Alone Again

Sai had a lot of time on his hands now. Beidou probably wouldn't be back in at least a day, so he planned to just rest for as long as he could. Saving energy would be important.

He dragged his feet across the stone floor, pondering about many things. He eventually reached the staircase, and then his sleeping spot. Making himself as comfortable as he could, he nudged against the cold wall and prepared to sleep.

"It's Beidou. She won't go back on her word. She wouldn't, right? She's coming to save me, for sure."

Although the domain felt neither cold or warm, Sai felt something gelid grasp his heart.

…

Sai woke up disoriented, not knowing who he was or where he was. It felt awful, but somehow, when he remembered all that, he felt even worse. Sai already had no idea how long had already passed.

Notwithstanding, he did his best to cheer himself up. Now that he wasn't in a hurry to find a way out, he could leisurely think about everything that had happened so far. And so, he did.

An unknown amount of stomach grumbles later, Sai decided to think about future plans. Stuff about Chen's business, about possible future ventures and even potential partnerships he could make. He even had a great idea to capitalize on his knowledge.

But it was boring. Too boring. Boring as heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell. Like a wise man once said, "A person who thinks all the time, has nothing to think about except thoughts." Weirdly enough, Sai felt that he never had related to something so much in his entire life.

…

Eventually, his boredom managed to overcome his trauma. Sai slowly stood up and made his way to the cursed cube, now back to its unsolved form.

Fighting against his incredibly aching belly and dried throat, Sai started to play around with it. There wasn't really a pattern to his actions, because unlike before, he didn't really need to get it to work.

…

An unknown amount of twists later, Sai felt bored enough to start paying attention to the cube's movements.

Not long later, he laid down and tried sleeping.

…

He dreamt of the curse of water and of an endless abyss. They were fleeting, and soon disappeared.

He saw a beautiful cathedral, located at the highest point of a thriving city. The whole city glinted and shimmered against the refreshing morning light, while cool breeze blew flags, skirts and worries away. The wind mills continued spinning with tranquility. However, when night fell, it all changed drastically.

It was hot. Burning hot. A red glaze floated above the upper city like a heat mirage, bringing warm currents and screams alike onto the citizens' ears. A wind mill toppled and fell over a house, and afterwards, from under the debris, a big explosion painted the skies. Suddenly, the temperature went down several degrees, extinguishing the fire at a frigthening speed.

Sai woke up with a startle. He hurriedly looked around, realizing that there were no enemies nearby. The smell of wine assaulted his nose, only for it to be gone a second later, together with the memories of his nightmare-turned dream.

"Haah. It seems that I'm already hallucinating." His voice sounded weak, almost inaudible.

Sai continued playing with the cube.

It was unknown how much time had passed.

…

Suddenly, a rumble reached his ears from the corridor. Sai stood up with shock, and immediately ran to the domain entrance.

Smoke could be seen, but not as much as he expected to see. Before he could think of yelling for help, he noticed that the domain doors were now closed.

"They… closed."

Taking another hit to his hope, Sai dragged his tired feet back to the cube.

…

Another rumble resounded. This time, from much closer. The huge stone doors were opening again: the cube had been solved.

"F*ck-" That was all that he had the strength to mutter.

Staring at the shining blue lights indicating a teleportation circle, Sai dismissed the idea of venturing into it again.

…

The stone doors took a while to close again, Sai didn't know how long. At the same time, the cube went back to lightless, and Sai went back to his useless new hobby.

…

Several days had to have passed by the time Sai completely figured the mechanism out.

A circle on the floor of the anteroom lit up, indicating a teleportation to a level one challenge.

'This is my last chance to try something…'

Sai was seriously considering entering it. Maybe, if he defeated a water slime, he could drink it? Or maybe he could eat a hilichurl? Perhaps even cook it? He imagined using different slime remains as spices for his food.

But his reason managed to win again. Besides being extremely weakened already, he didn't know how to fight. He doubted he could take on a single hilichurl at the state he was, not to say a whole domain.

Sai just turned around to not feel tempted anymore, and tried to get some sleep.

…

Time passed. Slowly and excruciatingly. There was still no sign of Beidou or her crew.

He dreamt again. This time, he saw a mountain. It shone in beautiful pink light, and urged anyone seeing it to prostrate themselves. Cherry blossom petals fell slowly, as if the wind carried no more weight.

Then, he saw huge white and pink colored shells in a stunning valley. In its center, a massive lake stood, its waters more beautiful than any Caribbean sea. And right at the middle of such lake, a vortex of incredible strength pulled the water downwards.

Finally, Sai saw a woman. She blazed with anger and anguish, blinding flames erupting from deep within her and onto her surroundings, melting anything that came close. He could feel her pain more with every second that passed. He wanted to help, but couldn't move. At last, he managed to stretch his hand, but the dream was already over.

"Huff. Huff."

Shaking off his dizziness, Sai blinked his eyes. He was sure that at least five days had passed since Beidou had left. It had been long since he hadn't touched the cube. He was reaching his limits. The next time he slept... he didn't know if he would have the strength to wake up.

His throat felt constantly on fire, as did his head and his stomach. His lips had already bled a lot from the cracks it formed. He was even sure that he had no more saliva left in his mouth.

Suddenly, something clicked inside him.

'Sh*t! I can't just die like this, waiting for someone else to come save me! What am I? A princess?'

He gathered the remnants of his strength and slowly stood up. Not paying any heed to his soiled pants, the skeleton-like being made its way across the seemingly never-ending corridor.