A void. That was what I was floating around in.

'Seems like I've fallen asleep.'

Looks like the stage was gone and so were the chairs, I would have to reimagine them once again.

But it didn't seem right, actually, nothing felt right.

I reimagined the stage many times, but not once did they feel right.

'The stage looks perfect… so why I'm irritated?' I destroy the stage and decide to just float while doing nothing.

'Fuck! Damn it, why am I so irritated?!' No matter how much I yell here, no one would tell me anything so that was the only thing comforting thing here.

'This darkness is just pissing me off!' I create a giant ball of light and throw it above me.

With that, the void was lit up and was white. It was so white that you would imagine that this was heaven.

'Much better.' I then hear a loud clang and look around for the source of it, but I was all alone.

'Odd.' I look down and see my shadow stretch out in front of me.

'Huh, but the orb is right above me. I shouldn't have a shadow?' That was when my shadow… no, the shadow started moving on its own.

It got up and then stood up on its own two feet now it was face to face with me.

'Could this be that entity from before? No… surely it was just my imagination.' It stretches out its arm and touches my face, I was too stunned to move.

"You look much better in the light.' It was the same voice as before! I jump back, but it seamlessly follows me as if it was attached to me.

"No point, I'm your shadow." I try to smack its hand away, but my hand goes through it… wait I remember something of this sort.

It takes away its hand and wipes what should be where its face was and a white mask appears.

'You're just like that monster!' Now I remember it was like a shorter version of that monster from that book!

"I'm no monster.' I get a closer look at the mask and it's a face contorted into a happy expression, but it was very unnerving. It looked like it was in pain and was forced to put on that happy face.

'Get away from me!' I create a sword in my hand and slash at its leg.

"It's useless. Just stop." It goes through then I remembered that the hunter was able to punch the monster.

I aim at its face, but it just sidesteps me. 'I forced it to move so that must be its weakness!' I keep slashing at it, but it kept dodging.

"I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to help you." At those words, I stop.

'Alright, get away from me then!' It took a few steps back, but I was still connected to it by my shadow.

"Is this good enough for you?"

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'No, take that creepy mask off.'

"Rude. And no, this is my face." I point my sword at it.

I can't hurt this thing unless it has the mask… it's probably better to have it there just in case.

'Fine, keep it. Just know I won't hesitate to cut you down if you get any closer.' In this situation, I need to be the one in control of the flow of this whole thing.

"I can hear every thought you have." Shit.

"As I've said previously, I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy." It sounded like it was telling the truth and if it meant harm it wouldn't have told me that it would always know my next move.

"Correct." Piss off, stop reading my thoughts!

"Apologies, I will stop now." I put down my sword.

'Say your piece and leave.' It creates a chair and sits down on it.

"I'll keep this short and get right to the point. Do not under any circumstances leave that girl's side and beware of the whispers of the deceivers."

'Deceivers? Be more specific, I can't know what to do when you aren't being specific.' It sighs and creates a stage.

"See that man?" He points to curtains and a tall, one-armed man, red-eyed, walks out from behind the red curtain.

"That man is what I mean when I say deceiver."

'I've never seen that man before?' He nods.

"You have yet to meet him, but he has potential to cause harm to you and the girl."

How do you know this stuff? Can you see the future? Are you a prophet? Those were the questions I wanted to ask.

"I have my ways. No. No. I'm putting all my cards on the table here, you lose nothing from listening to my advice."

'This is confusing, how do you expect me to trust you? What if I do as you say and something bad happens?' It stands up and walks over to me. I ready my sword.

"Then don't. Don't trust me. Do what you will with my advice." As I swing at its face, the light above me disappears causing me to lose sight of it.

"I'm simply someone who hates tragedies." And with that, its presence is gone.

I was left in the darkness all alone.

'My mind is muddled… what do I do?'

'Do not under any circumstances leave that girl's side and beware of the whispers of the deceivers?'

I need to try to understand what it meant by this.

I shouldn't leave her side. It didn't specify if it should be until she's back to normal or if it meant for the rest of my life… I'm guessing it's until she gets better.

And the beware of the whispers of the deceivers? Are there multiple deceivers? And that man, I have yet to meet him and he has potential to harm me?

'Potential.' So does it mean he could, but won't?

Ahhh I hate this! I hate it! Why is this happening to me?!

The stage and sword in my hand start to slowly disappear.

'Is it already time to wake up?'

But I didn't wake up, I was still here.

Then my clothes start to disappear. I blinked once and then found myself in that familiar room.

"Not this again."

I was now facing a portrait of a very beautiful woman.

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'I feel so numb…' I don't even have enough strength to open my eyes. I can't feel my body.

But I can feel a strong grip around my hand 'he's still here?' I had no way of knowing how much time had passed, but it must be late by now.

"Sebastian?" Mustering all the strength I have, I call out to him, but he doesn't respond.

'Could he be asleep?' Then I heard the door to the room open slowly.

"S-Sebastian?" No answer. Now footsteps were going from the door to the bed.

After a while there was no noise, I couldn't sense the presence of anyone else in the room.

'Ah I see, this is just a dream.' I had thought someone had broken in.

"A truly pitiful state." A familiar yet different voice whispered in my ear.

'Surely this is just a dream, Sebastian wouldn't forget to lock the door and would definitely notice if someone walked into the room.' Then I remembered that Sebastian didn't wake up during that first night.

"Leave…" That was the only word I could get out. Then I felt a hand wrap around my neck.

It wasn't applying any pressure, but it felt real… too real.

"You should've listened to me."

'Sebastian, wake up!'

'Is he going to kill me? No, I don't want to die! Not yet!' The grip around my hand tightened and the hand around my neck retreated.

With a couple of footsteps, the door closed.

"Sebastian…" I called out.

"Hm?" He hummed, it seemed like he had just woken up.

He let out a yawn and let go of my hand.

"Do you feel better?" I try to shake my head, but I was too weak to do so.

"I just thought of something, it might work." He grabbed my hands and put them between his.

Slowly my strength started to come back and I could open my eyes.

"Sorry, this is all I've got, but it should be enough for you to do the bare minimum, I think."

________________________________

During that whole nightmare ordeal, an idea popped into my head. What if I transferred my mana into her? I mean mana comes in many forms, so it theoretically should be possible.

"And it works, but due to my very limited mana you'll still need to rest." I help her sit upright and hand her some water.

"Sorry, you had to use your mana on me."

"I don't mind, I'm just doing what's in my best interest." While I got the water I noticed that the door was unlocked.

'Didn't she lock the door?' She suddenly starts violently coughing.

I rush over to her side 'But coughs aren't symptoms of mana exhaustion?' She stops me in my tracks.

"I'm fine, these coughs happen from time to time." She didn't seem fine, but a person knows best about how they're feeling so I'll just trust that she's fine.

After a minute or two of her coughing, she finally stops and lays back down "What time is it?" I look at the clock hanging on the wall.

"8:36 AM." She tries to get up, but I stop her.

"What are you doing? I told you, you need to rest." She tries to stand up on her own but falls back on the bed.

"I need to go somewhere…" she once again tries to stand up, but fails. I didn't even have to do anything.

"Whatever it is, it's not more important than your health. Stop being stubborn." But she just refused to listen to me and tried to stand up again, this time using the nightstand as support.

I stood in front of her "If it's so important, I'll go instead. What is it that you need to do?"

The words 'Do not under any circumstances leave that girl's side' flashed across my mind.

"No, I need to—" I put my hand up.

"Doesn't matter, if you're adamant about going then I'll come with you." She chuckles.

"That was the plan anyway." She then lets go of the nightstand and uses me as support.

"Then would you mind helping me to the bathroom first?"