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Ax walked up to his bed and crawled under it.
"What the hell are you doing!?!," asked Ace, still confused.
Ax pulled aside his own dagger, his sword, and his gun.
"You''re fucking with me, right?" Ace asked Ax with a baffled look.
"About that... when I first went through the door, I thought the same thing really; turns out it''s real," Ax answered.
"And I didn''t even mention the elves and dwarves in the other world," Ax finished.
Ace was staring at Ax''s weapons on the ground when he looked back up at Ax.
"I''m sorry, what?" Ace asked him, his voice going an octave deeper.
"Oh boy... you might need to sit down for this," Ax gently asked Ace.
***
Half an hour has passed since
"So... you''re telling me a Welsh guy called you Indian?" Ace asked Ax, with a slight hint of rage in his voice.
"Why is that what you focus on?" asked Ax.
"Anyway, so what now? Do we tell the rest of the band?" asked Ace.
"No, I''m against that idea," Ax said sternly.
"Why not?" Ace asked Ax.
"Well, it turns out I''m the only one who can come back after dying. I can throw myself at the monsters over and over again. You, however, most likely can''t, considering that you have perfect aim all of a sudden, just like how I''m basically immortal all of a sudden," Ax explained, his voice wavering.
"So, now what do you want to do?" Ace asked Ax with a curious tone.
"I want to go back to ''Nexus.'' I don''t know why, but I want to keep going, explore the other world, and see what I can find," he said.
"For example, in that drawer is a golden apple—don''t eat it. In that drawer is a golden apple that heals all injuries and fills you up when you eat it; it apparently never spoils. Something about being ''Ieunn''s golden apple,''" Ax finished.
"Wait, wait, wait, Ieunn? That''s a Norse goddess, Ax!" Ace exclaimed to Ax.
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Ax''s eyes widened; why didn''t he think of looking it up?
"Wait... I was—Norse gods are real? No, no way, right? That''s impossible," Ax muttered as he was grasping his chin, thinking about it deeply.
"I just saw my best friend die and come back to life, killing a small army of undead skeletons," Ace explained.
"Though I can''t confirm it... for obvious reasons, but that would explain why there were dwarves and elves in ''Nexus.'' The word nexus itself just means a connection between things..." Ace explained as he was sitting down on the floor, lost in thought.
"It would also explain the... ''Oni''-looking monster and the... samurai, right? Maybe there are more myths and pantheons behind these doors," Ace finished.
"You have a point, Ace. I''m going to go back to the doors tomorrow," Ax told him.
"You''re going in there alone? Let me come with you," Ace asked Ax.
"Of course I''m going alone! You''re not coming with me." Ax raised his voice in a commanding tone.
"I already dragged you into this; considering how many times I died, I''m not letting you die along with me. I can actually afford to lose a few lives!" Ax exclaimed to Ace.
"I know it hurts every time you die; it has to! Let me help you; you already saw how helpful I was even though I was scared shitless. It''ll be faster, and you''ll reach Nexus that much faster," Ace explained to Ax, trying to entice him into letting Ace tag along.
"Absolutely not!" Ax declined his offer.
"What do you even have to gain from this?" Ax asked Ace.
"What do you have to gain from this? Ax?" Ace asked Ax, gagging him.
"You yourself don''t have any valid reason as to why you want to keep going; you said it yourself. Let me help you; my power may not make me immortal, but it does make me a hell of a lot more lethal, and it''s not like you don''t have weapons to spare." Ace was adamant in going through the doors with him.
"I''ll... do it on one condition," Ax started to bargain with Ace.
"Yeah? Anything." Ace was ready for any condition.
"If I see you get hurt or get in my way, I''m kicking you out of the doors," Ax explained to Ace.
"That''s... actually perfect!" Ace exclaimed excitedly.
"Why are you so happy?" asked Ax, confused at his excitement.
"No reason," Ace replied.
"That''s a half-assed answer." Ax looked at Ace unamused.
"But whatever," Ax said as he threw a blanket and a pillow at Ace.
"Get some sleep; long day tomorrow," Ax grumbled.
"And put the gear back under the bed," Ax finished.
"Alright, sure," Ax complied, noting Ax''s amusement.
Ace kicked the guns and swords and daggers under the bed.
Ace then winced at the realization that he kicked loaded guns.
"Hey! Watch it!" Ax exclaimed, noting the loud thud.
"Oops'', Ace apologized as he set the blanket down and put the pillow over it.
To finally sleep the night off, after the first opening gig in a while, and whatever the hell was behind that door.
***
It was morning.
"I''m ordering pizza," Ax said as he was brushing his teeth.
"First thing in the morning? Really?" Ace asked him, making fun of him a bit.
Ax turned to stare at him, leaning his head out of the doorframe of the bathroom.
"..." Ax stared at him.
"Yeah... I''ll have pepperoni and cheese," Ace replied to him.
Ax went back to brushing his teeth, going through his phone with his free hand.
***
"Ready?" Ax asked Ace.
Ace fastened a katana, a dagger, and a gun to his belt loops.
"Don''t bother using your phone in there; there''s no signal," Ax informed Ace, who was now wearing his boots, leather jacket, and the aforementioned gear.
"Alright, sure," Ace replied to him.
Ax turned around and faced the apartment door. "Oh, and before we go in, don''t die." Ax gave Ace a final warning.
A black door appeared in front of Ax.
Ace walked up to the black door and tried opening it.
"Yeah, yeah, I''ll try not to," Ace replied to Ax.
The door wasn''t opening. "The fuck?" Ace cursed at himself as he was struggling to open the door.
"Wait, scoot over; let me try." Ax walked up to the door.
It opened.
"Ace, it''s open. Follow me," Ax commanded Ace.
Ax walked in through the door; Ace followed suit. As they closed the door behind them, it slowly vanished from the Ax''s room.
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