Darkness, that was all Connor could see. He stood on a smooth floor with no light in sight, but he could barely make out a few silhouettes. The place looked empty, an abyss of darkness.
"Hello?" Connor yelled out, knowing full well it might not have been the smartest thing to do, since calling out like this would get the attention of whatever or whoever might be with him there.
Voice 1: "T̵͎̅h̶̨͒i̶̬̊s̶̞̒ ̴̻̈́s̸͉͝m̵͙̒ë̷͍l̷̪͋l̴̰͠.̴̰͌.̸̤̌.̶͈͠ ̷̰̅Ì̶̧ ̷͙̑w̵̛̫a̴̖͂s̶̤̆ ̸̻̅n̵̹̋ô̵̮t̷̨͌ ̷͔͘m̵̯̌i̴̔͜ş̴͆t̵͕̅ạ̶̾k̷͙̅ȩ̷͒n̷͎͋!̸̘̆" (This smell… I was not mistaken!)
Voice 2: "Ǎ̶͇n̵̥̐õ̴̟t̵̤̒h̴͔̕ȇ̷̡ȑ̴̺ ̸̣̌o̶̼̚n̶̘̾e̸͚̊ ̷̨̌f̸̭̾ĩ̸̼ǹ̸̪a̵͚̾l̷̖̇l̷͖͋ÿ̸̙́ ̵͉́a̴̦͌p̸̫̍p̸̘̈e̷̙̚a̸̤͐r̵͓͠e̴̤͆d̶̬́.̴͚̋.̸̩̍.̷͕͗ ̵̰͒Á̷̬f̸̩̊t̶͕̅ẻ̸̥r̵̢̽ ̷̗͗s̵͚̈ơ̵̱ ̸̙̇m̶͔̋ą̶̎n̶͙͐ÿ̸́ͅ ̷̟͘y̴̻̽e̸̮̒a̵͎͌r̸̼̍s̷͎̋!̴̻̽" (Another one finally appeared... After so many years!)
Voice 3: "M̵͚̏a̶̮͐n̵̡̂y̵͚͑ ̸̧̓f̵͔̋ò̵͇ŕ̸̻ē̷̬i̷̫͐ǵ̴̼n̴̗̎ ̴̜͗š̷̳o̷̿͜u̷̦͗l̶̨͌s̵̢̍ ̸̗͂a̸̢͝p̵̺̽p̴̪̆e̷̯͛â̸̬r̶̦͆e̶̢̾d̵̳̂ ̷͖̀ǫ̷̃u̸̩̓t̶̪͗ ̶̟͒o̶̫͘f̸̮̅ ̴̘̑n̵̡̉o̷̤͒ẃ̵̗h̷̋͜ḛ̵̓r̸̖͒ẽ̴̳ ̸͔̊t̸̖́ȟ̷͉e̴̤͊s̶͕̈́e̷̹̓ ̶̠̎d̷̫̏a̶͔̕y̴͎͝s̶̩̓,̴̙̽ ̴͎͊w̷̒ͅh̴̪̑ȍ̷͙ ̴̧́w̵̡̽o̸̩̍u̶̥̚l̴͖̃d̷͕̕ ̷̙̔h̷̹̽a̷̬̒v̷͙̏e̴̜̾ ̷̥̑t̶̨͆h̶͖̊ȏ̸̼u̷̜͆g̸͈̅h̴̺͋ ̷̬̿ơ̴̲n̵̞͌e̸̡͊ ̸̧͐o̸̧͠f̷̗͝ ̷̯͠t̸̫̓h̵̫̍e̶̛͔m̵̖̃ ̸̹̋ẇ̴ͅó̴͚ù̷̥l̷̗͌d̵̮̋ ̷̝̆b̵̙̀e̸̱͝a̶͎̓r̶̰̀ ̴̜̈t̸̳́h̷̫͆e̶͈͌ ̷̧́C̸͍̀h̴͈͌a̵͚̚ơ̴̥s̸͖̽ ̵̜͘ě̸͔l̷̦̂ė̷͉ḿ̶̡e̸͖͝n̶̠̄t̷̢̔!̴͔͆" (Many foreign souls appeared out of nowhere these days, who would have thought one of them would bear the Chaos element!)
Voice 2: "I̶̹͛f̸̜̏ ̸̣͌Ḯ̶͕ ̷̜͗ḱ̴͔n̸̦̒e̷̙͝w̸̯͘ ̷͙̒ț̴͠h̷̙͂e̷̻̽y̷̹̍ ̸̻͆h̵͖̅ä̴̲́d̷̼͝ ̴͖̊t̶̤͌ḣ̶̖e̸͈̔ ̴͉̚p̸̹̚ó̴̗t̶̮̅ȅ̵͇ṉ̸̄t̵̺̓ï̵̬à̸̲l̴̘̑,̷̣́ ̴̳̅I̶͋ͅ ̵̢͘w̷̤͌ŏ̶̯ǘ̵͔l̴̫͆ḋ̶̗ ̶̟̊h̷͓͒a̷̠͝v̸̝͛e̴̢͌ ̷̲͝u̷̼͠s̴̫̈́ȇ̶̤d̵̟̂ ̶̞͘t̵͖̀h̸̻̀e̷̺͝ ̶͍͒ŏ̵̰n̸͎̈è̴̬s̶͉̚ ̵͘ͅi̶̳̓ ̴͇̈́c̴̟̓a̵̼͆p̷͈͛t̸̜̔ǘ̶̯r̵̢̒e̸̠̋d̷̺̎ ̵̜͂m̷͉͂o̸͖̾r̵̳̽ẻ̸̪ ̷̭̒è̷̬f̷̭̏ḟ̵̭ie̶͚͋c̴͉̈́i̶͚̔e̴̝͗n̸̹̾t̶͎̒l̴̈́ͅy̴͍̚.̵̠͂.̸̧̀.̴̯͝ ̴̘͘W̷̨̿h̸̨̏ả̸̦t̴͓̓ ̷͙̂a̶͓̓ ̴̪̇w̶͉̕a̵̙͌s̴͖̈́t̶͚̉ȇ̴͍!̴̭̃" (If I knew they had the potential, I would have used the ones I captured more efficiently... What a waste!)
Connor stood there listening to the booming voices, shaking the space slightly with just a few words. He could feel his ears throbbing in pain as something cold started slipping through his ears, sliding down his cheek, but Connor did not care a single bit.
'Foreign souls?' These two words made him rethink almost everything. 'They said one of them… Does that mean I am considered a Foreign soul? Then that means….' Connor came to a conclusion that made him freeze, something he never thought about… 'Am I not the only one that is capable of coming to this world?'
In the midst of his thoughts, in the darkness, a giant silhouette moved, taking the shape of a hand that approached him silently, opening its giant palm as if ready to grab him when light flashed and Grim appeared between them.
Voice 1: "W̴̩͎͑̈́̂̍h̶͔̬̠̳̘̠̓̂ä̵̤́̒̆͋t̴̺̖̩̹̳͇̎̈́͋̀̇ ̷͖́ị̶̢̻̳̥̂̉̾͜s̸͇͍͇̖̗̓̀͜ ̶͈̫͛͆̿̀̎͂t̷̡̠̝̜̜̹͑̾̾̀h̴̥̗͉̠̠̰̆͒́̉̚̕a̴͓̭̪̥͖͘ť̵̟̤̖̩̎͂̀͝ ̶̡̬̳̳̩̌d̷̨͓̠̮͙̆̂͗̃o̴̝̞̙͖͎̾́i̸͎̘̊̇̏̌͠n̷͖͙̻̂̑̾̌̍g̷̨̰̙̹̈́̌̏̈́͐ ̸̩̻̤̗̼̃̊̃͒̈́ͅh̷̩͚̣͛̀̓͆̕e̷̥̳̙͊̎̔͝r̵̡̡͑͐̀͑̕͝ě̸̛̞͎̱̼?̸̛͙̄̄̒͛́ ̶̧̢̠̯̘̮̋̀̂Q̵̦͎̻̋̔͆̓͆U̵̗̞̓͋͋̇̀͘I̸̛͙̬͑̈̀Č̸̜͚̹̜̭̔͋K̷̹̇Ľ̸̳̾̈́̃̅Ÿ̶͇́͌ ̶̢͙̱̃̏͘͘͜Ǵ̷͕͌̄͝R̵̩͚͎͐̉̿̈́͘A̷̳̒̿̀̉̌̕Ḇ̶̢̈́̊̾͊̍ ̷̥̒̀̔͆̔H̸͚̪͔̺̝̑͋͑̐̽͑I̶̬̾M̵̡̨̦̾͆̏͊̈̈́!̵̧͕̥͍͚̌̈́͊̂̓̀!̷͈̃!̸̼͉̀" (What is that doing here? QUICKLY GRAB HIM!!!)
The space trembled at the voice as pain assaulted Connor. His ears burned as the noise was replaced by a buzzing noise, signifying the amount of pressure his ears were facing when everything just went blank…
***
"A..re...y.ou…ok?" Amongst the buzzing and muffled sounds Connor could make out something.. "HEY WAKE UP!" *SLAP*
Connor opened his eyes in a panic with Joshua's face appearing in his vision. "Thank the gods!" Joshua took a deep breath. "Don't you ever scare me like that boy!"
Connor sat up, feeling a strong pressure on his head and a burning sensation on his cheek. He reached to touch his ears and something wet stuck to his fingers.
"You seem to have sustained a blow to the head, blood coming out of your ears, nose and eyes.. By the gods child what happened to you!'
"I… I'm not sure!" Connor responded, looking around him. He could feel the grass underneath his hand, the gentle touch of the wind and the bright sun rays. He was back to where he fought the Dark Slime, but it was nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" He asked.
"You tell me! We were watching the fight between you and the Abomination from a distance, swinging its tentacles around, but then everything suddenly went quiet, the birds, animals, even the winds had stopped for a few seconds, then the next thing we knew, its body started evaporating, that's when we approached the spot, we found you on the ground, bleeding from every hole on you head" Joshua sighed. "I thought you were dead… Don't scare me like that, I thought I got you killed by bringing you into this"
"I… Got hit, but luckily managed to end it before I passed out!" Connor lied… he couldn't tell them what accually happened, that was out of the question, especially when those things were as ominous as dark entities could be.
After cleaning himself up, drinking a couple of health potions, Connor was back to top shape, barely. The group quickly made their way back to the farm, where each went back to doing their own thing.
"Connor, rest here for now, get some sleep and I'll wake you up for dinner" Joshua was being extra nice, especially when he thought that Connor fought a brave battle against the Abomination and nearly died for them.
"Thank you Joshua" He laid down on a bed inside the house, but he couldn't get himself to sleep, especially with all these questions going around his head. "What were those things? Why are they looking for the Chaos element? Is it that special? What did they mean by foreign souls? Are there really other people like me? If they caught me what would they have done to me? Hey Grim, care to answer?"
"Remnants from the Abyss? For now? What do you mean for now?" Connor asked the most urgent question.
"2 years? How the fuck am I supposed to deal with them? And what are they in the first place?"
"Fuck!"
Connor's worries were increasing by the day and each one is more dangerous than the other. All he wanted was to get strong and survive the damn apocalypse in his own world but what was this about Remnants from the Abyss? What kind of trash luck was this?
"Can I remove the Chaos element from my soul?" He asked.
"Of Course not!"
Connor sat in silence, his mind going through his experiences, thinking about his next step.
"A year should be enough time, especially with what i've accomplished in only around a week and with Grim with me, those damn remnants or whatever will not put their dirty hands on me… Not after all I've been through!" Connor's eyes became fierce, his heart calm once again, and his resolve strong.
His eyes slowly drifted into sleep, tired after a long and dangerous day. Opening once again to a familiar ceiling with the quiet sounds of the ocean waves in the distance.
"Alright, I guess it's time I deal with that damn mutant Zombie!" Connor muttered, looking at the darkness outside. "I should get some proper rest before I do anything though" His eyes once again closed. Time on earth was basically the same, with only a couple minutes, maybe half an hour maximum passing after all the time Connor spent in the other world. He had more than enough time to rest and get a good night's sleep before his group finally moves out of this damn Hotel.