The Trio Adventure

A Dream Inside A Dream

Xie Lian woke up and felt a little throbbing on his head. He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the blinding lights in this room. The room was sumptuous and elegant with red glass walls, and his heart knew the familiar place where he is.

Are we home? Did we escape the illusion? 

He tried to lift his shoulders but he felt so dizzy that he sprang back to his mattress.

"Your Highness, you're finally awake."

That familiar voice made his eyes open, looking at the man running towards the bed.

"Your Highness! You have me worried for you!" 

"Feng Xin?" Xie Lian called out, trying to be certain that he's really back into reality.

"Yes, Your Highness, I'm here. How are you feeling? Is there something that you need, or do you feel something terrible? Tell me."

"Feng Xin, how many days did I stay in this state?"

"For about a week now." 

Donned in luxurious black robes and carrying an air of grace, Mu Qing entered the room and replied. Xie Lian noticed that they were in the Palace of Xianle, the one that Jun Wu rebuilt after it was destroyed.

"Mu Qing, can you get Your Highness a glass of water. He might be thirsty for sleeping too long." Feng Xin asked Mu Qing.

"Why are you bossing me around? I'm not your servant. " Mu Qing huffed a breath and rolled his eyes.

"What are you saying? I was not ordering you around for nothing.  I was asking you for the sake of Your Highness."

"But it pisses me off to hear it from you. I can get a glass of water for Your Highness on my own, no need to tell me what to do."

Feng Xin squinted his eyes and blurted, "What in the world are you babbling about? It's not a big deal anyway! You're acting as if I asked you to take your own life."

"That's ridiculous! Earlier you blamed me for what had happened to His Highness just because I was not there by his side when he was knocked out unconscious. But let me ask you this.  Were you around him when this shit all happened?"

"I'm not, but you also know that I was facing a calamity, I can't be of any help with His Highness. If you were available at that time, and if not because of your stupid pride, and your 'It's alright, His Highness is alright, he doesn't need me anymore.' We would have avoided this."

"Uhm, I'm alright. You can stop arguing now." Xie Lian intervenes as he noticed that these two might argue again.

''I'll be off now!" He dusted towards the door and left no trace.

"He never really changed a bit!" Feng Xin blurted and turned his attention to Xie Lian.

"Your Highness, if you need any help, just call me. I need to-"
He stopped in mid-sentence as he heard a voice from the communication array.

'General Nan Yang, is it true that His Highness is awake?'

It was Ling Wen on the array. He responded, 'Yes, he is. And we're trying to check what really happened to him.'

'Your Highness!' 
Xie Lian jolted as if he was not used to using the communication array anymore.

'Ling Wen.' He replied.

'Are you alright now? We were worried about you. We've tried to send some help to wake you up, but they didn't even know what caused you to fall asleep that long.'