Zalan felt before he saw. He was lying in bed. Before he opened his eyes, a huge smile stretched its way onto his face. He had successfully survived the other world. He could get on with his life. He made it.

Home. 

Something that delighted him further was that his memories were still with him. So clearly, he remembered all the events of the other world. Rep and his other friends. His amazing powers. The adventure he went on.

He even felt the familiar weight of his phone in his pocket. He’d forgotten about the sensation until now. He opened his eyes and sat up. 

His heart skipped a beat. The room looked familiar, but not in the way it should have been. 

“Zalan?” Rep asked, stunned from his cot. 

“Rep?” Zalan said, a dread sinking quickly into his heart. 

Zalan slapped at his hip, feeling for his phone. Dozens of gold coins shifted in his pocket. His eyes went wide. He stared at Rep with consternation. 

“Rep, why are you in my home?” he asked seriously. 

“You are in Journey House,” Rep replied.

“Why are you in my home?” Zalan repeated, not having registered the first response. 

“Oh, Zalan…” Rep said, feeling saddened for his friend. 

“Journey House isn’t my home. This isn’t… I’m not… The Homeseeker was supposed to take me home!” Zalan said. 

It was only then he felt the Artifact in his hand, still gripping tightly to it. He first looked at it with surprise, then glared at it.

“Ah, the Artifact can be used more than once. Otherwise it would have faded away. That is good to know,” Rep said, trying to calm the situation by changing the subject.  

Zalan looked up to Rep, then slammed the button on the Homeseeker, listening to it hum as it prepared to send him home. Rep looked to his friend with a heavy heart. Zalan was desperate. He was surrounded by the black glow, staring at Rep with a hint of fear as he suspected that it wouldn’t work a second time either. With a loud pop, Zalan disappeared from existence, then reappeared moments later, reentering with another reality-warping snap of noise. Zalan was laying down once more, then shot up, first looking to his hand to confirm he still held the Homeseeker. 

“I’m still here,” Zalan said to himself. 

“Indeed,” Rep agreed sadly. 

“Why am I still here?” Zalan asked Rep, looking lost. Confused. Hurt.

“I do not know,” Rep shook his head. 

“But I got the Homeseeker. I did what I was supposed to. But this isn’t my home,” Zalan said, almost in anguish in his confusion.

This gave Rep an idea. He thought about it for a second, then decided to share,

“This is the closest thing to your home in this world. The Homeseeker brought you to the place it considered to be your home in this world,” Rep said. 

“This isn’t my home! Nothing here could be my home!” Zalan shouted.

Rep remained silent, not having anything more to say.

“Why am I still here?” Zalan asked more adamantly.

Rep lowered his gaze, ashamed that he did not succeed in the quest to take Zalan home. 

“Why am I still here? We got the Homeseeker,” Zalan said, his confusion boiling into more fiery emotions. 

“We can figure this out,” Rep assured him. 

“We just did! We went on the big adventure and I got the Homeseeker! That was supposed to… I… Fran died! Fran… Did Fran die for nothing?” Zalan exploded. 

“Maybe we can ask Madam Hikma why you were…”

“Madam Hikma?” Zalan asked sharply. “She lied to us! She said this thing would take me home!” Zalan waved the Artifact in front of his face. 

“Maybe it is limited to a certain location like your last known home, we should ask her if…”

“Go back to the lady that lied to me so that she can lie to me again?” Zalan balked, now openly yelling in frustration. 

“I know you are upset, but…”

“I’m supposed to be done with this place!” Zalan threw his arms open to display the room. “I completed the task! We did the glorious battle! I’m done! Why am I still here?” 

Again, Rep turned to silence. 

“I can’t believe this,” Zalan swung himself off the cot and began pacing back and forth in the guild. “I can’t believe I’m stuck here. I don’t want to be here. I want to be home. This is… I can’t believe this.”

Rep watched his distressed friend, wishing there was something he could do to help. 

“Fran died for nothing, you know. She sacrificed herself to get me back and look at me now, huh? Fran was a good person! Risked everything! Dead for nothing!” Zalan said. 

“Do not say she died for nothing,” Rep said in a small voice. 

“Yeah? I seem to remember her being dead at the end of our journey and here I am back at the beginning of the journey!” Zalan snapped. 

“She saved our lives,” Rep reminded. 

“We wouldn’t have had to go to the Castle of Docrun if Madam Hikma didn’t send us there. I wouldn’t have needed my life to be saved if I wasn’t in the castle. And the only reason Fran was there was to help us get me home! I’m still here!” Zalan yelled, pointing a finger to the ground in rage. 

“Yelsa got home. Remember that Fran was hired by Yelsa to send her home. She succeeded in her task,” Rep said.

“Yeah, well, what does that matter if I’m stuck here?” Zalan said without thinking. The immediate disappointment on Rep’s face made Zalan pivot immediately. He wanted to be on the winning side of the argument. He was too agitated to pull back any of his claims. “How do we even know that Gorb and Yelsa ended up home? Yelsa was from Aetheria, how are we supposed to know that the Homeseeker works to get people back into the sky?” 

“It got us back home,” Rep shrugged. 

“Both of us?” Zalan asked, unnerved. 

“In a way, yes. If it is incapable of sending you back to your world, then perhaps this is the best it can do,” Rep suggested. 

“That would be just great, huh? This thing could take everyone home, but me? The guy that came from a totally different dimension is the only one that doesn’t get a trip home,” Zalan spat. 

“Zalan, please, let us converse with Madam Hikma and seek her guidance. Continuing to yell at me will not help you get home,” Rep said. 

“Yeah, nothing you’ve done has helped me get home,” Zalan agreed with venom. 

Rep looked genuinely hurt, his eyes casting downward and his jaw shifting uncomfortably. He was chewing at the inside of his lip, but offered nothing in response. Zalan’s heart turned quickly in an emotional burst. Something stirred inside of him. Something sinister.

“You know what?” Zalan said, feeling remorseful after that last barb. “You’re right, we should go talk with Madam Hikma.” 

Rep looked back up at him. He waited for a second longer to see if Zalan had anything more to say. It occurred to Zalan that Rep expected an apology, but Zalan wasn’t willing to give one when he felt he was right. He was stuck here because he was coaxed by Rep to take advice from this Madam Hikma character and now he was being encouraged to go back. Rep seemed to accept that Zalan had no apology to offer.

“Madam Hikma will know how to tell us to proceed. Perhaps there is some attribute of the Homeseeker we must activate in order to go home,” Rep said, feeling at least a bit assuaged now that Zalan was willing to go to the Woman of Wisdom. 

“Yeah, I think I really need to go see her,” Zalan nodded in agreement. 

Zalan had reached a breaking point within himself, everything from his heart to his brain feeling like it was roiling in flame. He knew this world was real, and that meant that it had to have consequences. People died here and didn’t come back. People couldn’t deceive others and get off without any retribution. Zalan needed to make sure Madam Hikma couldn’t get away with continuing to spread her false hopes to the masses. Her lies and betrayals of innocent people desperate for help. Zalan would be the one to enact the consequences on this woman who seemed gleeful to send them on a wild goose chase and get Zalan’s friend killed. 

Zalan clenched his fist tightly as he had fully transitioned into a state of rage, ready to exact revenge on Madam Hikma for what she had done. Rep was looking at him with concern, not able to read the strained expression on his face. Zalan tapped his index finger to his thumb three times, calling upon his stats one last time before he dealt an act of justice to Madam Hikma. He wanted to know exactly how much damage he could deal her in this realm.

LEVEL: 04 

STRENGTH: 04 

WISDOM: 05

EXPERIENCE: 00

ELEMENT: LIGHTNING