First Wake.

When Alexander woke up, he didn't expect to be greeted by so many distraught faces.

"BROTHER!"

"Your Awake!!"

"LEINAAAAAA~*Sobbing*"

Leina didn't get the option of saying a word before all the children jumped on him and started squeezing.

He groaned in pain for what felt like a long time, only a minute until he sighed in relief when the squeezing stopped as an adult came in and got the children off of him.

"You kids need to be more careful! Leina is still healing!"

He heard the lady reprimand them and the children only nodded with puffy faces and red noses. They soon turned to him and quickly muttered out sad apologies.

"We're sorry Leina~"

Leina smiled, "It's alright, but make sure you all don't crush me next time okay?"

The children looked up with bright smiling faces as they nodded their heads, "Okay Leina!~"

Leina looked toward the lady who walked in. She bore a helpless look on her face as she watched the children smile and chuckle happily.

"Alright, that's enough, let's have Leina get some rest," she said, motioning the children out of the room.

Leina sat up in the bed, his limbs felt numb and shakey with exhaustion. He then looked up at the lady with an inquisitive look.

She stared at him for a moment before sighing and sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"You fell unconscious suddenly that you made all of us worry, you were lucky you didn't hit your head on the way down!" She said with a frown.

Leina frowned and nodded, "Sorry, I don't know why I suddenly collapsed like that.."

The lady, who was the caretaker of the orphanage, sighed and nodded, "If you ever need a break, please tell us, we are here to help whenever. Now get some rest and if you need anything, just holler" She got up and started walking towards the door.

"Thank you," Leina said as he laid back down with a sigh.

The Caretaker only nodded as she left the room with a click of the door handle.

....

(You never mentioned that he lived at an orphanage)

(That's because he doesn't. He stays here sometimes to help out, he lives in a nice inn not too far from here!)

Leina heard Mirai respond. He sighed, not knowing how to start changing this world's plot. He could start with finding the dragon egg first, destroying it so that the two MCs won't use it and he could also stop the war that was made to happen.

The problem was that there was so much to do that he felt pure exhaustion from thinking about it.

(Gosh your lazy)

Leina's eye twitched as he moved onto his side.

(Shut it.)

Leina heard mechanical chuckling, and he felt even more irritated. This system was annoying.

====

The next day was quite uneventful besides the fact that he still felt exhausted. Not surprising though, considering he was always exhausted, even in his old body.

Alexander always had problems with feeling very exhausted, whether it be mentally or just physically, and he always had a habit of using sleep as a coping mechanism.

It was very strange and confusing for others to understand but he never really dwelled on it for long or long enough to tell them. It felt too much like a hassle to do so.

That's why, right now he felt exhausted. He didn't think this problem would follow him in another body but, what did he expect when he was mentally unwell? 'His family said it, not him'.

With another tired sigh ripping out of him, he hears a soft huff right beside him and he looks towards the caretaker. She was with him to make some lunch but it seems he has annoyed her with his sighing. He was quick to try to apologize, but it seems he wasn't fast enough,

"If you are tired, you can go outside and walk. Get some fresh air? Or you can go lay down until I finish lunch?"

She suggested many options for him and he considered them. By going outside, he could get a feel, and look at his new environment in this new world and get more familiar with the people as well, so he nodded his head.

"I'll go get some fresh air, I'll be back soon Caretaker"

Leina smiled at her and she smiled back. He soon turned around and left the orphanage. She seemed like she was happy he was out of her hair instead of being a nuisance, and he didn't know how to feel about it. He guesses he felt fine. Or okay? He didn't know it was just that he felt like any normal person would.

Nothing.

He felt nothing. He didn't know if it was because he was always numb to the feeling of being a nuisance or just being a bother because of his family experiences. He didn't know. He always felt like that. He doesn't always have the answer to everything.  He does

Leina sighed for the fourth time that day, he felt like his head was going to burst with all these emotions that felt foreign to him and yet, familiar. He couldn't explain it.

"What are you sighing about Chico?"

He heard someone say next to him and he turned and saw an old lady working as a street vendor, or maybe it was a street vendor? He didn't know, he never really went out much.

"Ahh, it's nothing, grandma. Nothing you need to worry about anyways"

Leina spoke kindly, not wanting to worry the old lady with his troubles if he even had any anyway.

(You do, you are just in denial of this fact.)

(....)

Alex felt slight annoyance at his system but covered it up when the grandma started talking again.

"Is it nothing? When the young generation is having hardships the old generation should step up and guide them on their way. So Chico, what's on your mind?"

Leina saw her pat on a bucket near her and he slowly approached her. He walked around a few things and around the table where she was selling a lot of trinkets and carefully sat down on the bucket she patted.

She waited patiently before gently gesturing to him with her eyes to start when she noticed he was going to be quiet.

He swallowed thickly, trying to get the slight anxiety that he was feeling, down. He didn't really know what to say, he felt like that maybe he didn't have anything to say. He does

He felt like this was a waste of time for the grandmother to be asking him to do this.

"Speak anything on your mind Chico, anything is fine, be it fun, sad, angry, jealous, anything is alright, take your time and just let it out, let it unspin itself from a carefully woven circle on a wheel"

She spoke softly, with so much patience that it felt unbelievable. Alex has never seen someone be this way with him since- Alex's eyes dropped as he remembered his brother's face. The time of his death, the time of seeing, for the first time in a long time, his brother's tear-stricken face and it having a look of anguish, it pained him that he was the one to inflict such emotions on him. He felt guilty that he was the one to hurt his brother in the end and break the promise.

He felt sad emotions and memories being torn up and spread out in front of him again, like showcasing how many thorns you have plucked out of your broken heart.

Alex was so caught up in his mind that when he felt a hand softly rest itself on his, he jumped. He raised his head and was met with a worried look.

"Are you alright Chico? If you feel like you can't talk about it, we may talk about other things instead?"

She spoke in a reassuring tone and with a small smile that never reached her eyes. Even if he wanted them too

He felt nervous. He wasn't equipped to deal with things like this.

"U-uuh-, I-I'm alright, thank you for your concern, but I have to get going"

He quickly stood up and left, not bothering to say goodbye to the grandma.

The old Lady only watched as the teen sped off hurriedly. She felt worried, and curious for the boy. You don't meet many people with bright golden hair and blue eyes that have a red shine to them. If it was up to her to say, it was rather odd that someone like him was even here in this part of the kingdom. After all, this is where all the commoners are, but he looked more like a noble than everyone else, be it his looks or his elegance.

Now that she thought about it, he looked familiar to someone she had met a long time ago. But, no matter how she tried to picture it, she couldn't seem to remember.

She only shrugged and went back to doing nothing. Today was a slow day in her line of work.

Alex looked around and was quite unhappy with himself. He looked at the unfamiliar buildings that even Leina didn't recognize. He got himself lost by running away from the lady.

He felt guilty for running away from her but he was stuck. Stuck trying to understand what was going on and was just overly surprised by her kindness, and his inability to respond to her.

Leina sighs as he stops walking. If he continues to keep going like this, he will only get himself even more lost than he already is.

Now that he thought about it, the buildings look more fancy and modern than what he was used to seeing. Where was he even?

He wasn't able to dwell longer on his question before he heard voices behind him.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here~"

"A trashy commoner is in a place like this~"

"That's too bad. You came here at the wrong time, trash"

They snickered. Alex felt them get closer so he turned around and was met with handsome faces, but, that was dulled with the ugly expressions they were harboring.

Alex felt himself scrunch up in slight disgust, but he was able to cover it up with a scared look.  It was real

Leina backed up as the three men continued to get closer. They were chuckling and murmuring to each other, but he couldn't make out what they said.

Leina flinched as his back met hard concrete. He turned his head and noticed that he was at the end of the alley and had nowhere to go.

"Looks like you have nowhere else to go, hehe"

They started to chuckle. Alex froze and he stared, unable to move as the bodies started to blur and change into very familiar faces. They would unblur or merge into one, they were the same.

Alex felt his heart start to race violently. He felt his legs shake with fear. This isn't right. They're not here. They can't be here.

(Host. You need to calm down. They are not here, they can't hurt you)

Alex heard Mirai's voice but it was so distant and muffled he couldn't make out what they said.

They started to come even closer. Closer, and closer, and closer and closer, until he couldn't breathe. They stood right in front of him, only a meter away.

They were close. So close.

"We'll make sure you don't go to waste hmm~?"

It sounded like a question that he was supposed to answer. But he couldn't. His mouth stayed clammed shut and his throat constricted in an urge to say something, anything to get himself out of here. But he couldn't. He didn't.

There wasn't anything for him to say. There wasn't anything that he could say. So he stayed silent.

He felt himself tremble at their every chuckle and whisper. He couldn't do this. No, he didn't want to. This is exactly why he even declined to do this in the first place, but...if he didn't then his brother...

The trio began to chuckle and surround him on both sides. He didn't know how to fight, or do anything.

(Host...)

He heard Mirai's voice speak to him. He couldn't respond to them. He didn't know what to say.  It always seems like that nowadays

"Alright, let's start this nice and smooth. First, you got any money?"

Guy number one spoke as he leaned forward with a cocked eyebrow.

Alex shook his head as he continued to press his back into the hard concrete behind him. His lips trembled and his eyes burned.

Number one looked at him straight in the eyes. Looking skeptical.

"Hey you, pat him down"

He gestured for number two. He instantly got closer, grabbed Alex's arm roughly, and pulled him forward away from the wall.

Alex trembled as his wrist was held roughly. He felt fear as hands roamed around his body. He felt them on his hips, his stomach, chest, everywhere. He felt them everywhere.

Alex was soon pushed back into the wall, his head hitting the rough concrete. He groaned and hunched in on himself. He felt a headache quickly forming already.

"Nothing on him"

Number two said to number one, backing a few feet away from Alex.

"Huh, disappointing, but oh well, nothing we can do about that. Now, Second, do you know the basics?"

Know the basics? What does he mean by that? Alex wasn't able to answer the guy or even answer his question before something collided with his stomach making him cough and hunch over.

He fell onto his knees, scraping them as he sucked in air painfully. It seemed like that wasn't a great move because he was soon hit in the side. He slid a feat away from them, and he scrunched up his body in pain. Overwhelming pain.

"Hahaha! Loom at him!"

"I know right!"

"Gosh! You look dumb! Hahahaha!"

He heard them laugh and make fun of him. He is getting bullied all over again. no, no, no, no, no no no no no no nononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono--

====

His head was blank. He doesn't remember how he got here. One minute he was getting beat up, the next he found himself in front of a grandma. He hears a commotion but, he can't make out what they are saying. His ears are muffled and his head feels like it under water.

He felt his legs moving, but, he couldn't bring himself to pay attention to them. He knew, dully, that he was in pain, but, he couldn't bring himself to feel...to care...

He heard someone talking to him, but he couldn't understand them. Was he in shock? In shock of what? He didn't understand.

(..H..o.....st)

(....)

(.Ho...st)

(....)

(H...ost)

(....)

(Host!)

Alex jolted and immediately his eyes darted around him. Where was he? His heart raced as he remembered bits and pieces of what happened. Wait- They're gone. I can't remember. The pieces vanished.

It's cold.

Why can't he remember?

So cold.

What happened?

It's raining.

What's going on?

I don't remember.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?

(Host! You need to calm down, the magic power in Leina's body will get out of hand if you do not calm down.)

Mirai spoke to him in a stern but sad voice. What are they sad about?

Alex stopped all movement and took in slow breaths. His heart stopped beating rapidly and his head turned into a dull pain. 

(Host, it is alright. They aren't here anymore. They can't hurt you.)

Alex didn't respond to them as they continued to stare at the ground. Watching as the water washes the small rocks and dirt away. 

Numb.

He felt numb. It was raining and it was cold, but, he couldn't focus on any of that. 

His hair stuck to his face as he resumed his steps. He walked and walked. He doesn't know how long. How long?

He couldn't remember. He doesn't know. What is going on? Why is he feeling this way? So tired. Why..? 

(Host...)

He heard Mirai's sad voice. They were sad, but why? Did he make them sad? He didn't mean to. Is this all his fault? Did he do this? What is going on?

He doesn't remember.

Why does he feel this way?

(It's alright Host, I'll take it from here. Get some rest)

He heard Mirai's voice speak to him. Rest. He can get some rest... He can finally sleep...right?

He felt his body warm up soothingly as his eyes closed shut. He couldn't feel anything but the warmth that invaded his body in a comforting way.

(Get some rest. Sleep until your heart wakes up)

That was the last thing he heard before his mind shut off completely.

He didn't remember.