From the ashes of his first memories in that world, he was reborn, reconstructed, no, he simply returned. Returned to his own body, his normal one, he was whole again.

“-!”

He gasped.

The sudden transport of his soul had shocked every part of him.

He was incredibly conscious of his existence and he felt every cell in his body.

“a-”

He prepared to scream, but the pain was gone, his throat sore, like he was thirsty for something.

What had happened?

Had he died again?

Quickly looking around the gray room, he was confused.

What had happened to the bed he had borrowed from Phil?

Had it just vanished from existence?

He looked down.

The only thing under him was a hard stone floor, as gray as he remembered it to be.

His hands were shaking as he gasped again, putting both of them over his mouth so that he wouldn’t scream. Not because of the pain, no, it had left his body as soon as he came back. This would be a scream of terror.

He had just died, his body had been chewed to bits, only the remains of his previous self remaining in that place that felt infinitely far away.

It took him a couple of seconds, but eventually, he calmed down, and after a minute or two, his hands had stopped shaking as terribly as before.

But even if his mind was calm, his body wasn’t.

It had been a sudden peek of activity in this body when a newly shocked Han entered it, making all of his organs panic.

He felt his intestines scream at him and eventually, he couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Pueh-!”

He puked on the floor.

This was the second time this had happened, the second time he had died.

His soul felt so fragile, so weak, leaving his body in shock. His body had restarted, all of himself starting at the top and now, it was going down again.

His eyes had been bulging out of his head up till now so he decided to blink a few times while taking deep breaths like he had just been underwater.

“–”

I can’t stay here. He thought.

He was on a mission, to go back to his world. A world in which he belonged, a world with people who could understand him.

What was he doing, slacking around on a cold basement-like floor?

Nobody was going to give him a free ticket back to his world, he had to do it, even if it was by himself.

What had happened to Cloudia?

Was she okay?

The gray children… Were they okay?

What had killed him?

The dog. Morris.

He remembered.

That eye that the Cyclops dog had in its head had been telling him things, no, warning him, threatening further actions.

But why? He hadn’t done anything for anyone to feel threatened, right?

“–”

He rose on his shaking feet.

His mind was in a mess.

He knew something had happened to him when he almost passed out in the library and then in Phil’s bed.

Something had made him weak, taken away something inside him, and left a whole lot of fear.

Something was up with that place, and he had to know just what that thing was.

He wanted to go back to that world, whether it was for the gray children, for Cloudia, or for the knowledge of how to return to his world, he did not know. But he was sure that what he sought wasn’t here, in the gray rooms.

As he struggled through the corridor leading back to the rainbow door, he felt nauseous.

His vision had become blurry again, and just like when he had first been cursed by that damned eye, he felt tired.

What was happening to him!?

“Kling-!”

“Wha-?”

His vision bettered as he heard that, the sound of something made of metal, like a utensil, hitting the cold gray floor.

It had echoed through the entire gray rooms, but where from had it come?

As he looked around, he felt himself worsen again.

Quickly, he moved forward, feeling a sudden urge to find the objects which had been dropped nearby.

“Heh-!”

Panting as he moved forward, his energy drained, he sought his way into the room with the rainbow door.

He had to find it.

Why?

He had to.

His mind wanted only one thing at the moment, get that thing, no matter what.

But this room had no way out but the rainbow door, right?

No, he had been wrong.

Had he just been blind or had that never been there before?

To the right of the rainbow door, the corner turned, indicating another room or corridor was to be there.

His curiosity grew along with his sudden need for the object that he thought would be in this one room.

“-!”

Working his way past the rainbow door, he couldn’t see, couldn’t notice the shadow around every corner, watching him as he struggled to move those few meters.

“I.. have to!”

He stumbled past the corner, falling into an open room, darker than the others with a white door at the top of the room.

But in the middle of the room was the object he had been searching for.

A black dagger formed like a knife, laying there like it hadn’t been touched in ages.

He needed it now.

Falling on the floor, feeling like he was going to fall forever at any second, he grasped the dagger and immediately stabbed his shoulder with it.

“Ah-!”

The pain was so strong it made him tear up.

The sudden instinct had made him stab himself for whatever reason.

Why had he suddenly acted so violently toward himself just now?

Any other moment than this had been better. Not when he was feeling nauseous to the point he felt like he had to die.

But he quickly understood as a pour ran down his jacket, forming a small puddle of blood beneath his now body.

The feeling of death had left him the moment he stabbed himself.

Like when pinching yourself when waking up from a dream, his consciousness in the real world had returned and he was now, truly there again.

“Huh..?”

He looked at the dagger, his blood running down the sharp tip.

It had saved him?

Instincts that were not his own had kicked in, making him unable to control himself as he had committed the act of self-harm. Or maybe it was his own? Was these the instincts of a gray child? Or perhaps this was something all people in this strange world would do?

He got up again, groaning quietly over his wound, which was almost so deep that his arm couldn’t move.

He held up the knife-looking dagger in front of him, examining it as he slowly walked out of that room.

Something about the knife seemed familiar, almost like he had seen it before.

And then he realized.

This knife looked extremely similar to Meno’s dagger which he had given to Han.

When Han thought of it, where was Meno’s dagger?

He searched his pockets for the little bundle that would hold Meno’s dagger, but it wasn’t there.

“What the..?”

He double-checked but to no avail.

The same result came as before, no dagger to be seen if not for the one in his hand.

But this wasn’t Meno’s dagger, he saw that, and he felt it.

This dagger was warm while Meno’s had been cold, emotionless for him.

But this one was warm in his hand, almost like it was supposed to be there, in his hand, held by him.

He felt how all the troubles from before had disappeared.

His fear after dying, his worries for Cloudia, the gray children, and whatever was going n back at the castle.

It all had been cleared from his mind. But now, they rushed back, making him look up as he arrived at the rainbow door.

He had to get back, now.

Whatever could’ve happened while he was gone scared him.

If those monsters came back and hurt Cloudia, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

He hastily walked up the stairs again, quickly making his way to the top, to the door that led to Clouds library, so that he could ask for help, advice, maybe even guidance.

His goal now was to figure out whatever was going on in The Castle of Motion.

“Welcome back!”

Han looked at Cloud, sitting at a table, sipping on some tea while smirking as she put her feet down on the ground.

“Maybe not traumatize my clone next time?”

“I apologize… wait. Cloudia is back?!”

“Yes. She came back as soon as possible after, yeah, your death?”

“Yeah… it seems like it happened again, huh?”

He had reappeared at a place he had recently left, Cloud’s library.

The great bookshelves continuing down the giant room had just as many books packed in them as when before he left. Not that he had been gone for too long, but… the place had become important to him.

It was here he had first met people who he could converse with. Here he had met the strange librarian Cloud who was now sitting with her legs once again on the table, and her various clones, some of them he knew and some he didn’t. Here was also the place where he and Meno first met and then met again after the attack in the dark cave the first time in the gray lands.

It was a place important to him, a place he could go to when he had no other place to go.

His chest was filled with anxiousness.

Why was it that he was so lonely in this world?

He appreciated Cloud and her friendliness toward him, even though that friendliness was probably meant for someone else, it was something important to him.

Still, she wasn’t like him, but the gray children were. He thought they could maybe come to understand him, but they were in the gray lands for now, living their young life to the fullest, a life he should not interfere with.

But there was no other way, right?

He did not know the runes in which this world wrote, nor if he could ever learn them. Without people like Cloudia or Phil’s help, he couldn’t move forward.

“S-sir Han?”

“Yeah?”

He turned his head.

Standing there was Cloudia, holding herself back.

He felt a sting in his heart. Based on her expression, it was clear to him that she had worried.

The realization that he had left her there, all alone together with his dead self made him a little emotional also.

The bloody remains of what would’ve been his body must’ve been seen by her, and Han knew that seeing the remains of a person that he felt he knew was traumatizing even if that person wasn’t someone that dear to him.

“I-”

“-!”

Suddenly he was embraced by her.

Her arms were wrapped around his torso.

“W-what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, sir Han, not many people would be able to return after what you just went through, I must praise you in some way for coming back.”

Han turned red. What did she mean? Was there a chance that he wouldn’t return?!

As if reading his mind, Cloud said with a mysterious grin.

“It’s not what you are thinking. We aren’t worried about your ability not working. But if you weren’t whole after that…”

“What do you mean?”

“What she is saying is that ya can easily go mad after that kind of experience, ya know?”

“Meno!”

“The one and only!”

Cloudia let go of Han and Meno grinned from standing on the floor.

“Had your taste of death again, huh?”

“Yeah, it tastes just as awful as ever.”

“Damn, now I feel like I should hug ya too.”

Meno gave off yet another grin and looked at Han’s hand.

“Is that mah dagger?”

Han followed his gaze until he looked at the knife in his hand.

“N-no. I’m sorry, I couldn’t find it…”

Han felt kind of pathetic.

He had been given something to use but be careful about if he felt unsafe, and he had managed to lose it after his death.

“Don’t worry, sir Meno.”

Cloudia held up something in front of one of the floating clouds with candles on top, making everyone able to see just what she was holding in her hand, yet another black dagger, smaller and slimmer.

“There it is!”

Meno crawled up to Cloudias leg and snatched it from her, unable to wait any longer to get it back.

Instantly, the dark blade shone in the bright vibrant color of yellow, glimmering in his white eyes and making them look yellow in its light.

Han could see that the blade meant a lot to the cat and he wondered just how those two had met as he looked at the black cat, carelessly cuddling the small but sharp blade.

“So, what is the blade that you are holding then?”

Cloud, whose curiosity seemed to have taken the better of her, lifted her head to Han with a curious look in her eyes.

“This blade…”

“Oh goodness! Sir Han, you are bleeding!”

“What-?! Oh right, I am bleeding…”

He had completely forgotten about stabbing his shoulder just ten minutes before.

“And done! You are alright to go, sir Han.”

“Wow.. you can just heal wounds like that?”

“Yes, I am at the level of my wisdom where I can heal scars, but it takes a bit of patience and a lot of determination.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“Bla, bla, bla! Get a damn room! I wanna hear about your knife!” Meno exclaimed, interrupting Han’s and Cloudia’s little chat.

“Oh right, I found this in the gray rooms.”

“Oh, ya did? Hmm… seems those watchers want to play with ya, what do ya think, Cloud?”

“That seems to be the case, yes. I don’t think we can stop them though, and if they are giving him gifts, why should we interfere?”

“What are you two talking about?”

Their strange exchange of words confused him a little.

Who were these watchers? And what did they have to do with anything? All he had found was a knife and a…

“Tell me, sir Han, did you see any strange door near the knife?”

“Besides the rainbow door… yes, a white one, in the same room as the knife!”

He got a little excited. Was this yet another cool thing to be revealed that he didn’t already know anything of?

But his excitement soon disappeared as Cloud sighed and said.

“Ooh, it’s those rainbow guardians or whatever. They recently installed a rainbow door for me myself.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they are the ones installing all the rainbow doors, you know, the rainbow doors you use to travel through different dimensions.”

“Say what now?”

These strange words were terms he had never heard of. Rainbow guardians? Traveling through different dimensions?

All through the second term felt more logical since he had previously traveled from his domain to hers, something she had mentioned a long time ago but something that came to his mind and that moment.

Was it possible to travel through different dimensions, using rainbow doors?

And those who created, or installed these doors were the rainbow guardians..?

It all seemed unlikely to him, but since he didn’t know what was correct or wrong in that world, he couldn’t tell if they were serious or not.

“See, when traveling to another dimension or domain a certain portal needs to be created, a portal with which you travel through light, a rainbow portal. And these are only stable if they are held with rainbows, thereof the name, rainbow doors.”

“Oh.. okay…”

“Did you get any of that?”

“No…” Han shook his head.

Cloud sighed.

“Whatever, that isn’t important right now.”

“Yeah, I’m getting tired, tell me about yar blade, gray boy!”

Han looked at the blade laying beside him on the same table he was currently sitting on after Cloudia had aided him a moment before.

“Oh right.. wait, haven’t I already told you about that?!”

“Yes, ya have! But why did ya have the genius idea of stabbing yar shoulder with it, huh?!” Meno shouted and pointed out detail not even Han himself had the answer to.

Why had he stabbed himself in his left shoulder?

“Uh… I don’t know really, I just felt like it y’know..?”

“Don’t ‘ya know?’ such a thing ya stupid grayie!” Meno yelled, extra angry, something Han could not understand why.

“He-he…” Han said awkwardly.

Cloud broke the awkward tension.

“Well! Let us change the subject!”

She gave Han a curious look before saying.

“If you wish to learn from any book in this world, we will have to teach you our alphabet! Cloudia!”

“Yes, ma’ama!”