Chapter 2 - Hazel Eyes

When Terallian was younger, he had a one-shot run in with a girl. The boy-meets girl cliche attacked him and he soon found himself in love and lost, as the girl never appeared again... Until now.

I awoke to the sound of a new morning " the sound of Griffith snoring " and raised my arms out of the covers to rub my eyes. In the instant they left the warm sanctum of the layers of blanket, an icy chill made its move, biting my skin with teeth of frost.

“Cold!” I squealed aloud, certain I would awake Griffith with my voice that high.

There was a rustling of sheets, and to my right, the boy stuck his head out of the covers and froze instantly.

“C-C…C…” He stuttered, teeth chattering.

I nodded slowly in agreement, no more words being needed to explain our situation.

Winter had struck.

So soon? We must have started… Oh.

“It was the end of November for us…” I whispered, wrapping myself tightly with the blankets. “December is winter for most places.”

Griffith crawled back under the covers, vanishing from sight.

I sighed lightly and did the same.

The two of us lived in the same town in Australia, where summer was a hot and winter was warm. For us, December to February was summer, whereas for the rest of the world, it was winter… And this was a whole new kind of winter.

Not once in my life had I ever seen snow. I dragged myself towards the edge of the bed, poking my head out while still under the covers to peer out the window. There wasn’t any snow yet, but with these kinds of temperatures, there had to be soon.

“O-oh, Tera!” Came a voice from across the room.

“What’s up?” I asked back, craning my head to the ball of sheets that housed my friend.

Griffith emerged from the covers, sitting with his legs crossed still fully clothed, like me. I glanced down at my wrinkled tunic and simply shrugged.

“I-I… Promised someone, I’d meet up… W-with them.” He said in a quiet voice. “T-today.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Griffith said nothing as the smack realization hit me.

“Oh… I don’t mind coming, if it’s just one person.” I said with a smile.

“It’s a girl.” He added.

“Not a problem?” I questioned, as if he was declaring me to be some kind of social recluse.

Oh, wait. I am a social recluse.

“S-sure?” He asked, looking slightly concerned.

I nodded.

“Sure. I don’t know why but… In this world, I don’t feel quite as….” I started, voice trailing off. “Unless it’s that you don’t want me to come?”

“N-no! I was h-hoping you would… I-I just wanted to be sure.”  He said, quickly raising his hands in defence.

I crept out from the warmth of the covers, doing my best to embrace the cold air as I shut my eyes. Standing up, eyes closed, I scanned my inventory for any extra clothing, finding a scarf and…

“Whoa…” I muttered to myself in surprise.

“W-what?” Griffith asked, as his voice rose, standing up.

I opened my eyes and looked across to the now standing blonde boy with an, incredibly rugged mind you, ‘ponytail.’

“I never checked, but I gained two items from when…”

“The t-two the other day?” Griffith asked.

“Yeah. A scarf and… Well, see for yourself.” I said, closing my eyes and equipping the second item.

Griffith’s eyes widened as a necklace fell around my neck in a green glow, fixating itself in position as the vibrant colour faded.

“I-I’ve never seen that language … W-what is it?” He questioned, straightening his clothing and trying to brush out the wrinkles running down his trousers. My mind flashed back to my own dishevelled clothes.

“Dude. It’s Chinese, how have you not…” I sighed harshly. “It’s the same as the Japanese kanji.”

He stared at me, clueless.

“W-what…”

“Fire. It means fire.”

The necklace around my neck had a thin chain, with a tiny symbol in the middle, the kanji for “fire”, where the two chain ends met.

“He had it around his neck… I wonder why it was something like this…” I muttered.

“D-do you want to keep it?”

I paused for a moment, thinking. This pendant was a symbol of not fire for me, but a symbol of death.  A constant reminder that I’d taken a life. But, also… It was a token of that boy, and if I let it go, he’d be gone from existence forever, all but my mind. No matter one’s actions, they’re still a person.

I should keep it.

“Mm.” I nodded, adding nothing more.

Griffith smiled gently, showing his support to my decision.

“We should get moving, anyway. What time are you meeting this girl?” I said with a suggestive wink.

“N-not like that, you idiot. We’re m-meeting at…”

The half-asleep boy effortlessly clicked his left thumb and middle finger, making it look easy for him. In an instant, a white light swept over his eyes. I was slightly surprised, as I’d never seen someone use the menu up close before.

It was apparently only the people using their menu, regardless of the method, that could see it. There was an option to bring it out in front of you, but it seemed everyone had access to privacy in these terms, not just those using retina…

“W-well. Around n-nine or so, b-but…”

“But?”

“I-It’s five past nine…”

For the love of…

“Well shut up and let’s get moving!” I yelled, darting back towards my bedside and grabbing the blade from the floor.

I fastened the weapon to my belt side, and closed my eyes, entering my inventory. Ripping through the options, I swept my eyes across the menus to the scarf I’d gained, equipping it in a hazy green glow as I opened my eyes.

Griffith brushed his clothes down one last time and headed for the door. I followed suite, trailing him as he exited the room and made his way down the stairs. The bottom floor was littered with unconscious players, most having passed out drinking their worries away. A few were still awake, twirling their alcoholic beverages melancholically.

A sorry lot, that’s for sure.

I took the lead, opening the door for Griffith as he stepped out into the shrouded light of the morning. I followed him right after, leaving the warmth of the indoors.

In the instant I left the tavern, I was hit by a brisk wind, causing me to bury my head down into my scarf against the bitter cold.

“Dude!” I shouted into the thick, warm material. “Was it this cold yesterday?”

Griffith shook his head, sticking his hands into his pockets.

“N-not even close! T-the weather system is…” His voice trailed off.

“Different?” I asked.

“Different.” He responded with a smile.

I felt slightly guilty for having a scarf while he had nothing, but it only took me a moment to remember we had someone to meet.

We stepped off the front step of the tavern, turning left and heading in the direction of the main street. Heading left once more, we started making our way down the long, dirt road that ran through the centre of Orvan.

The wind continued its onslaught, now striking at us fiercely from behind in a windy haze. Craning our necks down into our clothing, we pressed on along the road. I didn’t know where, exactly, we were going, or who we were meeting, or why we were meeting them or-

Good God, I have no idea what we’re even doing.

I shrugged, catching Griffith’s attention, and slowed down a bit so I was following him. We continued down the street for a few minutes, and the wind slowly died down. I wondered where the source of the wind was, considering the giant, towering walls surrounding Orvan had to keep some of it out. I concluded it was another minor flaw in the system, and turned my attention forward once more.

Just more reason to be sure this isn’t real li-

“Oiiii!” Yelled a girl’s voice from across the street to our right.

I sighed, not turning my head, until I noticed Griffith pause and wave across the street.

“Griffith!” The voice yelled.

That voice…

“Takita!” Griffith yelled back, instantly catching my attention.

There’s a phenomenon that time flows in various rates to suit a situation. In an emergency, the adrenaline in your body combined with that allows you to perform incredible tasks. Then there are those times you just want time to flow faster, to escape a horrid situation.

And then, finally, there was now. Slower than ever before, I turned my head to the girl across the road.

I looked at her.

She looked at me.

Unbelievable.

“Takita…” I whispered to myself.

Who was Takita you might ask? To explain that, I’d have to go from the beginning.

Before Esaria Global, my life was ordinary. I had a few friends in school, but I mostly spent my time with Griffith, who had been my best friend since we both started high school. The two of us weren’t very popular, nor were we really disliked by anyone, and so we kept to ourselves.

But I was never satisfied with the ordinary. It was never enough. And so I took a few leaps. I befriended people some might never had even taken a second look at. I wound up in difficult situations.

That might sound like your average, imbecilic high school student, but I always took it to the next level. That tiny bit further that I never should have gone.

One situation, being the most drastic, was when I met the girl standing across the street from me as we speak. We were both scared, both afraid of the consequences of our actions. We fled the scene together, horrified and scared. The night was a haze, but I remember her hand being in my own for the most of it. She gave me a fake name, and I gave one back. I was excited. This wasn’t ordinary at all, this was different. Something new.

“Takita.” The beautiful, brown haired girl had said, with glistening, dark eyes of hazel. There was a flash in those eyes, a flash of danger and desire.

“Terallian.” I told her. My pen name, and a name I used everywhere online I could.

I wasn’t sure what interested me more, though. The chaos this girl would bring with her, and the countless events that I’d experience… Or that little feeling that sent my heart aflutter whenever I looked her in the eye. Both, maybe, were the reason for what I did next.

I kissed her. It was in a moment of weakness, all the emotions built up just pushed into one, small kiss. And she kissed back.

When we stopped, we just looked at each other for a while, and in that moment we both were thinking the same thing.

But life doesn’t give you what you want. No, it rips the velvet carpet out from under your feet, and fills your ears with the sirens of a dozen police cars filling the area.

We started running as fast as we could, straight across the fields of dead grass and hay bales. I was certain it was all over the moment the car lights were on us. But Takita had other ideas. She gripped my hand tighter, and we disappeared into the trees across the field. The area was dangerous, littered with snakes and spiders. We crashed through webs and tripped in the undergrowth, eventually coming to the edge of a stream. The police were on foot, flashlights scattered through the trees. She turned as we paused at the edge of the cold water.

It was dark, but I could still see those hazel eyes.

The girl kissed me once more, catching me off guard. It was the last time I ever felt her warm, rosy lips.

“Hold your breath.” She whispered in a serene voice.

She hugged me, and we silently plunged into the ice water.

It was beyond freezing, colder than anything I’d ever experienced. I held my breath tight, and held Takita close.

The police came to the edge of the stream, their torches flickering over us, but after a few minutes, the lights faded, and so did they.

If they’d taken another second, I’d have died from the lack of air. But it didn’t take long for them to leave, deeming the stream too difficult to cross.

We burst out of the water when we were sure they were gone, gasping for air. Clawing our way to the bank, we shivered in the cold night air as I hugged her close.

Our clothes were, needless to say, completely soaked. Transparent, even. I could feel her warmth against me, and I knew my cheeks were glowing red.

For a few minutes, as we sat in silence, the same thought crossed our minds.

We knew we had little other option but to undress and rid our clothes of the water that filled each dot of fabric.

It took me a few moments to say the words.

“No peeking.” She whispered.

I could feel my heart beating furiously in my chest as I twisted the water out of my T-shirt. I resisted with all my might the temptation to turn around and look upon the pinnacle of beauty itself.

When we’d both finally finished, I was certain I was going to pass out. My head felt light, and everything had a hazy feel to it. Somehow, some way, I kept my stature, and we headed out of the bushland.

We walked in silence as she directed me to where she lived. The walk was surprisingly short, and eventually we arrived at a small house, not far from where we’d actually been. The lights weren’t on, but the door was unlocked, and she left my sight through the front door. I barely scrapped under the curfew to make it home.

After that, I planned to brush it all under the rug and be done with it, to wipe that night from existence. But I knew better than to fool myself. I wanted something more. I desired something beyond the ordinary. When the police visited our house, my heart stopped, and I considered climbing out my window, and just running away on my own. But I had to find her, that mysterious girl from nights ago.

So I snuck out. I fled from my house the night the police had come again, knowing well they knew the truth with the sirens echoing through the suburbs. I ran faster than I had before, fleeing into the night, my only goal to find Takita and escape. Escape from what, though? My life, my future? It didn’t matter; all I wanted was to get away.

It didn’t take me long to trace my steps back to the house we parted ways. The only problem?

It was vacant. Not even a, ‘for sale’ sign out the front. It was completely abandoned. No car tracks, nothing. She’d lied about living there. I searched the house top to bottom to find nothing. She was gone without a trace. I returned home with a pitiful excuse to tell my parents, and my life went on. My boring, dull and ordinary life.

That was two years ago.

And here she was. Looking no different in this world than she had the real one. Those hazel eyes still sparkling with dangerous intent. There was no mistaking it was her, no matter the time that had past. Her looks were etched into my soul, and I couldn’t shake her stare even if I wanted to.

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, but no words came out. What did I want to say to her, even?

We continued our stare-off until Griffith interrupted.

“Do you two… Know each other?” He questioned.

Yes. This is the girl. The girl I fell in love with, Griff. The one I never told you about. The one who made it all different.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Takita shot first.

“No. I’ve never seen him before in my life.” She lied.

Like ice daggers through the heart.