<>(Zack)<>

The bed I'm on is super comfy. It's definitely not mine. So soft and springy, yet firm as well. And the blanket and pillows so soft and fluffy, the sheets and pillowcase so smooth and silky.

It's a nice bed. I want this bed.

Opening my eyes, I find myself on a bed with red and black bedclothes, in a room with smooth, black stone walls, crimson candles set into candelabra on the walls. I pull the blankets off of me, then notice that I'm wearing black and red pajamas, not my own.

Nik must have changed me before putting me into the bed. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I think he did it from some sort of fatherly instinct, not out of perversion.

I inspect my arm, tracing a finger along where I sliced myself. I can't see a scar, but I can sense the spot I cut myself, as if there's a flame running along it. Not one that burns, mind you, just… one that's there.

A little unsteady, I take a few steps around the room, stretching and getting my bearings. That done, I change into a regular outfit, picking up the one I was wearing before. It's been cleaned and dried, and was folded neatly on a wooden table in one corner of the room. I send it and the pajamas into my Inventory, then pull on my boots.

Before I open the door, however, it opens, and a three foot-tall bear enters the room, then stares at me with its crimson eyes. The bear has short, silky-looking pitch-black fur, a pair of crimson horns protruding from its head, curving back and to away from each other every-so-slightly. A duo of black, slim, furless tails flick behind it, a spade on the tip of each one.

"Uh… hi," I say.

"Oh, you finally woke," he responds in a childlike voice.

"Uh… yeah," I say. "Uh… who are you?"

"I'm Kulkul, Nik's Demonic Familiar," he answers. "I've been keeping an eye on you since my master put you to bed in here."

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"Eight days," he answers. "Nik's been worried sick that you won't wake up, especially since the Dark Meditative Chant didn't work. He had Adrian check you out, but the old fart from the Temple couldn't discern the cause of your sleep, nor wake you. They even got a magician who can affect dreams try to enter your mind, to see how your conscious thought was doing.

"Did you know," he says. "That when someone tries to enter your mind, they're immediately met with a wall of fire that burns their physical body? I had never seen something like that before. Luckily, you were at the Temple, so it wasn't a big problem. She was healed quickly."

Ewwww! They tried getting a chick to go into my mind! Gross!

I mean, I have an issue with anyone trying to enter my mind, but still! Gross!

Kulkul giggles, and I realize I'm making a face, so stop.

"Nik's currently praying in the Chamber," he tells me. "Would you like me to escort you there?"

"If you wish," I say. "I can find my own way there."

"Okay," he shrugs. "I'll walk with you, since I'm heading back to him, anyway."

Kulkul and I walk to the Altar Chamber, chatting along the way. He tells me a lot of stories about things he's done with Nik, as well as some interesting stories about Nik himself.

It seems that Nik has kept Kulkul away from me for the most part, only summoning his physical form once he's reached Praevar, thinking it best if I didn't meet him just yet.

I'm not sure why, though, since Kulkul has a ton of stories to tell. There are definitely more than the ones he's told me by the time we reach the chamber, and I'm sure we could spend days telling them. Well, him telling Nik's, but also me telling some of mine. Kulkul likes to collect stories, it seems, and has picked them up from others.

I go to enter the Altar Chamber, and Kulkul stays beside the door.

"Aren't you coming in?" I ask.

"No," he shakes his head. "Only Dark Knights may enter, not even we Demonic Familiars are able to."

"Ah," I say. "So you're just going to wait here until he leaves?"

He nods. I rub his head, then enter the Altar Chamber. Nik is on his knees, just like when I approached him a week ago. No doubt in Dark Meditation, praying for me to wake. He doesn't respond as I approach, though worry is clear on his face.

"Nik," I stop walking beside him, and he starts for a moment, then looks at me. He smiles, standing. "I've woken."

"At last," he says. "How do you feel?"

"Hungry," I answer. "I haven't eaten in a week, other than that honey-and-nectar mixture you've been having Kulkul feed me."

He laughs, saying that he'll have Kulkul cook us a meal. Once he says that, he suddenly looks serious, looking at the flames on the Dark Altar.

"Zack," he looks back at me. "What happened? You bled yourself into the flames, then they began to wrap around your arm and feed directly from you. Your eyes turned violet – we'll discuss that later-"

Oh, right. He knows about the mage's eyes turning violet when he uses magic. I haven't told him yet that the mage is actually a Dark Knight, and none other than the one standing before him.

Oops.

"-and you spaced out," he continues. "Then after several minutes, you pulled your arm out, looked unsteady, became focused, and then swayed, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as you passed out. I barely managed to catch you. Your arm was healed fully as well, though I can sense a trace of fiery magic where your cut was."

So it's not just me sensing that? Interesting to know.

"What happened?" He asks.

"I forced a vision," I answer. "One connecting me to Big Flame, with the intent to see if I could check in on him."

"Did you manage?" He asks. "You passed out, and have been out for eight days."

He's looking me up and down and all over, and I can see the concern in his eyes. He's definitely feeling like a father with me. He's seeing me as a son, and one he needs to protect and keep safe. As much as I amuse him as a Dark Knight, and as much as he encourages me… he doesn't want me being me because it means I'd likely get hurt bad.

But he lets me anyway, because he cares about me too much to upset me on that level. He really does feel like he's my father.

He's more of a father than mine ever was.

Shaking that thought from my mind, I look at the now-confused Dark Knight before me.

"Don't worry about that," I tell him. "Just a thought that crossed my mind, probably something surfacing from before my death in reality."

"Okay," he still looks concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I am," I smile. "I promise. And I did contact Big Flame. He apologized for not being able to contact us, and said it could be a few more months. He's currently incapable of doing the contact every couple of weeks, and is genuinely sad about that, and about upsetting you guys with the lack of it. He said that all of the Crystals will be unreachable until then, but that their presence will still be here. They're just busy with the fight against the Shadow of Life, and are currently forced to devote their attention elsewhere, unable to pull it away for even a moment."

That's actually the truth, in a way. I'm curious to know why he spent so much effort turning the people of that Boundary against the Dark Knights and Blood Priests. What would come of that? It's not like erasing the presence of an entire Class would weaken the seals on him.

At least, that's what my gut tells me, and considering my prophetic dreams… I'm inclined to believe the gut.

"That is good, then," Nik sighs in relief. "Though I'm not sure how I feel about all of them needing to devote their attention elsewhere."

"It's nothing to worry about," I say. "Big Flame assured me that they should be done in a few months, though considering we're Dark Knights, I doubt it'd take that long."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Oops.

"We're Dark Knights," I grin at him. "Our devotion to him is so strong, I'm sure he'll be able to feed on it and deal with the issue waaaaaaay faster! I wonder how much power he'd get if I cut off my hand and fed it to his flames."

"Please don't," he shakes his head. "Kulkul says we have about ten minutes before he's finished cooking."

I nod, then we begin to walk to the dining room. We reach it and sit down, discussing training and how I should modify it a little, now that I'm a Dark Warrior, then Kulkul comes out with trays of food on carts, setting them out on the table.

He's wearing a cute little black apron with Big Flame's insignia embroidered onto it with red thread. He is so adorable, I want to just pick him up and cuddle him.

Nik laughs when I ask if I can cuddle his Demon Familiar tonight, and Kulkul looks terrified.

"What?" I ask.

"While you were out," he says. "Kulkul was feeding you the nectar one time, and you grabbed him and pulled him into the bed, wrapping your arms tightly around him and nuzzling him. You did that for about twelve hours before he managed to escape."

I guess he's really comfy, then. I like soft fur, it feels nice. And when it's on a cuddly creature… I guess I can't help it.

"So can I?"

Nik laughs again, and Kulkul sighs, shaking his head.

"Are you staying here tonight?" He asks, and I shrug. "The Dark Temple holds no cost to sleep in for a Dark Knight, Zack. You've always been free to sleep here. I guess that was never mentioned to you."

"Nope," I shrug. "I think I'll still sleep at the quarters, though. Once I get a team, it'd be best if we're sleeping together, and I'd rather not get too used to sleeping in comfort and warmth here. Mind if I steal the bed, though? It's way comfier than that straw mattress."

Nik just laughs, shaking his head. We finish eating, then I stretch and yawn. Even though I was unconscious for a week, I'm tired. I may have been unconscious, but I was not sleeping. So I look forward to passing out and getting a solid amount of sleep.

"I'm going to go lie down here," I tell him. "Then when I wake, I'll probably head back home to check on things there."

"Alright," he says. "It's evening, which is why Kulkul made a dinner meal, so you'll probably wake during the night or in the morning."

I nod, then wish him a goodnight, then look at Kulkul.

"Can I cuddle you tonight?" I ask.

"Get your own Demon Familiar," he tells me. "I am a demon, not a cuddlebuddy."

"You look like a giant, cuddly teddy bear," I tell him. "How weak are you to be unable to escape a kid new to the Boundary?"

If he could blush, he probably would be doing so furiously right now. Actually, he probably is, I just can't see it because of his fur and matching skin.

"No," he states firmly.

"Please?" I give him puppy eyes.

"No."

"Nik?" I look at the demon's master.

"I can only sustain his physical form," Nik tells me. "At the expense of Mana. I had to drink quite a few Mana Potions to keep him around while you were snuggling him before. I haven't left here to make sure I was here when you woke, and I do need some sleep tonight, so I won't be able to."

"Okay," I say, then look at Kulkul. "Consider yourself lucky tonight."

He sighs in relief, and I get up and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.

Even though his fur is sort-of short, it really is super-soft! He's so cuddly, too. That's definitely fat underneath his fur!

"I'm a demon!" Kulkul fights out of my grip. "Not a cuddly bear! Stop that! It's disgraceful and rude and unbecoming of a demon!"

Says cuddly bear wearing an apron and cooking dinner.

I dip my head to them, then make my way back to the room I woke in, changing into my regular nightclothes and lying down.

As usual, I begin my nightly meditation and reflection into my Sacred Crystal, though when I do this time, I notice a change. Two changes, actually.

I'm not surprised by the increase in the merging of the flames, considering I gained a full Level for "Ultimate Sacrifice of Service". A static, one-hundred percent Experience bonus to Dark Warrior. I was willing to give up my lifeblood and life to contact Big Flame, even though I don't want to die.

I wanted to make sure he was alright.

That said, I wasn't expecting the flames to be merged five times as much more than they were before. That's a much, much larger difference.

Then there's the other change, and this one is… interesting. It might explain the sense of fire in my arm.

Running roughly a quarter of the length of the Sacred Crystal within me is a super-thin band of violet fire, existing entirely within the darker part of the Sacred Crystal, as if along the edge of it. It isn't centered in anyway, it's simply there, and it's entirely unexpected.

What does that mean? And what will it do to me?