The crowd went into a frenzy. Black flags fluttered left and right as the fans of Black Moon cheered and screamed their lungs out. Flyers and flags flew all around the stadium and the atmosphere was festive.
“Yay! Papa won!” Eva jumped in joy. She then looked at Sophie with sparkling eyes before shouting even louder. “Papa was so cool! And that red uncle was so cool too!”
Sophie lightly chuckled. She looked at her daughter before landing her hand. “Come, let’s go to papa. He is waiting for us.”
Eva nodded happily and took her mother’s hand. Sophie verbalized a command in her mind. Access restricted area. Code name: BlackMoon. Sponsor: Dawn’s Resonance.
A cold metallic voice responded in her head. Access granted. Welcome, Sophie of the Crimson Desert.
The pair of mother and daughter disintegrated into shiny particles before disappearing. They teleported to a hallway. It was dark, illuminated only by the dim light of the torches on the walls.
“Mama, this place is scary…” Eva’s previously cheerful demeanor died down. She fidgeted in her place. Lips trembling, she latched on her mother’s lap, too scared to stay alone in the dark damp corridor.
Sophie crouched to the level of her daughter before caressing her hair. “I’m sorry. It’s scary, isn’t it? I always told Mark that their aesthetics were not the most pleasant. But… Oh, well.” Sophie lifted Eva from below her armpits before putting her in a princess carry. “Here, Mama will carry you.” Sophie’s smile turned into a grin before she leaned in and went for a belly rub.
“Hahaha, Mama! Stop it!” Eva continued laughing even as she shouted and flailed around, making Sophie giggle in return. She then looked at Eva in her eyes and smiled. “See, no more scary place, right?”
The couple laughed all the way as they walked through the corridor. Barely one minute of walking and they reached an inconspicuous room. Sophie put down her daughter before saying.
“Papa is in that room. I’ll go and talk to him. You stay patiently here and be a good girl, ok—”
“What do you mean he is out?!!!”
Before Sophie could even finish her words, a scream from inside the room shook her. She recognized her husband’s voice. Sophie’s eyes opened in surprise at the sudden outburst, she looked at the door before focusing back on her daughter. She smiled and then said with a soft voice.
“Eva, can you stay here? Mama will be right back.”
She walked with hurried steps and opened the door, a frown covering her face. There she saw two men staring at each other. One was slim and tall, black hair covering his head. The other was plump with an orange mustache and his hair was cut short.
“Shade,” Shesmu’s eyes were sprouting fire as he stared at the man in front of him. “What in all hell is going on here?! This type of trashy jokes you know I despise. Cain is going to retire by the end of this fucking year, why in the fuck would you fire him now?!!”
Shade, the overweight man darted his eyes away from Shesmu before muttering. “Shes, this is really out of my control—”
“Oh you can’t be serious. Are you telling me, Cain, the man that started this whole schtick with us, the one that stayed with the guild through thick and thin for ten years—you’re telling me that man is going to be fired? Are you fucking kidding me?!” Shesmu could no longer hold back. His teeth were grinding. He clenched his fist so hard blood dripped out. His eyes never once looked away from the shuddering Shade, who was fidgeting on his shoes and looking away at the ground.
Mustering up more courage, Shade clenched his fist and looked at Shesmu in the eyes. “Shesmu. This is a higherup decision. It’s Dawn that made it! Cain just doesn’t follow the narratives. We already talked about this so many—”
“He brings wins!” Shesmu’s face couldn’t stop contorting. He slammed the table next to him, breaking every utensil on his way, and grabbed Shade from his collar then lifted him from the ground. Shesmu looked at him straight in the eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs. “He brings championships, that’s what he brings!”
Shesmu’s teeth stopped grinding, his furrowed eyebrows relaxed. He looked away from Shade for the first time since the start of this conversation before saying in a soft voice. “Honestly, I can’t believe it. After everything, we went through...”
Shesmu eased his grab on Shade’s collar, setting the latter free. Shade fell on the ground and coughed, gasping for breath.
“Shesmu, I’m as mad as you are. This is wrong! I know. But even if I’m not the one to fire him, they’ll just fire me and bring someone else to do it. My hands are tied.”
“Stop.” Sophie’s voice cut in like a sharp knife through the conversation. Both Shesmu and Shade turned their heads in response to her.
“What is going on?” She asked. But her voice was lower than usual. It was cold, as cold as her eyes as she observed Shade’s every movement. She locked her eyes with his, making him shudder.
Shade gulped. He sat up then walked towards Sophie trying to explain his position. “Sophie, look, I’m really sorry. Due to circumstances outside my control—”
“Enough.” Sophie cut in. “Get out of here.” Her eyes never broke contact, and her voice was always low. But behind it was a commanding tone that could not be disobeyed.
Shade, flustered, couldn’t help but step back. He staggered before complying and leaving the room.
Shesmu looked at Sophie, his eyes lost, his arms low and his hands open. They walked towards each other with staggering steps before falling into an embrace.
Hot tears streamed down Shesmu’s cheeks. His vision clouded and his throat hoarse. He felt Sophie’s touch on his face. She caressed him and cleaned the tears out of his eyes. Her emerald green eyes stared into his soul, beckoning him to share his suffering. “Mark, what happened?”
“Cain, no—Allan, Dawn decided they no longer need him…” He paused, as if to process the same words that left his mouth. “And for what?” He asked with a self-deprecating laugh. “Just because he didn’t scream some cringy speech before he battles like the rest of us bastards do, he is fired! Allan! Allan who was here since the beginning of this goddamn guild!”
Sophie was shocked. Her eyes widened and her fist tightened. However, she quickly grabbed hold of herself and didn’t fall to panic. She hugged Shesmu harder than she ever did before. Her warmth, her love, her everything, he received it all.
“Sophie…” So he bawled, his speech interrupted by his hiccups. He cried, he screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed at his own weakness, unable to even defend his best friend. He screamed at the skies and the gods and damned them all, for they destroyed what he worked so hard to build. He screamed and kept screaming, for his innards were crumbling, and they would continue to do so until he is but a hollow husk.
“Papa!” This voice he knew. The voice of a child, his own. He opened his eyes but the sight was too blurry, so he couldn’t see. He cleared up his tears, and there she was, Eva, shocked and unable to understand what happened in front of her.
Shesmu smiled. Years of acting in front of crowds of millions let him mask his sorrow. He couldn’t show his weakness to his daughter, that he could never do.
“Eva? What are you standing there in a daze for? Come and give papa a hug!”
Seeing Shesmu’s jovial attitude, Eva lost all her reservation and jumped in for a hug.
“Ah, there you go. That’s more like it.”
Eva chuckled in Shesmu’s arm before asking, “But papa, why were you crying?”
Shesmu looked at Eva and gave her a questioning look. He then pinched her cheeks and played around with them.
“Smelly girl, who do you think is crying, huh? See this smile on papa’s face, give me your best one too!”
Eva smiled even as Shesmu was pulling at her cheeks. Her teeth showed themselves in full splendor.
“Like this?...”
“Pfft.” Shesmu couldn’t help but chuckle. Eva’s face when she tried talking while he was pulling at her cheeks was hilarious even for the pained Shesmu.
“So, you got to watch the game. Did you have fun?”
Eva beamed a bright smile at her father's question. “Yeah! It was really fun! The way papa fought with his sword was so cool! You just went vroooom!! And the black magician lost. Red uncle was also sooo cool! He just went Vraaaah!! And then he became a big fire dragon! He then did Booom! Boom! Boom! And the other dragon went Ahh! And then it lost!”
While the smile stayed engraved on his face, Shesmu’s eyes showed complex emotions.
“Yeah, uncle red is really cool…” For a second, he broke his act and sadness emanated from his voice. “Much, much cooler than papa…”
Shesmu felt Eva’s grab on his arm. He looked at her in the eyes and her resolute look and pouting cheeks surprised him.
“That’s not true at all! Uncle red is cool, but papa is also cool! Papa is the coolest in the world!”
She then grabbed an imaginary sword and started slashing at the air. “You defeat bad guys like this, Vroom! And Booom! And the bad guys go Ahhh! And then they explode!”
Eva’s roleplaying made Shesmu chuckle, for real this time. He brought her closer to him before carrying her in his arms. Shesmu then looked at Sophie. She didn’t say a word ever since Eva showed up. Shesmu knew that she knew that he was acting, and he was grateful. He was grateful that she stayed silent, because it would have been hard even for him to act, if she did talk.
“Sophie, tomorrow, I’ll call in a meeting. The whole team will be there.”
Sophie’s lips formed a tender smile, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Papa,” Eva yawned. “Can you continue the story of the blacksmith and the king? You said you’ll tell me but you keep forgetting!”
Hearing his daughter’s tired voice, Shesmu knew that it was time to log out.
“Sure thing sweetie, let’s log out and I’ll tell you the story.”
Hearing a tale that was most familiar to her ears, Sophie couldn’t help but blurt out.
“You were telling her the questline of Kaleh? Now, isn’t that sweet.”
Shesmu acknowledged Sophie’s comment with his eyes, before focusing his attention back on Eva.
“Let’s log out. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
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