The strange voice by the whimsical fairy hasn’t quite reached Alpheus yet.

He was still in the middle of catching his breath.

He tried to keep steady, but his buckling legs refused to cooperate.

He couldn’t stop his body from shaking erratically.

He couldn’t suppress the feelings of anxiety and dread after this near-death experience.

He couldn’t collect his mind.

The fairy's voice kept shifting in nature as though it could never find an actual form to settle on.

“Uhm, you alright, buddy?”

The voice of an immature child, with a slight grating screech accompanying it.

No response.

“Hellooooooooo?”

The voice of an adult, neither low nor high, emanates an androgynous nature.

No response.

“Earth to Alpheus?”

The voice of an elderly woman, though it lacked the pleasant connotation he has grown accustomed to.

No response.

“C’mon, don’t leave me hanging!”

The voice of something that wasn’t human, the echo that subtly accompanied each syllable before, came to the forefront. It was overwhelming. The voice became increasingly distorted, losing any semblance of normalcy.

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No response.

“Wait... are you having a... what do you guys call it...? A panic attack?”

The voice remained distorted. The fairy groaned out loud before resting his hand on Alpheus.

“Give me a second. I’ll fix that.”

Alpheus was not in the right state of mind.

It felt like he wasn’t in control of his own body. Even then, he wasn’t truly conscious yet. It was as though the body was operating independently without the host being present. The body shivered uncontrollably while struggling to breathe in the air around him.

Meanwhile, Alpheus struggled to find his way to his body. It’s like he was moving in pure nothingness, with nothing stopping him, yet there was no movement to guide him towards his target.

During this pitiful struggle, Alpheus felt some force stopping him in place.

“Stop flailing around so much. You’re not a kid drowning beneath the sea.”

A voice reached him.

He obeyed it and suddenly felt very collected.

In front of him, the fairy reappeared and held his hand, which was tiny compared to his.

“Follow me. Figured I’d speed up the whole process.”

Alpheus felt small and helpless but slightly relieved upon being helped like that.

As they walked, Alpheus’ mind regained focus and became truly aware of everything.

The fairy stopped in the middle of nowhere.

“Alright, that’s your final stop, boy!”

Alpheus was confused. There was nothing in front of them.

Arclan didn’t give him the time to ask questions and smacked him.

Just like that, Alpheus finally regained his sense of control. His breath was ragged, but he could finally keep it steady. He lay on the ground and struggled to stand up. His limbs wouldn’t budge, and neither did his head. He felt strange like he was both anxious and calm at the same time.

The fairy landed on the ground in front of him and smiled triumphantly.

“Phew! I'm not used to aiding a host's mind, but I think I did a pretty good job! It was a bit difficult to find you inside your messy headspace.”

Alpheus lay there, unresponsive.

“Alright! Now quit being a living corpse and stand up, or will you ignore your savior? Talk about ungrateful! No manners, geez!”

“I-I’m sorry...”

“I-I’ll... stand up now.”

Alpheus struggled immensely but stood up despite his limbs still feeling extremely hollow. He is swaying so strongly that he barely manages to save himself from toppling over.

“Wait, I was just joking! Jeez, I forgot how much you take everything at face value...”

Alpheus was still unsteady, but he finally made eye contact.

Or rather, he tried to. It appears he managed to remain shy towards strangers, even in a situation like this.

At least, it meant that he was calming down.

“Thank you for saving me...” He fidgeted with his hands.

“No need to thank me! That’s just what I do, but I don’t mind the praise.” The voice became slightly human again.

“Uhmm, what about those people?”

His face was blank.

“People? What peoples”

The fairy looked behind him to see the armed humans still in some kind of trance.

“Ohhhhhhhh! Those!”

“Yeah, don’t worry! They won’t pose a threat to you... for now! Anyways, I will now-“

“I see. I can’t thank you enough, but I must go now!”

Just like that, Alpheus ran away. If you can call that running.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on! We reunite, and you’re just going to ditch me like that!?” He flew quickly toward him and reached him within seconds.

“I... need to hurry towards... Miss Marianne...” He was so out of breath that he was barely able to talk.

“Seriously!? There’s a damn Behemoth ahead!”