Lothar and the elf maid silently walked through the corridors, occasionally passing by some other elf maids doing their tasks and the regular patrol of elven guards in standard armor.
Arriving at the door leading to his room, Lothar had no hesitation in opening the door and heading inside, his body flopping on the bed without much care for his current attire, a pillow over his head.
Seeing the human immediately flop down on the bed, the maid sighed quietly as she observed the room from her spot.
Wiping her finger on a nearby wooden surface, she saw dust cling to her skin, making her grab a piece of cloth that was hidden inside one of her maid outfit's pockets and head inside the bathroom, where she could wet the cloth so she could start wiping.
Applying some soap and rinsing the bubbles off, she headed back inside the room and wiped the wooden table with the wet cloth, her eyes glancing at the resting human.
Done with the table, she then headed for the dresser, wiping off the dust from its surface area as well as glancing at the resting human again.
This continued for about a few more minutes, and while she was doing so, she couldn't help but wonder…
'Why is a human still here…' She recalled the piece of news that was circulated around the continent after the war that the last humans were publicly executed. The children were no exception. 'Weren't they eradicated? If so, why is there still a human being alive on this continent? Were there survivors?'
As she continued to theorize, her body working on auto-pilot for the time-being, she noticed the human turning a bit on his bed, a yawn escaping his lips.
'Mana depletion…' The maid approached the now sleeping figure of the human, her eyes glowing somewhat as she supplied mana into her eyes. What she saw made her think that the human was weak, even weaker than her, when it came to magic capability.
Turning around, she headed for the door and grabbed the door knob, her head twisting a little to the side as her eyes glanced more closely at the sleeping human.
'Later, I'll ask you what you're doing here.' After completing her current task, she exited the room and gently closed the door behind her before moving on to finish her other tasks for the day, leaving the human alone.
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Lothar looked around him, the vast expanse of darkness greeting his eyes as he began to tremble.
"No… No no no… Nononono… This… This isn't real… This isn't real…!" Lothar clutched his head and ducked, beads of sweat rolling down his face as it dripped into the inky black canvas of the void. "I'm not here… I didn't return… I'm alive… I'm alive!"
He focused on the beads of sweat that rolled down his cheeks, only for it to vanish once it left his body.
"I can't be back…! I can't be!" He quickly stood up and glared at the darkness, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm… I'm just dreaming! Yeah! That's it! It's all just a dream! All just a dream…! Just a… dream…"
His voice gradually lowered in volume as his defiance continued to sag.
"It can't be… Right…?"
Just as he thought that all hope was lost, he saw a light coming from the horizon. Looking at the spectacle like it was paradise, he took off into a sprint, the darkness of the void being his only obstacle.
He ran and ran, and as he did so, the light on the horizon continued to grow bigger, but at the same time, dimmer.
Lothar panicked and ran even faster than before, his feet propelling him forward. He ignored his aching body. He ignored the sweat clinging to his clothes. He ignored everything.
All in favor of focusing on the light that was slowly growing bigger and dimmer as time went on.
The light, now enough to tower over Lothar, seemed incredibly close enough that it could be grabbed, but was now dim enough to only light Lothar's boy slightly.
His desperation increasing, Lothar quickened his pace, fully ignoring the state of his body.
Reaching out his hand, he felt light embrace his figure, and just before the light went out, his hand grabbed the source of the light.
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"Agh!" Rising from the bed, Lothar felt his soaked clothes against his skin; the covers on his bed were sprawled over it like a soggy pancake. "I'm not in the void… I'm not in the void…!"
He then looked around, and saw nothing but darkness.
His breath hitched as he looked around for a light source; the window curtains had been closed shut as night descended. In the darkness, he stumbled around the room, his foot getting caught by the table's foot, the dresser's stand, or even the wall, all the while Lothar's mind kept on drawing parallels between this dark room and the void.
'No… This isn't the void… This isn't the void…!' No matter how many times Lothar told his mind that this dark room wasn't the void, he couldn't help but panic, his fear of the void translating to fear of the dark.
Grasping about in the darkness, he snagged his foot on another table leg and tripped to the ground, letting out a cry of pain as he landed on the ground.
Not being able to take anymore of this, Lothar screamed.
Outside, the maid from earlier, who was just about done with her tasks for the day, heard the ear-piercing shriek coming from the room where the human guest stayed.
Bracing herself for the worse, the maid rushed to the door and forcefully opened it, the light from the halls filtering inside as it expelled the darkness that surrounded the room.
The light shone on the prone figure of the human, who was sobbing uncontrollably on the floor, his hands grasping at straws as he tried to calm himself, but to no avail.
Thinking fast on her feet, the elf hastily approached the human and held him in her arms. She then heard him mumbling words that were nearly inaudible, but thanks to her elf heritage (ears), she was able to make out the words.
"Light… Where's the light…?"
At first, the elf was confused, but looking at the human once more, she concluded that this could've been brought on by trauma or something similar. Raising her hand, she chanted a spell, and a few seconds later, an orb of light appeared, hovering over her palm and spreading light across the room.
Noticing the sight, Lothar looked up and saw light, and an elf maid's worried face. His breathing still erratic, he did his best to calm down as he gripped the elf maid's clothes tightly.
Calming down, Lothar breathed in deeply as he clung to the elf maid.
"Thank you…"
That was enough for the elf maid, apparently, because she smiled and patted Lothar on the back.