Intense pain washes over Jasper making him wake up with a start. He was surrounded by complete darkness. It was impossible to see anything so he carefully felt his way around his surroundings. This was enough to tell him, he was in an unknown place. He could only sigh helplessly at his situation. Since coming to Arcane World, he would somehow find himself unconscious and wake up in some weird place. He was getting tired of doing this again. Nothing was in his control, it was a very sickening feeling to feel.
Jasper's hand fell on the spacial bracelet, reminding him of Jennifer's condition. He immediately dived into it with his conscious. Luckily, there were no changes in her condition. This was a bad thing because it meant she was going to take much longer to recover but at the same time, he was relieved to just know that she was alive. ' Jen, I promise it won't be long before you come back. I am sorry for the wait, but just wait a little longer.'
When Jasper returned to his body, the glaring brightness of the room blinded him for a second before he could orient himself back. There was a young boy about the age of d 8 years old with him in the room. He was too young and looked harmless but looks could be the most deceptive, never judge anything just by the first glance.
With the whole room alight, Jasper was able to see the room. Similar to the village Jasper and Jennifer had been through while escaping from the Graveyard Truope, it had a medival design made of some durable material he didn't know about. There was a big window opposite the bed giving him a good view of the town.
The whole village was made of the same material with the buildings placed in concentric circles and 2 floored.
Jasper looked at the boy closely and noticed the reason for the light was not some substitute for tube light but the boy himself. He was emitting light from his hand like the sun. He was stunned by the sight and understood Arcane World's development was out of his imagination. It completely made him forget the situation he was in as he initiated the conversation.
" How are you able to do that??!"
The boy followed Jasper's direction and looked at his hand, " This is the light element I was born with. All I am doing is using it to bring brightness to this room."
"Interesting, so you can bring brightness with ease because you have been born with it. I guess it's something like an organ to you. Using it comes unconsciously. "
" What's organs? Yes, you are right about it."
Jasper suddenly came out of a state as he realized what he had just done. Without knowing whether the child was an enemy or not, he started talking to him casually. But, it couldn't be helped the kid was just that cute.
" Would you mind telling me where am I, exactly?"
" You are in one of the villages in the Beast Land, Nether Ashes. "
" Ok. So how did I end up here? Last I remember I fell unconscious somewhere else."
"Uhm..." The boy also realized the smoothness with which both of them were communicating as if they had known each other for a long time. It was a feeling he had experienced before with only 1 person, so this fact affected him greatly.
"You have my sister to thank for that. When she arrived at the village with you and the Lynx, both of you were in very bad condition. If immediate treatment was not given then there was a chance of death. "
"Seriously, the condition was that bad, huh? Well, that's what happens when facing an enemy with a much greater level of strength. I should be happy to survive that impossible situation but I would be lying if I said, I did it alone. Lynx and Rhea helped me to the bitter end not giving up on me, if they had left then I would probably be dead. "
"Wow, so the elders of the village do not speak lies, the outside world is much more dangerous and lethal. "
"Yes, it is. Anyways, do you happen to be Rhea's brother? "
The boy's expression changes into one of conflict," Kmm, I am her younger brother, Rihan. "
" That's a good name, you know. If I had the chance to change my name, I would take your name. Who doesn't want to be the 'God's Chosen One '."
" Ohh, I didn't know my name had such a meaning."
"Perhaps, your name has a different meaning here but from where I come from, it means ' God's Chosen One.' " Jasper pauses for a brief moment before," From your expression before, I am guessing you don't have a good relationship with your sister."
Rihan looks at him with eyes that had dilated pupils, as he didn't want Jasper to know. It was a deep wound the young boy didn't want to dredge up. But it was unavoidable since Rhea had come back to Nether Ashes.
" It's ok. If you are comfortable, then please tell me what exactly happened. I can help you because I also know the feeling of being abandoned by my sister."
This made Rihan look at Jasper much more closely as he contemplated whether to tell him or not. In the end, he just sighed and started recounting," Sister is 7 years older than me, so experienced the cruelty of living in Nether Ashes much earlier than me. This village is not a bad place, in fact, it's a haven for people wanting protection from all danger because nothing ever happens here. Not many people live and resources are enough to sustain all the villagers, so fights are non-existent here.
This is a good thing, but only Sis was born with a much different drive than the others in the village. No matter how much she tried to control it, it always stayed out of control, her intense desire to explore the world outside. It didn't help that everything about this village is boring, the other children were so weak, and she defeated them with ease.
After 13 years of lasting in the Nether Ashes, she decided to leave. The only reason she stayed was because she didn't want to leave me, but she had reached her limit. Now, she has come back after 5 years to save two weird strangers, a young adult around her age and a cute Lynx. "
" That's a lot of information to take in, you know but thanks for telling me. It will help me better judge Rhea's character. "
" I will tell you about her character, she is the purest soul you will ever meet in your life. By the way, what does my sister mean to you? Are you her friend, lover or something else?"
Jasper had recently met with Rhea and due to the way they met, he didn't get any time to take a breather. But now he realized Rhea was very attractive. Rihan's words made him blush as he cleared up, " No, no I just recently met her. I am not sure if we are friends, then how could I be her lover."
" Are you an idiot? Of course, you are friends, otherwise, why would she risk her life and come to Nether Ashes to save your life? It means you are very important to her."