Dawn- An age of Darkness

Drip!

Water dripped from the ceiling, down to my face. I woke up with a terrible sting on my shoulder.

I had been in a similar situation before, but this time the ceiling was made of rock. And instead of a door, there were metal bars. 

Is this some sort of prison?

Never thought I\'d miss that boat of all things.

I groaned as I tried to move: I couldn\'t. I lay on a black crystal floor covered with soft fabric. 

"Looks like he\'s awake."

Someone was there in the next cell. It was dark and pyres burned. I couldn\'t see his face but his voice sounded younger than mine.

As more and more of my senses came back, the pain increased, and gradually I could hear the pyre\'s burning and distant murmurs.

With some more moans and groans, I tried to sit up. My body was mummified; the bandages were everywhere with the exception of my face. To no one\'s surprise I was missing a precious thing; an arm. My fuzzy memories came back to haunt me. 

So all of that was real…

"I wouldn\'t move in that condition if I were you," he said.

"But you\'re not me." I sat up. It hurt more than I thought it would. 

How the hell is this damn body still kicking?

"Good point, ha haha ha." He chuckled.

I couldn\'t see his face nor could I see his clothes. But he was definitely younger than me. I got the feeling that someone else was there with him but I couldn\'t see anything.

There were other cells around us but there wasn\'t anybody in them- at least, I didn\'t see any. "Is this some sort of dungeon?" Even if it was, shouldn\'t there have been guards around? Or was this place abandoned? That didn\'t seem likely though.

"Yup. Just like the ones you\'ll find in Dungeon Crawlers and such," he said.

"What did you say?"

"Oops. Sorry I didn\'t mean to say that. It\'s only natural that you won\'t understand that." He tried to sound apologetic but it only made my suspicions skyrocket.

I took a gamble. "No, that\'s not what I meant. Aren\'t those games? Are you from earth! Hey! Hey!"

That was my first real encounter with a fellow earthling. If he knew Dungeon Crawling games then he must have come from earth. Just thinking that made me overexcited. However, that did come at a price; my body writhed in pain because of my sudden over-the-top emotional outburst.

Oh damn! It hurts!

"Calm down bro. I am." I waved his arms around gently, to soothe me. Strangely it only pissed me off.

But I did try to be calm- calmer. 

Come to think of it, the emperor did mention things about summoning a lot of people. 

"That\'s awesome. Well, that clown of an emperor did mention something like that but-"

"Oh, you\'ve met him?" Now HE got excited. 

What\'s with the gasps? 

The guy sounded like he just found the lost city of Atlantis. Who knows, it might have actually existed in this world. "You haven\'t?"

"I\'ve never met the guy. I was sent a lackey and here we are," he said as he chuckled in disappointment. I didn\'t know what he was so disappointed about but this sudden change of attitude didn\'t sit well with me.

I could see much better than before. His face was still a little blurry but his outline struck me as a teenager. There was a clear shadow beside him in the cell next door.

"You mean that person behind you is a demon?"

"Bingo." He giggled.

I tried to hide my hate. I hated the demons and that was something I couldn\'t rid myself off. "What are you doing here?"

"Straight to the point eh? I don\'t mind though. I may or may not have tried to smooch someone." He fidgeted a little. 

Say what? 

The way he said something so sensitive in such a nonchalant and bashful way, clearly conveyed his character. I had a weirdo on my hands. "So, you\'re mentally disturbed?"

Anybody in their right mind wouldn\'t be that low, would he?

"Why would you think that?" He took a step back in shock. The guy actually had quick reflexes. 

I ignored his reaction and kept asking questions. "Anyway, what do you mean by a lackey? They didn\'t try to take you to the Galbatian empire?"

"I was actually summoned there, so-"

"Oh!"

If he was summoned there, then things might have been even harder for him. I was feeling more than enough empathy for him. I hadn\'t been summoned to that place, yet I suffered so much. I couldn\'t even begin to wonder how much this guy suffered and went through. My opinion of him increased dramatically although he might have been a womanizer.

There were footsteps. Cold brazen footsteps approached from a distance. The sound came from above us. Were we underground?

They came closer and closer and finally, I saw some proper lights. These lights didn\'t come from pyres or lamps. They came from a single woman. Holy light was emanating from her entire body. 

Who is that?

"You were right, my lady. He\'s awake!"  Judging by the voice it was Jowy\'s.

"You\'re the emperor now, try to talk like one." The woman said in a soft but clear voice. Her voice echoed throughout the dungeon although she hadn\'t spoken in a loud voice. 

"Yes, my lady."

"That\'s what I meant to change!"

What were they going on about? Here I was covered in wounds and they were worried about how they addressed each other. What a world!

"Daarc, this is Lady Imazael. She was the one whom I mentioned in that forest." Jowy was as nonchalant as ever. And he didn\'t even bother to say hi and just went on with it.

"I wanted to meet you sooner, but circumstances can be quite a deadlock," she said.

I didn\'t know who she was but her appearance led me to believe she must have been someone really important. It was possible that Jowy had a crush on her as well, judging by the way he stared at her longingly.

And glowing clothes? This world certainly had weird shit if nothing else.

I couldn\'t blame him for having so. She was beautiful and really so. Her bright blue dress complimented her pale blue eyes and hair. Her skin looked finer than porcelain.

"So, this is your crush?"

"WH-wha-what are you saying! Show respect, she\'s-!" Jowy was flustered. That was the first time I\'d seen an elf showing that much emotion all at once.

It was just a joke dude. Get a grip!  I couldn\'t say it out loud though.

"I am Imazael, the demigod of water. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

A demigod? Her? 

I didn\'t doubt. She seemed to fit the bill. "Is that why you\'re glowing?"

"You could say that." She chuckled.

For a god, she appeared fairly human. If they hadn\'t told me, I\'d probably dismissed her for royalty rather than an actual god.

"What happened after I-"

I didn\'t finish. My mind kind of went blank. I feared the bad news that waited for me.

"We subjugated all the monsters and then-"

"And?"

Jowy didn\'t answer. He looked away…

"Your companion, the little girl, fled" Imazael answered.

"Alisa," I sighed in anguish.

"We tried to stop her but we were unable to do so." 

Well, she herself was a demigod after all.

I took a deep breath and met Imazael\'s gaze. "So, you were the one who healed me?"

"Yes. That is correct. That reminds me; don\'t try to channel your magic directly on your body."

"Why is that?"

"Because next time you won\'t get out unscathed. And most of your internal organs are already damaged so, even with the ability-" She paused. "Next time, you won\'t survive. At least I will be powerless to save you."

I didn\'t want to know that.

"Did she say anything?" I asked. "Did Alisa say anything?"

I didn\'t want to ask that but I- asked. Some part of me considered her- Alisa, my friend: more like a little sister. Maybe I was just using her as a replacement for my own dead sister. But… but maybe just maybe that wasn\'t the case.

"She left two days after the incident. Now it\'s already been a full month. She didn\'t say anything to me," Jowy said.

"A month!?"

"Yes."

I took a good look at my body. It was healed to some extent and most of the wounds had already sealed. I looked more than enough skinny. But even so, I could move around… But the pain was definitely substantial.

"You won\'t believe how hard it was to feed you potions while you were unconscious. You are alive only because of the potions. If they weren\'t given to you, you would have starved to death, even with my lady\'s healing." Jowy paused for a moment. "Sometimes I even had to mouth…" He trailed off, clearly embarrassed.

My body shivered once. 

Did you really need to tell me that? 

I tried my best to delete the thing he just said.

  Rest in peace, memory. 

"What about the old man?" I chuckled to hide the uneasiness.

"He left for his homeland. However, he did leave a note for you." He gave me a note through the bar.. I took it and kept it in my hand.