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"Happy Birthday! Wake up sleepyhead, your friends are coming to congratulate you today"

I wake up to the sound of a voice that I haven't heard for what seems to be an eternity.

It can't be possible, I think…

I'm afraid to open my eyes.

"M-mom?" I ask, opening my eyes in surprise, after a moment's hesitation.

At the foot of my bed is Shui, my mother, with a smile.

For a millisecond, I notice confused that next to my status a strange icon appears, but it's not really important…

Not when I have my mother in front of me.

She's as beautiful as ever, with her blue hair and eyes and pale off-white skin.

"Yes, who else can I be? Did you have a bad dream son?" my mother asks, reaching over to stroke my head.

"No.." I say, confused, as waves of different emotions hit me. Relief, joy, surprise, confusion "Where am I?"

"At home" she says and begins to frown. She holds my head in her warm hands and looks at me carefully "are you feeling okay, son?"

"Yeah... I just had a really weird dream..." I say, and I can't stop a tear from running down my cheek. Could it be that everything that happened was just that? I'd love it to be...

"Okay, okay, it is over now" says my mother, giving me a kiss on my forehead "brush your teeth and face, and put on some presentable clothes. Ragnar and Julia are already downstairs waiting for you."

"W-who? Why?" I ask, and now I am really confused. I don't understand what Ragnar and Julia are doing in Crossroads Town…

But… why would we have to be in that town? After all, my parents' inn is located in the capital.

"They are here for your birthday party, goofy… why else?" she laughs, but then she frowned "Are you sure you're feeling well?" asks with concern.

"Yes, yes. I'll be right down in a moment..." I say confused.

I have to organize my thoughts...

Could it be that a dream disoriented me like this?

"Ok" says my mother. She gets up from my bed while caressing my head and then, leaves my room.

I hastily get dressed in the first clothes I find and, while brushing my teeth and washing my face, I try to understand what is going on.

It seems that my imagination played a trick on me, I had never had such a realistic dream. But, come to think of it, it was all rather fanciful…

There was an icon next to my status before, right? Hmm, it must have been that I was still half asleep.

As I walk down the stairs, I hear Ragnar's voice coming from the first floor "You must be very proud of your son. I've never seen anyone his age handles the sword like him, and he can use magic too!"

"yes, he is a good boy" I hear my father's voice say. And again, as happened to me with my mother's voice, I am hit by waves of emotions that stop me for a moment. "I'm so grateful that you and Julia wanted to teach him. Tell me how went your last expedition into the labyrinth."

Is my father happy with the idea of me getting closer to the labyrinth? I think as the feeling of confusion assails me again.

But this time, I quickly displace it. I can't let a simple dream disturb me so much.

"Happy birthday, son," says my father, Rufin, smiling as he sees me come downstairs.

Seeing his strong face; with hard features that turn soft and loving when he looks at someone he loves, and his jet-black hair and eyes; I run to hug him.

He, Ragnar, and Julia are sitting at the bar of the tavern.

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations!"

I hear the voices of Ragnar, Julia, and Mia, as I have my face buried in my father's chest.

"I see that you woke up a little bit emotional, huh?" says my father, when, after we have been hugging for several moments, I show no signs of letting him go.

Embarrassed, and suddenly realizing what I'm doing, I let him go and pull him away a little.

As I do so, I see that Azur is playing with Mia on the floor.

How strange... I don't feel anything coming from the bond… It's like the blue drake is just some random animal.

But... Hadn't it always been a tavern pet?

No... Why would I think that?

I look in my interface for Azur's ability and see that it is indeed there.

Confused, as I slowly approach the little drake, I concentrate on extending our connection and sending him a mental message.

As soon as I do so, I am struck by a feeling of pure terror that paralyzes me on the spot.

The sensation is such that the edges of my vision begin to blur…

I feel myself faint and, almost at the same time, I wake up on the floor of the village chief's house, with the panic still gripping my mind, paralyzing me.

[You have successfully escaped from the altered state].

With that message, it comes back to my mind my current situation, the place where I am, and why I am here.

Out of caution, I pull one of Ozy's vials from my inventory and hold it in my hand, as I try to calm myself.

The dream made me relive the idea that my parents are gone and that I will never be able to hear their voices again or see their faces… Pain grips my chest at the thought, but the presence of my companion comforts me through the bond.

Azur is curled up next to me and it is very scared, but I notice it also starts to calm down when the little drake feels me next to him.

We are both still, trying to understand what happened and trying to comfort each other with our company.

I don't want to move so as not to alert a possible enemy.

It seems that everything is fine, although I can't see much of what is happening around me because my back is to the fireplace and the fire seems to have diminished a lot.

But if nothing happens... then, what does the notification mean?

Cautiously and still drowsy, I start to turn towards the fireplace, slowly just in case there really is any danger.

I suppose that with a bit more of light I can make out my surroundings better.

As I finish turning around, what I see with narrowed eyes are the shadowy silhouettes of Joseph and Debi, the chief's daughter, embracing at the light of the fireplace.

I relax a little.

If Joseph is awake I don't have to worry about the possibility that something might have happened. If someone was attacking us, he would know.

I guess Joseph is much more determined than his cousin in these matters, I think amused, while I watched with narrowed eyes the silhouettes of the two young.

Then, looking more closely at the scene, I notice that rather than embracing her, Joseph seems to be simply being held by Debi.

And that, from Joseph's hand hanging at his side, a trickle of an amber liquid falls… Blood? I think sleepily. No, maybe it's juice...