The blinding light from earlier finally subsided leaving Cree to himself. Waking up from his sleep, he was welcomed to a new environment that seemed nothing like the apocalyptic world from before. He was in a bedroom with no memory of what had happened some minutes ago.
Cree sat up on the bed only to see the bedroom he thought he would never see again. This was no ordinary bedroom, this was the room he stayed in when he lived with Callum and his parents.
He wiped his sweaty face with his hands as he observed his perfectly arranged room. This was kinda strange to him as his room was usually scattered majority of the time. The thought that Callum had cleaned his room made him drop the idea shortly after.
"Huh, I guess I was just having a bad dream. Though if I had to say it looked and felt so real."
Cree jumped out of bed wearing the closest things he could find. Walking out of his room, he was welcome to the halls of the large house. Callum's parents were not the richest people in the world, however they were wealthy enough to build a big house of their own. This made him wonder majority of the time why Callum was on the street when they first met.
During this moment, the sounds of some people playing could be heard from outside. If he had to guess he would say they were playing his favorite sport volleyball because of the sound of a ball.
Cree bursted into a sprint heading towards the field close by. He didn't have to go so far as the house was right next to a volleyball field.
Five minutes later, he had reached his destination gasping a little bit for air. In front of him was Callum, his sisters, mother and father. After having such a dream this was quite the sight for Cree to behold. A tear drop gradually swayed down his face as he observed them from the distance until Callum had noted his arrival.
"Hey Cree! What are you doing over there? Come let's play together."
Just then, he chuckled before giving a response.
"Sure, I am coming in a bit!"
Cree began to run towards the volleyball field before he suddenly came to an early stop.
"Cree, what are you doing now? I told you come let's have fun."
Wrapping his fingers into a fist, Cree squeezed his hand tight while looking at the floor.
"This.. This isn't real", he said upon recalling something from his past.
His family in the volleyball field having fun on this particular day seemed similar to the one he had 5 years ago. The bright sky, the color of Callum's shirt, the expression on the faces of everyone. There was no denying this for him as it was too obvious to look past.
All of a sudden, the whole world around him cracked like glass pausing everyone in sight. Cree moved his hand forward touching the cracks before sighing with pain in his heart.
"It was fake after all..."
The glass like reality shattered leaving Cree with the environment which was nothing but pure white. This did not last too long as new environments were soon created right before him. These were all memories from his past. After a while a memory that stood out to him recreated itself.
"Is that when I was...?"
He could see himself two years ago when he was packing his things to face the cruel world once again. A fate he knew he would have to face eventually.
"Are you sure you want to do this", Callum's father asked.
"Yes I am sure."
Callum came to the Cree which was in display and gave him a tight hug, a hug that he could vividly remember.
"I don't want you to go but I know you have to do this. Good luck bro. Kick the world's butt this time", Callum shaked his hand afterwards with a board smile.
Cree could see the him from two years ago leaving to face the world. That reality broke like glass once again causing him to shudder. He was starting to believe he would never get used to this.
"What is going on? I thought Claire said that nothing I saw would make sense, that it would just be an effect of the Rift cube running through my memories."
Cree's memories kept on breaking and forming till he came across the time when he and Callum were on the building. It also went as far as to show when he had dead. Cree refusing to see such events unfold in front of his eyes again, closed it shut. He was tired of remembering how he had failed.
He eventually opened his eyes willingly as he heard the sounds of a fight that seemed all too familiar.
"The Leading undead..?"
The events of the battle played out as it did in the past, with Cree watching it till the end. Unlike last time that he had closed his eyes, he could see everything that had happened.
"Cree, watch out!"
'I remember this part,' Cree thought as he watched from afar.
Just as he expected, he closed his eyes leaving himself open to an attack. Though to his utmost surprise, things did not go as he expected they did.
"What!?"
The Cree in front of him opened his eyes grabbing hold of Maverick as quick as he could before pulling him in. This resulted in Maverick getting impaled with the Leading undead's fist to his dismay.
Thoughts ran through his mind as he remembered the face of shock on Maverick's face.
'Was that because I dragged him in front of myself?,' He wondered.
If everything he had seen so far were events that had actually happened in the past, he knew that this had to be real.
The power in his knees disappeared causing him to kneel on the ground. Grabbing hold of his head, Cree shouted releasing the pain within himself.
"Ahhhhh! I...I am a murderer."
The place shattered once again bringing Cree back to the white plane from before.
"Don't be a chump about it! You did what you had to do to survive!," A voice sounded from behind him.
Turning his head, Cree saw himself but with red colored eyes. This version of himself looked like it had no care in the world as he stared him down dominating eyes.
"What are you talking about..!?"
"Remember you promised yourself you would get Callum back no matter what. I am just here to remind you of that."
A sharp pain erupted from Cree's head suddenly, causing him to hold his head tightly once again. When the pain had subsided, he rose his head up only to see the other version of himself gone.
In the white plane, Cree could see a brown door from the distance. Since it was the only place there, he decided to walk towards it.
Upon reaching the door, he opened it only to see Callum in an abnormal room made of horizontal moving glass. Though for some strange reason he was wearing some kind of royal garment on his body. He could tell simply because of the crown on his head.
"Callum! Your alive..!"
"No, no, no. My name is not Callum, I am the Rift cube you had entered sometime ago. I have only taken the form of what you desire the most due to the inability of your feeble eyes to comprehend my existence."
"What!?"
"I am too cool for you to understand," the being said with a cocky grin.
Cree's expression soon changed to that of confusion before looking the opposite way.
"Was everything I saw true? Did that really happen?"
"That is for you to decide, Cree."
Just then his heart became heavy as he clenched his fist. The being wanting to have nothing to do with his personal life proceeded to tell Cree what he needed to know as he began to change the landscape.
"As you know, I only grant powers based on one's will and desire, however in your case I will judge you based on that and if you are able to complete your challenge. Why you may ask? That is simply because you had an encounter with Claire the Calamity god."
Cree's eyes flared in surprise as he gazed at the now smirking being.
"Now show me what makes you so special, human. I await your results."
Tremors soon filled the place as it transformed into a totally different from before.