The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder by the second.
Then—
the door burst open.
Kierran was first through it.
Followed immediately by Lucas.
Then Sunny.
Then Rivien.
Then Tom and Alex.
The room that had felt quiet moments ago suddenly became crowded.
And every single one of them stopped when they saw the same thing.
Arthur was awake.
Actually awake.
Sitting up.
Looking exhausted.
Looking confused.
But awake.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
After all the waiting.
After all the uncertainty.
After more than a month of wondering if he would ever open his eyes again—
he was finally back.
"...Why are you all staring at me?" Arthur asked weakly.
That broke the spell.
Kierran immediately pointed at him.
"You absolute maniac!"
Lucas folded his arms.
"You couldn't just wake up normally?"
"I literally just woke up."
"Exactly."
Arthur looked toward Sunny.
"Have they always been like this?"
Sunny nodded.
"Worse, actually."
Then Arthur noticed something.
Alex.
Tom.
Both standing there.
Awake.
His eyes widened slightly.
"...You're both okay."
Tom snorted.
"Barely."
Alex shook his head.
"You look worse."
"Fair."
A few laughs spread through the room.
Small ones.
Relieved ones.
The kind that came after carrying fear for too long.
Then Arthur's gaze shifted again.
Toward his mother.
Alexi Ravenheart.
She had been smiling a moment ago.
Now tears were running freely down her face.
Arthur's expression softened immediately.
"...Mom."
That was all it took.
Alexi crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him carefully, afraid of hurting him.
For a moment she couldn't even speak.
She simply held him.
As if letting go would somehow make him disappear again.
Arthur hugged her back as best he could with his still-weakened body.
"...I'm sorry."
Alexi shook her head immediately.
"No."
Her voice broke.
"No apologizing."
More tears fell.
"I thought I lost you."
The room went quiet.
Because everyone there knew exactly how close that had come to being true.
Arthur lowered his head slightly.
"...I'm here."
Alexi laughed weakly through her tears.
"Yeah."
A pause.
"...You're here."
Then another blur moved.
Arthur barely had time to register it.
Suddenly—
Layla wrapped her arms around him too.
The force almost knocked him backward.
"WOAH—"
Arthur barely caught himself.
The room stared.
Layla froze.
Realizing what she'd just done.
Then—
instead of pulling away immediately—
her grip tightened slightly.
And tears began falling.
Quietly.
For over a month she had carried fear.
The image of Arthur fighting.
Arthur collapsing.
Arthur not waking up.
And now he was finally sitting in front of her.
Alive.
She buried her face against his shoulder.
"...Idiot."
Arthur blinked.
"...I've been called that a lot today."
Nobody laughed.
Because everyone could hear her crying.
Arthur hesitated for a moment before gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"...Sorry."
Layla immediately shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"...Just don't do that again."
Arthur looked genuinely confused.
"Do what?"
"Almost die!"
"That wasn't exactly the plan."
A few people laughed then.
Even through the tears.
Even through the emotion.
Because that answer sounded exactly like something Arthur would say.
Meanwhile, Rivien quietly wiped his eyes.
Lucas immediately noticed.
"...Are you crying?"
"No."
"You absolutely are."
"I have dust in my eyes."
"We're indoors."
"Very aggressive dust."
The room finally erupted into laughter.
Real laughter.
Warm laughter.
The kind that only happened when something precious had been returned.
And for the first time since the collapse—
everyone was together again.
The laughter slowly settled after Rivien's dramatic defense against the "aggressive dust."
For the first time in what felt like forever, the room wasn't filled with fear, grief, or uncertainty.
It was simply alive.
Arthur sat against the headboard, still exhausted and sore, while everyone crowded around him.
His body felt like it had been hit by a train.
Twice.
But seeing everyone alive made it worth it.
Eventually, the conversation began to calm down.
And that was when Arthur noticed someone.
A dark-haired boy standing slightly apart from the rest.
Not distant.
Just observant.
Watching quietly while everyone else spoke over one another.
Arthur frowned slightly.
"...I don't know you."
The room immediately grew a little quieter.
Because somehow, despite everything that had happened—
Arthur and Sunny had never actually met properly.
Sunny crossed his arms casually.
"That's because you spent most of our relationship unconscious."
Arthur blinked.
"...Fair."
A few people chuckled.
Sunny stepped forward slightly.
Not aggressively.
Not cautiously.
Just enough to properly introduce himself.
"Sunny."
Arthur studied him for a moment.
There was a strange feeling there.
Not distrust.
Not hostility.
Just awareness.
The same kind of awareness warriors sometimes felt when meeting someone they couldn't immediately figure out.
Sunny felt it too.
Neither looked away.
The room noticed immediately.
Kierran leaned toward Lucas.
"...Why does this feel like two cats meeting?"
Lucas nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing."
Neither Arthur nor Sunny acknowledged them.
Arthur finally spoke.
"...Mom said you helped save everyone."
Sunny shrugged.
"We all did."
"Still."
Arthur extended a hand.
A little slowly.
A little painfully.
But sincerely.
"...Thank you."
Sunny looked at the hand for a second.
Then shook it.
The moment their hands met—
both paused very slightly.
Just for a second.
A strange sensation.
Like two different resonance signatures brushing against one another.
Neither understood it.
Neither mentioned it.
But both noticed.
Sunny released the handshake first.
"No problem."
Arthur nodded once.
Then looked at him carefully.
"...You're stronger than you look."
Sunny immediately looked annoyed.
"I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult."
Arthur actually smiled faintly.
"It was a compliment."
Sunny sighed dramatically.
"Good. Because I spent a month carrying people and I refuse to be called weak afterward."
Rivien pointed at him immediately.
"See? Validation."
"Nobody was talking to you."
"I felt included."
Arthur glanced around the room again.
At Lucas.
Kierran.
Tom.
Alex.
Layla.
Alexi.
Rivien.
And finally Sunny.
Some People he barely knew.
People who had somehow protected one another while he was gone.
A strange warmth settled in his chest.
Then Layla suddenly remembered something.
Her eyes widened.
"...Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
Layla pointed dramatically at Arthur.
"Does he remember anything after I—"
She stopped herself instantly.
Arthur blinked.
"...After you what?"
Layla's soul nearly exited her body.
Alexi immediately covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
Kierran looked between them suspiciously.
Lucas narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, this sounds important."
"It is not," Layla said immediately.
"It definitely is," Rivien replied.
Sunny quietly stepped backward.
He had known these people long enough to recognize incoming disaster.
And Arthur—
still completely unaware of what everyone was suddenly panicking about—
looked more confused than ever.
Arthur looked around the room again, still trying to process everything.
He had been unconscious for over a month.
His mother was safe.
Tom and Alex were alive.
Apparently there was now a much larger house than the one he remembered.
And for some reason everyone seemed significantly more chaotic than before.
Especially one person.
Arthur's eyes landed on the silver-haired boy.
The same silver-haired boy who had been making comments nonstop since Arthur woke up.
The boy noticed immediately.
Their eyes met.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
Arthur immediately became suspicious.
"...And who are you?"
The room went silent.
Because everyone knew what was about to happen.
Sunny sighed.
Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose.
Kierran looked excited.
Layla groaned.
Alexi tried not to laugh.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired boy straightened dramatically.
Far too dramatically.
He stepped forward, placed one hand over his chest, and somehow looked like he was about to address an entire kingdom.
"My name," he began solemnly, "is Rivien."
Arthur nodded slowly.
So far, normal.
Then Rivien continued.
"I am a survivor of many battles."
Arthur blinked.
"Okay."
"A conqueror of impossible odds."
"...Right."
"A master of adaptation."
Tom frowned.
"You're making this up."
Rivien ignored him.
"A scholar of advanced tactics."
Lucas looked offended.
"You got stuck in a tree."
"That tree was strategically positioned."
"It was a tree."
Rivien raised a finger.
"Details."
Arthur was already fighting a smile.
Unfortunately for him, Rivien wasn't finished.
The silver-haired boy began pacing slowly around the room.
"I am also a renowned explorer."
"You got lost in the kitchen," Layla said immediately.
"There were multiple doors."
"There were two."
"It was a complicated situation."
Kierran folded over laughing.
Even Sunny had to look away.
Rivien pointed toward Arthur dramatically.
"And most importantly..."
The room braced itself.
"...I am the brave hero who helped carry your unconscious body through Greenmire."
Arthur looked surprised.
"Oh."
Rivien immediately nodded.
"Yes."
Then his expression became serious.
"Do you have any idea how heavy you are?"
The room exploded.
Lucas nearly fell out of his chair laughing.
Kierran looked like he couldn't breathe.
Even Alex laughed.
Arthur stared.
"...Seriously?"
"Arthur," Rivien said gravely, "at one point I genuinely considered leaving you and carrying the bed instead."
"I wasn't that heavy."
"You absolutely were."
Sunny finally stepped in.
"You carried him for fifteen minutes."
"It was the longest fifteen minutes of my life."
Alexi covered her face.
Layla was laughing openly now.
Rivien meanwhile pointed toward Arthur one last time.
"So now that introductions are complete, I expect gratitude, respect, and possibly compensation."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Compensation?"
"Food."
"That's compensation?"
"It is if I'm hungry."
Arthur couldn't help it.
For the first time since waking up—
he laughed.
A real laugh.
And the moment the sound left his mouth, everyone in the room smiled.
Because after everything that had happened...
he was finally back.
The laughter slowly faded from the room.
Not all at once.
Just gradually.
The warmth remained, but the energy shifted.
People settled back into their seats.
Rivien finally stopped demanding "emotional compensation."
Lucas stopped threatening to throw him outside.
And Arthur, despite still looking exhausted, seemed more relaxed than he had since waking up.
Then—
Layla became serious.
The change was subtle at first.
The smile disappeared.
Her posture straightened.
And her gaze moved toward Arthur.
Sunny noticed immediately.
So did Alex.
Tom too.
Because they all knew that look.
The look someone had when they were about to bring up something important.
Something heavy.
Layla took a slow breath.
"Arthur..."
The room quieted slightly.
Arthur looked toward her.
"What is it?"
Layla hesitated briefly.
For the past month she had learned things.
Things from Kael.
Things about Fragments.
Echo.
The Collapses.
And—
her eyes briefly shifted toward Sunny.
The things she had learned about him.
Things she wasn't entirely sure she should even know.
Her mouth opened.
"I need to tell you—"
"Layla."
The interruption was calm.
Not harsh.
Not threatening.
Just firm.
Everyone looked toward Sunny.
Sunny was still leaning against the wall.
Arms crossed.
Expression neutral.
But his eyes told a different story.
Layla paused immediately.
The room suddenly became much quieter.
Arthur noticed it too.
"...Tell me what?"
Layla looked between Arthur and Sunny.
Sunny shook his head once.
Very slightly.
Almost invisible.
But she saw it.
And she understood.
Not here.
Not now.
A few seconds passed.
Then Layla exhaled quietly.
"...Nothing."
Arthur narrowed his eyes immediately.
"That didn't sound like nothing."
"It can wait."
Arthur looked unconvinced.
Sunny answered before he could push further.
"She's right."
Arthur's gaze shifted toward him.
The same strange tension from earlier briefly returned.
Not hostility.
Just caution.
Two people measuring each other without fully understanding why.
Sunny met his gaze calmly.
"Some conversations are easier when you're not recovering from a month-long coma."
"...Fair."
"Also," Sunny added, "your mother would probably throw all of us outside if we stressed you out immediately."
Alexi nodded instantly.
"Correct."
Tom looked thoughtful.
"She's right."
Alex looked thoughtful too.
"...She's definitely right."
Rivien raised his hand.
"I would also like to avoid being thrown outside."
"No one was talking to you," Lucas replied.
"I felt spiritually included."
The tension broke slightly after that.
A few chuckles spread through the room.
But Arthur still noticed something.
Layla looked relieved.
Sunny looked relieved.
And neither of them looked like they had finished that conversation.
Not even close.
Arthur leaned back against the bed slowly.
His body still hurt.
His head still felt heavy.
And now he had even more questions than before.
Somewhere in the room, Sunny noticed the look on Arthur's face.
And for the briefest moment—
his expression became serious.
Because he knew exactly which conversation Layla had almost started.
And he wasn't ready for Arthur to hear it yet.