TRX and the others were also in that place. They had explained some things about the location to Samantha and covered the rest when Mathias woke up. There was a library, a dining area, rooms with regular and strange beds, a meeting room, and a training room.

The place resembled a floating island, and the building had the shape of a sword—at least the blade of one, pointing upwards. Oh, and it had a crystalline purple appearance.

Outside, there was also a sort of park with a variety of trees (some of them unfamiliar), and for some reason, the air was breathable and there was gravity. The place was quite large.

Mathias was a bit confused; he didn’t remember exactly what had happened.

"I think I'm going to take a walk," Mathias said. "Just to see this place, okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Pointy replied.

"Just don’t take too long, as we don’t have much time," Blocky said.

"Okay," Mat said as he left.

"S-Sam," said Sam. "Can I join you?"

"Ah... No, I want to be alone for a while, sorry."

"I see... Well, I'll head to the library and see what’s there."

"Okay, see you later," Mat said, and walked away.

He stepped out into the park. Once there, he wandered around for a while. Eventually, he sat down on the grass and gazed at the strange landscape: the Earth floating in space with a giant tree. He was puzzled by the fact that, even though it was there, between South America and Oceania, in another hemisphere—so far away—he had always been able to see it.

"This is pretty weird... What happened?"

Mat didn’t really remember what had happened; he only recalled saying goodbye to his mother, but he didn’t remember the dream. He didn’t know why Samantha was with him, but... he didn’t want to ask either.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Meanwhile, Samantha went to the library to read something. The place was HUGE. There were many aisles, and the bookshelves, filled to the brim, reached the ceiling.

"Ah..."

Samantha was stunned by this. So, she went to find a book. Looking at the spines, she noticed that all the books were in languages she couldn’t recognize, and she also realized that some of them were bound in what appeared to be human skin. This frightened her, but she tried to calm herself, thinking it was something else. Though she remembered that books used to be covered with skin.

Pointy also entered, saw Sam, said nothing, and went to fetch a book from a high shelf. He then sat down and began to read. Samantha ignored this and continued searching for something to read.

Eventually, she picked up one of the books and leafed through it. The book she chose was somewhat thin.

"Let’s see... Ah... As expected, these books are written in another... What?"

Suddenly, all the letters in the book began to distort and glow. They rearranged themselves, and... now the entire book was in English.

"W-Wow..." She was astonished.

The book was titled "The Messiah I."

"The Messiah?" She thought.

She started reading it.

Despite the title, she noticed something strange. The book described part of what the previous Hero had done. She already knew something about this, so she read on for new information. Though... the title "Messiah" confused her a bit.

||||||||

"H-hey, if those two are called 'Messiahs,' then why am I..." said Eliah.

"They’re the same," Alaya said. "Almost."

"But..."

"Don’t worry about trivialities," I said. "Besides, stop complaining, or I’ll just put your complaints in this book."

"...Book?" both asked.

||||||||

"Oh... It says here that if the mark is blinking, it means there are creatures of the night nearby... This... is actually quite useful."

She continued reading.

"It also says that the mark can bleed... Due to excessive use of it... I should tell Mat about this. Oh, and it also says that the design of the mark changes depending on the Hero, and that everyone has it, but... I don’t understand, it says here that before the other there were no more Heroes, so...?"

Samantha had a big question about this, and about the origin of the Hero or Messiah.

||||||||

"Eh? And that?" Eliah asked.

"What thing?" Alaya said. "The mark?"

"Yes, that," he replied.

"Oh, I see."

"I also read that book, and I had the same doubt—"

"Uncle! Don’t make my thoughts audible..." she scolded.

"Sorry, but it seemed important since you mentioned the book."

"...Well, then... Don’t do it again. Please, Uncle."

"Alright," I said, then turned to Eliah.

"Hey, Zoron, explain. Why does it say 'Messiah'? How come all the Heroes have those ugly marks? And why don’t I have one? What does that make me?"

"...Let’s just say you’re unique in your own way; let’s move on."

"H-Hey!"

He does have one, but... his mark is inside him, in his heart, literally. Although it bled, he never noticed it due to... reasons I can’t mention right now. Oh, and marks can appear anywhere on the body.

||||||||

"Oh, there were no more on Gaia, but there were in other worlds... Gaia is Earth, I suppose," she said.

And so, she continued reading, reaching a part that caught her attention. It said:

"I know. I really know it well. There is no life after death... But still, I refuse to accept that, even knowing the truth..."

"This is... from the previous Gaian Hero..."

Samantha couldn’t believe what she had read. But... she decided to ignore it, as it was from her perspective and there was no more context, besides feeling unexpectedly sad.

Also concerned about Mathias, Samantha began to pray right there for him. Yes, she did this often, but I didn’t want to mention it because it didn’t seem very relevant to me... Though I think it was, a bit... I don’t know.

||||||||

“...”, Eliah and Alaya