His eyes finally opened to a place he never would have expected to be in. What lies before him is a dark and dimly lit room filled with pods on his left and right. He is unable to fathom if he is still dreaming or in reality at this moment, but one thing is for sure: he feels alive once again after being feared dead, like this whole nightmare was nothing but an illusion or a dream itself, but a very vivid and real one that could cost him his life.
Floating inside this green water-filled pod, he was surprised to know his breathing from the notion of being underwater yet able to breathe, unable to comprehend how it was even possible to begin with. It's really surreal to feel aware in such a strange place, thinking silently to himself what he should do next.
Looking down, his eyes widen from seeing Lilim, sleeping heavily with her back resting on the glass door, unaware that her own father is already awake from his long slumber, gazing upon her unconscious figure with guilt for causing her so much pain by making her worry over his well-being.
"Lilim..." His precious daughter is the only surviving family member he has. It's good to see her well again, and he feels relief wash over him with great joy at being able to see her again. Just by seeing her form, it's enough for him to confirm that he's not dreaming but, in fact, has woken up from a nightmare of sorts.
He hadn't forgotten about the strange entities he met in his dream—the peculiar Merdiana. That woman gave him bad vibes after they first met; however, she proved herself to be an honest and seemingly benevolent person for the demon. A suspicious creature, but definitely not an evil one. Strangely, Adam found himself wondering why she requested that he go to a red light district just to see her.
For what reason would he do that? More importantly, what kind of succubus is she?
These are probably questions for another time, but right now, something else matters more than pondering about other things he doesn't understand. Adam has grave fear of that entity resembling a dark version of himself.
That beast is something he couldn't predict in any shape or form. While he is relieved to know he's back to reality and in the living, somehow Adam knows there's something terrible lurking beyond the borders of his mind, and it's just waiting to be unleashed and torment him even further as it pleases.
It's a real headache to even keep thinking about these problems; the long sleep was just enough to relax his body but not enough to give his mental state some well-needed time off. If anything, his mind felt like boiling water, just waiting to explode all over him if need be. It would at least allow him to focus on one problem at a time without panicking about several others that were making themselves known and would have their own turn to gain.
Forget it; he needs to get out of here and see his loved ones again. The problem is, how can he get out of here? A door perhaps?
Nah, not good when there is no sign of a switch or button in this pod. Then again, he could try to bang on it with his hands in hopes of waking his daughter up or even yelling for her attention.
When he looked straight ahead, seeing a reflection of himself, memory was then triggered and brought forth of the moment he sacrificed himself in saving Alucard by moving in front of her before his neck was severely mutilated by that black direwolf, receiving a fatal injury from its sharp teeth and bite, piercing right through his skin as it caused him to rapidly bleed out before losing consciousness.
Having not forgotten the cries of her sobbing face, whether questioning himself if it was all worth it in the end to have his life almost taken away by simply injuring himself just to preserve their lives from being devoured by ravenous predators in their intent to kill her, he shook his head with a smile, already knowing the answer.
It's worth protecting the people he loves; that is how he knows his heart is true, following his own path in life as opposed to someone else's will for them. Maybe there are times when making the choice is hard and being determined to do what he believes is right is devastatingly hard, but having done the right thing is worth it in the end.
Just seeing them die again hurts him more than anything in this world; it's no wonder he's beginning to open up with other people, repairing his own broken heart and reconstructing what little bit of hope he had left to hold on to. Having this idea that maybe they could help him achieve salvation again, having another chance at living again, enjoying life with new-found friends and allies beside him
As his mind began to fade off into a sea of thoughts, Adam noticed his daughter waking up from her slumber, slowly standing up with a stretch and a loud yawn before turning around to face him, rubbing her right eye from drowsiness, seeing her father wide awake and looking back at her with surprise.
Her confusion over his awakening switched into pure happiness from seeing him alive, pounding the glass door with the intent of letting him out, desperate to break him free from the pod's confinement, and hugging him out of relief and bliss for not only surviving but still being together as father and daughter once more.
While watching her press on the glass window multiple times, hoping for some miraculous way to escape this pod, the glass door suddenly slid open, pushing her on the ground as the green water began pouring out from the now empty space where Adam was earlier, drenching Lilim on the floor.
However, he doesn't care about himself; no, Adam is more concerned if his daughter is in pain or has any injuries right now, fully stepping out in a hurry before kneeling down at her side, looking down with his hand over her back head, lifting it to make her face him once more, "Are you hurt?" His voice rang out loudly, and he panicked as much as he could while caressing her hair gently with his fingers.
After giving him a small nod of acknowledgement for getting his question answered quickly as she stands up herself before answering once more with a smile, "daddy..." the word made him tear up, standing up with water flowing down from his cheeks; this wasn't by tears of sadness but tears of joy because even after all that's happened to him and Lilim, nothing can erase the fact that they are still family and will always love each other unconditionally no matter what hardships they might face in their futures.
"Lililm..." He hugged her tightly and said, "I'm so, so sorry for leaving you." This is something he needed to say; no matter how many times they go through this scenario over and over again, Adam will always apologize for abandoning her again and again, no matter how many times she tells him it wasn't his fault or blame should be placed on him.
"Daddy?" She tilted her head, hugging back without hesitation or breaking the embrace between them, confused by what he said but happy to know he was alive in the end. It's like a miracle itself where both had been separated, as just when Adam had almost died from his encounter with that predator in black, he reappeared as if it were some kind of divine intervention by some deity that watched over their lives.
"Come on," removing himself from their embrace, "let's go meet our friends," his beaming smile towards her told of how everything turned out be okay in the end, if not still too early to say its alright. A long journey still lays ahead of them, prepared for anything that might happen to them on this dark world.
Everything is going to be fine in the end; their guiding light is still present and will never disappear so long as they keep trying hard to get their own happiness, no matter what happens or what obstacle tries to stop them. That's what this world is about—just going through every single thing and fighting against it until you realize their true selves.
It might take time, but at least they have each other to lean on when times are rough. Adam is willing to do anything to ensure Lilim a bright future and keep her from becoming the same as he once was—a selfish and weak-willed man that doesn't care about anyone but himself. It's obvious why his daughter loves him so much despite all the troubles they've had to endure. They had overcome those hurdles together as a father-daughter unit, simply by being there for each other during hard times in their lives.
Not only was his daughter there; his friends were too, ready to lend a hand and shoulder whenever he needed it. Although he couldn't forget about the company he spent time with while socializing with others, It's starting to feel nice for once to open himself to others, like a treasure waiting to be opened.
A sigh escaped from his lips before he motioned for her to come along, moving to the noisy hallway with her confused and concerned daughter behind her. Both could hear familiar people speaking with one another in loud voices at the very end of this hall, making him move faster than before as his legs carried him forward.
They finally reached the main lobby, where the spacious metal room was filled with Alucard and Garnet, including a mutant of some sort standing between them before they all turned in his direction. Their neutral faces turned to a look of surprise as the young mistress clenched her fists, looking down for a moment.
"Adam..." Alucard's trembling voice said, "ADAM!" Tearfully running up to him with red tears streaming down her eyes as she embraced tightly, he stared blankly for a while before gently wrapping his arms around her, soothingly patting her back with a chuckle of warmth. It feels good to see his friend again.
"Hello," A bit of laughter escaped from his lips. "Seems like I'm not dead." Whispering in-between chuckles with eyes gazing at the shocked Garnet and captivated mutant staring blankly at him, "it's good to you again, bug," told Adam, smiling at her servant, she looked back with a pout, crossing her arms in display of being offended.
"For the last time, I'm not a bug or insect!" Pulling her tongue out at him, the human always makes fun of her. She is still glad to see him again, even though he often teases her for fun.
Vesh approached him with a curious display, "So you must be Adam," stopping a few meters away from him, "I suppose you want an explanation of everything since you led up to this point?" His monotone voice almost resembled a question, but still held a certain aura of certainty and informality mixed with simplicity, as if he wasn't interested in Adam and simply asked for the sake of it.
Nodding with a tired smile, he whispered tiredly, Yeah, there are so many things to catch up on." If Adam had been able to choose which events would take place before his disappearance (or, more likely, death), he would have chosen a choice where he wasn't placed in a pod and was still occupied with his loved ones.
Regardless, it's good to be back and never let go of what's precious again, Adam thought. When someone truly loses something important, they can never truly escape from their past or who they were because those experiences left an indelible mark on them.
In Adam's case, it was the void that only his loved ones could fill because they were the most important thing in his life, and he didn't want to ever let go of that again.
