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The flames crackled around him and their searing heat was a blistering pain on his skin, but that was not what Dan Heng was focusing on. The ground rumbled ominously beneath his feet, dust and stone falling from the crumbling ceiling, but that was not what had Dan Heng’s attention. Blood dripped from a wound on his head and blurred his sight, shrouding his vision with a tint of red, but that was not what Dan Heng cared about right now.
A man sat alone in a broken wreckage of a vehicle. Blood flowed from his arm, staining the gold threads on his clothes and his pristine white shirt. The crimson river slowed down at his fingertips, before dripping down into the growing red pool below. Yet, the man lay still, unaware of the destruction around him nor the state of his current being. His eyes remained closed, as though he was only sleeping.
“Caelus,” Dan Heng called out to his companion, hands fumbling with the straps that kept him locked in place, but for every second that went by without Caelus responding, Dan Heng could feel his panicked breaths growing faster.
Dan Heng stumbled out of his chair and approached his fallen companion, unbuckling the safety belts and pulling him out of the broken carriage. He ignored the flames that still burned within the smoldering wreckage or the sharpened debris that easily sliced into his flesh. He needed to get Caelus out and treated before he bled out.
He could deal with his own injuries later — his priority right now was Caelus.
His heart beat loudly in his ears, drowning out the devouring flames and the rumbling ruins. His hands were on the open wounds, trying to stem the blood flowing out of Caelus’ body, but his companion’s chest remained deathly still.
“Caelus,” he managed to choke out, desperation in his voice, but Caelus remained unmoving and his eyes remained closed.
It was only then that Dan Heng realised Caelus’ heart was not beating.
Fear gripped his heart even as he let instinct take over. His hands were over Caelus’ chest, palms pressing down hard, and Dan Heng began performing CPR exactly the way Welt taught him. He drew in a deep breath and breathed into Caelus’ lungs. Yet, Caelus remained unmoving. His chest remained still and his heart remained deafeningly silent.
The thick scent of iron was choking him, and so were the tears.
“Caelus,” Dan Heng called out to his companion again, his voice breathless, but Caelus remained silent like the heart beneath Dan Heng’s hands.
The rumbling was getting louder, speeding up the collapse of the ruins Dan Heng was in. But Dan Heng did not care. Not when Caelus still needed help, not when Caelus was still bleeding badly in front of him — not when Caelus had yet to take a single breath.
He needed help. He needed to contact the Astral Express crew, someone, anyone who could help Caelus.
Dan Heng took out his phone, his hand trembling, almost making him drop his device. He tapped on the screen, staining the glass with red, trying to call Welt, Himeko, March, even Sunday — but his calls would not go through. He tried sending a message to the Astral Express group chat, the words full of errors in his haste though the intent was very clear, but even the message failed to send.
Cold despair crawled up his neck and Dan Heng discarded the phone, letting the device fall to the ground with a loud clatter. The screen, already damaged from the crash, cracked again from the impact but Dan Heng did not care.
Help, someone help! He tried to shout, only to feel something hit him hard on the back of his head.
Black dotted his red-tinted vision, and just before he fell unconscious, his last thoughts were regrets. I should have told him, he thought to himself before his eyes slipped closed.
When Dan Heng woke up, he expected to see Caelus’ corpse. When he woke up, he expected to see a pool of blood and the one he cherished most lying in the middle of it. When he woke up, he expected to be alone yet again, with another friend dead on the floor.
When he woke up, Caelus was awake. Caelus was… alive? There was no blood on the ground, no fire that burned painfully around him. His injuries were gone, and his hands that were covered with Caelus’ blood were clean. The Astral Express carriage lay wrecked and unsalvageable, but both of them were whole and well. What was going on?
“Caelus?” he called out to his companion who waved back in response.
“Hey Dan Heng, you’re finally awake!”
Was it just a dream? Did he imagine everything? Did he really? Everything felt so real. The blood that spilled everywhere, the deep wounds that Dan Heng could not heal, the cold terror when he realised Caelus was dead — All of it still felt real.
And yet…
“Dan Heng, are you listening?”
Caelus was awake, alive and breathing. It must have been a dream. It must have.
(Because to accept otherwise was unacceptable.)
If it was a dream, why would he dream such a terrible thing? Perhaps… It was a sign of what was to come. Or perhaps it was a sign of what had already happened. Dan Heng clenched his fists, the pain grounding him before he could choke on the memories of Caelus’ death. He would not let those memories become a reality, no matter what. The first thing he needed to learn was the world and the higher powers that governed it. He needed to know everything about Amphoreus. He needed to ensure Caelus remained safe and well.
He needed Caelus alive, because if Dan Heng lost him, then he would lose his meaning of life.