Hospital: Room 205: Intensive Care Unit
A hooded figure enters the room. He sees the still body of a young man around the age of 19. The hooded figure walks over to the window and pulls open the curtains. The bright morning light floods the room. The young man groans as if he is possessed by some dark being.
Adrian's Dream World
"Get out of my head," Adrian cries. He is completely surrounded by darkness.
"I'll never leave you," Nocturne said, "you will forever remain in this dream realm with me, The Eternal Nightmare."
"Kyah!" Adrian raises his hand up into the darkness. A ray of light shines down upon it, and he swipes from that ray of light a sword with an orange tint. He slashes the darkness a couple of times, and the sword's light permeates the darkness, revealing the shriveled form of Nocturne. "Get out."
"Please I swear, I must," Nocturne whimpers.
"No more games Nocturne," Adrian pulls up the sword and brings it down upon Nocturne. Knowing that he is defeated, Nocturne leaves Adrian's dream.
The darkness soon disappears, and Adrian feels beneath him a sandy beach. He suddenly has the urge to run to the lighthouse he sees off in the distance. He runs through plains of light green grass. Passes by patches of flowers that are painted with colors unlike any he has ever seen. He looks to his left and notices a boy running with him to the lighthouse. The boy fades away as soon as the lighthouse comes into clearer view.
Adrian soon arrives at the entrance of the lighthouse. Knowing that he is at the threshold of some destiny, Adrian opens the door.
It slowly creaks open and dust flies out. He hears laughing inside the room, but no one is there. He sees the white dress of a young girl go up the stairs. She is holding a worn out book with the title art that has been faded by age and use.
Adrian follows her upstairs and reaches the top of the lighthouse.
He looks around but once again he finds no one. He steps to the edge of the lighthouse and looks out into the setting sun. He feels in his right hand, the comforting warmth of another hand.
He looks to his right and sees the girl that he followed up, only she is now his age. She steps closer to Adrian, but a strong breeze blows through the lighthouse. It pushes him off the lighthouse and sends him into the ocean. The last thing he sees is her hand reaching out to him, and Adrian attempts to reach back.
Adrian plunges into the water, he loses his ability to breathe, as he is drawn into a whirlpool of light. As he gets closer to the event horizon, the current gets stronger. Eventually, nothing exists.
Hospital Room
The monitors keeping track of the young man's vitals begin beeping incessantly. The heart rate monitor continues to gain in frequency as his heart begins to beat frantically. The veins and arteries are clearly visible on his body, and the young man begins to sweat profusely. Doctors begin to rush into the room, but the hooded figure shoves them off and tells them to wait.
The darkness inside of him rises and reveals itself to the people in the room. The doctors, frightened by what they saw, run out of the room, but the hooded figure holds his ground.
The darkness tries to shield itself from the light flooding the room, but is soon overwhelmed by it. The darkness is soon purged away from existence by the brightness of the morning light. The young man calms down, and then his heart beat rate spikes again, this time even greater than before.
The hooded figure pulls out an elixir from a pouch he is carrying. He grabs the IV bag, and pours some of it into the bag, turning the aqueous mixture a bright red. The new mix is dispersed into his body, and the hooded figure sits down in one of the chairs next to the young man. He waits.
The heart rate continues to rise until it hits a sudden stop. The young man "flatlines."
"What are you doing," one of the Doctors asked, "did you kill him."
"Bring the AED," one of the nurses calls to the staff.
"No," the hooded figure responds, "why would I kill my own friend."
After a few minutes, the heart beat returns to normal.
Then, the young man wakes up. He gasps for air and waves his arms around like he is drowning.
He soon recollects himself and falls back in bed.
"Where am I," he asked.
"You are in a hospital," the hooded figure replied.
"Who are you," the young man asked.
"Before I answer that question," the hooded figure told him, "who are you?"
"I don't know who I am," the young man said, "I remember only distantly, that my name is Adrian."
"Well, Adrian, my name is Brian. I am your friend from a past life."
"Are you reincarnationist or something."
"No, that's just a metaphor. I guess the old man was right then, you did lose your memory."
"Who?"
"Never mind, let's get you out of here."
They walked over to the front desk, and Brian handed the receptionist a gold coin to cover the medical costs that Adrian accrued during his stay.
Brian and Adrian walk down the street, and they catch up on their history together. However, as each memory is restored, Adrian feels that there is still one huge part of his life missing that couldn't be recovered by Brian's stories. He wondered why he felt so strongly connected to the girl in the white dress, also known as Elise. The skies fill with clouds, and it begins to rain. They finally reach the apartment building where Brian was staying, and for the rest of the night talked about the past.
"Oh there is one more thing that the old man said would help recover your memory," Brian said. Brian pulled out an object wrapped in a leather cover. Carefully, Brian untied the ropes binding the leather together, and when the cover came off, it revealed a sword tucked in its scabbard. "I believe this is yours Adrian," Brian whispered softly. He held out the blade with the end of the hilt facing Adrian.
Adrian grasped the handle. When his hands met the cold steel and the leather grip, a series of flashbacks filled his mind. He soon remembered the love that his father showed him when he was first given the blade, the days he spent practicing in the lonely fields outside of Bilgewater, the angry mob that destroyed his life, and the fire that destroyed his home and his old life.
He also remembered the days of living on the road with Brian, and all the time they spent together. They remember the fateful day they saved the girl, Elise, and all the adventures they had together.
The Fields, The City, The Beach, The Lighthouse. All of it came back to him.
"Where is Elise," Adrian suddenly asked Brian.
"Well, I'm guessing that she must be in that island in the bay," Brian said. From their apartment room, they could see the fog covered island in the distance. "It's the only place in the world I sense a strong sense of magic, and a dark kind of magic as well."
"Let's go," Adrian commanded. They grabbed their belongings and headed out to the streets.