Chapter 30 – Never Again

*Thud*

*Cough*

Dream hit the floor on his back with a heavy thud. This only served to intensify the pain from his wounds as well as vomit some blood that was in his stomach. 

'Fuck! It hurts... Breathing Hurts! I can't move my arm... Sophia? How bad is it?'

[...The wounds are lethal. Multiple arteries have been cut inside your abdomen. The axillary artery in your collar has been totally severed. You need immediate attention from either Riddick or Luna. 18% of total blood volume has been lost and rising by the second.]

Sophia gave it to him straight. In fact, she was already working to stop the flow of blood in his body. Every little thing she could do to prolong his survival.

Unfortunately, the ones he needed help from couldn't act so quickly.

"D-Dream? Dream?! W-What happened?!" (Luna)

Luna stuttered as she was still shocked by what happened. Dream had hardly left her for several seconds before he was tossed on the ground in a bloody mess. Did he just walk up to the bear and get stabbed?!

Fortunately, Dream also dealt a fatal blow. Blood was constantly spurting from the bear's neck as it backed away. At least it wouldn't come back attacking.

Luna wasn't the only one who witnessed this either. Iris was over to the side and had seen everything. Fortunately, she was just about finished burning a hole through her bear.

Since Luna had healed enough of her wounds by now, she quickly got up to finish off the bear. She created several super sharp but small ice lances and threw them towards the bear's mouth. 

As the bear was still howling in pain, two lances actually entered the mouth and one went straight to the brain, finishing off the bear instantly.

Iris also intensified her heat, boiling the guts of her bear and finishing it off before running over.

"What the hell did he do?! He only fought it for a couple seconds!" (Iris)

"I don't know! I-I just need to heal..." (Luna)

Luna tried not to panic and kneeled down next to Dream to try and heal him.

Dream's armor retracted back out of the way to let her do her thing. His bare and bloody body was exposed.

"...Oh my god." (Iris)

Iris muttered out in fear and worry. The wounds he had truly were bad.

A giant, bloody claw tear went straight into his stomach and allowed them to see all the rib bone fragments and some messed up organs. Everything around his shoulder was also crushed, bloody, and mangled. In fact, his arm looked to be half torn off! The skin had already turned purple around the wounds signifying internal bleeding. Blood was also pouring out like a fountain with more than occasional spurts. The girls already had blood on them.

Luna wasted no time and immediately started healing him. She poured all of her mana into her skill. And although she was silent on the outside, her mind was racing furiously.

'How did he do this?! We've only been hunting for a couple of days and he's already dying on the floor! Why did he think that was a good idea?! He even told us to stay away from the bear! And now he's dying! Even our connection is weakening...... He won't really die, right? Not right now...We haven't even made it to the mountain yet... Can't he fix this with a machine or something? But he's just laying there...'

Luna didn't notice that tears had already started falling. 

She started to genuinely panic. It was when the connection began to fade that she realized he was really about to go. She couldn't feel his feelings, or hear his thoughts. She had never felt so distant from him, and has never truly understood how much she didn't want him to leave until now.

She kept pouring mana into her skill to restore his body. But it wasn't acting fast enough. She couldn't even tell if it did anything due to the mess. But she just kept healing.

And then, she ran out of mana.

"N-No... I still need more..." 

She started to panic even more. Dream was nowhere near okay yet, but she wasn't able to heal him.

This was when she heard a yell next to her.

"DAD!!!! Get over here!!" (Iris)

Iris yelled out louder than she ever has before. Anybody who heard it could feel the desperation in her voice. Luna wasn't the only one who didn't want him to die.

Riddick came flying down from the sky not long after she yelled.

"I saw what happened. And you both know I can't heal him." (Riddick)

"Give me mana." (Luna)

Luna held out her hand to her dad, but he didn't comply.

"You know I can't do that. You can't handle my mana. It'll harm you and that's not a risk I'm willing to take." (Riddick)

"Then we need to get him to a healer!!" (Luna)

"If you move that boy he'll die in less than a minute." (Riddick)

"...T-Then I still need to try. I still have some mana left." (Luna)

Luna turned back to Dream and desperately activated her skill again. But since her mana tank was actually empty, the fuel had to come from somewhere else. Her vitality.

Right as Luna began to heal again, her breathing became ragged and her body started paling. Riddick quickly realized exactly what she was doing and stepped in.

"Absolutely not! Get away from him!" (Riddick)

"N-No! I...I need to..." (Luna)

Riddick grabbed Luna and pulled her away from Dream. The skill was forcefully stopped. Luna tried to fight, but there was no chance of that.

Luna began to despair. She knew that he would really die, but she couldn't do anything. She almost felt like dying herself.

Though it wasn't long until they were interrupted by someone.

[G-Guys! It's me Sophia! I need your help! Now!]

Everyone suddenly stopped and turned to Dream. Or more specifically, the phone that was next to him.

"S-Sophia?" (Luna)

[I'm Dream's skill! Listen! Luna and Riddick need to grab Dream! I need Riddick's mana and Luna's healing skill! Please!]

A quick speaking voice came from the phone. Sophia was panicked as she really needed them to comply. This was the best and only plan that she and Dream had come up with.

While Luna had been healing Dream, he was by no means being idle. He and Sophia had been speaking to each other.

.............

[You are losing blood very fast. There's nothing we can summon to repair your internal organs and bones.]

'Luna's skill is the only way to fix this. But her mana won't last. And we are using mine to keep me from dying faster.'

[We will need mana for her skill.]

'Riddick will have enough, but he's up in the sky. I doubt he has healing or he probably would've helped. Are you capable of taking her skill like you did with devour and use Riddick's mana?'

[I will either succeed or we both die here. We need to talk to them somehow. But the connection has been weakened. I can't use telepathy.]

'Uhhh...Use a device. The phone! The speaker on it! Just tell them you're my skill.'

[On it.]

This was when Sophia finally spoke to them. 

When she did, Luna didn't hesitate and immediately crawled over and made contact while Riddick also moved with her.

Once they did, Sophia gave them the rundown through telepathy.

[Luna, I need permission from you to-]

"Yes!"

[...A-And Riddick, I need permission to use mana.]

"Go ahead. I guess I can't exactly say no with my daughter like that."

[Confirmed. Beginning healing.]

When she said that, Luna was restricted from using her skill. Riddick's mana also started flowing out and into Dream's body.

Riddick also wasn't lying earlier about Luna not being able to handle his mana. The mana that is tied to someone else can be very difficult and dangerous to handle, especially in large amounts. If Luna ever messed up, she could hurt her body badly and possibly damage her soul. Not to mention that Riddick would have to infuse her with it since she couldn't draw it out. 

In little amounts, it can be helpful in allowing the body to kickstart its absorption from the atmosphere like after you run out. But with the amount she needed? Not possible.

Sophia on the other hand, was a skill meant for precision and processing. This was why she was able to access Riddick's mana and even cut Luna off from her own skill to use it.

After Sophia got to work, Dream's body started gradually being repaired. Though this wasn't just healing. It was almost like it was reversing what happened. Hence the word 'Restore'.

The organs were put back in place and patched up, his shattered bones found each other and fused back together. His torn muscles and tendons were also stitched back together. And last but not least, the holes and gashes in the skin were sealed. 

Though the process seemed simple, it was by no means easy or quick. On the outside, it took almost an hour and a half of healing. But on the inside, Sophia had already done dozens of hours of processing. 

Since Sophia didn't understand the skill signature, she could only aim it where she needed it most. This took tons of calculating and risk factoring. She had to repair the arteries one by one, each muscle fiber, each blood vessel, all the bone fragments, all the fat, making sure that blood didn't spill where it shouldn't be. There were many things to keep track of and it was only because she had accelerated thinking that she could do it so fast.

But this was the purpose of the skill [Sophia]. When there was a task at hand, the emotions that she gained from acquiring a part of Dream's soul took secondary precedence. Nothing mattered except carrying out her master's will, not to mention saving his life. This was the biggest proof that she was still indeed a skill and not an entirely separate being. Not that she herself cared.

After 2 hours when Dream was finally healed, Sophia stopped the mana flow and spoke to them.

[Dream will need some time to regenerate his blood as he has lost large amounts. During this time, he will occasionally be able to speak with you guys, but he won't be able to move his body. Can you guys help take care of him?]

"Yes, we will." (Luna)

[Thank you. I ask that he be kept on his bed. It may take up to a week for him to recover. However, his body is in perfect shape so he can be moved fine.]

"That's good." (Luna)

[And one more thing. Dream asked me to heal Luna. This requires me to use Riddick's mana. Do I have permission?]

"...Fine. Go ahead." (Riddick)

[Confirmed.]

Riddick was a little hesitant that Dream's skill was going to be using his mana on Luna, but he had no reason not to trust him anymore. He just gave the permission and Sophia began recovering Luna's vitality. 

This actually took Dream's own vitality, but she didn't tell them that. Dream had noticed when Luna used her own and was basically giving it back. So it was fine.

It only took moments for Luna to feel refreshed and back to normal. She quietly spoke to Riddick.

"Hey dad, can you store the bears?" (Luna)

"I can." (Riddick)

"Thank you...Can you take us home too?" (Luna)

"Sure. That's fine" (Riddick)

"..."

Luna nodded to him and stood up. She then reached down and very gently picked up Dream's body. 

Iris also moved closer to them and Riddick activated his flight magic. They took off back to the hotel.

...............

..........

.....

'Mmm... Damn I feel dizzy. Sophia?

After an unknown amuont of time, Dream began to wake up. His blurry eyes opened to the sight of a wood ceiling.

[You've been asleep for 2 days. I only woke you up when you had enough blood to be safe.]

'How much blood did I lose exactly?'

[63%. A person on earth would have had no chance of survival. But you not only got total healing, but your vitality is much stronger. Plus I was able to kick your body into overdrive for blood production.]

'That's a lot... so why can't I move my body?'

[Your body has still only recovered a small amount of blood. There's not enough oxygen to pass around. I only woke you up so you could talk and eat.]

'Gotcha.'

Dream nodded and looked around the room. He soon spotted the two girls laying on his bed next to him.

"I would tap you guys if I could use my hands. Looks like I'm gonna be in a pretty pathetic state for a while."

"...huh..? D-Dream?" (Luna)

Luna lifted her head to face him. When she did, Dream's smiling face met her.

"Hi. Sorry I've been out for so long."

"...."

When she saw his face, she immediately started crying again. She started curling up into a ball and backing away. But Dream really didn't want that.

"You aren't gonna avoid me now are you? I would be lonely without you here."

"But I... *sniff* I couldn't heal you. And...*sniff* I almost let you die..."

"I wouldn't be alive if you weren't there. I made an absolutely stupid mistake and you helped me recover from it. I feel like an idiot."

"You- *sniff*...you are an idiot. You almost left me...*sniff* Left me and Iris in this world full of *sniff* disgusting guys..."

"Hehe, well I can't do that now can I? Heh..."

Dream chuckled a little at Luna's joke. The atmosphere was lightened a little and she eventually started to calm down. Dream also wasn't stupid enough to forget that there was one more person here.

"Hey, Scarlet. Wakey wakey."

"....You're mean..."

Iris turned around and stopped playing dead. When Dream saw her face, they had tear stains.

"Did you use your fire to evaporate tears?" (Dream)

"I...Shut up! *sniff*"

"Haha, both of you are the cutest things. And also the best things to ever happen to me. I really wish I wasn't paralyzed from the neck down right now."

"...Well maybe you shouldn't have gotten hurt so much, idiot." (Iris)

"I guess that means that I just need my girls to pamper me now huh? I'll be living like a king, hehe."

Dream forced a laugh at his little joke, but he really started to get depressed when he thought about how disabled he was. 

Truth is, he felt like pathetic dog shit. It was absolutely humiliating not being able to control his own body. In front of the girls, no less. And now they need to tend to him like a fucking child.

Not only that, but he got himself into this mess. He was way too overconfident and almost got killed by his lack of experience. He thought he could just run in and fight because he had that armor. He paid the price for overestimating his skills and gear and for underestimating the bear. Who underestimates a fucking bear?!

It all happened so quickly too. He stabbed the bear and got stabbed. He then got bit and stabbed again. 10 seconds, in and out. 

What if the enemy was stronger? He would have died and left the girls to fend for themselves. What if Riddick wasn't there? There would have been no mana to leech from. This was the kind of thing that groups of people get wiped out for.

He felt rage and frustration for his stupidity boil in his chest. Dream swore that he would never make the same mistakes again. Or else he better be prepared to die to make up for it.