When Arthur woke up, he instantly felt that something was different. He felt stronger, and the body he was possessing was not Leonis’. More importantly, a soft moan came from the side, followed by the sensation of someone half-pressed against his side.
Upon seeing the long silver hair and the naked body so close to him, he flinched and instinctively backed away.
This sudden motion woke up the silver-haired woman, who was actually Lucy.
‘What’s she doing here? And my body…’
Arthur examined his face while edging away from Lucy. Not unlike her, he, too, was star-naked.
‘This is… my real body?’
The old scar on his right wrist made him realize that, unexpectedly, this was his real body. As inconceivable as that was, it was confirmed when he stepped close to a nearby mirror and got a good look at his face.
He only looked at himself for a couple of seconds before he noticed the presence of two figures standing a couple of feet away.
“Y-you…”
Arthur was utterly flabbergasted as he stared back at Isabella and Lucy. The former was confused and a bit surprised while the latter was concentrating on the ‘second’ Lucy.
“Mhm… Arthur?”
‘Lucy’ sat up and rubbed her eyes, her petite and naked body in full display. She didn’t seem to mind that Arthur was seeing everything, and from the affectionate look on her eyes, it was clear that their relationship wasn’t that of mere companions.
“What’s going on?”
‘Lucy’ was perceptive enough to notice Arthur’s perplexion and utter shock. Her expression immediately turned serious as she looked around but found nothing suspicious.
‘She can’t see them. I need to know what’s real first. Isabella should be in a coma so she can’t be here. As for this dream…’
“Where are we? Why are there two of you?”
Isabella looked back and forth between the real and fake Lucy, completely befuddled.
“Before you ask, we’re real.” Lucy’s statement followed by a short pause before she took a few steps and stood between Arthur and her other self,
“Also, why was I in the bed with you? And naked, to boot. Is this… a dream of yours?”
‘Absolutely not.’ Arthur softly shook his head but didn’t speak out loud. Unfortunately, his instant dismissal didn’t get rid of Lucy’s gaze of anger and disgust.
“Are you feeling well, Arthur?”
As he was still trying to understand what was going on, ‘Lucy’ approached him. She gently grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her.
“W-wait!”
When she saw him pull back, ‘Lucy’ frowned. She didn’t seem angry, just startled by his sudden change in usual behavior. In contrast to the Lucy he knew, this one was highly-expressive, both in expression and tone.
Alas, with the presence of the real Lucy, Arthur felt incredibly awkward, moreso since ‘Lucy’ stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist. As she hugged him, he kept his arms raised.
‘This isn’t what you think… both of you.’
Isabella was more curious about the fact that they were in a very vivid dream, whereas Lucy was livid as she leapt at Arthur and tried attacking him. Sadly, her body just went through him.
‘Maybe it doesn’t matter? They could be hallucinations too. All of this could be fake.’
“Did you have a nightmare or something? We can talk about it if you want.”
‘Lucy’, while still tightly hugging him, raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes, which were differently-colored- one blue and one red- were filled with worry.
“Can you give me a second?”
After some effort, Arthur managed to separate from her and go to another room. Of course, he didn’t forget to wear something as his two ghostly companions were still there.
“I’m going to kill you. You’re dead.”
As he was musing with himself, Lucy didn’t keep swearing to kill him. If she was indeed the real Lucy, what little trust he had managed to gain from her was definitely gone.
Admittedly, for someone like her, who hated what Chris had said, this supposed ‘dream’ was way worse. However, Arthur was certain that he had never thought of Lucy that way. He didn’t even consider her as a friend, much less as a potential lover.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
‘Let’s all calm down first. For now, it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not.’
Although he was alone in another room, Arthur still chose to telepathically communicate with Isabella and Lucy.
‘I’ll continue with the assumption that the two of you are real. Isabella, what’s the last thing you remember?’
“We were in the Baron’s manor. Evelyn died and the Undead Jester appeared. After that, I was in a lot of pain…”
‘You’re supposed to be in a coma.’
“I am?” Isabella tilted her head and creased her brows. “I don’t feel like I’m in a coma.”
“And you, Lucy?”
“...”
With her arms crossed, Lucy kept glaring daggers at him before begrudgingly responding
“Darkness covered the sky and then we fell unconscious.”
‘So, it’s the same as me. For all we know, we could’ve been pulled into some kind of twisted illusion crafted by the one who connected us.’
“Or we’re in your dream or subconscious.” Spat Lucy while clicking her tongue.
“If it’s an illusion, why am I not here? You and Lucy were naked in a bed. I didn’t think you’re interested in sex.” Commented Isabella without batting an eye.
‘Can we please move on from that? It can’t be my dream. This is something else entirely. I really am in this place. Everything feels real.’
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“Well… fuck!”
Chris looked at the equally dumbfounded Charles before cursing. He was kneeling in front of Arthur’s body, which was smaller than a finger. It was emitting covered in a disgusting black-ish ooze and, simultaneously, letting out bits of Darkness energy.
A couple of feet away, Lucy lies motionlessly on the ground, in a similar state to Isabella.
Previously, when Isbabella had been in a coma, she was still breathing, but now, she looked like a corpse.
“They’re both dead?”
Chris inspected both of them before looking to the apothecary for an explanation.
“It’s too early to tell. Medically speaking, they are dead, but weren’t they and Arthur connected? I don’t know the details, but they can control each other’s body? If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say they are connected right now.”
“With Arthur?”
“That’s the only possibility.”
Chris didn’t look convinced as he tentatively picked the parasite’s minuscule body. Fortunately, the Darkness wasn’t harmful.
“Arthur told me that when they are connected, their own bodies still function, so to speak. Could it be this damn Darkness? Why does everything have to be complicated?!”
“...”
Charles just stood there, not knowing what to do.
“We can’t even continue traveling. Let’s just wait here.”
Chris sighed and, with the help of Charles, dragged Isabella and Lucy to a better spot a short distance away.
Time slowly crept by as Chris and Charles sat down and waited. One hour, two hours, three hours.
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Hm?”
Charles, who was already anxious, jumped to his feet and looked around. He expected to see beasts or bandits but the place was quiet and peaceful.
“I don’t see anything.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Chris kept tapping his foot on the ground while occasionally rubbing his ankle. It was apparent that he was apprehensive.
“It’s just… I got the feeling that we shouldn’t stay here.”
Chris looked to Greenbell Forest, which was visible from their position.
“Then let’s leave.. Ummm.. I’ll carry Isabella and you carry Miss Lucy.”
“Why must I carry her? Ugh.. fuck it! It’s not like she’ll know.”
Chris motioned for Charles before standing up, “Ignore the tents. We should just g-”
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes falling on a small creature that appeared out of thin air.
“Chris?”
“It’s that thing.” Looking slightly shocked, Chris pointed at the creature, “Do you see it?”
“See what?”
“An orange frog. It’s creepily staring back at me.”
“I don’t see it.” Charles approached him and carefully looked at the grass but there was nothing.
East. Fast. Run.
A deep and almost deafening disembodied voice rang in Chris’ head. He knew it came from the Frog of Destiny, and though he was curious on why it appeared before him for a second time, his body reacted faster than his mind.
“Let’s go let’s go! Hurry!”
Chris carried Lucy while Charles, with a bit of difficulty, lifted Isabella’s body. Without even caring about the tents, the two started sprinting across the flat plains, heading Eastward.
The Frog of Destiny, on the other hand, moved with lightning-fast speed toward the Greenbell Forest.
----------------------------------------
6 Hours 21 minutes until the arrival of Eliminator
The Planet of Astria, excluding the sun itself, was the only intact celestial body in its local solar system. A planet distant from all civilized or colonised systems in the X-TR500 ‘Universe’. Despite being a relatively small planet, it was the only one close to the Crimson Rift, but even then, the distance between the two of them couldn’t be crossed by just any entity.
The inhabitants of Astria was largely unaware of the Crimson Rift, mostly due to the fact that it wasn’t visible in the sky.
On this dreadful day, however, a blood-red light appeared in the sky. More specifically, the people living on the four continents could see an ominous crimson light, dimmer than the sun’s blinding radiance, but noticeable nonetheless.
Hundreds of millions of miles away from Astria, The Crimson Rift became turbulent as large masses of Void leaked out.
Rather than trying to break beyond the Crimson Rift, the Void was latching on something else.
Dark-purple formless energy, slightly similar to Primordial Darkness, repeatedly engulfed a gargantuan silhouette that, at excruciatingly slow pace, was separating itself from the other side and crossing the rift.
In comparison to the Crimson Rift, the crossing silhouette was minuscule, but it let out a buzzing as concentrated beams of energy pierced the latching Void, practically destroying it.
Eventually, after a bitter struggle, the silhouette was fully out of the Crimson Rift.
Due to its pitch-black color, it seemed to merge with the dark and empty space around it.
Crossing complete. Setting coordinates for Titan Planet Astria. Increasing Engine Power Output to 100%. Initiating Warp Jumps. Expected Time of Arrival: 5 hours and 5 minutes.