Chapter 5

I woke up with a gasp. 

The clean white ceiling greeted my gaze, along with the pungent smell of antiseptic that stung my nose. I blinked several times, trying to adjust to the overly bright light. My entire body felt light - no pain, no wounds, as if everything that had just happened was just a dream. But I knew it was real. 

I turned my head, finding myself lying on a hospital bed with a white blanket neatly wrapped around my body. An IV needle was inserted into the back of my hand, connecting me to a clear liquid in a bag hanging from a metal pole. The monitor beside the bed showed my stable heart rate. 

I took a deep breath, trying to understand the situation. Where was I? How did I end up here?

I remembered the battle. The monsters. The Valkyrie who saved me. The light in my eyes. Yet now, my body showed no signs of the battle ever happening. I didn't even feel tired or hurt in the slightest. 

Before I could think further, the door to the room opened. A man in a white doctor's coat entered, followed by two nurses behind him. He looked to be in his late forties, with a calm face and a smile that - for some reason - felt too friendly.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" 

I swallowed. "Good," I replied softly. "Too good, actually." 

The doctor chuckled, then took out a tablet from his coat pocket and began typing something. "That's good news. We were worried, given your condition." 

I frowned. "My condition?" 

The doctor nodded, still looking at the tablet screen. "You were severely injured. They brought you here in a coma. It's been two days since then." 

Two days?

I tried to remember. I last remembered being in the underworld, fighting against those monsters. Then I woke up here. What happened in between? 

"I... don't remember how I got here," I finally said. 

The doctor looked up, gazing at me with concern. "That's normal. Trauma can cause temporary memory loss." 

But this wasn't just trauma. Something was off. Something he wasn't telling me. I studied his face - the smile that wasn't entirely genuine, the way he avoided eye contact for too long. He was hiding something. 

"So, what really happened to me?" 

The doctor closed his tablet, then looked at me with a more serious expression. 

"Your condition has been puzzling us. When you were found, your vital signs indicated an extraordinary level of stress, as if your body had just gone through an extreme condition. However, physically, you don't have a single injury." 

I looked at my hand, still struggling to accept the fact that my body felt so... normal. 

"We've run various tests, and so far, we haven't found any abnormalities." 

I swallowed. "But I know something's wrong.”

The doctor didn't answer immediately. He just stared at me with unreadable eyes. I could sense a subtle tension in the air - as if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't. 

Then, one of the nurses behind him cleared her throat softly. "Doctor, it's time for the routine check-up." 

The doctor nodded, as if that was the reason he needed to end this conversation. He looked at me again and smiled. 

"For now, rest. We'll continue to monitor your condition." 

I wanted to ask more questions, but they were already moving. One of the nurses checked my IV, while the other recorded something on the heart rate monitor. The doctor walked to the door, then stopped for a moment, turning to look at me. 

"Oh, one more thing, if you experience anything unusual - dreams, let us know." 

I stared at him without answering. Then, they left, leaving me in an even deeper silence. I let out a long breath. The discomfort in my chest grew. They were clearly hiding something - either about my condition, or about how I ended up here. 

I looked at the white ceiling above, trying to recall details that might have been missed. But all that came to mind was the flash of golden light. And the woman's eyes. The Valkyrie who saved me.

I remained lying in bed, staring at the white ceiling that felt too clean, too perfect. Questions swirled in my head, spinning endlessly. 

How did I survive? What really happened to my body? And one question that was more pressing than the others, where was Alexandria? 

I remembered her clearly - the Valkyrie, with her sharp gaze and wounds that indicated she had fought more than she should have. She saved me, summoning something within me that I didn't even understand myself. But now... I was alone. 

I sat up slowly, trying to test my body. There was no pain, no fatigue. Everything felt normal - and that was what made me even more suspicious. Something was off. 

I remembered the doctor's face earlier. Too calm. Too controlled. I glanced at the small table beside the bed, looking for something that could help me understand the situation. 

There was a glass of water, a plate of food that I hadn't touched, and a small tablet with the hospital's logo. I took the tablet, turned it on, and saw the screen filled with patient data. 

My name was there. I scrolled further down, looking for more information. But before I could read more, the screen suddenly flickered. Access Denied.

I muttered softly, putting the tablet back. They were clearly hiding something. A knock at the door made me reflexively turn my head. A nurse entered, her face friendly but too professional. 

"Sorry to disturb you, I need to check your condition." 

I nodded without saying anything, letting her approach and start checking my blood pressure. I watched her closely, looking for any unusual signs like I saw on the doctor earlier. 

"How long have I been here?" I asked, even though the doctor had already told me. 

The nurse smiled. "Two days." 

I nodded, trying to find any cracks in her words. "Was anyone else brought in with me?" 

She hesitated slightly before answering. "There was no one else." 

My heart skipped a beat. "Are you sure?”

The nurse just smiled, but I could see the tension in her eyes. She finished the examination quickly, then tidied up her equipment. 

"If you need anything, just press this button," she said, pointing to the call button beside my bed. 

Then she left, leaving me in an even deeper silence. I clenched my fists. They were lying. Alexandria was with me. I was sure of it. So if they said there was no one else... it meant they were hiding it from me. 

I turned to the window. The Defense Fortress loomed in the distance, surrounded by sturdy protective walls. Outside, the sky was cloudy with low-hanging gray clouds, creating a gloomy atmosphere. I couldn't stay here. I had to find the answers myself.

Silence. 

I still sat on the bed, staring blankly at the window that reflected my image. However, in my mind, something began to emerge. A memory. 

Slowly, the world around me faded away. 

I saw a woman. Her figure stood vaguely in the darkness, with long flowing hair and a calming gaze. I felt like I knew her, but who was she? 

Suddenly, another memory assaulted me, sharper, clearer. I was no longer a grown man in a hospital bed. I was a little boy again in a hazy memory. 

Rain poured down heavily. 

I ran, my breath ragged. My small body trembled from the biting cold. I tried to find shelter, but the world around me had collapsed into chaos. 

In front of my eyes, a blue light flashed and hit the ground, shattering the asphalt into flying fragments. An explosion followed, throwing my body onto the muddy ground. 

I turned my head, and that's when I saw her.

The second fragment of my memory. My parents were vaguely present in my mind. They stood not far from me, trying to reach out to me. But before I could move, a blinding flash of lightning shot down from the sky, burning everything. 

I wanted to scream, to run towards them, but my body was frozen. In an instant, they vanished. I was alone. 

I don't know how long I lay there, and this is my memory. Rainwater mixed with mud on my face. My entire body felt stiff, trembling not just from the cold, but from fear that I couldn't describe. 

I was about to lose consciousness when footsteps approached. A figure in black combat gear emerged from the rain mist. The blue light from the symbol on their shoulder was faint, reflecting on their face. 

A woman in my memory wasn't very clear. She knelt down in front of me, looking at me with a soft gaze despite her body being covered in wounds and dust. Her long, wet hair clung to her face, but she still smiled. 

I felt warm fingers touch my cheek, and then her gentle voice was heard amidst the pouring rain. 

"Are you okay?”

I couldn't respond, this memory was so vague. I just stared at her, my eyes still filled with fear. She sighed, then without hesitation, she lifted my body into her arms. I was too weak to resist, too tired to question who she was. 

The woman carried me through the rubble, through the scattered bodies, until we finally reached a place far from the destruction. When I opened my eyes, I was already in a different place. A shelter. 

People with pale faces and thin bodies leaned against the walls of the large tent. The sound of children's crying could be heard in the distance, mixed with coughing and complaints from the refugees. 

I looked up, gazing at the woman who was still standing beside me. She smiled at me - a smile that strangely made me feel a little calmer. Then, she knelt down in front of me, gently grasping my small hand. 

"Even though the world has fallen apart, don't give up easily and stay strong.”

Coincidence, my memories now recorded. When I was a child and ran away, I believed that my memories could still recover easily, that if I remembered them clearly enough, all those memories would come back. However, what happened was the opposite. 

Now, I know. The woman wasn't just an illusion or a fragment of a hazy past. She was real. She was the one who saved me in the midst of destruction, who reached out when I was on the verge of despair.

But why did I forget her? 

The memory was like a chain that slowly unraveled. I saw myself at the age of ten, sitting quietly in the refugee tent with a blank stare. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. There was only emptiness inside me. I remembered people talking around me, whispering with sympathetic tones. 

"Poor thing... it seems like he's severely traumatized." 

"He doesn't talk at all?" 

"No. Since he was brought here, he's just been silent.”

The trauma was so deep that I chose to bury it all, about the destruction, about my parents, and about the woman who saved me. And now, after years, I finally remembered it again. I snapped back to reality, back to the darkness I was trapped in. 

The Honkai's energy. Everything started to make sense now. This energy wasn't just a formless power floating aimlessly. It wasn't just a dense fog threatening life. 

It was alive. It was a corrosive entity that destroyed everything it touched, eroding humans not just physically, but also mentally and spiritually. 

I looked at my trembling hand. Part of me began to understand, maybe from the start, I had already been in contact with this power. And maybe, that was the reason why I was still alive.

.....BERSAMBUNG.....