Vegetable State

A never-ending loop of nightmares plagued Hyeon.

The terrible ones created different scenarios of the black wolf attacking him: being devoured, tearing off his head, blood saturating the river, etc. Some replayed the initiation disaster like a movie. Even though past nightmares would jump scare him out of sleep, it didn't stop.

In a period of transitioning between his horrifying visions, Hyeon heard his friend's voice.

"Do you know when he will wake up?" Shika asked.

"His injuries are slowly healing, although nearly losing his arm was troublesome to mend. Mr. Falken's lungs are at high-risk, hence the tube. It's hard to say how this will affect him mentally. A process that should've taken years to develop is occurring within months. At this point, it'll be up to him when he wants to join us," another answered. It sounded like Coty, who was probably annoyed at Hyeon for not being careful again despite the warnings.

There was a tingle on his hand. Was Shika trying to hold it?

"Hey, Hyeon, being connected to all of these machines makes you look like shit. Also, that centipede still doesn't have a name. Hurry it up, okay?"

He wanted to say how offended he was at the comment, but his mind slipped back into darkness.

Before long, a grocery store blurred and focused into his mind. The only reason why he knew he was back in Toronto, Canada was because of the ugly, yellow packaging of brandless food items. Unlike other places such as the U.S., which attack consumer minds with a million Oreo flavors and countless sugary candies, Canadian products were a gem. Beer was labeled as simply 'beer,' cookies were 'cookies,' and ketchup was...can you guess it?...'ketchup.'

The deadpan-named bags and cans made him laugh.

*I should buy some food before the competition this weekend. I know there won't be any at the house,* forgetting all about the car accident and Festr Castle. In the bliss of the moment, he had failed to notice the other shoppers. Their faces were smeared out, like someone who wanted to remain anonymous in a YouTube video.

Hyeon grabbed a basket and headed towards the snack section. He found his personal favorites like Cheezies and Cadbury Caramilk, but the Hickory Sticks were gone.

After taking a step back to inspect the whole aisle, two men approached him. They were burly and towered over Hyeon.

"Can you help us find something?" the one on the right inquired with authority. His tone was gruff. It wasn't a surprise given the stranger's size.

When Hyeon looked at them, his mind couldn't decipher that their faces were fuzzy.

"What's it you lookin' for?"

"Only you can locate it for us since we can't enter Fenrir's domain."

"O-oh." Hyeon took a step to the side to distance himself. His Canadian hospitality can only handle a certain level of creepiness. "Why don't you try aisle 5, eh?"

"I think he doesn't know where he is," the second guy whispered and pulled out a 2000s grungy flip phone from his butt pocket.

After pressing some buttons, he presented the phone to Hyeon. "Without this, everything and everyone you know will perish. You're the sole human who can retrieve it from the aurora."

The small screen with greasy fingerprints displayed an old, curved knife used for harvesting. There was nothing special about the design, yet why was it so familiar?

While looking at the picture, Hyeon dropped his basket.

Wait, how could he be in Toronto? There wasn't a bo-staff competition since he quit. Where was Nammi? Wasn't he supposed to be at the castle? What happened after the river?

*Master Fenrir...*

At remembering the name, the floor shook. The men weren't fazed. Without seeing their faces, Hyeon couldn't identify them. Who were they?

"You need to find this sickle."

The earthquake became violent. A large crack formed in the center of the hallway. Food plunged into the bottomless fissure.

Hyeon peeled his eyes away from the growing crack. The strange pair were gone.

The remaining floor tiles crumbled into the hole along with him. He yelled as his mind fell into a sea of restless black.

For a while, it was like a normal slumber.

Then, a loud commotion interrupted it. In the clinic room once again, an argument woke him up.

"He's in a coma! You're the one who didn't stop me when you had the chance! Not only this, but my unchecked rage created a tropical cyclone in the living realm. I felt the deaths of over a hundred humans. Even now, thousands are in anguish from the aftermath!" It was Fenrir.

Although Hyeon couldn't see, the air was hostile.

"I've already expressed my sincere apologies, but I don't regret what I had to do. Now that we know what we're dealing with, you can take the proper steps to help him," Sani said.

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"I informed Haruma. You already know Shika was a witness. No one else."

"Góð." (Good.)

There was a sudden pop of someone sucker-punching a face. Metal utensils clanged to the floor.

"Get out, Coyote," Fenrir seethed. "Get the fuck out of this dimension before I kill you."

Following an awkward silence, Sani didn't say a word. His footsteps disappeared.

"My Lord, are you sure it was wise to kick out Mr. Descheeni?" Coty questioned quietly.

"I can't even look at him. When I needed him to do his job, he failed me. This is going to be a headache for me since the other gods noticed this mishap."

Being awake longer this time made Hyeon exhausted. He missed the ending of the conversation before fading again.