Stone glides across the lake.
"Oh, that was a long one; let's try again," said a boy. This boy isn't really a boy, kind of; he is 18 now, so a legal adult. This is Axton Abanish, such an odd name for such an odd fellow, right?
Stone glides further.
Yeah, I know, my dad was a superhero nerd, and my mom... well, she was just a normal nerd, obsessed with literature. That's why my name is... an alliterative; those nerds used to love puns. Axton refers to a town of "Ash Trees," and, well, Abanish just means "King," I think.
I'm of no significance, though; I'm average height, weight, and everything really. The only thing out of the normal is that my hair goes to my shoulders, I guess.
"I should... probably go back home now," I say to myself, not in any rush, though I live alone, and it's getting a little dark out... not that safe here in Bangladesh, especially alone at night, even though I live in Dhaka; it gets a bit creepy at night.
Doesn't really matter; today is the end after all.
"From Dhanmondi Lake to... 9/A street isn't that far; I'll just walk home," I should've taken a ride home instead.
As I walked relatively aimlessly in the direction of my home, I saw... a doorframe? In the middle of the sidewalk?
"That's odd; it's painted. No, it's not actually painted; it's... made of a black wood, a plain door frame made of black wood? The hinges look painted at least.", I muttered to myself.
"I'll try opening it; I wonder if it's buttery smooth like it's been doused in WD-40 or if it creaks," I continued.
As I open the door and walk through it, it... took me to a room?
"What the hell? Is this some stupid optical illusion?".
I walk around to the side, with my palm grazing the wall, as disbelief, curiosity and intrigue floods my mind. As I look around, I see two doors and a rusty dagger on the ground. I walk over to it and pick it up and... "Damn, it's still sharp, but it's still fragile. How is it in this condition and not brea—"
One of the doors creaks open.
"What the hell? Oh, so this was really an elaborate opti—" I stopped, as the figure walked into the room I see...
A small green silhouette, with its own rusty dagger, walked towards me.
"Hey... H-hey, HEY! This isn't funny anymore; you win. Where am I, WHERE THE HE—? That thing just LEAPED at me with the knife in hand, aiming at my gut.
I fell backwards on the floor, narrowly dodging a one-way trip to the ER, either for disembowelment or tetanus, if I'm lucky, that is.
I got a closer look at it, though; it was green, small, had crooked teeth, a long nose, pointed ears, brown eyes, and a brown loincloth. It's fast. TOO FAS-
I get up and run back to the door to get away from that thing in one piece. I ran as fast as I could towards the black doorknob. I try to turn the knob; nothing. I bang on the door, slamming it with my curled-up fist.
"It's not—it's not budging."
"If I want to live, I have to kill that thing... don't I?" It leapt towards me as I turned around, and it stabbed into my palm, penetrating the other side, then it used me like a wall and jumped off me, dislodging that barely sharp dagger from my palm.
I screamed as loud as I could, a guttural scream. It hurt, It hurt like... Hell. I was... scared.
I fell on my back this time, writhing in pain; it was unbearable, the blood—it was EVERYWHERE, all over my t-shirt, all over the floor, EVERYWHERE, and that... THING... it was flashing its crooked teeth in an equally crooked smile. It was nonverbal, but it showed excitement.
It fell back and... it started to get a running start; IT WAS ABOUT TO KILL ME.
That thing leapt into the air at me, dagger in hand, aimed down at my gut again and—
THUNK
It stabbed into me; the pain was killing me... but this thing... was coming with me; it landed stomach-first into my own dagger.
"COME ON!" I mustered all the remaining strength I had into twisting the knife and pushing it upwards, bathing my own face in the blood of this... this... MONSTER.
"IF I'M GOING DOWN, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" I screamed as I finally killed that thing... Both of us lay next to each other, both disemboweled, both dying.
The lights started to fade... "That's it...huh, dying like a coward, not what I expected, I guess," as I shut my eyes... the pain stopped?
Dweller Slain
"What? Who said that?" I opened my eyes to a large box on the ground and my wounds healed.
I touch my stomach, feeling smooth skin; not even a scratch was there.
"What? How did that—. ", I mutter to myself, my tumbling thoughts cutting my words off.
I get up and open the box to see a bronze revolver. And five bronze-colored coins with an engraved image of a star engraved onto it. And the body of the monster—wait, no, a "Goblin." Those things are real? I guess so, and my injuries are healed? What else is real?
As I look behind me, the door is now unlocked, but the two doors in front of me are also unlocked... except one of the doors is navy blue, and one is black. This place has given me more questions than answers, but staying here wouldn't answer any of them.
I walk up to the blue door.
GULP
I run in, bashing the door open as hard as I can, preparing for the worst.
"Ow! Watch it, you overgrown, hairless dwarf," said a feminine voice.
I ran headfirst into a pale-skinned, blonde woman with... pointy ears?
Confused, "An elf?", I mutter.
"Yeah, I'm an—Tsk, never mind; I don't have the time for this." She left me alone and vanished into the crowd. I'm in... a market?
Behind the blue door was... an entire market—no, a whole new world?
The more I looked around, the more dumbfounded I looked: elves, dwarves, vikings, and knights even; they all looked like... people in a fan convention or a Ren Fair, but this time, it was real?
"Did I passively smoke something?"
"Did... I really just kill that thing and get sucked into... this? Oh god, OH GOD I KILLED THAT THING"
I crouch, gripping the dirt, my breaths getting hard. That thing's dead; I killed it. I almost died; oh god, I was almost dead; it was either it or me but I killed it. I grasp the dirt tighter, feeling the rough grains and doing my best to control my breathing. I can't do this right now; it's not safe—get up, get up get UP GET
"UP.".
The beings passing by barely spare me a glance. They seem to have seen it all before. I'm not special.
...
I walk around the market, seeing all the shops and stalls and restaurants, and it turns out the coins are called 'Totas.' One gold Tota is five silver ones, and one silver is five bronze ones.
And that's exactly what I have.
I am... too tired.
VERY tired.
I looked for the nearest seat, or bench, or—oh screw it, I had just sat on the nearest chair I could find in front of a restaurant, getting drowsier by the second.
"I just want to go home and sleep. I want to sleep and wake up from this f@@ked-up dream. I want to be back... in... my... own... bed...", I mumble to myself, tired as I doze off, I close my eyes and-
I wake up in a soft, familiar place, in my own bed, in my own apartment, in my own home!
I had never been so happy to wake up from a dream before!
"Ah! My shirt! Since when did it have a hole in it? Speaking of which, that was a weird dream, wasn't it? I need to take it easier, don't I?", I try to convince myself, making sense of my dream, and how detailed it seemingly was.
As I get up from bed and look around, I see my humble little studio apartment, black-painted walls, my gig bag with my electric guitar in it, and the peripherals next to it.
I then stretched my back and yawned, and then I slowly got up from my bed to find something to drink or eat.
Clink
"What was that?" I look down to the floor. The floor is as it always was, except for the bronze revolver and... a rusty... bronze... dagger.