Rep stared at Zalan for a few seconds. Zalan lay back down on the cot, an uncaring attitude over his pale face.

“What do you mean? Do you not want to leave the realm anymore?” Rep asked.

“I don’t care about it. It’s not gonna happen,” Zalan said. “The more we try, the worse the outcome. It’s just gonna get more dangerous and both of us are going to end up dead.”

Rep waited for Zalan to say he was kidding. Or at least something to indicate that he wasn’t serious.

“Zalan, you have to go home,” Rep said, uncomfortable. “That… that is the whole reason I have come to be your companion. To assist you in returning home.”

“As if it’s possible,” Zalan said dismissively. Then, in a quieter voice, “As if I even deserve it.”

“What do you intend to do instead?” Rep challenged.

Zalan rolled over on his cot, turning his back to Rep.

“Zalan! What has gotten into you? You wish to lay here? What good will it do to wallow in despair and give up on the one goal you had in this realm?” Rep snapped.

Zalan said nothing, but felt pangs of regret go through him. He was so tired of feeling like he was losing. Not making any progress. Getting worse off. Nothing felt more demoralizing than losing his Elemental Power.

“Zalan, get up,” Rep ordered.

Zalan sighed, remaining on his side.

“Please,” Rep pleaded sincerely. “At least get up and go outside. You have not done so since we fought with Morloch. It can not be good for you to remain in one place like this.”

Zalan was reminded of the day before this entire adventure started. Staring up at the blades of the ceiling fan in his home. The dark, drab conditions of his dirty apartment. This realm was supposed to be his escape from the feelings he had when he was back home, a way to overcome them and then be able to take on the real world again. But he felt worse than ever. The guilt of not visiting his mom felt like a mountain on his shoulders. He thought he had gotten over the feelings from back home by now. But evidently, they lay heavy there with him.

“Zalan,” Rep pleaded.

“Go away, Rep.”

“You should not be alone at a time like this,” Rep insisted.

“Yeah, well, I want to be.”

Rep bit the inside of his lip, then breathed out slowly.

“Fine, I will go ask Madam Hikma on my own,” Rep said.

Zalan didn’t acknowledge him as he walked out the guild. Zalan was alone. He rolled to lay upward and stared at the ceiling, feeling empty. Zalan lost track of time as he stared up, thinking of nothing and everything. He felt sore in his heart, like he had lost a passion for life he didn’t realize he was gaining. Perpetually tired, he felt like he needed to lay down even though he was already on his back. Nothing about his existence felt right.

Having no idea how much time had passed in between, Zalan felt the door to the guild open, followed by footsteps approaching his cot. Opening half-lidded eyes, Zalan peeked out to see three familiar people staring down at him. Rep and a young man and woman.

“You were right, Zalan does look terrible!” the young woman said with a smile.

Squinting at her, Zalan frowned.

“Who’re you?”

“How could you already forget? We are in the same guild!” she pointed between them.

Zalan glanced to Rep.

“Liv and Epanor. You have met before, at the Elemental Rage Tournament. I fought against Liv and Epanor faced Slauson. They are members of Journey House.”

Zalan’s unfocused eyes glossed over them, putting names to faces and restoring the faint memories.

“Oh, yeah. Cool.” He rolled over in bed.

“Come on now, it is a beautiful day out!” Liv said, bouncing in place. “You should come train with us!”

“Not interested.

“It is not far, we will train in the courtyard out back!”

“Still not interested.”

“Perhaps you want to go outside, just to get a glimpse of the sun. Ensure that I am a woman of my word when I say it is a beautiful day outside?” Liv asked, increasingly enthusiastic.

Zalan rolled his eyes.

“Perhaps you only want to watch us train?”

“Will it get you to stop talking?”

“Indeed!” Liv said, excited.

Groaning, Zalan rolled off his cot and trudged his way toward the door. Liv hummed in delight and ran outside before Zalan could make it. Epanor followed closely, his eyes lingering on Zalan. Rep stopped at his side just before going to join Liv who was already cracking a whip of flame.

“You would do well to join us. Stretch your limbs.”

Zalan grunted noncommittally. Leaning against the doorframe, Zalan watched the Epanor summon Elemental Water to parry against Liv’s Elemental Flames. The man didn’t speak a word, and Zalan was starting to doubt whether he’d ever heard a word from his mouth before. Perhaps he was a mute. Whatever the case, Zalan was pleased that he wasn’t trying to engage with him.

Liv was a firecracker, singing her clothes several times as he danced between a tornado of flame and whips. Rep was sparring with her, keeping his distance and trading fiery blows. At the same time, he was trying to imbue himself, constantly burning himself in the process. Every time they took a moment to breathe, Rep’s eyes always flitted Zalan’s way. After enough minutes, Zalan sighed in annoyance and returned inside to lay down.

Zalan knew in his heart that every moment laying down was a true waste of time. He could be doing literally anything else, but he felt that the trail to the path home had nothing for him. He didn’t want to get up. Rep entered the guild several times, Liv bouncing off the walls, excited to try and get Zalan to train. Sometimes just to get him outside for a few minutes. Zalan would go outside to the training yard, but would never step further than the door.

Zalan refused to do anything but eat tiny morsels of food, then go back and rest. Even the warmth of the sun felt like too much for him. He hated that he experienced these emotions in this realm. He thought he left behind the dark, dreary thoughts back in his homeworld.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

For days, Zalan did almost nothing but eat and sleep. Rep begged him during this time, even tugging lightly at his clothes, but Zalan always rolled over and shut him out. Rep would always leave in frustration. Zalan felt bad that Rep wasted so much of his time with someone so worthless.

Zalan woke up from a nap, not knowing any idea of how long he had been out. He rolled up to a seated position and looked at the door to the guild, wondering if he should try and get fresh air like Rep suggested so often. But he just wanted to lay down and be done. He wanted to stop failing. Stop existing, even. The dark thought clawed at his mind and he layed back down and closed his eyes.

He heard murmuring from outside the door. A discussion between two familiar voices.

“...do not know what to do. He refuses to talk to me,” Rep’s voice came from the other side.

“Stay here,” another male voice said. “I will speak with him. Alone. I assure you he will not be able to ignore me.”

Zalan’s eyes shot open at the sound of the other man. He turned his neck and looked to the door just as it opened. Rep stood outside, looking concerned, but another former companion stepped through. Zalan’s mouth opened in shock.

“Gorb?” Zalan said, astounded to see him again.

“Zalan,” Gorb acknowledged. “I see new scars on your face, what caused those?”

Zalan could hardly believe his eyes. He almost didn’t register that Gorb asked him a question.

“Scars are from the Elemental Rage Tournament. What are you doing here?” Zalan asked, stunned.

“Is it surprising to see me return to my own guild?” Gorb asked.

Zalan blinked in surprise. He had completely forgotten that Gorb was a part of the Journey House guild. He had been resigned to the idea that he would never see Gorb again. Zalan simply stared, a mix of emotions stirring within him. Enough to make him see beyond dark thoughts. Gorb was one of the few people he could really call a friend in this realm. He was the reason Zalan ever thought about his lack of ability to shed tears. Gorb assessed Zalan, his eyes scanning him up and down silently. Zalan did the same, noticing the changes in Gorb.

Gorb was always a big person, but now he looked wider. He had grown out a beard and looked more at ease than he used to. There was still a fire in his eyes that he had when he wanted to learn to fly with his Elemental Air, but it was less intense.

“You look… different,” Zalan said, trying to sound casual.

“You mean I have gained weight,” Gorb looked down at himself. He still looked like he could hold his own in a fight with any monster, but he wasn’t as lean as before. Gorb poked lightly at his stomach and looked back up at Zalan. He didn’t seem embarrassed by the change in his body. “Time does not seem to have been kind to you.”

Zalan looked away in shame. He didn’t want to imagine how bad he looked after cooping himself up so long. He didn’t want to be the subject of attention.

“How are you, Gorb?” Zalan asked.

“My sister is dead,” Gorb replied immediately.

Zalan’s face scrunched. It was the last thing he expected to hear from Gorb. It was mortifying for it to be brought up so casually. It still stung in Zalan’s heart to think about it. Fran was another good friend.

“Yeah, I’m sorry Gorb,” Zalan said.

“Her loss takes a serious toll on me, but I do not dwell on it so much that I am left bedridden,” Gorb said casually.

Zalan blinked suddenly. His face went warm as he continued to lay on the cot. He didn’t expect the conversation about Fran to actually be about him.

“What did Rep tell you?” Zalan asked.

“Rep has told me you are being belligerent,” Gorb said.

Zalan turned his head away.

“My power was stolen away,” Zalan revealed the gruesome scar on his wrist. The permanent mark of the loss of his Elemental Lightning. The stat had been scrubbed away from his arm.

“A shame,” Gorb said seriously. “What will you do now?”

Zalan said nothing.

“Have you given up the quest to go to the home world you spoke of?” Gorb asked.

Zalan frowned.

“You never believed I was from another world,” Zalan mumbled.

“True. Well, partly. I certainly believed in it more than a city floating in the sky. There was a time where I really believed that the Homeseeker had taken you back to your true home. If I never saw you again in my life, I would have taken that to mean that you truly were from another world. But here you are.” Gorb kicked the bed lightly.

“Yeah, the Homeseeker didn’t really work,” Zalan said.

“And so you quit like you are oft to do.” Gorb nodded.

“No!” Zalan rejected. “Well, not at first. I kept trying, but things just keep getting worse.”

“And so you believe that hardship brings no ease.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That with hardship comes ease,” Gorb replied like it was obvious.

“I… what?” Zalan asked, confused.

“You are not a child, Zalan. You know that life does not come without problems. If you think that every problem is the end of the world, you will suffer an apocalypse every month,” Gorb said.

Zalan considered his words with a frown.

“I sincerely would like to know what is it that you want to do now? Clearly you have no interest in Rep’s plan for you to go home. But that does not mean you should do nothing. What would you want to do at this moment?” Gorb said.

Zalan felt a bit gracious to hear Gorb say that. He had a way of getting under his skin with his manner of speech, but Gorb could see layers beneath Zalan. He called his quest to go home “Rep’s plan” like he had nothing to do with it. And that was very recently true. Ever since Zalan got back from the Island of Remains, Zalan didn’t feel like going home was his highest priority. Only one task was on his mind.

“I want to go get a new Elemental Power,” Zalan said.

“Replace what was lost,” Gorb agreed. “What is your reason for it?”

Zalan inclined himself, appreciating that Gorb might be taking him seriously.

“I’m tired of feeling like I don’t have any power over my life. Elemental Lightning made me feel like I could do anything. Now, I’m just… I don’t know. It’s not the same at all. I feel like I’ve totally lost control. That it was taken from me. And I want it back.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Gorb said simply.

Zalan lit up slightly. He thought Gorb would try to convince him to try and go home again, but he didn’t seem to be trying to steer him that way at all. Zalan felt much more comfortable with the conversation after that.

“But Rep wants us to go talk with Madam Hikma,” Zalan lamented.

“What difference does that make? You can hear her advice and still go get an Elemental Power. Just because you receive her advice does not mean you must follow it. Or, if you feel so inclined, skip the ritual of asking for her assistance and tell Rep you wish to go straight to find an Elemental,” Gorb reasoned.

Zalan looked at him curiously.

“You really don’t care what I do?”

“I care that you do what you want to do. I think you are much more than someone to drown in self pity in an uncomfortable bed,” Gorb said.

Zalan pursed his lips and looked to the ceiling. He was afraid to try. Because trying could lead to failing, and he wasn’t ready to face further humiliation from defeat. He feared feeling even lower than his current mental state.

“Yeah, well, right now, I really just feel like lying in bed,” Zalan replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Are you injured?” Gorb asked.

“No, I’m already healed.”

“And you know that you wish to get an Elemental Power?” Gorb followed up.

“Sure, just… not right now. Not in the mood to do anything,” Zalan said.

Gorb gripped Zalan’s ankle painfully tight. Startled, Zalan tried to pull his foot away, but Gorb stuck like a vise.

“And you are fully healed, this does not injure you?” Gorb asked.

“Gorb! Yeah, it hurts, let go!” Zalan said.

Before he could try to kick him away, Gorb stood and yanked him by the leg. Zalan yelped as he was dragged sharply out of his cot. He barely caught himself on the side of the bed frame, just as his rear was about to hit the ground. Gorb smiled, and Zalan could see a hint of Fran in his eyes. With a decisive hoist, Gorb tore Zalan away from the cot. His tight grip increasing, Gorb began to haul Zalan across the guild floor toward the front door.

“Hey! Cut it out, Gorb! Let me go!” Zalan said, trying to gain enough control to kick Gorb’s hand away.

It was of little use. Zalan was too uncoordinated after remaining in bed and moping for so long. Gorb walked unperturbed to any of Zalan’s protests. He kicked open the door to the guild, startling Rep on the other side. Gorb held up the flailing Zalan like he was a large fish he just caught. Rep was a mix of amused and sympathetic to Zalan desperately trying to get himself back in control. Gorb grinned, wiggling Zalan slightly.

“What is going on?” Rep asked, holding back a smile.

“I am fulfilling my promise. I told you I could get him out of bed,” Gorb said, finally releasing Zalan to fall to the ground outside the guild.