Mornings used to be brighter. Even in that shithole that reeked of his loneliness.
The air was dense, too dense. Enough to make someone homesick.
But then he woke up.
Back to the dining table. Everyone in the same seat, staring him down. Aurelion in his place. He remembered the hand placement. There were no memories of anything after the dead Ravus reveal. He looked around. Everyone in the same position, having the same bite as they had before.
The black creature had extended its arm, going through Kaelen's chest.
But the feeling of it was too pleasant to push a reaction out of him. Kaelen looked at the curse. Aurelion stood next to it.
Aurelion stuck his hand into the creature.
It disintegrated to nothingness, slowly losing its effect and fading away. Kaelen recognized it: the game he was working on. The same enemy with tentacles slowly fading away after dying. But how did it come to reality?
"No, it wasn't your creation. Your imagination gave it shape. It adapts itself after entering the host's body," Aurelion said, as if he had read Kaelen's mind.
"It was a curse the gods sneakily set on you while you were unconscious. And no, I don't read minds. I have faced this many times."
Caeran got out of his seat. Then the kid next to him.
Silas left with food still on his plate, eating it on his way to the kitchen.
Aurelion had a lot on his face, a lot behind that mouth, his hands trying to reach out for the words. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Lyne and Nyx left for the same room.
Kaelen and Aurelion stared at Nevyziel. "I am not leaving," she said.
"Sorry, but I have to leave," said Aurelion.
Kaelen was already familiar with Nevyziel. Aurelion leaving shouldn't be a problem.
The realization hit quickly as sweat dripped from his forehead. Maybe years of hiding his fear by saying, "I have no interest in dating," wasn't a good idea.
She leaned towards Kaelen as much as the chair allowed, and rested her head on her hand. "So, how did you come here?"
Kaelen stopped for a moment.
Her gaze deepened.
His thoughts shattered. He immediately responded, "I still don't know. But I don't have to do the same thing every day anymore."
A long smile with her mouth barely opening. His mind returned only to admire the beauty, and left with a smile. "You like this more than whatever your work was?" Her voice landed cleaner than Kaelen had ever heard.
The sensation of her sound rang inside every part of Kaelen. "This way, I will be proud of the person I am. So that I can look back at my life and not have regrets or hate my situation. I will be proud of every moment."
It was the same smile again. The precision was above instinct. It must be the same forced smile she has used for years. "You have too much pride in yourself. What is it that you want to prove to yourself? In your life, you are the only thing that matters," she said, her voice breaking between words.
"There's nothing to prove. And that is exactly the point. I am all that matters. And I want to be proud of my life, proud of myself."
No smile came this time. "That is easy to say. Imagining yourself in hard situations when you have never faced anything is easy. Everyone wants to be the main character until they need to go through the process of becoming it."
It was obvious. Her voice had dropped. The smile had vanished. And there were no unnecessary movements.
Kaelen had faced this many times.
"I have been in worse spots. Actively facing something doesn't make it harder. The feeling that rots you away, when you lose yourself slowly without facing it head on. Every day you live with uneasiness, the bitterness, or doing nothing. Everyone imagines those hard situations because they are cool to imagine. My situation wasn't even that." Kaelen stood out of his chair and went to his room. Nevyziel already had her reply ready before Kaelen said anything.
The first day couldn't have gotten worse, he thought. Turning onto his side, lying down on bed. But for the first time, he felt like himself. Not the accumulation of his work, his thoughts, or anything. He felt like a unique person.
The silence was impressive. With nothing around him, only he existed.
The morning was dark. The windows were open, yet the light was stuck outside.
Kaelen walked past them. His body was still sore from the merge. The insides of his body squeezed each other, and his heart, ready to retire, throbbed slow, stopping for a moment as it pressed against his chest.
Kaelen opened the door. The sound of the clock filled the hallway.
Kaelen opened his mouth to call someone. He stopped midway. Aurelion was the only one he trusted.
Kaelen followed the scent coming from the kitchen. Hoping for food.
The house was empty, too empty. No decorations. No furniture.
A plate of pasta and a note placed below it.
Kaelen picked up the plate and ate as he read the letter.
The handwriting was immaculate. But the hands that had written it were too soft, too untouched. They didn't belong to someone who fought as often as Aurelion did.
"We have managed everything. You need to get into a taxi. The driver will honk in front of the house at sharp eight forty." Kaelen looked at the clock. Eight twenty.
Kaelen picked up the pace and gulped down his half chewed food.
"Don't forget to wear the coat fixed to an anchor on the main entrance door. You can roam around and enjoy Halvyr after you are done with work. Or you can wait until six for Zeph to pick you up."
Kaelen had read it quickly, without paying attention to the details. His brain twitched. Kaelen went back a line. It was the first time he felt how important his work was. "Halvyr," the richest and most beautiful city. The dream location of someone like Kaelen. Food here cost more than Kaelen's salary. If it has to be done here, the stakes are high.
Kaelen read the lines with all his focus this time. Unknowingly, he had stopped eating. "Try to gather as much information as you can. And the only tip I can give you is to stay alive.
"—Nevyziel." Kaelen chuckled. Her temper wasn't something he'd appreciated last night, but her ability to forgive by morning was. "One way to find out," said Kaelen.
Kaelen got ready. He looked at himself in the mirror.
Kaelen noticed his shoes were missing. There were none in his room either. He read the letter again. Nothing.
A car honked outside. Kaelen rushed to the entrance and glanced at the clock. 8:40 sharp.
"Wait a minute!" he called to the driver.
The driver didn't answer. Didn't turn. Just sat there, windows up, waiting, the same way he must have been waiting since before Kaelen even woke up.
Kaelen reached for the handle. The door was already open. He hadn't touched it.
"Your friends told me to tell you your shoes are on the rack near the stairs," the driver said, and the windows rolled down like they'd been listening for the cue.
Kaelen wore his shoes and grabbed a knife before getting into the car.
The beauty of the city mesmerized him. Quality was non-negotiable. Everything had its own attraction. Nothing repeated. Every building had its own story, with each having its own reasons to go to. Every building looked different, even the big ones; they weren't just walls and glass with nothing else.
For the first time, he understood why he'd spent two years redesigning the same character model. No indecision. Just refusing to settle for less than the thing he actually wanted.
Maybe the struggle of people being unable to pick an option wasn't really a human weakness.
The drive to his workplace was about ten minutes. He got out of the car.