Both Ananke and the boy now sat on their knees being lectured by Rhina.
'Oh I see. wait 3 days? no wonder my mouth feels dry.' said the kid jokingly trying to calm her down as he rubbed the side of his eyes.
'Stop joking around, you know how worried we were.'
'I am sorry.' said the kid with his head down… Rhina sighed worried.
Ked whispered embarrassingly 'And thank you.'
She looked up confused and saw him pull out the iron chain from beneath the white shirt.
'Thank you for this' said the boy not even making eye contact as he looked to the side embarrassed.
As he usually pretended to act like an adult, this was her first time seeing him this embarrassed about something about something.
She smiled gently as she patted his hair 'How cute. You are welcome'
The kid said 'I am too old for this' but let her pat his head with no resistance.
Ananke just smiled on seeing this.
She coughed and looked towards Ananke coldly saying 'And you.'
It was like a devil staring down at him from the darkest valleys of hell as she said 'Fix. That. Door.'
'Yes madam' spoke up Ananke and she walked away smiling looking at the hand she patted the kid.
The teen whispered 'She is scary when she is angry.'
'I can tell.'
Taking responsibility for breaking down the door, Ananke said 'Hey kid, you can go back to sleep while I will fix that up…'
The kid sighed, looked at him and responded 'I guess I am to be blamed for it as well so I will help… So can you stop sounding cool while staring at me with those puppy eyes'
As they began to fix the door. Ananke told him 'So much of "5 more minutes", I am amazed how you didn`t cry.'
The boy responded 'So you knew'
Ananke replied 'Its normal to cry after waking from the Dream Stage as they relieve a memory from the past.'
Ananke asked curiously, 'Hey, what is your name?'
'I do not remember it, just call me kid or anything you like.'
Ananke replied 'Kid huh? Well I do plan to take you with me to the town if you want to come so let me know the proper name if you are interested.'
'So you really kidnap kids?' as he looked at Ananke with pitiful eyes.
'Oh spear me— Wait, you were awake during that?'
'Somewhat. I barely made sense of it. I even thought I was being sold to you.'
Ananke instantly realized his eyes were still ignited when he brought him to the room because he was resisting Ananke and only calmed down when Rhina was with him.
Ananke thought 'I feel like the Villain now…' He asked the boy how the injuries to which he casually responded 'I will live. Probably.'
'No seriously. You have gone through the 2nd phase. People barely stay normal especially after taking 3 days to wake up.'
The kid pats himself around 'I don`t feel any pain. Can move easily.' as he tried moving around his arm, opening and closing his fists then looked at Ananke 'My hands feel a bit stiff and… seeing things? I am probably just tired.'
The kid questioned 'So how long does it usually take to wake up?'
Ananke responded 'Normally it takes between half or a full day.'
Ananke proudly continued, 'By the way, it took me only 20 minutes to wake up and the fastest record till today—'
The kid looked deep within his thoughts 'hmm 3 days huh? You think I might secretly be a genius'
'I think you have it the other way around…'
The kid ignored him and asked 'So what is this 2nd phase about?'
'I do have some stuff to explain but you are probably exhausted and it`s pretty late so let`s discuss it tomorrow… kid.'
As he walked towards the door 'I will be here… probably. So I would be happy to know any name you come up with,' said Ananke as he walked away.
Just as Ananke was about to leave the room he told the boy 'Good night, kid' but the boy was lost in his own thoughts 'A name huh…' and had a sudden flash back… he looked up as he said 'You can call me Smiley—' but Ananke was already long gone…
It should have been impossible for anyone to hear the kid from that far. Yet Ananke looked back as he said 'Yea good night, Smiley.'
The kid smiled back 'Yea good night'
While Ananke just thought of it as a simple way of accepting the offer to go to town with him and his strong will to continue. It held a whole different meaning for Smiley.
Smiley thought to himself 'I wonder why I keep thinking of this name…'.
He looked troubled in his thoughts and just then he noticed the floor and thought 'And why is her broom lying on the floor…'
It was Rhina's broom which she used as a weapon to scare people away. It was even a big talk in Tavern to run away for once she wields that broom, no one can stop her rage she holds within her. It was more of a jestful rumor but no one dared question it as she held absolute power.
As he went near to pick it up, his eye caught a glimpse of something.
Smiley froze as he quietly walked up to the drawer upon which laid a plate with a piece of bread.
The bread he refused to eat claiming it would only slow him down during the fight. Acting high and mighty even when he was only going scouting.
But unlike before, that moldy bread had now been replaced with a fresh one.
Rhina was replacing it, worried the boy would wake up might have accidentally eaten the moldy one even when he showed no sign of waking up. Maybe it was just her way to keep going knowing he will return or just her delusions of not wanting to give up on hope.
'That`s so Stupid…' Smiley muttered as he just stood there and silently ate it. Shedding a tear from his blank empty eyes. His eyes had turned a bit dull.
Was he crying over the dream or —
'Ugh stupid dust' he whispered and then began to rub his eyes.
Tomorrow morning, Smiley woke up still yawning and noticed the string was still there, waving around in front of him once again.
Smiley extended his arm once again and as usual, he was not able to touch it at all.
It led him to the window, as if it was telling him to jump off and on the exact moment someone knocked.
'Its me.' said Ananke.
'Yea come in'
Ananke walked in and noticed him as he was staring at the air oddly as he was rubbing his eyes.
Ananke asked curiously 'Do you see some string by chance?'
Smiley smilingly looked at Ananke as he said 'Yea, How did you—' but his eyes widened to find Ananke with his wooden sword striking down towards him.
Smiley woke up from his half sleep and tried to grab his sword which was missing. He looked up but it was already too late.