Loadstate
1929 Words
I sat next to the eagle statue inside this shabby inn. It was the time when Girly and I decided to go out and venture to the forest. That was weird, did I dream this? I followed Girly out of the inn and into the forest. Everything felt the same as I saw in my dream.
The dream swirled in my head constantly. It felt so real. Then, I remembered feeling awful pain at the back of my head. My hand automatically held the sore spot. Then my eyes met Girly’s. I smiled at her, but she looked away as always.
“Be careful where you point that thing,” I said as I watched her.
“I’m only trying it out. I won’t harm you,” her smile restarted my heart.
Wait, those were the exact words that we said to each other. I stood up and slashed some of the monsters. Suddenly, I heard Girly scream. Her body froze at the sight of the bug-like creature. Then, I offered her a princess carry, but this time, I took no for an answer.
“B-but I’m fine, really. Uhm, could you put me down, please?” She circled her fingers on my chest.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, princess,” I teased.
“Okay. Please stop staring at me. I’m embarrassed,” she was red as tomatoes.
“Sure, whatever you want, princess,” I felt my mouth smile unconsciously.
Soon, I saw some erratic movements hopping from tree to tree. It moved like the wind but had footfalls like a cat. The leaves surrounded us, preventing us to progress further. Slowly, the air burned my lungs, and I found myself gasping for air.
I gasped as I got out of my slumber. Beads of sweat trickled down my nape. I sat there for a moment looking at the eagle statue. I noticed that its color changed slightly. Faint yellow stains covered its white complexion, which was barely noticeable.
“Hey Keita, it’s time to go,” Girly called out to me.
“Uhh… yeah… coming…” I replied.
We were back again at the forest. My mouth clamped down when I tried to say something. So, like before, I followed closely behind her. I reached for her hand, but an electric current shocked them. Her attention was suddenly on me.
“What just happened?” She asked.
“Uhh… I don’t know… I didn’t do anything, I swear,” more beads of sweat dripped from my nape.
“It must be that synapse thing. It happens to me a lot,” she shrugged.
“Ohhh… Uhmmm… Would you… like to maybe… hold hands?” I smiled in my abashment.
“Y-yeah, I think holding hands is fine,” she grabbed my hand.
My blood flowed like lava, and all the heat went to my face. My voluntary muscles locked in place, making it painful to move. My heart raced faster than the racecars I see on TV. The entire forest spun in my eyes. Suddenly, my knees fell to the ground.
“Keita, are you okay? Hey! Answer me… Help! Somebody help me!” That was the last thing I heard before losing consciousness.
A force full of air filled my lungs. The eagle statue now has faint red coloring its eyes. I saw Girly getting ready to go out with me. My head still spun as I got up. I took a moment to gather my brain cells.
“Vampire, Kun, can we go with you?” I asked.
“Hey dude, I thought you had training to do with Girly?” Kun smirked.
“Change of plans. I realized that I haven’t eaten much since we left the castle.”
“It’s fine by me, but what does the lady say?” Vampire winked at Girly.
“Okay, I will join you,” she returned with a smile.
“Great! Let the food hunt… begin!”
The food district was filled with vibrant colors. People wore clothing far ahead of their time, which was weird. We got sharp, icy stares as our hunt continued. Then, we stumbled upon a shop named Umami. It mostly catered seafood from the food, to the drinks, and up to the desert.
“This is outrageous! The price is glamorous as well,” Girly scanned the menu.
“Let’s look someplace else, maybe we can find at least something decent,” I nudged her.
“Careful dude, you are way too close,” Kun jumped to my ear.
“Ah, s-sorry,” I was red as an apple.
“I-it’s fine. No harm done. Let’s go, shall we?” She buried her chin over her shoulder.
We left the food district and reached the market. Street food was the majority in this part of town. The menu mostly had monster meat cooked in an open grill. The patrons never minded us. We picked ourselves a table after ordering our food.
“This is all we can afford for now,” Vampire took charge of the wallet.
“It’s better than nothing,” Girly agreed.
“After we eat, we should sell all the rubbish we got,” I suggested.
“Do you think we can sell it at a high price in this town?” Kun asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s worth a try.”
Moments later, our food arrived. Kun had squid rings cooked in soy sauce, Girly had minced meat pieces on a sizzling plate, Vampire had cooked blood with some pieces of meat and I had innards swimming in an orange sauce. Unlimited rice complemented all of our food.
The atmosphere was serene and warm. I enjoyed the aroma of multiple dishes cooked at the same time. It almost felt like home. I envisioned my mom cooking this favorite food of mine, but with peanuts and shrimp paste as complements. The food tasted dull without them.
“Do you think we can get our lives back soon?” Kun swirled his fork in the soy sauce.
“Yeah, but I think I would love to live here sometimes,” Vampire replied.
“Why do you say that, Vampire?” Girly asked.
“Well, life at home wasn’t so great. I lived in the suburbs of my hometown, where everyone valued blood. Vengeance is the law there. I hoped that someday, I could get away from it all.”
“It was tough, huh?”
“Yeah, it was tough indeed, but it’s not the worst part. When you reach a certain age, life gets to you. Do you know what I’m saying? I did what I can to survive.”
“What about your parents?” Girly asked.
“They were both gone the moment I was born. I got adopted, but I got refused soon after. In these times, I was glad to have played this game. No one judges you, no one can physically hurt you and most of all, no one meddles with your own business. Best of all, you can mute anyone you don’t like.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
“Now that the drama is over, I think we should get going,” Kun stood up.
It became dark all of a sudden. The patrons have already left the place, and the shops were closed as well. Silent whispers and low giggling surround us.
“We have to get out of here,” I urged them, but they were motionless.
They stared at me for a long moment. I pulled them from their seat, but it was like they bolted their feet to the floor. I punched Vampire, it felt like punching a solid marble. I jumped around, shaking my bleeding hand. What is going on here?
The sounds surrounding us grew louder until I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran away, leaving my friends behind, but the sounds followed me everywhere I went. Then, I realized that they led me back to the forest. Cold shivers ran down my spine.
I kept on running until I tripped on a root. Long vines stretched from the trees and wrapped themselves around my neck. I sliced them, but more vines came to finish the deed. Before losing consciousness, I saw a green figure looking straight at me.
I woke up again in the same shabby inn next to the eagle statue. This time, the yellow became brown, and the red became crimson. It looked like it could fly at any moment.
“Hey what are you looking at? We have to go,” Girly urged me.
“What is it, man? It’s like you’ve seen some ghosts,” Kun rushed to my side.
“Your face is paler than mine, are you okay?” Vampire added.
“I’m fine. I only had a nightmare,” I replied.
“Okay, man. Vampire and I are going to the food district. You two have fun.” Kun smirked.
“No!!!” I shouted.
“What?” Kun looked back.
“I, uhhh… I think Girly was right, we should get out of here as soon as possible,” I urged them.
“But we just got here.”
“I don’t have time to explain. We must go before it gets to us.”
“Is there someone following us?” Girly gasped.
“I’m not quite sure.”
“Did you get a good look at them? What do they look like?” Kun looked concerned.
“I don’t know. They were moving so fast and I think they have already caught up to us.”
“Why do they follow us?” Vampire asked.
“If I knew the answer, I could have told you by now. If they are no more questions, we should get moving.”
When we got out, it was dark. No moon greeted us, and no star occupied the moonless sky. In an instant, the once shiny town became dull. We went to the direction where we came in. My feet beat faster than my heart until we got a safe distance from town.
“Can we rest here for now? My legs might break at any moment,” Kun panted.
“Where should we go now?” Vampire came in last.
“Things would have been easier if we had a map,” I forced air out of my nostrils.
“We should ask that guy for directions,” I followed Girly’s line of sight.
A man dressed up for hiking stood across from us. He carried a heavy bag suitable for travel which was twice his size. He looked some years older than me.
“Let’s do rock-paper-scissors. The one who loses gets to ask him for directions,” Vampire suggested.
“Ha! It’s a tie,” Kun announced.
“Once more.”
“I think you lost this one Girly.”
“Keita, can you come with me?” She nudged my arm.
“Sure, I got your back.”
“Thanks,” her smile was brighter this time. I felt thousands of arrows shooting my chest.
“Ahem. Hello there, sir. Can we ask you for some directions?”
“Hi there, travelers! Want to buy something? Take your pick, I might have something you need,” he enthusiastically said.
He dropped his heavy bag and opened it for us. He had an array of things such as potions, basic armors, weapons and some key items like a map.
“Keita, come here,” Girly called out to me.
“What?”
“He has a map, do you think we can afford it?”
“I’ll go ask Vampire. Yo leeches, do you have enough for this map?”
“How much is it?”
“Ten thousand Garnets.”
“We only have over a thousand. Can’t do, man.”
“Kun, give me that bag.”
“What are you going to do with it?” He tossed it to me.
“It’s time to sell some stuff.”
I sold all the useless stuff we gathered, but we only reached half of the goal.
“What do we do?” Girly asked.
“Hey merchant, can you lower the price a bit? It’s a bit too much for a piece of paper.”
“I cannot do that. Your haggling level is too low, so the price is not negotiable,” he replied.
“Never mind, we should just go,” Girly tugged my arm.
“I will not forget this, you hear me?” I pointed to his face.
“I can tell you this one thing, though. There is a village north of here called Aquilonia. I have a brother there named Crassus, say my name, and he will help you.”
“Took you long enough,” Kun said as we rejoined with them.
“At least we have a place to go,” I announced.
“Where to?” Vampire asked.
“To Aquilonia, that shady merchant said we can get some help with directions there.”
“We must hurry. I think they are creeping closer to us,” Girly squeezed my arm again. This time, I didn’t react.
We headed north on this empty night.
- Writer
