Sylus found himself in a bright landscape, which was void; nothing could be seen in miles beyond his reach.
"Where am I?"
He muttered, looking around, trying to see if he would be able to make out his exact location, if he could tell where he was. It would help him get help and, most of all, understand what he was even doing there in the first place.
He started walking, trying to see if he could reach another point that wasnt empty, but it felt like he was moving around in circles.
"What in the world is this place?" Sylus groaned out of frustration; he knew something was off. He stopped walking, trying to see if he could get help anyway.
"Is anyone here?!"
He screamed into the distance, but it was almost like he was in a cave, as he could hear his voice bounce off and bounce back to him.
Sylus felt disheartened; he didnt know where he was or what he was about to do there. But suddenly he heard something; it came from behind him. He turned to see something flying towards him, trying to make a clear image of what it was.
From that distance, it looked like a bird flying, but the moment Sylus saw it, he knew that it was no bird or normal creature.
"No, this isn't happening!" He turned and started running, knowing that if the creature coming behind caught up to him, then he was bound to die.
But then he turned, and he could see it almost close to him. Its wings were vigorously flapping, darkness and flames following the shadow it cast down on the surface.
Sylus picked up his pace, trying to see if he would be able to outrun it. But the creature got closer and closer, he wasnt going to have the chance to get away anymore.
Sylus turned to look at the creature to see if it was almost over his head. He caught a glimpse of the monster trying to kill him. Filled with fear, he tripped, falling to the floor with a loud thud.
Curling up on the floor, he closed his eyes, accepting fate in the jaws of the monster. But death never came, Sylus opened his eyes to see if the monster was still there.
There was no monster, but a person covered in a tattered cloak. His face sealed, but a set of bright white eyes was shown, no sign of pupils in his eyes, making it feel like Sylus was standing face to face with a divine being.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered, looking at the being in front of him, trying to move, but his body refused to take the order.
The being tilted its head, looking at Sylus, slowly raising its hand at him.
It then spoke.
'Arise and conquer, Saint of Chaos!'
Sylus sprang up from the hospital bed, sweating heavily, trying to wrap his head around what was happening.
"Where is he?" he was looking around to see if he would spot the being that was in front of him. But it was to no avail; the only thing in front of him was the hospital's equipment. He knew that there was a chance that he was having a dream.
He slowly looked around the room, with no memory of what had happened to have landed him there. His mind was hazy, and he was trying to put it together, but little to no help trying to understand what was going on.
Touching his chest, he knew the being had done something to him. It was like a telekinetic shove that pushed him back up.
'It felt so real." Sylus said, looking down at his chest, trying to see if he was going to bump into any wounds.
"What do you mean by that?" A lady's voice from outside his ward knocked him out of focus. Sylus turned to look at the door.
'Hey, I know that voice.' Sylus thought to himself with his attention fixed on the door.
"I am telling you, Miss Cage, there is no way for him to be awake now. He had taken a lot of damage according to his friends, but."
"I am going to see my brother; there is nothing you are going to tell me to even stop me."
Sylus could recognize the voice; it was his sister, but what he couldn't understand was what she was doing there.
The door swung open, and a lady walked in. Her curly red hair falling to her shoulder, as her fierce look was one of the most defining features she had, a set of bright hazel eyes. It could be seen as heavenly when looked at properly.
Freya Cage, SS-ranked warrior and Sylus' younger sister. Who had gotten the news of her brother being in a rogue dungeon incident, she wouldn't stand outside and let anything happen to him.
She turned to see Sylus getting up from the bed; her feeling of relief overtook her.
"Brother."
She ran towards Sylus, jumping into his arms with a smile on her face. Her tight grip was evidence that she was relieved that he was okay.
"Uhm, sister, please don't add more force to your hug or else you might break my spleen, and we don't want that, do we?"
Freya broke free from the hug, and without wasting time, she kicked him in the leg.
"Ouch!" Sylus cried in pain as he held his leg, looking at his sister. "Could you tell me what that was for?"
"Rogue dungeon?" Freya raised a brow, looking at her brother. She wasnt the type to be overly ecstatic. "What if, I dont know, maybe whatever it was inside that place had eviscerated you?"
Sylus could hear the subtle hints of worry in her voice; he knew she wasnt trying to look tough in all her sincerity. She was worried, and it was the only way for her to show it.
"What do you think I would have done?" She asked, looking at her brother, it wasnt going to be easy for her to imagine life with him not being there with her. "Two whole days, they said you were out like a light, they were observing you in intensive care, I couldn't see you."
Freya couldn't stand the thought of losing him; it was going to be one of the worst things. He was all she had left in the world, and there was no way for her to even imagine it without him being there.
Sylus smiles a bit, walking to his sister. He calmly hugs her, trying to calm her down.
"Now, please dont stain your clothes with tears because of me. The powerful Feathered Flame Princess shouldn't cry, not because of her reckless big brother."
Freya chuckled a bit. Holding Sylus was one of the best things she could get; it was now calm in her head for a while.
"I am happy you're okay. I was scared that I had lost you to some ravaging monster." She broke from the hug, looking at her brother with a smile on her face. "According to the other workers who were with you, they said it was a building-sized cat beast. And you were the one holding it in while they got away."
Sylus had a faint smile. He turned to look at the window. The smile on his face was weak. His heart was filled with worry; he thought, what if something had happened to him?
"Yeah, I dont remember what took me down." he turned to look at his sister. His heart was now calm, but there was a look on her face that was unsettling for even him.
"Now what has your feathers ruffled?"
Freya was looking at Sylus. She knew that something was wrong. But then it wasnt yet clear to anyone, the only way to explain it was if Sylus had somehow unlocked his core.
"When the bureau got there, they didnt see anything that looked like a monster, but they could see the visible signs of attacks and struggle in the dungeon, and there was you, lying on a rock unconscious, with ash floating around the place."
She paused, looking at her brother, trying to see if there was going to be any chance for her to shake his mind.
"I wanted to know if you, by any chance, know how something was able to disintegrate a monster that strong?"
Sylus stood there puzzled, he didnt even recall how he was saved from the dungeon. When he tried to recall what had happened, he got flashes of the dungeon; the only thing he could remember was a loud, bloodcurdling roar and a bright blast of light.
"Ah." He placed his hand on his forehead, the pain from trying to shuffle through his memory.
Freya saw him in pain, not wanting to make him go through that anymore, and decided to keep the questions down.
"I'm sorry, dont stress yourself." She placed her hand on Sylus's back; she didn't want anything to be the problem with him.
"I will go handle the paperwork, then we can be on our way. Don't worry, I got groceries, and I plan to make you the best spaghetti and steak."
"Frey?"
Sylus called out. She paused, turning to look at him.
"Huh, is something wrong?" She asked, trying to understand why he called her like that.
"Do you feel that?"
Sylus felt something odd, like a shift in the atmosphere, but it was subtle, almost as if something were shifting.
Freya looked around. She didn't feel a thing, but was a bit confused. Thinking her brother might be feeling rather woozy from the injuries.
"I don't feel anything. Maybe lying three whole days on a bed doesn't actually help the body." She smiled, opening the door.
"I will see you in a second!"
Sylus was left alone, turning to look out the window. He couldn't tell what was going on, but there were clear signs that something was about to happen. He slowly looked down at his right arm, and there was something right there.
It was a tattoo, one of what looked like a star with sixteen different openings on it, almost like it was waiting for something to fill it up.