Two Worlds (IV)

"Thanks." I ate three golds in one bite. The urge to eat gold was still strong, that I couldn't stop myself. With one remaining gold coin, I felt regret. This was the first time when I felt the value of the gold in hand. If I did not eat gold, I would go crazy, but the price of gold is high on Earth. A piece of gold was balancing the faith of humanity. It made me shiver on how scary such thoughts were, and it made me feel more determined now to find a way to break this unholy curse.

"I suggest you not to eat gold outside. Try to curb that hunger as much as you can." Phil was sitting on the bed, ripping a towel. He was bandaging himself around his arms, where the blood seemed to drip the most.

I walked over and sat on top of the bed. I pocketed the last piece of gold. "Here, give it to me." Grabbing the towel, I tied it tight to stop the bleeding.

"I'm not sure this is going to end well, but we need to get back home. Any longer, you might cause a city-wide chaos." Phil chuckled.

"That's not funny. I just did." I frowned. It was true. I did something that couldn't be taken back.

"It's not that bad, is it? Not like Torren, right?" Phil turned towards me. Even though he was pretty beat up, he still looked amazingly gorgeous.

"It's awful. There are no such things as dragons on Earth. Not until today." I spoke quietly. "Even elves, beast-kin, or legendary monsters are not something that lives in this world."

Legendary creatures like me were fantastical, the closest was dinosaurs, and they were extinct.

"I never knew that. So your world is quite peaceful, isn't it."

"Not really. Countries still go to war with one another, our war could be seen as more chaotic and scary than the war back at Torren."

"That's quite fascinating. So do you fight with swords and magic?"

"No. With guns and tanks. We don't have magic here, but it seems that Earth has an aptitude for it."

"I never knew that."

I reached over towards the remote and turned on the T.V.

"Oh, you turned on the black box. Your people have quite fascinating ways to do things. It's like magic, but not."

Black box? The way he named the T.V made me smile, mostly because I didn't think of it until he said it himself.

"Well, we adapted and came up with new ways to improve our lives." I casually replied.

"Don said the same thing. I'm quite glad that you brought me here. I never would've imagined that there was something like this in this world."

"They are so many things that humans created that you would be stunned." I couldn't help but chuckle. Phil was already giving off a look of awe and interest.

"Breaking News!" A young man spoke out loud. "Today in Tokyo, Japan at 4:54 pm, an unidentified monster had appeared. Half of the building of Diamond Mall had been destroyed. The area around has become encrusted with what seems to be ice. A heavy total of 250 people have been injured in this chaos. So far, no deaths have been confirmed."

A screen of smoke arose around the mall, and a black silhouette of a giant dragon appeared in the smoke. Fiery burst of fire erupted out from the smoke covering the whole area.

A smoldering white dragon with its wings unfurled stared down at the escaping people. Even from high up above, the picture zooms in on the dragon's face. Its red unblinking eyes stare with such ferocity that even I shivered.

Was that me? I couldn't help but feel that what happened was just like a dream. "Did I really do all that?"

"Yes."

I turned around surprised that I mumbled it unconsciously.

"Holy cow! It's a dragon!" The news anchor spoke in surprise. My head snapped back to the T.V, watching everything that was happening. "This is truly outrageous. It's not Computer Graphics, right?"

"No." The other anchorman that was at the scene of the wreckage was brought live. "That just happened not too long ago. We are at the scene of the wreckage, but not a single sign of this so-called white dragon."

"Are you sure this is not a hoax? Could this be a new form of terrorism?"

"I'm not sure. This could well be, but we got reports that they found large footprints at the scene of the crime. This could be a major breakthrough that Dragons actually exist!" The man stated with excitement.

"Calm down. You know this could be a hoax. Possibly a bomb that has been planted, and somehow they used a hologram to project it."

"Highly unlikely. We were there when this all happened. The fire that the white dragon had cast is real. It already scorched dozens of cars, and flames still continue to burn around us. Not only that, this could open up the chapter of a whole new species that never existed. Scientists are already flocking on the scene to look into this strange phenomenon. Right now, we are still searching for this dragon that disappeared out of thin air."

The voice of the man was excited at the finding.

I quickly turned off the T.V and flopped onto the bed. "What a mess." I let out a sigh. There was absolutely no way to fix this. "I'm going to take a shower."

Getting up, I went towards the bathroom. Turning on the water, I couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

I felt so powerless to the urge to eat the gold coin. I knew that I needed some way to grasp this insanity before it became worse. Taking off my clothes, I hopped into the shower. Hot water pelted on my skin, and the steam helped me clear my head.

"I'm not going to let this happen again." I clenched my fist. "I'm going to practice. I need to get stronger to hold back this urge."

With resolution confirmed. I decided to slowly work on controlling my hunger for gold. I knew it was a long, difficult road, but I needed to work on this ticking time bomb. Getting out of the showers, I noticed that they were a pair of clothes laid out on top of the sink.

I couldn't help but wonder if Phil had left the clothes in here for me. Picking it up, it was an oversized shirt and shorts. Slipping my hands in the shirt, I quickly put them on. The clothes that I was wearing were still clean.

I picked up my clothes and walked out of the room. Phil was standing with half of his shirt off, walking around, examining each little thing.

"You should take a shower. You look pretty beat up."

Phil turned around with a glass filled with alcohol. "This is pretty good." He took a large gulp of it.

"Wait, is that alcohol?" I have never seen Phil drink before. I worried that he might get drunk.

"This? I'm not sure. It reminds me of a wine, but I never tasted this one before. Want to try?"

I shook my head. I'm not an avid fan of alcohol, nor was this the right time to drink.

Phil placed the drink by the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

Walking over towards the table, I placed the clothes on top. I then made my way towards the bed and flopped in the comfy bed. Fatigue washed over me; even though I did not use too much power, the surgery's throbbing pain was still slightly hurting. Pulling myself into the covers, I fell soundly asleep.

#####

Loud noises chattered in the bar, and music continued to play. A man in a blue and black suit with black gloves sat leaned against the wall. His curly hair covered half his baby face, where a small star-shaped birthmark decorated underneath his eye. Two females giggled as they leaned against his chest. Each one of them picked up a drink and sipped on them.

"Did you hear what happened today?" The girl on his left spoke.

"Yea," the other girl replied.

"They say that Tokyo had its first invasion of a white dragon."

"Really? Sounds too far fetched if you ask me."

"I wouldn't say it's that far off, ladies. You do know they have been sightings of dragons all around the world since ancient times. It wouldn't be strange at all if one so came up." The man in the red suit spoke with a smile.

"You believe in that, Rei? I never thought you were a superstitious person before."

"I'm not superstitious at all. I'm just saying it is a possibility." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheeks. The girls giggled at his behavior.

Another man in black suit and sunglasses walks towards them and stops at Rei's booth.

"Are you Rei?" The man in the black suit spoke.

"Yes. What do you want?" Rei gave him a glare, annoyed that he was interrupted in his little fun.

"Your service has been called upon."

"Who?" Rei pushed back the ladies that were in his arms and leaned forward.

"The rooster that crows during the night with legs that slithers like a snake."

"Abraxas," Rei whispered underneath his breath. He quickly got up and left the two girls behind and followed the man.

They left the bar and headed towards an expensive luxury car. The man in black opened the door of the black vehicle allowing Rei to step in. When he entered, he noticed an old man wearing a white suit and a cane inside the spacious car.

"Were you the one that summoned me?" Rei spoke with a low tone of voice.

The old man with a bald head reached over towards a glass and poured whiskey. He handed it to Rei and grinned. "It seems you knew who summoned you."

"How could I not. With such a descriptive metaphor, who wouldn't know of the organization."

The old man chuckled. "Even still, not many know it would relate to us."

"True, it is an old symbol. Either way, what do you need me for?" Rei bent forward, looking at the old man.

"I have a task for someone like you."

"Do you have the money to back it up?" Rei rubbed his fingers in front of the man.

The old man rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small leather purse. He threw it towards Rei, and he caught it in midair.

"100 minted gold coins is just the down payment. We know your taste, you don't like paper."

Rei smirked. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

A second item was thrown towards Rei, and he once again caught it. Rei opened his hands and noticed a shimmer of pure white light that reflected off the white scale.

"A scale? I have never seen this before." Rei looked it over with interest. He flipped it over a few times, feeling it in between his fingers.

"You heard what happened this afternoon, correct?"

"You're talking about the dragon that appeared in Tokyo?"

The old man's lips curled up into a smile. "Yes. Find it for me."

Rei looked at the old man. He didn't say anything else but smile.

"My pleasure." Rei chuckled. He pocketed the white scale and left out of the car. "Time to go to Tokyo." With a laugh, he walked away in the dark.