Chapter 15: Returning

[You’ve been getting along quite well with Cecilia this past while. What’s up with that?]

Are you, perhaps, jealous? Has the demon that is jealously finally hit the goddess?

[Well, I remember you saying something along the lines of that you’d never have feelings for her.]

Things can change Ireina. Now that I’ve almost died, I think I’m going to change myself. I need to work harder.

[Work harder? You are still near the top even though you have been nearly dead for a week. In fact, even while almost dead, you could still kill a normal man.]

That doesn’t make me feel better. Ireina. Why did I almost die?

[Because you jumped out a window like a complete idiot?]

No, the more psychological reason. I am aware I am an idiot. Who in their right mind would try and tackle someone when they are that high up?

[You lost yourself after you thought the man had killed Cecilia. You let your guard down and Cecilia was taken hostage. The man had everything planned from beginning to end and all you could do was powerlessly play in to his hand like a good little puppet.]

Putting it that way it makes it seem like I’m really weak. Well, I am, mentally. I need not only more strength, but more knowledge, more intuition. I need to be able to protect those close to me if I want to become strong. I’ve almost died once in my world. That is game over. I don’t get to respawn like I do in virtual reality. Here, if I die. I stay dead, forever.

[Gonna stay in your house all the time? Are you going to hide away from all of your issues?]

No. You can only build up so much strength while running. Sometimes you just have to be able to stand your ground. There are times to run and there are times to fight. Now, I need to fight.

[Back to the main topic. You are now incredibly close to Cecilia.]

So?

[So? You are aware that I am going to be taking over her body? What happens if I am in her body and you kiss me?]

I didn’t think of that. It would be like me cheating on Cecilia. Oh well, I’ll figure something out when the time comes, for now. We should be getting news if that girl ‘Julia’ met Arthur and Jacob. Knowing Arthur, he would gladly help me… but I’m going to owe him more now.

[Yes, they have met. Julia is logging out now. She ran back to the inn she was staying at with a new personal best for her.]

I swallow saliva and it burns my dry throat.

“Doctor. My throat is very dry… could I possibly get some water?” I ask to Juiles.

“Sure thing.” He gets up and grabs a paper cup from the counter and fills it with water from a tap. He walks over and stands over me. “Please open your mouth, I know you aren’t able to move your arms.”

I do as he says and he carefully helps me drink a bit of water.

“Your phone should ring soon. Ireina told me that your friend is logging out.” I move my body back to a comfortable position. As I get comfortable again, moving the only part I could, my neck, Juiles’ phone starts to ring.

“Damn, that’s creepy. It’s Julia.” He puts the phone to his ear. “Hello Julia, did you me-” He pauses. He looks at me, “Are you serious? He actually knows him… is he The Phillip?”

“Of course I am.” I say in a slightly mocking tone, but raspy.

“I see. The description matches. Thank you. No need, I will figure something out on my end. Actually, I think I have something figured out for that. Thanks. Bye.” Juiles looks to me. “Okay. Everything adds up. You predicted a call that was given no specific time of return, you have connections to important people. I have no choice but to trust you.”

“Thank you.” I smile.

“I could lose my medical license for doing this. I want you to know that.” Juiles’ face starts to look serious, “I am now going to medically induce you in to a coma and transport you to you VR pod. Oh god, what am I doing.”

“I will compensate you.” I sigh, “One million.” Juiles’ smile get noticeably brighter.

“One million? Do you perhaps mean… dollars?”

“Yes. I will compensate you with one million dollars. I will make sure it gets to you once I am better. Dr. Juiles.”

“Thank you so much!” The doctor smiles happily, probably forced, but I’m sure a lot of people could force a smile if they were told they’d be compensated with a million dollars.

I’m throwing away my fortune…

“Phillip, I am now going to put you in to a sleep like state for about two hours. You will feel intense drowsiness, please do not fight it.” Juiles comes out from a cupboard with a small green pill in his hand. “If someone catches me doing this… I’m not going to have a job. When you wake up, you will hurt, you will hurt a lot, but you should be in your VR pod by then.”

“Okay.” I swallow the pill thanks to the help of Juiles. My phone starts to ring and Juiles puts it on speakerphone.

“Hello. I have talked to Julia, Arthur and Jacob are waiting in the inn. In fact, a crowd is starting to gather, and that was before I logged out.”

“No worries.” Juiles speaks up, “I will have Phillip unconscious in about five minutes. I will then transport him to where you live using an ambulance… this is weird. An emergency deliver to a home address… not that it hasn’t happened before. We will be there in at most an hour and a half, and we will then have half an hour before Phillip will start to wake up. I can start prepping to have him moved mow actually. Talk to Cecilia for a bit Phillip, I need to go prep an ambulance.” Juiles then quickly leaves the room.

“How much are you paying him Phillip?” I hear Cecilia’s worried voice from the phone beside my head.

“Just one million dollars. Not much. He seems to be more cooperative now too.”

“Makes sense, a million dollars is a lot of money for a normal person.” Cecilia stays quiet and I just let her think. “Phillip?”

“Yes, Cecilia?” I answer in a happy tone.

“Next time you think I’ve died… please don’t try and kill yourself.”

“I’m sorry Cecilia. I lost myself and all I thought of was that I wanted the other guy dead.”

“I don’t accept you apology. Phillip, you almost died. You lost your mind and your body almost went with it. What were you thinking! I’ve been worried sick!” I hear Cecilia start crying.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” Tears start to fall from my eyes. “I’ll make sure you never fall in to a situation like that again. I will become strong enough. I will learn, I will train, and I will also spend time with you. I will make sure I balance it all. I can never again let go of you.”

“Phillip… No. No matter how much you apologize, I will still be angry! You almost died Phillip!”

“How can I make it up to you?”

“Never do that again! I will make you… I’ll make you regret making me sad!” Cecilia then hangs up the phone.

I’ve made some mistakes. Big ones. I need to make it up to her later, I’ll need to think of something once I am… If I get better.

The drowsiness is starting to set in already, it seems. I close my eyes and let the darkness consume me.

---Two hours---

“Welcome back Phillip.” I hear Dr. Juiles’ voice to my left. “Please remain calm and start your VR pod. Good luck.

“Thank you.” I grunt as Pain moves through my body. I see Cecilia with tears in her eyes close the door of my VR pod.

[I will start the pod for you. Before I do… you are aware of the issues that you could be put through. The mental stress of having you body repaired from inside the game… you might actually die… again.]

Please don’t tell Cecilia.

[She already knows. I’ve mentioned the possibility that you might not make it. Also, it is good that you logged out while laying down. You should send a prayer my way later.]

No… However. Thank you Ireina, if not for you… I might be dead. If I didn’t have your luck from the beginning… worse might have befallen me at some point. Ireina, I owe you my life.

[Save marriage proposals for someone you can get married to.]

I focus on the starting VR world. With the pain running through my entire body, everything feels different.

Ireina, to connect the VR pods to the world you created… did you use magic?

[No comment. Welcome back to Forged Path, Phillip.]

I close my eyes tightly as I feel my body on the soft bed. Part of me wishes I kept the hard bed now. The soft bed offers almost no support. My everything feels like it is going to fall apart, and I have no control over any of my body except my head.

“Phillip… how are you doing?” I hear Cecilia’s voice beside me.

“I’ve been better.” I slowly open my eyes and see tears on her face. “Don’t cry Cecilia. I bet I look like mess right now.”

“You hurt yourself for me.”

“Of course I intended to do it for you. My mind has only had thoughts of you, even Ireina has called me out on it.”

“Even Ireina called you out.” Cecilia smiles a little. “I’ll go get Jacob now.” She runs out of the room and I hear a commotion in the hallway.

“Sir Phillip.” Jacob comes in the room by himself and turns to the door, “Please make sure no one comes in no matter what, Sir Arthur, you know why.” He looks to Cecilia I see through the door. “Please forgive me.” he bows as Arthur closes the door and stands on the other side.

“Thank you so much Jacob.” I don’t turn my head and smile, “I’m a bit of a mess.”

“Cecilia told me. You are lucky. Medicinal care in your world must be spectacular to have been able to save your life without magic.” Jacob sighs. “Phillip, I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m going to check the conditions of your bones and set them in place properly… and to do that effectively I’m going to cause you a lot of pain.”

“Okay. I’m ready for this. If this is even a fraction of the pain Cecilia went through emotionally, all I can do is accept my fate.” I take a slow and deep breath as Jacob walks closer.

“Don’t hide your fear, Phillip. Everyone fears pain and death. Arthur included. Those that truly don’t fear death are already dead. Hold on to your fear. Use it to become stronger.”

Jacob moves over my body and looks it over. He narrows his eyes and places his hand on to my chest. He makes a small grumbling noise and pushes on one of my shattered ribs. I let out a loud scream, but I don’t move an inch.

“Good. That is one of the worst spots for pain in your body. If all you do is scream and you don’t move at all, this will be quick and painful.”

“Isn’t the saying ‘Quick and painless’?”

“Usually, but you don’t get that luxury with these injuries.” Jacob narrows his eyes further, “You should be dead right now. Half your organs are functioning, not even properly, if they are functioning. Your heart, lungs and brain are the only passable things.”

“Yet here I am.”

“The fact that you are conscious. Even someone like Sir Arthur, if he had these injuries… I can’t say for certain if he would even be able to stay conscious. What kind of mental fortitude do you have… no, it must be natural born, you can’t raise this…” Jacob wanders off and put his hand on his head, “No matter, I shall continue Sir Phillip. I will now be starting with the healing process. This will be very painful as it will forcefully repair your bones and tissues.”

“Good to hear.” I silently close my eyes and clench my teeth.

“Please relax your body. You are tensing, it will hurt more if you tense up.” Jacob places his hands on my chest and presses down lightly.

I feel endless amounts of pain but I keep my eyes closed and my body relaxed. Calm.

I feel a warm water like substance flow through my entire body. Smooth and calming. I’m either dying from internal bleeding, or this is magic.

I focus on the warm feeling and pay attention to it as it moves through my sore body, healing small sections at a time. It feels excruciatingly painful. My bones were moving together and the damage was being repaired slowly from the bottom up.

“Sir Phillip, I am half done. Have you sensed any magic?” Jacob continues to heal me as I feel the warmth.

“I feel… it feels like warm water, calmly flowing through my entire body.” I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling. “I feel this weird sensation when I try to focus on it.”

“Good. Continue to focus on it. If you’re lucky you may learn something about this magic, no, magic in general if you are lucky.” Jacob smiles as he continues to press his hands on my chest.

I focus on the warm magic. I close my eyes and feel it through my body. My body feels like it is going to explode!

However, I take deep breaths. The pain slowly starting to lessen.

I focus on the flowing. It flows through my body along certain lines. The warm sensation slowly becoming clearer and clearer. It feels more comfortable, not like a flowing river. A small creek flowing down a tall mountain. Methodic, slow, pre-determined.

Magic. It is planned. It flows through my body as much as my blood does. My blood supplying my body with everything it needs from other parts of the body. Magic, magic is like blood, it carries around helpful materials.

Magic is a phenomenon because it runs through us like blood, but also does not exist, yet it exists.

“Looks like you’ve figured something out Phillip. Hold on to this feeling and don’t let it go. Magic is a different path for everyone, and it constantly changes. Even two people born of the same mother may not be able to see magic in the same way.”

“I see.” I nod my head and slowly sit up, the pain in my body finally subsiding. “That’s why you can’t necessarily tell someone how to use magic. Because it doesn’t technically exist, you can’t force someone to feel its existence. They have to sense it on their own, but once they do, you can lead them in a direction using powerful magic so they can sense its flow.”

“Close enough, it’s different for everyone.” Jacob backs away and sits in a chair. “I’m very tired now Sir Phillip. Using such a strong magic to heal injuries as bad as yours seems to be my limit these days.”

“I’m sorry for taxing you like this.” I bow my head slightly as I very carefully move my body. The pain is completely gone.

“It’s just mentally taxing Sir Phillip. Nothing to worry about. It is the way I use magic.” Jacob points to the door. “There are many important people waiting for your return. Please go greet them, Sir Phillip.”

“Arthur and Cecilia.” I take a deep breath as I slowly stand up, almost falling back over. “I guess my body still isn’t a hundred percent.” Jacob nods his head as if to agree with my assessment. I walk over to the door and see Arthur calmly standing with his back to the door, watching the crowd that had gathered inside the hallway. “It’s done.”

“Good!” Arthur smiles as he turns to see me standing up with a hand on the door frame. “You should get some more rest, you need to fully recover. You’re going to be almost two weeks behind schedule.”

“Phillip… can I tackle you?” I hear Cecilia almost whisper from beside Arthur. Arthur gladly takes a step out of the way.

“I’ll fall over and I won’t be able to stand up on my own again.” I smile weakly as I open my arms. I close my eyes as I see Cecilia start running towards me.

*THUD*

My body hits the ground with Cecilia on top, hugging me tightly.

“I was so worried! You were screaming so much!” Cecilia starts to cry as I hold her back. “You hurt yourself, and you immediately went in to surgery at the hospital, they wouldn’t let me see you! I was so worried!”

The crowd of people start to smile and some wander away with tears in their eyes.

“I’m sorry, Cecilia.” I hug her tightly, not wanting to let go. “I’m back.”

“Welcome back, Phillip.” Cecilia continues to hug me for a very, very long time.

I won’t say that I didn’t cry my eyes out.