added to the previous statement.
Without any further thought, I was able to open my eyes. While I was expecting to see either the old wooden door, or the window with the beautiful view behind it, I saw something completely different.
I saw... I saw a huge open area filled with grass and a beautiful little river streaming through the middle of it. Behind me was it filled with the same grass and the river looked as if it surrounded me. The stream was heavy and fishes played within the river. "Where am I?" was the first thought that came to mind while seeing the beautiful enviorment. "Didn't I recover? Am I in the spirit realm?" my mind could only think of, worried that I didn't make it after all, that falling asleep on the edge of the bed was the last limit of my mind, and that transported me to the spirit realm behind the Crystal Gate.
"Lince, you really need to eat" I could suddenly hear out of nowhere. I looked around, but no one was around. I could hear birds sing, I could hear fishes swim and I could hear the wind blowing, but those familiar words were far more clearer than all other things I heard.
"Open wide" I could hear as well, as an addition to the last sentence. 'I am Lince, an adventurer who fell in combat' was something that floated in my mind, as if I lost control of my mind, instead of my body earlier.
Without any second thought, I ran to the place I could hear the sound come from. Although it was only for a moment I heard it, it was enough to search for it. Standing still, and enjoying the enviorment was nothing too pleasant either.
---
"Open your mouth Lince!" I could suddenly hear as my eyes flew open, scaring the person who was feeding me as I accidentally punched the bowl with food out of the hands and into the air - only to receive the bowl apparently filled with soup, on my head. The word of "damn" and "I must look a complete idiot" came to mind nearly instantly. Having a dripping bowl of soup on your head really doesn't give the best expression to the person in front of you.
It took a moment before my eyes adjusted to the sudden light in front of me, but the moment I could see, the person was feeding me already left. I could see the door closing, but I could not see the person who was feeding me.
I turned my head to the other side, to see where I was. I learned that I was in a different room then before. I remember being in a small wooden room with a small desk near the end and a large closet that surely took a quater of the room of space. In the right corner, a small box with puppets could be found and the floor was usually filled with all kind of toys. From puppets to books, it was clearly a childs room. This in opposite of it, looked completely different. While I could see numberous of child toys as well, they didn't look as if they were of a girl. "Perhaps this room is of the little boy I saw when I saw myself lying on that bed" floated through my mind, remembering that I saw a boy sitting near me awhile ago.
I crawled a bit up, clearly feeling stronger than the days before, but only a bit dizzy of lying on bed the entire time. But with a small push of my arms, I finally managed to stand up, standing straight and quickly grabbed hold to the bookcase that was only inches away from me.
The moment I touched the bookcase, I could hear the peeping sound of the door opening and a short moment later, someone opened the door and entered the room. A short haired man entered the room who was carrying a small sack filled with bottles and boxes.
"You must be Lince" he mentioned as he closed the door. My answer to that was only a little nod as I tried to gain more momentum of standing. "I am Ryan Huub, doctor of the village" he mentioned as he made a gesture of going to sit, what I quickly followed as I could feel myself being more dizzy at every moment.
A moment later, the doctor stood in front of me, kindly asking how I felt, a little word of 'fine' was all he got from me. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with it and went into details by asking about if anything hurts. I placed my hand on my left ribs, where it felt like something was hanging inbetween. After touching it, the doctor decided to check it out and used his hand to feel the body part, a tickelish feeling, but it was to be expected.
Several moments later, and after I mentioned that I was feeling fine further, he left again, leaving me alone in the room until a bald muscular man entered. "Alex," I unexpectedly said in a tone that even surprised myself. A smile of him was my answer, as he asked me if I was OK, where only a little nod of mine was to answer of him.
"Thank lord Malathander" Alex mentioned, showing that he a lot of weight fell from his shoulders and that he clearly was relieved of hearing that I was feeling well. "I... eh... I'm sorry what happened the other day" he mentioned as he looked at me with sad eyes and a apology in his tone of words.
A small smile crossed my face, exactly remembering what he meant, "don't worry about it" I mentioned as I looked him in the eyes with a more friendly tone than usual in my words.
"You know Lince... I didn't notice before, but your two eye colors are different from each other" Alex mentioned while pointing a finger in my face that was quickly pushed away by my rising left hand. "The one is the usual green color, but the other one looks more like it is an emerald in your eye" Alex added to it, looking like he was planning of pulling that "emerald" out of my skull.
"I know, it was something people liked when I was a kid" I mentioned while looking in the eyes of Alex.
"You still be a kid, aye" Alex said with a broad smile crossing his face, clearly showing that it wasn't meant serious, but in a way, he was right. I was only 17 years old and Alex was in every possible way bigger and probably more superior.
Finally, after a moment of peace, I rose my left hand and brought it to my face, seeing a little scar in the middle of my hand. Not remembering that I had a scar on my hand, I looked up to Alex who was already looking with a sad face to it. "Don't ask" he mentioned as I started moving my lips, planning of asking about the scar.
"It isn't just there, Lince" Alex carefully mentions, looking not to insult me. My reply was only a touch to my left ribs, knowing that Alex was pointing to that.
"Anyway, you go to sleep, Lince. We'll wake you up in time for dinner. It'll be best if you'll rest now" Alex softly says, while turning back to the door, and only moments later opening it.
"Window..." I soflty mumbled before he left. There was a window in the room, but on the opposite side of the room, not easily reachable, especially not from the bed. But Alex was right, and I should rest for now.
---
Without knowing it, I slept through 2 days straight and people were feeding me to keep me alive. A worthy effort, but futile was it in my opinion. If I was in the condition of needing large amounts of rest, then I must have been in a very bad condition. "I wonder what happened" was what I thought as I kept sleeping. While sleeping, more thoughts gone through my mind like, "why did they save me?" or "what happened to Jade, my companion" were only some of the thoughts I could not find an answer of. But, the moment I met Claes outside at the hay stacks was a moment I could not forget while sitting here. Hearing the royal song of 'If, and only if' again, not to mention singing it was something I could not forget.
"I could hear the tunes clearly, as if I could hear someone playing it at this very moment, but I was surely just dreaming. I was in need of all the rest I could get, but-" my thoughts were clearly interupted by a sudden reopening of my eyes as I woke up and instantly sat straight, being far more agile than I could remember I was.
"No doubt," I was hearing yet another familiar tune of the harmonica, though this time not 'If, and only if' but the song called, 'an Ice Castle' which I learned as well when I was a child. It was a song that was sung by all bards and a song well known for the people who was born in the same village as I was. "We were raised with that song" I managed to think off. The moment the tune stopped, my mind stopped thinking and I stood up, walking to the window again, seeing the expected view.
Claes was sitting against the pile of hay again, playing the harmonica with closed eyes, though this time not alone. But Alex was sitting next to her, listening to the few tunes she could play with full interest as if he was under influence of it. A soft smile was crossing his face again, "and they are friends" flew through my mind suddenly and unexpected.
While I turned around, wanting to walk back to my bed, I could feel some hair covering some of my face all of a sudden. "Has my hair grew so long in such a short time" I managed to think of as I touched my hair, confirming it was really there.
I turned around, trying to see my reflection in the mirror and I was stunned of what I saw.
I was standing there, shirtless and far more muscular than I could remember myself, I could move a lot easier than before, I had less restrictions in my body. My hair grew longer, my left emerald colored eye was far more clear and I suddenly was filled with a number of scars I could not remember before. The one on my forehead, my ribs, a small one on my right part of my chest, several smaller ones on my legs and a clear one in the middle of my left hand. I did not look like the same Lince anymore as I remembered. My body changed, my personality changed, my behavior is twisted and my eye sight increased several notches.
"What happened to me?"
While seeing my reflection in the window I was shocked to see myself. I was taller and far more muscular than I was when I started traveling. "Did I changed during my travels" came to mind, but it was impossible. I traveled for a few months, changes of that size are impossible. But it wasn't just that I suddenly had a far more muscular body, I could feel myself being far more agile than before, I could easily bend my back, what I couldn't do before, or at least not as far as this. Not being able to bend it that much caused me a lot of problems when I was in battle because I could not evade all kinds of attacks.
But even though my body looked more muscular, the largest chance was my hair style. My hair was far longer than I could remember it was and my left eye, which has always been brighter than before was now very remarkable, it was far brighter than an emerald where the sun was smiling upon - bright enough to embarrass me if someone would mention it.
But as if my eyes weren't enough, scars were now all over my body as well, my legs, my forehead and more places I had no scars before. I was surprised after seeing a little scar on my hand, but I was far more surprised seeing that I this amount of scars suddenly appeared. But it was not only bad things, my sudden increase in strength, my easier moveable body and my suddenly increasement of eye sight are the better parts of it. "A reward for surviving?" flew through my mind which was discarded soon after.
Seeing that my body was changed in nearly every way, I could not denie the question of: 'Was I still Lince?'
Out of confusion and because I was scared, I stumbled backwards and sat down on the bed. Standing was something that was too much asked from a body like this. "How could I change?" were my words in the quiet room where only a little sound from Claes' harmonica came through.
With nothing in mind, I could still see my blurry reflection in the dirty window at the other side of the room. Seeing a small patch of hair covering my left eye was quickly dismissed by pushing it away with my hands; unfortunately, it kept falling back in front of it, blocking a part of my eye sight.
I couldn't believe the sudden change in my body if I would compare it with my memories. I looked as if I was looking at one of the heavy-trained soldiers from the Empire instead of my own young body. "No youngster can be this muscular" did my mind add to it.
I looked as if I was a regular on the battlefield and fought in many battles, leaving my body full with scars. "As if magic was swapping my bodies" flew through my mind, but it was clear that it was my own body. I could see still several parts of myself which were indentical to my previous body. My face was not changed at all, and the small scar on my right shoulder which was brought on my body by an accident during fishing, they were still here on my body, confirming it was still the same Lince, the same Lince that fell in battle.
While the music of the harmonica kept playing and pierced through the walls, I decided to go to sleep, and hope that this would be a dream where I could wake up from. Seeing a muscular body like this - though not comparable with Alex - was like a dream for a young boy, like myself.
While thinking, I could feel the small patch of hair falling in front of my eye again, blocking my left eye sight.
I sighed as response and pushed it back again, while picking up a little thin rope to hold my hair together for the night. If necessary, I would cut the long hair off the moment I would wake up.
---
Waking up was something that was easily said by the average person, but a question for the people who were on the brink of death. Without knowing, I was the entire night awake, afraid of closing my eyes, and not opening them up again. I decided to read some of the books in the room while using the moon to provide me with the necessary light, in the hope that I wouldn't wake anyone up.
By reading the books, I learned things I never heard of. Like Lord Glodich Valentine, Emperor of the lands and his younger daugther who's name was to be decided when the book was writen. Also, Cruz Black, a man with a large brown mustache was described in the book, a man who was the general of the forces of Lord Glodich and also his advisor, together with the prime mage and priest. They were already ruling the lands for a small 17 years with the same rules and laws, hoping that no difference would be made.
While reading, I became more and more interested and started to hum the songs I heard Claes play. Unfortunately, it were only two songs I heard her play, so not much variation was made.
Without I knew it, I kept reading the book and suddenly a brighter light was shining on the book that suddenly started to hurt my eyes. "The sun rised" I whispered to myself while I took my eyes from the book and looked outside, to the sun that was positioned gloriously in the sky.
"I should... move" I mentioned as I stood up and placed the book back on where it was, not noticing that a loose paper fell out.
---
"Die!" was screamed from a large man who drew his broad sword towards the bandit. It impossible to miss that the bandit lifted his shield to defend himself and his axe ready to strike. Regardless, it was not even necessary to defend, the blade of the sword dodged the shield and struck the bandit in his upper arm, forcing him to drop the shield. But from small range, it is best to attack, were clearly the thoughts of the bandit as he lifted his axe and brought it down to attack the man while still screaming of pain because of the blade in his arm.
"Suffer!" the sword carrier yelled at him as he pulled back his sword and easily dodged the effortless attack of the bandit.
"I'll get you for this!" the bandit screamed as he ran away and quickly jumped over the white bars from the flower garden.
"Amusing! Good job, Cruz" could be heard while a man was clapping his hands. The sword carrier finally sheeted his sword again and took off his helmet, to reveal a large mustache covering most from his face.
"If Cruz Black says that he'll defend the Valentine family, he will" Cruz mentions as he walked towards the clapping man who was easily recognized by his crown and royal clothes as Lord Glodich.
"My liege, the soldiers should be returning shortly. Shall we leave towards the gate?" Cruz politely asks while making an effortless bow not showing any politeness in that.
"No formalities from friends, Cruz" the Emperor replied with, nodding in reply of leaving towards the gate. "I heard that Sandjo was injured but still sent out with the rest of the soldiers, is this rumor true, Cruz?" Glodich enquired as he looked at the taller man who walked next to him, still dressed with a heavy chain mail.
"Yes, my liege. I've sent Sandjo on with the rest of the soldiers because he can prove to be a very important asset in combat" Cruz answered with while clearly overflowing with full confidence.
"Well, Cruz, if you thought the battle was this important, you could have send lord Gunthar and his personal team to handle it" Glodich replied with, clearly mentioning that lord Gunthar and his team were far superior than most soldiers.
"No, my liege. Lord Gunthar's team is only of average strength and Gunthar himself is nothing more than a below average-elite soldier, I don't believe he was able to handle the job" Cruz mentioned while still overflowing with confidence.
"Well, if we lost any soldier, I want you and Price to take responsibility for it, Cruz" Glodich tells him in a more stricter tone.
"Price?! Terres Price?!" Cruz Black answers with as he quickly moves himself in front of his Emperor in a face full with unbelieve. "You know Terres and I have a bad reputation throughout the Empire and-" Cruz begon but before he could mention anything else, lord Glodich interupted him with a strict look in his face.
The strictness completely dissapeared when Cruz became quiet and a relaxing and pleasant broad smile crossed the face of the old black haired man. "Well then Cruz, it is about time you two will make a difference about that, now isn't it?" Glodich laughingly quite loud tells Cruz who'd was stunned by the reaction of the Emperor.
"Lord Glodich, please, don't kid around like that!" Cruz quickly shouts after his Emperor who increased his pace and already walked several meters in front of Cruz.
"I am sure that my body is recovering, but I still feel somewhat weak at the edges. I'm sure to be back in form after a few more days," I told Alex who was just of planning of opening my door as I walked out.
"That's a relief. Where are you going now?" Alex mentioned in a kind tone while looking me straight in the eyes, clearly showing that he was worried about something.
"I'm gonna take a breath outside, mind it?" I bluntly answered him, not yet knowing what was going on. After I finished my sentence, Alex's face went blank and looked a bit worried back, while pushing me back into the room.
"I don't think it is smart going out now" Alex told me. Naturally, a 'why' answer of me was unavoidable. "Once a month a few ex-soldiers come around in the village for a small 'reunion' and they are not fond on any bystanders" Alex explained to me.
"Ex-soldiers? That doesn't scare me much, I'm gonna take a breath" I mentioned, completely ignoring the friendly advise Alex gave me.
I left Alex who had a questionable look on his face, more worried about me than any other expression that was available. He told me to be careful if I decided to go out after all, and that those "soldiers" weren't as kind as they may look.
While I ignored Alex's advise, I kept walking to the end of the hall, while clearly looking around. Like I expected, it was a wooden house with every wall and door made of wood. The atmosphere was great and it the temporature was excellent, someone who was raised in a stone house with a fire to warm himself up, it is unexpected to see such a sudden change in enviorment.
It was nice to see in the long hall that all doors on the right of me were rooms and left didn't have any doors, but only windows. I was happy that I could finally walk and explore the house a bit, that I was going outside was quickly forgotten. I heard sounds of people talking outside, but out of pure curiousity, I quickly forgot it again.
I learned that it was a hall with 4 rooms and one room on the end, the room I was living in, apparently. I learned that the first room near the stairs was the room of the little girl named Caitlin, the second room was of Claes, the third room was of a name I wasn't familiar of. It was of a woman named 'Jessica' which was probably the mother of them. Without any further thought, I went on to the next room, that was placed right next to mine. It was doubtless of who that room would be, but it was a nice confirmation for me, the room was of Laura, the busty girl that hit me back then. The last room was yet another name I was not familiar of by the name of 'Sean' who was the boy that I saw when I was seeing my body.
His age was definitely older than the little Caitlin, but I am sure he was younger than Claes, who apparently was younger than Laura.
No room of a father, nor Alex. Alex was apparently not living here, but seemed to be filled with a lot responsibility. The addict was made for a storage room with no in particular living there. It was far too small to let someone live in it as well, so it wouldn't really matter.
In terms of sound, I could hear that the kitchen was right below my, or Sean's room. The sound of kitchen equipment could clearly be heard from there and it was a lot harder to hear outside the room. If my memory worked carefully as well, a little part below the stairs is the door to the exit and the living room is 2 of the 4 rooms. The space of the other 2 rooms was one filled with a large bathroom and some kind of stairs to the basement, or so I heard. I had no intention of finding it out.
"Mr. Lince?" I could suddenly hear, that brought me back to my senses as I looked back, but did not see anyone. "Down here" the voice told me. I quickly followed her advice and looked down to see who was talking to me.
A very broad smile crossed the face of the little girl named Caitlin who was looking at me. "Can you stand already?" she asked me with the smile remaining on her face.
"It was definitely a kid, not knowing much about injuries just yet" floated through my mind as I kept staring at her smiling face. She was really the symbol, or model of a little kid, that didn't have any worry in the world on herself at the moment. Cute, but I more fond on more pressured people - like myself.
"Mr Lince, I had to ask you if you could come to mom, she would like to tell you something"
After hearing that someone called me, as a matter of fact, calling me 'mister' that made me feel a lot more mature I was surprised to sit down to watch her in the eyes. The little girl named Caitlin clearly had problems with her growth as she was far too short for her age, and my body grew far too fast in a small amount of time. Her always cheerful smile that was on her face did not dissapear for a second when she saw me, when I was out of sight to go to her mother, the smile didn't dissapear either.
"I never met someone like her" was what I thought. Seeing a cheerful girl like that was rare for me. We didn't have many children in the village I was born. And the children that were living in the village were absolutely not like Caitlin, cheerful no matter what happens. Alex already mentioned that some ex-soldiers were on a rampage outside and I am pretty sure they are able to destroy something precious to this family. "Would that sadden Caitlin" flew with light speed through my mind. "Nah, she isn't saddened by something like that" my mind answered itself.
While thinking and looking back to the girl, I forgot I was in the hall and nearly fell from the stairs. I could grab the side of the wall tightly so I wouldn't completely fall. But even if I grabbed myself, my weight was still pushed backwards and I was still on the brink of falling.
Suddenly, I could feel myself falling against something soft. The softness dissapeared not soon after though, as if it fell.
"Ouch!" I could suddenly hear someone say. I quickly turned my head to see what happened only to come to the point of not being able to believe my eyes. Laura, one of the girls of the house was walking there, without me noticing it. I clearly bumped against her, forcing her on with my weight and letting her lose her balance, falling on the little flat part of the stairs.
I quickly pulled myself up and ran at her, quicky asking if she didn't hurt herself. An awful look of "get out of my sight" was in her expression. I decided not to wait for her answer and quickly passed her to go and find the mother of the family - she did want to see me after all.
Downstairs I was finally able to explore the house a little bit more than usual. My expectations were correct and the main living room was placed under the hall and 2 of the rooms while the kitchen was under my room. Interesting to see, but I was downstairs to find the mother and talk with her, which was easier said than done. As for one, I don't know her, and the second part is, I don't know where she is.
I was surprised when she wasn't in the living room, nor was she in the kitchen. Even though there was a basement available, the lock on the basement kept me from entering.
"I'm sure Caitlin said that she was waiting downstairs" flew through my mind, filled with unbelief, that she was trying to pull off a joke with me. A small angry state of mine that I hadn't felt since Alex confronted Claes appeared to me again, getting ready to go back and have a talk with Caitlin. I was preparing my mind to do what I was planning until I heard someone calling my name; Lince.
I turned my head around, quickly changing my facial expression. I was glad I changed my facial expression as I saw Claes standing in the hallway between the kitchen and the living room where I stood.
"If you're searching for mom, she's in the backyard" Claes mentioned ignoring most of my sudden expressions of seeing her. She was also pointing to the door not far from me, but because of the colors, it looked more like a large window like more of those were around. I nodded to show I understood it, and I walked towards the door, opening it to breath the fresh air after a long time.
As if the sun that was standing glorious in the sky was attacking my eyes, my eyelids became heavy and I felt like dropping right there and right now. My body was recovered at most places, but my energy wasn't restored yet and I couldn't stand long.
It took a long minute until my eyes were finally adjusted to the open blowing air and the sunlight. When my eyes were finally adjusted, I could see the brown haired mother standing in the garden, talking with an armored clad soldier who had a broad smile on his face while talking with the woman.
Because of the stuff that happened around, she apparently didn't hear the sound of the door that I was outside in the garden with her.
For a while, I kept my distance while watching 2 two people. Both eventually with a broad smile on their face, clearly having fun with what they were talking about. While looking to the man, I reminded myself that I was an adventurer as well and would gladly take any offer to join the Empire.
"I know I am strong, I'm quick, I'm a good thinker, I would be a good asset to the Empire" were my thoughts as I looked at the man who suddenly changed his area of sight to me.
"Ah, you must be Lince" he broke the subject with the mother with and slowly started approaching me, ignoring the mother completely who was still looking with a smile at me.
"Y-Yes, I am Lince, how can I help you?" I quickly mentioned as he stood in front of me, watching me directly in my two different colored eyes. The man looked at me with a smile on his face and a stern look in his eyes, I really couldn't read what he was thinking.
"Ah, well then Lince, I heard from Jes. here that you might be a nice addition to the Empire's strike force here" the armored man kindly asked me. Being added to the strike force of the Empire is an honor, and certainly a dream for me to come true. But, why would they?
"Why would you accept me? You can't possibly accept me from a recommendation of someone" I told him, still strict in mind that you can't make a decision of someone you just know. It's impossible to say something like, especially because this mother of those children barely knows me, not to mention that I have been sleeping more than I have been awake since I've been here. And more important, a strike team is not something that everyone can join, they specialize in attacking something while having intense training.
"I'll explain that carefully to you. Jes. here, is our official scout to look who is fit for our strike team-..." before I let him finish his sentence, I decided to cut him off.
"Maybe so, but I have been sleeping more than I have been awake. How could she decide that about me?" I told him. I know better than anyone that I am not able to be added in a strike team, my body is still too weak and-
My thoughts were interupted by a huge strict view of the armored man. "I don't know why she thinks it, but I trust her words more than anyone. But we also have a lot of free time. It has been nearly 4 months ago since we got our last order and the most exciting mission we had in the area was 3 and a half month ago when a rat broke a valuable food storage" he told me. It was unbelievable, but true. The strike team of the Empire of this area was summoning me to train under the guidance. "It is only a request, you may accept or decline it, Lince" the man kindly told me.
My sight went automaticly to the mother who was looking at me with a broad smile on her face. She was clearly enjoying what was going on, and apparently was happy she mentioned me in her reccomandation. "Why would she pick me?" floated through my mind even though it was already filled with all kind of questions. Being summoned by the strike team of the Empire clearly gone through my head and I wasn
