*Gasp gasp gasp* what kind of nightmare is that?" Faust gasps heavily waking up from his nightmare.
"Ahhh!! what is this? it hurts! my whole arm, my chest and my right shoulder is hurting like hell. It's as if someone is gnawing on them." Faust groans in pain as his skin stings, and he opens his eyes, to regain consciousness.
"Faust!!! Oh! Thank God you are alive, what happened to you? Where did you go? By the time we found you, you were lying unconscious in one of the Shrines, and you were badly hurt." Gus says as he looks worried and scared for Faust and he starts asking him question after question.
"Faust.... You have been in sleep for 9 days we thought you wouldn't make it out but thank God you did. Anyway, where did you get those injuries from?" Yang asks with suspicions.
*"Those injuries definitely are the wounds on his soul, his body is getting eaten from inside due to the ruptures in his soul. But rather than all the injuries, I have never seen someone being alive after that wound in their chest"* Yang thought to himself, realizing the differences in wounds as a former soldier who has been inside the spirit world.
Faust doesn't say anything nor does he seem like he is ready to share what has happened *"will they really believe me if I tell them what has happened? Or will I be ridiculed? Or worse will I be punished for entering the shrine"* Faust cautiously wonders in his mind.
"hmm its ok its ok, he is awake now, don't shower him with all the questions. Let him take a breathe first. Go on everybody, go out. He is good he will speak in few minutes." Realizing why Faust is hesitating, Gus acts like nothing happened and sends everybody. Only Yang remains, to ease Faust's worries.
"It's fine Faust, it's just your grandpa and master Yang is here. You can talk to us." Gus tries to assure Faust that they are going to hear what he have to say. His eyes gives show a hint of sadness that disappeared along with the questions, to make Faust more comfortable.
Faust still doesn't say anything, his face is just gloomy and he looks extremely down.
"You guys wouldn't believe me anyway, you will make fun of me." Faust tells in a squeaky little voice.
His chest still feels heavy as though something is pulling his heart out. His heart was being yanked by an invisible force, leaving him despaired and in suffering. But he doesn't want to show any signs of pain as Gus and Yang would question of him.
*"Why does my body hurt so bad?"* Faust looks at his left arm.
"Grandpa!!!! Grandpa what happened to my body? Grandpa." Faust is scared at the sight of his arm and his chest.
Gus doesn't say anything but he just looks down and seems even more tensed now.
"Faust, did you... did you do anything in the shrine? Did you experience anything? Or did you just got hurt and rested in the shrine? We need to know, we can't help you without knowing what left you in this position." Yang says with a desperate face.
"I -I went into a shrine one day after training. It felt so relaxing that I fell asleep but then I was suddenly in a different place. I made friends with someone and I tried to protect her, but I'm just simply too weak." Faust told everything that has happened to Gus and Yang.
"It's ok Faust, we believe you, every single word you said. Take rest for now. You did good." Gus said to Faust while putting him to sleep.
And there is a sense of tension between Yang and Gus while Gus is gently patting Faust as he sleeps.
"What the hell is he talking about?" After a while both Gus and Yang walks out and Yang's bursts out on Gus as soon as they walk out of the house.
"What do you think?" Gus says in response.
"You mean to tell me he entered the spirit dimension through that dead energy stream? And met the emperor of death?" Yang's says regarding to the shrines where Faust happen to jump into different dimension and meet Uriel.
"Not to forget, he mentioned the name of lord Uriel. And described the exo suits very accurately. I don't know what happened, but I'm taking his side." Gus says without any other thought.
"And those wounds, no medicinal healing can ever cure the wounds received by the soul. It's why we aren't able to cure his wounds, even with the best doctors we found, from the past nine days." Gus tells Yang who looks pretty frightened.
"Ok, so how are the wounds healing themselves slowly? No healing element can cure it Gus, so how can his body heal itself? I have never seen something like this. Not to forget that freaking diamond shaped scar on his chest which looks like a long sword just passed through his heart?"Yang curiously asks Gus.
"Gus.... Are you hiding anything from me? You left the island when you turned 20 and came back carrying Faust in your arms 9 years ago, calling him your grandson. Are you hiding anything from me? Is he really your grandson?" Yang stares at Gus with doubts while asking all the questions.
"Yang I promise you, he is my grandson. My one and only family. You can trust me. I don't even know the reasons for his wounds healing them self. And you heard what I said, Let me go cook something for Faust. What about you? Are you gonna stay for a while? Shall I cook something for you too?" Gus says casually.
"No I'm good, I'm heading back to home now. Take care of Faust" Yang says and leaves the house without any of his questions getting answered and doubts rises in his heart even more.
The wounds that Gus and Yang are talking about are the wounds from the soul whisper and the pistol sword of Lucifer. The Faust's left arm looks healed, but it was left with huge scars and the wound is still looking fresh. Some parts of his skin are red. A bright red, diamond shaped scar decorated his chest. The wounds are healing slowly and nobody understood how it is doing that.
Gus cooks the food and brings it to Faust who hasn't eaten anything from 9 days, he had to survive on a mixed solution of sodium chloride and water injected into his veins.
"Faust, I cooked your favourite dish, I bet you want to eat a ton." Gus says playfully.
However Faust doesn't say anything he is just looking at his arms and the scars. His mind immediately recalls the traumatized situation he was in.
"They said I helped them in an experiment. They-they experiment on humans? And that too on kids? The friend I made down there, I don't even know if she is alive now. The girl said she doesn't have anybody grandpa, I thought she could come live with us. Even the powerful guy over there whom she looked up to and called him a lord. He betrayed her and used her for some experiment. And all this happened because she met me and we became friends. None of this would have..."- Faust starts bursting into tears while he pulls the blanket off his thighs, covering his face and cries louder. "None of this would have happened if I was strong. I was so proud of martial arts as it's an art of self defense. But what happened today, grandpa? I couldn't even save my friend." Gus is in heartache by the words he heard from Faust.
He left the room without speaking a word and enters the attic. He later came back, holding a white box with golden carvings at the corners of box, in his hands and places the box on a table in front of the bed Faust is on.
"Faust! I can't give you any answers for your questions. That is just the nature of humans who are consumed by their desires and feelings. They are selfish, greedy, jealous and only share hatred among each other." Gus sensibly tells Faust about the human nature.
"What is in the box?" Faust asks in a low voice as if he accepts everything coming in his way.