Chapter 3 - Unexpected Allies

With his first ever true love a disgruntled opponent, Terallian's struck down hard with his hopes lower than ever... Until they meet the band of three. The three that change the game forever.

Nothing quite prepares you for the feeling of your heart twisting, contorting into broken shards, mere remnants of what it once was. No matter what way the words are uttered, the result is the same. She could have said it any other way, but the ice daggers would have stabbed me just as hard.

“O-oh. Sorry, I just assumed…” Griffith stuttered.

“Yeah, you did.” I muttered, turning my gaze away from the piercing eyes across the street.

Had it all been a dream?

The mere thought of what occurred that night seemed to far-fetched for any reality I was used to. Like something out of a love story, a boy-meets-girl cliché not even the simplest of minds would be entertained by. But that’s what made it different, right? It was the fantasy made real, the story brought to life. It was short, sweet, and coldly abrupt. Over before it even started, and what did I have to show for it?

A second chance. Whatever God rules this world, whatever person created it… Thank you.

“Say, Griffith, have you been to J.J.’s coffee shop before?” Takita asked in a curious voice, completely disregarding my presence henceforth, having already crossed to our side of the street.

“U-Uhh… N-No?” Griffith stuttered, shooting a concerned across at me and my silence. “Why?”

“Perfect place, then! Come on, I’ll show you and your friend.” She answered back with an innocent smile.

Friend, huh…

My ears pricked up at her acknowledging me, but I’d prefer to be completely unnoticed than rendered a stranger by that girl.

“S-sure. Tera, fine with y-you?” Griffith asked, gesturing across to me.

“Yeah.” I answered, not another word to be breathed.

Why did I say yes? How much easier it would have been to have faked sick… Well, that wouldn’t quite slip by Griffith now, would it?

I smiled a half-hearted smile across to Takita, who took no notice, and instead pointed straight down the street.

“It’s literally just over there. Let’s go.” She said in a confident voice, turning sharply and marching in the direction of the coffee shop.

The brunette girl’s hair drifted in the wind as she took no notice of the cold. As she walked, Griffith and I shivered gently, keeping our faces buried deep into our clothing. I was thankful for the scarf I’d acquired, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling of guilt the persisted since the day before.

Did I have the right to take a life? Well, no. No one really does, but were there any alternatives?

Alright, alright. What would you have done differently if you had the chance to repeat it? Well, I would have… Uh. I’d have… I could have, I mean. I could have… D****t.

“Tch.” I muttered, kicking a pebble, sending it soaring towards Takita.

My heart froze a moment as the small rock missed her by an inch, and I could feel my lungs sinking into my chest as she glanced over at it as it rolled to a stop in the middle of the street. She hesitated, and I expected her to turn around. Turning her attention back to the street, she shrugged and ignored it.

“S**t.” I whispered into my scarf, taking care not to kick any more inanimate objects along the way.

We continued on walking for a few more minutes, and it didn’t take long for me to make out the sign on the coffee shop. If you could see tension, a thick mist would have already consumed us three, a silence encasing us without mercy. I struggled to find something to say to break the silence, quickly thanking the sign for its words of wisdom.

“J.J.’s coffee shop, huh?” I laughed. “Griffith, you remember Jarlas Jorgan, right? My brother’s friend?”

“T-the hell kind of a name is that?” He frowned.

“J.J.”

“O-Oh. Ohhhh, r-right, right.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Think it’s him?”

I snorted lightly. “Dude, you know how many J.J’s there are in the world?”

“T-this world, or…”

“Nobody uses their real names here, Griffith.” Takita spoke up, turning her upper body slightly to talk. “They’re overrated, anyway.”

Overrated? Was that some kind of hint at me?

“And besides. We only share our real names with people we trust, right?” She cruelly added.

Ouch.

I decided to tune out of anything she said for a while, which was fairly easy, as after that we walked in pretty much total silence, Griffith’s occasional comments aside. Not long after, we were at the front of the shop, and the two headed inside as I paused a moment, taking a deep breath.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to either of them �" no, I wanted to talk my heart out to both of them right now �" but I could hardly bring myself to do it. Something was subtly holding me back. “It’s dangerous!” it screamed, but I shut it out, and stepped through the door open door into the warmth of the shop.

As the overwhelming aroma of coffee snuck its way into my nose, I hesitated, taking in my surroundings �" the sight, the smell �" before a strange feeling of déjà vu hit me. One of the downsides to the town we lived in was the lack of commercial input, and so most of our stores were locally owned. One familiar one being a coffee shop I used to frequent.

But… This looked and smelled nothing alike. Even so, it was a familiar and welcome feeling, and so I followed Takita, who led us to a small table. It was one of those old-fashioned tea-tables you’d see in an Asian country. In fact, it took me a moment to realize the whole store had an Asian theme �" minus the name, mind you. The tables were low, and cushions surrounded them. There was, of course, a bar-like front counter which a few people at on stools. There were three tough looking players sitting in a group of three at the bar, chatting loudly and laughing.

“Go ahead and sit down.” Takita smiled at Griffith, sitting cross-legged on the floor cushion.

Griffith and I exchanged uncomfortable glances, looking down at the seating available. The two of us were reasonably tall for our ages, Griffith being around 6’5, myself 6’1, so sitting was, needless to say, a bit awkward. Nevertheless, we both sat down as Takita raised an arm to signal the waitress.

A young girl in a kimono (traditional attire) approached, with a small notebook and pencil. She had her hair tied up in a black ponytail, and looked stunning in her colourful outfit. It took me a few moments to work out if she was an NPC or a player, but my suspicions were confirmed when she spoke up, declaring herself a player.

“Takita! A pleasure to have you visit again, and with friends too! May I take your order today?” The black haired girl asked in a pleasant voice.

I continued to eye her up and down; curious as to how the shopkeeper could have acquired such an incredible waitress. As I observed, a sharp pain crashed into my right shin, as Takita’s boot kicked with force.

“Ach�" H-Hey�"“

“Hey Mary! Just the usual for me, thanks.” Takita started, acting as if nothing had happened. She turned to the two of us. “And you two? It’s on me, by the way, so feel free.” She finished, shooting me a fowl look with a pretty smile.

“Now that’s nothing!” A man shouted from across the room, catching my attention. It was one of the three we saw as we walked in, arguing about something trivial.

You’ve gotta be kidding me…

“Of course. I apologize for the racket. And you, sir?” Mary asked Griffith with a photo quality smile.

I silently clutched my shin as Griffith ordered, turning my attention away from the brutes at the counter.

“H-Hi… I-I’d like… A C-Café Latte.” He stuttered, smiling at Mary, more nervous than I’ve ever seen him.

“Café Latte for the gentleman with the brown eyes… And what would you like today?” She said in a sing-song voice, turning to me.

“I’d like… café au lait, please.” I asked in my best French accent.

Griffith giggled slightly under his breath and I nudged him with my elbow.

“Parlez-vous français?” She asked, causing Griffith to immediately cease laughing.

I silently considered my options on whether to say yes or no in french, as to what would be easier. I spoke multiple languages, as it was my only real hobby, and the one thing that opened up so many cultures to me. French was the first one I’d learned.

I shot a look at Takita who looked mighty unimpressed.

“Yes, a bit.“ I lied in French, knowing more than just ‘a bit’.

”Then, a café au lait for the cute one with the blue eyes…” She whispered with a wink.

I blushed slightly, and burying my face into my scarf, pretending I didn’t know what she meant. As the waitress walked off with a smile, disappearing behind the counter, another kick from Takita under the table had me biting my scarf to keep from shouting.

“Takita, what the hell?” I asked, keeping my voice to a whisper.

“Nothing.” She replied, leaning her chin against her hand and averting her eyes.

“A-Are you two… Okay?” Griffith asked in a concerned voice.

“Fine.”

“Fine.” We both replied simultaneously.

The blonde beside me sighed hard, and instead turned Takita and started talking. I was irritated, not at him, but at her.

What was her problem, what did I do wrong? And most importantly, what does she want me to do?

I zoned out, tuning my ears to a different frequency, listening in on the three men sitting at the counter. They were more than loud enough for me to hear so I could make out everything they were saying. Most of it was utter crap, bragging over armour they’d bought with money they acquired from literally the starting funds. Realizing how small the amount of money we started with was, it made me think for a moment.

Was this store owned by an NPC?

Perhaps that’s why Mary was able to work here, having accepted some kind of default offer or whatnot from the NPC owner, and being paid to complete objectives like… Collecting orders?

“That blade is nothing Curtis!” The largest of the men, whom I’d overheard to be Phoenix or something, shouted at his teammate next to him.

“Oh yeah?” Curtis replied, putting down his coffee.

Grown men arguing while drinking coffee… You think they’d be at a tavern or something.

“Yeah. I bet the Gate Boss has a better weapon than that.” Phoenix shouted.

“Well then let’s take him on?” The third man said in a much calmer voice, the one without a name.

There was an abrupt sound as Takita placed her coffee down on the table, stood up, and marched over to the three men.

Oh here we go…

“You three. Did you mention the Gate Boss just now?” She asked, a hand on her hip.

Phoenix, Curtis and the third turned around on their seats, unimpressed looks on their faces before they saw her beauty.

Something about the three grovelling over her looks pissed me off, and I immediately stood up and walked over. Griffith sighed once more behind me, and followed along.

“So what if we did, pretty girl?” Phoenix snorted. “What, you want to fight it?” He laughed as the others joined in. It was like watching a cutscene from a movie unfold before me.

Takita didn’t waver, her eyes didn’t flicker, and her stance didn’t chance.

Well… S**t.

It was in that moment I knew, no matter what I did now, I was going to be fighting the Gate Boss.

“You’re serious?” The nameless one asked.

I walked across to stand by her side.

“First off.” I started. “Her name isn’t pretty girl, it’s Takita.”

The three turned their, now disgruntled, faces to me.

“Second, she’s dead serious. You cowards up for it?” I pushed, playing the brave game. I didn’t know who I was trying to make a point to, knowing full well Takita wouldn’t care for it at all�"

I turned to my left to see her hazel eyes shimmering at me. She was frozen in her gaze, but quickly realized I was looking at her and turned back to the three. I looked behind me to see Griffith with his face buried in his hand.

I nodded at him as he looked up.

He shot me a look, “Really?”

I nodded once more and he just shrugged.

“Y-yeah. What he said.” Griffith added as Takita just stood silently.

The three exchanged glances before the one without a name stood up.

“We’d be delighted. My name’s Zephyr.” The clean one, now with a name, said.

The other patrons in the shop just looked awkwardly as our bundle of six took up most of the shop. I peered around the room, and realized that despite the cold, outside was the best place to continue.

“Shall we?” I asked, gesturing for the door.

They nodded, and Takita unfroze, walking first out the door, shooting me yet another fowl look. The others filed out one by one, and as Griffith left last, I quickly rushed to the counter, taking out enough coins to pay for our drinks we never received, before following along.

And here I thought she was treating us…

I stretched as my brittle, half-frozen fingers, and rubbed my hands together before shoving them into my pockets and stepping out the door, taking and releasing a deep, cold breath.

“Name’s Curtis. You know Zephyr, and this is Phoenix.” Curtis said, introducing the group. He, and they, seemed unfazed by the cold climate.

“Phoenix. F-E-N-Y-X.” Fenyx said in a brute voice. “Don’t you dare spell it any other way.”

Oh. Whoops.

Zephyr was the coolest of the group, and the oldest. He had to be at least twenty years old, and had incredible equipment. I daren’t ask where he acquired it, but he donned a heavy blue armour plate covering his entire torso, minus the right side, and a blue scarf to match. The scarf covered the unarmoured side, while his other shoulder was clad in a two-piece pauldron and neck guard. He had a green shirt underneath, blue arm guards, and no weapons.

There was a faint green glow as a spear appeared in front of him horizontally. He clutched it, twirled it, and sheathed it on his back. It stretched from a bit above the ground to the top of his head diagonally.

Scratch that, he had a spear.

The three started talking to Takita and Griffith, as I continued my observations.

His hair was a messy brown with blonde streaks. It reminded me slightly of pudding, but I chose not to say that. He had tan skin and brown eyes, like Griffith’s, though not quite as tantalizing as Takita’s.

Curtis wasn’t quite as stunning, with curly, brown, and borderline mop hair. He wore a thick jacket, with a pair of leather shoulder pieces, one on each side, which protected just halfway up his neck. He had rusty greaves on, that looked worn from countless fights, which made it obvious they were pre-owned by an NPC. Aside from his wrist guards, he had no other armour, but had a moderately large axe dangling from his right side. He had to be around seventeen.

The group continued to chat away to each other, with Takita and Griffith, as I continued to silently looked over the last one.

Fenyx, the last one, was a grubby, unshaven mess. His spiky hair was hidden by a bandanna, but his face had a certain… attractiveness to it. He had the look of someone who’d seen a thousand battles, and lived to tell about it. Like some old sergeant from a war movie. His hair, judging by his stubble and eyebrows, was ginger, and he worse a leather chest piece but no more armour than that. By both of his sides was a rusty scimitar, a dual-wielding player. Fenyx looked worn out, but despite his appearance, not as old as Zephyr. I’d have guessed around nineteen.

How people fight in such gear is a wonder to me… And with two weapons?

At that moment, I noticed that Takita, Griffith and I had no armour what so ever, unless you counted leather boots as plausible protection in combat. Nevertheless, Griffith and I fought well from years of fencing, so I had no choice but to hope Takita could do the same. If anything, she could scare the boss away by screaming or stun him with her beauty.

Not that I’d be particularly okay with that.

“So Kuma and Azu…” Takita said as I focused back on the conversation.

“Kuma and Azuto.” Zephyr assisted, obviously referring to two players.

I scratched the back of my head and summoned the courage to ask. As I took a breath to speak, I noticed Griffith’s expression change when he heard the word Kuma.

“S-Sorry, I wasn’t listening. Who are they?”

“Friends of mine. They’ll help for sure… Tell you what; I’ll go grab them both now. Wait here.” Zephyr replied, shooting me a friendly thumbs up.

“Ah, yeah. Sure.” I smiled back with my eyes closed, still scratching the back of my head.

Zephyr turned the corner of the coffee shop, and jogged across the street, heading in the direction of one of the side streets.

I nudged Griffith beside me.

“So what’s bothering you?” I asked.

“H-Huh? W-What do you m-mean?” He stuttered, caught by surprise.

“I know you better than that. Kuma, who is he?”

Griffith had an uneasy look on his face. When I say uneasy, I mean unusually uncomfortable for him. His resolve is tough, and I rarely see Griffith bothered by a person. It was, needless to say, concerning at the least.

“Trouble.” He said, not a stutter in his speech.

The word caught Takita’s attention, and she left Curtis and Fenyx to continue their bragging as she walked towards us.

“Trouble?” She asked, pausing with her hands behind her back.

Griffith nodded.

“Yeah, the Kuma guy.” I added for him. “What exactly’s wrong, Griff?”

I became more and more concerned as the blonde’s face remained uneasy. He paused, opening and closing his mouth to speak.

“W-Well. J-Just hope to hell you don’t s-see.” He said in a serious voice.

I left it at that, and turned to immediately see three�"no, four people coming around the corner of the side street. One I immediately identified as Zephyr, two were likely Azuto and Kuma, and the third�"

“A little girl?” I said, surprised.

Curtis and Fenyx followed our gaze and started waving.

Curtis folded his arms in front of him.

“Of course, that’s Senji. Couldn’t shake the kid off Azuto even if you tried.”

“We’re not… Bringing a kid, right?” I laughed awkwardly.

The silence was frightening, and I could only hope they were joking.

The group of four approached, and I could make out the three new additions. A young black haired boy named Azuto, around the age of only fourteen or so, with a red and white checkered shirt covered in a leather body armour piece. He had a long sword strapped to his left side, and looked like a heroic young boy. Attached to his side was an, also black haired, young girl. She was short, but seemed to be around twelve, maybe thirteen. She was adorable, but surprisingly had a small dagger hilt protruding from behind her back, like that of an assassin.

Beside the two was Zephyr and Kuma. Kuma, wearing black clothing and leather pieces of armour all across his body, looked like some kind of… Well, I couldn’t find a word to describe him. Across his back, the same as Senji, was a short tanto blade, like a samurai would have. To match his getup was a katana attached firmly on his belt. He had two weapons, like Fenyx, who was the only other person I’d met with such equipment. The one most noticeable feature of Kuma, though, wasn’t his clothing or weapon. It was his hair �" pure, white locks the drifted lazily just down to his neck.

“Yo! Azuto, how’s it going buddy?” Fenyx shouted across the street as Curtis continued to stand with his folded arms.

I shivered a bit, wondering how everyone around me, minus Griffith, could withstand the cold.

“Fenyx, Curt, good to see you again big guys!” Azuto yelled, waving as the group approached.

With Senji clutching his waist, Azuto walked over to Fenyx and casually fist bumped him.

“How’s it goin’ boss?” He smiled. An honest smile. The black-haired teen turned to Takita, Griffith and I. “Who’re these lads and lasses?”

“Mates of ours. Zephyr told you what’s up?” Fenyx answered as Curtis bent down to greet the young girl attached to Azuto’s leg. She shyly crept around, now hiding behind Azuto’s back, and Curtis just laughed a hearty laugh.

“I sure did.” Zephyr answered. “They’re all for it, same as Kuma here.”

“Indeed.” Kuma answered, looking up at the shop sign, completely zoned out. He had a distinct British accent that I could barely pick out.

“What about little Senji here?” Curtis asked, standing up.

“She’ll come along, but no further than the forest.” Zephyr answered.

I simply stood silently next to Griffith and Takita, the three of us feeling alienated by the group before us. We’d only been in this world for four days, yet these people had made friends so easily. My only goal had been finding friends I knew from real life, but, even so… It felt as if I’d known them all for a long time.

“E-Excuse me.” I croaked.

The group fell silent and looked across to me.

“My name’s Terallian. This is Griffith, and Takita.” I said in a quiet voice, feeling somewhat shy for the first time ever.

The others went back to their conversations, while the new members came over to introduce themselves, all but Kuma, who continued his staring contest with the shop sign.

Uh. Alrighty then.

“Hey, nice to meet you all.” Azuto smiled, with Senji still hiding behind him. He patted her head, and said in a quiet voice. “Say hi, Senji. It’s okay.”

Senji poked her head out from behind the boy, muttered something I couldn’t quite hear in a meek voice, and disappeared behind him once more.

“S-Sorry, she’s a bit shy.” Azuto laughed warmly. “This is my sister, Senji.”

He hesitated, and quickly added. “Not by blood, I mean. But the closest thing to.”

I bent down, and put on my friendliest face. “Nice to meet you, Senji. I’m Tera.”

The girl stuck her head out, and started at me for a few moments. I didn’t say anything, until she spoke up.

“Hi.” She said in a, still, quiet voice, before vanishing behind the boy for the second time.

I stood up and put a hand on my hip, shooting a glance at Kuma.

“Oh, right. That’s Kuma. He talks a lot, but zones out easy. Don’t mind him for now.” Azuto added in a quiet voice.

“I may zone out, however, I still listen.” Kuma said in a slightly raised voice, turning his gaze from the sign to us.

I looked to Griffith and Takita for help, but the two were still silent.

Zephyr crossed away from the other group to ours.

“We’re all set. You guys ready?” He asked in a leader voice.

We all exchanged glances before nodding. There was a faint glow beside me on either side as Takita and Griffith equipped their weapons. Griffith had a short, iron side, that looked like a smaller version of my own, while Takita had a large broadsword that stretched well beyond her leg, angled as to not drag along the ground.

She noticed me looking at her weapon, and scoffed.

“You plan to fight with that toothpick?” She asked in a judging tone.

“Yeah.” I replied, not sure what else to say.

“Some fighter.” She added.

I shook my head, doing my best to block out her comments, and started to follow Zephyr and we left with the other group. There were eight of us in total, now. Zephyr at the front with his spear, followed by Curtis and Fenyx with their axe and scimitars. Azuto tagged along with his longsword, Senji by his side with her dagger, while Kuma drifted lazily beside them with his katana and tanto. Takita had her broadsword, I, like Azuto, had my longsword, and finally Griffith had his short sword.

The entire group, minus Azuto and I, had varying weapons, so our advantage in combat ideal. We could each play a different role in the field, and that increased our chances of defeating the boss. We passed the gates of Orvan, continuing on in the direction of the North forest. As we got closer and closer, I decided to ask Azuto about the boss.

“Nothing, unfortunately.” He replied. “But don’t worry. We can scout it out before we fight him.”

“We could’ve asked around before we tried, you know…” I muttered.

“True. But you’re the guys who asked us.” He said in a friendly tone. “You three are capable fighters, though, right?”

“Well. Griffith and I are. I don’t know about him.” Takita said in a proud voice. “Sure you need to come?”

“Got a problem with it?” I muttered.

“Well no one asked you.” The brunette replied.

Azuto picked up his pace a bit, as did Griffith after shooting me a knowing look, allowing Takita and I to talk in private. We were walking under the tall trees now, getting closer to the gate.

“Listen. If you want to pretend it never happened, I won’t blame you but… Just. Please, enough’s enough.”

“Pretend what never happened?” She asked.

“P�"“ I started, immediately being cut off.

“Pretend you never gave up on me?”

“What?” I asked, startled.

“Do you know how many nights I came back, hoping to find you? And what, where the hell were you?”

“You lied to me about living there.” I said, defending myself. “You lied about that being your home.”

“Lied?” Takita pushed, raising her voice as she stopped walking and turned to me.

The group heard our argument, and slowed down before stopping, turning to watch the two of us. Curtis and Fenyx carried on walking across the fields.

“I never lied to you.” She said in a firm voice.

“Yes, you did.” I retorted, starting to get angry. “If not, then why weren’t you there?”

“I was arrested.”

I hesitated a moment.

“Yeah, f*****g arrested. You got that?” She continued, borderline shouting now. “Put in a goddamn foster home, you know. But that didn’t stop me. What stopped you?”

It took a few seconds for it to sink it, but I wasn’t about to give up.

“What do you want me to say?” I asked, taking a pace towards her. “I’m sorry?”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it.”

“Then what does?”

“Nothing. Y-You screwed up… Y-You had your c-chance.” She said, her voice slightly raspy.

“Then give me a second one.” I pleaded, glancing uneasily at the bystanders.

Takita turned, and stormed up to me. She stopped inches from my face, close enough for me to see her eyes slightly red, like she was about to cry.

“Why?” She asked, her voice almost giving out. “W-Why should I?”

There was a perfect silence in the forest, even the birds had stopped singing. The others were staring intently now, waiting for what I was about to say. I considered turning around and just walking back to the town, but I knew there was only one thing I could say now.

Just say it. Say it, it’s so easy. Say it.

“Because.”

Not that you idiot! Goddamn say it!

“B-Because?” She asked in a meek voice.

“Because I lov�"“

A bloodthirsty roar ripped the silence to shreds, the cry coming out from the front of the group. I turned my eyes to see an unearthly, spectral creature flip Curtis like a matchbox. More and more of them showed up.

We drew our weapons, and charged.