The Sleep World

3: The Last Resort [13th March, 2013]

“Alright,” Kroth releases Dr. Shiela. “If he ends up screwing us over, I’ll kill you Macay.”

“I can’t wait to see you try,” Macay glares at G. “This tour guide is toying with us, but he is our only way into that treasure-filled room. Now, lead us.”

“I will mark the safe tiles.” G lets the two doctors follow him and then proceeds to warn the two evil magicians, “Don’t try doing anything stupid because I have the self-destruct tile with me. It’s a magic rune that when activated upon my death.”

“We heard you the first time,” Kroth follows behind G while allowing the two archaeologists to move first. “I’ll really kill you if you mess this up.”

Successfully crossing the floor safely, G opens up the final floor. Inside, it is filled with symbolic writings and art depictions that somehow G seems to understand unlike the symbols from the floor above. The room is designed like chess with the ceiling painted like the night sky. At the center is a tomb and on top of it are 9 three-foot tall, chess-like pieces that emit some kind of aura.

“The Nine Pieces of the Pharaoh,” Macay draws closer to the tomb. “Let us take them all, Kroth.”

“Sweet,” Kroth stares at G. “So you deliver what you said you would. What are we going to do to them, Macay?”

“Nothing,” Macay stares at me. “This boy is in control of the temple. We’ll only take what we need.”

“I cannot carry everything,” Kroth tries to use his storage magic. “I can’t use my magic.”

“This room is silenced,” G explains while trying to read the ancient writings. “All kinds of power source are disabled.”

“Then we’ll have to carry these manually,” Macay and Kroth hurries outside.

A few more seconds of waiting…

“They’re gone,” Dr. Fossil kneels down. “We’re free…”

“They still have my child…”

“Your child escaped,” G grins. “That Kroth made a mistake…”We already called someone to look for your kid. Now, you needed to escape from their grasps where you can hide-”

Dr. Shiela embraces G tight, “Thank you very much! If there is any way I could thank you…”

“The reward is enough for me,” G shrugs his shoulders and examines the tomb. “Do you know of a place where the evil magicians cannot enter?”

“There is a place called the Last Resort,” Dr. Fossil recalls. “I was actually prepared to transfer there with my family and hers. But they got to us and we weren’t able to continue. We actually bought two houses…”

“What is the Last Resort, Index?” G asks the god in his thoughts while pretending to understand Dr. Fossil.

“The Last Resort is a magical place where the concept of evil or evil deeds is warded off. Those who commit murder as a result of committing crimes, theft, and a plethora of malevolence,” Index gives him a vague information. “I will explain in full detail later. You have to work first. Hamen Isol left something for you… find it, find everything.”

“What are we still doing in this place?” Dr. Fossil prepares to leave. “They might come back for us…”

G grins and presses a tile that means close. The door that leads to the floor above closes. “Do not rush… I still need to recover something more precious than what they stole.”

“If you steal something in here, you won’t be able to come with us at Last Resort,” Dr. Shiela starts to worry.

“I’m not stealing something that was meant for me,” G presses what seems to be a gift box tile.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!!!” a voice sings somewhere that shocks everyone except G. “So you finally found it. I’m proud that you never pressed the other tiles, you know? As you can see for yourself, that is my birthday gift to you. The Isolation Blade, amazing isn’t it? Take it, press that reset button, and then press that escape button.”

“I told you so,” G smiles at the scientists.

“Just who are you?” Dr. Shiela begins to wonder.

“I’m also looking for answers,” G presses the buttons and they finally escape. “Is lying to save your lives allowed?”

Arriving to Last Resort, G realizes how peaceful the place looks and that the people living there are very welcoming. It seems that G lying from the evil magicians is considered a good deed which is likely questionable, but whatever. As they make their way in Dr. Fossil’s house, G calls Orchid and makes his report about the incident. Good news is that the kid is already safe and sound. However, the boy won’t be able to leave yet because he is wounded. Lastly, Orchid congratulates G for his successful first mission… sort of…

“You saved our lives,” Dr. Fossil begins to weep. “I don’t even know if the payment is enough, but I thought that we should celebrate as an additional reward. Do you drink liquor?”

“Well yeah, but not to the point of getting drunk of course,” G timidly nods. “This is actually my very first mission…”

“All the more we should be celebrating, eh?” Dr. Fossil winks as he brings out the liquor.

“I’ll go cook something,” Dr. Shiela goes to the kitchen.

“Wait, doctor,” G becomes very embarrassed.

“Call us by our names,” Dr. Fossil pats him in the shoulder. “Don’t be too tensed, we won’t eat you! Now, call me John or James or whatever you want.”

“Yeah G, call me Shiela.”

“Alright, John and uh Shiela…” G almost forgets about the main issue, “about the stolen artifacts…”

“Ah you are right,” Dr. Fossil explains to G the uses of the Nine Pieces of the Pharaoh. “Actually… I always thought they were just priceless artifacts…”

“So you don’t have any knowledge about it,” G remembers that these two aren’t magicians. “I’ll try doing my own research later…”

“But that one you had,” Dr. Fossil takes an interest to the sword. “That is the sword of that god and I think that it was his voice that we heard… so the question is… what are you to that god?”

“To tell you the truth,” G drinks from his glass. “I have actually no idea yet.”

“It’s mysterious,” Dr. Shiela joins them as she lays down their meal. “It really is…”

“Well…” G tells them his life story except for the part that Orchid was involved and all…

“John,” G tries to wake him up. “I think he’s drunk. I’ll carry him to his bed…”

“I also feel dizzy…” Dr. Shiela wobbles. “I’ll also need your assistance…”

After taking the old man to his bed, G piggybacks Dr. Shiela to her house. He courteously takes her to her room and lays her down on her bed.

“I’ll just come by tomorrow and take my reward,” G turns around.

…

But, Dr. Shiela prevents him from leaving by holding on to his hand, “I was just kidding when I said that I was totally dizzy.” She chuckles, “Kidding is not lying and it did not hurt you in any way, right?”

“Yeah,” G sits down on the bed. “So uh what do you want to talk about?”

She whispers into his ear, “I took the pill…”

…

2:00 a.m.

“Wake up, G. Come on, wake up…”

“Index, now’s not the best time,” G covers himself with his blanket.

“Now is the best time,” the golden map reiterates. “You said you wanted to become a swords magician, right? I found a sword not far from here.”

“You should be quiet or Shiela will wake up,” G lowers his voice. “We don’t want her to know that you are here.”

“She will not wake up unless I say so,” the golden map manifests into the real god, Index. “I’m a Sleep God, remember?”

“Fine… I got it,” G wears a new set of clothes which he brought out using storage magic.

“You should use equip magic, don’t you know that?”

“What’s that for?”

“It will magically put your clothes back on,” Index sighs. “You really have a long way to go, mother fucker…”

“Hey, she asked for me to, you know…”

Index, in his god form, is a holographical cybernetic golden god with bluish eyes, ears and mouth. Although unseen, because he wears brown robes, his body also contains blue lines that move irregularly across his body. If you look at him in his big eyes, you would see binary (1s and 0s) codes.

“The sword is inside the destroyed monastery,” he tries to pinpoint the exact location, “under the statue of the mysterious god of life, Lementa.”

“Hey, are all Sleep Gods good at putting people to sleep?”

“What kind of question is that?” Index gives him an awkwardly glaring look, “all gods can put any mortal to sleep… unless they’re strong and can combat such powers then, under those circumstances, we can’t.”

“That’s odd,” G looks around as they get out of Dr. Shiela’s house. “There are no guards or anyone around…”

“I think you can answer your own curiosity, mate,” Index sighs. “Let’s just proceed to the monastery.”

“You make me look dumb,” G sighs. “Because Last Resort is the safest and most blessed place in the world. Although, you said a bad word...”

“I did,” the map floats around him, “but I’m not physically here…”

“D-,” G almost let out a bad word. “You almost made me say it…”

“You almost said damn, d**k, or dipshit,” Index smirks as they enter the ruins. “We should get going and take your sword.”

“Isn’t this stealing?” G pushes the statue to the side, “Oh my goodness. Index what sword is this?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Index senses his surroundings. “We must head back to Orchid first.”

“You’re probably right,” G hurries out of the ruins.

Upon safely returning to Dream Entrance, Index manifests his own being from the map. Yawning to her heart’s content, Orchid greets them a very pleasant yet early morning.

“You guys do arrive at the wee hours of the night,” Orchid calmly complains. “Then again, since Index is with you, I guess I would just go back and take a snooze…”

“Did she just, I don’t know,” G glances at Index.

“Don’t mind her,” Index creates a table and two chairs. “Now, place both of your weapons here and take a seat. I’ll explain both of these weapons to you.”

“These two swords fit well in the gallery room that I was thinking of in my house,” G happily imagines the room in his thoughts.

“I’ll explain this one first,” Index points at the Isolation Blade. “This one, the Isolation Blade, is also actually known as the Isolator…”

The Isolator is long blade designed specifically for attacking and not defending due to the absence of a sheath and a protector. It is said that body parts severed using this blade can never be reattached or grow back ever again. This azure sword is not designed for stabbing, but only slashing.

“This blade is kinda scary, don’t you think?” G takes it and puts it back in the storage. “So, what about this one?”

“This one… is the Unbreakablade,” Index examines the weapon. “Like the name suggests, it is unbreakable.”

The Unbreakablade is an irregular pitch-black blade that has the power to strike down evil. The more evil the enemy, the greater its power. Nothing in the world can break, destroy, and dull this blade.

“This is uh amazing,” G notices something odd. “Index, how is it too easy for me to uh, you know, obtain such powerful weapons and you guys are gods and I can just casually talk with you?”

“Fate,” Index returns back into being a map. “It is simply… your destiny.”

“This is too vague,” G scratches his head. “Do I get any clues?”

“Clues will just appear along the way,” Orchid yawns as she takes G to his own room. “You need to change clothes, take a bath, and rest for a bit. Breakfast is at 5:30, you should wear that badge on your way out. Also, I don’t like your smell…”

“Yeah I heard you the first time when you told me to take a bath,” G whines. “It’s already 4:28 anyway so I may not have any more time to rest…”

“That’s good,” Orchid leaves and closes the door.

So… breakfast unexpectedly makes me want to eat it. Rice, eggplant omelet, mushroom soup, and hot chocolate… BLISS.

“I’m a minute late,” G takes a seat to have his breakfast. “Who cooks all of these?”

“The guild’s cook,” she takes a bite from the omelet. “I’ll be introducing you today to the guild at 6.”

“Today is Thursday, why would they be up at 6?”

“Because that’s one of the rules, G. The early bird catches the worm…”

“True,” G side comments, “but if they are all early, who gets the worm?”

“Shut up and eat,” Orchid sighs. “Philosophers nowadays…”

After the meal though…

“Not using the way-gate,” G looks at the elevator, “okay…”

“Are you nervous?” she asks him. “Don’t be…”

“It’s more like anxious,” G takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what to expect. Is this how you always treat your guild members?”

“Nope,” she grins, “just you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The elevator door opens. Waiting in front of them are every guild member present as of the moment.

“GUILD MASTER!”

“GODDESS-SAMA!”

“Who is that with her?”

“No idea…”

“They seem to have the same eyes, could they be relatives?”

Orchid raised her hand to quiet down the guild hall.

“Ladies and gents, I am pleased to announce the newest member of Dream Entrance, Mr. Gabriel Crimson Fallasleep.” Out of nowhere, she just introduces him like he is VIP.

“Temporary member,” G corrects her. “We haven’t discussed about this yet.”

“Well this is a first,” one of the high-ranking members walks in front of the others. “I’ve seen new members and they don’t get this kind of introduction.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Orchid glares at him. “I introduced this lad here because he’s got skills and I’ve promoted him to B-rank because of it.”

Of course, there would be a commotion as to why he immediately got to that rank. Actually, because of their respect for the goddess, they just whispered to each other with the only ones getting irritated are some of the high-ranking members.

“Damn you, Orchid,” G takes out his vial and drinks from it. “What are you planning?”

“Settle down members,” Orchid signals the receptionist to open the battle hall. “S-ranked members, leave him alone for now. I want the rest of the ranks to try to evaluate his skills if you doubt a goddess’ decision.”

“Oh I never doubted you once, GM Orchid. Except only for this one. Oi mate, the name’s Nijiro Monte. A-ranked warrior class of magician. I am a magic swordsman and I want to be the first to evaluate you.”

“G… G Fallasleep, swords magician in training,” he glances over at Orchid and then towards Nijiro, “here to accept your challenge.”

“In training,” Nijiro makes a facial expression of belittling. “Well, I hope you made the right choice, GM.”

“This should be fun,” an S-ranked member named Snow Layfield takes a keen interest.

“I’m not even a swords magician just yet, Orchid!” G feels a sudden tick in his head. “I’m really going to use the Isolator on this one.”

“Let me make this a little more exciting,” Orchid smirks at G.

“Don’t do this to me, Orchid…”

“I want this battle to be a little serious. Knockout or Kill your opponent to win…”