Avic found himself standing in a massive room filled with gigantic pillars. In his hands were two golden daggers and before him stood a statue of a man that was so tall that he was unable to see its face. By the statue's side were three strange vials. One was the color of blue orchids, the other the color of a darkened night sky, and the last one the color of ancient gold. Finally, a bright light shone down from the statue's unseeable face, forcing Avic to squint his eyes and cover his face from blindness.
Avic groaned in pain as he was forced to move backward. It was as if the presence of a god was descending onto him. Pain shot through his body like a bullet as he found himself struggling to stand. Avic had completely forgotten about his injuries from his fight with Bolton. He was still covered with bandages from head to toe as if he had just been ejected from a hospital.
The pain he felt increased dramatically, the brighter the shining light became. At first, it felt as if he was lying in a hot flame but it soon felt as if he was being stung repeatedly by a thousand wasps. Avic screamed out in more pain than his nerves could register. He kicked, rolled, and punched the ground in agony with tears flowing from his eyes. It was almost impossible to believe that it was possible to endure so much pain. He was sure he was about to die.
However, to Avic's surprise, the shining light from the statue's face soon dulled, soothing his agony. Before he knew it, the light had completely receded, freeing him of the pain he felt. Breathing as if he had just finished running a marathon, Avic picked himself up, confused and terrified of what might come next.
This was when Avic came to the shocking realization that all his injuries had been healed. His broken shoulder, fractured skull, and small cuts that had been present all over his body had mysteriously disappeared.
"W-What happened to me..? How was I healed..?" He muttered in confusion.
Just then, as soon as the words left Avic's lips, the ground began to rumble like an earthquake. Bits and pieces of concrete began falling from the ceiling and pillars as they quickly began to come apart. The three vials that he had seen earlier were also affected. A strange liquid swayed from side to side in each of them before they all came tumbling over. This caused the massive statue to crack from its base, quickly falling apart. In the blink of an eye, the statue came crashing down, ready to crush Avic like a bug.
Not knowing what else to do, Avic turned around and began running as fast as he could. Pillars immediately began breaking in half and large slabs of concrete fell from the ceiling like rain. Avic jumped, dodged, and ran as best as he could, barely missing death each time. However, with the touch of some bad luck, he stubbed his toe on a small block of concrete. His feet were swept from beneath him and his hands flailed wildly before him. With a painful thud, Avic fell face first onto the solid ground.
He quickly did his best to scurry to his feet but it was far too late. The dark shadow of death loomed over him as the statue came crashing down onto him, ending his life in a mere instant.
"Gasp!!"
Avic's eyes were flung wide open. He looked around frantically, realizing that he was lying on the floor in the middle of his room.
"A dream..?" He murmured to himself. "I haven't had another dream apart from the dream of the Great Spirit Disaster for 10 years now..."
Carefully, Avic picked himself up off the floor. This was when he noticed that his body felt like a freshly unwrapped gift. His shoulder was healed, his head no longer hurt, and all the small cuts on his body had disappeared as if they were never there, to begin with. He was shocked to see this as it had now only been two days since his fight with Bolton.
"No way! How did I recover so fast?!" He squealed, throwing two air punches to the empty space before him.
However, almost as soon as a sense of joy overcame him, it was replaced by a strong sense of depression. His eyes had caught sight of the old grey shirt he normally wore when working at Amon's Tavern. This immediately reminded him of what had happened back at the doctor's office the previous day. Amon, the man responsible for adopting him and taking care of him from a young age had suddenly decided to abandon him. It felt as if he had lost his father a second time which drove sorrow into his soul.
To make things worse, Bolton's words still plagued him. No matter what Avic did, he couldn't get Bolton's voice from his head. It was almost as if he had been cursed.
Frustrated, Avic quietly moved toward his dresser where the picture of his parents sat. Slowly, he then picked up the picture and looked at the beautiful faces of his parents. The picture was filled with so much happiness that he became jealous of his younger self.
Avic hissed and clenched his teeth in frustration. He felt confused and lost, not doing what to do next.
"Damn it... Just damn it..!" He shouted, cursing the picture. "I'm tired of feeling this way... Instead of getting better, I only become worse! Look at you all so happy..! So carefree with smiles on your faces as if nothing in the world matters! Maybe if I get rid of you then I won't have to suffer anymore..!"
Avic then slowly raised the picture high above his head, ready to smash it into the wall. He gripped it with all his might before coming down with a powerful swing of his hand. However, at the last second, he stopped. He couldn't do it. It was much too precious to him.
"I can't, damn it... I can't do it..."
With his emotions plaguing him like a swarm of harmful insects, Avic grabbed a sweater from his drawer before quickly throwing it over himself. He then ran from his house as fast as he could, out into the open. The night air immediately brushed against his face and the moonlight looked down at him like a scene from a movie.
He dashed through the lonely streets of Initium as fast as he could. He had no direction or destination. He just continued to run with a sense of hopelessness seeping through his soul. This was when he stubbed his toe on a piece of wood that was lying in the street. He immediately fell to the ground with a painful thud.
However, instead of getting back up, he left himself sprawled out in the middle of the road with tears surfacing in his eyes.
"It's time I was real with myself, damn it..!" He cried. "Even if I try, my goal just isn't realistic... How am I going to save my parents? They're already dead... Reviving the dead just isn't possible... My dream is impossible!"
Just then, the sound of the wind brushing against the pages of a book came into play. Avic slowly stopped crying before looking behind him to see a strange book. Its pages skipped wildly as the wind blew against it. This was when Avic realized that what he had stubbed his toe on was not a piece of wood but instead a book.
"A book..?" He muttered as he picked it up.
He then brushed away the dust that was on the cover before he read.
"The Three Vials Of Deus..? It's written in Ancient Greek... I think I've heard about this somewhere before..."
With a flick of his finger, Avic opened the book to the very first page which was also written in Ancient Greek. Fortunately, before the death of his parents, Avic was a lover of the Greek language. Due to this, he used to practice the language with his mother until he had mastered it. Finally, he began to read:
"The Three Vials Of Deus are said to maintain the balance of the world. The first is the Vial Of Time which is said to control time itself. If a man shall drink from the Vial Of Time, they will be granted the power to manipulate the flow of time. The second is the Vial Of Space which is said to control all matter in the universe. If a man shall drink from the Vial Of Space, they will be granted the power to manipulate space and matter to their will."
Avic's eyes then shifted to the very last vial listed on the page. A small jolt ran through his body and his heart rate increased. Goosebumps crawled over his skin and a strange sensation engulfed his body like a hot flame as he read.
"The third and final vial is the Vial Of Dreams. If a man shall drink from the Vial Of Dreams, they will be granted the power to make all their dreams a reality..."
Avic was then forced to stop reading as the words on the page began to fade out the further he read. He quickly turned to the next page but for some reason, it was blank. He tried skipping through to other pages but they were all the same. The only page in the book that wasn't blank was the first page. However, a dangerous thought now played in Avic's head—the thought of achieving his dreams.