Arin surprised himself with his own ability to adjust.
A small part of him was still convinced that the past hour or so had just been an absurd dream. A manifestation of his disappointment with the monotony of everyday adult life. An expression of some subconscious, childish desire for an escape. Something he might fantasize about for a few minutes after waking up, before rolling off his bed to get ready for another day at work.
However, he was very clear on the fact that this wasn't the case. Everything – the wind buffeting his face, the rhythmic thumps made by the flapping of gigantic wings hundreds of feet above the ground, and even the rush of adrenaline making his heart beat hard and fast in his chest – was too vivid. It was all too real.
He could only hold on tight and trust that the horse was indeed taking him home, wherever that was. Not that his trust meant much. If the horse suddenly decided to buck him off in midair, there wasn't anything he could do besides cursing his own bad luck. Dying twice within the same hour would probably break records in the afterlife.
With nothing else to do, Arin though he could use his time in the sky to get an idea of where he was. Unfortunately, all he could see was a dizzying expanse of forested mountains stretching out in all directions as far as the eye could see.
This went on for so long, he was almost starting to think he'd ended up in prehistoric times with no human settlements. Then, a gray blur in the distance caught his attention. As they flew closer, the speck grew to become a tall, tower-like structure built with gray stone blocks and reddish tiles.
The horse steadied its wings, gliding down at a gentle angle to land a few meters away from a somewhat crumbling stone archway. Arin could make out an unadorned pathway leading up to the entrance of the tower in the distance.
The horse folded its wings inwards, and they disappeared before Arin's eyes. He was beyond caring about that at this point. Sighing, he leaped off the now normal-looking horse and looked around curiously. The place looked pleasant enough, if a little dilapidated.
'So, this is home?' unsure, he turned to looked at the horse. 'This is where we live?'
Arin wished the horse could answer him. He couldn't help but feel frustrated. It was bad enough that he'd died and been transported to some weird world where people could disappear and horses grew wings. What made it worse was that he had no information and no context for anything at all!
There was no instruction manual, he had no memories belonging to the owner of the body he was in, and the only other person he'd met had threatened him (and his horse). He hated this suffocating feeling of helplessness.
Placing a hand on the side of the horse's neck, Arin started venting to it, 'What now? Do I just spend the rest of my life here? What am I supposed to do? Why am I even here!?'
He still wasn't completely sure whether the horse could understand him. Part of him hoped it couldn't, because he wanted to keep going. Just saying his thoughts out loud made the heavy feeling in his chest subside a little. He had no one else he could talk to, so even though it was somewhat embarrassing, he decided to continue his tirade anyway.
'I need to figure things out. I need to… do, something. But how can I, when I don't know anything at all?'
Taking a deep breath, he was about to pull his hand back, when the horse suddenly disappeared.
At the same time, Arin felt something cold slither down his outstretched arm, hidden by the long, loose sleeve. He stood in stunned silence as a long, smooth form stretched itself up to his shoulder before turning around and moving back towards his wrist.
And then he saw, peeking out from the cuff of his sleeve, the triangular head of a large, silvery-white snake.
…
'Sure, whatever,' Arin said impassively.
'Of course you can do that.'
He thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in the snake's eyes as it took in his indifferent reaction. It then turned its head to face the tower.
His mood slightly better now, Arin followed its gaze. 'Alright, let's go.'
As he walked under the crumbling archway, he felt a faint tingle go down his spine. Arin shivered slightly, continuing on his way up to the doorway. He saw roughly-carved stone statues of strange, almost fish-like creatures placed on either side of the door. There was also a large, blackened knocker depicting a similar, unknown creature.
As Arin reached his hand out to knock, the snake shot out of his sleeve and just pushed the doors open instead.
They swung inwards to reveal a large, empty hall. Before he could take in more than a single glance, the snake shrunk its body down and transformed into a small, white mouse. The mouse twitched its nose, then scurried up to the stairs visible at the end of the hall.
'Hey, wait -,' Arin sped up, following the tiny white creature as it began speeding up the spiraling staircase.
They passed by one landing, then the next, and kept going on and on, until suddenly, right before reaching the fifth landing, the mouse stopped. It turned around, ran back to Arin, and jumped up to hide in his sleeve.
Arin stayed calm. He'd heard the distant footsteps that were fast approaching the stairway. Though he didn't know why, he could tell that the mouse didn't want to be seen by whoever it was.
Slowing his pace, Arin continued walking up the stairs as naturally as he could. He couldn't stop now. After all, if he'd heard the other party's footsteps, they'd already heard his as well.
Upon reaching the landing, Arin saw a young boy with large eyes. When the boy saw him, his eyes grew even larger, somehow. He became very still, and with a silly look on his face, greeted Arin.
'Senior!'
Unsure of what their relationship dynamics usually were, Arin chose to simply nod in response. Luckily, the boy didn't seem to find this unusual.
'Why have you returned now, senior?'
Arin didn't want the boy to see how lost he was. Settling his face into an expressionless mask, he said, 'I'm looking for…'
For what? Information? Answers? A damned computer, so he could play PvPs and ignore his current reality, like he'd often done in the past?
'Oh! You must be looking for master!' Understanding dawned on the boy's face. 'Master returned while you were away. He should be in his quarters right now.'
'Hm. Thank you.'
Arin gave the boy a small, friendly nod before continuing on his way up the stairs. He looked down at the mouse in his sleeve and whispered, 'Are you taking me to this… master? Is he someone who can help me figure all this out?'
The tiny mouse blinked up at him, as if to confirm his guess. Soon, it slipped out of his sleeve and started leading the way again. With no other interruptions, they made it all the way to the fifteenth level of the tower.
Arin was only slightly surprised by how he wasn't winded by the exertion at all. After all, he'd already noticed how much fitter and stronger the body he currently occupied was when compared to his own. His ordinary, office-worker self would've been gasping for breath by now.
He followed the mouse as it made its way up the corridor. It slowed down, then eventually stopped right before the large doors at the very end of the passage. Then it turned to look at Arin and blinked again.
'Alright, here goes.'
Arin knocked on the door.