135 Forced reunion (1/2)

Part 1

Chloe was sitting in a chair inside a waiting room just trying to process the day she just had while the hospital staff took care of Evlin's friends.

She was holding her face with both hands while looking at the floor and revisiting her memories.

First, she was informed by Evlin that today they would not be able to meet for their weekly appointment.

She was always aware that Evlin wasn't all that fond of the idea of taking therapy sessions, but she always felt that the two were making a lot of progress every time they saw each other. She could feel Evlin had a lot of baggage to unpack and while the woman always tried her best to avoid going into details about the subject, she always had an easy time expressing herself about her feelings.

Chloe overall always looked forward to their meetings in the hopes of eventually one day getting Evlin to actually say what happened to her.

But then, shortly after their call, Chloe found herself being threatened by some kind of wooden monster that just barged into her office out of nowhere just because it heard her talking with Evlin on the phone.

The emotions mixed inside her head at such a crazy pace that the woman didn't even know what she was feeling. Confusion, fear, pain, curiosity, nothing about her years of study ever prepared her for this kind of situation. It was like being mugged by a robber while being attack by a wild animal at the same time.

Right after that, her client appeared to save her. Evlin, looking like nothing Chloe had ever seen before, stormed into her office as well and began to brawl against her attacker right in front of her.

Not only that, the two even took the fight to the streets of the city, or rather the skies of the city, where the poor woman started to partake in some kind of aerial game of tag while playing the role of Evlin's backpack.

She finally managed to get away from all that craziness after Evlin's friends showed up and started to help her deal with the beast. Chloe just assumed she could leave the rest to them and forget this whole thing ever happened, but she suddenly ended up meeting with her daughter's best friend, Ellie, Evlin's niece, who stated that she was also going to take part on all that nonsense.

Chloe couldn't just leave a little kid to join such an insane situation, but the girl ended up saving the lives of everyone in the process as she somehow managed to block the monster's attacks. Not only that, she ended up turning into some kind of metallic object and used by one of Evlin's friends to shoot the beast and defeat it.

Chloe had... so many questions right now...

”Huh... Excuse me, miss?” Said the voice of a man who was standing right in front of the curly-haired woman. It was a doctor wearing a white lab coat with glasses and a stethoscope around his neck. Chloe was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that man appearing.

”Ah, yes?” She said as she lifted her face and looked at the man with her amber-colored eyes.

”One of the individuals you brought has woken up... I think you should see her” he said.

Chloe followed the man towards the room where the woman with long black hair she brought had been placed in and she spotted her walking around on her feet while searching the room. She was investigating inside the closet, under the bed, behind the tv, and even inspected the window. Chloe assumed she would have spent the rest of the day sleeping due to all her injuries, but the woman seemed much more resistant than she imagined.

”Where is my son and my sword?” Said the woman once she spotted Chloe and the doctor staring at her from the door.

”You should be resting,” said the man in a white coat while holding both hands trying to signal her to calm down.

”I don't have time to rest! I need to help my team fight against the monster!”

”... Huh...” The doctor became speechless.

”It's taken care of,” Chloe said as she noticed that the doctor would be very confused right now, not that Chloe herself was doing much better.

”What??” said the woman.

”Evlin's little niece and one of your friends already dealt with it...”

”... I... Will leave you two alone...” Said the doctor while looking at the two women as if they were crazy, which at that point, Chloe might as well be. He closed the door while slowly backing away from the room.

”What happened? Where is Evlin? Where is Daren and Lance? What about the monster??” The woman approached Chloe and began to launch several questions at her. Chloe started to feel annoyed since she herself had questions as well.

”Please... Try to remain calm... You need to rest.”

”I told you! I don't have time to rest!! Mia and the dryad could be attacking at any moment now! I need to protect them!”

”What...? Who's Mia? What are you talking about?”

The woman then glared at Chloe.

”I don't have time for this...” she said as she raised her arms and lifted Chloe from the floor by her collar. Her arms were small but had very defined muscles once Chloe took a closer look at them. This woman was very strong.

”P- Please don't hurt me!! I'm Evlin's friend!!” Chloe said while shaking her body ”I was just trying to help, she asked me to take you to this hospital!!”

The woman took a good look at Chloe's expression and finally realized how terrified she was.

”Sorry...” said the woman as she began to put Chloe down ”These have been some stressful days...”

”I... Can sympathize...” Chloe said back while adjusting her shirt.

”But please, I really need to find my team! They need me! And I'm really worried about my baby!!”

”Ok... But... You need to explain to me what's going on... You answer my questions and I'll answer yours... Ok?”

”Very well...” the woman said showing that they were on the same page.

”My name is Chloe, by the way...”

”Lilith. Now, please take me to my friends, my family, and my sword!”

Part 2

Xadi slowly opened his eyes as his consciousness started to return and found himself locked inside some kind of box.

”Mmm...? What the...? Where am I?”

The box was transparent as if it was made of glass but the edges had metallic pieces covering it. He looked outside of the box and found himself on top of a building surrounded by massive structures made of concrete that he didn't recognize.

He was unfamiliar with this world's architecture so looking at all these buildings was filling him with uneasiness.

”What's going on...?? What country is this??”

His body was completely see-through. He was wearing some ragged old clothes as if he was some kind of hobo and his lower half was completely gone. Where his legs should be there was some kind of tail instead.

”Ah... That's right... I died...” He said while looking at his transparent hands.

The last thing he remembered was being stabbed by Evlin's blade and then being trapped inside some kind of prison surrounded by many other souls who were screaming in agony and despair.