XXVII
These wars were slowly killing me. I couldn’t do this anymore. Sorry, Fulcan. Sorry, Roslyn.
Where...where was I?
Some sort of a metal chamber encased me. I don’t remember anything.
I was wearing a simple blue paper shirt and thin blue pants. I couldn’t move. I was dizzy, and in a lot of pain.
Wars? Who was Fulcan?
Who am I?
There was a voice outside the chamber. Faint, but audible.
“He’ll recover. It may take a while but he’ll recover.”
“How long will it take?”
“We can’t be sure. He’s been through a lot. There’s a minor fracture to his right skull, he’s still suffering from the bends, and he’s shown evidence of nitrogen narcosis. It’s a miracle he’s alive.”
“Can we see him?”
“Not until the pressurizing is complete. It’ll be soon.”
“I’m a healer.”
“Sorry, hospital protocols. We can’t let anyone see him, especially in his serious condition. We hope to get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Thank ye, doctor.”
“No worries, captain. Still remember those days when you gave me a chance to be a Vindor surgeon.”
“You’re always welcomed back to the fleet!”
The voices faded away as gas hissed into my chamber periodically. It made me want to fall asleep. Sleep. That sounded good. I liked sleep.
I woke up. I opened the door. I stepped out. Where was I?
I remembered. Father said, “Buy wood.” So he could build me a house.
I felt sleepy. Maybe I should sleep. That sounded good. I liked sleep.
I woke up. Why was I lying on the floor? Where was I?
There were people approaching me. They were running towards me. Help!
I crawled away. They all had a pattern on their clothes. A drop of blood with two swords sheathed behind. Were they a gang?
I kept crawling. They were calling a name repeatedly. Prokun...Ulterium. Was that me?
Who were they?
Someone caught me by surprise. He landed in front of me. He knocked me over. I started to shake. There was nothing to do now. I got caught.
He was wearing a purple cloak. And a purple hat. Why was he shouting that name?
I was surrounded. There was no escape. Surrounded by nine, ten, eleven people. Some had another gang symbol on their clothes. A knight piece from chess. I remembered chess. Why were they all around me?
I was getting dizzy again. I remembered this feeling. Maybe I should sleep. Yes, that sounded good. I liked sleep.
Where was I? There was a hospital bed, and I’m strapped to it. Eleven figures surrounded me, and they were all crying. Well, most of them. There was one man plated in gold with two curved swords who wasn’t crying. His arm was around a female’s waist, and she was sobbing like crazy. Why were they crying?
They were trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t take it in all at once. I pulled the covers over my head to block out the noise. Their cries grew louder and louder. I yelled for help.
Screaming was very tiring. The screaming was also hurting my head and throat. Maybe I should sleep, yes that sounded like a good idea. Sleep was always the answer, and I liked sleep.
It was black outside when I woke up and no one was here. I was in a dim room on a hospital bed. How long was I out for?
There was a war on Helterium’s island, but I don’t remember anything that had happened. Was the war over?
Still lying in the bed, I tried to recall everything. My arms and legs had regained feeling, but they still felt very weak. Where was my cloak? Where were my blades? Where was my guild?
I wondered if my guild had visited me. I wondered if Tarsus and his guild had visited me. I had so many questions, but I still felt very tired. I slightly remembered how I was hospitalized, but I couldn’t remember anything about my stay here.
The ocean was a scary place.
I sat up and forced myself awake so I could wait for the doctor to ask him some questions. Many questions. I kept waiting and waiting, but nobody came in.
It was probably the middle of the night I figured, and I’ve heard countless times that rest was a natural remedy for your body. Rest was good, and I could never say no to a good rest anyways, especially in a time like this. There was no one around, so I slumped back into my bed and drifted off.
The doctor was right above me when I woke up. She was a pretty girl, maybe a year or two younger than me. She reminded me of Roslyn. I sat up and grabbed her thin arms, trying to blurt out all my questions at once, but she managed to pull away from my weak grip and called for help. Two large men rushed in, pinning me down into the bed.
“I...I’m f-f-fine!”
My jaw felt strange. I hadn’t talked for so long the words came out of my stuttering mouth accented.
“Let him go,” the doctor commanded hesitantly. Instantly, the two men retreated and stepped outside the room.
“Prokun Ulterium, how are you feeling today?”
“H-h-how di-did t-t-the war g-go?”
“You need to exercise your jaw again. You haven’t spoken in...let’s see here...eighteen days.”
“Ei-Eight-Eight...teen d-d-days?!” I exclaimed, propping myself up.
“It’s a miracle you’re alive. Do you know where you are?”
“N-n-not under...water,” I responded.
The doctor giggled. She had a nice smile.
“Actually, you are.”
I didn’t respond. My head filled with memories of the recent adventure in the deep blue, and I simply sat on my bed with a horrified look.
“No worries, you’re safe here. It’s amazing to see you recover in such a short time.”
“A sh-sh-short t-time? Eighteen d-d-days is not sh-short!”
“Look at that, you’re already regaining your speech! You’re a strong fighter, Ulterium.”
“Where a-am I?”
“You’re in the Awk Roluun National Hospital. Do you remember Awk Roluun?”
“Un-unf-fortunately.”
The doctor giggled again.
“Well, the war hasn’t ended yet. The king and the captain that brought you in hopes you can join them very soon, but I told them you would need a lot of time to recover.”
“I can j-j-join them, I’m p-perfectly f-f-fine!”
“Soon, but not yet.”
“C-c-captain Famming brought m-me here?”
“I’ll let them tell you. They should be outside the hospital. They’re all on their toes waiting for your recovery; they’ll be overwhelmed when they hear you’re back. I’ll let them know about your temporary speech impediment so they won’t be too surprised.”
The doctor walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. I twisted my legs around and stood up, immediately tumbling down. My legs shook uncontrollably, and I crawled to the nearest wall to heave myself up.
There was a window on the wall blocked by a curtain. Curious, I whipped the curtain open to peer outside, only to stumble backwards and fall over again at the sight.
I was still underwater. There was an entire city outside, every building submerged in the deep blue. It was dark around the capital city, but large lanterns were anchored all around Awk Roluun to produce light to the entire city. Occasionally, a school of fish flashed across the window, their sudden appearance frightening me. Some would have called the city beautiful, but after everything I had been through, I slammed the curtains closed and crawled back to my bed. I didn’t want to be a part of any of it.
With what was left of my limited strength, I pulled myself up and rolled onto my back on the thin hospital bed. Thankfully, it was air all around me instead of water in the hospital. I looked around the room and noticed a small closet to my left. The hospital bed was placed in the middle of the rectangular room attached to a wall, and the closet was just an arm’s reach away to my left.
Trying my best, I rolled over and extended my left arm as far as I could, reaching for the closet door. I was certain all my belongings were in there, and seeing my cloak and blades would bring me comfort.
Strangely, I noticed the pure-golden ring on my left index finger. I thought I had always worn it on my right index.
The doors flung open as the eleven guild members rushed in. At first I didn’t remember why two were missing, but as I counted the faces, I recalled Kadava and Arcanor’s sudden return to Sanoctuis.
“Ulterium! You’re alive!”
“No k-kidding.”
Voices filled the room as delighted conversations and laughter ensued. I was embraced more than enough by the many guild members, and they all clamoured around my bed, voices overlapping voices.
As the group died down, I asked how I got here. The last thing I remembered before waking up in this bed was Sir Ehud’s distorted, bloated face. It was a terrifying image, but it was a starting point.
“Do you remember falling asleep aboard Famming’s ship?” Foku began.
“Yes. She g-gave me a p-pill.”
“Yeah, she told us that,” Foku continued. “Well shortly after you slept, the boat arrived at the center of the island. We were skimming the outskirts of the storm, and Famming had carefully navigated through the wind and waves, weaving closer and closer towards the eye of the storm. We would’ve made it, until we all got caught in a whirlpool. It was a sudden formation, but the waters violently stirred, dragging us all down. The last thing Famming told the crew before we went down was to put their rings on.”
He raised his right hand, showing the same ring as mine on his index finger.
“When we got sucked into the whirlpool, the lot of us were separated, especially when the ships broke apart. We were all scattered, but upon realizing how to breathe underwater, we were able to quickly reconvene with each other. When everyone but you was found, Famming sent a search party of twenty to go look for you while the rest of us headed towards Helterium’s lair. The only problem was that none of the search party dared to near the sunken ship, because they feared these superstitious monsters that dwelt in the deep.”
I swallowed dryly, recalling the bright, gruelling neon eyes.
“When they cowardly returned to Famming, she placed her Quartermaster in charge with Fulcan and personally went to find you. Apparently, she saw you darting upwards from a large nautical monster, and she told us how she baited the beast away before she swam up to save you. She also said something about swimming up slowly to avoid getting the bends.”
“The bends?”
“I didn’t know it either, but apparently it’s this build-up of nitrogen in your body that has to diffuse out before you ascend. If it’s stuck in your body when you ascend too quickly, you’ll face horrible consequences. And apparently, you got it. Anyways, by the time she reached you, you were already blacked out. She retrieved you and dove to Awk Roluun to place you in some pressurizing chamber at this hospital. It was the fastest way of getting rid of the bends, apparently.”
“Where is F-Famming now?”
“Out on the frontlines. The war’s not over yet, Ulterium. You woke up right in the heat of the war.”
Glo grabbed my hands. She breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled. Her eyes radiated an angelic white as she fully concentrated. There was something in me that felt renewed, something that felt refreshed. I shook her hands off and leapt onto the hospital floor, standing up confidently.
“I owe you a l-lot,” I smiled. My strength had recovered, and both my agility and endurance came back to me. “We’re g-gonna find Famming and end this w-war.”
Running to the closet, the two guilds patted me on the back and rushed out of my hospital room. My clothes and cloak were neatly folded on a rack, as predicted, with my belt and two refined krises sheathed on top. Taking the ring off my left hand and placing it on my right index finger, I threw on my clothes, tightened my belt, grabbed my blades, and casted on my thick cloak.
Helterium, here I came.