When I awoke on March 16th, I noticed three things. One, I felt no pain anywhere on my body. Two, I was lying down on a table in the center of the garage, in my light gray boxers, that were miraculously unharmed. Three, Tulip’s head was resting on my chest. I looked around the room, seeing Brad and Antonio peacefully asleep on lawn chairs, and Guams asleep on the ground in a corner of a room with his mouth gagged with a sock duck taped to his mouth and oven mitted hands zip tied together.

In the corner opposite of him, laid a sleeping Malg with Nature's Pandemonium resting on him. I looked at Tulip resting on my chest and noticed my arm was still missing. Second, I had muscles, but it wasn’t on Brad’s level or anything, but I was fairly built. I no longer looked like a punch would knock me out, even though my fight with Tyrone proved that wasn't the case. 

Not wanting to wake up Tulip, since she was probably just as exhausted as I was after fighting Guams and probably needing the rest, I stayed still and realized that Alex was nowhere in sight despite seeing her open the portals we used to escape. As I looked, I couldn't help but notice Tulip. She had the cutest case of bed head I’ve ever seen. Her hair was no longer tied in its previous bun but instead was loose and ran along her back with a small little snippet running down her face and across her nose. I saw how each breath she took, waved the hair back and forth ever so gently. It was cute. As I lost myself in the intrigues of the detail and beauty of her face, I heard a noise. 

“Umpf” I turned my head. It was Brad who was starting to wake up. I looked over at him as he opened his eyes. We made eye contact and his face lit up with joy. He quickly and quietly pulled up his chair and sat next to me. I turned my head and still not wanting to wake her up, I whispered. 

“Hey, why am I in my underwear and why is Tulip napping on me?” 

“Well, you're in your underwear because your skin both looked and felt like charcoal. You had some of the worst injuries any of us have ever seen. So, we took off your clothes in order to treat you and we were going to try, but then—”

“Let me guess. Everyone’s wounds started to glow magically and were all healed.” I interrupted. 

“How'd you know?” 

“I was contacted in the dream realm and told how to seal away the book.” 

“Cool… how do you do that?” 

“Well, I focus my mind and say a few words. It's a spell apparently, it feels more like bad poetry than anything .” 

“Nice, I can't wait to put all of this behind us once and for all. I can finally take this weight off my chest.” Brad said with relief. 

“Oh, speaking of weights on the chest, why is Tulip on mine?” Brad just stared at me, unblinking with an expression on his face that just read done. 

“I'm not going to answer that because that implies that is an understandable thing to ask.” He said no longer whispering.

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you're an idiot, Ink.” Antonio said, now wide awake. 

“Em wha?” I heard Tulip softly say as she began to wake up. As she lifted her head, we made eye contact, and she began to blush. 

“You know Tulip, I get you were tired, but you really should keep better track of where you fall asleep. People might think we're dating.” I jokingly said. Her face turned bright red. 

“Um, I... uh... I'm going to go wake up Alex and let her know you are awake.” she said quickly running into the house. 

“Huh, what was that about?” I asked. 

“I'm not answering that Ink.” Brad said. 

“Yeah, you're going to just have to figure that out yourself.” Antonio said jokingly. 

“Has this been happening the entire time?” Guams asked who had managed to loosen the screwdriver that was preventing him from talking. 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Brad said with a tiredness in his voice. 

“It's just as stupid as it looks,” Antonio added. 

“I feel bad for you guys having to watch that.” 

“What are you guys talking about? We were just having a conversation.” Genuinely confused on what they meant. 

“Don't worry about its buddy.” Antonio said extremely condescendingly as he patted my shoulder. 

Brad asked. “Hey Ink, what do you plan to do about that?" he said, gesturing to my lack of clothing and my missing arm. 

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“Well.” I jumped off the table and towards a backpack that I had left earlier. “Since I can't let my mom see me like this, I'm gonna try to make myself an arm golem and hope that it can replace the old one.” Opening the backpack and pulling out a change of clothes I had pre-emptively brought here earlier.

“Wait Ink, did you bring a change of clothes?” Guams asked. 

“Yeah.” I said as I struggled to dress myself in a pair of plaid track pants, and a Hawaiian dress shirt that I didn't bother buttoning up since putting it on was such a hassle to begin with. “I mean when you know for a fact, you're going up against a guy who can shoot fire, you kinda gotta expect your clothes are going to get burned.”

My words served as a reminder to myself about what I had done, the people I had killed and the lives permanently destroyed because I was a bad friend. I looked at the others who all had a similar expression of sadness, but I could tell none of their grief ran quite as deep as mine. “Look guys, I'm sorry for what happened, not just for last night, but for what I said three months ago.” The others looked at me with surprise. “You guys stuck by my side through thick and thin for six long years. It was unfair and cruel of me to desert you all for a single mistake. It was an accident that could have happened to anyone. Especially seeing just what my words and actions have cost. None of you deserved that. And although you have no reason to forgive me, please know I’m truly sorry for everything I have cost you.” The others looked at me and stared at me for what felt like hours. 

Until Antonio spoke up, “Ink, you saved my life. If you didn't agree to help me, that day, I don't know what would've happened to me. I would've turned into a monster like Tyrone did or something worse. I’m still sad he's dead but I don't blame you.” 

“Yeah, it wasn't your fault Ink. I know you wouldn't have killed him, if there was a way to save him.” Brad said.

“Wait, Tyrone’s dead?” Guams asked his face had a mix of shock and sorrow. I looked at him realizing he was unconscious when he went through the portal and wouldn't have seen the final blow. 

“Yeah Tyrone is dead. The book made him go crazy, turned him into a monster I killed him.” He just looked at me , just absorbing the words. He simply nodded and silently started to look off into the middle distance with tears running down his face. Unsure what to say, I just took a seat and waited for Tulip and Alex to come back. 

After maybe about five minutes of waiting Alex came into the garage with Tulip following behind her. “Hey Ink, glad to see you're back on your feet.” 

“Thanks, it's good to be back… I think.”

“So, what happens now? you said after we got the book the dream lady would seal it away for good.” Alex asked, getting straight to business. 

“That's still what’s going to happen. It's just I have to do all the work, and that’s the reason I was healed in the first place. It was the deal we made to ensure I would seal away the book.” 

“Wait, isn't that blackmail?” Antonio asked concerned. 

“That's what I said.”  

“Wait, if you didn't agree to seal Nature's Pandemonium, would you continue to look like this?" Brad said, pulling up an image on his phone of my body burnt to a crisp, hair was melted to my scalp and clothes were barely hanging on for dear life. I had about a dozen rocks piercing the arm, legs and chest, as well as about five nails that were so hot, they had melted onto the body. The only thing left unharmed were my eyes and even they were disturbing to look at, as they glowed with orange light. 

“Yeah probably.” I said calmly not finding the image as disturbing as the others found it, having already seen it before.

“Wait, so what do you have to do to seal the book? Do you have to do another blood ritual?” Tulip asked. 

“No, no nothing like that. It's simple and shouldn't hurt me in the slightest. In fact, I can do it right now.” 

“Really how?” Alex asked. 

“Simple like this. Malg get over here and hold the book for me.” The large wooden golem stumbled over to balance the book in between its goat horns although its body was still quite broken and barely keeping itself together. As he walked in front of me standing tall with the book angled towards me like a podium. I placed my hand on the book and channeled my rage of losing my arm and almost everything I've loved being destroyed. I channeled my despair at being forced to kill my best friend. Knowing if I didn't scream, if I didn't throw those punches. If I did anything other than what I ended up doing, he would be here right now. I channeled my dreams, the dreams my mother and father had dreamed of for me, a dream of a better life, of a better safer future. I channeled my fear, my fear of fire, the fear of burning alive, the fear of losing everything, the fear of not being able to do anything as everything and everybody I ever cared about is burnt to ash. And I spoke the words The Guardian taught me.

Calm the fire in your heart, let your anger die out and never be reignited.

Stop the despair in your eyes, dam the river that flows behind.

Forget your foolish dream, feel the earth beneath your feet and let it ground you.

Let go of your fear look up into the sky and let your worries be as free as the winds.

Please my king for the sake of your kingdom

For the sake of you people

For the sake of all

Stop

When I finished saying the strange words nothing happened. “Huh, maybe I said it wrong?” Malg suddenly started to shake rapidly faster and faster. 

“Uh Ink, is that supposed to happen?” Alex asked nervously. 

“I don't know.” Cracks started to form along his body separating the two heads. Can you stop it? Antonio asked. I have no clue. The cracks started to emit a strange blue light. It shaked faster and faster. 

“Let go of the book,” Tulip yelled. 

“I'm trying!” I screamed now scared out of my mind. It shook faster and faster until the cracks grew so big it split him in half into two pieces, one had most of the sculpture separated from the neck connected the lion head and the goat head. The big piece became a strange rectangle. Its sides and bottom were completely solid, while the top was a strange rippling liquid. “What the heck?” was all I was able to get out before both the liquid and the orb connected, unleashing a blinding flash of blue light. When the light faded away, it left two new objects in its wake. A wooden hand was attached to my left arm. And an ornate wooden box appeared instead of the book. The center of the box was embossed with the Chimera heads, of a lion, snake and goat; and each corner portrayed a different symbol, a flame, a teardrop, a mountain and a gust of wind. The box appeared impossible to open. As I looked at the strange box, I knew I had sealed Nature's Pandemonium away. Finally, I had ended this nightmare.