From time to time, Dhanthas let out a short chuckle, even though his sensitive spot was still hurt. As expected, he recovered AND caught up with me rather quickly, showing me again how tough he was. But it was completely fine. He was Dhanthas, a part of me in a way, but I had a feeling that he had started to fall apart from me and become a completely new person...

And not just remain as my Darker self...

As I thought about that even more, it actually made sense. They were suggesting me plans... my OWN selves! I know how Dhanthas worked back then... he tried to swindle me into things...

And Dhuradhan, too. At first, he tried convincing me to not do something harsh and only later he started giving me advice. Both of them started to become separate from me and not just because of their acts in the past. Look at that, Dhanthas was leading me somewhere and we were about to discuss a plan! Like we were three completely different being, sharing one body!

A perfect trio...

By the way... Dhanthas wasn't leading me anymore...

Unexpectedly, instead of me following him, HE followed ME! HE was supposed to lead me somewhere, not the opposite way. And there I was, being at the front and just going to our meeting place, where we would discuss things. It still sounded oddly strange for me to think about my own selves as teammates. I had considered them as teammates before, but that started to turn into reality!

I soon realized why I was on the lead... the path we were on was visible and I kept on following it. No wonder why Dhanthas hadn't spoke up... that is, if he actually wanted to speak up after that ball kick...

It was a clear and walkable path and when I realized why I was able to go on the right way, I noticed the tracks of a humanoid being. Oblivious to myself, I didn't even know that I was following those foot marks. Without registering my own thoughts, I assumed it was Dhanthas' marks and followed it. And all of that time, I hadn't realize the fact that I was on the right track...

I just turned to that way where he came from, without me realizing that it would actually make sense going that way...

I followed the tracks until my eyes caught the sight of a particularly familiar house...

And that house wasn't just our destination it seemed, but the house where I spent a huge amount of time three or four years ago. The house, which I haven't seen for a really long time. The house where I had grown up and spent my childhood's hard times... the only house that I thought it would be my only home... my family's house...

We approached the house from its left and I noticed that the path where we came from, was in a conspicuous spot. The trees stood like a wall and two of them acted as a little 'gate' to that path and from this 'gate' , all the way up to the front gate, led a trodden lane in the grass. I glanced back at Dhanthas questioningly, when I saw some parts from a car.

''Had to rip out that whole thing from your memories. The car was part of the copy, but I took care of it... these are the remains...'' He approached the front gate of the house, then called back. ''Make yourself at... 'home'. I'll get Dhuradhan.''

And I did as he said. While he went inside, I stood there for a few seconds, feeling a little twinge in my chest. I was right in front of my house, even if it was a little bit different... or I was the one, who forgot how it looked like...

The walls were a pale, still colorful yellow. As the sun was going down, it casted an orange light upon the walls, which in turn, beat off that light. That caused the house to look more lively and to make the otherwise pale color to look more brighter.

The big fence at the front looked nearly the same, too. The iron bars were black and the stone walls were the same color as the house, if not a shade different. On top of each wall, acting as a 'roof' , were still the same, pale-peach colored stone domes. And at the bottom of the stone walls, white stone decorated them.

As I approached the front gate at last, I wondered if the front gate was still the same, broken one. And after closing it with ease, without knowing it, I was reaching for the button, which would allow me to reopen the gate. And sure enough, next to the mail box, I found the button to send electricity into the lock and let go of it. It buzzed for a few seconds and to just test it out, I opened the gate. The buzzing stopped and I closed the gate. After that, I tried opening it without pushing the button and it didn't let me open.

''Took them a day or two to fix this thing... my family wasn't able to do it under a few years...'' I thought to myself in amusement. You probably remember how that lock kept on getting stuck and all...

I started my way up the stairs and to the entrance door. As I was getting closer to the top, green greeted me from my right. That big, old thuja. We never had the chance to get the christmas decorations down from that 'tree'... and my selves weren't lazy to do that, though I wondered how they managed to get off those lights from it. I mean, that plant CONSUMED the cables as it grew taller and bigger! The cables were INSIDE the branches! And what that two do? Simply get them down, without cutting through the leaves and branches...

In front of me, in a wedge form, was the hall's glass wall. The windows were clean and more darker, preventing me from seeing inside. Also, the frames were larger and black, along with the other window frames on the house's sides and the stairs' handrail. The stairs itself was white and the rest of the ground at the front side of the house, was the usual tiled walkway. Each piece of tile was the same: many little gravel in different colors, melted together and on concrete blocks.

The driveways were still there on both side of the house, along with the two garage entrance to the cellar. And the fences around the rest of the house were wood and copper convolution, with bamboo blocking the view outside and inside.

And the roof remained the same color, but more cleaner, making it look brighter.

I reached for the door handle and found it more fitting to the whole window wall, with it being in the color of silver. It reflected enough light to notice it and its clean surface was much nicer to grab a hold on, instead of it being copper colored.

I walked inside and the sight was breathtaking...

The floor was the same, marble tiles, but far cleaner than I remembered. If the light was shining onto it from a certain angle, I was able to make out my reflection!

The walls remained white, but - as expected - more cleaner and their usual black decorations on it were more radiant. They were just little pieces of black dots and lines, not bigger than a few centimeter, but I was able to make out each one of them!

The stairs were actually DONE! They weren't just the cold, concrete stairs, but actual and done stairs! It was really strange to see dark-brown wood on each step, instead of grey stone. And as expected, the handrail was black too...

From inside, there were no covers for the windows, but I guess it made sense. There were no one around to peek inside the house and the windows were dark enough to hide everything.

Above me, the old chandelier wasn't dusty and old, but new and its holders were black, looking good with the window frames. And of course, the lamps looked much better, not weak and small...

To my right, there was the door to the little toilette, which was dark-brown too, like the stairs. The short bench on the left with no backrest, which was by the bottom of the stairs, shared the same color of the door's and the stairs'. Dhanthas and Dhuradhan probably found that combination more fitting, I believe. But nonetheless, that three object already made the hall more lively.

And there was that mirror, opposite to the bench. It was wider and that's when I realized that the whole hall was larger too. The mirror had those greek styled decorations around it, but not in white anymore. No, it was dark-brown wood again, joining to the bench's, stairs' and toilette door's nice combination.

The hanger for coats and such had been white, but now... it was dark-brown... unsurprisingly...

And behind me, from the door to the left and at the corner of the window wall, there was a middle-tall plant. It was sitting in a purple vase and it looked really green. Further inspecting it, it was just recently irrigated and its height reached my chest... much taller than that dying plant in my family's house...

There was no phone, nor alarm on the wall to my right, but I found it unnecessary anyways...

Maybe I was just fed up with all the stress from the recent events. Maybe I was just homesick and missed my family. But... I felt welcomed in that house. The outside of the house already looked welcoming and then the hall? I was eager to see the rest of the house...

There, I suddenly remembered that I always appreciated decorations and art. But, as you might noticed, I had a busy life and so, I couldn't just stop and admire masterpieces. Yes, when I was looking over the city in the past, I admit, I was admiring the city's buildings too. But I didn't have that much time, since I was wearing my Headhunter suit and was on a mission... and now, I was in the middle of nowhere, allowed to marvel on the beauty of my OWN house! That was probably one of the reason why I felt so great inside 'my' house...

Dhanthas knew how would I react and that is the only reason he waited for me to get inside. He watched me the whole time by the end of the hall, looking at my turning form by the doorstep. If I recall, I am pretty sure I did a three-sixty turn in my amazement. By the time I was done, he was grinning at me in a knowing way, then upon looking at him, he let out a chuckle.

''Hehhe, have a look around. The things I've done so far 're looking good. I'll check on Dhuradhan in the library. Come outside to the terrace when you're done.'' And with that, he went to the left, where a corridor led to the bathroom, my father's room and office.

I started my way up the stairs and after taking a few steps, I finally caught up on what Dhanthas just said...

''What library?'' I thought, while pausing in mid-step and glancing at the spot where Dhanthas stood a moment ago. And in the next moment, I heard my father's office door opening and closing. ''They turned the office into a library...'' I wasn't sure if it was amusing or worrying. But it certainly made sense, in a way. I had a really good guess about which one of them wanted a library, instead of an office. Dhuradhan wouldn't be able to enjoy an office... maybe the computer, but without internet, it was useless...

I resumed my way up the stairs and upon getting to the top, I spotted a narrow path leading above the entrance door. It was one of the new things they placed into the house. The hall used to be big and only the top of the stairs acted as a little balcony, leaning above the hanger and the quarter of the bench downstairs. Now, there was a balcony above the entrance door, opposite to the stairs' balcony. The path leading to that little balcony was right above the small toilette downstairs, so it didn't tower above the mirror or over the hall, for that matter...

The floor there and the path leading there was the same dark-brown wood;  black handrail from the stairs going further and keeping that path safe, along with the balcony part. I still don't know how I had missed that before and only noticed it after I came up the stairs...

I walked to the window wall on that balcony and looked outside. On the balcony itself, there was nothing, just an empty area. Also, the balcony was just positioned between two lines of windows, so it was unnoticed from the outside. It picked up the shape of the window wall, too, since the floor looked like a triangle above the entrance door.

I looked outside and noted how dark the windows were. Yes, the sun was setting, but the light it gave out would have still made me cringe. And so, I was able to see the land around the house, even the field and that tree where I once laid.

I decided to move on and check out the rest of the house, starting with the room to the right by the stairs' balcony. My good, old brother's room. The only thing that changed was the brightness in the room. Every furniture looked like new and clean. No clothes on the chairs, no bags next to the desk, nothing! Just furniture and furniture, each one looking nice...

After peeking inside, I closed the door and took a quick glance at the door to my right, directly in front of the stair's balcony door. That single room... just thinking about it made me feel uneasy. I had mixed feelings about it, because I had both good and bad memories about that room.

I shook my head and went forward, down the corridor, where I checked the rest of the upper floor. The corridor wasn't really THAT different. Walls remained the same cream colored; carpet covering the floor in an orange color. But there wasn't a sofa on the right... nope, there was a staircase, leading even higher! ''I don't think it was there back then...'' I thought and decided to check it out after I took a look at the rest of the rooms.

The doors remained nearly the same. And yes! There were handles on the door. Back then, it was kinda poor-looking to see a door without a lock and handle. They were simple, bronze colored ones; the doors itself were dark-brown... yes, again, but it looked pretty nice.

Aside from the toilette, bathroom and my mother's room, there was nothing new, only the expected cleanness and slight emptiness. But that room, where we stuffed everything broken and useless... it was not the same...

When I opened the door... more like tried to open it, I couldn't. It was locked, but heard some sort of conversation inside and the moving of shelves and books. ''They. Made. A two story... library...'' I decided to not disturb Dhuradhan and Dhanthas, so I walked up the stairs to the third floor. It was really strange... having a third floor sounded strange. But of course, I couldn't remember my own house correctly. I KNEW that we didn't have a third floor, but I didn't know how large our house was. I found out that the whole house was wider, since that path to that new balcony in the hall took away quite the area. So with that, the house was most definitely three or four meters wider.

But the third floor? I wasn't sure how big the house was anymore...

Upon arriving at the top, I was greeted with a large area in the roof of the house. It was above every room in the house, except the library - which was still odd in my opinion - and the inside of the roofs were the walls. It was surprisingly clean for a room in a roof. I expected a mass amount of dust, a few bird nests and cobwebs between the beams. But there were none and half of the room actually had the beams hidden behind wooden planks.

The stairs brought me to the left side of the area, next to the roof at the front side of the house. Only in that room, was handrail for the stairs, preventing anyone from falling into that hole in the ground, which was for the stairs. The handrail itself was different from the previous ones, as it looked better with light-brown, wooden handrail and it gave a brighter look for the rest of the room.

At the top, I turned to the right, behind me the roof, meaning one of the end of the third floor's area. And in front of me... well, I had a feeling that I will enjoy that place... highly...

Blue carpet covering the whole, large and open room, making it rather homey.

One the left side of the room, a line of counters in a modern, light-brown appearance, fitting with the handrail and some other furniture. A kitchen area, taking away the whole left side. Small and practical...

On the right side and in the corner, there was an 'L' shaped desk, pushed against the corner. The roof was running above it in its forty-five degree, allowed a skylight to be above the desk. On the desk, there were several objects, which mainly picked up my interest: A computer, a pair of speakers, a subwoofer under the desk, a lamp, shelves built into the roof's beams and frames, a microphone and a headset. All of these looked modern if not new... or they were just clean and that is why they looked amazing. Either way, they looked expensive and in good condition. Also, I had a wild guess who built that area... just didn't know where he found that design and things in my memory...

To the right of this desk and its gadgets, I spotted a bookshelf, though no books were on it. Still, it fit there perfectly and since the house already had a library, I didn't really find use of that bookshelf...

Still on the right side of the room, I spotted a livingroom area, with three couches, one coffee table and a TV on top of a short chest of drawers, next to it some sort of console. I wasn't that familiar with games and such, since I never had time to just even try them out! Dhanthas probably expected me to play some with him, which amused me further.

One couch was light- and the other one was dark-brown. The latter one was opposite the TV. The third couch was different, it being a little funky styled one. Its backrest was higher, but it gave fewer place to sit, due to it being narrow and long. The other two was shorter and just overall, larger. That odd one was facing away from the balcony and was opposite to the light-brown couch; the black table between them and on some soft and puffier rugs. What I meant by funky style? Well, you remember the old couches... yeah, those with the strange symbols on the blue background texture...

The balcony pretty much was just CALLING me to go outside, but sadly, the glass door was locked. So not wanting to rip it out and waste my time... I went down to the second floor and stopped before my room...

I looked at the door... MY door. It was still the same: Pale door, blurry windows, that are showing a gloomy room on the other side; that little sign that said 'Only for men.' , which I put on my door at my 'beast' times; the lock- and handleless holes on it and where I tied a little neon yellow twine, just so I could open it more easily; that history book pushed underneath it, so the wind won't elect creaking sounds out of the hinges. It was completely the same, even its age was visible on it!

I sighed and prepared for the train of memories and a possible mental breakdown...

I closed my eyes and pushed open the door, letting it hit the wall next to it on the other side. Not looking where I was going, I stepped inside and stopped in the middle of the room, inhaling in the oh-so familiar air of my room. Then at last, I let my eyes to be greeted with the sight of my room. I thought Dhanthas changed the room, but I thought wrong...

Again... EVERYTHING was the same! The wall in front of me was pale-blue; the wall to my right was pale-cream colored; and the wall to my left was pale-peach colored. The carpet was the same dark-blue, with all the little pictures on it. Furniture at the same places, just like the objects and clothes... no matter how childish or messy it looked, I felt at home. And since I was the one who had to stay in that room, while my good, old brother received the new, more adult-like room... I was left with that one... all alone...

I collapsed onto my knees. That was it, my room, where I spent my darkest times and those few happy times. My childhood... I've already realized that I had none, but seeing that room again, so far away from the REAL one... that single fact simply stabbed me from the inside. Memories from my past came crashing down upon me and I heard all the voices from the past. There were laughter, cries of joy and cheering in happiness... before the crying in sorrow, shouting from agony and pleas of helps echoed through my head. Thanks to them, I closed my eyes and rapidly tried to stay calm and ease myself, before I break down into a rampaging mess of emotional teenager. After all of the misery I went through back then, every shock of pain I experienced physically AND mentally... they all bottled up inside me and came to the surface in that room. That was that place, where I felt safe and could let out all of my stress, without anyone seeing it and using it against me. Though... after a time, I refused to let it out and I turned it into anger. And I used that anger to never let myself cry and ruin my balance. As my title says, I need to be in balance and that means no emotions.

And so that's what I did back then. For a few years now, it didn't matter how dreadful my life turned out, I never let myself to cry it out. Instead, I took the problem into consideration and tried to find a way to fix a problem, while keeping the solution balanced. Then... it became second nature for me and I actually became that empty shell, who did his duty without blinking a tear or coughing out any protestation.

I remembered every moment I had spent in that room. From the happy times, all the way to the point, when I last left my room, thinking, that I will come back. Well... I came back to it, but not in my world... neither in reality!

Still... the feeling was there, but not THAT serious. My mind kept on placing pictures before me about my room, house and family. I got reminded about the war and what would happen to that house and my family...

I opened my eyes again and glanced outside the window. I spotted the branch of a tree, which always peered inside my room and I hastily stumbled towards the window. That tree branch belonged to one of my neighbour's garden and if it was there, then that meant...

I looked outside and saw only the side of the mountain, the tree branch belonging to one of the forest trees...

I hoped that I was dreaming all of this. I wished it would be just some cruel joke. I WANTED it to be false! I needed my family, more then ever. I got used to living alone, but I was worried sick about their wealth and whereabouts. I just wanted to make sure that they were safe and not captured. I had to know how they were! I hoped that I will live up to the day of their death and see them getting buried. And at the burial, I would safely feel delighted to see them in peace and I would be able to continue living my life without worries! That's what I wanted, but if I die or THEY die before I could see their burial, I would be ashamed of myself, because I betrayed them!

And there I realized, that I indeed have loved ones who I care about. I do feel something for some souls and I would give everything for them, even my own life!

Therefore... The Balance has lost his balance...

''No!'' I rose to my feet and tightened the grip around the air, all the way to the point, where my arms started to tremble. ''I. Will. NOT. Let myself fall into my past selves! I am The Balance, wielding The Death's weapon and a 'curse', which I took advantage of! I live to bring balance over Earth, since no soul is able to do that! I accomplished things that MANY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO! I am going to make up for my failure and save those who are in need of my help! I don't care if I have to go through Hell again, I... will... succeed!''

''I knew I'll find you in here.''

My spirit-lifting got interrupted by Dhanthas, who came into the room. I eased my muscles, finding myself collected again and feeling greater. See? I have my times too, but I manage...

I turned around and walked past him, whilst saying: ''Thanks for not changing this room... I needed it...''

''I thought so...''

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dhanthas told me to wait until he gets Dhuradhan, so after I watched him going inside the library, I took a look at the kitchen and the livingroom...

Standing at the end of the hall, I was under the stairs' balcony and to my right, a shortcut lead through a doorless 'gateway' and to the kitchen. It was like they took away the door from the wall and only the hollowed out hole remained there. To the right of this 'gateway' , there was small, still larger pantry than it used to be. Next to it, a fridge, in a MUCH better shape than it used to. This one was clean and its door wasn't upside down...

The kitchen itself was a square, surrounded with counters from every direction. Only the path from the shortcut wasn't blocked and the other exit - which was next to the shortcut - was the only way out of the kitchen and towards the dining table and further to the livingroom.

The floor was the same as the hall's and livingroom's, the walls were a strong-yellow and every wooden part of the kitchen was a reddish-brown. The top of the counters were a shadowy texture, even the bar counters had the same surface!

Where the left window of the house was, there was the sink and dishwasher, along with some counters for cleaning-tools.

The microwave, cooker and the oven looked more modern and the clock on that thing actually worked!

Looking over the bar counters, the dining area was still the same, but with more room and cleaner furniture. Giraffe  textured chairs, light-brown dining table and the chandelier's glass was hardly visible. I could only see the black symbols on its glass and somewhere between them the spiral formed bulbs.

After making a turn around that pillar - which was created due to that shortcut to the kitchen - I came to a stop in front of the livingroom area. The curtains, going all the way to the dining area, were not grey anymore from the dust and not torn apart at some places. Those two must have went back to my two years old days, because those curtains were a mess for a few years now! Their flower symbols threaded into the white and soft material, were actually visible and the curtains let the room to be bright! Also, another line of curtains could have covered the windows on the right side of the area and the glass walls on the other side of the room, if they wouldn't have been pulled to the sides. They were strong-orange and I bet if the sun would have been shining upon the terrace outside, then they would have painted the room to orange as well!

In the corner, the normal, nicely grown plant in its big vase, reaching to the ceiling. The two couches were right next to it, in a ninety degree position. The one from the terrace's direction was darker-brown, while the other one was lighter-brown colored and was facing towards the TV on the left side of the room. And in front of both couches, a black coffee table.

The TV was opposite to the livingroom area, so if we wanted to get out to the terrace, then we would have to walk past the TV and disturb the viewers entertainment. The gadget was on top of a long, chest of drawers, in the color of dark-brown. The same, but still a better one and the tiny handles were larger and golden. Next to the TV, on both sides, there was a speaker and the TV itself was on top of a subwoofer. House cinema, much?

And finally, to the left of the TV and such, the fireplace. While the livingroom area, the dining area and the corridor leading to the library and the rest was peach colored, the fireplace and the wall around it was white. The same black dots and lines for decorations, could be found on the white wall too, like in the hall. Green marble acted as a really short counter around it and led further down the corridor AND to the wall to its right, until it hit the wall a meter behind it. The whole fireplace was sticking out from the peach colored wall and the space between the TV's drawers and the fireplace itself was large enough, to place some plants between them... or a christmas tree, if it was December...

Just as I did a full circle around the downstairs area, I was about to say 'amazing', when the door of the library opened... well, more like got kicked open, since Dhanthas was waving away some smoke and was jogging out of the room, nearly falling over, whilst cursing all the while...

''Shit-shit-shit shit shit, shit, shit... shit... shit!'' He finished, turning back to the library door, cautiously.

''For the love of Thelestial!'' Dhuradhan spoke up, voice slightly irritated... Just. Slightly.

''You mean the Light Mother?'' Dhanthas asked back, amused by what he had caused.

Meanwhile, I wondered what Dhanthas did, to piss Dhuradhan off like that. Dhuradhan always managed to reply successfully to my Dark self, so it made me dumbfounded in a way, if not amused. Besides, Dhuradhan never cursed before... not even a 'damnit' or something like that...

A short period of light-blue light could be seen inside the library, then the otherwise grey smoke turned to white one, like someone just cleaned it out. The smoke was still coming out of the two story room, when my Light self emerged from the smoke...

His hair looking a shade brighter than mine and it being longer too, probably three times longer. It didn't reach his shoulders, but left no sight of his neck. The only thing we had in common was the usual, 'brushed-to-the-left-side' hairstyle. His eyes were ocean-blue, not a single green in them. Just like with Dhanthas, his face reminded me about one of my past self. In his case, he was my innocent, kid self. The blank expression, which indicated no emotions at all, was just screaming about his personality. Also, his expression showed a great and wise man, who used not facial expressions, but words and actions, to change things around himself.

Again, my own self was as tall and strong as me, but his own abilities showed difference between us. And of course, his posture and look. While I had a slightly odd posture in my standing, Dhanthas had a visible scoliosis. And Dhuradhan? He had a straight back, which he didn't seem to change for a second. As I said, a great man...

His clothing was more elegant, but still held the young and free style. He was wearing a white shirt, its sleeves pulled up to show his skin, which was more lively than mine. Did I really look like a dead soul?

As shoes, he was wearing an elegant, yet summer-like shoes in brown. Something that the teenagers would wear at summer. Fashion...

But those looked really fitting with his jeans and I was happy to see NORMAL jeans and not those super tight ones...

I also noticed a golden chain around his neck and inspecting his chest further, I saw something behind his shirt. And it was in the shape of a cross...

''I told you to not use Dark energy on objects, for any kind of interaction.'' He started with his usual calm and thoughtful voice. ''Dark energy is destructive, while my Light power is-''

''Reconstructive, yeah, yeah. But you fixed the books, so we can go outside and plan stuff out!''

''As you used to say... in a nutshell.''

Dhanthas motioned to follow him and we all made our way towards the terrace door, which was on the left side of the glass walls behind the livingroom's dark-brown couch. It was built into the glass, black frame cutting it away from the row of giant windows. The door was much easier to slide to the side and the mosquito net's door was able to stay closed! It finally had a magnet inside, so we could close it! Such little feature, but it was REALLY useful. It also amused me to see this door actually working without a chair to keep it closed. My family had never placed a freaking magnet there, no! We used a chair! How practical!

The terrace remained the same as well, except the frames of the windows, which were black now, instead of white.

The crimson-brown tiles, covering the area around the pool side as well, weren't filled holes and cracks and their color weren't paled out from the sun. The missing chunks from the white stairs had been repaired and all the three stairs, leading to different parts of the garden, were safe to walk on.

The garden chairs were finally stable, no parts of them missing anymore. Their crimson colored back rests were bright like new ones and the otherwise outstretched material for them weren't loose.

The table surrounded with the chairs, was a clean, metal-silver and its top was glass, reflecting the under side of the roof above us, which was much more stable.

Sadly, the plants outside the terrace weren't there anymore, because they would have been the perfect for the view... not like it wasn't gorgeous already...

A meter lower and where one of the stairs was leading, there was the pool. It actually had water inside it, which was expectable, since that two didn't have to spend money on filling it and buying the chemicals to keep it clean. That already amused me, but the SIZE of that pool was what made me let out a quiet snort. The three times bigger pool was just absurd! Back then, with its 11 meters length and 5 meters width was already big, but now it was three times larger! The house's left garden had been cut shorter, due to that size! Also, since the pool had the shape of a number '1', the head of the number was bigger too. And bigger head meant BIGGER place to just chill! Oh yes, the jacuzzi area was larger than before!

The yellow wall remained at the far side of the pool, not letting the wildlife to enter our lot. The lamps were actually there on the wall, their top had small, black roofs.

Right next to the stairs leading down to the pool side, there was another stairs to the left, leading to the right garden of the house. The whole garden had been pushed further down, thanks to the immense size of the pool. Of course, the left garden had been cut short and only its width increased, in order to let the expanded pool to have place and don't just leave it sticking out from the lot's area...

The gardens remained the same, with their messy appearance. Many kind of plants on top of each other, unkept and growing everywhere. It looked like a jungle!

Glancing above the yellow walls by the pool and through the green lattice above the garden's leaf covered walls, I spotted the rest of the hill, leading up to the top of the mountain. It was like the house was the only thing, that wasn't on the incline. The trees were fully visible after a certain heigh level, as the hill lead them higher and higher.

''After a few modification, this could turn into a dream house...'' I thought to myself, before taking the seat by the wall, which allowed me to have a clear sight of the massive pool. Well, I would have been able to enjoy the view, if not for Dhanthas, who decided to take the seat right in front of me, blocking my view...

Dhuradhan slid the door back to its place, before speaking up...

''I take it you questions?''

I took a moment to pounder over HIS question. I had a LOT of questions and I didn't know how much time we had, before I get pulled back to my body. I gathered as much and knew that I was alive. Only that place was what I found unfamiliar... well, as unfamiliar it was, due to the endless nature outside the house...

I decided to start with that. ''Where are we?''

''In your-''

''What kind of place is this?'' I corrected myself, motioning outside the walls and at the beautiful landscape around us, before Dhanthas could say something stupid. It was bound to be a joke, so I even looked up at Dhuradhan - who decided to just stand, instead of sitting - to avoid more misunderstandings...

''In the Dream World, of course.'' He started. ''When you had allowed us full control, the borders between your soul and body, had been crossed. That means, you will not stick to your body anymore, like you used to do. And while sleeping, instead of not having any control over your dreams, you are going to live your dreams!''

''Lucid dreaming?'' I questioned, finding his explanation really close to what I had in mind. Dhuradhan often lets ME find out the answer, instead of telling me clearly.

''Not quite.'' He raised a finger, thoughtfully and metaphorically stopping my wrong way of thinking. ''Well, it would be, but it is not. Since me and Dhanthas are able to be here and can bend the reality of this realm, is is more like a world. This is also where a soul takes over another, through defeating the owner of that Dream World.''

''Possession ability... I hope Markhar has no knowledge about this...'' I thought to myself, catching on what Dhuradhan had said.

''Hence the name-''

''Dream World!'' Announced Dhanthas, then he dismissed his cheerful expression, lowering his arms back to his lap. ''I saved you from looking stupid, you're fucking welcome...''

Coughing once, Dhuradhan drew my attention back to him, after living through Dhanthas' random outburst. ''When you had fallen asleep in the heat of the battle, in order to let us take control, you were tense and as expected... nervous.'' I tried to protest about that last word, but again, Dhuradhan raised his finger. ''I was inside you. I know what you felt and believe me, I was nervous myself. That battle was our first one and even if Dhanthas' excitement overcome his nervousness, he was! But this is something we should talk about later...''

''Letting us out is hard. You have to fall asleep and take one of our places in this body. From now on, you will be in this Dream World, when you fall asleep. This will be a useful feature, because as we are talking now, your body is regenerating itself. In other words, you are productive throughout twenty-four hours, non-stop... just what we need right now...''

''And what you have been bitching about for years now.'' Added Dhanthas, visibly getting impatient, which would have been normal in certain situations, but this one was not one of those...

''Any questions? No? Good, because I've been dying to share my thoughts with you! Prepare for a rant...''

Prepare? He sounded dead serious and rather pissed. He said it was a rant, but from Dhanthas' mouth, it was more worse than anyone else's. Anyway, I preapred for what he was about to say, even if I knew what he was going for...

He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it up and started, by leaning forward and looking me in the eye. ''What. The. Fuck. Were you thinking?'' He exhaled the smoke from inside his mouth, before continuing. ''Getting him know better? Safe approach? Energy saving? What were you trying to prevent, actually? His victory or some weak damage on your fragile body? Or you wanted to keep your hair clean? What the fuck?!''

''Where the Hell did you get that idea? Because of some Mortal, discovering magic? For fuck SAKE, why do you think The Light is for? They've managed to wash out the brains of the humans once. A single bitch wouldn't be a problem! Now look at what you had gotten into yourself! The world will be destroyed, thanks to a mad, old man!''

''And who got defeated by that shithead? YOU! You, The Avatar, The Balance, the Adam I have come like because of his style! It wasn't your style, IT WAS THE FUCKING MILITARY'S STYLE! You used to kill the enemy as fast as possible and didn't care about everything other than the enemy and you! You tried keeping the area intact, but the only thing you did was to destroy it! Not like I'm complaining, I really enjoyed that! But-'' He took a sip from his cigarette. ''it wasn't at the right time!'' And he exhaled it quickly, not savoring the taste of the smoke, like I - and from now on he - usually do. ''The fun starts when we KNOW that we will win... not when the bastard is standing properly...''

''And what this one said before.'' He pointed his cigarette at Dhuradhan, who remained standing in silence, patiently waiting for him to finish. Dhanthas took another sip from his smoke, this time, actually slowly and savoring the exiting smoke. ''Do you know what fear means?'' At my single twitch from my face muscles, he started nodding. ''Now you remember... you scare the enemy by your intimidating and never ending assaults. But no, you let HIM scare you! I know what you felt, while fighting. Yes, it was a new type of enemy and you got used to Light and Dark beings, but that doesn't fucking mean you have to freak out over and 'tatter'! He even left a mark on you!''

He pointed under his left eye and I brushed my fingers against that area on my face. And just as he said, I felt a cut under there, vertically going down to my chin and starting from the under side of my left eye. Instead of healing it up to make it disappear, I sighed and swallowed my anger...

''Yeah, wear it as a reminder.'' Dhanthas spoke up again, then proceeded after exhaling another amount of smoke. ''You were slow and careful. Not like the latter one was a bad idea, but you over did it. I know you haven't had the chance to take a break from keeping up the Balance. Hell, even your fun times with the female beings weren't that relaxing! But you know you have to adopt to this never ending circle. And by that, you NEED to be ready for anything, at anytime! You have the stamina, energy and WILL to never stop! You just forgot it in the middle of a fight...''

''I do what I want, because I can. I use the enemy's fear to defeat it. Fighting is second nature for myself, not something I have to think about...'' Dhuradhan added, repeating my own words and parting with Dhanthas too.

''The wise one says it all.'' Dhanthas glanced at Dhuradhan, after exhaling smoke, slowly. ''I mean, you've slain two Saint in a row! You sacrificed yourself without any second thoughts. And what you do against the 'tatter'? Hesitate for no reason...''

That rant wasn't that bad, after all. Actually, it served good for me! Back in my room, I had already pumped myself up and let out the stress I had consumed over the recent events. Even if it wasn't a proper method and even if there were more stress, Dhuradhan and mostly Dhanthas, helped me to let go of the rest of it and fully lift up my spirit. Also, they helped me realize my mistakes. As I started at them, my mind automatically carved the solutions inside my memory and it helped me to think clearer.

I just had to concentrate on the target, nothing else. Quick kill, less problem. I have no idea what came over me in that fight, but I knew my mistakes and that's what counted. And I knew that if I see Markhar again, I won't waste my time on killing him. No satisfaction over killing, even if he will be helpless against me... no mercy.

I let a small grin to come to my expression and spoke up. ''I have already gone through a spirit-lifting moment up there.'' I nodded upwards, motioning towards my room. ''Now that I know what to change about myself, there is only one thing left to do...''

Dhanthas started grinning and I noticed a slightly visible smile on Dhuradhan as well, as they already knew what I meant. ''And it is killing the Mage...''

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dhanthas and even Dhuradhan agreed with my plan. Kill the Mage. That was my plan and I was sure as Hell that I will kill him. Sweet revenge was what twirled around my head and after a while, I didn't even feel bad about what had happened. I'll be back at home, save my family and people and bring balance to my world. I was filled with adrenaline and I literally skipped down the path to the field, eager to finally do something against my shameful casualties.

Before Dhanthas could do a backflip into the pool, Dhuradhan told us to hurry to the field, where I woke up a few hours ago. He only said that we were running out of time in the Dream World and he wanted me to do something before I get back to my agony-filled body. Yes, I knew that I will be able to heal myself up a little bit, but Dhuradhan wanted me in a calmed state. As you know, my healing abilities weren't that good, so the pain would have remained inside me. Therefore, making focusing harder and we didn't need that at that moment...

''Now that we are at Celestia's place, the only thing we need to focus on is getting stronger. The Benders came useful for that...'' Dhuradhan explained, whilst walking down the hill and towards the field. ''In the past, you learned new abilities via experimenting and forcing them out from you. What I am going to teach you, is called: Tune Powers''

''This is the traditional method at making an ability into something, which comes naturally for you. Every being, who receives proper magic education, knows about this method and they learn new abilities by mentally or physically practicing these abilities. In your case, many ability has been forced inside you, so you were able to use them naturally rather quickly. This goes to your claws, Primary Armor, The Observer's Eyes of the Sinner and basic movement improving. Summoning your cross and scythe is still in progress of this 'Tuning'. You can do that easily, but not a hundred percent surely. We will work on those later, but right now, you have four... hmm, actually five new things to Tune.''

''I take it these five must be the powers of the Benders?'' I questioned, making sure that I actually know what he was talking about.

''Indeed, they are.'' He replied calmly, nodding to himself, which was strange in my opinion. I expected Dhuradhan to be expressionless and emotionless, but after seeing him and Dhanthas developing their own personality, I started to like them much better. Even if some of their personalities were mine...

''Five? He only consumed four Benders' abilities. Or you counted the tatter's seen abilities too? We can try improvising them too, but still...'' Dhanthas asked from behind me and still smoking his cigarette.

''In that case... six new abilities. But I was talking about five powers.''

''Keeps getting better...'' I muttered, nodding to myself out of cheerful mood. New powers were always good for me. Made my job easier...

''Air Bending, Water Bending, Earth Bending, Fire Bending. Four powers already. But first, you need to learn something else. And it is, becoming The Balance of the Nature...''

As he said that, we just arrived at the tree, where I had first woken up. Nothing changed since I had left that pleasant hill, only the brightness. The sun had settled behind the mountains a while ago and from behind the house, was rising the moon higher. The still remaining sun rays, hid half of the stars from the sky; the left side of that ocean, still sparkled slightly, as the twilight hasn't reached its end yet. The field itself was illuminated by the moon and stars, making the otherwise bright-green colors a little bit darker. Greenish-blue, I guess? Either way, it still looked gorgeous...

''Do what I had told you after your awakening. Practice it even more, until it becomes second nature for you. It will take days for you to reach such level, but before you wake up, at least you will have a head start and the pain will not be a bother for you to at least get back into that certain state.''

''So, all I have to do is practicing?'' I asked Dhuradhan, because again, he explained this much longer than it was needed. Not like I didn't catch what he meant by all of this, but making it clearer would have helped me to not think about anything else. After all, feeling the nature again, required no thoughts...

''Yes.'' He nodded. ''This is the mental way of Tuning Powers. But Elemental Bending? We will get to that later. The Benders learned this firstly and only after mastering this ability out, was the time to learn the Elemental Bending.

And just so you know... in order to get stronger quickly, from now on, I will be your trainer and Dhanthas the assistant.''

''Why can't I be the trainer?! I can motivate the shit out of him!'' Dhanthas cried out and even if he had a point, I trusted in Dhuradhan's knowledge more than Dhanthas' methods...

''Because you would teach him destruction, not proper usage of those abilities. And I have other plans for you...'' He told him, then turned his attention back to me. ''Since 'feeling the nature' requires focus, you can start practicing here. No disturbance, no influence from the outside world-''

And the outside world had to interfere at the PERFECT moment! As I got pulled towards the tree, I was pretty sure that I heard Dhanthas laughing. I didn't blame him, I would have let out a chuckle at this too, if not for the fact that I was flying towards a fucking tree!