The Soul Keeper

The bright sunlight blinded me as I came to my senses. I was back in the game – in a virtual world.

I shook my head and tried to force my mind to focus on the faint memories of that dream. How much of it was real?

I opened my inventory and took the photo I found in Fetheion's hidden basement. The carvings on the face of that cliff were very clearly visible here. Was that the same cliff?

I bit my lower lip. It looked like it, but I wasn't sure if I just thought so because my mind made it up, or if that memory was completely accurate.

"Damn it," I mumbled. I hated not being able to trust my own memories. 

"Kai!" I heard Mona's voice calling my name from downstairs. "Hey, wake up, it's almost noon!"

Her words startled me. Noon? Really? A glance out the window quickly proved her right as I sighed. "Damn it!" I whined as I pushed myself off the bed and scrambled to fix my wrinkled clothes and messy hair. "Coming!" I shouted before putting the photograph back into my inventory. I opened the window to let some fresh air in, then left the room and went downstairs.

To my surprise, everyone seemed like they had just woken up – even Asher. Mona was in the kitchen; Alex was napping on the table and Rina seemed to be having trouble keeping her eyes open. Lucius was nowhere to be seen while Laura and Theresa were talking about something in a low voice. Asher was lying on the couch. His eyes were closed, though I knew he was awake because I noticed him glance at me when I came downstairs.

"I wanted to sleep more!" Rina whined as she noticed me. "Mona, why did you have to wake us up?"

"Because Laura woke me up." The cheerful druid said with a mischievous smile. "If I'm to suffer, I'm taking everyone down with me." She giggled.

"You're a wicked witch." Rina said with an almost desperate voice, then leaned her head on the desk and closed her eyes. "I want more sleep…" She mumbled, then let out a deep sigh.

"Where is Lucius?" I asked as I sat on the couch.

"Out getting some water." Laura replied as she glanced at Rina. "Hey, Rina, don't fall asleep again. We've still got plenty to do today."

Rina made a weepy sound. "I hate work…" She cried.

We couldn't help but laugh. Despite feeling well rested, I completely understood her and agreed with her. After literally fighting for our lives, we could have used a couple days off. Yet, we didn't have such time.

"Let's eat first." I said with a sigh just as the door swung open and Lucius stepped inside.

"Oh, everyone's awake." He followed his words with a loud yawn. He approached the counter and started pulling out several buckets out of his inventory and placing them on it.

"Whoa, stop, that's enough!" Mona shrieked as the countertop began filling up with water buckets. "I needed a little bit of water, not the entire lake!"

"There is no 'a little bit' in his vocabulary when it comes to stuff like this." I chuckled.

"How am I supposed to know how much a little bit is?" Lucius protested.

Soon, despite the unnecessary number of water buckets, out breakfast was ready, and we all dug in. Mona had prepared a feast – by the time we finished, there was more than enough left to feed us all twice over.

"Now I want to sleep again because I'm too full!" Alex declared as she gulped down her drink. "Mona, you're a much better cook than me and Rina combined!"

"Give her more credit," Rina protested. "Anyone is better than the two of us combined. We couldn't even make a simple pasta dish without almost burning the kitchen down!" The green haired wizard glanced at Mona. "Did you by any chance study gastronomy?"

Mona giggled and shook her head. "No, I'm a florist. Well, my parents are, so I will be too."

Asher raised his brows. "I'm sorry for asking," He chimed in. "But how does a florist have the funds to buy a PORTAL device?"

"I gifted it to her." Laura smiled. "And to Theresa." 

This time, it was our turn to be shocked. "Whoa, wait." Lucius mumbled. "How rich are you? Even one of those things costs a fortune."

"Very." Laura chuckled. "Let's not get into too much detail, but OTHERWORLD will find themselves in quite a lot of legal trouble as soon as we are free of this virtual world." She glanced at me. "Speaking of which, I remember you telling us how you ended up here – you were in Erik's house, am I right?"

I nodded. "Yes, through a string of coincidences."

"His father will be in quite a bit of trouble once this is all over, so I will be making sure of your safety as we don't know what he may try to get himself out of this situation. Please don't be alarmed when my lawyers contact any of you," She added, glancing at everyone else. "That includes you as Well, Asher. I hope you don't mind, but you're also a bit of a special case and I'm sure your testimony will be integral to make sure the court processes smoothly."

The blonde sorcerer nodded. "You'll have my full support, don't worry. In fact, I did want to suggest something along these lines – to make sure we don't cut contact completely once we are free of this place."

Mona nodded. "We shouldn't. Aside from all the legal stuff that Laura talked about, I consider all of you my friends. I'd like to stay in contact."

We all nodded. 

"Kai," Lucius chimed in. He'd been silent until now, and for good reason. "You should probably explain."

I gritted my teeth. "Yeah," I glanced at Asher. "There is a chance I may be unable to stay in contact, at least for a while. Same goes for Lucius, but to a much smaller degree."

The young swordman laughed. "You know I'll probably only have to waste a day at most, telling your mother about everything that happened. Never mind me and tell them."

Asher raised his eyebrows. He knew a little bit about my backstory – enough to let him guess, but not anything concrete. Mona and the others, however, were clearly curious, and perhaps even somewhat worried.

I sighed. "Well, I really can't tell you too much." I brushed my hair back as I pondered – how the hell was I supposed to explain this to them? The weird, traditional, and awkward customs my family adhered wouldn't make any sense to them. Even I found them unnecessary most of the time.

"My family has a training hall for our school of martial arts, and the entire extended family is structured around it. We're almost like a clan, to be honest. My Mother is the head of our Hall, and all training Halls connected to ours around the world. The other families usually have at least one member in the…" I hesitated. "Well, we just call them the elders, but they help Mother run things, make sure everything runs smoothly and constantly scout for new disciples."

I could see from Asher's expression that he hadn't expected something as organised as this.

"Sounds normal so far, I know." I said as I glanced at Lucius. "But Mother is a very traditional person. She values our customs greatly and wants me to follow in her footsteps." I hesitated. It was difficult to speak about this. "So, after learning about what happened during our time here, I'm sure she won't leave me be for a while." 

I didn't want to go into too much detail, so I fell into silence.

"I see," Asher mumbled. "But we can't have you disappear – we will need your testimony for the courts."

I shook my head. "That won't be a problem. No one would even think of trying to stop me from that." Despite her love for our customs, Mother always sought justice. She would only approve of such a thing.

"Your mother is confusing." Mona mumbled as she shook her head. "I'm not going to pry, but please do try to at least stay in contact, even if it is just letting us know you're ok."

I chuckled. "Don't worry, I will."

With our breakfast – or lunch, since it was noon already – done, we all scattered about. Mona and Theresa left to scout the nearby forest in case there were any Ereth patrols, Lucius and Alex left for some training and Laura decided to go take a bath.

That once again left me with Asher. The blonde sorcerer yawned, then forced himself to get up. "We should probably prepare for Erik, Vincent, and Victoria's arrival." He sighed, he seemed just as puzzled as I was about the whole ordeal. "How the hell are we going to explain any of what happened since you died to them?" He asked, shooting me a curious glance.

"I wish I knew," Was all I could say on the matter.