The water felt like an unstoppable force. It was as if a thousand hands were pushing me downward to prevent any hope of escaping. I put all my strength into reaching upward. It was futile, of course.
'How did this happen again?'
I wasn't a big believer in fate or divine intervention. Maybe this was my punishment for living life so complacent. I wasn't sure. Everything was just so cold.
'I can't think straight…'
If there was any god out there…
'Someone, please. Save me.'
I could feel my consciousness about to fade. Both of my arms floated limply as if reaching out towards the heavens. I think, at that moment, I had given up trying to survive. None of my life flashed before my eyes. I didn't have any introspective moment where I realized I had been ungrateful. I just… let the water drag me down.
The deeper I got the less pressure I felt on my body. I wasn't sure what this meant. Maybe the deeper I got, the more likely my death was assured, and that meant not as much force would push me down.
Until, suddenly, I was emerging from water into open air. I never got to react before I hit the ground. I let out a grunt as pain flared throughout my spine. I probably shouldn't try getting up.
"I need to get up." I muttered to myself.
Forcing myself to my feet, I ignored the pain in my back and ankles. The sound of a water drop caught my attention. Bringing my head up, I realized that I was now in some sort of cave. There were these strange crystals embedded into the walls and ground. There were a variety of colors with most of them being red. It lit up the cave in a scary way due to the red hue.
'I could admire the beauty of this place… if it didn't take me almost drowning and losing control of my damn body!'
Further ahead, though, was the real cause for my confusion.
A set of double stone doors. They looked old. I attempted to walk but a pain shot through my left leg. I thought it would have only been my back that hurt but even walking hurt.
I'd have to suck it up if I wanted to get out of here though.
I took a step forward… and tripped over my satchel. I caught myself before I could faceplant and picked it up. I checked the contents of the bag to see that the satchel was still in there, thankfully.
'This ring is the cause of me blanking out.' I thought while gritting my teeth.
I clutched it in my hand before motioning to throw it. Hesitation overtook my body. It had led me here so it might be able to get me out. I put the ring back into the bag before limping towards the double doors quickly.
I had to use the doors as a makeshift cushion to stop myself from falling over. I inspected them for any type of handle or keyhole but found none. Right as I was about to give up, the daggers in my bag shot up into the air. One dagger went overtop each door with a bright light progressively rising in brightness. It got so bright that I had to shield my eyes. When I removed my arm from my face, the dagger had disappeared from sight and the doors were open.
"What the hell…?"
I tried my best to brush aside my confusion. I still had questions but my desire to get out of this place was more important. Upon walking through double doors. a strange noise sounded behind me. The doors had disappeared and now I was trapped in this strange room.
The entire area was a purple void that seemed to go one endlessly with this single platform of rocky terrain that spanned for at least ten falks. Surrounding the platform were the strangest looking chains I had ever seen. They were gold in color and they moved around as if they were the ecliptic rings around an astrolabe.
I observed my surroundings for any clue as to why I was here but I couldn't find anything. I limped forward, my pace careful this time, hoping to find anything. It felt like I was pointlessly walking. No, it didn't feel like it. It was pointless. I had searched as much as I could with my limp but all that I could do was reach the other side of this damn platform.
'Dammit!' I thought in frustration. 'This is what I get for picking something I knew nothing about!'
I threw the satchel off the side of the platform. I watched as it began a quick descent into the void. The blue ring, though, was having none of that and flew back up towards me. I didn't have time to dodge or react, I couldn't anyway, with my limp hindering me. It hit me in the face which caused me to fall onto my butt.
First there were these weird dreams, these feelings, and now strange happenings. Each time it felt like I was in the wrong. Wrong for wanting more, wrong for this feeling in my heart, and wrong for wanting to use weapons. Was I the one who's truly in the wrong?
'No. Yes. I don't know!'
Just a few days ago, I was fine. I had been helping out with horses and changing their feed. Was this a sign? It was as if something higher was telling me to accept my place if I couldn't handle things such as this.
'Am I just going to give up now?'
"My dream is…" I tried speaking. It seemed I had hurt my spine so bad that it was hard to speak.
'Am I just going to crumble here? Who cares if I don't know what's happening…'
"My dream is… to be a…" I forced myself to say.
I couldn't get it out. I couldn't find the strength to speak. I was so pathetic. I couldn't even say a few words to cement my dream. My dream, to be so famous, that even the gods would know my name. I let myself believe I was fine how I am. Not ever being selfish enough to do it.
'And the one time I get the courage to be selfish for once, I crumble at a little difficulty!'
If this was a trial to test my resolve, then the proctor could go to hell! I'm tired of giving. I'm tired of being the one who watches others pursue their dream!
"My dream is to be… a soldier!" I declared into the empty void.
Yet, nothing changed. Who was I kidding? I'm just delusional from the pain. I shut my eyes, ready to accept my fate in this hell.
The sound of dripping water woke me up.
"Huh?" I spouted dumbly.
Rubbing the fatigue from my eyes, I sat up to find myself back at the cave where that giant spider had been.
I checked my surroundings in a panic only to see no spiders. The well was gone too. In its place was a bunch of sticks for a campfire. I moved onto the most important part, though. I checked my legs for injuries only to realize that when I had sat up, my spine did not hurt.
"B-but- What?" I muttered, confusion lacing my tone.
Nothing made sense to me anymore. It was as if I was going through a fever dream.
'You know what? I don't care right now'
I wasn't going to take this chance for granted. I picked myself up carefully before fleeing the cave with reckless abandon.
There was one issue. I had no clue where I was. That ring had brought me into the middle of nowhere! I stopped in the middle of the woods to catch my breath while I tried to figure out a way home.
'How great. Take over my body and leave me to pick up a mess!' I growled in frustration at the thought.
I wasn't aware of any caves near my home or the town, then again, I hadn't really explored much. No one really bothered mapping out the areas to update our knowledge. It would have been nice to have some sort of automatic direction detection skill or something like most adventurers had.
"Maybe if I just keep going in a straight line I'll find my way home." I muttered.
I did find my way. Not to my home but to town. It was also probably midnight. I couldn't head home. That would make my grandparents question why I was out so late.
My best bet would be to get Cecilia and her family to cover for me. I would stop by Ceclia's house to spend the night. I usually did that whenever I was out late, so it wouldn't be suspicious.
I also just wanted to see Cecilia. Just by being near her, I felt safe. I needed that after today's events.