Samira blinked. Adelheid had the intention to do what? Become her Warden? Why would Adelheid choose to become her Warden? A whirlwind of questions cycled through Samira’s head as she stared at Adelheid’s back. The older woman had moved on to helping the others choose their weapon after she fixed Samira’s hair, leaving the university student alone with her thoughts.
『She called me Cloudburst, didn’t she? Though, I guess that doesn’t matter, since Adelheid is Reverie’s character. It wouldn’t be strange if Adelheid knew as much as Reverie when it came to my identity. I wonder if Reverie’s safe—though if Adelheid’s here then that would mean that the others could be here too. Maybe that’s why Adelheid came here because Reverie asked her to be.』 Samira’s thoughts ran along the train track as she attempted to find a rational answer to Adelheid’s presence. As her mind went deeper into the rabbit hole, Samira’s attention to the outside world diminished, so much that she didn’t even realize that she and Adelheid were the only ones in the room.
“You’re lost in your thoughts again.” Adelheid pouted as she leaned down to make direct eye contact with Samira. “Honestly, you’re almost as bad as she is!”
Samira flinched at the lack the distance between her and the silver beauty. Adelheid backed away with a cheeky grin on her face.
“I finally have your attention! It’s been a good fifteen minutes!”
“Ah…sorry,” Samira apologized sheepishly. “…Where is everyone?”
“I had them wait in the living room with my kitties and Sinclair so I could have a proper conversation with you. Out of everyone, you are my priority.”
A priority.
“Why?” Samira asked the silver haired beauty the question that had been floating in her head this whole time. “Why am I your priority?”
“Why wouldn’t you be?” Adelheid countered. “My creator thought of you as her Shangri-La, and you’ve expressed your favoritism towards me; isn’t that enough of a reason?”
“I just find it difficult to believe, especially because you’re not by Reverie’s side— the person who should be the most important existence to you.”
“Sure, if my creator was here, I might choose her over you,” Adelheid admitted, “but she isn’t here. Not to mention, knowing her, she would want me to protect you above all else. Hate it or like it, she treats you as her number one reader.” Adelheid leaned against one of the display cases.
“Are you not worried about her?”
“Saying no would be a lie, but there’s bigger issues that are happening right now, and those are of greater priority. After all, you guys need a place to live—somewhere that isn’t enveloped in chaos.”
“With or without this apocalypse or alien invasion, this world has always been in chaos,” Samira retorted. “As unbelievable and bizarre as it is, an apocalypse might be better.”
『At least, the only thing I really need to think about is survival.』
“I can’t disagree with you there—though knowing whether someone is alive or not is comforting; you can’t have that with violence constantly raging around you.”
Alive. If this incident occurred worldwide, then that would mean there would be thousands of deaths. There probably were thousands of deaths.
『That could mean…』Samira shivered at the thought.
“Anyways,” Adelheid stated, as if she had sensed Samira’s thoughts. “Back to the original topic— Wardens. I’m not sure if you were paying attention to what I was saying earlier, so I’ll give you a small recap: Warden contracts are initiated by the Warden, and just like other contracts, there are terms for both parties to fulfill. The Warden will provide you with a portion of their own abilities and protect you, while the Contractor will complete whatever terms the Warden provides.”
“As I’m affiliated with the Apostle of Knowledge, you will also gain some skills that are related to that,” Adelheid smiled. “They’re quite useful.”
“Useful? I’m sure they’re borderline broken.”
A twinkle of amusement glistened in Adelheid’s eyes. “Well, that’s up to the Contractor to decide.”
“Since you brought up your connection to Rosetta, does that mean if anyone else has a Gardens Family member as their Warden, they would also receive those skills?”
“You’re quite the smarticle particle, aren’t you? You’re right—that means there’s the potential for fifty-three other people to receive the same skills.”
Samira nodded her head. 『That’s pretty fair, all things considered.』
“You were concerned about that, weren’t you?”
“Well, if you wanted me to treat this like a game, it would be reasonable to expect some game mechanic balancing…”
Adelheid huffed in amusement and shook her head. “I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, Cloudburst.” The smile on her face was gentle. “The more I talk to you, the more I want to become your Warden.”
“You said something about conditions; what are yours? Obviously, you said that the Contractors would be given protection and some set of skills, but by how you worded it, the Wardens would determine their own.”
“Mine are simple. All I need from you is to survive, and to collect jigsaw puzzle pieces.”
Samira’s eyebrows furrowed together. 『Puzzle pieces? For a jigsaw? 』
“It’s for a secret area. Once you collect all the pieces, you’ll be able to assemble the puzzle and unlock it. It’s safe to assume that most of the Wardens will make collecting these puzzle pieces their condition, but it’s not the only goal they could have in mind, so I didn’t specify their side of the contract.”
A secret area— something that nearly every game had. Sometimes those secrets were funny Easter eggs, while other times they were meaningful extras that added on to the lore. Samira always strived to complete the games she played— and left nothing behind. It was fun for the university student, and it was something that she had done since she was a child.
“Will you be able to meet Reverie at the secret area?”
“It’s guaranteed, since it’s the safest place to be.”
Samira would be able to confirm Reverie’s safety. 『There’s no way Rosetta wouldn’t keep Reverie safe— wait…』Samira looked at Adelheid, who had been patiently waiting for a response.
“Are all of the ‘otherworldly’ beings from Reverie’s stories?”
『How deep does Reverie’s involvement go?』
“Yes. You’ll be very familiar with quite a few things, from the Wardens to the missions and even beyond that. I’m sure, even if you weren’t given any skills from the Apostle of Knowledge, you’d survive just fine.”
“You saw how I reacted earlier. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died.”
“Have more faith in yourself,” Adelheid huffed. “You have a lot of potential, you know?”
“Having potential is different from actually being able to do something—not that I have much potential. Those are words you should save for someone like Reverie.”
Adelheid stared at Samira with a strange expression. She refrained from elaborating on her opinion, and returned to the subject at hand, “Cloudburst, will you allow me to become your Warden? Don’t think too hard about whether you deserve it or not; just tell me if you want me to be here.”
Samira took a deep breath. “If I can help you get to Reverie, then I’ll become your Contractor.”
“…I guess that’s the best answer I’m going to get from you,” Adelheid exasperated as she reached up behind her neck. She pulled the collar of her shirt down a little and grabbed onto the thin metal chain of her necklace before unclasping it. “Take this.”
She held out the necklace for Samira to take. Samira eyed the charm on the necklace—it was a small glass bottle with a red gem inside of it. The jewel itself had cracks, which were filled with gold.
『Isn’t this…?』Samira’s eyes widened into discs.
“That’s the proof of our contract, so don’t lose it.” Adelheid smiled.
“Adelheid, is there something else I can take? There’s no way this is a good idea—”
“That’s what the proof of contract is. There’s no alternative blood exchange or whatnot for it.”
#
OMPHALOS
Reverie (5:09 AM): I hope you have a good day today!
Reverie (5:09 AM): Stay safe, and don’t forget to eat!
Reverie (5:09 AM): Message me whenever you have time. Oh, and I wrote something! I’ll send it to you rn.
Reverie (5:11 AM): [Lasimonne.docx]
Reverie (5:11 AM): It’s been awhile, but I added some stuff to it, hehe.
Reverie (5:21 AM): Oh, before I forget, I just wanted to tell you that I mailed you a small present! It’ll take awhile to get there, but I just wanted to tell you now.
Reverie (5:21 AM): (*´∇`*) make sure to take care of yourself!!!!!
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