-Present-

“…Anyways, that’s how we met.” I said, “Not sure if I needed those extra details though…”

“Ron, are you okay?” asked Iris.

“If I truly was, I probably wouldn’t have grown my hair out.” I answered.

“Want to-” started Iris.

“No.” I said, “Anyways, how about doing what I came here for?”

“Right!” responded Lucas, scratching the back of his neck, “I almost forgot!”

“You’re the one that has to take us there.” I said.

“Yeah, um, this way!” he said, as he started walking off.

Everyone followed him. The walk took several minutes, but we reached a large building – a hotel. After the previous adventure I was on, I was a little hesitant but I managed to get myself inside along with everyone else. I ignored the finer details of what the place looked like but what stayed in my mind were the fact that the carpet was blue and the walls were white. Other than that, I didn’t really care. Eventually, we reached a door and Lucas stopped. Next, he knocked. The door opened, and we saw Lilith.

“Hi… wait.” she said.

“Uh… hi?” responded Jean.

“What are you doing here?” asked Lilith, seeming a little upset.

“She’s with us.” I answered, “It’s okay.”

Lilith paused to think before saying, “Fine.”

We all went inside.

“So uh, how’ve you been?” I asked.

“Is he here yet-” said a voice, “Oh!”

“Hi, Jon.” I said, as he made himself visible.

“Listen, Ron.” he said, “There’s a reason we’ve asked you to come.”

“Oh?” I responded.

“There have been many strange occurrences in our dimension over the past several months,” Jon answered, “such as things disappearing or re-appearing. Even the weather is weird. Just the other day, it was literally raining cats and dogs.”

“Um… what?” I responded.

“Things are all kinds of messed up right now.” said Jon.

“Um… Lilith?” I said.

“He’s not on drugs or anything like that, Ron.” responded Lilith.

“I’m not sure if I can believe this.” commented Iris.

“Well, he’s not wrong.” said Jean, “Things have been a little strange.”

“Any reason you’re only telling us NOW?” asked Iris.

“It never came up,” she said, “I also didn’t know that this was the reason Ron was here.”

“About that… why me?” I asked.

“Because we know what you’re capable of,” said Jon, “you’ve shown us since before the secret training in Dovacath, although the training was when you started to use your powers really well.”

“But wouldn’t others be better for the job?” I asked.

“Aren’t you the protagonist?” asked Lucas.

“I really… don’t know what that means.” I responded.

“After the training, you worked with your powers and later found even more creative ways to use them.” continued Jon, “Especially on our last two quests – the ones you didn’t actually die on.”

“So… I saved the world, or rather, worlds a few times.” I said, “But was that really a good thing?”

“Of course it was, Ron.” answered Lilith, “Why would you say something like that?”

“Perhaps my actions are meaningful to you guys,” I said, “but to others, not so much. Perhaps things would be better if every dimension had been destroyed and never came back?”

“That wouldn’t-” started Jean.

“It would be better if I didn’t exist!” I interrupted.

“Come on,” said Lucas, “You ended up saving worlds. You’re important.”

“Unfortunately, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.” I replied, “It doesn’t matter how many ‘good endings’ there seem to be, because they don’t truly exist.”

“Ron-” started Iris.

“No.” I interrupted, “In my home dimension, nobody gives a damn! My family doesn’t care that I’ve been a hero. None of my friends even care, if I should call them that.”

“Don’t assume that no one cares.” said Lilith.

“I admit, it’s a bit of an exaggeration,” I said, “but I don’t really care too much about other people?”

“What about Jason?” asked Lucas.

“I have no negative feelings toward him.” I said, “Sadly, I don’t see too much of him anymore. Other friends of mine, I don’t really talk to as much as I used to… well, most of them anyways.”

“You just have to keep moving no matter what’s thrown at you.” said Lucas.

“Heh. Keep moving?” I replied.

“Just keep moving!” exclaimed Lucas, “If you’re alive, you can keep moving, dammit!”

“Lucas!” I responded.

“It’ll be okay,” he said, “now stop acting so down.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to change.” I said, “However, I believe if one keeps telling themselves they’re not ready, they’ll never truly be ready.”

“If all that is taken care of,” said Jon, “we should get to our investigation.”

“Agreed.” I said.

“By the way, Ron.” said Jon, “You’re not the only one we called over here.”

“Huh?” I responded.

“Jason is here too.” replied Jon, “He just happened to arrive first.”

“Where exactly is Jason?” I asked.

“He’s investigating elsewhere in Mihr'hai.” said Jon, “Although, I don’t recall where exactly.”

Suddenly, the door slammed open and several men rushed in, including Charles. It was the same group of men from earlier too.

“Jon, you’re under arrest!” announced Charles.

“Huh!?” Jon exclaimed.

“W-what’s going on!?” exclaimed Lilith.

“The victim’s final memories clearly show Jon committing the crime, it seems.” answered Charles.

“What are we-” started Lilith.

“I got this.” I interrupted, “I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”

“Are you sure, Ron?” asked Iris, “Because one ‘Not Guilty’ verdict is extremely rare here.”

“I’ll be fine, Iris.” I said, “If Jon really is innocent, I’m sure there will be plenty of contradictions.”

“The trial starts in an hour.” said Charles, “I’ll see you there.”

After that, they took Jon and left. Next, I realized I didn’t know what had happened. I had an hour to prepare. Would that even be enough time?