Leo couldn't comprehend how it happened. He couldn't stop himself from vomiting the blood welling up in his throat, his vision tinged a murky crimson as the sea of voices echoed and battered at his mind and forced him to his knees.

'PICK MEEEEEE! I SHALL GRANT YOUR DEEPEST WISH'

'SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT! YOUR BODY WILL BE MINE'

'Just give in dearie and I shall lay the world at your feet~'

The voices were incessant, drowning out even his own thoughts as they threatened, cajoled and cooed, trying to make him choose them. Yet he knew that he couldn't stay here like this. Not only would he lose his mind but his death would be all but guaranteed.

Even now, in the corner of his eye he saw an ominous clock counting down.

[Remaining Time : 7 minutes, 42 seconds]

He only had been given 10 minutes to make a choice. One that could be the difference between life and death

'No. I am not going to give up now. I'm not going leave Luna alone. I can't! I WON'T' he howled.

He struggled to stand, his knees threatening to give way at any given moment. Looking around him, he found himself in the midst of an endless aisle of display cases.

Each case displayed some sort of mystical weapon, armor or accessory. He had no idea where to start and too little time.

'This Quest is Bullshit!' he mentally groaned, afraid to speak aloud lest he vomit more blood.

The task he had been given? Find a piece of equipment that has the power of adaptation or evolution and bind it to his 'soul' so that he could continue to live.

The catch? He couldn't have any information on the item until he picked one. He had to make a choice based off luck and his own intuition?

'How am I supposed to choose? 'Follow your heart for it knows the answer~' That so called Goddess just spouted some mystical bullshit!'

Despite his complaints, he began walking forward following his gut instincts, each step labored and unsteady as if he was about to be crushed by gravity itself.

He only made it a couple steps before he doubled over, retching up another mouthful of blackened blood. He felt dizzy as if he was about to pass out.

Yet despite it all, his will remained strong even as the voices continued to gnaw away at his mind, as if billions of ants were swarming his body and devouring him little by little from the inside. He instinctually felt that it would be mere moments until he would collapse when suddenly

'SILENCE!'

A majestic roar, akin to that of a massive lion ripped through the space. Leo could feel his heart skip a beat as the whole world became quiet. It took him a moment to realize that even the voices were gone.

"Wha-heuk heuk"

He instinctually tried to speak out of surprise but wasn't able to manage uttering a proper word anymore. His breathing was becoming more and more haggard and he had a feeing that if the time on the clock hit zero, he would most likely be dead. Both here and in reality.

With no solid lead, Leo once again hobbled forward, praying that following his heart was not just some bogus advice. Ever so slowly, he traversed the aisles leaving a trail of blood with each and every step.

Each display case featured some sort of mystical item like a Greataxe made of moonlight, A shadowy crown or a Chestplate made of light. While pleasing to the eye, there was something about them gave Leo the feeling that they were not the one. As if they weren't good enough.

'Why the hell am I being picky?!'

He knew he needed to choose fast but something deep inside of him was restricting him from just choosing any random case.

[Remaining Time: 42 seconds]

He could barely breathe now. It felt like his lungs were caught in a vice.

'Shit! Am I really going to die because I was indecisive at the last moment?!'

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Leo felt despair slowly sinking in but his feet refused to stop moving. It was then that he noticed something different about one particular display. While the other ones were perfectly manicured as if they were museum pieces, this one was covered in dust and dirt.

An unknown feeling surged from the depths of his being, screaming at him 'This is it! That's the one!'. Through the grime of the glass, he could faintly make out a pair of what could only be described as ancient bracelets laying there. Honestly, they didn't look impressive in the slightest, A mixture of rust and age gave it the impression that they would crumble to dust with the slightest touch.

Leo was more than a little skeptical about it, They certainly did NOT look like what he needed but he didn't have time to look elsewhere and could only trust in that unknown feeling that seemed to beckon him towards the bracelets. He hobbled as fast as he could to the dirty display but all the blood loss made him stumble and fall at the base of it.

No matter how much he tried he couldn't lift himself off the ground, he had lost the ability to even support himself.

'No…! I can't fall….Not here…Not Now!'

Scraping together the last bit of his waning strength and fraying willpower, he used the base of the display as a support and began dragging his body up, reaching out to put his hand on the glass.

Remaining Time: 0 Seconds.

Just as his hand touched the glass, Leo's eyes opened wide as he couldn't breathe feeling his lungs completely shut down. In what seemed like an eternity, he slowly collapsed backwards, his hand reaching for the glass where a bloodied palm print remained.

There was an incessant buzzing in his ear that he couldn't quite place. Was it the doctors fussing over him again? He couldn't understand as even his mind began to fade away

'I failed..? I…I am sorry…Luna. Forgive me...It seems your foolish brother is going first."

The last thought that passed through his mind was that of the only family he had left as his heart stopped and his body crumpled to the ground with a thud, head bouncing off the concrete floor. His unfocused eyes remained open, staring at the sky, the unwillingness of accepting his fate etched on his face.

'What a Tragic Child. Following his heart even in the face of death. Was it Fate that led him to us? Or was it something else?'

Melodic voices heard by no one echoed in unison throughout the space as the case around the bracelets shattered. The seemingly ancient and fragile bracelets began to radiate a rainbow light from somewhere deep within as they began to float into the air above Leo.

'Ahh but to be sought out means we are linked. We must not let him die, no matter the cost. It is now our duty to see the future he yearns for. Today shall not be the day where this childs' story ends'

The bracelets melted into a stream of resplendent light akin to that of a massive water droplet before falling and engulfing Leos broken body. The dazzling light coursed through his body like a stream before settling at his heart. Through his skin, his chest began pulsating a prismatic light.

Soon even that light faded and the room fell silent once more.

Mercys Grace Teaching Hospital was in chaos. Doctors and nurses who had been in charge of a young man confined to a bed with a mysterious illness were running around crazily when the patient suddenly began convulsing on his bed while playing a VR game his sister had brought for him.

The sister had demanded the doctors let her brother play a Neurological VR game and that it could possibly help heal him. The young doctor in charge had scoffed at the nonsensical conviction the girl had but he couldn't tell her no. He knew just who was behind her and he was not willing to put his career and maybe even his life on the line to reject a simple request. After all, all he cared about was that he was paid.

Now that same doctor had cold sweat dripping down his face as he failed to pry the VR Headset Console from the young mans head. It was as if the console had been grafted and fused to his face.

He didn't want to be the one to be held responsible for this. Why was he dying on his watch?!

"Kyah!"

A relatively new nurse who had often looked after the boy, often finding herself laughing at the young patients humor and charming remarks covered her mouth and turned away, muffling her cry as she was unable to watch any further as blood dripped from beneath the console.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

The doctor screamed in frustration as he was forced to give up ,his patient was bleeding out and had no choice to ignore the headset.

"He is losing too much blood! We are gonna lose him at this rate!"

Another nurse cried as she wiped the blood from the boys nose and mouth with shaky hands. The once white rag had long since been tinged a horrifying pink

"What the fuck is this illness?! It's like he's suffering from a rejection from an organ transplant ... .But he has never had surgery!"

The doctor felt like he was going to tear his hair out. He glanced at his mentor who was grading him on his performance. The old man had a frown on his face as he looked down at the convulsing young man, his jaw tight as he too didn't seem to understand what was going on nor how he could help.

The loud sound of an EKG flatlining interrupted both Doctors thoughts. The mans pulse was gone, if they didn't do something now, he was as good as dead.

"Charge the Defibrillators!" the young Doctor shouted at a nearby nurse.

WIth the paddles in his hand, he placed them over the patients chest.

"CLEAR!"

*Bzzz*

The young mans body arched briefly from the electricity coursing through his body but soon collapsed onto the bed again, unresponsive.

"Damn it! Again! CLEAR!"

*Bzzz*

Again there was no response from the young man confined to the bed.

The old man sighed as he shook his head softly. His heart was heavy that they had lost a patient who was so young. He should have had such a long time to live. He had seen this too much, suffered for too long. Perhaps after today he would finally hand in his resignation letter to the Board.

"Call Time of Death"

His voice was heavy, The weight of not knowing what could have been done differently to save the man was yet another weight on his soul. He would probably need to drown himself in a bottle of whiskey after this.

The young Doctor grit his teeth as he glanced at the clock. He was both scared and angry. He didn't want to deal with the boys sister nor did he want such a bullshit failure to remain on his record. If he wanted to make a lot of money working in the private sector, he needed to have a good track record and this boy was an irreversible stain that would haunt him throughout his residency.

"Time of Death is 17:02. Cause of Death is Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Nurse please contact next of Kin"

The young doctor stormed out of the room. He didn't want to be here when shit hit the fan. He could probably get another residency at another hospital in a different city. He wouldn't let the dead patient ruin his future!

The atrocious demeanor and behavior of the young doctor didn't escape the old mans notice yet he could only frown as he noted it in his evaluation. Turning his head slightly, he saw one of the nurses curled up in the corner silently crying.

'Must be the first patient she's lost'

The nurse had forgotten the cardinal rule of working at the hospital, you couldn't get too attached to a patient, they would eventually go and leave the nurses and doctors behind...one way or another. That grim reality had been forgotten by that poor nurse who had spent nearly 2 years looking after the now deceased patient.

The old doctor looked at the patients medical file and clicked his tongue. Orphan, Only family member is his sister Luna. Parents died in a car crash. The old man was about to leave the room and make the call that he always dreaded when suddenly the flatlining noise of the EKG vanished, instead replaced by the sound of a pulse.

"What….? WHAT?! EVERYBODY, COME BACK! H-HIS PULSE! HE"S ALIVE"

The old doctor shouted in shock. The young man had come back from the grave!

While the young mans body was still frail and barely clinging to life, His pulse was faint and thready at best but was rapidly improving out of the blue. The young patients chest began to rise and fall in a steady motion, meaning even the boys damaged lungs were improving. Nobody, not even the old man seemed to notice the faint rainbow light flickering in the young mans chest beneath his skin.

The old doctor was flabbergasted, he had heard of the Lazarus effect happening before but in all of years of practicing medicine, it had never happened with him. The sudden upturn in his condition was so preposterous that he could only call it a miracle.