I wanted to escape the darkness, but my eyelids felt sealed, heavy and unresponsive.

  Fragments of the nightmare, just the sensations—a child's grip tightening around my neck, the cheerful giggle twisted in a malicious way, heavy boot on my chest, Victoria's laugh cracking midway to sobs—lingered in my mind.

  I couldn't breathe, a familiar panic rising—the same suffocating feeling of the painful jolt surging through my body. My mind flashed from that nightmare to the metallic bomb clanking on the stone.

  "Grenade!" I shout, but the bomb explodes without a sound. I gasp, brightness fills my perspective.

  Painfully loud voice cuts through the haze. "Are you awake?"

  *W-who said that!?* High pitch tone slowly fades.

  *My guard?*

  Brightness condensed into the blurry sight of the stone wall.

  *No, it's a ceiling.*

  I blink quickly a few times.

  *Althea said to hide!*

  I sit up, my body surprisingly light and responsive.

  *I need to run!*

  "Focus, Leonard" The tone was soft and earnest. Familiar.

  *Victoria?* The hope was a painful spark in the blurred world.

  But it gave me the push I needed, and I broke free of the nightmare's grasp. My vision adjusted to the harsh reality.

  It wasn't Victoria. It was Evadne.

  Around me was the cold familiarity of my room—my cell. She sat in the chair beside my bed. With concerned, golden eyes. Her hand was wrapped around my arm so that our seals touched. Like that time with the guard when I entered Pythia's room.

  "Althea, what's she doing?" I asked quietly, barely a worried whisper.

  Evadne noticed, but didn't say a word. "She's reading your vitals," Althea replied calmly.

  *Harmless, no, truly a caretaker.*

  "What happened?" I asked, my mouth dry.

  "You are safe." Althea replies a heartbeat before Evadne. "The attack was repelled, you're in your room." Evadne said roughly the same, not hearing my Guide.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Although, I needed a moment to unpack the meaning due to overlapping voices.

  "Evadne, about Highest Priestess, is she alright?"

  "Yes, don't worry," she quietly says. "You can visit her once you feel a little better."

  I made no move to pull my arm away, but Evadne's fingers loosened. She began to withdraw her hand, as if afraid she was overstepping.

  I didn't let her.

  My own hand closed around hers, stopping the movement.

  *I almost died. This world is fucking dangerous.*

  My index finger brushed her skin.

  *She's a healer. I need her. Survival first.*

  She froze, her eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise and vulnerability in them.

  *We didn't part ways on good terms. I'll change that. Last offer.*

  Her mouth opened, likely to ask what I was doing, but I spoke first.

  "This is a hand," I said, my voice steadier than I expected, "that I'm willing to keep close."

  A wave of complex emotions washed over her face—relief and pained sadness.

  She laid her other hand over mine, her smile gentle but bittersweet. She took a deep breath, about to speak, but I pressed on.

  *I've made my choice. Now she has to make hers. I don't have time for more games.*

  "I believe you owe me an explanation."

  Her gaze fell with a flash of discomfort. She focused on the open window where the sun now shone faintly from behind the grey clouds. She hesitated, gathering her words.

  "I..." she began, her voice strained. "I came to apologize. I should have been more... considerate of your free will, but..." She trailed off, unable to articulate the conflict.

  "But my well-being isn't your only priority," I finished for her. Not an accusation, just a flat statement of fact.

  She started to object—"No, that's not tr..."—but the protest died on her lips. "Yes," she whispered, her eyes falling to our joined hands. "Taking care of you is my highest priority."

  "But I have other duties."

  I watched her, trying to weigh the sincerity in her expression. It was hard to keep my own emotions in check, because a desperate part of me wanted to believe her.

  "And I let my pride get in the way," she resumed, regretful as she looked directly into my eyes. "Our last conversation... I was hurt, and I left you alone. If I had been with you, maybe you wouldn't have collapsed."

  "Ah, yes," I said, ironically. "It's my only third day here, and so much has happened."

  Evadne's expression shifted from guilt to sheer confusion. Her professional composure broke completely. "Third day? Leonard," she said surprised, my name slipping out. "After the attack, you were in a coma for six weeks."

  My mind went blank.

  *Six... weeks?*

  The words didn't connect.

  *There was attack, I fainted and woke up right after.*

  She saw my incomprehension. She continued as if explaining a terrible truth to a child. "That's not all," she said gently. "After your summoning... we fought to keep your soul among the living for nearly a month before we finally managed to stabilize you."

  *No.*

  I shook my head.

  *N-no.*

  Harder and faster.

  *I spoke with Pandora and then I woke up in this room.*

  I looked through the window.

  *It was dawn. I saw it. I was there.*

  My eyes returned to her, but I didn't see her.

  *A month.* The word echoed in my mind.

  *A month, plus six weeks... That was...* Thoughts frayed, unable to do the simple math.

  "Then you woke up," she continued. "But you woke before your body was ready, risking a break in your seal." Her grip on my arm tightened.

  "That's when I administered the divine healing potion. You were only awake for no more than half an hour before you slept for the night."

  "That was your 'first day'."

  *My "third day"...*

  My eyes widened, breath became uneven.

  *Wait, wait, wait...*

  It was my third month here.

  The realization hit me like a block of ice. My entire perception of time was a lie.

  The true horror wasn't just this world being like a prison. It was that every second of my sentence here was a second my own world—my own life—was moving on without me.