"Will her eyes really be normal again?" a woman asked from the darkness around me.

  "Uh...no," a man answered. "I mean, isn't it obvious? She was completely blind for exactly five hours. And she won't be staying here for too long either. So, it is going to take some work for her getting used to the new pair."

  Beats of silence before the woman said, "She is gaining consciousness."

  "Are you going to take the bandages off then?" the man said.

  "You tell me. You are the one who gave her the new eyes. Is it too soon or too early."

  "I mean, she will have her regur vision. I don't think it should hurt her if you take them off."

  "So reassuring," the woman groaned. "I'm taking them off. She needs to leave soon anyway."

  "I'll unfreeze the natural time then."

  ****

  I felt a slight buzzing in my eyes and heard the soft rustle of bandages being unwrapped. I slowly opened my eyes. I was staring up at a tall stone roof, etched with intricate figures and writings in a nguage that felt vaguely familiar for some reason. I sat up in the bed only to be greeted by a stained gss window on the opposite side, depicting a knight in shining armor with a bloody machete in one hand and offering an apple to a dark skinned maiden in a long silk dress. She was shy but still looked quite pleased while she accepted the gift.

  On the side of the knight, the sky was dark and corpses and skeletons littered the ashen ground. While the grass below the maiden's feet was green and lush and birds were singing in the clear blue sky above her.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" a man said. The voice was starting to sound familiar now that I had recollections of hearing it when I had been out cold. "I made it myself. I consider it one of my best pieces."

  I wanted to answer him but I was captivated by the drama unfolding on the stained gss. The characters and the image was alive. It was no illusion. It was like a painting itself that was alive. I turned to look at the man and for a second I lost my words when I took in the sight of him.

  He had a friendly face with brown hair and beard of the same color, blue eyes that had smile lines on corners and prominent cheekbones. The room we were in was not much different than a living painting itself. A mural of a breathtaking sunset was painted on the wall next to the door. A luxurious shag carpet on the floor. And a long table on top of which the model of something simir to a miniature city or forest rested.

  "Did I die?" was the first thing I asked. "But if that was the case, then this certainly can't be heaven. We've already established that people don't go to heaven when they die. The procedure of going to heaven is quite a complicated one."

  The man sitting next to the bed ughed. "It seems like you are perfectly normal." He stood up and walked over to the table and grabbed a lute that was sitting next to the miniature of the forest. "So, when do the cliches begin?" he said as sat down in a chair and gently strummed the strings. "What is this pce? How did I get here? Where are my friends?"

  "I'd also throw in a 'who are you' for good measure as well," I said.

  "Right." The man smiled. "And that's the best question to answer first. I'm Godfrey the second. Also known as Godfrey the Butcher." Another strum of the lute.

  I paused and looked at him, taking in his friendly face, his smiling eyes, her perfect cheekbones. "No." I shook my head.

  He looked at me, amused. "What does that mean?"

  "That can't be you." I shook my head. "I saw the statue by the tomb. Even though the face was covered by a helm, I'm pretty sure a man who won every war and never took any prisoners wouldn't be this..."

  "Handsome?"

  "Normal," I said. "That's a much better word. Also, you are supposed to be a god. How can you be this...normal?"

  He ughed again. "The way you say normal makes it sound anything but that."

  I was about to start a debate on what counts as ‘normal’ but I stopped myself right there. I'd remembered something of dire consequences. “I'm running on a deadline!” I scrambled to get out of bed. Godfrey urged me to be careful.

  I didn't heed to his concerns and tripped over the sheets locking my ankles. There was a thud when my head hit the ground. I groaned.

  “I did tell you to be careful.” Godfrey gave another strum to his lute. “And as far as your deadline goes…there are still ten hours left.”

  I frowned at him. “Wait but…”

  “If you forgot, I can control time.” A cocky smirk. Another sturm of the lute.

  “Is that also how you saved me?” I said, rubbing my head and wincing. “Stopped the time before that bident skewered my eyes.”

  “Oh, no I didn't.” Godfrey shook his head. “I actually didn't save your eyes.”

  “Then how can I see?”

  “Corpse blood,” he said with a shrug. “The elixir brewed from my very own blood. It has a rapid regeneration ability. I poured some of it in your skewered eyeballs and there they are, just the way they were.”

  “Really?” I said.

  “Not exactly, there are certainly going to be some side effects.” He strummed his lute again. “The corpse blood is going to take some time to get acclimatized to your body. For now, I'd suggest you don't step out into the sunlight. It can interfere with the amalgamation process and give you a slight handicap.”

  “Well, thanks for the heads up,” I said, getting back on my feet, much more carefully this time. “Also, thanks for giving me a new pair of eyes. But I have a question. No, two questions actually. First of all, if you can control time, then how come you arrived te to save me?” I folded my arms across my chest. “Also, why the courtesy of giving me new eyes?”

  He strummed his lute several times before looking up at me. “I'll answer the second question first,” he said. “I gave you the eyes because you intrigue me. That's also the reason why I brought you here, because I wanted to ask you several questions of my own. But I'm sure we can get to that ter. As for your first question, I wasn't te to save you. I let the sin breeds hurt you deliberately.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why?”

  “So that you could face the consequences of your actions,” he said. “The consequence of trying to be the hero of a war that wasn't even yours to fight in the first pce.”

  “That's…quite cold.” I frowned.

  “Just because I rule this world doesn't mean that I'm needlessly benevolent.” He strummed his lute with a grin.

  “Understood.” I nodded with a sober look. Then I said, “I want to see my friends.”

  “They are alive,” he said. “And safe. And in another room. And you can see them once the corpse blood in your eyes has amalgamated well with your being. So you should sit down and pass some time with me. I said that I had questions for you anyway.”

  With a sigh, I ran my fingers through my hair and went and sat in the chair opposite to him. “Well, ask away. Because I have a few of my own.”

  Another strum of the lute. “My first question is, how did you get here?” he said. “I know you had the aid of a powerful entity. And I saw those numbers ticking down at the back of your little spell book. Someone has pulled you into a game for the entertainment of immortals. And I agree, it was entertaining. But I want to know who sent you here?”

  “Angels,” I said. “Two angels who were…banished from this realm.”

  Godfrey's eyes glinted with curiosity and interest. “Isn't that interesting? But I don't think angels should have the means of opening the doors to heaven if they were actually banished from here.”

  “Well, they have the means.” I sighed. “The Eyes of Cornelius can open these doors that connect the mortal realm to the immortal realm and–” I paused, the room had suddenly gone silent. When I looked at Godfrey he was just sitting there still as a statue with a contempting gaze.

  “How did they get the Eyes of Cornelius?” he said.

  “We stole it for them.” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

  Godfrey was shocked. “You? From Saint Cornelius?”

  “Yeah.” I shrugged. “I mean, he wasn't home when we took the artifact. And…everything just worked out…”

  Godfrey sighed and shook his head. “He probably wasn't even in his domain when you snuck in. That power hungry maniac.”

  “What happened?” I said. “Did we do something wrong?”

  He scoffed. “I wouldn't bme you. If it is the same two banished angels we are talking about then I'm quite sure they dragged you in with some sleazy contract.”

  “Y-Yeah!” I nodded. “That's exactly what happened.”

  Godfrey nodded in return. “Yes, we are certainly talking about the same people. And they probably opened a temporary portal and sent you in through the causal rift. Which is why, it was easy for you to just slip into his domain and steal such an important artifact.” He paused and gave that contemptive look again. “That's actually clever. No wonder, the One Sage banished them. Those clever bastards would've done a lot more damage to this realm if they had been allowed to run free.”

  “Wait but…now they are in the mortal realm,” I said.

  “Which is still intact, I presume,” Godfrey said. “Which means they are significantly weaker now since they have to badger mere mortals to do their bidding.”

  “Should I be…more worried than I already am?” I asked nervously.

  “Yes.” Godfrey nodded. “But not because of the angels. Be more worried about Cornelius finding out about you. And he will once he returns. And he may or may not have anger issues.” Another strum of his lute to add to the ominousness of the moment.

  Before I could slip into an existential spiral of having pissed off a god like entity, Godfrey strummed his lute again and said, “I'm going to put my original second question on hold and ask you another question. Why did you come here? Or why did the angels send you?”

  “Why did I come here would make an already long and convoluted story much longer and more convoluted,” I said. “So I'll just tell you why the angels sent me. Well…they sent me to talk to you.”

  Godfrey gave me a curious grin. “Once again, I'm intrigued.”

  “Yeah, you see…they want a favor from you. Or more like I want a favor from you.” I leaned forward in my chair, rubbing my forehead. “This is about the shrine you created in the mortal realm in order to ascend here.”

  “Ooh, I remember.” He nodded with a nostalgic smile. “Those were the days. I killed so many for the sake of getting stronger. It was just a phase. I'm out of it now, though. But those were indeed the days.”

  I chuckled nervously. “Okay, let's not digress now,” I said. “I'm here to make a bargain. And this is about that shrine. It would be really great if you could…you know, maybe…take off the curse you left on your tomb.”

  “No.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I'm not going to,” he said. “I left it behind for a reason.”

  “Look, I know against a god, I have nothing significant to offer in a bargain, but please, I…I won't be able to go back home if you don't lift that curse.” I felt my forehead scrunch and my chest tighten with anxiety.

  “I can just send you back through the causal rift. You'll be back home without any issue. You won't need to use the shrine to exit.” He shrugged. “It's the same thing that brought all those other humans to this world. I can direct it to send you and your friends back home.”

  “No, that won't work.” I shake my head. “I'm bound by the angels’ shady contract. If I don't accomplish the objective I entered this dungeon with, Escayne will come for me. Not to mention there are still two of my friends stuck in the shrine and they won't be able to return because of that Watcher you left behind. Please…try to…” my voice broke and trembled. “I-I can't leave those people to die.”

  “Fine.” Godfrey shrugged. “I’ll let your friends have a temporary window to escape the shrine from. I’ll send your friends here through the causal rift back home. But you’ll have to stay here.”

  My heart sank. “B-But–”

  “You said you couldn't let those people die, right? Well, I'm setting them free.” He shrugged again. “But you'll just have to stay here.”

  “W-Why?” I asked.

  “Because I said so.” Another strum of the lute.

  I sighed and held my head in my hands. I was the only one who had signed the contract. Lily and Smokewell weren't bound by any such terms. This was the exact reason I'd stopped Lily from signing the thing with me.

  All I had to do was stay behind. And then everything would work out. I looked at Godfrey, my eyes resolute. “I'll do it,” I said.

  “Perfect.”

  “There's no need,” another voice spoke up. It was Smokwell. She was still in her seven foot tall form but she had no injuries.

  I gasped in relief and rushed towards her. “Madam!”

  “Stay back,” she said, her voice was like a wrought iron gate on a winter morning. “There’s no need to keep up the ruse anymore. And we don't need your kindness to save us.”

  I stopped, frowning. “What do you mean?” I said softly. “What are you talking about?”

  The cat's red eyes glinted at me in anger. A low growl was erupting at the back of her throat. “You are a liar,” she said. “You are not the real Elsa.”