After every single bloody and weary battle, I would sleep amongst the slain; their bodies served as my mattress while their blood and tatters served as my sheets. Sometimes cold and others warm, worried I was not, for this was the only place I felt safe, just like being cradled in my mother's arms. It was like a secret spot hidden from my enemies, though that all changed one day.
That day, I conquered two thousand men and took the usual nap amongst their corpses, and to my surprise, I awoke to a strange setting. I woke up within a master bedroom while resting upon a king's bed. Its mattress was so delicate that I felt myself sinking into it like quicksand. Engulfing me with its comforting texture, it wrapped around me like a snake. The blankets and sheets comforted me with love, something that I had misplaced. Its pillows were light as feathers, and covers were as smooth as silk. Above me housed a constellation that has been hand-painted to great detail. The roof's design helped enchant the painting, for the depths of space were like the night sky within a lens. To my left, there was an open window where the curtains swayed like kites.
Hanging my feet from the bedside, they could hardly touch the ground as the bed was so high. When I darted my head towards the right side of the bed, I noticed my armor, weapons, and other personal things. Sparking like gems as if they were just renewed and given to me the day I first got them. Gazing into the mirror that stood before me, I gently guided my finger along my naked body while I ignored the scars that covered it. Shutting my eye to envision my goal of stopping every Eximius that comes from the Netsphere so that I could live like this forever. I clenched my fist and quickly prepared myself for battle once again that evening.
The next day, more Eximius came, and I cut them all down one by one until nothing was left. Falling to my knee and soon to the ground face-first as I pushed myself beyond my limits. Slowly fading away as my breath lessened and my eyelids shut, I was now unconscious. My dream of living in that household was nothing but a thought yet it was not too far from reality.
I awake in the same room in the same bed with everything in the same place as I left it. Staring into that mirror again, I saw a few scars along my body were slowly fading away as the new ones arrived. "I must continue fighting..." I whispered as I got ready again for the next encounter.
Day after day, month after month, year after year, I fought vigorously and kept ending up not amongst the bodies of the fallen soldiers I have slain, but that same bedroom that I wish to call my home. Staring into the tall oval mirror, I noticed that it was cloudy with the silk curtains that soar high above the windows were now grounded. I never cared to venture into the mansion as I felt like I would be spoiling myself of the adventure I would have once I have completed fighting off the Eximius for good. I opened the pearly white door and stepped into the hallway. Walking along the wooden floor, it creaked every step of the way until I stopped to go down the fleet of stairs. At the end of the staircase, I saw a large door that I assumed to be the entrance. The glooming light from the sun shined through the crystallized glass that was carved into it. Carefully holding onto the golden handles, I pulled it, releasing the beautiful view of the countryside and the battlefield. In the distance, mountains covered half of the horizon, a large river rested in the East, and within the West was nothing but death in which I was taken from. That dreadful smell of the bodies rotting as time goes by can be smelt from even here. The fluttering of wings and the loud raucous coming from the murder of crows that feed amongst the dead. Stretching out my hand to sign a specific one, it flew onto my arm and stared into my eyes. Its crimson eyes with a dark black pupil made it so unique as its feathers were as groomed as any other crow, and its beak was glossy and gave off a slight shine. "He's such a wonderful creature," I smiled, admiring him before he took off. Using my powers to shut the door behind me, I felt quite confident knowing that I would return to it.
Another battle no different from the countless battles I have endured caused me to collapse again after the skirmish. Within my dream, I met the person that carried me from this wasteland back towards that mansion. When I stared into his crystal blue eyes, he would smile, and that smile would shine brighter than the sunlight as he stood before it. His fuzzy brown hair and beard was nothing to laugh at as it would tickle me when I try to sneak in for a kiss. Those lips of his were divine as the taste of them always kept me drifting. I also remember feeling his touch as he slept beside me in that same bed.
My dream was nothing but a hallucination as I woke up amongst the torn and butchered bodies. The rotten smell burnt my nose like pepper; I quickly covered my nose while my eyes watered. "How was I so used to this smell?" I asked myself.
Still trying to fathom how I was so blind to such odor. Looking down to my bloodstained hands, I began to see my hand divide into two as it drifted from left to right, my sweat started to drip like rain, and my mind began to scatter.
"What is this nightmare!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The echoing of my voice filled the battlefield before the silence consumed it. Unable to comprehend my reality, I rushed back to the mansion and opened the door.
Inside the mansion, dust and spiderwebs filled a large quantity of the household. I strolled through the living room and up the same fleet of stairs that I once walked upon when they were clean. They used to be so polished you can see a slight reflection of yourself, but now you see nothing but grey flakes, smudged with dust and grim. Biting my lower lips, I continued searching for the bedroom I once laid in. There I saw the same red and white sheets with their signature golden stars scattered around them, but they were ruined by time. I quickly closed the door and pretended that I never saw it. "Was this really all a dream?" I murmured as I stepped towards a door slightly opened. I placed my hand upon the wooden frame and pushed it. The door swung open, revealing a brown skin man resting in his bed. His hair was as white as cotton, and his beard was as long as the hair on his head. Across his face was a charming smile as he laid peacefully in his bed. "It must have been a good dream," I uttered as I smiled back at him. Holding onto his wristed hands, the memories of him began to flow like water.
Realizing that this was the man who dedicated his life to take me from that battlefield and placed me here every time; made my heart sink into an abyss. He used to carry me in his arms like a mother who had lost her son to the ongoing war. With a wooden cart you crafted by hand, you would tie it to your shoulders and waist after gathering my armor and weapons. Then you would gently tuck me into his chest, hoisting me away before you begin your journey. When he made it to the mansion, he would clean my wounds and skin before renewing my armor and weapons. After completing all of that, he would turn invisible and watch me from afar like a ghost. "I guess now you could continue watching over me, huh?" I whispered as the water from my eyes turned into tears. For once in my life, I cried for someone who wasn't family, but for someone who treated me like one. "Thank you," I cried as I hugged his lifeless body. That same day, I set out and waited for those Eximius to spawn from the Netsphere portal.
That fateful day instead of conquering like I always have been, defeat finally caught up to me. Compressing an atom drop upon a particular Eximius head, he shielded himself by placing his heater shield above his head while kneeling with one leg. He waited for the right moment to strike and sliced me above the waist. While I lay on the shivering ground, I forced myself to make one last attempt at killing it. Summoning a spear of will with the blood that dripped from my hand, I struck him in the chest as he proudly stood in front of me: basking in his glory. My final blow was not as impactful as I thought as it only grazed his shoulder. He did not hesitate to cut me down, for his sword had already pierced my heart before my spear grazed him. They then hung my head high upon a spear while they marched through the land, killing everything in their path. I was unable to protect my planet from an invader known as the Eximius race or later called Skull Knights. A race born to defeat anyone who believes they are unstoppable or trying to become superior to Exodus himself. I never thought to myself that I was invulnerable or even close to Exodus in power, but it wasn't in my head. For it was kept hidden within my heart, and that is why everything was just a blur to me during those battles.
Walking through a land filled with white mist as voices of children playing, women gossiping, and the sounds of men fighting lingered in the background, a young girl in a white dress stood.
"What is your name?" she called.
"My name is Katiana," I quickly answered.
"Would you like to live again?" she asked.
"Yes, of course! I would love to live again to one day meet that person who took care of me all those years," I pleaded, pressing my right hand into my collarbone.
"Then so be it," she spoke before a blinding light covered the both of us.