A pair of brown eyes opens, and that young man pulls his upper body upwards. He looks around, feeling the cold air from the air conditioner filling the room.
He looks beside him and sees a bag filled with fluid attached to a pole with wires attached to the back of his right hand.
"Where am I?" Nicholas spoke.
He looks at the corner, and a blue eagle appears. That bird is Gale, and he bows his head.
"You're in a hospital, my majesty. Oh, the ape is on your shoulder." Gale pointed his beak at Nicholas' shoulder.
Nicholas looks over his shoulder and sees a tiny gorilla with bright red fur. The gorilla chuckles, and speaks. "It's nice to be able to appear again."
"Oh, so that wasn't a dream. I won against you, and it's real!" Nicholas' eyes widened.
"Stop bringing that up!" Apo jumped from his shoulder, he landed on the bedside table.
A sly smile manifests on Nicholas' lips. "Well, I think there's a fact hater here."
Apo who's looking around, turns his head towards Nicholas with eyes burning with anger. "Shut up! You were just lucky because of the parrot you have."
"Parrot?" Gale narrowed his eyes, "Shut up, monkey."
Nicholas sighs. "Okay, okay. Both of you, stop fighting before both of you fight in here."
He blinks before scratching his chin. "Wait, how are both of you appearing in here?!"
Apo sits on the cold surface of the table. "It is because your body is slowly adapting to your power."
Apo breathes a short burst of breath. "Didn't that parrot tell you what might happen to your body after you fought elemental beasts one by one?"
Nicholas shakes his head and looks at the blanket covering his lap. "Is that a bad thing?"
Apo groans. "Listen, human. Your body is slowly adapting to the power that has been sleeping in your veins for a long time.
"We elemental beasts are the trigger of that 'hidden power'. Fighting us will either kill you or make you lose your... humanity."
The eyes of Nicholas grow wide, and his mouth drops open a bit as he looks at Gale. The small eagle looks down. "That is true, my majesty. It doesn't mean losing control but to lose your mortality."
Nicholas shakes his head. "No. I want to live normally, and I want to be with Nelly and my other friend!"
Apo shakes his head. "Listen, human! You have a responsibility now, and you are starting to awaken your power.
"You can't go back to whatever life you have!"
Gale steps forward. "Don't treat the majesty like that, Apo! We both know what life he had before all of this happened!"
Suddenly, the door opens. Apo and Gale disappear as Nicholas looks at the person who entered the room.
His eyes grow wide as sweat falls from his forehead. His heart begins to beat faster, and Nicholas swallows the lump in his throat.
"I am Nelly, the owner of this hospital. My cousin Pia found you on the road. How are you?"
Her eyes stare at him with no hint of recognition, only a cold stare.
Nicholas' eyes widen a bit, and he decides to speak but his lip freezes. His eyes fall but he remains having his composure, and says, "I-I see... I am fine. Can I see your cousin, so that I can thank her?"
Nelly nods but before she turns around, she lets her eyes linger on him.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Those words cause Nicholas to look at her, and he sees her brown eyes staring at him with interest.
"S-Sure," Nicholas said.
"Why does it seem that your ID is fake?" she asked.
Nicholas' eyes grow wide, and he swallows the lump in his throat. Nelly remains standing there before she looks down.
"I have to say this... whoever built that ID that you had, he's too good at doing that."
She turns her back on him. "Don't worry, I won't report this to the authorities. So, rest assured that there will be no police arresting you."
She walks out of the room. Her departure causes Nicholas to let out a deep breath, and his eyebrows meet.
"She doesn't recognize me," Nicholas said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
The sky outside is blue and bright, and the clouds are moving in different directions. Nicholas is gazing through the window beside him, and no happiness can be seen on his face, just confusion.
"What should I do now?" he inhaled deeply.
"I finally remembered it all. Nelly will not be able to remember me, because my identity has been taken away from me."
Nicholas looks at his right palm. "I must go and investigate that van."
He turns his eyes toward the IV line attached to the back of his left hand. "I'll take this out first!"
"Gale and Apo, help me," he said through his link with Gale and Apo.
A flash of ember and a small orb of wind appear in front of him. They disappear, only to be replaced by Apo and Gale in their own tiny form.
Apo lands on the blanket. "Finally! You are now starting to think wisely!"
Gale remains flying. "I'll guard the door, my majesty."
Gale flies toward the door and fires a wind pressure towards it while Apo channels fire on his right hand.
"Haya!" Apo chopped the IV line.
He pulls out the needle of the IV as Nicholas flinches from the pain. Blood rushes out of the site and Apo immediately touches the hole in the skin.
Nicholas' teeth grit, and Apo lowers his hand which reveals a burnt mark on the back of Nicholas's left hand.
"That hurts!" Nicholas flapped his left hand aggressively.
"Your blood spilled on me!" Apo groaned at the dried blood on his skin.
Nicholas stands up from the bed, and Apo falls on the floor. He stands up and thrusts his hand repeatedly at the air.
"Human, be careful!" Apo yelled.
His eyes widen, and Nicholas picks him up from the floor and places him on his shoulder.
Nicholas turns his eyes on Apo. "Teach me how to use fire!"
Apo laughs, and he feels a flicker on his forehead. Apo groans and rubs his forehead, and he glares at Nicholas.
"Stop laughing! We need to escape!" Nicholas yelled at Apo with his eyes.
Apo nods as he gestures for him to calm down. "I get it! I get it! Stop being so mad."
Nicholas looks up and groans. Apo panics as he gestures to the young man to calm down.
"Calm down, human! It's just like how you use wind. You think and feel the fire dwelling in your body, and channel it like releasing an elemental attack."
Banging echoes in the room, and Gale looks at Nicholas. "My majesty! Someone is knocking on the door."
Nicholas didn't look at Gale but he said, "Do anything in your power to avoid that person from entering the room."
He inhales deeply before pointing his hands at the glass window while the knocking continues.
Outside the room, Pia is knocking repeatedly on the door. "Hey! Nicholas! Are you okay?"
She turns the knob and pushes it but she groans. "Why can't I open this door?!"
As the knocking continues on the door, Nicholas remains pushing and pulling his hands, like thrusting them at the window.
"I can't use fire!" he groaned.
"How can that be?! You and I are connected through a link!" Apo told him.
"Just shut up!" Nicholas' palms reddened.
Then, a wave of fire emerges from his palms, and it blows the wall of the room. Nicholas' eyes widen as his mouth drops while Apo blinks rapidly.
"That was fiercely amazing!" Apo pounded his hands against his chest as he roared like a gorilla.
"Wow," Nicholas blinked.
"Way to go, human! Now! Let's go out of this place!" Apo grinned.
Nicholas looks over his shoulder, seeing Gale releasing wind pressure on the door.
"Let's go!" Nicholas leaped out of the large hole on the wall.
Nicholas stares at the ground while falling from the eighth floor of the hospital. A cry fills the air, and Gale returns to his massive size.
He uses his beak to pull Nicholas towards his back covered in feathers. Gale covers himself in a thick layer of air, and no being can see them.
Apo looks around him while sitting on Nicholas's shoulder. "I'm glad that was over."
Nicholas smiles. "Alright, Gale! Let's head to where I found that truck."
Nicholas. Blinks, and he looks down. "But first! I NEED TO CHANGE MY CLOTHES! I'M STILL WEARING A PATIENT'S CLOTHES!"
Meanwhile, at the vast field surrounded by trees, Sebastian uses his thumb to brush against the blood on the corner of his lip.
"Where did you take Felicia?" Sebastian asked calmly but with a hint of anger.
"Take? Well," Argran smiles, "I don't remember taking her in."
Sebastian's eyes narrow at those words coming from the tall, half-naked hairy beast.
"You didn't!" Sebastian swayed his shield as it turned into a sword with a thick blade.
He narrows his eyes as he thrusts his sword into the ground. "I don't really like Felicia but she's my comrade. If anyone harms my comrade, I have no choice but to cut the head of that person."
He grabs a part of his coat, and takes it off his body, leaving him with his white long-sleeve polo shirt, dark trousers, and a pair of grey sneakers.