Before either Francis or I could respond to the sudden intrusion, a big bear of a man rushed forward and pulled me into a tight hug. He squeezed me so hard that I couldn't breathe. I struggled to break free, to no avail.
"Brandon!" the man said. "I'm so glad you're still alive!"
Not for long at this rate.
"Help!" I managed to eke out.
A pale, slender hand slapped the big man on the shoulder.
"Let go, you idiot," a sharp voice said. "Brandon can't breathe."
"Oh."
The big man let go of me. I fell back onto the hospital bed and took several deep, gasping breaths. When I recovered, I took a look around. In addition to Francis, three other people crowded around my hospital bed.
The most prominent was the big man who hugged me earlier. He was massive, over seven feet tall, with muscles to match. He was a black guy with warm eyes and a buzz cut. The man gave off the impression of a bear, both sweet and cuddly as well as a vicious predator. It was a paradox that I still had difficulty grasping, even to this day.
Logan Atwood, our team's tank.
Next to him stood a tall and slender woman with pale skin, long dark hair, and beautiful green eyes. Unlike Logan, she had a leaner build. Her features were a mix of Caucasian and Asian, due to her heritage. She gave off a sharp and deadly air, like a spear ready to impale others.
Himiko Gray, our team's vanguard.
On Logan's other side stood a short, plump woman with brown eyes and cream colored skin. She wore a set of simple black robes with a gray sash over her shoulder. The sash had a silver sword with a golden four-pointed star in the background embroidered on it. A benevolent smile adorned her face, giving her a saint-like air. However, I knew this was an illusion. When angered, this woman was like an avenging angel, full of fury and wrath.
Alysha Yates, our team's healer and support.
Along with Francis and myself, the five of us were the Lucky 77, the Vanguard Guild's most powerful team of hunters. We were called that because we lived on the seventy seventh floor of Vanguard Tower, and we often survived situations that would've killed other hunters.
The fight with the Demon Lord was one such example, though it was a near thing. However, since both my soul and my body survived the encounter, I counted it as a victory.
"You look like shit," Himiko said, giving me a once over.
Despite her words, the concern in her eyes filled my heart with warmth.
"Look at you, man," Logan said, lifting up my left hand. "You're so weak and skinny. I bet you'd even lose in an arm wrestling match with Francis."
"Hey!" Francis said.
Logan smirked at him. Meanwhile, Alysha walked over and took hold of my right hand.
"What matters is that you're awake," she said with a gentle smile on her face.
"Hell yeah!" Logan said, pumping a fist in the air and almost hitting the ceiling. "We've got our striker back."
On Earth, hunters were assigned roles based on their capabilities. Due to popular culture, these roles were inspired by videos such as RPGs, MOBAs, MMOs, and so on.
I was a striker, meaning I was fast, agile, and could deal a lot of damage. Logan was a tank. His role was to protect the rest of the team by shielding them with his body. Himiko was a vanguard, which was somewhere between the two. While she wasn't as fast or agile as me, she could take a lot more damage.
Francis was an artillery. His role was to attack from the backline, using magic to deal a lot of damage to large numbers of enemies. Alysha was a healer and support, meaning she kept us alive and buffed us with her Holy magic.
Together, the five of us formed a well-balanced team, which was one of the reasons why we were so effective. It also helped that we were all S-rank hunters who had known each other for years and worked together almost since we joined the Vanguard Guild.
"Not quite," I said, feeling like I was about to rain on their parade.
Logan nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face. It didn't suit him.
"You're right," he said. "We need to get some meat back on your bones." He lifted my left hand again. "I doubt you'll be able to do much with your body like this."
Himiko rolled her eyes.
"Brandon should focus on recovering first," she said. "He was in a coma for a while. It'll take some physical therapy before he can start training again."
Logan scoffed.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Alysha just needs to heal him with her Holy magic. He'll be right as rain after that."
"Holy magic can't fix everything, you idiot!"
The two of them started bickering. Alysha just shook her head.
"They won't ever admit it," she said. "But those two worried about you the most. Well, aside from Francis." She patted my right hand. "Whatever the case, all that matters is that you're awake. Just rest. Don't worry about anything else."
I opened my mouth to correct their misunderstanding, but hesitated. I could tell them later. There wasn't any reason to ruin the mood right this moment.
"That wasn't what he meant," Francis said in an acerbic tone.
Logan and Himiko stopped arguing and faced Francis, while Alysha gave him a questioning look.
"What are you talking about?" Logan asked.
"Brandon's planning on leaving."
My entire team turned to look at me. I threw Francis a glare. Thank you, asshole.
"How would you know?" I asked. "I hadn't even gotten to that part yet."
Francis scoffed.
"It's because I know you," he said. "If you hadn't planned on returning home, you wouldn't have brought it up in the first place."
That was… a fair point.
"You're leaving?!" Logan asked, shocked.
I hesitated, before nodding.
"Wait, seriously?" Himiko asked, angry. "You're going to leave us, just like that? After everything we've been through?"
Alysha stopped smiling.
"Stop it, you two," she said. "If Brandon wants to retire, that's his decision. After what he went through, do you blame him?"
Logan and Himiko hung their heads with guilty expressions on their faces.
"I'm sorry, Brandon," Logan said.
"Considering what happened, Alysha's right," Himiko said. "If you want to retire, go right ahead. That last Gate was…" She shook her head. "After going through all that, I considered retiring myself."
I gave Francis a sideways glance. He must've worded it ambiguously on purpose, leaving it up to me to clear up the misunderstanding. This was his way of getting back at me. Still, I already planned on having this conversation with my team, so this was a minor inconvenience at most.
"No, I'm not retiring," I said. "I'm leaving and going back home. As in, I'm leaving Earth." I paused. "As soon as I find a way how."
My team, aside from Francis, blinked at me in surprise. I sighed.
"Let me start from the beginning," I said, before I gave the others the same explanation that I gave Francis.
When I finished, they reacted the same way Francis had.
"You fucking idiot!" Himiko yelled, grabbing me by my shoulders.
Logan looked at Alysha.
"Do you think he'll learn his lesson if I keep breaking his legs?" he asked.
Alysha nodded.
"I'll heal him enough so he won't suffer permanent damage," she said. "But leave him injured enough so he can't go anywhere."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
This went on for a while, as my team scolded me and threatened to keep me hospitalized so I wouldn't face the greatest danger to my wellbeing: myself. Francis stood off to the side the entire time with a smug expression on his face.
"Alright, enough!" I said when I reached the limits of my patience. "Francis and I already went through this. Can we move on from any deep-seated issues that I may or may not have?"
Himiko nodded.
"You know what," she said in a heated tone. "You're right. We have other issues to discuss. You just got back to Earth, but you already want to leave so you can run back to a family that doesn't give a shit about you."
"That's not true," I protested. "My family cares about me. It was all a misunderstanding that stemmed from… deep-seated issues that I may or may not have."
"Oh?" Himiko asked with a snort. "So your family didn't neglect you, leaving you to face your problems on your own?"
I was beginning to think that I had shared too much of my past with my team.
"That…" I started to say, before stopping. "Okay, you got me there. Even my parents admitted that they messed up. Still, we worked things out between us. We're fine now."
"Well good for you," Himiko said in a sarcastic tone.
Alysha gave her a sharp look.
"Himiko," she said, a warning in her voice.
"No, fuck you, Alysha," Himiko said, pointing a finger at the other woman. "We went through hell not knowing if Brandon was going to wake up again or not. In the meantime, he was off having adventures at his real home with his real loved ones." She threw a glare my way. "Go on and leave, you selfish asshole. It's clear that you never gave a shit about us."
With that, Himiko stormed out of the room.
"Wait, Himiko!" I called out, but she ignored me.
Alysha put a hand on my shoulder.
"Leave her be for now," she said in a gentle voice. "She'll come around."
I sighed.
"It's not like I wanted to leave you guys behind," I said.
Alysha gave me a gentle smile.
"We know," she said. "And so does Himiko. It's just…" She paused. "Well, let's just say that she took your near-death experience quite hard."
Logan crossed his arms and frowned at me.
"Are you sure you really returned to this Lumina of yours?" he asked. "What if you imagined it all?"
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You think it was all in my head?" I asked.
Logan shrugged.
"It's possible," he said. "Man, you were in a coma for months. What if everything you experienced had all been a dream?" He gestured to our other teammates. "We all know how desperately you wanted to return home. Just because you transmigrated once before doesn't mean it happened a second time."
I nodded.
"Fair point," I said. "However, I know it wasn't a dream, and I can prove it."
Francis frowned at me.
"How do you plan on doing that?" he asked.
I opened my mouth to respond, but then stopped when a faint sound reached my ears. At first I paid it no mind. I was in a hospital after all. However, the sound grew louder with each passing second.
"Do you guys hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what?" Alysha asked.
"It sounds like… someone screaming?" I said, unsure. "It seems familiar, though I can't put my finger on how."
My teammates all looked at each other.
"Brandon," Francis said. "We don't hear anything."
I blinked at him.
"Really? It's quite loud at this point."
Logan tapped his temple.
"Maybe we should have someone check your head," he said.
I rolled my eyes at him.
"I'm not crazy," I said.
Logan gave me a helpless look.
"Brandon," he said. "You hear screaming that no one else can. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is."
I frowned. For a moment, I wondered if he was right. I transmigrated after dying several times now. What if that damaged my mind and soul somehow?
However, that didn't explain why the screaming sounded familiar. In fact, it sounded like…
'Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabriel!'
Before I could respond, a slender serpentine figure emerged from my chest and landed on my legs.
"Where is he?" Aurora demanded. "Where is my human? Where is Gabriel?"
My teammates reacted right away to my familiar's sudden appearance. Francis summoned several small balls of white hot flame that hovered in the air around his head. Logan's skin took on a grayish hue and he looked ready to pummel Aurora. A gold-tinted silver light surrounded Alysha as she summoned her Holy magic.
Aurora, realizing that she was surrounded by powerful enemies, reared up and hissed at them. I had mere moments to act. Otherwise, my familiar would end up fighting my teammates. The only reason why the latter hadn't acted yet was because of Aurora's close proximity to me.
"Everyone stop!" I shouted, projecting my voice as much as possible.
No one reacted. Either they ignored my words, or they were too focused on each other to notice.
"I said sto-"
A coughing fit interrupted me. That got everyone's attention, including Aurora's.
"Here," Francis said, holding the cup of water in front of me again.
Meanwhile, Alysha used her healing magic on my throat, easing the pain and irritation. Logan kept an eye on my familiar, but relaxed his stance.
When I recovered from the coughing fit, I focused on Aurora.
"Gabriel, is that you?" my familiar asked, staring at me with wide eyes.
I gave her a weak smile
"Yeah," I said. "It's me."
Aurora's eyes welled up with tears, before she threw herself into my arms. She ended up covering the entire upper half of my body due to her size.
"I thou-thought we had lost you for-forever," Aurora said. "You wouldn't wa-wake up no matter what we tri-tried. And that was be-before Grandpa Darius sho-showed up and said that your so-soul was missing!"
Several questions ran through my mind, but I put them aside for later. Right now, I needed to soothe my familiar.
"It's okay," I said in a calming voice. "I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."
Aurora continued to cry as I held her tight. Her cold body felt nice and comforting. It appeared that the benefits of our contract applied even though I wasn't in Gabriel Sturm's body anymore.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Francis and Alysha banish their respective magics. Meanwhile, Logan's skin returned to its natural color again.
Some time later, Aurora stopped crying and calmed down somewhat. She pulled back to look at me.
"Why do you look like this?" she asked. "Are you wearing a disguise ring?"
I gave her a wry smile.
"No," I said. "This is what I looked like on Earth."
Aurora stared at me for several moments.
"Ugh, you look so ugly," she said.
I gave her a flat look.
"Thanks," I said in a dry tone, before I turned my attention to my teammates. They stared at me, flabbergasted. "This is my familiar, Aurora. The two of us made a contract back on Lumina and formed a bond, a soul deep one it seems. That's how I knew that I hadn't dreamt everything up. I could still feel our bond." I looked at my familiar. "Aurora, these are my friends from Earth."
Aurora hissed at them and curled herself tighter around me.
"Mine," she said. "You can't have him."
Francis chuckled.
"Well damn," he said. "I believed you, but a part of me remained skeptical." He shook his head. "Consider my doubts put to rest."
Alysha gave Aurora a warm smile.
"Hello, Lady Aurora," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Aurora regarded Alysha with less wariness than before.
"Of course it is," she said. "I'm amazing."
Alysha covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, but her eyes still danced with merriment.
"Can I pet her?" Logan asked, giving me a pleading look.
He fidgeted in place, as if he couldn't contain his excitement.
"No!" Aurora said. "The only one who can pet me is Gabriel." She paused. "And sometimes the human female that he likes to mate with."
Logan sagged with disappointment.
"Aw, man." He paused, before his head snapped up. "Wait, what did you just say?"
"Yes," Francis said, his eyes locked onto Aurora. "Please elaborate. Brandon…mated with someone?"
Alysha leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with interest.
"Yes," Aurora said, frowning. "Quite often in fact. I sometimes find it annoying." Her frown deepened. "And his name is Gabriel, not Brandon."
My teammates all stared at Aurora for several seconds, before turning me towards in unison.
"Is this true, Brandon?" Francis asked, giving me an incredulous look.
I sighed.
"Does it really matter?" I asked.
"Yes!" my teammates all said at once.
This startled Aurora, who curled herself even tighter around me.
"Brandon," Logan said, giving me a serious look. "In all the time we've known each other, you've never shown any interest in sex. At all. So much so, that the rest of us were convinced that you were asexual."
I scoffed.
"Come on," I said. "I wasn't that bad."
"Yes," Francis said, an intense look in his eyes. "Yes, you were."
Alysha gave me a pitying smile.
"Brandon," she said. "Several women, and men for that matter, have thrown themselves at you and you rejected them all without batting an eye."
"I mean, yeah," I said. "I was too focused on training and hunting. A relationship would've been a distraction."
Logan pointed a finger at me.
"See? This is what we mean." Logan sidled up, until he loomed over me. I would've found this intimidating, if it weren't for the expression on his face. He looked like a village grandma fishing for juicy gossip. "So, tell us all about her. What kind of woman caught your eye?"
Before I could answer, I heard a sound come from the door. However, when I looked over, all I saw was a flash of long black hair as someone fled. Himiko?
"Fuck," Francis said, a grim expression on his face.
Alysha sighed.
"I'll go talk with her," she said.
I looked between the two of them, confused.
"Why?" I asked. "Why did Himiko just leave like that? Is she still angry with me?"
My teammates all shared a look.
"Brandon," Logan said, his words dripping with pity. "You're one of my best friends, but goddamn, you are dense sometimes."
This just deepened my confusion.
"What are you tal-" I started to say, before a yawn came out of nowhere.
All of sudden, a wave of exhaustion hit me and I realized how tired I felt. No wonder. Right after waking up from a coma, I had several intense and emotionally charged conversations. Anyone would've felt exhausted after that, even without the coma.
"Let's go," Francis said, jerking his head towards the door. "Brandon needs his sleep. We can finish this discussion later."
Logan shook his head.
"I'll stay," he said. "It's my turn to keep watch anyway."
Francis and Alysha nodded, before they said their goodbyes and headed towards the door. I would've said goodbye back, but it took a great amount of effort to keep my eyes open. I fumbled for the hospital bed controls, so I could lean the bed back down, but Logan did it for me.
I mumbled my thanks, before I closed my eyes. Aurora adjusted her position to make things more comfortable for the both of us.
With that, I fell asleep.