“Y’know, King, these people of yours seemed to really like my product. They nearly sold me out! Luckily for you, however,” He revealed a can of Purple Paradise Energy Drink. “... I’ve still got some left in stock! How would you feel about trying some out? For a price, of course. It’ll keep your energy levels up for the quest ahead!”
Lynn raised an eyebrow. “I’m already paying you to be here, can’t your drink be part of the deal?”
Zack squinted. “Well, I don’t normally give out handouts, but…” He opened the drink up, placing it in her hands. “Let’s make it an IOU! Don’t worry, I trust you to pay it back.”
She examined the liquid before going for a sip. Her eyes widened, and she immediately spat it out and tossed the can to the ground. “That was disgusting. I should cut your pay in half for that.”
“Wha- HEY! IT’S NOT THAT BAD!” Zack let out an exasperated groan as he picked up the halfway-emptied can.
Charlie stepped closer and offered Zack a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Oh, Zack… It is. It’s really bad. I’m sorry…”
“Not you too...” Zack sighed dramatically as he stashed the can away. Allen couldn’t help but smirk at the exchange, much to Zack’s annoyance. Desperate to take the attention away from his humiliation, he loudly cleared his throat and changed the subject. “So, ah, why don’t you tell us more about this princess of yours?”
“Alayna!” Lynn spoke her name with fondness, a warm smile spreading across her face. “She’s great! She’s my little sister, you see.”
Allen raised an eyebrow. “Your Majesty, she is your twin. You’re only older by a few minutes.”
“Ha, you’d never guess it by looking at us, though! Sure, we’ve got the same face, but we’re completely different otherwise. She’s got her hair grown out, and she likes to put it in all these fancy braids. We dress differently too, she always wears elegant gowns that go all the way down to the floor. You’d think she’d be the queen instead of me!” Lynn laughed for a second, before slowly trailing off into silence. Though her smile remained, there was a flash of sadness in her eyes. “She’s smart, too… Bet she probably doesn’t even need us to save her! But, y’know, I gotta be a good big sister and help her out, heh…”
The party was quiet for a moment, the only sound being that of their footsteps as they walked along the cobbled road. Charlie took a shaky breath, stepping closer to Lynn. “Your Majesty,” She spoke with as much confidence in her voice as she could muster. “We will get her back.”
Lynn looked at Charlie, nodding her head. “... Of course, we will! There’s no doubt in my mind. Zaru won’t know what hit him!” She turned her gaze forward, chuckling lightly. The others glanced at one another, not quite as optimistic.
Soon, they came to a large wall that separated the town from the rest of Sarinia. Lynn approached the gate, then paused to address the party. “Now, before we go any further, here’s the plan. We’ll hop from village to village, questioning the locals until we find a tip on where Zaru’s hideout is. And if we happen to cross any monsters along the way… We destroy them!”
Charlie hesitated, leaning closer to Zack. “Monsters?” she whispered nervously.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” He gave her a pat on the back before raising his spear. “Onward!”
With that, Lynn opened the gates, and the adventure finally began. As they moved away from the town, they got to take in the sights of Sarinia’s countryside. There were rolling fields of bright green grass, nearby forests, and distant mountains in all directions. Simple, yet beautiful. Charlie stared in awe… It certainly wasn’t anything like Detroit.
Forgetting to pay attention to where she was stepping while she was observing her surroundings, Charlie ended up catching her foot on something. She stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, but managed to stay standing. She sighed as she curiously looked down at what she had tripped over. Suddenly, she screamed and fell onto her back in surprise. The others quickly turned to see what was happening, weapons at the ready.
Near Charlie’s feet there stood a round gelatinous creature that aimlessly bounced around. Allen seemed to ease up a bit. “Just a common slime. Nothing to worry about.”
“A WHAT?!” Charlie remained terrified.
“Ooh, let me get it!” Lynn raised her scepter over her head. The end began to glow as if it were charging up. She held it there for a moment before she waved it forward, aiming directly at the slime. Blue flames erupted from the scepter that twirled midair before crashing into the slime, causing it to burst into burnt chunks with a violent pop. Lynn chuckled as she lowered her scepter and continued walking, with Allen following closely behind.
Charlie remained sat on the ground. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with terror. What… What did she just witness?! Certainly she was dreaming… But she couldn’t be. She felt the heat of those flames on her face. She could smell the burnt slime carcass. She felt like fainting…
Zack slowly stepped over to her, crossing his arms. “Ah. That’s definitely not normal.” He pursed his lips, reflecting for a moment. “Y’know, I may have overshot a bit and sent us to an entirely different dimension instead of just back in time… Actually, probably should’ve guessed this sooner, with all that demon talk earlier, am I right? And with Allen being some kinda weird bird-man, heheh…” He glanced down at Charlie, who still sat in stunned silence. “... Hey, c’mon, we’re in good company, at least! Those two seem to know what they’re doing. Sorta.”
“Hey!” Lynn called out to them. “Are you two coming or not?!”
“Yup, just a sec-!” Zack gave Lynn a thumbs up before he held out his other hand to Charlie. “Look, I didn’t mean for things to get this crazy. But it’ll be worth it, I promise!”
Charlie stared at Zack for a moment. She always knew there was something strange about him, but never to this magnitude… What else was he hiding from her? Could he even be trusted? … It’s not like she had a choice at the moment. Besides, she still wanted to believe he was a good friend; despite everything, he was always good to her…
She slowly took his hand, and he helped her stand. “Just,” Charlie said slowly. “No more surprises, okay?”
“... One more surprise?” Zack smiled sheepishly.
“What?”
“Since this world is magical, I thought it’d be nice if I could just,” Suddenly, he leaped up into the air– he did not fall back to the ground, however. He remained floating just above the grass, casually turning around midair. “Man, I haven’t done this in forever-!”
He caught a glimpse of Charlie’s dumbfounded expression and chucked awkwardly. “Okay, that’s it, no more surprises. Let’s go!” Zack glided over to Lynn and Allen, and with a sigh, Charlie followed behind.
The two of them seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation when Zack and Charlie approached. “...Yes, Your Majesty. They lost all their chickens– oh, it’s about time you two caught up-” Allen stared at Zack, who was still floating in the air. He sighed as he shook his head, deciding to not question it. “... Let’s just keep going.”
Lynn, however, seemed intrigued by Zack’s ability. Before she began to walk again, she whispered to him, “You’ve got to teach me how to do that sometime!”
After resuming their journey, it didn’t take them very long to come across their first village. It was a small settlement, nothing more than a few houses, shops, and farmland. None of the residents knew anything of Zaru’s whereabouts upon questioning, but the party decided to stay for a while longer anyway. There were only a few hours left of daylight and, according to Allen, they’d be on the road at night if they continued to the next village. Nobody wanted that, so they just decided to stay until morning.
Charlie wandered absentmindedly along the dirt paths of the village. The place had a rather cozy atmosphere. She recalled fairytales revolving around villages involving magical creatures, and wondered if anything like that was possible in the strange world… The idea intrigued her, yet frightened her.
Charlie’s thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She flinched with a gasp, but relaxed when she saw that it was only Zack. He smiled at her, holding a loaf of bread in his hands. “Check this out! There’s a guy selling raisin bread in the middle of town, and it’s actually good! Can you believe that?! I’ve never had good raisin bread.”
“Well,” Charlie tilted her head. “I’ve only had raisin bread once, when you brought some for my family. That was pretty good.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why’d you bring us raisin bread if you don’t like it?”
“Cuz it’s fun to make!” Zack laughed. “... And, well, I remember your mom mentioning how much she liked raisin bread, so I figured I’d bring some!”
Charlie blinked in surprise. “Wait, you made that? I didn’t know you could bake!”
“Heh, I don’t, really,” Zack scratched the back of his head. “Just a little hobby I picked up a while ago.”
“That’s really cool!”
“Nah, this is cool!” He held up the loaf in his hands and broke off a piece to give to Charlie. “If you thought mine was good, this one’s gonna blow your mind!”
Charlie giggled as she took the piece of bread. It was warm to the touch. She slowly took a bite, and her eyes widened. “Mmm, you’re right, this is delicious!”
“Told you so!” They both laughed as they ate more of the bread. However, after a moment, Charlie’s joy seemed to fade as she stared down at her bread. Zack tilted his head at her. “Hey, something wrong?”
Charlie glanced away. “I just… Thought about my family. My parents get off work around this time… If they come home to see me gone…”
“Ooh…” Zack inhaled sharply through his teeth. “I forgot about that. Think they’ll be fine with you being away for a few days? I don’t think this quest’ll be over anytime soon.”
“No! They’ll be worried sick about me!”
“Uhh… Tell them you’re sleeping over at my house!”
“How am I supposed to do that??”
Zack narrowed his eyes as he thought. Then a grin spread across his face as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. “I know!” He chuckled as he removed the parchment that wrapped around the bread. When Charlie seemed confused by this action, he pulled a pen from his pocket and proudly handed the items to her. “Write a letter to them! Don’t worry, I have a way of sending it to them,” he said the last part with a wink.
Though Charlie was skeptical of the idea, she knew it was the only option she had. So she took the paper and pen from Zack and brought them to the nearest flat surface. She jotted down a quick letter addressed to her parents that she hoped would prevent them from worrying. When it was finished, she handed the letter to Zack.
“Aaaand, poof!” The letter suddenly disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. Zack chuckled as he dusted off his hands. “Problem solved!”
Charlie pursed her lips. “I hope so…” She wasn’t fully convinced that a simple letter would excuse her for several days… But it was better than disappearing without any explanation.
With that settled, Charlie and Zack began to walk around the village again. They casually chatted about various lighthearted topics. Soon, however, they were found by Allen.
“Ah, there you two are,” Allen said to them. “Come with me, I’m going to reserve us rooms at the local inn.” Zack and Charlie nodded and followed Allen as he guided them toward a large building. Lynn was already inside by the time they got there.
“Hello,” Allen greeted the innkeeper as he approached. “I’d like to rent four rooms for the night–”
Charlie quietly cleared her throat. “Um, actually, could… Could Zack and I share a room?” She glanced over at Zack. “... If that’s okay…”
“Sure, I’m down!” Zack smiled at her.
Allen narrowed his eyes before he turned his attention back toward the innkeeper. “... Very well. Three rooms, please.”
When Zack and Charlie arrived at their room, Zack immediately made himself at home, slowly falling onto one of the beds with a long sigh. “What a day! I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, me too…” Now that all her adrenaline was beginning to wear off, Charlie found herself extremely tired. But when she settled herself down in the other bed, her eyes remained wide open. She finally had a calm moment to think about everything that’s happened. The day started so normally, with her just trying to sell drinks with her business partner. Now everything was turned on its head, and she didn’t know what to believe… Part of her hoped she’d fall asleep and wake up in the comfort of her home.
She cautiously looked over at the bed beside her. “Hey, Zack…?” However, the only response she received was a loud snore. Charlie sighed. He’d already fallen asleep. She had wanted to ask him if it was true, if he really was a demon. At this point, she was having a hard time denying that he could be, but she just wanted to hear it from him. He was her best friend, the thought that he could’ve been something evil this whole time disturbed her… But he wasn’t evil, was he? Sure, he had questionable business practices, but he never hurt anybody…
The more Charlie’s mind wandered, the heavier her eyelids grew. Maybe this wasn’t so bad… Maybe she just had to survive the quest, and then Zack would take them back home, right? Though, surviving sounded a lot easier said than done, with the task at hand. She let out a heavy sigh as she rolled onto her side and slowly closed her eyes. She was scared… But if she wanted to go home, she would have to face her fears with a brave heart.
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