12.

When I woke up 8 hours later, it was on the couch in the living room of Teenyma's apartment. I shot up straight like I normally did when waking up from a nightmare, and for a second, I couldn't tell where, or even who I was. In fact, I even briefly forgot my own name. Even after I was immediately pulled into a tight hug by an understandably disturbed Teenyma who had been sitting beside me on the couch waiting for me to wake up, I still couldn't remember anything. I just sat there staring at her, waiting for all of it to slowly start coming back to me.

"Wha, what happened?" I asked Teenyma who was now sitting on the couch in front of me. "Where, where am I?"I added, closing my eyes and wincing at a sudden dull ache within my skull.

"Hey, relax okay?" Teenyma responded, caressing my back with her left hand while picking up a glass of water with her right. "Here." she said, lifting up the glass of water to my lips. After I drank, she took back the glass and placed it on a nearby table. Then, after settling back into the couch, she began explaining.

"You are in the apartment." she said, looking at me. "Do you remember it?" she asked. "Do you remember my apartment?"

At her request, I glanced around the apartment and sure enough, I began recognizing the place bit by bit but not fully remembering the whole thing just yet. However, it was good enough for me so I turned towards her and gave her a nod.

"Good." she replied, with the tensed and worried expression on her face relaxing a bit. "What about me?" she asked. "Do you remember me? Do you remember who I am?"

At first, my answer would have been no. But then, I focused on her face for a bit. Her clear blue eyes, her striking blonde hair. She was someone close to me. Someone who was simultaneously my aunt, mother figure, and best friend at the same time. She was my only family. "Teenyma." I said, smiling.

Completely forgetting I was in pain in her moment of excitement, Teenyma rushed me with another hug, almost knocking me over as usual. "Ah, ah, ah." I winced. "Don't you ever hug like a normal person?" I teased, hugging her back.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"No," she replied, her voice a bit muffled as she still had her face pressed against my chest. The hug lasted for almost a minute and would have gone on for much longer if I hadn't stopped for a second and pulled her back. And the only reason I did that was because Teenyma, who was still tightly clinging onto me at the time, had started to cry.

"Hey, what's wrong? “I asked, pulling her away from my chest to investigate her face. "Why are you crying? “I added, catching a glimpse of the tears running down the tops of her cheeks.

Sniffling, she wiped away her tears with the back of her sleeves. "It's nothing." she said. "I'm just glad you are back okay? So don't worry."

"Are you absolutely sure you are alright?" I asked.

"Yes." she replied, smiling. "I'm fine. Really."

Finally, comfortable with her reply, I allowed myself to relax as I looked around the apartment and took in my surroundings.

"What happened?" I asked Teenyma a second time, as I was still having difficulties remembering the past 8 hours.

"You really don't remember anything?" Teenyma asked, and I shook my head in response. "Not even what I had for lunch." I said.

"Well, if I know you, it was most likely nothing." Teenyma responded with a slight frown on her face, knowing fully well that if I couldn't remember what I had for lunch, it was simply because I didn't eat lunch. A habit she constantly tried to scold out of me. Embarrassed, I gave an innocent smile at her remark, and with a sigh, she finally relaxed enough to tell me everything.

"You were found passed out in the middle of an alleyway." Teenyma began. "A lady who had been passing by found you unconscious in the rain. She immediately rushed over to check for a pulse, and after finding it, she made to call an ambulance but then changed her mind when she found your vibrating phone in your backpack with an incoming call from me."

"Then you brought me here? “I asked.

"Yes, and no." Teenyma replied.

"What do you mean? “I asked, curious.

"I didn't bring you here." she said. "She did."

"And by she you mean?" I asked, trailing off.

"The strange Lady." Teenyma replied.

We continued talking for a bit and Teenyma filled me up on everything that happened while I was unconscious. For example, she said that the strange lady who found me somehow carried me all by herself, all the way from the alleyway to the apartment. Also, while in a moment of panic, Teenyma said that she had accidentally given the strange lady the wrong address, but somehow, the mysterious woman was still able to find the apartment no problem. When I asked her what the mysterious lady had looked like, she said. "She had very dark hair, she wore like a dark blue cloak and dress." She said that she was unable to get a good look at the strange woman's face on the count that the mysterious woman was very guarded and kept her head down the entire time. However, she could almost swear that the woman had very fair skin, almost unnaturally white.

After Teenyma finished explaining everything to me, we spent an additional half an hour just chatting about random stuff and eating both the lunch and dinner I had unintentionally missed. And after allowing the food to settle, we called it a night and went to bed.

That night, the dream I had was mostly what I experienced while first picking up the spirit sword in the alleyway. Flashes of people suffering. Blood. Death. Fire. Destruction. It was all happening at a rapid pace, and before I knew it, it was morning.