When the visitors finally left, Draven felt that he had survived something far more exhausting than a fight.
Since he had spent several hours trying to behave like a normal child in front of three demons who, in the future, were going to hold considerable importance.
That had been enough.
Draven watched from the entrance of the house as the carriage drew away along the path.
Nhal’s steeds advanced at a calm pace while the vehicle gradually disappeared among the trees.
Zenash had insisted once again that she wanted to come back, while Yruza had said nothing on the matter and the demon queen had merely smiled.
That last part was probably what worried Draven the most.
"You look tired."
Said Kevar from behind him, at which Draven turned.
"I am."
Kali stepped out of the house.
"Didn’t you have fun?"
Draven looked at her.
’Your idea of fun needs a serious revision.’
"Yes."
He replied, at which Kali smiled.
"I’m glad."
Draven went inside, since he had no energy left to start another conversation.
He had spent a good part of the day watching every word he said, analyzing each of Zenash’s reactions and trying to figure out how much this reality differed from the videogame.
On top of that there was the incident with the crawler which, though it hadn’t escalated, had left Draven thoroughly stressed.
Draven climbed the stairs.
"I’m going to sleep."
"Now?"
Asked Kevar.
"Yes, I’m exhausted."
Kali watched him.
"You haven’t even had dinner."
"I’m not hungry."
That was a lie, but he was more sleepy than hungry, so he entered his room, closed the door and let himself drop onto the bed, ending up staring at the ceiling.
’Zenash already knows me.’
That shouldn’t have happened, not according to what he remembered.
There was no reference to any childhood relationship between Draven and Zenash inside the game.
There were also Yruza and the demon queen, along with the strange closeness between Kali and the sovereign of Fernus.
’There are too many things the game never explained.’
That was logical.
A videogame didn’t show every second of every character’s life, but the problem was telling apart which things had always happened off-screen and which were happening because he had appeared in this world.
Draven closed his eyes.
’I’ll think about that tomorrow.’
It didn’t take him long to fall asleep and then begin to fall.
"What!?"
Draven opened his eyes.
He was not in his room and he was not on a bed; instead he was falling from a great height.
Below him there were no houses, no trees, no mountains, only an enormous white surface that seemed to stretch in every direction.
"What’s going on!?"
The wind struck his face and Draven looked down, seeing the ground rush toward him.
’I’m going to die.’
He tried to move his body, but it was useless; he had nothing to grab onto and he couldn’t use enough magic to do anything helpful.
"Am I seriously going to die in my sleep!?"
He hit the ground and closed his eyes expecting pain, yet nothing happened, so he opened one eye.
He was sitting on the white surface, so he checked his arms, his legs and his chest.
"Am I okay?"
He touched his head; nothing serious.
"What kind of...?"
Suddenly lights appeared everywhere and Draven raised his head.
"What?"
A great amount of confetti began to fall from above and, at the same time, he heard applause, lots of applause, as if an audience surrounded him, yet there was no one.
"Congratulations!"
Draven stayed frozen, because he knew that voice; he had heard it before, right before arriving in Valkaen.
Slowly he turned his head.
"Finally."
Said the female voice, at which Draven stood up.
"Where are you?"
The lights began to move and music sprang out of nowhere while Draven looked around.
"Seriously?"
A figure descended from above, floating down slowly while an absurd amount of confetti kept appearing around her.
She was a young woman with long white hair that carried a faint lavender tint, worn completely loose, and eyes of an intense purple.
She wore a white dress full of ruffles and layers, with red details in various places, accompanied by two large red bows that stood out on either side.
On her head she wore a black diadem decorated with several purple spikes.
Draven observed her and the young woman opened both arms.
"Welcome!"
More applause sounded, at which Draven looked around.
"Who’s clapping?"
The young woman ignored the question.
"The special guest for the dispute has arrived!"
More lights flared and Draven covered his eyes.
"Can you stop that?"
"Of course!"
Everything vanished, leaving silence, so Draven lowered his hands.
The young woman stood less than two meters away, smiling broadly, at which Draven regarded her with distrust.
"You..."
The young woman pointed to her own chest.
"Me?"
"That voice."
She tilted her head.
"What voice?"
"I heard it before I arrived in this world."
The young woman brought both hands to her face.
"You recognized me!"
"That’s right."
"How exciting!"
"It didn’t seem that hard."
She ignored the remark again, then spun in place so that her dress twirled with her.
"Then I believe it’s time for a proper introduction."
Draven said nothing, so the young woman pointed upward and a light appeared above her.
"I am the magnificent Sasri!"
An explosion of confetti burst behind her.
"Deity of fun, patron of laughter, spectacles, surprises, games, celebrations and anything that keeps everything from becoming unbearably boring!"
Draven remained silent, yet Sasri waited and he still gave no reaction.
"Is that all?"
She asked.
"What were you expecting?"
"I don’t know, something."
Draven crossed his arms.
"Are you a deity?"
"Yes, exactly."
"The deity of fun?"
"Great, you’re catching on."
"And you brought me here?"
Sasri’s eyes widened.
"Straight to the point, just how I like it!"
"Answer."
She put both hands behind her back.
"Yes, I was the genius who brought you here."
Draven fixed his gaze on her.
"Why?"
Sasri smiled.
"Because it seemed fun."
Draven took several seconds to reply.
"What?"
"Exactly what you heard."
"You brought me to another world because it seemed fun?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds irresponsible."
"Because it is!"
Sasri thought for a moment.
"Well, you could also be useful to me."
Draven furrowed his brow.
"Useful for what?"
Sasri raised a finger.
"For things."
"What things?"
"Important things, of course."
"What important things?"
"The ones that matter."
Draven clenched his teeth.
"What did you mean by ’dispute’?"
Sasri froze and Draven noticed the reaction.
"You said it yourself."
"Did I say dispute?"
"That’s right."
"True, that does sound like something I’d say."
"What dispute were you talking about?"
Sasri looked to one side, then the other and, adopting a confidential air, leaned closer to Draven.
"Did you know there are fish that can change sex?"
Draven stayed silent.
"What?"
"It’s an interesting fact."
"What does that have to do with my question?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to say it."
"Then answer."
Sasri raised both hands.
"There are also creatures that can sleep for years."
"Sasri."
"And some plants eat insects."
"Answer."
"That always seemed a little unfair to the insects."
Draven breathed slowly.
’She’s doing this on purpose.’
"Fine."
Said Draven.
"You’re not going to answer, are you?"
Sasri smiled.
"You learn fast, dear!"
Draven closed his eyes for a moment.
"Then tell me what you want from me."
"For now, nothing."
"I don’t buy that."
"So distrustful."
"You kidnapped me from another world."
"I’d say I transported you."
"Without my permission."
"Details, details..."
Draven was beginning to understand why this woman embodied fun.
To her, everything seemed to be a game, and that was precisely what worried him.
Sasri stepped closer.
"But since I’m a kind deity..."
Draven raised an eyebrow.
"...I’m going to give you a little help."
Those words were not a joke.