21 Dream

"Wake up, sleepyhead." A familiar feminine voice called Isaac. Who struggled to remain asleep. "Don't make me bring Captain here. You'll regret it."

The voice and the mention of his old dog jolted his consciousness. As he regained clarity, Isaac noticed he was sitting in his old rocking chair, he wore his old work clothes, and a few dogs played among themselves in front of their house. The sky was orange from the setting sun, and the wind was getting chilly However, the most striking part was seeing his wife once more.

Her silver hair, her now wrinkled skin, her equally tattered work clothes, her sapphire blue eyes full of life, and a smile that brought him warmth for decades. She caressed his cheek with her hand full of callouses and left a kiss on his forehead.

"You're too old to be crying, Honey." She chuckled. "Having a nightmare?"

"Yeah...It was just a dream." Isaac chuckled too and wiped the tears that streamed down his face.

She sat in a rocking chair beside his, and both enjoyed the moment together. He grasped her hand tightly and sighed. After a couple of minutes, she stood up and began to walk towards the farm's entrance. The dogs stopped playing after seeing this, and the great majority of them began to follow her. Isaac was a bit confused and tried to stand up from the chair too.

"Huh?" However, he couldn't. He felt as if he was stuck with super glue to the wood and couldn't even lift his feet. "Isabella, where are you going?" He asked with a worried tone. As she began to get farther away, the anxiety in his heart grew.

"You cannot go to where we are going, Isaac." Answered Isabella, turning towards him. "Not anymore."

Isaac's shock grew as he witnessed how years seemed to turn back for her. Isabella's hunched back straightened, her wrinkles disappeared, her hair returned to her natural black hair, and her image returned to what it was when he met her.

"I'm sorry for not giving you a proper family, but Captain, Duke, Horatio, Maximilian, Sasha, Vanessa, Lily, and well, you were the closest I had to one." She gently chuckled while slightly covering her mouth. All of the labradors, whom they raised across the years, turned towards Isaac and 'bowed,' all except Lily, who was barking nervously beside Isaac. "They'll be fine with me, Ok?"

"No...Don't go again." He tried to reach towards her figure, but she didn't budge and just smiled at him. "I don't want to lose you again...NOT AGAIN!"

The setting sun suddenly turned white, making it very painful for him to even look at it. The wind suddenly turned violent, and dust flew through the sky. Isaac tried with all of his might to stand up and catch up to her, but golden chains wrapped his torso and began to drag him.

"ISABELLA! DON'T GO!" His cries of pain echoed through the farm as her figure began to vanish like ash in the wind. Lily barked even louder and trembled as the other dogs disappeared one by one. "COME BACK!"

"I love you honey, W-" Her face disappeared before he could finish that sentence. The last thing he heard before being enveloped in darkness once more was Lily's barks.

---

"NOOOO!" Isaac woke up once more. This time, however, he was inside his new home.

"AHHHH!" Another scream sounded beside Isaac, startling him.

Duarte entered like a meteor from a window, Samantha broke through the ground with a jump, and Dixon arrived from the roof with a powerful stomp. Several wisps of smoke and fog rolled across the room, with several pairs of glowing eyes looking at the surroundings.

The chaotic course of events was enough to make Dustin, an already nervous wreck sitting beside the bed, faint. The sound that his little body made was like a waking call to everyone present. They snuffled their spiritual power and auras like a candle in the wind.

"Are you ok, honey?" Samantha came forward and instinctively hugged him. He would have felt weird on any other occasion since she was way younger than him, but this time he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of her hug.

"I'm ok, don't worry." After a couple of seconds, she let him go. Isaac then looked at the room full of people with a strange expression. "Why is everyone here?"

The smoke and fog slowly dispersed, revealing the butlers and maids of the mansion. They hurriedly bowed and began to tidy up the mess made by the Leighs. Duarte picked up the unconscious boy from the ground with a wry smile, and Dixon crossed his arms.

"We're just a bit on edge recently, don't worry." Samantha awkwardly laughed and patted his head. "Don't worry about what happened, ok? We took care of that already."

"The Dahar family, i suppose." Isaac sighed.

"We'll take care of them." Dixon's stern voice rang at the back. He nodded towards Isaac and continued. "We're making plans already. Just concentrate on training with the Mann boy, for now. You'll enter the Magnolia sect a year earlier."

"What? With the upper families?" Duarte stepped forward, confused. "No one from our class thinks that they can rival the monsters there..." But then, he looked over at Isaac. "Well, I guess we have our little monster here, i guess. Isn't that right old man?"

"Says the kid who jumped inside a 3rd floor through the window." Isaac rolled his eyes. "Did pa taught you manners? Adress your elders properly, little rascal."

"I'm sorry, your excellency." Duarte chuckled and bowed exaggeratedly. "I'll watch my words next time."

Samantha chuckled at the side, and a smile broke in Dixon's face, just a little one. The family chatted for a bit to lighten Isaac's mood and then got out of the room, the butlers and maid needed time and space to repair everything.

When Dustin finally woke up, he immediately stood up. A wave of dizziness invaded him, and his vision went black for a second. Before he could scream in distress, Isaac grabbed his arm firmly.

"Woah, Woah, careful there, Dustin." He waited until he stopped swaying before letting him go. "Don't stand up too fast like that. You'll get dizzy."

"...Isaac?" Dustin muttered, looking at his friend properly when his eyes went back to normal. "I'm sorry..." He tried to hug him, but a small cry of protest repelled him.

After taking a step back, he noticed that Isaac was holding a chicken in his arms. The boy felt another turmoil of emotions surging inside him as he stared at Isaac with a confused expression. After muttering a soft: what? The boy noticed what happened.

"Oh! This?" He rubbed the chicken's head gently and patted its torso. "It helps me calm down. Very therapeutic." The chicken seemed to like the touch and rubbed its head against Isaac's palm. He chuckled and patted it a few more times. "Wanna try? Her name is Roxanna."

"N-no, thank you." Dustin shook his head a couple of times and sat down once more. "A-are you...o-ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Isaac sat beside him and patted his head. "Stop worrying about what happened, ok?"

"But..."

"No buts, little Mann," Isaac said with a stern look, vaguely resembling that of his new dad.

"Sorry...I'm too weak, Isaac..." Dustin dropped his gaze and began to tear up once more. "I want to help, but I'm just...trash..."

"Don't say that ever again, Dustin." Isaac gently wiped his tears with a smile on his face. "It's not your fault. Stuff like that happens all the time." Then, he hugged him after making sure that Roxanna wouldn't get sandwiched between them. "We're friends, ok? Let this be just water under the bridge. Remember what i said. Keep moving forward, Dustin. Promise?"

"Mhh..." The boy nodded.

"Great." Isaac nodded and patted his back. "Let's get to training. The higher-ups said that we need to enter the cult a year earlier." Then, he stood up and began walking towards the backyard.

"Cult?" The boy asked confusedly, closely following behind. "Are you talking about the Magnolia sect?"

"Yeah, that." Isaac nodded a couple of times. "We have a lot of work ahead, you know? Better prepare yourself."

Dustin nodded with a serious expression on his face. But to Isaac, he looked a bit funny with his puffy eyes and runny nose. Isaac ruffled the boy's head and began planning their training. Just like his old world, people's pride is always a top priority. And just like there, some of them were ready to make underhand moves to restore it. But he wouldn't let them be. He would protect his new family from anyone that wished them harm.