After checking myself out in the bathroom for a bit I leave the bathroom.
Coming out of the bathroom I see Athena in the corner of my eye sitting against the wall right next to the door “Did you enjoy peeping?” I ask Athena “Good to see that you’ve got your sense of humor back,” Athena says rolling her eyes as she gets up “Have you calmed down a bit?” Athena asks; honestly, no I still feel the anxiety and adrenaline in my body boxing with my heart. “Feelin' slick; feelin' fine; honestly, feelin' this good should be a crime,” I say with a toothy smile finger gunning Athena. Athena takes a deep breath “I wanna punch you,” she says staring at me with the eyes of a dead fish “Now why is that dear sister? Your dear brother is stating that he is quite fine and dandy; what in the world could ever cause you to feel such animosity towards your dear brother?” I bow “You are a rollercoaster of emotions and I honestly can’t handle it right now” Athena calls out my emotional instability while rubbing the bridge of her nose “Ohohoho dear sister I remember whenever we went to the Faire you would always say the rollercoasters were too boring because they were too slow, how could a meager person such as myself rile you like so?” I ask causing athena to Jab me in the side
“UGH, bro what is your problem!?” I say holding my side and breaking my character “You're- well just really annoying” Athena says completely unashamed of her violent tendencies. “That's not really a reason” I explain to Athena that violence is never okay. “You just got to the point where I think it was justified” she retorts “Oh really, and how have I been, oh, so annoying dear sister-” I roll my eyes “Oh well let's see, where do I start?” she starts pondering “you called the very people that saved us from the desert freaks, you kept mocking me and insulting the very people who saved you and I calling them creatures of hell like satan and calling me a bitch, you also ran away to god knows where into a fucking dangerous ass forest in where you could have fucking DIED, AND WHEN SOMEONE COMES TO HELP YOU, YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE THE COMMON FUCKING DECENCY TO SAY THANK YOU OR TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR PREVIOUS ACTIONS, WHAT DO YOU DO!? YOU CALL HIM A FUCKING FREAK! ARE YOU ACTUALLY THAT MUCH OF AN UNGRATEFUL PIECE SHIT GAEL? LIKE I’M ACTUALLY VERY CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THE FUCK HAS GOT YOU ACTING THIS WAY!?” Athena screams at me causing my mouth to gape open.
Everything she had said was valid, but I couldn’t help myself from arguing back for whatever reason “I MEAN THINK OF THIS FROM MY POSITION I’M STUCK IN SOME RANDOM ASS DESERT ALL OF A SUDDEN SOME FUCKING FURRY APPEARS OUT OF GOD KNOWS WHERE AND SMACKS ME OVER THE HEAD WITH A SPEAR AND TAKES ME TO A VILLAGE WHO FUCKING KNOWS WHERE; HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST ANYONE HERE!? THEY WERE THE ONES WHO ATTACKED FIRST!” I yell back at Athena
“Gael, are you seriously asking that? no, I’m sure you know exactly why they did that don’t you?” she says with a subtle sense of disappointment, anger, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on
“YOU KNEW THOSE CACTI WERE FUCKING SACRED TO THE NATIVES AND YET YOU TURNED THEM INTO A FUCKING HANDBAGS AND HELMETS! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?” Athena was crying at this point. “HONESTLY I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE, I DON’T KNOW WHERE MOM AND DAD ARE AND YOU KEEP NEARLY GETTING YOURSELF IN SITUATIONS WHERE YOU MIGHT DIE, YOU KEEP DISAPPEARING OR ANTAGONIZING PEOPLE WHO CAN TURN YOU INTO PAPER MACHEA IN AN INSTANT! IF THEY DECIDE TO KILL YOU I CAN’T DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW FUCKING POWERLESS I AM!? DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW POWERLESS I FEEL!? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT SCARES ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THE THOUGHT OF LOSING ANOTHER FAMILY SCARES ME!?” Athena was on her knees weeping like a child. My mouth once again gaped open, but this time I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t back talk, I couldn’t justify my actions, all I could do was just stand there in my own embarrassment, guilt, and disappointment. All I could do was lament my own actions realizing that they had hurt the person closest to me- I had hurt the person closest to me… after contemplating my actions for a good minute I finally tried to speak “Athena listen I’ll try to apologize to the villagers if you want- umm yea, the blobby guy is called Babban, the gerbil is called Hankali right? The minotaur is called Karfi and the cat is called Kallo right?”
“Fuck off,” Athena says still crying but trying to wipe her tears avoiding facing me “Do whatever the fuck you want because that’s all that you seem to be able to do!” she yells “That-” I open my mouth and close it “Athena… did they treat you well?” I finally ask “...yeah, why?” she sniffles still not facing me. I ruffle my hair “Well listen I’ll apologize to th-” Athena cuts me off before I can continue “Gael if you say it's for my sake I'm going to punch you again” Athena threatens “...no, it’s not for your sake; it’s true that they did a lot to help us, and even more for me, and I have yet to show any gratitude at all; in fact, I’ve been an asshole, yeah I get it, the least I owe em is an apology,” I say half lying about it not being for Athena’s sake “I don’t care; do what you want,” Athena says wiping her eyes “breakfast is that way!” she points in the direction the minotaur had gone “I’m going to bed!” she says about to leave in the other direction, but stops and walks back her eyes as puffy as mine now, “I thought you were going to bed?” I say “will you run again?” she asks causing me to pause “then you want to get some breakfast together?” I suggest knowing she won’t leave me alone regardless of what I say “...ok” she nods grabbing onto my clothing.
I internally sighed punching myself knowing I caused Athena so much anxiety we walked over to the kitchen we had first met everyone once before they were all there except the machete dude, and they didn’t seem as high energy as before. Was it because of me or is it because it’s early in the morning? Is it both? I ask myself “Um he-” Hankali cuts me off “Worry not small human you have been forgiven for your transgressions” Hankali states eating a baby carrot in the process “Wait what?” I say shocked at how the gerbil knew what I was going to say “You-umm were pretty loud,” Brandon says with an embarrassed smile; my face starts to flush “Wait what?” Athena now says shocked and embarrassed at knowing that they likely heard the entire conversation “You were yelling in a house of superhumans…what were you expecting?” Oliver says hammering in my shortsightedness “Uhh- sorry I guess…” Oliver's apologies I take a deep breath as I internally scream in my head “No-no, it's true my behavior earlier was completely unacceptable; I apologize, to all of you” I say realizing how unnatural it felt to apologize I did not enjoy apologizing at all; it made my skin crawl. Come to think of it I haven’t been in many situations where I’ve needed to apologize; I’ve always just kept to myself and people just naturally respected my desire to be alone.
“I’ve never heard such a polite apology before… it's kinda unsettling” Oliver says kinda perturbed “Wha- I mean sorry I guess?” I respond confused about what the man wants “And sorry to you as well Babban I owe you a lot” I glance at the blob trying to make eye contact, but not having the courage to follow through. The blob responds by forming the words “you’re welcome” with its tendrils. The minotaur joins in “Wait… you sorry?” Karfi asks not having fully followed the conversation “Yes, I'm, sorry, I, was, very, rude, before,” I say slowly emphasizing each word “Oh! You sorry! Worry not freend mitake fourgiven!” he gives a hearty laugh walks over and pats me on the back; blowing some air out of my lungs and staggering me forward.
“Ahahaha thanks,” I say nervously “Uhm, anyways I have a lot of questions if you don’t mind,” I say fixing my posture “Of course, what do you want to know?” Brandon says getting over his secondhand embarrassment from earlier
“So I'm just wondering, but are we in the sky islands now? Or are we in a special region of the desert?”
“We’re still in the desert and I guess you can refer to this as a special region yes” Brandon confirms
“Huh, what do you mean?”
“We’re still in the desert, but Oliver, Andre, myself, and another person had been working on this area for a while making it habitual for us and the demons who had provided us with a home, we kept expanding our home; making it more habitable and luxurious just for fun I guess, and eventually more demons came and visited, so we expanded. And now we have an entire village and ecosystem-based around our village, funny how life works sometimes” Brandon reminisces about his village-building journey
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“Wait, wait, wait, that doesn’t explain how you have a fully functional kitchen and clothes that look like they came from our world”
“Oh yeah we get our clothes and manufactured goods from the vampires-”
“WAIT YOU KNOW THE VAMPIRES!” I exclaim interrupting Brandon and taking him aback “Oh excuse me *cough* *cough*” I fake cough trying to retake my composer
“And you say I have a vampire obsession” Athena murmurs behinds
“Yes we have some relations to the vampires, we give them some of our crops and natural resources, and in return, they provide manufactured goods” Brandon explains
“Why would vampires need crops?” Athena asks
“Vampires in the book only drink blood to extend their life span, other than that they eat like a typical omnivore, it's just more practical” I explain
“Practical? My man, you don’t just pick the most practical genetics that's not how evolution works.” Athena says
“I mean you would be right, but the vampire’s main abilities are related to body modifications, so basically they made evolution their bitch” I explain
“Wait so they don’t wear makeup?” Athena asks as if that's important
"No why?” I wonder what she was getting at.
“They don’t have high heels?” Athena asks
“...No, they don’t…” It’s never been mentioned that vampires have high heels in the novel nor makeup in the novel… I think I get where Athena is getting at this and I don’t like it
“So… they're winning” she narrows her eyes “Athena stop…I don’t want to conceptualize that my average looks turned below average the moment I travel to another world…”
“And my good looks have turned average… this truly is a tragedy,” Athena says pursing her lips
“I hate you sometimes,” I say head tilted down in despair.
“Now, now, being handsome or pretty is not all there is to life,” the tall and handsome man says
“Anyhow, back to the main point yes, we have connections to the vampires and the way we are able to have a functioning kitchen is with the help of all the demons in this village,” Brandon says “Everyone in this village helps each other to survive; the way we’re able to keep the fridge cold is with the help of ice type demons, the bath you took earlier wasn’t made by… Satan… it was, well done by a fire spirit called Wuta… yeah he didn’t understand you, but you should still apologize to him when you find the chance…” Brandon gives a half-hearted smile
“Uh yeah- I'll do that…” I press my lips together
“Ah yes and that noise you heard earlier was from another demon called Sirin, she makes a loud noise to alert various demons if we are of their assistance” Brandon explains. “Heh, Sirin the Siren kekekeke” Athena mumbles to herself from behind me laughing like a goblin “Yeah… but don’t say that to her she’s kinda sensitive, Andre made that joke too many times,” Brandon says shaking his head causing Athena to flinch because she wasn’t expecting to be spoken to
“So how long have you guys been here?” I ask
“That's a good question,” he thinks back “Considering I came here around the month of chaos, that would be around 23 months, so around one year in this world and 2 years in your world” his eyes widen at what he said and his brows furrow as he starts to think of something
“Umm is something wrong?” I ask ignoring how he just hinted at somehow surviving during the month of chaos
“Oh no, it's nothing it’s just I didn’t expect to say your world, as if it wasn’t my own as well… I guess I've gotten so used to life here” he laughs
“...is… is there no way to go back?” I ask making the room go silent Athena was paying full attention at this point as well
“It’s complicated… I’d like to know myself, but as you’ve probably figured we’re in the story Ruthel’s Redemption, the kingdom of the rising sun as it was formally known, has changed its name to the kingdom of Elanor, the problem is that the thing that hasn’t changed is Ruthel’s loyalty to the kingdom, and considering that the kingdom is deadset on killing everyone who came from our world we have really no way of knowing how to get back,” Brandon explains
“Has nobody tried to talk to them?” I ask really grasping at any semblance of hope
“Yes…it was the other person who helped us create this village… it has been 14 months and he hasn’t returned”
“Can’t it be because he went back!” Athena tries to cling to false hope
“Unlikely” is all Brandon had to say to make Athena slump in despair
“Have…have you tried to make a deal with the constellations or the dragon of the space?” I ask making half the room gasp
“Watch it boy, you’re a mere human, a lad at that; you have no authority to make deals with gods,” Hankali warns
Kallo joins in “Even I have to agree with the glorified gerbil, the constellations- those bastards aren’t trustworthy” he scowls
“I made no such cla-” Hankali gets cut off
“Kid you know what kind of the silver dragon is right?” Oliver asks
“Yeah?”
“No, I don’t think you do” Oliver retorts
“The silver dragon in the novel built the entire goddamn atmosphere and you know damn well how strong it is if you read the novel.”
“And the space dragon is hinted at to have greater strength than the silver dragon because it built the foundation for the planet”
“I mean yeah, but I don’t exactly plan to fight the dragon; why would I even try that? It may be our only way home.” I explain my reasoning
“I get that, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re one crazy sonnovabitch” he says and I honestly can’t get over this sudden change in tone
“You’ll get used to it; he gets like that whenever something he’s passionate about gets brought up” Brandon mentions offhandedly
“Hold on you’re talking about how to get home, but you do realize we gotta find our parents, Catie and Liam, Mr. and Mrs. Hart, Maria, Emily, Jasmine, Kyle, Rojer, and basically everyone else in our neighborhood too right?” Athena mentions causing me to internally sigh
“Our parents, and the Harts yes, but how do you suppose we get onto finding everyone else? How do you suppose we go about finding everyone in a world full of mythical creatures? I’m not saying that if we could we shouldn’t, but let's be realistic here?” I say trying to shatter Athena’s hopes
“No, let's not be realistic, just think about it; you said it yourself we’re in a mythical world nothing here is realistic,” Athena says with gut-crushing hope. I scratch my head fuck, shit I really don’t care i’d rather we just found our family and friends and just left; I don’t wanna worry about this kind of side quest.
Athena notices my doubts “Listen Gael I get it, but we should still try; if we find a chance at finding everyone from our world we should still try to take it” Athena says making me skeptical, how exactly would we find them? Even if we knew where they were if they were in a dangerous area or somewhere we couldn’t reach what would we do then? Could we even help them? How long would that take? We’re struggling to figure out how we’ll survive from now on; how the hell are we supposed to figure out how those people will survive from now on? Just how dangerous would it be to try and accomplish this? There just are too many uncertainties; this won’t work. I think to myself and look at the desperation in Athena's puffy eyes… I mean if we get superpowers like Brandon, it might be possible…