The setting sun painted the sky a mixture of yellow and orange. It was evening and the smell of food wafted through the air.

It would have made for a moving sight if it wasn't for Andrew... Laura crossed her arms and grumbled inwardly as she walked towards her master's home.

It wasn't that she didn't want to call it her home as well, but it didn't sit well with calling a place surrounded by humans 'home'. Considering how she spent most of her conscious life living among trolls, not to mention being raised by one, it was no wonder she felt out of place. Coupled with the constant racial discrimination evident in the eyes of most humans she saw, her danger sense prickled constantly.

Her thoughts brewed more conflicting emotions as she reached her destination and stood there. She couldn't see the hole she made by crashing through since she was approaching from the front, but she was certain Daryl would be mad as hell if known it was her doing.

Once the turmoil made of her emotions calmed, she reached for the door, only to catch sight of Tenur marching heavily from Sarah's home. A curious peek behind him revealed Sarah chasing after him, yelling "Wait!", but he acted as if her shout did not reach him.

When he stood in front of Laura, he stared at her, eyes narrowed, and waited, as if he was asking 'why aren't you opening the door?'. Laura immediately turned the knob and gave way to Tenur's rude march.

As the wooden stairs creaked with every step Tenur took, Laura counted four steps before Sarah reached the ajar door. Laura apraised her. Sarah's cheeks were flushed, as if she did an intense bout of activity before chasing after Tenur. Given the sudden exit of a man from Sarah's front door, she could take a guess at what happened. Still, she raised an eyebrow, eyeing Sarah who seemed ashamed all of a sudden. Fist clenched, the subject of her guess dropped her head and trembled as she avoided her gaze.

"Explain, and I'll see if I can help." Based on Laura's first impression, Sarah wasn't the kind of girl who would take a ride on any man who came to her. Either her guess was off, or she had a significant reason to do it.

Sarah bit her lower lips as she lifted her head. Then, she spoke of the incident that happened.

Tenur blinked as he became aware where he was. The last memory he had before falling unconscious yet again came to him, and he let out a small sigh.

When he looked ahead, a voice greeted him. "I see you're back again..." The goddess sipped tea as she sat on a wooden chair. Across the tea table was a god grumbling.

Tenur looked between the two, then he looked around again, before shrugging. "Ah, not like I wanted to." Unexpected situations were gradually becoming more common for him.

The way Tenur spoke of this situation surprised the god opposite the fertility goddess. "I'm confused, Fey, and that's not a good thing."

Fey, the goddess of fertility, eyed him suspiciously as she took another sip of tea. She then accused. "You son of a bitch didn't bring him in?"

"Heck, it's forbidden, why would I-"

"Can I have a chair?" Tenur interrupted as he walked forward. "And what's forbidden?"

Fey glared at Tenur as she put down her cup. Silenced, Tenur took a step back and observed the argument that was soon upon the two gods.

"You know, this would be the third time he came in uninvited," Fey stressed the word, as if fearing the god would miss it.

The god shrugged. "You know me, I don't do random stuff unless it's called for." He turned to Tenur. "And you, ho-ho-"

"You're gonna regret barging in here the first place." The god of fate sneered as he scanned Tenur. "I suppose you should go gather proper companions that would teach you the ways of magic."

"That's what I've been trying to make him do, Shai," Fey let out a sigh as she palmed her face. "But this idiot here is too clever for his own good."

Shai seemed amused by Fey's fallen expression, but rather than laugh at her, he wanted to try something different for a change. "And you my friend," Shai turned his amused gaze towards Tenur, "are fucked. Real bad."

Despite Fey's expression turning from disheartened to confused, Shai took no notice of his toy. Instead, he savored the confused expression of Tenur, his host.

"...?" Tenur furrowed his brows, enough for a question mark to appear above him.

"What I mean is," Shai took a deep breath before continuing, "there's a cascade of uncertain things that are going to happen in the near future. And it'll catapult you into unchartered territory."

"Now, take a look."

As soon as Shai said that, a flick of his hand turned the dark space above his head into a screen. "It shows us stuff that happen while you're asleep," Shai explained.

After a couple of seconds, when the less-black darkness that was above Shai's head made no indication of showing anything else, Tenur started "But there's nothing-"

Yet, he could hear something now. Faint, faded sound that was coming from the screen. Shai grinned, taking in Tenur's changing expressions as he watched the screen as well. To him, Tenur's expression changing from confused to surpsrised then focused was something to behold and savor. It was an entirely different delicacy compared to bullying Fey.

The sound was almost non-existent, but it definitely existed. As he cleared his mind to prepare to process what he would hear, the sound turned clearer, evidently from his ears getting accustomed to the silent atmosphere around his unconscious body.

Fey's pretty white face flushed as her eyes widened. She realised what Shai was revealing to Tenur. "Shai, no! You'll break him!-"

Shai, eyes still on screen, held up a hand, silencing her. "You know better than I do that he must mature quicker." His voice was flat and devoid of any emotions.

Tenur couldn't shift his attention as he was completely dedicated to processing what he was going to hear. Faintly, he started to make out the sound of meat slapping against meat, the moan of a woman in pleasure and the grunt of a guy in heat. Suddenly, he remembered the two people he saw before he collapsed from pain. Sarah and the healer.

He could hear the clicking as his mind made the connection, and a dizzying nausea hit him despite his lack of body. A wet, hot lump of something welled up from his chest, and he was suddenly unable to breathe.

No, it can't be. He could feel his eyes warming up, and something wet flowed down the corners of his eyes.

By the time he turned his attention back to the two gods, one smirking and the other feeling guilty, both of them were looking at him, waiting.

"This..." can't be true! He pointed at the screen as he tried to force the sentence out, but he ended up choking on his words midway, coughing. He felt the side of his face get wetter.

"It's true alright. And it's happening while you're unconscious." Shai answered as he grinned. Fey looked guilty, but her look at Shai had understanding written all over.

"Why..." Questions popped up one after another. Why did she have sex with him? Is he someone she's closed to? Was she seduced by him? Did she like that kind of guy? He couldn't stand it anymore as the questions and doubts gushed out, as if a dam had broken within him, with the dam being his will. He sat, broken, at where he stood.

"Many things in this world are not what it seems," Shai's look of amusement turned neutral as he spoke again. "And you already know the truth."

Fey bit her lower lips, but hid it by taking a sip. Shai did not miss the expression, but suppressed a chuckle from forming as he continued. "You think you can live the life of a normal villager in this town-city-village join up? Or perhaps become one among the council of mages? Naive. You always knew the truth, of how you're different from others and you'll never even get close to being among the great mages."

Once Shai leaned into his chair, Fey supplemented with a monotonous tone that held a soupcon of sympathy. "However, you shouldn't be disheartened. You are meant to walk the path of a scholar and mage, to avert your eyes from reality and turn to a more dream-like world. Just not here."

Even though he knew the words the two gods spoke of were of truth, he couldn't help but feel frustrated at his betrayal and retort rebelliously. "What would you know!"

The two gods didn't seem surprised at hearing his words. They looked each other in the eye. As if in agreement, they spoke in unison. "We may be gods, but we are part of who you are. What you experience daily, what decisions you make, we have a part in doing it."

"We may look like this and are called 'gods'," only Fey spoke this time. "But we're a product of your consciousness."

"Tch, too much Fey!" Shai suddenly jumped up from his chair, surprising the goddess who spilled some tea. The spilled tea fell into the nothingness below them, before gradually disappearing from view.

"Oops..." Fey muttered. Shai glared at her before turning to Tenur. "In other words, we are a product of you. Get it?"

Shai suddenly looked urgent. "Crap, we don't have much time. Now listen carefully." He seemed agitated, speaking as if there was no tomorrow. "As a result of your past actions, you are now a human with affinity only for fertility. You're not aware, but you've chosen to walk the path many have avoided. Here's the advice: Walk the path you think is right, make decisions you won't regret later. You'll soon find the answers you need."

"Wha-at...?" Tenur managed to squeeze out the question. The lump that welled up had made his throat felt raw and scratchy. But there wasn't time to ask anymore, because as soon as Shai slapped a hand on his shoulder and said "you can do it", he was sent flying backwards by an invisible force. Shai and Fey rapidly shrinked as the distance between him and them grew, and as he blinked several times, the darkness that he saw was replaced by the familiar ceiling.

"What?" Bewildered, Tenur sat up slowly. There was a dull pain on his skull, but not so much that it'd turn sharp again. As soon as his back was against the frame of the bed, he recalled the contents of his dream.

Immediately, his chest contracted and he felt like he couldn't breathe. His chest felt heavy and the constant pounding of his heart did not ease the tension at all. Hot stuff flowed down his cheeks as he held one hand to his chest, the other to clear his vision as it blurred. The feeling felt nostalgic, yet he did not welcome it. In fact, he hated the feeling so much he tried to get used to whatever the source was. This time, however, he did not anticipate it.

It'll be different next time, he swore to himself as he rubbed his eyes harder and slapped his chest with a balled up fist.

He swung his legs to the side of the bed, standing up. His bones cracked as he flexed and relaxed muscles all over his body. He felt refreshed, but one thought of the betrayal washed the feeling away. He stood up, walked over to the door and reached for the knob, but hesitated.

Part of him wanted the dream of Sarah having sex with a random guy to be false, but that was never going to be true since he could still hear the sounds of their passionate sex. As for the other half, he wished to just forget about it ever happening, yet he felt extremely disgusted at that thought, and he knew even if he accepted it on the surface, he would never, ever fully tolerate it.

And then the reasoning of Sarah was never even his to begin with, popped up. The reasoning was sound, and it had been his own fault that made him suffer as he had now. As long as he no longer think he possessed Sarah, there was no harm done to him.

"Yeah, she was never mine to begin with," he muttered under his breath. Despite repeating it several times to himself, he still found some resistance inside him. Gritting his teeth, he turned the door knob, and made the decision to barge through the passionate atmosphere while heading home.