Chapter 3: Decision

Tobias was within darkness. It was strange; he was conscious and he knew that he existed, yet at the same time he knew that was disconnected from his own mind. It was difficult to explain, but if he really was forced to, then he would simply say that maybe his soul was disconnected from his body currently.

But to where? Who knows. All he is seeing is darkness, yet he knows it ends there. Just darkness. It didn’t have the foreboding sense of endlessness and finity. It didn’t have the air of death, or the air of knowing that such a place was an impossibility. No, this darkness was nothing compared to the Abyss.

So where was he? And just when his thoughts began to unravel the mystery, he felt himself grow more and more conscious, before he finally pierced through the veil of darkness.

Light shined through his closed eyes, and with a soft grunt, he opened them. He was back to his room – well, a room that he shared with his younger brother, at least. On the contrary, both of his female siblings shared the same room, so there was that.

There was no one else in the room except for him, though. The parted aside curtains did a poor job at keeping the sunlight away, as they swayed due to the cool winds that gave him shivers. Who exactly left the window and curtains open?

But it didn’t matter. If there was something the shivers reminded him of, it was the memories which happened in that dungeon, just... how long was it, even? It didn’t matter. All he knew was that Death had told him something.

He needed to get stronger to earn their respect. That was his goal now.

So he used his arms to push himself up from his bed, and while his vision darkened due to him standing up suddenly, he only leaned against the wall for support as he made his way towards the door. He tried not to let such a minor thing faze him, and when it was gone, he finally pushed himself away from the wall.

When he opened the door, he found that the second floor of their (rather impressive) house was always the same as it was. Towards the left was the staircase leading downstairs, and towards the right were three doors; one led to a forbidden study room, another led to his female siblings’ room, and the final one led to the balcony.

Well, he had no intention to go to any of those rooms. So he turned left, and descended the stairs with almost silent steps. The wooden steps still creaked a bit, but at least his own footsteps were silent.

And there it was. At the bottom of the stairs and just around the wall, he could hear people talking in the main room. When he carefully peeked, he saw his own two parents, along with Marcus’ Father talking about something. Right when he confirmed that fact, Marcus’ Father only looked at him.

“Boy, I know you’re there.” His voice was deep and gravelly, and his words immediately silenced his parents’ idle chat. Such sharp instincts... He really was a retired war veteran, if nothing else.

So without any further delay, Tobias stepped out from his hiding spot, and turned around the corner, coming face to face with all of the parents involved. He gave his own parents a wry grin.

“Tobias?” Elizabeth voiced, as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing. And then, right when Tobias thought that his mother would show compassion, he really should have known better. “It’s been a month since your last act of stupidity, and now you got yourself involved in a Dungeon?!”

“Now, now, dear. He wasn’t just ‘involved’. He was the reason why it was cleared to begin with.” Pierre said, although it only earned him an angry glare from his wife.

“Oh for... I hate you.” When she said that, Pierre only gave Tobias a knowing wink. What a real good father, taking away some of his mother’s anger by saying something very stupid. In turn, Tobias gave a polite nod; his sacrifice will not be in vain. “But Sir Magnus, you really meant what you said? When my son cleared the dungeon?” She said, turning towards the older man with graying hair.

Magnus? So that was the old man’s name. It sounded awfully similar to Marcus’ name, but Tobias decided to sum it up to ‘heritage’ or something similar.

“I did say that.” Magnus began, and everyone turned to look at him with varying degrees of interest. “But I did not know how. All I saw was that Tobias somehow cleared it. Now that he is awake, what does he have to say about it?”

“I did not know it was a dungeon.” The boy in question shook his head, denying anything. “And I did not clear it... at least, I don’t know how clearing it works, but if you think I managed to kill every... monster in it, then I didn’t do so.”

The old man stared at him with an intensity which seemed to dig deep within his soul. But then, he stopped, and gave a subtle nod. “He doesn’t seem to be lying about it.”

“I would be scared if my son was capable of doing so to begin with.” Pierre commented, giving a dry chuckle. He flinched when Elizabeth turned around to give him another silent glare. “What?”

“Ignore your useless father.” She said, as she sighed to herself and rubbed her forehead with both hands. “Tobias, my son. What happened? Really?”

Tobias wasn’t good at lying. No, scratch that. He didn’t even want to lie to his mother, not when she’s looking at him with those pleading eyes...! Really, that trait applied to anyone from his own family, maybe except his father. So he sighed, and began to gather his thoughts to articulate the truth.

“Do you know what happened to Marcus?” It all started there. If they didn’t have context, then he would begin the story there. But thankfully, both of his parents only nodded, with Magnus most definitely filling them in. “So, I talked to Marcus’ Father, and explained what happened to him. Now that I think about it, why do you believe me?”

“I saw it happen. He was outside the house for one second, then the next second he disappears and you appear out of nowhere, unconscious and all.” Magnus answered, his eyes indicating that he was fully serious. “And you’re probably the only one who knows what happened, so why shouldn’t I believe you?”

“Yeah... that is basically what happened.” Tobias gave an awkward cough. “But then I talked to Marcus’ Father, and asked him to teach me how to fight and get stronger so I can avenge Marcus. But, well, he did not agree, and I got... pretty angry, or confused, I did not know what I was thinking. So I stole his family relic sword, and ran off the next day to train myself with it.” A chuckle. A singular chuckle, because in hindsight, it was stupid. “So I was in the forest, swinging the sword, and this white door appears out of nowhere. As in, it literally just materialized unto on a boulder of all things, and just... sat there.”

“So you got curious.” Pierre said, his voice simply stating it as fact.

“So I got curious.” Tobias agreed, sighing. Yeah, sometimes his father was annoying. “After that, well, I opened the door and got pulled in by a... something... a spinning thing in the air?”

“It was a portal.” Magnus offered. “A portal to a Magical Dungeon.”

“Yeah, there. I got pulled in by a portal. And then I got transported to the dungeon, and I came face to face against a skeleton –”

“Did you get hurt anywhere?!”

“No, mother. I am perfectly alright. Thank you for the concern. But strangely enough, the skeleton never attacked me. It only stared at me, then proceeded to walk away, as if I was one of its allies or something. And then, inside the dungeon there was this hallway, and at the end of it was a... fog-like gate, so I stepped through it.”

“You didn’t turn around to see the dungeon escape exit?” Magnus asked, making Tobias narrow his eyes.

“What dungeon escape exit?” Tobias asked back, and it was the older man’s turn to furrow his eyebrows.

“I see.” He only nodded, and said nothing else. But his eyes showed deep contemplation. Whatever it was, the fact that he said nothing only meant that Tobias could keep speaking, so he did.

“Where was I...? Ah, right. The fog gate. I stepped through it, and found myself in the Abyss. Yes, an Abyss. It wasn’t just darkness, I promise. There was a sense of... truly nothingness within the Abyss, and the sense that there was nothing in it for the farthest reaches... and at the same time, I felt that the nothingness went only as far as my arm could reach. It is... complicated.”

“It’s one of those ‘see it to believe it’ kinda things?” Pierre asked, and Tobias nodded.

“Yeah. Anyways, enough about that. So while in the Abyss... I found myself talking to Death. No, more like, Death was talking to me.” He intentionally paused to see if anyone would interrupt him, but surprisingly, they didn’t. They must have felt that it was the most important part to his story, and provided everything they needed to know. So he continued. “Death asked me what I was doing in there. And I said that I came to get Marcus back. Then Death said that if I grew strong enough to the point where they could respect me, then... I do not know if that was a promise, or anything. But they told me it wasn’t my time yet, and then it sent me away from that place.”

There was silence. Each of them seemed to be absorbed within their own minds, thinking to themselves about what they just heard.

Tobias didn’t know how long it lasted. Was his story being taken seriously? Or were they simply trying to figure out if he had hit his head at some point. He wouldn’t be too surprised if they did reach that conclusion, actually.

“I... have certainly heard worse...” His mother spoke, surprisingly. “And while I am tempted to say that you might have been dreaming... the fact that Marcus disappeared does not change. And if anything, I daresay, Magnus’ testimony and this... might just provide enough evidence for me to believe that something like that did happen...”

“What?” Pierre and Tobias stared at each other. They both said the same thing at the exact same time. They let out a relatively like-minded grin to each other. But Pierre coughed, and continued. “But son, I believe in your story. At least, I believe in your story more than the chances of your mother actually accepting your story, or something.”

“Dear, you have the right to remain silent.” Elizabeth had a really insidious smile on her face – one that promised pain once this matter was settled. In return, Pierre only motioned to zip his mouth.

“So Death...” Magnus began, and everyone turned to look at him. His eyes were narrowed, and his lips turned into a grin filled with some hope. “The way they said it... If you grow strong enough to the point where they can respect you, then chances are, they just might be able to return Marcus...”

Tobias blinked, and let out a small grin. There it was. “Indeed, Sir Magnus. Then with that knowledge in mind... would you agree to train me in your ways? There was a reason why Marcus survived the battle field, after all.”

It was cheeky, and it was morally questionable to take advantage of the old man like this. But it was his only chance to get somewhere. It would be impossible for him to survive out there without any training, after all.

“Very well.” Magnus gave a brief nod. Then his gaze turned towards his parents. “But don’t you think you’re ignoring your parents?”

“I mean... honestly, I’d like to say that it’s too dangerous, but at the same time it would be kinda shameless for me to forbid my son from going when your son is... well... dead-but-can-probably-return-if-Tobias-listens?” Pierre admitted, and although he shrugged, he had the decency to wince at the way he phrased his words at least.

Then he turned towards his wife. Everyone turned to look at her, and she only cast her gaze downwards, as her hands tightened into fists.

“I... I hate you, Pierre. When you put it like that, I simply do not have a choice...” Elizabeth clenched her teeth together, and shut her eyes. “But... Marcus was your only son... And Tobias has a chance to bring him back... and you are still giving us a choice if we can send Tobias out or not... It is unfair... all men are unfair...”

She might have not been able to see it, but the old man gave a solemn nod to what she said. “He is your son, after all.”

“Fine...” She wiped away at her eyes, and even when her lips were quivering, her eyes burned in a magnificent, almost-golden brown haze. “I will allow Tobias to get stronger so he can bring Marcus back.” And her lips parted, to reveal a half-insane grin, which only made Tobias gulp. “But Sir Magnus... train him as hard as possible. So that he would not die, even if Death itself decided to kill him.”

“I was too lenient on Marcus.” Magnus admitted, and then his eyes turned towards Tobias. He did not like what he saw within those eyes. “This time... I would show no mercy.”

And like that – Elizabeth and Magnus had reached a fire-forged alliance of sorts. In the background, Pierre only gave his son a look of pity, and the boy could only give the most anxious smile any human being could offer.