Rebecca and the others didn’t know what to expect. They heard a loud sound like a cannon going off but nothing since then. Their nerves were taut and they were prepared to attack the moment one of those lizard bastards came through the corridor entrance.

Footsteps sounded out in the dark hall, ringing out along the walls. As they grew closer everyone felt as if they’re heart beats were syncing with their rhythm. It was a suffocating feeling. Just as the front line was about to rush at the intruder, a young man in his early 20s wearing a blue hospital shirt and matching pants walked in.

Everyone was dumbfounded. Where did this guy come from? Was he an enemy? They thought that the predominant species in this cavern was those lizard people. Even though human-like species are common throughout the realms, no dungeon had ever formed on Earth where the opponents were human. So the people of Earth always thought that the creatures inside of the dungeons were monsters. They never imagined they would be facing other humans.

“Oh, I found you all. Looks like quite a few are missing though.” The young man spoke out in fluent English.

“You… speak our language?” One of the raiders, a big burly man with a battleaxe asked in confusion.

“Of course I speak your language. I’m from Earth. Why wouldn’t I?”

“That’s impossible. The gate is sealed and no one followed us in.” Lucy exclaimed. She was the one who brought up the rear of the raid party so she was certain no other person had followed them into the dungeon.

“Well, that’s a bit complicated to explain. And we don’t have a lot of time so…” The young man suddenly paused as he was speaking, he seemed to have noticed someone behind Lucy.

“Becca!” He called out with joy.

The young man dashed past the raid party without a care. No one had the chance to stop him. They didn’t react fast enough because they had let their guards down as they stood in bewilderment of this newcomer. Rebecca was confused as he called out to her. This young man looked oddly familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. He certainly seemed to know her though.

“Becca, you're safe. Thank the Gods. I was about to lose it.” The young man sighed heavily as he approached her, smiling.

Ever since he had started to really feel his return to Earth and the recovery of his family that he had thought he’d lost, his heart was beginning to fill with emotions. When he discovered that his elder sister was trapped in a dungeon and might die at any moment, it felt as if his heart was being gripped by a vice. It was suffocating and he was infuriated. Finding her safe and sound made him feel as if a great weight had been removed from his chest.

“Uh…” Rebecca was at a loss. She wasn’t quite sure who this guy was but he looked so familiar to her.

“Hey! Don’t act so familiar with people who don’t know you. Who are you anyway?” Harry called out in annoyance. He was fine with Cole because he knew that Rebecca seemed to feel the same way as he did. He couldn’t help that. But this new guy was another case entirely. Not to mention he was way too attractive and it made him feel jealous.

Kailan turned to look questioningly at the short stocky young man that had just chastised him for a moment, before turning back to face Rebecca. “It’s me, Kailan. You haven’t forgotten your adorable little brother have you?” Kailan stated with a gentle smile.

Rebecca was stunned silly. Her little brother, Kailan? No, that’s not possible. He’s dead. He’s been dead for years. Her jaw went slack as it fell open in surprise. She became muddle headed as she tried to process what she just heard.

“Br… Brother?” Harry exclaimed in shock. Lucy and the others were also shocked. They didn’t know that Rebecca had a little brother.

“I know it’s a bit confusing, but I was the Returnee from a couple weeks ago. It’s a bit of a long story but everyone is waiting for us outside. We need to leave.” Kailan continued.

The Returnee? Rebecca recalled what Harry had mentioned this morning. He was a boy with blonde hair. Could he really be her little brother, returned from another realm?

“Kai… Are you really, my little brother Kailan?” Rebecca’s eyes were beginning to fill with water. Her heart was racing in her chest and it ached.

Kailan stared directly into Rebecca’s eyes, he could tell she was shocked. “Yeah, it’s me.” He said softly.

“Kai!” Rebecca yelled out as she broke down and started to bawl like a baby. She leapt into his arms and hugged him so tight he started to feel suffocated. Kailan felt a bit embarrassed but he wasn’t going to let that ruin his reunion with his big sister.

The other raiders were stunned where they stood. They weren’t sure what was going on and didn’t know what to say. Not to mention they had never seen Rebecca act like this before. Who was this guy, was he really her little brother? Lucy, Harry and Cole were the most shocked as they were more familiar with her.

Cole sat on the floor staring at the bawling Rebecca, a confused look on his face. He had never seen her act like this. Looking at the young man she was hugging, he did look a bit like her. Mostly around the eyes and nose. He was also very attractive for a guy, which mirrored Rebecca’s good looks. The only real differences were that his hair was blonde and he had light blue eyes, whereas Rebecca had dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Becca, there will be time for this later. We need to leave now, ok?” Kailan pulled Rebecca’s arms from around him and held onto her hands as he explained.

“But the dungeon gate is already sealed. There’s no way out. Kailan, why would you sneak in here, it’s a death trap.” Rebecca sobbed as she pleaded.

“You don’t need to worry about that, just leave that part to me.” Kailan wiped the tears from Rebecca’s eyes as he reassured her.

“Is there anyone who is injured and can’t walk?” He asked.

“Cole. He was slashed on his side and he’s lost a lot of blood.” Lucy gestured towards Cole who was still sitting on the ground. He was extremely palid due to the large amount of blood he had lost.

Kailan moved to inspect the injury on Cole’s side. It was doable.

“Healing Hands.” Kailan thought as he held out his right hand towards the wound. A powerful and warm green light flowed out as it stretched out towards the wound covering it.

Cole felt like someone was running warm water over his body, it was soothing. The gash on his side began to seal at a visible rate. Even the blood stains on his flesh were disappearing.

“I can heal it. But you should still get checked out after we exit the dungeon. This spell doesn’t cure abnormalities so there’s still a chance of infection.” Kailan explained.

Cole nodded in affirmation. It didn’t take long, just a few minutes for the wound to close completely. The skin was still slightly red like it was new, but it would solidify and all of the dead skin would fall off to reveal healthy pink skin in a couple days.

“Wow! That’s a convenient healing skill.” Harry exclaimed.

“Thanks.” Cole was surprised and grateful. The wound was really starting to cause him some trouble.

“Don’t mention it.” Kailan reached out to help Cole up.

Rebecca was astonished. She inspected Cole’s side closely and made sure the wound was fully healed. Cole just stood there woodenly and let her. Now it was Kailan’s turn to be surprised. Rebecca had never really shown any interest in the opposite sex when they were younger. He knew she wasn’t into girls, it was just that she was very dedicated and driven so she never made any time for a relationship.

Kailan smiled gently seeing this. He was glad she had found someone. It was another thing that had changed while he was gone, but he could tell Cole was a good person so it didn’t bother him at all.

“It’s fully healed!” Rebecca exclaimed in both excitement and amazement.

She looked at Kailan with a loving and curious smile before pouncing on him again. She rubbed her face on his like she used to do when he was still a kid. “That’s my amazing little Kai!” She exclaimed.

Now Kailan was really embarrassed. It had been a long time since anyone rubbed on him like this. A really long time. Apparently he had mistakenly reactivated Rebecca’s brother complex. “Great, now there’s once again two of them.” He thought as the face of his older brother appeared in his mind.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Cole and the others didn’t know what to do. It was like this little brother of Rebecca’s was some trigger for a foreign entity to possess her body and make her a frilly little girl. She seemed completely different around him. It wasn’t a bad different but it did worry them a little.

“Uh, Becca…” Cole ventured carefully.

“Oh!” Rebecca looked back to see the many faces that were staring at her curiously. She blushed before jumping back, releasing Kailan. Kailan was grateful for the many people standing here. If not he would have had to stay like that for a while, at least until she had her fill.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here. Mom is probably really upset.” Kailan pointed out as he walked towards the corridor entrance.

The others just shook their heads signalling their agreement, while Rebecca followed behind him still blushing. She felt like she had regressed to her childhood and just made a fool of herself. As they drew closer to where the corridor rejoined with the main shaft, everyone went on alert as they drew their weapons and prepared.

Kailan wasn’t worried, but he still proceeded with caution, even peering around the corner to make sure that none of the other Salarion’s were around. There was no one in the shaft, only the corpse of the creature he had killed earlier. Seeing that the way was clear he gestured for everyone to follow.

As they all entered the main hall, they saw the corpse of the Salarion laying on the ground. It’s eyes were wide open but there was a giant hole in it’s chest. No blood could be seen but there was an odd smell in the air. Several people gulped when they saw this including Harry. They had so much trouble with this creature and yet this seemingly harmless young man had caused this much damage to it, taking it out by himself.

Rebecca was astonished and proud as she looked at the monster that had nearly caused her demise, laying there dead and broken. Her little brother was strong. Lucy whistled in a low volume as she examined the corpse.

Kailan led everyone back to the main room at the entrance.

Standing before the sealed dungeon gate, the raid party that had gotten it’s hopes up suddenly felt dismay and disappointment. They thought they had made it out and that somehow the gate had been re-opened. But it wasn’t. It was still sealed tight with no way through.

“Dammit! And I got my hopes up too.” Harry felt dejected as he exclaimed and fell to the floor in exhaustion.

Kailan took a glance at him, thinking “What a goofball.”

“Now what?” Rebecca asked as she turned to Kailan. She was the only one who still held out hope in her brother.

Kailan stepped forward, standing directly in front of the gate.

“Gaia, unseal Earth Gate, C-12 and deactivate dungeon activity. Administrative override.” Kailan called out towards the gate.

The raid team had a confused look as they listened intently.

[https://i.imgur.com/aToXszv.png]

As Gaia’s alert flashed in front of everyone, the red seal that covered the inside gate faded away leaving only the blue liquid portal flashing as if inviting everyone to step through.

Rebecca, Cole and the others stood there woodenly for a moment before their jaws dropped. “Huh?!”

Much like everyone else who saw this, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing and were left stunned. Was it really ever that easy to leave a dungeon, they wondered. Kailan turned to them with a smile and said “Alright, let’s go.”

He walked through the gate just as confidently as he had entered it before. Only a moment went past before the entire team was rushing to go through the gate and return to Earth with him.

Outside, everyone was still standing around. There were still guild and bureau agents rushing around and the police were still manning the quarantine boundary. All of a sudden, there was a slight fluctuation around the dungeon gate before the red film-like barrier faded away. Everyone stopped what they were doing, turning to stare at the gate with rapt curiosity.

“Did they all finally die?” One of the reporters asked. Several glares were directed at this person as everyone quieted down and watched the gate.

Normally a dungeon gate would only re-open if the entire party was wiped out or if they succeeded in conquering or capturing the dungeon. But there was already a distress signal issued for this dungeon and earlier some kid caused the gate to mysteriously open, allowing him to enter.

Eva, Douglas and the Jones family all stepped out of the Bureau’s tent at the same time as the leadership of Twilight Garden and some of the other higher ranking Hunters Bureau personnel also stepped out. Everyone’s attention was on the blue dungeon gate.

Suddenly, a person walked out. As he came into view, everyone knew that it was Kailan. And soon behind him even more people appeared, walking out of the dungeon gate. There were seven of them and they all looked to be pretty beaten up.

There was complete silence. This was totally unimaginable. This young man had forced open a dungeon gate that was sealed. Entered the dungeon and rescued a nearly wiped raid party before leading them back out to safety. How was this possible?

The crowd went wild with excitement. There were cheers and laughter spreading everywhere. Cameras started flashing as the reporters shouted to ask their questions, the noise level went up by about 10 levels from what it was before the gate’s barrier disappeared.

The families that had arrived were looking at each of the team members that had made it out. Hoping and praying their relatives were safe and among the few to survive. Many cries of joy rang out, but even more cries of sorrow were heard over them. Twenty-three members of the raid party died today.

Eva was the first to come back to herself, hearing the crowd of reporters and pedestrians behind her yelling out. “Emergency rescue team and EMTs, what are you doing? We have injured Hunters. Immediately attend to them. Monitoring personnel and officers keep those people back.” She barked out orders all over the place calling the countless blankly staring personnel back to reality.

The emergency personnel and EMTs rushed to the aid of the group of raiders, splitting them up between different emergency vehicles.

Maria, Edward and Elias rushed to Rebecca and Kailan’s side. Maria immediately began berating Kailan for his recklessness, while checking every inch of him. Then she grabbed Rebecca before crying and then doing an inspection of her. Edward and Elias were just happy that the both of them came back.

Douglas walked over and guided them back to the Hunters Bureau tent where another EMT was waiting to check on Rebecca.

Alexander along with the president and other vice president of Twilight Garden went to check on the remaining members of their team. After confirming their health and losses, they walked to Cole who was receiving a thorough inspection by two EMTs.

“Cole.” Alexander called out. He was clearly not in a good mood and Cole knew he would now have to deal with the scrutiny of not only his elder brother but the other two.

“President Huang, Vice President Gordan. Alex.” Cole called out one by one.

“That’s ‘Vice President Taylor’ when we’re on the job.” Alexander corrected with a serious tone.

Cole looked at his brother disappointedly. “Yes sir, ‘Vice President Taylor’.” He responded, emphasizing the title and surname.

Alexander’s face scrunched slightly but he quickly corrected it.

“I want a full report on what happened in that dungeon by 0600 this morning. Especially anything related to that boy that got you all out.” Alexander barked.

Cole cringed. He was still recovering from his injury, it was 4 in the morning and now he had to complete a report in two hours. He wasn’t even given time to rest or recover.

“Alex, I think that’s going a bit far. He just got out, let him have some time to rest. It won’t be too late to receive everyone’s reports tomorrow afternoon.” President Huang interjected coolly.

“President, you shouldn’t be too doting on him. Besides, he can handle it. It’s what he’s good for.” Alexander responded before he turned and walked away. He called it doting but wasn’t it normal to give someone who just went through a life and death experience time to recuperate before questioning them?

President Huang and Vice President Gordan both had sour expressions. They understood why Alexander was so harsh on Cole, but they also sympathized with Cole. It was a very delicate situation that they didn’t really have the right to get involved with.

“Are you alright Cole?” President Huang asked smoothly.

“Yah… I’ll be fine.” Cole stared at the ground dejectedly as he responded.

The EMTs decided it would be best to mind their own business, but they insisted that Cole be allowed to get a proper amount of rest as his body was still recovering from a near fatal injury. President Huang agreed and told Cole to go home and rest, then to come in tomorrow at noon to submit his report. It was a compromise on her part.

Cole nodded silently.

President Huang and Vice President Gordan walked away. Cole clenched his fists as he held back the despair he felt. He was like any man, bottling up his emotions so as to not appear weak. But these emotions had been bottling for nearly 8 years, and he felt like he was about to explode.

After leaving Cole with the medics, President Huang and Vice President Gordan walked to Alexander’s side. He had been trying to get past the Hunters Bureau’s personnel that were blocking the tent Kailan and his family entered. President Huang didn’t even slow down, she just walked past the agents and ignored them.

“Hey! You can’t go in there!” the agents called out.

Alexander used this chance to also rush past them and joined up with the other two. The three of them walked leisurely into the tent while the agents were almost swarmed by other people also trying to get in. They didn’t notice a short girl who had also snuck by while they were distracted by the President.

The EMT had just finished checking Rebecca and confirming that there were no serious injuries. She would be fine after a little rest. Maria was so relieved. As were the others.

Director Morris was also in the tent. He had arrived quite a while ago and was waiting to see the outcome of this latest incident. When he was told that Kailan had forced open a sealed dungeon gate and entered alone he was struck dumb. After he had arrived, Eva shared her theory about Kailan having some level of control over Gaia, which Director Morris agreed made a lot of sense, but they hadn’t been able to confirm it just yet. There were too many people and this was neither the time nor the place to speak of such things.

Just as Kailan was about to suggest they all head home, three uninvited guests arrived in the tent.

“Hello, I’m Chyou Huang, President of the Twilight Garden.”