When Aida finally opened the door to her room, Levi traipsed in silently, just as subdued as when he was in the dining hall with the others. Aida shut the door behind him, struggling to keep calm as she tried not to jump to conclusions.
Levi sat heavily on her bed as Aida took the chair at her desk. They stared at each other for a moment, neither speaking. Finally, Levi sighed, a shadow of his usual smirk on his lips.
“It seems like going to Loded Peak was unexpectedly beneficial for you.”
“I learned a special technique to survive there,” Aida agreed softly. She worried her lip. He seemed fine, but she couldn’t quite be sure - especially since they hadn’t fully touched base on if he had come to terms with Aida and Ezra dating. So much for that. Aida shook her head angrily as she suppressed the unwelcome thoughts.
“How are you?” she forced out, focusing on his body language. He was the one in front of her right now, and he had - at least some - answers.
Levi leaned back, exhaling. “I’m fine. Ezra’s fine, too.” He noticed Aida’s irritated twitch. “I’m only saying that because I was with him, so I can confirm that neither of us went through…whatever Suelina went through.”
“Tell me what she went through,” Aida said urgently, leaning forward. “Why is she so…” she rolled her wrist, trying to find the right words to describe Sue’s condition.
“Catatonic?” Levi grinned wryly. “When Healer Vega examined her, she said she was under the influence of something - she couldn’t be sure, but she said her own Detox skill wasn’t strong enough to pull her out of it.” Levi clicked his tongue. “It’s a shame we didn’t have Healer Bokar on that expedition with us.”
“How did she get poisoned? Was she hurt otherwise? And don’t you dare lie to me, or omit the truth somehow,” she added fiercely when Levi hesitated. He raised his hands in acquiescence.
“I’m not going to lie. I’m just trying to get the story straight in my head so I don’t accidentally make things more confusing.” He met Aida’s gaze steadily. Aida nodded slowly, deciding to trust him. I can always confirm with Caleb later, at least.
“We were all in the hunting party together: Class 1, led by Kuri and Vega. We were in the Western Woods, clearing out one segment. It was routine. Not difficult. But then - we got separated. Me and Ezra, Caleb and Lara, Kuri and Vega, and Suelina was on her own.”
“How—“
“It was an earthquake.” Levi scoffed at his own response. “Well, an unnatural earthquake. Caleb felt it coming, but not before he could do more than shout. It…the entire forest and topography changed. It’s like…the woods itself was deliberately trying to isolate us all.” Levi shook his head, his expression dark.
“Anyway, I was with Ezra. He said he got the same sense of foreboding as when he got attacked at the school lake with you, but he didn’t sense any mana, so we still don’t know exactly what happened.” Levi raised his eyes to Aida, checking her reaction. She nodded stiffly for him to go on. Don’t jump to conclusions yet.
“We fought our way out of - wherever we were. We had set up camp on the outskirts of the forests, kind of a base of operations with other Adventuring and Stronghold groups who had stationed themselves in that area. We didn’t know where we were, so we thought it was smartest to get out of the forest and then navigate our way to where the base was. We met Kuri, Vega, Caleb, and Lara there…and the Strongholders were just preparing an expedition to go find Suelina, when she finally came out of the forest herself.”
Aida could imagine Levi’s narration: the group of seven talented and skilled individuals, getting split into four smaller groups by a supernatural power…with Sue isolated. That makes sense. She’s the main character…it’s some sort of test.
“And…was it obvious she wasn’t in her right mind?”
“Well, she was walking straight, and she recognized us when she saw us…relieved, you know. But she passed out as soon as she got to base, so Caleb put her to bed and Healer Vega and another Stronghold Healer went to examine her.” Levi lapsed into brooding silence for a moment before offering a theory.
“While she was out, we talked with the other groups. Caleb and Lara got dumped into some sort of underground cave, and Kuri and Vega were stranded in their original location. All they could do was backtrack, because - from their perspective - we just disappeared. Swallowed by the forest somehow.” Levi’s eyes were hard. Steely. “Odd, isn’t it?”
Aida shook her head helplessly, knowing what he was thinking. “…it’s crazy.”
“It is. Like it’s deliberate.”
If this was a video game - it is a video game, Aida reminded herself - then the leads getting separated wasn’t shocking. It wasn’t uncommon for the party to get split into smaller groups, whether by choice (or plot, really) so that the party could accomplish multiple objectives at once, or because some sort of accident happened that caused the party to be split (like half the party falling through a hole in the ground). Having an overarching “Evil Being” causing all this upheaval in Wyndia wasn’t surprising, either.
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At least plot armor is a thing here. Again, Annie cursed herself for not having any knowledge of how the story was supposed to go. She had been so focused on the dating part, she hadn’t given any thought to the action part of the game.
But since all the clues of what was going on with the plot could be pieced together by what the main character experienced…she had to find out what Sue went through while alone in the forest.
“So what’s your theory?”
“Excuse me?”
“What’s your theory for what happened while we were out in the Western Woods? The people who have no idea about your origin are baffled.” There was a slight accusatory undertone to his question. Aida took a deep breath to keep her cool. Don’t take it personally. He went through a stressful situation.
“If I were to look at this objectively, I think there is some sort of ‘evil’ that is directly causing all these events, and it is deliberately targeting you guys.”
Levi stared at her, unblinkingly, for several seconds before he broke out in laughter. A full-bellied, unrestrained laugh that made Aida think that she had somehow fallen for a stupid prank of his. “Why are you laughing—“
“Are you making fun of me?” Levi gasped, wiping his eye with his pointer finger. “Is this some sort of revenge attempt to make me look delusional to everybody? Are you going to tell me to keep these details a secret, but you’re expecting me to walk around with an air of inflated self-importance because you’re going to tell me Class 1 are protagonists in this game world setting you had revealed to me earlier?”
“Please,” Aida said, annoyed. “Having known me as long as you have, do you really think I have the capacity - or desire - to play these kinds of manipulative social games?”
Levi snorted before composing himself. “Sorry. It just sounded too grandiose to be real.” He cleared his throat as he resettled himself on the bed, straightening his posture so that he gave off the impression of being serious and earnest. “Let’s start with ‘the evil.’ What kind of evil are we talking about? Malignant spirits from children’s stories—“ here he pointed to Aida “—or the nature of humanity?”
“It could be both,” Aida said defensively. “I told you, I never played the game this world is based upon so I don’t know.”
Levi raised his eyes to the sky as he said an inaudible prayer. “Okay. So what are you basing your conclusion on, if you don’t know the reason the world is going in this direction?”
“That’s how other games and stories go. There’s a generic ‘evil’ that’s trying to destroy the world as we know it, and the only way to save the world is for a select group of heroes to go destroy the evil.”
Levi stared at her, seeming to wait for her to continue speaking. Aida prodded him for a reaction. “Your stories follow a similar script, right? I can’t imagine it’s a totally original concept.”
“Well, no, the overall plot is the same,” Levi agreed reluctantly. He cupped his chin as he leaned back, staring at Aida’s ceiling. “Okay. So who are the select group of heroes? The Gullbeaks? Since they’re the plucky young upstarts who have accomplished feats that no one has seen since the original Stronghold groups were established?”
Aida was about to dismiss his suggestion - since the game obviously revolved around Sue and the boys - but tilted her head in confusion as she seriously considered the Gullbeaks.
The Gullbeaks’ backstory fit the typical “hero” profile. They already had their call to action when their village was destroyed, leaving them with no ties to anywhere or anyone except for each other. They had a capable leader, a well-rounded combat team with a mentor figure, and the typical heroic motivation of protecting the world.
And Sue was dead set on joining the Gullbeaks. If she did, that would definitely kickstart the action RPG part of the game where they would travel the world, find the source of evil, and defeat it.
But how did the boys factor into it? They had impressive combat abilities of their own, and before Aida had met the Gullbeaks she would have expected Sue to party up with the boys (and perhaps even Dev) to go on the quest to save the world. Levi seemed pretty determined to just get a job that would allow him to coast, which seemed to be at odds with the Gullbeaks’ work. Ezra seemed intent on discovering what the “evil” was, which aligned with the Gullbeaks’ goal as well. Caleb’s motivations were staunchly related to helping his parents, but that could tangentially be used to string him along with the plot’s intentions of having Sue lead a party to victory.
Well, there’s still several moon cycles until job offers are made anyway. Levi might very well find an excuse to join the Gullbeaks.
“Well?” Levi asked impatiently. “It makes sense, right? The Gullbeaks would be the heroes.” When Aida didn’t respond with an enthusiastic affirmative, Levi asked warily, “Who else would it be?”
“I mean, the game this world is based on is centered around Sue and…you guys.” Aida chuckled awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “My first thought would have been you, Sue, Ezra, and Caleb would be the heroes…but the Gullbeaks makes sense too…”
Levi stared at her for another long, awkward moment. He finally sighed, burying his face in his hands as he leaned on his knees. “I don’t know if I can continue with this charade.”
Charade?
“I went along with it in the beginning because I didn’t have another explanation on how a totally different, fully formed personality with totally different but complete knowledge of a different world took over Aida’s body, but this is getting way beyond what I can accept.” Levi straightened, fixing Aida with an intense, yet pleading gaze.
“You can’t possibly convince me the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a few teenagers. Not when there’s so many other groups of established veterans, masters, real adults, leaders, people who actually have control and are able to do something? I mean, that’s ridiculous and kind of an aggrandizement, isn’t it?”
Aida pressed her lips together. “I don’t really know. The Gullbeaks also fit the profile.” Unless they are the setup to making Sue and the boys committed to the cause. A shiver ran down her back, but she didn’t want to verbalize the new fear that reared its ugly head - what if saying it made it happen? She liked the Gullbeaks, and didn’t want anything to happen to them.
Levi snapped his fingers. “What about you?”
Aida tilted her head at him.
“You’re not from this world, and you have this theory of what’s going to happen. What if you’re the one who’s supposed to save the world?”