As I headed in Cally's general direction, I forced myself to navigate through Eastwatch's busy streets. The sun hung high in the sky, shining bright and clear, as if to mock my dire situation. Laughter, music, and shouting filled the air, creating a loud cacophony.

Tourists roamed about, while the locals tried to fleece them for coin. None of them could see me, thanks to my invisibility bracelet. It took a lot of effort to avoid them all, but it was a necessity. The last thing I needed was to bump into someone and reveal my presence. I was leaving a trail of blood behind, which was bad enough.

While drinking a Healing Potion stopped most of the bleeding, it hadn't stopped all of it. However, that mattered little to me. Right now, all that mattered was reaching Cally. She could save me. She had to. Otherwise, I was dead.

As time passed, the burning sensation from the poison grew stronger and stronger, while I grew weaker and weaker. My vision started to swim. Despite my best efforts, the poison continued to spread through my body. I slowed it down by blocking it with my mana, but I couldn't stop it completely.

Fuck. A grim smile spread across my face. Anna and the others were going to kill me after I told them what happened. Maybe they were right. Maybe I was reckless to the point of stupidity. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this situation.

Someone bumped into me and I stumbled to the side. I managed to keep myself from falling over by grabbing onto a nearby food stall. This startled the owner, but I paid them no mind. I pushed myself up again and continued forward. However, after I took a few more steps, I realized that I couldn't keep on like this. My situation was growing more dire by the second. I wouldn't be able to make it to Cally. The poison was too strong and was spreading too fast.

In that case, my best chance at survival was asking random strangers for help. This came with its own problems, and risked alerting our enemies, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. It was either that, or die.

However, just as I reached over to deactivate my invisibility bracelet, another wave of weakness washed over me. I stumbled to the side again, and this time there wasn't a food stall to grab onto. I fell to the side of the road, just beyond all the foot traffic.

Dozens of people walked past, yet none of them could see me. I tried to move, but my body refused to obey. Calling out for help didn't help either. I found that I couldn't speak. My voice came out as a faint croak. No one heard my plea over the general din.

Despair gripped my heart. Even asking random strangers wasn't an option at this point. Was this the end for me? Was this how I died? On the side of the road, invisible and unable to call for help?

Fuck me. At least I died fighting a Demon Lord last time. Dying like this was pathetic in comparison.

No. I refused to accept this. This was not how my current life ended.

I reached out to grab someone, anyone, and ask them for help. However, just as I did so, someone stepped in front of me. Whoever they were, they wore a set of blue and white robes with some kind of pattern. I couldn't see it in detail, due to my blurry vision.

"So," a woman's voice said. "This is where you ended up."

Shock filled me. I recognized that voice. However, that was impossible. She couldn't be here. This was Lumina, not Earth.

As I laid there, poisoned and in a daze, the woman in front of me reached down and shoved something into my mouth. It was an elixir, one that tasted bitter.

"Swallow," the woman said. "Unless you want to die before I can bring you to a healer."

I stopped resisting and swallowed the elixir. It had an immediate effect. The poison stopped spreading throughout my body. My condition didn't get better, but it didn't get worse either.

Afterwards, the woman hefted me into her arms in a princess-style carry, before walking off. My heart jolted when I looked at her face, and everything else faded away. While my vision was too blurry to make out any details, her general appearance was as familiar to me as her voice.

The woman who carried me in her arms had fair skin and a slender build. Long black hair cascaded down her back, like a silky waterfall. She smelled of water and mist.

"Teacher?" I called out in a faint voice.

The woman stilled, before chuckling.

"What an embarrassment," she said in an amused voice. "Almost dying to a mere Third Star nobody. You should be ashamed of yourself."

If her voice and her appearance hadn't already convinced me, the way she spoke would have. She really was Teacher. But how?

"It is you," I said, both relieved and ready to cry. "How?"

"Does it matter?" Teacher asked. "I'm here now."

I chuckled, though it came out as more of a wheeze. She was right. It didn't matter how Teacher ended up here. She was here. That's all I cared about.

"I missed you," I said.

Teacher let out an amused snort.

"I'd say the same, but considering your shameful display just now, maybe it would've been better if I just left you to die," Teacher said.

Despite her caustic words, I knew she didn't mean it. This was just Teacher's way of expressing her worry. If she was really going to leave me to die, she would've just done it.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I got sloppy."

"You got cocky," Teacher corrected. "You underestimated your opponent because she was a Third Star martial artist."

I nodded. She was right. Ever since I reached Second Star, Third Ranked Awakened became less of a threat to me. Or so I thought. How arrogant.

"Never let an opponent injure you if you can help it," Teacher continued. "They might be wielding a poisoned blade. How could you forget something so basic?"

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling like a scolded child. "It won't happen again."

"It better not," Teacher said. "Or I'm leaving you to die next time."

A warmth filled my heart. I closed my eyes and reveled in it. Teacher cloaked her affection in harsh words. There was a reason why I called her a shrew despite my love and respect for her.

"See? I knew you missed me too."

Teacher snorted, but didn't refute my words. The two of us fell silent for a while. With my eyes closed, my hold on consciousness started to slip. However, I refused to go to sleep. What if Teacher disappeared again? We just reunited. I didn't want to lose her again. So, I opened my eyes and forced myself to remain awake.

"Sleep," Teacher said. "Let your body rest and recover."

I shook my head.

"No," I said. "What if you disappear? I don't want to lose you again."

Teacher chuckled.

"Even if I do, we'll see each other again," she said. "We'll have our first official meeting after you deal with the little succubus problem here. At first, I planned on just observing. However, I couldn't stand by and let you die." Her voice grew sharp. "However, this is the only time I'll come to your aid. Get careless again, and I really will leave you to die. I have no use for suicidal descendants."

There was something off about her words, but I was too tired to think it through. Oh well. It didn't matter. She said that we would see each other again. That's all that mattered to me.

I started to fall asleep again, this time without resisting. However, a thought jolted me awake.

"Teacher, you're in danger," I said, my words a little slurred.

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"Oh?" Teacher said, amused. "How so?"

"Blood Demon. He's here on Lumina."

Teacher stopped walking and didn't respond right away.

"He is, is he?" she asked in a sharp voice. "How do you know?"

Teacher resumed walking.

"I met him in the Icefall region. He almost killed me, but spared my life when he realized I was your student." I yawned. Despite my desire to remain awake, exhaustion was creeping over me. "He's working with a group of demon worshipers. They're trying to destroy Lumina."

Teacher let out a bitter laugh.

"So that's how it is," she said, as if speaking to herself. "He's trapped here and is willing to destroy this entire realm in order to escape." She paused. "Would he stop if he knew I was here?" She scoffed. "Of course he wouldn't. He left me to die before. Why would it be any different now?"

What was she talking about?

"What is… your relationship… with Blood Demon?" I asked.

It was getting more and more difficult to speak.

"I'll tell you when we meet next," Teacher said. "For now, go to sleep. Rest and recover."

I nodded and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, the first thing I noticed was the pain. My body felt sore and ached all over. The second thing I noticed was the sensation of cold metal against both of my wrists. It felt like I wore a pair of manacles. That was not a good sign.

What happened? Had I been captured? The last thing I remembered was Teacher carrying me in her arms. At least, I think it was Teacher. Some of the things she said seemed odd, but the way she acted and spoke was just like the Teacher I knew. Something strange was going on. However, I could figure that out later. Right now, I had bigger problems to worry about.

With my eyes still closed, I kept my breathing slow and even as I tried to assess my situation. I laid atop a warm and comfy bed, which contradicted my being captured theory. The faint scent of vanilla teased my nose.

Wait. Vanilla?

"Stop pretending, Gabriel," Anna said. "I know you're awake."

My eyes flew open. I was back in the room I shared with Anna at the Southside Inn, laying atop our bed. From the lighting, it appeared to be late afternoon. Anna herself was sitting next to the bed, with her arms crossed and a furious expression on her face. She wore a red and yellow dress in the local style.

"Anna?" I asked, sitting up. Rather, I tried to. However, the manacles on my wrists prevented me. The clinking of metal rang out. "What is going on? Why am I chained up like this?"

"It's for your own safety, Gabriel," Anna said. "Otherwise, you'd already be out of bed and running off to almost get yourself killed again."

I blinked at her.

"I know it was pretty bad this time," I said, rattling the manacles. "However, don't you think this is excessive?"

Anna's furious expression deepened.

"'Pretty bad?'" She stood up and leaned forward, until she loomed over me. "It was more than 'pretty bad', Gabriel." Anna held her thumb and index finger less than an inch apart. "You came this close to dying. If Cally hadn't healed you when she had, we would've lost you. So no, chaining you up isn't excessive." She shook her head. "As I said, this is for your own good. Sometimes, you're the greatest danger to yourself."

Anger burned within me and I opened my mouth to retort, but stopped myself when I looked into Anna's eyes. The fear and despair I saw extinguished the anger in my heart.

"I'm sorry," I said in a quiet voice.

"Good." Anna leaned back and let out a bitter laugh. "Why is it that everyone around you seems to care more about your safety than you do?"

"In my defense, I didn't go looking for danger this time around," I said. "It came looking for me."

Anna nodded.

"We know," she said. "The woman who brought you back told us what happened." She glared at me. "And before you say anything, walking up to a succubus by yourself counts as looking for danger. What were you thinking?"

Wait a moment. I perked up.

"This woman," I said. "What did she look like?"

Anna gave me an incredulous look.

"Is that really important right now?" she asked.

I gave her a solemn look.

"Yes."

Anna narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why?" she asked with a warning in her tone.

"I think she's my teacher," I said. "The one I told you about."

Anna studied me for several moments.

"Too skinny and too pale with long black hair," she said.

That wasn't how I would describe Teacher, but close enough. I let out a relieved sigh. So, it had really been her. A part of me feared that it had a dream or a hallucination.

"So it really was her," I muttered, a faint smile on my lips.

"Gabriel," Anna said. "I understand that you're happy to be reunited with this teacher of yours, but we're in the middle of a conversation."

I stopped smiling and nodded.

"Sorry." I rattled the manacles again. "Could you loosen them a little or unlock one of them? I want to be able to at least sit up."

Anna narrowed her eyes at me again.

"Only if you promise to stay in bed for the next three days," she said.

"Three days?!" I asked. "No. That's too long!"

"It doesn't matter if you agree or not," Anna said. "You're staying in bed for the next three days. How comfortable you are during those three days is up to you."

From the expression on Anna's face, I realized that she wouldn't budge on this matter. Given what happened, I couldn't blame her.

"Very well," I said. "I promise to stay in bed for the next three days."

Though I knew it would drive me crazy with boredom.

"Good," Anna said, before she stood up to loosen the manacles.

After she finished, she sat down again while I sat up.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"A little over a day."

That long? Well, considering I almost died, that was a bit short. In fact, that was a lot shorter than I expected. Thank the gods for healing magic.

"What happened while I was asleep?" I asked.

Anna glared at me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"I already promised to stay in bed," I said. "At least keep me informed of what's going on. Otherwise I'll go insane."

Anna studied me for a moment, before sighing.

"Fine," she said. "Cally found a succubus yesterday. Considering you also met one at around the same time, we now know that there is more than one in the city. The succubus was selling cursed skewers while using a concealment spell to hide. Cally wasn't able to decipher the concealment spell right away, but given enough time, she will. Once that happens, she'll be able to come up with a countermeasure.

Anna gestured to herself.

"As for me, I talked with Marcio and his family about the disappearances. While they knew that there was something strange going on in the city, they hadn't realized just how bad it was. I managed to convince them to talk with the other local families and help gather more information."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"You did?" I asked. "How?"

Anna snorted.

"I can be persuasive when I need to be," she said. "Just because I look like a brute and act like one, doesn't mean I am one."

"I never thought you were a brute," I said. "From the moment I first saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life."

Anna pointed a finger at me while trying not to smile.

"Don't you try and charm me," she said. "I'm still angry with you."

"But I wasn't trying to charm you. I was just telling the truth."

Anna let out an exasperated sound.

"How can anyone be this cute?" she asked.

I grinned at her.

"To get back on topic," Anna said. "I told Marcio and his family that news of the disappearances would spread sooner or later. When that happened, no one would want to visit Eastwatch anymore. That would kill a lot of livelihoods. The best solution was to find the cause of the disappearances and deal with it."

I nodded. Appealing to a person's self-interest often worked. A person may or may not be willing to help others because it was the right thing to do. However, almost everyone was willing to help others for selfish reasons.

"And Leroy?" I asked. "The two of us were supposed to meet up."

Anna nodded.

"When you didn't show up, Leroy realized that something was wrong and came looking for the rest of us," she said. "We were about to head out to look for you, but then your teacher appeared out of nowhere, carrying you in her arms."

Anna scowled when she said that last part. Was… Was she jealous of Teacher? Surely not. While I loved Teacher, and she loved me, it was similar to the love between parent and child. Any romance between us would be akin to incest. The mere thought made me sick to my stomach.

"We brought you here, so Cally could heal you," Anna continued. "While that happened, your teacher told us about what happened to you. The succubus that you met, the woman who tried to kidnap you, the poisoned dagger. Everything. She disappeared right after. And before you ask, no, we don't know where she went."

I sighed.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I got cocky and careless. It never occurred to me that my attacker would use a poisoned weapon."

Anna glared at me.

"Then let this be a lesson," she said. "Learn from it. If you die because of something stupid, I'll make you regret it. Understand?"

I nodded. When I had the chance, I needed to get my hands on some general antidotes and antivenins. That way, if something like this happened again, I could take one and buy myself time to get to a proper healer.

"Good," Anna said. "Now scoot over. I stayed up all night and all day waiting for you to wake up, and I'm tired."

I made room for Anna. She climbed into bed and latched onto me. The two of us adjusted our positions, until we found a comfortable one. With each breath, I inhaled Anna's vanilla scent. Most of the time I found it intoxicating. However, in this moment, I found it soothing.

"Don't die," Anna said in a vulnerable voice. "I lost too many people already. I couldn't bear to lose you too. Please, I beg of you, Gabriel. Don't die."

Her words pierced my heart like an arrow.

"I promise," I said in a low voice. "Even if I die, I'll find a way to reunite with you."

"You better," Anna muttered.

The two of us fell silent after that. The two of us stayed like this for some time, just holding each other. Soon, we fell asleep in each other's arms.

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