Through The Worlds

1.2

Haldis gulped, mouth opening and closing as he struggled to formulate a comeback.

Chuckling warmly, Eras pulled back, a tattered piece of cloth in his hands.

A piece of cloth...?

Haldis stared at the worn cloth before looking down at his body. His shirt was gone! Flushing, he gestured wildly at the piece of cloth as Eras balled up the remains of his shirt with one hand, throwing it into the bin. Looking closer, he caught a glimpse of metal in Eras' other hand.

He gritted his teeth, glaring furiously at Eras.

Unfortunately for him, to Eras, Haldis resembled an angry kitten.

All fluff and utter adorableness.

Kneeling down, Eras prepared to wrap the bandages around Haldis' torso. His fingers trembled slightly as they brushed Haldis' scarred skin. How many times had he failed to keep his promise? How many times had Dia suffered because of his weakness?

He clenched his teeth as he busied himself in settling Haldis' wounds. There would be time for him to punish himself later.

"Is it too tight?"

A soft snore was his answer. Looking up at Haldis, Eras shook his head as he stood up. Somehow, sometime, Haldis' had fallen asleep while he had applied the ointment and bandages.

Reaching out, he grasped Haldis' neck in his hands, slowly tightening his grip.

Below him, Haldis stirred, brows furrowing slightly while his mouth parted as he struggled to breath. Yet he never woke up.

"You're lucky I like you." Eras relaxed his grip, hands moving to stroke Haldis' face as he brushed the loose strands to the side. "Sleeping in front of someone like me... Really foolish..."

Exhaling gently, he turned and left the room, the door closing softly behind him.

Left alone in the room, Haldis dreamed.

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In his dreams, he was Sion once again.

He lay in a garden as he watched the clouds drift by, the world moving around him while he remained stagnant, a lone constant in his ever changing surroundings.

First, it was spring. Tender green sprouts burst through the ground, unfurling their leaves even as flowers bloomed, filling the tranquil garden with their sweet scents.

Then came summer. Above him, the sun shone even brighter, the plants paying homage to their overlord, the sun.

Behind summer was autumn. Leaves gradually darkened and yellowed, with the winds sending leaves falling down from above.

Finally, winter swept in. The temperatures plummeted as the plants wilted away. Small flakes of snow danced through the air, blanketing the entire garden with a layer of white.

At least everywhere, except for him.

Thus the seasons passed, a endless cycle of life of death which he remained apart from, his existence unchanged.

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Awareness came slowly to him, his mind lingering in the tranquil garden of his dream. Taking in a deep breath, he could almost smell the flowers, their scent light and soothing as he basked underneath the clear skies.

Shaking his head, he opened his eyes, determined to ignore the strange dream he had. After all, it was nothing more than a dream.

He stretched, grimacing slightly as he pulled on his wounds. With any luck, they would heal soon. Then again, time waited for no one. His mind made up, Haldis pushed himself off the bed as he forced himself to walk towards the door.

His limbs protested with every step he took towards the door, his face contorted into a tight smile.

Finally, he reached the door.

Pushing the door open, he prepared to step through, only to halt as the door remained unmoving in his hands.

It was locked?

Jiggling the door knob, he tried to pull the door open instead. However, the door remained stubbornly shut.

He glared at the door, fingers twitching as he mentally ordered it to move aside. Who would have locked the door?

Perhaps it was time to use force...

Just as he was about to force the door open, the door slid open to reveal Eras.

"You mean it was a sliding door all along?" Haldis found himself blurting out those words, his face heating up as he shifted his gaze away from Eras.

Eras stared at him blankly before the light of comprehension appeared in his eyes, his lips quirking upwards as he trembled. Small huffs came from him as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Coughing, he adjusted his expression to look firm as he opened his mouth to speak. "Peter Pan has ordered you to begin missions with Squad 2 immediately."

A slight frown emerged on his face as he eyed Haldis' bandaged torso, his fists clenching involuntarily. Behind his smiling facade, he seethed, madness held at bay with rapidly fraying ropes. With every injury, every wound given to Haldis, the ropes frayed faster.

One day, he would settle all his debts with the organisation who took them.

"Eras," Haldis paused, trying to formulate his thoughts. "What exactly does Squad 2 do?"

"Well, unlike Squad 4 which dealt with prisoners, we have a very different purpose." Here, Eras began to walk, guiding Haldis forward. "We are in charge of taking care of those well, rebels. Assassinations are a main part of what we do but right now, we're mainly focused on Hook, though he was formerly known here as Halvor."

Haldis stopped walking for a second, confusion painting his features. There was something not quite right about Eras' statement. "Formerly known here?"

Nodding to Haldis, Eras continued. "Yes, he would be your predecessor, one of the former possessors of the letter 'H'. As you know, we gain our names when we graduate from the training. However, what you don't know would be that the first 5 letters, A to E are special, with only one person assigned that letter which actually denotes their position. A for the Emperor, B..." Eras trailed off, leaving Haldis to continue.

"... For the Right Hand and then C for the Left Hand. And since you're the captain of Squad 2, D would be the captain of Squad 1?" Haldis spoke, brows furrowing slightly. What did these ranks have to do with Hook?

Noticing Haldis' impatience, Eras laughed softly. He was rather tempted to drag things on and continue start rambling more about other things.

Almost on cue, Haldis' narrowed his eyes at Eras.

"Anyway, from there, the letters start having more people for each letter. With 2 people being assigned 'F', 3 being assigned 'G', and finally 4 being assigned 'H'. That's why he would be your predecessor, one of your mentors, that is, had he not fled from the organisation and started his own organisation to fight against the Lost Boys."

Concluding his explanation, Eras sighed, massaging his temples firmly. Hook and his band was truly a pain, creating so much trouble for him to deal with.

Looking up, he nodded to himself even as he turned around to gesture at the door in front of him.

"Welcome to Training Grounds 2."

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