While Bo was thinking about him being transported to another continent in an impossible time frame, he was led by Hunger and Ares into a hallway.
Ares's walk was graceful yet unnatural, and the more he looked, the more certain he was that every step was perfectly identical.
Hunger, on the other hand, walked carefree as always.
The hallway was long, too long.
The floor was covered in a gray carpet, while the walls and doors were made of different shades of brown wood, which gave it an office ambiance.
As far as Bo knows, this could be just a regular office.
After a minute of walking, Ares stopped near a certain door that looked just like all the others.
"Enter please," she said, opening the door with a click.
Beyond the door was a wall as black as space.
Before Bo could form a thought, Hunger passed through the wall without hesitation.
Bo, shocked, looked at Ares, who gave him an affirmative look.
Taking a deep breath, Bo stepped through the wall.
The first thing he noticed was the stink. The smell could only be described as a mix of the worst smells possible together.
It was still dark until an orange light appeared.
The light source was an orange ball that floated above Hunger's hand. It looked like a fire compressed into a tennis ball. It spewed tendrils of light in random directions every now and then, as if Hunger had a very small sun in his possession.
'First weird dreams, then teleportation, and now small suns?! I'm going crazy!'
"This is magic," Hunger said with a smile while playing with the bright ball of light with his fingers, as every time he lifted a finger, the orb lifted upward as well. "Although it doesn't work like you would probably think, I'll explain it later. Follow me."
As Hunger began to walk, Bo noticed that the walls were metallic.
He touched them out of curiosity. They were warm. They should be cold.
"Why aren't there any lights here?" Bo asked.
"I tried, but it wasn't worth the effort," Hunger answered nonchalantly.
'What does he mean by effort? What effort? To construct lights? I'm feeling so stupid…'
Finally, walking in the dark, they came upon a metallic door. It looked like the wall was carved into the wall, as it was made of the same metal.
"Well. This may have been a long walk, but we're finally here," Hunger said, approaching Bo.
Out of nowhere, a bucket appeared in Hunger's hands, which he handed to Bo.
"You'll need to wear it as a helmet. It doesn't have a hole for your eyes and ears. It blocks all light, smells, and sounds from reaching your senses."
As Bo looked at it, he noticed that the bucket had the shape of a face.
"Why do I need to wear it?" Bo asked sceptically.
"Because you aren't ready to see what is beyond this door," Hunger answered ominously.
'If Hunger wanted to kill me, he would have done it by now. He can always do so, like in the dream. Still, if magic exists… everything is possible.'
"I'm sorry, Hunger, but I'm a bit hesitant to be honest. Can you explain to me a bit more about this situation? I'm thinking that I'm going crazy at this point." Bo asked partly jokingly but mostly seriously.
"Sure," Hunger said, he smiled as always, and as usual, Bo felt that it was a false one, "But you can't remember what I'll tell you, so we'll do the following."
He reached for his pocket and handed Bo a blue pill.
"This is used for heroes who experience post traumatic stress disorder after battles. This will make you forget the last thing you were terribly afraid of."
"That means I'll be terribly afraid of something," Bo said.
"Welcome to the world of heroes, Novice," Hunger replied, having a cynical smile, this time real.
"After I'll tell you the secret, you'll eat the pill, confirming that it is indeed worth entering, even if it scared you very, very much."
'He may forcefully make me take the pill, I'll try to read his position… What can go wrong, tsk.' Bo thought.
"Well, if my brother went through this, I have to as well."
"That's the spirit!"
Then came darkness, and suddenly he was looking at Hunger in a slightly different position, his hand covering his mouth, the pill gone.
"Good," Hunger said, smiling, "now put the helmet on and let's get this over with."
After a couple of seconds of hesitation, he put on the helmet.
Everything became dark and quiet. He could only hear his own heartbeat.
He felt someone carefully leading him, pushing him, and then nothing.
He only felt and heard his heartbeat.
It was racing.
Then something touched him. It was warm compared to the room temperature, and it felt a bit sticky. It touched his left palm, slowly dragging itself up his hand, towards his upper chest. As it went up, the feeling disappeared for a second, until he began to feel something gripping his helmet.
'Shit, shit, shit. What the hell is happening?'
Then he felt another thing touching his right palm, dragging itself up his hand, towards his chest, but this time going downwards, until the feeling rested on his lower abdomen.
After it rested there for a couple of seconds, it made a sucking feeling, until Bo felt a little pinch in the abdomen.
'Shit. Knowing that it was so scary that I had to take the pill doesn't help. Well… What could go wrong, ha! I'm going crazy!'
Then something weird happened. It could only be described as something flipping through a book, but the book was your mind, and the pages contained your memories.
Bo couldn't think, only experience.
Memories passed through his vision. Some were as clear as day, especially the ones about his brother's death. Some were hazy, almost unrecognizable. Some were unfamiliar at first, but became more familiar the longer the memory stayed in his mind.
Then it stopped on a memory, a memory which was hazy. It was his dream, the first dream, the dream within a dream.
He experienced the dream a second time, although a bit hazier.
He saw the magnificent door of Happiness and the dark door of Vengeance. He saw the doors of Acceptance and Rest, and all the other different doors in the background. Then he came to the point where he tripped, and the little door fused into his palm.
The memory rewinded. Again, in the same order, the door of Happiness, the door of Vengeance, going back to the door of Acceptance, tripping, fusing.
Again, Happiness, Vengeance, Acceptance, tripping fusing, Happiness, Vengeance, Acceptance, tripping fusing…. It rewinded an uncountable number of times… until finally, it stopped.
It stopped on the image of the tiny door, clearer than ever before, on his palm, right before it fused in. The memory zoomed in, as if it were a video on a screen, but the screen was Bo's vision.
There was writing, very small, on the top of the door. It was familiar to Bo, but he didn't know where. Then it stopped.
The thing that touched him started shaking. The feeling in his abdomen was minimal, but his whole head was shaking from side to side.
Then, out of nowhere, it started lifting him up.
Bo felt like his head was about to be disconnected from his body as he was lifted from it.
Then the feeling vanished, and he began to fall.
He still felt pressure on his head, as if the thing that lifted him up had disconnected.
He prayed for something to save him, but nothing did.
He fell straight on his knees, and he felt cracks as sharp pain shot through his body. His knees began to throb with pain.
He lay, wherever he was.
He was probably screaming, but he couldn't hear his own voice.
Suddenly, a sharp pain came from his abdomen. He was sliced open, he was sure.
This type of pain, where he couldn't think, couldn't do anything but experience it, doesn't lie.
He felt like his body was spilling beyond his skin. He didn't want to let whatever was spilling away go.
Then something pushed through the cut from outside his body, reaching for something. It grabbed onto something and pulled it out.
This time, there wasn't any pain. He just felt like something had stolen the most precious thing from him.
He felt his identity taken away, his soul.
Everything became black.
He saw his brother, and with him came a strong sense of deja vu.
Cal's figure was tall and broad, his hair long, his eyes golden.
Their eyes met, and realization hit Cal.
He tried to shout something as hard as he could, but no sound came through.
Blackness returned. Again.