Midnight Terror

"Eli, don't you want to get up? It's already morning."

Elijah opened his eyes while jumping as someone spoke softly to him. In this world, there are only two people who dare to call him Eli like that. Elijah's eyes stared in disbelief at his mother, who was standing next to his bed while wearing an apron. A familiar smile appeared on his mother's face after that. An ordinary scene with an ordinary day. It seemed like a long time since Elijah had been able to see such a scene since the accident that took his parents' lives.

"... Mom ...."

"Uh, why are you suddenly crying? Do you still want to sleep, Eli?"

Elijah wiped his tears away quickly, especially when his mother frantically started trying to gently wipe his face. After the accident, Elijah could no longer dream about his parents. What Elijah was experiencing and feeling now, no one knew how long Elijah begged to just feel it again.

Elijah hugged his mother tightly. After he grew up, Elijah finally returned to hugging his mother and crying like a child.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I missed you guys. I missed you guys so much until it's hard to bear it."

Elijah's mother didn't know what was wrong with her son today. But as a mother, there was nothing happier than seeing Elijah being gentle with her like this. The woman hugged back and then gently stroked Elijah's shoulder. Her smile came out as she tried to persuade Elijah with her soft words.

"Mommy will always be here for you, Eli. Come to think of it, how long has it been since you last cried, huh? You must be dreaming so badly to be crying like this."

Elijah hoped everything was just a dream. Elijah's parents' accident, the destruction of his life, his being bound to the system and taken to a strange world, he hoped it was all just a very long nightmare. Elijah nodded slowly in response to his mother's question. The two of them hugged for a while. At one point, his mother broke the embrace to lightly pinch Elijah's tomato-red nose.

"Look at you, wake up with a face as red as a tomato. Wash your face first, Eli. We'll have breakfast together. But if you feel like resting for the day, I'll contact the school to have you excused for the day."

"Alright, Mom."

Ever since Elijah began his period of puberty, the teenager began to be unruly and rarely obeyed his parents' simple wishes obediently. Elijah's compliance this time surprised his mother. The woman was silent for a while. But after a moment, she finally joined in with a smile and stood on tiptoe to run a hand through Elijah's messy hair.

"Good boy."

Elijah felt like crying again, but he held back so as not to worry his mother further. Elijah went to the bathroom to wash his face quickly. Afterward, he came downstairs to find his mother and father waiting for him at the dining table.

"Eli, are you okay?"

Elijah's eyes were slightly red when he saw the figure of his father, who was sitting reading the newspaper as usual. Elijah nodded quickly. He was fine. From now on, everything would be fine as long as his parents were alive and always by his side.

"I'm fine, Dad. I was just thinking, what if we play soccer in the backyard after you get back from work?"

Elijah's father was a great guy who always made time to take Elijah out to play, even if he was a busy man. Unfortunately, Elijah had been too busy with his friends in the past to accept the invitation. This time, Elijah wanted to make amends properly when he had been allowed to do so. The teenager tried to smile, especially when Elijah saw that his father looked surprised by this unusual invitation.

After seeing that Elijah was not joking with his words, Elijah's father finally smiled as he put down the newspaper he had been reading. "Of course, Eli. I'll try to get home as soon as possible today."

Elijah clenched his hands tightly, then spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

"There's no need to rush. Remember to be careful on the road, Father."

"Of course. I'll always be careful when I drive the car."

Elijah smiled with relief when he heard that. Breakfast was served in front of him after that. The menu was his favorite. There was a familiar taste that Elijah missed as he ate it carefully.

"Do you like it, Elijah?"

"Of course, Mom. I really like whatever you cook," Elijah replied happily. The teenager was so engrossed in eating his breakfast that he didn't realize something was starting to change around him.

"You should be able to keep eating it if you stop making trouble for Mom and Dad in the past. Because of you, we died and couldn't enjoy a peaceful life as long as we lived."

Elijah stopped eating, then stared in surprise at his parents, who turned into people covered in blood. Elijah got up from his sitting position so quickly that the stool he was using fell to the floor with a bang. Elijah's expression was filled with fear, especially when he saw the blood coming out of his parents' heads so fast that it soaked the floor under their feet.

"You ignorant child! We've raised you with so much love. But why is it that all you can do is make trouble!? You unlucky bastard! I wish you were never born in the first place!"

The familiar words Elijah's grandmother had told him at the time of his parent's death came out of his father's mouth in his grandmother's voice. Elijah recoiled in fear as his parents reached out to pull him up. The once-warm house began to melt into a pool of blood that began to drown him. Elijah tried to escape. But in the end, his mother and father managed to grab Elijah and drown him in a sea of blood.

"This is all your fault! Don't think your life alone can be used to make up for all your mistakes!"

Elijah didn't know who had just yelled at him. But the shout was filled with hatred until Elijah felt that death might indeed be better for an ignorant child like him.

***

"... Jah!"

"... Elijah!"

"Wake up, Elijah!"

Elijah woke up with a start after he heard the frantic voice of someone trying to wake him up. Elijah's breathing was still ragged when he finally realized that it was Damian who was trying to wake him up. The elf looked so worried, especially since Elijah hadn't stopped crying and looked tormented while he was asleep.

Damian thought Elijah was a human with a good past because he was so extraordinary. But apparently, Elijah seemed to have gone through something so painful that he was tormented even in his sleep.

"Are you alright already? You even cry in your sleep."

Elijah covered his face with one hand, then rested his other hand on his legs bent to his chest. Elijah adjusted his breathing so that he could regain his composure. Elijah had not had that dream since he had been introduced to the system. But today, he ended up having that kind of dream again.

In the end, his body still did not allow Elijah to rest comfortably. Elijah would remember not to sleep too much in the future. That kind of nightmare was not something he could see every day.

"Elijah?"

Elijah rubbed his face roughly, then looked at Damian with a tired gaze.

"What are you doing here?"

Damian wasn't angry at all when Elijah didn't answer his question and even dared to call him out without any respect. Damian took Elijah's attitude as a sign that the man saw him as Damian and not the prince of the elven race who had to be perfect in everything.

"Of course, to move my things, Elijah! From today on, we will sleep together in this dormitory!"

"Don't make it sound so weird...."

Elijah protested but fell back into silence as he felt there was no point in telling an NPC something he couldn't understand. Elijah finally preferred to get up to wash his face. After that nightmare, Elijah wasn't sure he would be able to sleep again and rest his body.

After Elijah was refreshed, he finally realized that Damian should have failed as a magic class student after losing against him. But right now, the prince was in his room, too busy arranging some plants he had brought in a small pot.

"...Didn't you fail?"

Damian immediately turned to Elijah, relieved that Elijah finally wanted to know something about him. The prince rose from his squatting position excitedly. "How can a prince like me fail to enter an academy like this? With my status alone, this academy should already feel grateful that I'm willing to study in this place," he said proudly.

"That means you got in just because you're a prince?" Elijah asked again. This time Damian realized that Elijah had misunderstood him. Damian's face turned red. He quickly corrected his sentence in a hurry.

"It's not like that! They offered me to take the warrior group test. And with my abilities, passing the test was a breeze. Now I've officially become a warrior class student. I also managed to pass after passing the test with honesty and sportsmanship!"

Elijah did not understand why Damian was so expressive as an elf, who was known for their elegance and flat face. The teenager stared at his roommate for a few moments, then gave a brief nod to indicate that he understood what Damian was trying to say.

Elijah was about to go out to practice his sword now that he was awake. But when Damian saw Elijah about to leave when he had just woken up, the elf immediately shouted to stop him again.

"Actually!"

Damian gulped nervously, especially when Elijah turned around and looked at him with those tired human eyes.

"Actually, I wanted to say thank you. Thanks to you, I realized that there is nothing wrong with doing something that society considers different from theirs. I'm glad to be part of the warrior class. Swords and archery are indeed something I've been good at since I was a kid."

"Good for you."

"Having said that, I hope we can be friends from now on!"

Seeing a prince of the elven race want to make friends of his own accord was not something that could be seen all the time. Elijah didn't have any feelings when he heard that. But at least, Elijah knew being friends with Damian would bring some benefits to him in the future.

Elijah would consider this time a part of the mission that the system hadn't told him about. Elijah nodded. "Sure," he said before continuing his steps to exit the room.

Elijah left poor Damian smiling contentedly, too happy to know that Elijah had not refused his request to be his first friend.