Fallen Star's Mysteries (1)

When Thomas woke up from his sleep, he was expecting to wake up in Jin Tang's palace. However, the sight that greeted him was his room back in Texas. Sitting up in his bed, Thomas looked to his alarm clock on his right to see what time it was.

2:47 P.M.

'Wait, it's only 2:47 P.M.? How long was I asleep?' Thomas thought as he grabbed his phone off the bed stand to check the date.

2:48. Friday, September 3rd

'Wait it's still Friday? Didn't I spend two days in that other world? I guess it was a dream after all.' Thomas thought as he got out of his bed.

However, when Thomas moved from the bed, he noticed that the sheets, blanket, and his clothes were drenched in sweat. Not wanting to be in sweaty clothes right after he woke up, Thomas grabbed some spare clothes from his room and walked over to the bathroom to take a shower.

After turning on the shower, Thomas took off his clothes and threw them into a pile in the corner of the room, only to notice in the mirror that his body was more toned than it used to be and that the splint on his face had broken.

Taking the broken splint off his face, Thomas was shocked to see that his broken nose had completely healed within the two hours he slept.

'What happened to my body? I've never had a six-pack before, and my nose isn't broken anymore. Did the training in my dream affect my body?' Thomas thought as he flexed his body in the mirror while waiting for the shower to warm up.

Once the shower was warm, Thomas got in and started to put together some of the questions he had when in the dream.

'Okay, so it was a dream, but what I do in the dream seems to affect my real body. So if I get strong in the dreams, I should become just as strong here. But does that also mean that I'll get stronger in the dreams if I get stronger here?'

Letting out a long sigh as he finished cleaning himself off, Thomas got out of the shower and put on a change of clothing. As Thomas walked out of the bathroom, he bumped into his dad in the hallway.

"Oh, hey dad."

"THOMAS! What happened to you?"

"I don't really remember, I remember touching the blade of that sword in the attic and when I woke up I was in my bed drenched in sweat."

"I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about your nose splint. Why isn't it on?"

"Oh, it broke while I was asleep. It doesn't matter anyway, I don't need it anymore."

"What do you mean you don't need it anymore? Your nose got broken not but two and a half hours ago, it couldn't have healed that fast."

"Look at my nose then! Do you see anything wrong with it?" Thomas asked as he pointed at his nose before walking towards his room.

After walking into his room, Thomas noticed the sword from the attic was halfway underneath his bed with its sheath partially covering the blade. Walking over to the sword, Thomas picked it up and unsheathed the blade once more and thought.

'When I touched the blade of the sword I passed out and ended up in that other world, does that mean it will let me go back there if I touch it again?'

Touching the sword blade just above the words engraved near the hilt, Thomas closed his eyes to brace himself if something happened. However, after two minutes of waiting nothing happened, no dizziness, no faltering consciousness, only the cold feel of the metal blade and rough texture of the blade's handle.

'Why is nothing happening? Didn't the sword send me into that dream when I touched it?'

After removing his hand from the sword's blade, Thomas tried to touch the blade again in a different spot, hoping that something would happen. However, regardless of where he touched the sword, nothing happened. Becoming more agitated every time he felt the cold metal of the sword, Thomas put the sheath on the sword and tossed it onto his bed.

'Maybe it doesn't work anymore?' Thomas thought as he started to walk out of his room.

However, as he opened the door, Thomas remembered the contrasting deep blue and black colors of the sword's blade. Walking back over to the sword, he pulled it out of the sheath and started flicking its blade.

Thunk!

Hearing the deep ping of the blade after flicking it, Thomas thought, 'That doesn't sound like steel. Wait, what is this sword even made of?'

Putting the sword back in its sheath and grabbing a pair of socks from his dresser, Thomas walked out of his room and over to his parents' room.

"Hey dad, can you take me somewhere real fast?"

"Where do you need to go?

"A Metallurgist, I want to see what this sword is made of. Because I don't think it's made from iron or steel." Thomas said as he unsheathed the sword and showed it to his dad.

"Alright sure, I've been pretty interested in that sword as well since you passed out."

"Wait, why are you interested in the sword as well?"

"Well, when you passed out in the attic you wouldn't let go of the sword, even when I tried to pry it out of your hands."

"Alright, I'm going to go start the car then. How long are you going to take to get ready?"

"Five minutes or so."

Walking away from his parents' doorway, Thomas walked over to the living room and grabbed his shoes before sitting down on the couch.

'So, the sword is related to going to the other world. I guess I'd have to be asleep while holding the sword to go back there.' Thomas thought as he slid his socks onto his feet.

After putting on his shoes, Thomas walked to the front door and opened it. Grabbing his car keys as he walked through the open door, Thomas unlocked his car and started to get to the driver's side.

"Wait, I'll drive Thomas." Said his father as he closed the front door behind him.

Letting out a deep sigh as he closed the car door, Thomas locked his car and walked around to the passenger side door of his dad's car and got in.

"Why did you want to drive?" Thomas asked once his dad got in the car.

"Do you know where a metallurgist is?"

"No. But I was going to find one."

"Well, I know where one is so I'm going to drive. Also, you just woke up, so your driving isn't going to be the best."

"I told you, I'm fine."

Turning on his phone as his dad pulled out of the driveway, Thomas started to look at all the notifications he missed during his sleep.

'Wait, when did I get a message?' Thomas thought as he saw the three text notifications on his phone.

Opening his messages, Thomas found messages not from CJ, but his parents. Asking him about what happened today during school, and why CJ was hospitalized. Typing out the story of what had happened, Thomas told them about Elijah and his friends breaking CJ's nose and ribs.

"Who are you texting?" Asked Thomas's father as they had stopped at a red light.

"CJ's Parents. He was put in the hospital after all so it's natural that they're worried."

"WHAT? Why is CJ in the hospital?"

"The same reason I had a broken nose, Elijah and his friends jumped him during lunch."

"I really should file charges against him." Said his father as he started to drive again.

"Don't, his family is rich so suing them would just be stupid. Besides, I already have a clever idea to get some revenge on them." Said Thomas as he started to text CJ's parents again.

"What is it?"

"Blackmail. If I get CJ's parents to send me a photo of him in the hospital bed, I can beat up Elijah later and use the photo as a reason for them to not sue us. Plus, Elijah usually starts the fights, so I won't get charged with a criminal offense because I was only defending myself."

"What about the school's response? Won't they suspend you if they find out that you were in a fight?"

"No, they won't. I've been on the receiving end of so many fights that they won't do anything."

"One more problem with that plan. How will you win against Elijah when you've never won against him before?" Said his father as he pulled the car into a parking lot.

"I've got a way, just trust me. This plan will definitely knock Elijah down a peg."

Looking up from his phone, Thomas saw that the car had been parked outside of a building near a Shopping Center. Getting out of the car, Thomas looked up and read the building's sign.

"Steven's Metallurgy. So, this is the place we're getting the metal tested?"

"Yup, and I know the guy too, so we don't need an appointment."

After entering the building, Thomas's dad walked over to the secretary at the front desk and said, "I'd like to meet with Steven."

"Do you have an appointment sir?" Asked the secretary as she started looking at the computer to find a meeting time.

"No, but can you tell Steven that David is here to see him."

"Yes, give me two minutes." Said the secretary as she got up from her chair and walked into the employees only room.

After a few minutes, the secretary walked back through the employees only door and said, "Steven will see you now, please follow me."

Getting up and following the secretary into a testing room, Thomas saw a person sitting down at a table with tools set around the sight of an electron microscope.

"Hello David, how have you been?'' said the man.

"Good, how have you been? Steven."