Chapter 124 - The Dream
As they flew through the clouds, on a flying carriage which was made invisible using furtim. The horses were having a panic attack
They wouldn't stop neighing and thought they would die, but sylvia managed to put them to sleep using some sort of method
Meanwhile the three continued to play truth or dare
"Oh, it landed on Ariel" Said Serena
"Whose it gonna be?" Asked john
"Hmm, Serena, Truth, or... Dare?" Ariel asked
"Wha- Ariel you traitor!" Said Serena
"But I mean, you went for john last time, so we should go for someone else..." Said Ariel
John hastily nodded
"Fine, Truth" Said Serena
Ariel who heard this, made a small chuckle
"Fufu... Serena... Is it true that... You're afraid of heights?" Ariel asked
"Hoh, that's quite the good question, Ariel" Said john
"Yeah, sort of." Serena nervously replied
"Hmm, See, that wasn't so hard" Said Ariel with a satisfied smile
"Why do you look so happy?" Asked Serena
The bottle started to spin again, While john looked like he didn't care. He was constantly praying that the bottle would land on anyone but Serena, and that it would at least choose him
As the bottle started to slow down, it pointed at Ariel, and then Serena and lastly... John.
An evil grin was formed on john's face as he started to chuckle
"Hehe..."
"Wha-" Said serena worried
"Hey Serena, Truth or dare? It's time for a little revenge..." Said John
"O-Oi, john, you look like of scary..." Replied Serena with a nervous expression
"It's just your imagination" Said John as his grin changed into a smile
"... Da- Truth..." Said Serena
"Ah, then, is there anyone you like?" John casually asked
"Oh, that's it? I thought it was going to be something different... But yeah, I like You and Ariel" Serena replied as she let out a sigh
That wasn't john's intention
"W-Wait, Serena, I meant romantically." Said john
"Eh- But you didn't say that in the question so I can't answer that... Looks like you'll have to wait until your next turn to ask..." Said Serena who looked slightly embarrassed by john's question
[What's with this sudden change...? Can I take that embarassment as a good sign? Either way...]
"Yeah, but that will have to wait until tomorrow" Said john as he looked outside
"Why?" The two girls simoutaneously asked
"Because, it's getting pretty late" Said john as he pointed at the dark sky filled with stars
"Yeah..." muttered Serena as she stared at the stars
"Is that okay with you, Ariel?" John asked
"Mhm, the breese feels really nice from up here" Ariel replied
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to head down, If I fall asleep and lose focus then that won't end well"
"Then, I'll help you" Said Ariel as she got up
"Thanks, Master sylvia is that fine with you? We're going down" John asked
Sylvia nodded, so john went straight into it
"Ariel, try to keep it balanced, while I lower it"
Ariel nodded and Serena grabbed on to her seat
Shortly after, the carriage started to slowly descend
***
"Crustallus aquae" Translation: Ice Cube
A giant ice cube was formed around the carriage, which covered a few trees and horses.
As the three laid on the carriage with a blanket over them, master leaned on her seat. John wasn't sure how she could sleep in that position, but her eyes were closed so it probably worked
As john looked at the two girls who laid beside him, he wondered if it was really alright for everything to be going so peacefully.
[I got stronger... But why do I still feel like it isn't enough?] Thought john as he closed his eyes
He had another bad feeling, was he being sensitive? Or was he just afraid of going back into the dungeon? John wasn't sure, but he decided not to think to hard on it for now
As he was about to fall asleep, he heard whispers, it as Serena was talking to Ariel, but it wasn't any of his business so he just ignored it and fell asleep
---------------------------------------------------
John opened his eyes and looked around
He was in the air, as he looked down, he noticed that there were a few people on the ground. He couldn't hear what they were saying or tell what they were doing.
But they felt familiar. As john focused to see who it was and hear the conversation, he noticed that one of the guys felt familiar. He had long Spikey hair which was half black and white tied up in a pony tail.
He looked very familiar, john couldn't see his face for some reason, but could hear his words
"I don't care anymore..." He muttered
Confused, John looked over at the two people who laid on the ground. They were two girls, one had long braided silver hair, while the other had long black hair put up in a pony tail.
When john saw this, he felt a shiver go down his spine. They looked like serena and Ariel.
And they looked heavily wounded.
"I swear... I'll kill you" Said the guy who had the half black and white hair
That was when john finally realised, That guy, was him. John couldn't see who he was fighting but, could see the grin on his face.
Suddenly, the one who looked like John, disappeared, and so did that guy. And then the environment changed, almost like some sort of cycle
In this environment, the only ones that could be seen were the guy who looked like john and the one with the creepy grin.
Before john could see anything else, the guy who looked like him muttered something
"Absolute Zero"
And everything froze
----------------------------------------------
"Urk!" John let out as he opened his eyes and got up
He looked outside, and felt blinded by the sunlight. It was morning. Master was nowhere to be seen and the two girls were still asleep
As he panted heavily, john looked at his hand. He was feeling a stinging pain coming from it the moment he woke up.
As he checked to see what was wrong, he noticed that his right arm, was frozen.
"What the hell...?" John muttered to himself as he tried to catch his breath
He quickly started to circulate thermal energy around his arm, to heat it up, in hopes that the ice around it would melt, and thankfully it did.
"What was that? The future?" Asked John as he repeatedly clenched his right arm to see how it was doing
[That's right] Said the voice
"Wha-!"
John nearly sprung out of his blanket. He slowly looked over at serena and ariel to see if they had woken up, but they were still fast asleep
"That voice... is it..."
[Yeah, it's me, remember don't say my name unless you're in danger]
"Yeah... Why can I hear you?" John asked
[I'm not sure, I was just suddenly able to talk to you. More importantly, I thought about using a premonition spell to see how the dungeon conquering would go, and it looks like I might have ended up going further than I should.]
"So you're saying that wasn't just a normal dream?"
[It was more like a premonition than a dream, I wouldn't take it too seriously, as the further it is into the future, the lower the accura-]
"But in that dream... Serena and Ariel... They..."
[…]
"Can I ask you something?" John asked
There was no reply, almost as if the connection was cut.
"Hey? Hey!"
John was considering calling her name, but at the same time, felt like he shouldn't
"What the hell... Why does this always happen?" Asked john as he punched his seat
[Just when things were starting to get peaceful... Are you telling I'm supposed to take the fact that serena and Ariel are going to die lightly?] John thought to himself
"Even if it's a small chance..." John muttered
[Then why don't you get stronger?] Said the voice as it came back
'Hey, tell me something. How much stronger do you want me to get? And why? I've been going along with what you've asked, so why haven't you told me anything yet?' John thought to himself
[…]
'You really expect me to trust you and help you, when you're keeping things hidden from me in my own body?'
[But it's not your body]
When john heard this, a smirk was formed on his face
'So you knew all along, and yet you acted like you didn't. I'm grateful that you saved us, but you don't really expect me to let you do what you want because of it, right? I'm looking for a way to return you to your body. Isn't that enough of a reason to just be honest with me?'
[…]
"Don't look down on me." Said john as he got up
John slowly got up, he placed his feet on the cold wooden floor, and started to put on his shoes. He was about to do his daily routine before brushing his teeth.
[Do you really want to know?]
"?"
[What happened to you, to the kid, to me, what happened before your arrival.]
'Of course. You don't think I feel guilty for stealing the body of some random kid?'
[… You shouldn't]
'And why is that?'
[Because he was dead.]