Chapter 14: Rise, Nathan!

A Few Minutes Earlier Back at AA HQ Before Amanda's Team Confronted The Commanders...

Alondo gently pushed past the door of the infirmary as he entered Nathan's room. The moment he stepped inside, he could smell the scent of depression in the air.

He then looked across the room to see four different plates of untouched food beside Nathan's bed which indicated that he hadn't eaten in a total of four days. He would surely starve himself to death if this were to continue. The situation was much worse than Alondo could have anticipated.

"Nathan," he called without a response.

"Nathan!" He called a little louder. But it was still to no avail.

Alondo then asserted himself as he moved closer. This time he called in a much more serious tone.

"Nathan!!!"

However, there was still silence. Nathan was much too lost in his failures to pay any attention to anyone who spoke to him. This irritated Alondo significantly. He felt as if he was talking to a potato.

Now flaming with annoyance, Alondo moved even closer to Nathan. He then lifted his hand above his head before coming around with a painful slap to Nathan's cheek. The sound of the slap echoed throughout the room, miraculously forcing a slight response out of him.

Nathan slowly turned his head to Alondo with a blank expression cast over his face. He hadn't spoken but at least he had responded to a form of stimulus. This was a step in the right direction and Alondo knew it.

"Nathan, look!" Began Alondo sternly. "This isn't going to work! I'm not going to let you sit around here every day, sulking as if you're more privileged than anyone else! Get up and stop being a fool!"

Tears slowly filled Nathan's eyes as he finally heard Alondo's words. His spirit was much too broken to even formulate a proper response.

"I-I'm sorry, Rosie..." He mumbled in a brittle voice.

Starting to lose his patience, Alondo draped Nathan's shirt and punched him as hard as he could. He needed to get Nathan back to his senses as quickly as possible.

In truth, Alondo was not only doing this for Nathan's sake. He wanted Nathan to provide backup to those who were sent to Mind Mountain. But for that to happen, Nathan needed to regain his will to fight.

"Nathan, wake up already! You can't let this keep you down forever!"

"Wake up from what..?" He replied dimly. "It wasn't a dream... It was real..! Rosie died because of me... Everyone died because of me..! If this is what it takes to be a hero then I don't want to be a hero anymore! It was all a childish delusion..!"

Alondo then sighed as he released Nathan's shirt. He understood why Nathan wanted to give up. It was already a known fact that most people in the Mind World disapproved of the Real World and those who came from it. The addition of Nathan's failure to save the village only made things much worse. No one expected anything from him. To them, he was just a fool playing hero.

"You're right, you didn't save anyone. You messed up and failed because you were weak. You failed to kill the Beast King and it cost the lives of many people. No one believes in you and everyone hates you."

"Then what's the point of me trying again..?! It's all meaningless..."

"The point is that things won't change if you don't put the effort in to make a change! If no one believes in you, then it's up to you to make them! Many people out there are wishing for the destruction of the Real World, Nathan. If you don't pull yourself together, then who's going to put a stop to all of this chaos and hatred? Nothing will change if you sit here and do nothing!"

Nathan's face wrinkled with frustration. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. How would he save both the Real and Mind Worlds? Even if he somehow got everyone in the Mind World to acknowledge him, how would he deal with the Demon Beasts? They existed because of the Real World in the first place. Saving the Real World would bring more destruction to the Mind World. But saving the Mind World would most likely force him to allow the destruction of the Real World.

"But what can I do..? I'm just going to end up failing again, Alondo..! I broke my promise to you and Rosie... I broke my promise to Instructor Brady... I made nothing but empty promises! I'm no different from the previous Mind Heroes. I should have died but the Beast King decided not to take my life just to show me how pathetic I am... I'm a failure..."

Alondo ignored Nathan's remark. Instead, he took his breakfast and placed it in front of him.

"Eat. You'll die if you don't."

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"Bu-"

"Nathan, don't let me hit you again. Eat!"

Reluctantly, Nathan looked down on the dish of eggs, freshly baked bread, beans, and pancakes. His hand trembled like an earthquake as he took the fork and began feeding himself.

"Death is something no one can escape," continued Alondo. "Everyone will die at some point, no matter what they do to avoid it. It's an inescapable trap that's set from the day we are born. However, even though death is inescapable, it is not meaningless."

"What's there to get from death..?"

"Well, let's put it this way. Rosie and all those other villagers died but their deaths do not have to be in vain. The meaning of their deaths should be reflected on you."

"Reflected on me..?"

"Precisely. There are many other people out there who will die if you don't keep fighting. And if you don't want to see that happen then use the pain you experienced to push yourself forward. Remember that pain and hold onto it each time you feel like giving up so that you don't repeat your mistakes. You may fall, you may stumble, but what's important is that you get back up every time. Never allow yourself to stay down."

A small glint then appeared in Nathan's eyes. He turned and looked through the window as tears ran down his cheeks. He was heartbroken about his failures but he knew what Alondo said was true. He grabbed his chest and cried, accepting his pain. However, he began accepting it with a newfound determination to move on.

The pain of watching Rosie and the villagers die would never leave him. He had first treated the Mind World like a game but now he finally understood what he truly had to do.

Up until now, Nathan had thought that a hero was someone who would always save the day but now he realized that true heroes experienced pain too. The cold reality was that they could never truly save everyone. A true hero was someone who accepted their failures and used them to fuel their determination for their next encounter.

Nathan felt a little better. He was still very upset but he made himself smile for the sake of those who died. Their deaths would be his determination to prevent the same mistakes from repeating.

"Thank you, Alondo... I think I understand a little better now."

"I'm glad to hear it!"

"My only regret was that I didn't keep my promises to any of you... I let you all down then to make things worse, I was ready to give up..."

"Who said you didn't keep your promises?"

"I broke the promises that I made to you, Instructor Brady, and Rosie."

"Nathan, you're still alive. That's what matters. You haven't failed me, Instructor Brady, nor even Rosie. Your promises can still be fulfilled because you're alive. So if you want to make it up to us, you have to get back on your feet. You have to become stronger, save as many people as you can, and punish the Beast King for what he's done. It's not too late."

Once again, Nathan realized that Alondo was right. Why had he assumed that he had broken all his promises? All the promises that he had made could still be fulfilled. He was alive which meant he still had a chance to do the things that he had promised.

"You're right..! I don't know why I assumed that in the first place..."

"It's all in your head, Nathan."

Suddenly, the thought of Sindy and Andrew flashed across Nathan's mind. He had been in such a depressing state that he hadn't even cared enough to ask what had happened to them.

"Wait, where's Sindy and Andrew!?"

Alondo's face then darkened before he answered, "They went on a very dangerous mission..."

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