When Micheal awoke, he sat up and put his hand against his head. A headache raged within his mind. He threw off the covers and swung his legs off the bed.

“Ugh,” he groaned, “why’s my head hurting,” he asked rhetorically with a groan.

He stood up and walked over to his closet before remembering it would be empty. He looked down at himself and realized he had slept in his clothes. It wasn’t different from the other times he’d slept since he had gotten the blade. He slowly walked down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door. The sun hit his face before he could shade his eyes.

“ahh!” he exclaimed as his headache flared.

He walked to the Shogun’s house as quickly as possible without looking weird to people in passing, even though he was still shading his eyes. While walking up the hill, he wondered why his head hurt so much. Pain lanced through his head when he reached the top of the hill. He opened the door and passed out on the floor.

* * *

Mikayla walked up the hill, with Mai close behind.

“Do you think Micheal will be there yet?” Mikayla asked while looking back at Mai.

Mai shook her head several times.

“I think he’ll be there,” Mikayla said hopefully.

They reached the Shogun’s house and saw Micheal lying on the entryway floor.

“Oh, crap! Oh crap! oh crap, oh crap, ohcrapohcrap!” Mikayla exclaimed.

Mike approached the entryway with bags under his eyes. He was wearing a robe and slippers and had clearly just gotten up.

“What’s going on?” Mike asked sleepily, leaning on the doorway.

“Look down you dumbass! Micheal’s unconscious!” Mikayla exclaimed.

“Jeez, it can’t be that bad,” Mike replied, unaware of the body on the ground, rubbing his weary eyes, then spotted Micheal. “Oh shit.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Mikayla nearly shouted.

X approached from the base of the hill. “What’s the matter?” he said.

“Jesus Christ! Are you all that unobservant?!” Mikayla shouted.

“I have been gathering provisions. I’m holding fish and vegetables up past my head. I bumped into fifteen people on my way here,” X stated.

Mikayla looked back and saw he spoke true. “Oh. You can have a pass. Micheal is passed out in the doorway,” she told X calmly.

X set down all the provisions. “Take those inside,” he commanded. He then picked up Micheal and brought him inside.

Mikayla, Mai, and Mike picked up as much of the stuff as possible. They followed X inside and saw Micheal laid out on the couch and Myriil meditating in the center of the common room.

“Hey X, where do you want this stuff?” Mikayla asked.

“Put it in the kitchen,” X called back. ‘He sounds kinda like Batman sometimes,’ Mikayla thought.

They set everything down before returning to the common room.

“Go get Me-Kil and Murgul,” X said.

Mai left briefly and brought them inside.

“What happened?” Murgul's gruff voice said from behind her.

“Is Micheal okay!?!? What happened to him?!?” Me-Kil said as he popped into her view.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Mikayla felt The Shogun’s presence behind them. She could tell the others did too because the room fell silent. Me-Kil actually stopped talking for more than a minute. The group of variants moved out of his way, allowing him access to and view of Micheal’s body.

“I see—much commotion over simple problem. Micheal have realmwalking sickness,” The Shogun stated.

“What is that?!?!” Mikayla screamed.

“Realmwalking sickness come about from too much realmwalking. Micheal realmwalk maybe 10 times in two weeks. That unhealthy,” The Shogun said, “I have cure; Magic tea. X, come with me to kitchen. Mikayla too.”

Mikayla and X followed The Shogun into the kitchen. He opened up one of the oak-looking cabinets and pulled out a small cylindrical green paper container. The spot he had removed it from was filled with cobwebs and coated with a thick layer of dust. Mikayla saw The Shogun smack a spider that was crawling on the container. A cloud of dust popped up afterward. X and The Shogun were unaffected, but she began coughing her guts out, which only worsened the situation as more and more dust came off the container. The dust finally settled and Mikayla backed away a few steps. The Shogun opened the container and more dust came out.

“It’s empty,” X said.

“I must have finish my last supply when I last use. You go get more for me,” The Shogun said as he handed X the container.

“Where,” X said. ‘Why did he say it like that? It didn’t even sound like a question,’ Mikayla wondered.

“Let me grab portal tile for you,” The Shogun said before wandering into a different area of the house.

Mikayla and X waited for a few minutes before The Shogun returned.

“Here you go,” The Shogun said.

Mikayla quickly grabbed the tile from The Shogun with one hand and grabbed X’s arm with the other. She dragged him up the hill as quickly as possible. He was kind of heavy and it took most of her strength to pull him to the top.

“You did not need to drag me, Mikayla,” X said.

“You don’t have the same drive as I do. I’m getting things done,” Mikayla replied.

Mikayla let go of him and slotted the tile into the massive quartz structure. She channeled a little of her power into the portal and it began to glow. The energy didn’t form a full circle, the edges warping and twisting as the portal sparked.

“Mikayla,” X called.

“What?” she spat.

“Do not be too hasty,” X replied.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Mikayla walked up to the arch of pristine stone. She began reaching her arm through it, but it sparked and her hand shot back. Energy crackled up her arm and across the rest of her body. She fell back and screamed. X rushed over to her.

“Mikayla, are you okay?” he asked calmly, as though asking for the kettle at a tea party.

She responded with another scream.

“I will return you to The Shogun’s residency. You can get treatment there,” he said.

“Your hands are cold,” X heard Mikayla mumble before she passed out.

The energy continued springing across her body. X rushed back down the hill to The Shogun’s house. He quickly brought her inside and laid her on the floor next to the couch Micheal lay on.

“What commotion has occurred this time, X?” Myriil asked, both politely and with spite at the same time.

“Mikayla tried to use the portal, but something went wrong,” he said before calling for Mike.

“What is it, X?” Mike asked, now dressed.

“Mikayla is hurt. Retrieve the portal tile that we used. I want to figure out where it leads,” X replied, “Take Murgul with you, I don’t want anyone to get hurt when it can be prevented.”

That’s when Me-Kil showed up, asking, “What should I do?”

“Hmm,” X replied, “Go stand in that corner over there, I don’t need any distractions.” A pseudo-limb extended out of his back and pointed to the corner.

“You got it!” Me-Kil said with a salute.

“Myriil, use your frost abilities to attempt to slow Mikayla’s vitals down,” X commanded.

“Hmph,” Myriil responded.

Myriil stood to his full height, a good six feet, likely more. He unsheathed his frost blade for the first time that X had seen. It glowed blue and radiated cold. X didn’t feel it. Myriil placed the blade gently on Mikayla’s torso, making sure that it didn’t touch any exposed skin.

“Hey, X, we’re back!” Mike called.

“Did you find the tile? Hand it to me, please,” X said.

“We didn’t find it. Just some dust where it should’ve been,” Murgul replied.

“Dammit!” X shouted. “That means that realm was destroyed! The residual realm energy left after a realm’s destruction is coursing through her body and likely her spirit too! I think I need to make a call.”

X left the room, leaving Mike, Murgul, and Myriil to watch Mikayla and Micheal’s bodies.

“Can I leave the corner yet?” Me-Kil said in a drawn-out fashion.