Johan awoke to a searing warmth striking his face. A warmth that reminded him of those endless summer days spent lounging on the beach. His eyes slowly adjusted, and his world flipped on its head for the second time.
Greeted by a circular orb hanging high above, Johan raised his hand to shade himself—the sun was blazing in an ocean-blue sky.
“…Oh, it’s just the sun. Thought I would never see that again,” he muttered, sprawled out on the ground, squinting against the intensity of the rays. “It feels like someone just yanked me from an eternity of darkness.”
Memories flooded his mind as he collected his thoughts, but one stood out clear as day: Sanity. Her beauty practically had Johan kicking his feet in the air; even in his bizarre situation, he couldn’t get women off his mind.
“This is how they make ’em around here; maybe this place isn’t so bad after all.”
Dispelling his wandering thoughts, he forced himself upright, looking better at his surroundings. But to his surprise, he saw confused villagers who filled the streets; their reactions were that of a chaotic mix.
Some laughed and cried tears of joy, while others clung to one another, trembling as if they had just survived some natural disaster, but everything around them was intact.
Hmm, strange. Who are these people? Johan thought to himself as he watched on, but then, a sense of déjà vu chewed at him, an itch he couldn’t quite scratch. The last thing he could remember was standing alongside Sanity inside the Penumbra.
But as he surveyed the area, everything felt oddly familiar. The layout, structures, even some of the people—the thought racing through his mind.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit him.
He had awoken in the same village from inside the Penumbra, but the scenery was different this time. The town was intact, the buildings stood firm, and the sun shone brightly overhead.
It’s like he stepped into a parallel world.
A wave of relief washed over him as his shoulders relaxed, but as quickly as they loosened, confusion and worry tightened them again.
Something didn’t add up.
His eyes fell on a group of men clad in medieval armor crafted from dark steel and polished to a mirror-like sheen. Each breastplate bore engravings of lines and swirls as their pauldrons flared outward, giving their frames a broad appearance.
Additional plating on their arms and legs moved fluidly with each subtle weight shift. Their gauntleted hands rested near the hilts of their swords, which hung sheathed at their hips.
“Is it Halloween already?” he thought aloud as he watched them aid the helpless villagers.
But as he watched, the men’s eyes fell on him. Shortly after, they began making their way over. As they drew closer, their expressions were not welcoming.
Johan recognized that look all too well—a look of suspicion.
“I can’t seem to catch a break, huh?” he mumbled, his mind racing to piece together the puzzle.
How had he ended up back in this town? And why were these men in metal armor looking at him like he was some freak?
Questions swirled his mind as the men surrounded him. Johan raised his hand slightly in a gesture meant to be non-threatening. “Yo, maybe you guys can help me out a bit. I’m not from here, and I’m—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the men drew their swords in unison, the sound of steel slicing through the air sharply as a silent warning not to test their patience.
“You! State your name, now!” one of the men demanded.
“Hey! Easy there, no need to be waving that thing around. I’m harmless, see?” Johan explained as he waved his hands, revealing he was unarmed.
“A wise guy, huh? Don’t even think about moving a finger until the captain gets here,” another ordered, his sword pointed directly at Johan.
He tried to remain calm, although more questions bombarded Johan’s mind. Instead, he bottled his frustrations. The situation was already tense enough without adding fuel to the fire.
Just then, familiar voices drove their way through from the crowd of villagers.
“Johan! Over here!”
Johan turned quickly, eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on a sight that made his heart race with relief. “…It can’t be…”
His friends—Jake, Chris, Sarah, and Maya—were pushing through the mass of people toward him.
“Wait… Hold on. What are you guys doing here…?” Johan’s voice was low, almost a whisper, as he glanced at the men, still watching him closely with their swords drawn.
“Don’t worry; he’s with us,” Maya said to the men, and Johan’s jaw dropped in surprise when they nodded and sheathed their swords. “But, yeah, it’s a long story, Johan. One second, Sarah and I are running after you guys, and the next, we’re in some random field.”
“Woah, Maya. You can’t just skip over that.”
“…Skip over what?”
“They listened to you. Why the hell are they listening to you?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty, I guess? But they’ve been helping us out since we’ve got here.”
“…Pretty?” Johan sighed. “Figures. This whole situation’s a mess. We have to figure out what happened.”
“You know, I was almost certain we were dead. Or maybe just dreaming,” Chris muttered, rubbing the grime off his glasses with his shirt. “But now… I’m not so sure.”
Sarah, always one to look beyond the obvious, chimed in, “I told you, none of that makes sense. Maya and I weren’t even near you when the shot went off—and dreaming? Let’s be real here. How could we be having the same dream?”
Chris smirked, “I don’t know, a shared coma, maybe?”
His sarcasm earned him a solid punch on the arm from Sarah.
Jake spoke up. “She’s right. If we’re going off your theory, Chris, the only person who technically would be dead is…”
All eyes turned to Johan, who crossed his arms, a playful grin tugging at his lips. “So, what? I’m a dead man walking, and you’re all figments of my imagination?”
Just then, their collective attention shifted toward a man riding on horseback, clad in armor similar to the men watching them.
But make no mistake, this one was different.
The suit glistened in the sunlight like diamonds, refracting rainbow colors whenever the light hit just right. With a beard meticulously groomed to fit his chiseled jawline and a man bun, the color of daffodils crowned him with an almost ethereal quality.
He looked like perfection—or maybe even an angel.
He didn’t speak immediately. Instead, he let his gaze drift over Johan, slow and meticulous, as if weighing something deep within him. He halted his horse directly in front of him.
The silence stretched on, thick and overbearing, before he spoke. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”
His voice was sharp, demanding attention and an immediate response.
Maya started to speak, “This is—”
But the man cut her off with a stern look. “Please, with all due respect, my lady. Let him speak for himself.”
“…Of course, Captain.”
“Captain…?” Johan’s eyes tightened slightly.
Why was Maya giving this guy so much respect? And what had happened during his time inside the Penumbra? Nothing made sense, but he knew he had to play along to find the answers he sought.
“I’m Johan,” he told the captain. “These are my friends, but honestly, I’ve got no clue about how I ended up here. One minute, I’m staring a bullet down, and the next I’m in—”
[System Error!]
[Sharing information regarding the Penumbra is prohibited.]
Johan froze at the mysterious message glowing before him. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice it. The glow brought his attention to the top left of his vision, which now displayed a status bar.
What was all this? It was like a heads-up display from all the video games he used to play. His eyes wandered over the HUD display before the captain repeated his question, snapping him back to reality.
Johan tried to respond, explaining his meeting with Sanity, but another error message flashed, silencing him.
[System Error!]
[Sharing information regarding the Sanity System is prohibited.]
“Alright, this is getting old, quick, and it’s starting to piss me off, too,” Johan grumbled, but he knew getting angry wouldn’t solve anything.
He needed to figure out what was going on—and fast.
“Johan, this is Captain Enfys,” Jake explained, trying to calm the situation. “He and his men have been helping us since we got here. Just answer his questions, alright?”
“Don’t you think I would have if I could?” Johan replied, and Enfys’s gaze darkened as the two locked eyes, clearly irritated by Johan’s lack of response.
Johan’s silence only fueled Enfys’s suspicion, and his patience wore thin as he drew his sword, a weapon that, upon first impressions, looked like it had never seen battle before.
“Very well, then, if you’re not going to talk to me, I know someone to whom you’ll have no choice but to speak your truth,” Enfys told Johan, his words as cold as the blade he lowered toward him.
Johan prepared for the worst. He knew this wouldn’t end well, but what else could he do?
“Blue…” Enfys uttered, and the tip of his sword began to shimmer, radiating with an array of lights and colors, eventually settling into a solid, icy blue.
A chilling cold swept through the village, the air turning so frigid it felt like winter had suddenly descended. Johan braced himself, the chill so deep it could have frozen him over twice.
Suddenly, the blue light from the sword emitted a beam that hit both of Johan’s hands, freezing them over in ice.
“Hey, neat trick, but what did you do to my hands?!” Johan shouted, glancing down at his frozen shackles.
Enfys stepped closer, his voice empty of emotion. “You’re coming with me. If you try anything, I won’t hesitate to cut you down myself.”
Enfys signaled to his men, who moved forward to apprehend Johan.
The men quickly surrounded him, and although Johan’s mind drifted to escape ideas, the ice layer holding his hands held him back. Surprisingly, the ice was warmer than he expected, but that didn’t make the situation any less dire.
“You’ll meet before the king for questioning. Let’s see if you hold your tongue then,” Enfys stated as they led him and the others away.
“The king…?” Johan repeated, and another plunging feeling of concern settled in his gut.
Why did he suddenly feel like an outsider among his friends, dragged into a mess of deceit and betrayal?
Johan knew that the uncertainty and danger grew heavier with every step. But he also did not know what awaited him before the king, but if they thought he’d roll over and play nice, they had another thing coming.
