Three. That seemed like the magic number. Three days ago, the three of us were summoned to this world. This world where we had to deal with a few fairies, man-eating trees, and three-headed dragons. God I hate the number three. 

Jokes aside, that number was taking a toll on us. None of us had the chance to eat or drink since we came here. And last I heard, it was damn near impossible to survive three days without water. 

Zach collapsed on the ground, holding up his chest. "Nick, I don't think I can go any further," he said, sitting himself up. He's seen better days before coming to this world. His hair wasn't as ruffled. And his skin wasn't decorated with as much scars as today. 

I stopped as well. "We'll take a break here," sitting myself at a tree stump. "No worries--we're almost there." Although I said that, I wasn't sure whether or not we'll even make it there. We've been following these tree stumps in hopes of finding someone who could help us. 

"Sorry guys," Sera said. "I should have shared some of the food." She sat on another stump, averting her eyes from us. We gave her all the fruits we stumbled upon. Despite her offering to share with us, Zach and I refused. I sometimes regret doing so, but it was better than letting her suffer like us. 

"No, don't be. It was only three berries anyways," I assured. They were the size of my thumb, so it wouldn't have done any good if we had split them amongst us. 

* * *

I decided to take a nap, only to be disturbed by a slap to the face. It was Sera, standing beside Zach. They looked much better than earlier. 

"You slept for awhile," Zach said. 

"I did?"

I looked up at the sky. The moons were up. A blue moon where the sun sets and a red moon where the sun rises. I definitely slept for awhile.

"No worries," Sera said. "We took a nap of our own as well." She had her hands behind her back. "But we managed to find something when we woke up."

"Is it food?" 

She frowned. "Unfortunately, it's not." She thrusted her hands out and revealed three seeds: a red one, a blue one, and a green one. "We're going to plant them."

"What?"

She smiled. "When we return home, we're going to go plant these seeds. And then, we'll discover a new plant species and become famous! So we have to make it back home okay?"

I chuckled. "You really know how to make any situation seem great. I bet if you tried, you can make death seem nice." Zach and I laughed. 

"Hey! That's not funny! We have to make it back home okay?" 

"We get it. No problem," Zach said. 

"Promise?" Sera asked. 

"Promise," Zach and I said simultaneously. We held out our hands and made a three-way pinky promise--the strongest bond one can make with someone. We would give up our lives before breaking this type of promise.

"There we go! We made a pinky promise, so we have to return home!" she said with a grin. I sometimes forget that she's been through the same stuff we have. Even more if I have to be honest. Her hair used to be longer and a brighter peach color. And her eyes used to glow with a dazzling blue light. She has lost so much, but there was one thing she managed to protect: her smile. If it weren't for her smile, we all would have given up by now. 

* * *

We pressed further into the forest, following the trail of tree stumps. Some fairies came by and played a few pranks on us, but stopped after a man-eating tree appeared. It was a pain running away from that thing as well. Not only was it able to unroot itself, but it was able to shoot its leaves like flying daggers. 

It stopped however, after chomping on a pack of wolves. It was an interesting sight seeing how the food chain worked backwards. 

"We better get out of here before something else comes up," Zach said, pointing at the gathering of wolves. 

Sera pointed at the sky. "I think I see smoke!"

I squinted my eyes. "I see it too. Let's go!"

We ran towards the smoke as fast as we could. After a few meters of running, we came across a stone road, leading all the way to a house.  A lumber house with a wheel against running water. For the first time in our three-day journey, we have finally found water and shelter. 

I gave Sera a thumbs up, and she responded with a grin. The three of us might actually be able to keep our promise. 

Sera scanned the area, and then tugged at my shirt. "Hey...where's Zach?" 

A set of footsteps came from behind. They were slow steps, each one resonating with a sharp echo. Following them was the sound of dragging steel, shrieking until the source of the sound had appeared. 

It was a hooded figure, carrying a long sword stained with a gut-wrenching red--the color of blood. 

"No," Sera said. "Zach couldn't have been--"

Before she could finish, the hooded figure charged with his blade. I pushed Sera out of the way and ducked, countering with a punch followed by a kick to the chest. It helped to have ten years of experience in Taekwondo. 

But my last attack seemed to have no effect. If anything, it just exhausted my body more. The stress from hunger and dehydration was starting to catch up to me. 

The hooded figure charged once more. This time he won't miss. My body was too weak, and countering him will tire me out even more. This was it. 

SLASH!

I closed my eyes as blood splattered on me. He managed to cut me. I opened my eyes to check my wound, only to see Sera standing in front of me. This blood wasn't mine.

"Why..."

She fell into my arms. I stared into her eyes, and asked once more. "Why did you move?!"

"It's a promise," she whispered. She took my hand and placed her seed in it. "Plant them. Come back home and plant them, okay?" 

Her hand dropped to the ground. Her eyes were closed. And her pulse was gone. But she still managed to keep her smile. 

Zach was gone. Sera was gone. What's the point of the promise if only I could keep it?!

I pulled Sera close to my chest and caressed her head. "You stupid, smiling idiot!" I yelled, tears flowing down my eyes. "I was supposed to protect you! Not the other way around!" I continued to weep and wail, until the sound of footsteps made its reappearance. 

That man—no, that murderer—was still here. His blade stained with blood. His face concealed under his hood. His feet staring down at me.

 I scowled at him, clenching my teeth as he came closer. "Go ahead. Kill me."

He bent down and shoved his dagger in front of me, waiting for a response. 

I showed no such response. 

He lifted his sword, standing in front of me undauntedly. Even if I were able to fight back, there was no point in living in this world alone. 

The hooded figure finally spoke. "Reala no seis un kila."

SLASH!

I blinked.

I was laying down in a bed, about as comfy as a table. Actually, if I didn't know any better, I probably was laying down in a table with some cloth over it.

My body was still too numb to lift myself up, but I was able to twitch my fingers at the very least.

I was thinking. I was seeing. And I was moving. There was no doubt that I was still alive.

A few more minutes passed, with the sound of clinks and clanks to keep me awake. My sense of smell also kicked in, absorbing the asphyxiating odors of what seemed like oil.

As I regained more of my senses, I began to experience more pain. My eyes were watering. My nose was stuffed. My body was burning. And I was breathing less—suffocating.

I was able to turn my head sideways, but was still unable to get out of this hell hole. My body was too heavy, and my mind was still weak.

I started flailing my arms, which brought my attention to something else.

My arm wasn't there.

I quickly turned to my left side; my other arm was still there.

But my right arm was missing. That's what mattered most.

"Help!" My voice was raspy and congested. "Somebody...HELP ME!"

I started to kick and thrash. "MY ARM! WHERE THE HELL IS MY ARM!"

And then tears welled up in my eyes. "Somebody...PLEASE. HELP ME!"

SLAM!

Someone came into the room and dragged me out. It was a man wearing goggles, covered in soot. But most importantly, I was out of that room.

From a room of machinery, I was brought into a comforting office. There were no suspicious smells, nor any painful sounds of metal scratching against metal. It was just a small office.

The man who saved me was sweating, and almost on the brink of tears. He took off his goggles and made a sincere gesture. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot that I left ya in the workshop!"

He passed me a glass of water, which I chugged with no hesitation. "I nearly died in there."

"Yeah," the man said, averting his eyes from me. "And ya nearly died when I found ya. You're one lucky kid."

That's right. I was too focused on staying alive that I forgot that I had just escaped death awhile ago. If I managed to survive...then perhaps it's also possible...

"Hey," I called. "Did you also happen to see a girl and a guy near me?"

"I've got a name y'know. It's Gear." He closed his eyes and scratched his chin for a moment. "And I don't remember seeing anybody with ya."

"I see." No leads. Sera was gone. And so was Zach. But if they both died, then where were their bodies?I scratched my head. How horrible am I if I'm more concerned about their corpses than the fact that they died in the first place?

I really shouldn't have called for help back in that room. There was probably a chance to talk to them in the afterlife.

Without any warning, I was punched in the face by Gear. It hurt. A lot. In fact, I got a nosebleed from him.

He grabbed me by the collar. "I may not be the brightest person, but I can tell by the look of your face that you don't want to live anymore."

He lifted me off the ground. "You already escaped death twice. Don't you dare think that you can throw away your life now."

"Stop," I pleaded, pounding at his fists. He dropped me onto the ground. "Can't I feel sorry for my friends in peace?"

"And what about your friends? There are better things to worry about in this world!"

"And we never wanted to come to this world in the first place!" I took a breath. "I never asked to come here and have my friends killed by some random jackass!"

"Then stop worrying about their death and start worrying about the bastard who killed them," Gear said, passing me a dagger. "It's your choice."

I stared at the blade, and then backed away. Gear edged closer to me, until we were against a wall.

"I don't think I could kill a man..."

He thrusted the dagger closer to me. "I'm not asking you to kill. I'm asking you to avenge."

"That's the same thing!"

"No it's not!" He swung the blade in the air. "Revenge doesn't always have to end in death."

He brought the dagger closer. "Even so," I said, weakly. "Have you seen me?"

I gestured to my empty sleeve. "I've got no arm! My dominant one at that! Tell me, how do you expect someone like to fight in my condition?"

Gear stared at my missing arm, and then made a grimace. "One arm, two arms, what difference does it make? If you aren't dead, then you can fight."

He stabbed the dagger into the desk beside me. "I don't see what's so hard to understand."

Of course not, we're from different worlds after all. Death isn't a "common occurrence" where I live. And revenge doesn't solve any problems on Earth.

I glanced at the dagger. If you aren't dead, then you can fight huh? If I was still in my world, that saying wouldn't have flew by.

But I'm not in my world.

I hesitantly took the dagger, and rose it up in the air as I cried. "I will fight."

It was a weak declaration, but a declaration nonetheless. I made the resolve to find the person who took my arm and my friends' lives in this world.

Gear finally smiled. "That's a good answer. What's your name kid?"

"It's Nicholas," I answered, wiping away my tears. "My friends call me Nick."