Confused. That is how I felt when I could once again comprehend the world around me.

Instead of my bed, I awoke on the cold floor. The floor made from unnaturally smooth material and the bright sun was illuminating very Sci-fi looking city. That was very empty now, but a multitude of clues indicated that people live here. Or at least lived.

Everything except for the floor around me made from some kind of metal. The metal looked very much like pure iron or some kind of silver. Weird lines that glowed with different colors laid on the surface of buildings and all of them connected in a weird pattern that reminded me about the futuristic electricity system. I once saw how the blueprints for our home system looked like. I didn't really understand what even half of the things painted there meant and probably never will.

This line of thinking reminded me of somethings. And as I remembered the void started to form in my soul. Mother. The tears started to form in my eyes and once again, I allowed my emotions to take over me. Better to cry here then hurting others. Neither dad nor Lio needed someone to drag them down in the misery.

I just lay here and gave up. Countless memories attacked my mind. With each, something in my chest started to hurt more and more. I could even hear how the blood was pumping up in my ears.

The memory of my parents smiling when I gave them my first drawing. It was crap, but like any other parents, they pinned it to the fridge. Now I can even remember the slightly perked up edges of my brother's mouth and a slight spark of amusement in his eyes. That disappeared nearly at the same moment as it appeared. It looked like he suppressed it with some amount of effort.

All of them were some of the best moments of my life. But now I could see rather small detail and all of them were connected to my brother. He was always there hiding his emotions, but nonetheless supporting me and being proud of my small number of achievements.

He almost looked more like a father or a much older brother than just a sibling did. As memories started to get more recent, I notice him appearing closer and more emotional. The glimpses of happiness lasted much longer, but he started to look rather conflicted. As if he tried to decide to completely surrender and no longer hide his feelings or just run away and hide from everything. He almost looked ashamed each time even a small amount of enjoyment bleeds on his face against his wishes.

I couldn't comprehend why. Why enjoying life was so shameful for him?

Then a stream of memories ended as abruptly as it started. A simple image was inside my mind. The last time I have seen the face of my brother. Before I succumbed to sleep. A face so filled with conflict as well as determination. A calming sensation filled my mind, and I slowly started to stand up from the ground below.

My eyes were probably bloodshot because of the crying, but I didn't care. This place for some reason reminded her of Lio. And I decided to walk around for a bit. If it's a dream then nothing bad will came or happen and if it was a reality then I needed to get back home.

I must admit even if the place looked a bit sterile and too flawless, some of the sights were amazing. The green hills on the outer sector of the floating island looked almost magical. Oh? Am I forgot to mention that the city apparently was on the island that floated in space? Because it was and it was amazing.

The magnificence and childlike wonder effect that the city created inside of my mind almost made me forget about the awful reality that awaited me in reality. But before I could once again drown myself in the void that was pouring from the wound on my heart I slapped myself.

The sweet-sweet pain returned me to the "reality", and I nearly whispered to myself.

"Mum wouldn't want me to cling to the tragedy and would have wanted me, dad and Lio to move forward."

Collecting my senses, I move from the balcony that was built over the void of space and decide to move deeper into the city. However, as I started to move towards the city's center the conditions and the state of everything around I started gradually become worse. From perfectly whole building and roads to a mess of debris and fire. There were silhouettes imprinted on different surfaces. They reminded me of the forms that cartoon characters would left after an explosion.

Despite the fire that was burning all over the place the air felt fresh and there wasn't any kind of impossibly hot temperature. Which was rather weird. She knows the feeling of fire nearby and she heard the description of being in the middle of burning inferno from the firefighter on the TV. Either everything she heard that day was a lie or fire had something unnatural about it.

"Probably just a dream thing," Told I myself.

And at one point all of the destruction just suddenly stopped. It felt like walking between different frames or pictures. A moment ago everything around reminded me about some natural disaster and the next moment the same futuristic city from before, but now this time instead of the sun the lone moon provided the light. I even nearly tripped because of such a drastic change in scenery.

This time there weren't any weird silhouettes on the ground, but instead a rare puddle of blood.

"This dream slowly starts to change into a nightmare. The first hint was probably a burning inferno in the middle of the city" A bit sarcastic I said in the air.

I noticed some claw marks that made me shiver from their size. They looked like something unrealistically massive left them. The marks glowed a bit with ominous orangish light.

I decided not to challenge my luck and increased my pace. As I moved forward, the number of marks and puddles started to increase in geometrical progression. At one point, I could swear I saw a definition of a word bloodbath. A feeling on nuisance started to grow and if not for another sudden change of "picture", I would have thrown up right there.

This time I appeared in the place best described as "a stereotypical place where villains meet."Though I must admit the design was rather nice and form of the table while wasn't the most practical being rather stylish. The table reminded of some flower when it came to its shape, and the violet color of the light creates some nice feel to it. However, some of the lights were flickering. Probably some electricity problems.

"Poor villains nowadays. They can't even have stable access to electricity" With an amused grin, I continued to whisper to myself.

For some reason, I felt bad talking about the owner of this place. Weird. I walked around the table several times trying to find something interesting and find some food for thought. Then I noticed the shelf hidden in the table against the "central" chair. I pressed on it and after a few seconds, then the shelf came out from the table's wall. There were several magazines about astronomy and some old horoscope.

I quickly looked through them hoping to find something amusing, but nothing out of an ordinary. Something sounded familiar probably because of the countless times I heard my brother mutter to himself when he looked at stars for hours. I neatly put magazines back and continued to walk in the corridor that was behind the chair with a shelf.

The next change in the background was the most drastic and shocking. From an isolated pathway to a beautifully made circular construction. The building was clearly in the middle of space. I could see Earth from the edges and even the Moon somehow felt near. Countless stars shined more clearly for me than ever. She nearly felt like I could touch them.

I exhaled in awe from sheer beauty from the unrestricted and the unbounded view of the world.

"So that's how my brother feels when he looks through his telescope."

Then something fell behind me. The feel of uneasiness started to creep into my mind. I turned and saw something that filled my being with true terror.

Somebody who looked very much like my brother was lying in the middle of giant blood puddle. His white suit was soaked in the blood whose origin was a stab wound around the area of a heart. The staff with a giant dark sphere was held by his left hand that wasn't soaked in blood all that much. His right was clutching the wound but without any enthusiast.

I moved so fast as a strange sensation filled my body. It wasn't just someone who looked like Lio. It was Lio. I know him too well. His long blond hair, his crystal blue eyes, and this look on his face. Were all too familiar and burned in my memories to the point where even if I would be in Hell I will always remember them.

Then something unexpected appeared on his face. A genuine fucking smile on his face. On the face of someone drowning in their own blood and lying here all alone.

"I am so sorry…" He whispered apologetically.

Something inside me snapped. I started to panic and tried to take hold of him. He simply took my hand in firm hold once again smiled weakly.

"That is… the result of me trying to achieve my goal. Sad, isn't it?"His tone was defeated, but relaxed and even thankful. Like he didn't regret this end all that much.

"Hey! Lio! Don't you dare die on me! Lio…"Before I managed to end the phrase, his hold become stronger. And the dreamscape around us started to crumble.

"I promise. You and dad will no longer suffer. But I need your help. Awake please" Lio's voice started to become distant as I started to fall towards the Earth.

The closer I got to the sea below the louder strange sound started to become. When I nearly hit the water, I understood what this sound was. A quiet sound of wings, a sound carapace repeatedly hitting against a hard surface and the chirping.

And just then a weird dream ended and I opened my eyes with great afford. To be greeted with much warmer and liver face of my brother that was wearing the most shit-eating and cheesy grin on his face. The space between our faces was uncomfortable small. I felt the blush starting to form on my face and the feeling of embarrassment rising from within.

With the most relaxed and cheerful movement, Lio instantly doubled the distance between us. He extended his hand as for a handshake. Only then, I noticed a whole swarm of insects crawling all over our room. They were on all surfaces except for my brother. I prayed so that they disappeared and they instantly started to exit the room using everything they could: door, window, and cracks in the wood.

I couldn't believe the application it gave and with eyes opened in shock, I glared at Lio. It felt like his smile becomes even wider than it was already.

He shakes his hand a little as if to grab my attention to it.

"I always wanted to say it in this kind situation" His voice was unnaturally affectionate for somebody I knew as Lio Hebert, for my brother. Then I remembered all the memories and understood. All this time he was hiding and trying to distance himself from us. Before I could ask another question, he continued:

"Are you my ally?" His voice sounded somewhat cheesy and the "feel" of the one-liner ruined by the goofy smile on his face, but I answered without thinking.

"Yes, Lio," I answered passionately.

"Then let's go and save the world. After all, that what Heroes do, aren't they?" His face became serious, but the smile was brimming with happiness and relief to the very end.

After that, my quiet life becomes a shit-show of an unimaginable scale.