"What… is happening?"

Van could not help but stare at the winged-soldier beside him. If he was right, then this soldier was one of the individuals that appeared in his dream last time before he woke up. But weren't there supposed to be 7 of them?

​​

Where were the rest?

"Huk…"

Van's whole body shivered as he heard a sniffle coming from the winged-soldier, although he could not see between the cracks of its helmet, the pain, and sadness on the winged-soldiers cries jolted Van's entire body.

Van then looked below, towards where the winged-soldier was looking. And there, he saw another 6-winged man… no, 4. As the two wings on its back were being ripped apart by a bearded man.

Unlike the rest of the giants that Van has seen, this bearded man, who was wearing nothing but drapes, was the size of an ordinary human.

"No!"

Once again, Van felt a heavy weight on his body as a wave of pressure crawled its way all the way through his bones. It felt as if his body was hit by a sharp wind as he heard the scream of the winged-soldier beside him.

"I… can understand them now?", Van could not help let out a tiny breath as the words entered his ears.

"There is one left! One left and we will shower in victory!"

Van quickly turned his attention towards the one that let out a battle cry. It was the very first giant man that he saw. He was old but still held certain greatness and authority in his eyes. He was holding what seemed to be a lightning bolt in his hands.

"What… is going on?", Van felt his thoughts racing in his mind, but none were able to pass through the other. His thoughts, however, were then quickly disrupted by the sound of cracking.

The winged-soldier beside him placed his palms together, and as soon as it did that, the darkness that covered the entire void instantly became full of life… but also death.

Light shone throughout the darkness, revealing the countless bodies that floated in the air. Their blood, reflecting the rays of light that came from above.

"This…", Van felt his breath froze as he saw the scene of carnage that laid in front of his eyes. Winged-soldiers and giant beings alike were littered across the darkness. Van could not help but move to the side as a giant floated towards him.

The giant's dismembered arms were floating beside her, still gripping her bow tightly even upon death.

Van's frozen breath cracked. But this carnage, even if it was infernal, was not the one that made Van freeze, no. It was the warmth that bathed his skin from above.

...A Portal.

Van could not help but furrow his eyebrows as he stared at the light above him. He has only ever seen it once, but he was sure of it… it was a Portal.

The winged-soldier behind him then quickly flapped its wings, its body only a blur as it flew towards the gigantic Portal.

"No!", the giant man covered in lightning bolts screamed, "Hermes!"

Hermes!? Van's attention was quickly stolen as he looked below. However, the only thing that he was able to see was a streak of golden light passing beside him.

"!!!", Van once again rotated his body, only to see the golden blur enter the Portal.

"Everyone, follow my son or we shall all be doomed for--!"

Before the old man covered in lightning bolts could finish his words, the Portal above shuts its eyes, once again filling the void with darkness.

"No!"

A darkness that was followed by the screams of a thousand giant men. Their screams reached Van's ears like shattered glass, destroying the insides not only the insides of his ears but his whole body.

He felt his skin cracking, a disgusting warmth on his face as his eyes melted and crawled through his skin. His bones were protruding out of his skin, piercing it as they scraped through his flesh.

"Gah!"

The only thing that Van could do was scream as the only thing that seemed to work was his throat.

"Evans, wake up! You are having a-- Aw!"

Van's vision swayed as light once again seeped into his eyes, his body, however, felt like it was falling endlessly from the skies. It wasn't until he felt a twinge on his cheek that he felt the weight on his body return.

"Evans!"

"A… Andrea?", Van blinked a couple of times as he stared at the woman in front of him. Was he… finally truly awake? A dream within a dream, quite a surreal experience, he thought.

No… were they even dreams in the first place?

"You were screaming in your sleep!", Andrea let out a sigh of relief as soon as she saw a gleam in Van's eyes.

"My… head hurts", Van stuttered as he held his head.

"Are you okay there, Evans?"

The pain in his head, however, quickly dispersed as soon as he heard a familiar voice echo through his room. Van immediately turned his eyes towards the direction of the voice, only to see Sarah leaning beside the doorway of his room.

"...Miss Sarah?", Van breathed out his confusion, "What… are you doing here?"

Andrea felt her whole body flinch as she quickly stood up from the bed, "She… she is just visiting to check out if all the repairs are done and if we need something else! She was in the neighborhood so she might as well have checked the house! She was in the neighborhood because she was in a meeting, yes… That's right, she was in a meeting with our neighbor!"

"...", Van slowly turned his head over to the window, with only the darkness and the light of the moon to greet him. "This late at night?"

"That…"

Before Andrea could even say any more excuses, Van let out a long and unabated sigh, "Are the two of you together?"

"N--"

Once again, before Andrea could even speak, Van raised his hand to stop her, "I already know", he said.

He then looked towards Sarah, "Is that why… you gave me the house?", he once again sighed, "Were you trying to court Andrea?"

"No", Sarah quickly shook her head, "I have other reasons"

"Also, that Lauder boy won't be causing you any more problems in the future", she continued.

"...Gerald?"

"Yes. You can say I made a visit to his house the other night"

Hearing Sarah's unfaltering words, Van slowly got up from the bed and quickly walked towards her, looking up and staring straight into her eyes.

"Since you're already here… Can I ask for the truth this time?", Van's eyes did not move, "Why are you really helping me so much?"

"Evans!", Andrea quickly reprimanded him, Van's gaze, however, was still full of weight, unwavering even with Andrea's heavy voice.

Waking up from his dream brought him nothing but questions, so right now, at least just for this moment, he wanted an answer.

"...Alright", Sarah let out a long and deep sigh as she walked towards the living room. There was a certain hesitation on her face, her lips slightly quivering as her breaths started to stutter.

"You and my sister…

...are the same"