Harold runs into the empty void. At first, there was clarity. An open mind of sorts, bright and endless. "Where the hell am I?" Running for miles on end, he stumbled upon a little girl. "Hm? Who's this?"
She resembled Mina of some sort, wearing a frilly white dress. Her eyes resembled blue jewels, and her adorable, angel-like face was exactly like Mina's. The only difference is that her hair was pitch-black, a huge contrast to Mina's silky blonde hair.
Harold knelt to the young girl's level, blurting out, "Mini Mina?" He petted her head, his fingers gliding along her long strands of hair. The young girl smiled in content to his affection and closed her eyes. She let out a peaceful hum, her hands gravitating to his wrist. "Papa, why do you look like that?" she asks, staring at him with eyes of curiosity and wonder.
"Papa?" He wondered if this girl had mistaken him for her father, or just called anyone 'Papa' to begin with.
"Mini Mina, I am not your papa-"
She pouts, crossing her arms, immediately cutting him off. "You are! You are my papa!" she declared, clinging to Harold's leg. "Papa, you are acting strange... did you forget Mimi?" Her eyes are now pleading of some sort, as if she demanded to be remembered.
Harold answered her with another pat to her head, letting loose a broken and awkward smile. "M-Mimi? O-Of course your papa remembers y-you..." He wasn't just horrible at lying; he also felt extremely guilty when he lied, especially to an adorable and cute young girl like her.
Mimi nuzzled his hand like a cat, rubbing her face against it. "Papa, you look so different now!" she mentioned excitedly. Expecting it to be some dumb, childish rambling, he played along. "Oh, why do you say that?" Harold asked. She aimed her finger at his face. "You don't have a scary face anymore! And your eye has no scar now! You don't look ugly anymore!"
"Wow, kids sure are brutally honest." His smile didn't waver, but silent tears emerged deep from his heart.
"Ah, also, you have your other arm!" she says, pointing at Harold's left arm.
Harold raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean I have my other arm-" He saw it, an aggressive black mass that darted itself to Mimi. Pushing Mimi aside with his left arm, the black mass consumed his arm. The jolt of pain surged through his body and caused him to recoil his body back in response to the pain. Calling out his Artifact in his right hand, Grand Radiance trembled on creation, as if it was howling in terror.
Slashing a wave of Divine Light toward the black mass, he extinguished a portion of it. But seeing how it instantly grew back and multiplied, a small sweat drop trickled down his face. In the endless white void, it was being overwritten by the black mass. The size of the black mass was so large, as if the space it occupied went beyond infinity.
Harold stood before Mimi, his blade radiating with Divine Light. "Stand behind me, okay?" He told Mimi, who clung to his leg. "Papa... your arm." She shivered in horror, witnessing that Harold's left arm was gone now. The black mass consumed it whole and made it cease to exist. He caught this the moment he pulled his arm away from the black mass's grasp. No pain, no feeling of losing his arm, it was just gone as if it never was there to begin with. But yet, in all of this, his smile didn't waver, and his determination roared. That's because an innocent soul was in the face of a great danger, and he would never let them perish to it.
He recalled the information when he first got it. What Konge told him. His Artifact, the blade created with hope, one that shines in the darkness. That's what his Artifact was, Grand Radiance.
He brushed his fingers against Mimi's hair while he gripped his blade. "Mimi, what I want you to do is smile." His gentle touch brushed her hair. She looked up in response to the touch, grasping onto his fingers now. Her fingers were warm and soft, just like the Divine Light that touched both of them against the darkness that consumed the void. "Because Mimi, when you smile, you bring hope. Hope is what you always need, especially in your roughest moments!"
He activated King's Will, his body surging with Divine Light. "I figure this must be a dream since I'm not feeling any pain from my missing arm. If that's the case, I'll give it all I got!" He raised his blade, infusing almost all of his Rysen into this strike of Divine Light. The Divine Light stretched high and wide, engulfing the endless darkness with something foreign—hope. His body was heating up, and a streak of pain rippled throughout. But the more it hurt, the more Mimi clutched onto him. And that was enough for Harold to continue pushing.
A firm touch pressed against his shoulder. One that stood out in the tense moment. Harold saw it—a figure of light. It was not distinguishable, but the mere presence of it warmed his spirit. The voice of the figure sounded like a young male in his late 20s. "That's not enough if you want to win." The figure then raised his hand over his Artifact. "Here."
The Divine Light on his blade grew. The size kept increasing at incredible speeds, growing at a rate that the human eye cannot comprehend. Before Harold could even speak to the figure of light, it was already gone.
Then, with all his might, he roared, slashing down the Divine Light on the black mass. The blow was so tremendous that the endless void rattled. No matter how far he looked back into the black mass, the burst of Divine Light that he released continuously expanded, consuming all that they stood in.
In the warmth of the Divine Light stood only Harold and Mimi. Mimi was in front of Harold, giving the purest smile he had ever seen. "Thank you, Papa, for protecting me as usual..." she shyly says, twiddling her fingers. Then, lunging in, she gave a small peck on his cheek, keeping her smile of purity on her.
He woke up on the bedroom mattress. Yue was sweating profusely alongside Konge. Yue was infusing a Holy Rysen spell onto Harold's head, while Konge was imbuing Divine Light. As Harold's eyes fully flickered open, Yue let out a scream. "Harold, you're safe!" Konge chuckled, perched in front of his pillow. "Glad to have ya' back, kiddo."
"What happened..." Harold asks as his head pulsates in pain. "For some reason, right as you fell asleep, The Everlasting Darkness started corrupting your mind." Konge explained.
"The Everlasting Darkness?!" The name was familiar, especially after how it did the same mental attack on Mina.
"Yeah, and it was incomprehensibly worse than what Mina had to deal with. It's as if you were their number one target. That's why I also had to get Yue to tag team with me in saving your ass." He aimed his feather at Yue, who gently waved at him.
Harold groaned, putting his hand over his head. "Ugh, my head hurts like crazy." The aftermath of that nightmare felt horrible, as if he could puke at any moment. "Don't think too much and stay calm. Your mental state is in a terrible condition. We found out that thing Aiden shot you with earlier was actually some type of negative energy that weakened your mental fortitude. That's why you had that massive panic attack, like a little crybaby." Konge warns.
"You didn't need to add the crybaby part."
"That's also how the Everlasting Darkness was able to infiltrate your mind. Usually, you're immune to almost all mental attacks and manipulation, solely due to your special Artifact Grand Radiance. But since Aiden's Artifact deteriorated those defenses and even worsened them, that made you a sitting duck for the Everlasting Darkness to strike."
Harold realized a warmth was pressing against his body the entire time. Looking down, it was Mina who had her arms wrapped around him, resting her head on his neck. She let out gentle breaths, murmuring in her slumber. Harold grew a steep blush, covering his entire face. "Mina?! What are you doing?"
"Ah, you should've seen it. She was bawling her eyes out when your mind was getting plagued. Muttering weird gibberish while she was crying. Honestly, I tried my best not to laugh." Konge mentioned, you can audibly hear his voice trying hard not to snicker at the memory.
"You heartless bird!" Harold says, flicking Konge. As Konge started pecking at him in retaliation, Harold looked down at Mina. Her peaceful sleeping and happy cuddling were a huge contrast to what he understands of her. He is aware from what Sorrow told him that she endures intense agony in her heart every day. It's understandable to anyone who sees her situation. She was a pathetic slave who had nothing to her, starved, cruelly beaten, and by pure luck, she was saved by Harold.
He smiled, seeing her content face. Her face was so adorable in his eyes, he wanted to poke it. So, using his left arm, he tried to poke the round and smooth cheeks on her face.
But he had no left arm.
Harold didn't scream so as not to wake up Mina, but he began to profusely sweat. His pupils dilated, and his breathing intensified. "Where's my left arm?" He asks with his voice trembling. The memory of his nightmare, where the black mass consumed his left arm. It replayed over and over again.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. While we were purifying your mind, your arm just blipped away right in front of our eyes. As if it ceased to exist."
His heart sank. Could it be that his nightmare had some effect on reality? That makes no sense. It was a simple nightmare; there was no way a nightmare could erase something from existence. His fingers traced over his missing limb, grazing his skin. "My arm..." he spoke distraughtly. His sorrows etched into his body as he realized for the rest of his life that he was going to be disabled. But his mood immediately brightened with the gentle nudge of Mina's face as she repositioned her head to smudge into his touch. She let out a content sigh, following up with a yawn right after before nodding off.
Harold took a deep breath before grasping Mina. "Well, crap. Since I have no left arm, will I be able to get a disability check from the city? I guess my dad could use some coins."
"Anyway, just rest for now, okay? Your cognitive health is in huge decline right now." Yue ordered, tucking both Mina and him under their blanket.
His fatigue made him unable to argue. He wanted to do much more, but the amount of comfort he currently dealt with was too tempting. "Well, this isn't so bad." he thinks, feeling Mina's face pressed against his.
*
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"Wake up, sleepyheads."
Both Mina and Harold stirred awake, slowly rising up from their covers. Mina still leaned her body against Harold's, nearly falling asleep again.
It was Linia, the student council president, who angrily crossed their arms. "You lot are in deep trouble. Kin and Ryan have already received their punishments; it's now time for your punishments as well."
"Wait, we were trying to save our pal Ryan, shouldn't we be rewarded instead?" Harold replied.
"You both went into a very dangerous place without even notifying any staff members at the school!"
Mina wasn't even awake amidst their scolding. She had fallen asleep a while ago, snoring soundly as her body slumped against Harold's.
"Okay, but police officers aren't good in Argon City."
"It's still my responsibility to watch over the students!" By now, Linia's voice was fully raised. She was beyond irritated, but understood their intentions were good. Harold's response to her volume was to cover Mina's ear, keeping her from waking up.
Harold, on the other hand, understood that her frustrations were with good intentions. "I apologize."
Now that they both came to an understanding, Linia let out a small smile. "Your punishment is to help set up the Opening Festival!" Linia says, pointing her finger at them.