Here's some insight into the characters in a few delightful short stories. You may say shorter than your chapters?! But I've been doing my best to make chapters longer but I have needs and it's more convenient to post then come back later.
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The Shovel:
While walking to the Eastern gate, Emperor decided to chat with Keith about something odd during training.
"Hey Keith about your shovel-" Emperor started
Keith interrupted "It's not a shovel, it's a spade!"
Emperor thought 'Is there any difference?' but instead said "Okay about your spade, during training why did you hit me with the wooden part rather than the metal part?"
Keith sheepishly said "Well it was my father's spade and before that my grandfather's an-"
Emperor interjected "Keith that doesn't answer the question, Why do you hit with the wrong side?"
"Okay, it's a bit awkward hitting with the metal part when Kyle and Katy are using sticks. Is it that weird?" Keith responded
"It's fine for now but if you go into real combat use the metal side. Okay?" Emperor said while thinking 'Keith is weak to peer pressure it seems.'
"Okay" Keith said then he ran ahead a bit out of embarrassment.
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The Apology:
Emperor noticed Kyle sulking a bit after they left the training hall. So he decided to ask him about it since it didn't seem like it was from fatigue.
"Hey Kyle are you alright? You look a bit out of it." Emperor casually mentioned
Kyle replied "I'm fine" while still sulking just as much.
Emperor thought 'Could he be down from me accidentally calling him Keith?' and then said "I'm sorry for calling you Keith, it's not that big of a deal."
Kyle replied harshly "It may not be a big deal to you but it's frustrating to me."
Emperor thought 'Sh*t I hit a nerve in him, gotta think of a way of resolving this while being a good influence.'
Emperor immediately lied "I guess I went too far with that joke, I thought it'd be funny since your names are so similar."
Kyle visibly brightened and asked "A joke?"
"Yeah I didn't know it'd be taken seriously and you know how jokes are less funny if you explain them" Emperor quickly said.
Kyle started laughing then began walking faster overtaking Emperor.
Emperor thought to himself 'Kyle is the most energetic of the three yet the most vulnerable especially in a emotional way. Good thing he's gullible or this situation would've been unexpectedly bad.'
Keith thought to himself 'It's obvious that he was lying back there but thinking about it I was sad for a petty reason. From now on I won't get sad so easily anymore!'
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Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Women are the same everywhere:
While walking towards the Eastern wall, both Keith and Kyle went ahead. This left Emperor with the not-so talkative Katy. Emperor decided to find out why she isn't very social.
"Hey Katy, why don't you talk more?" said Emperor
"What is there to talk about?" responded Katy
'This isn't working, what about her female friends? There's no guarantee they're the only children here.' thought Emperor
Emperor asked "Katy do you have any female friends?"
Katy responds "Yes, there's Mom, Auntie, Mrs. Bitc-"
Emperor intercepted with "I mean any young girls like you"
Katy thought a little bit then said "Yeah, there's Grandma, Mom, Aun-"
Emperor interrupted once again "Nevermind"
'No wonder she doesn't talk often, she is monotone and takes things too seriously. Also what's with the old women here calling themselves young girls?' Emperor thought
The rest of the way Emperor stayed silent while the kids had periodic conversations with eachother.
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Emperor's backstory part 1:
This takes place after Emperor logs off on the first day. It shows some parts of his lifestyle but not his name.
After exiting the coma Emperor had to get used to reality again. The game is very similar to reality but the small differences confuse the brain at first after entering and exiting Fantasy Chronicles.
Emperor thought to himself after looking at a clock 'Only 11pm, it feels much later thanks to the 1:4 time ratio. I should go bed now even though its Saturday I shouldn't stay up too late or my internal clock will get messed up. I still have to work Monday so staying up until 1am isn't good.'
*Stomach growls* interrupting Emperor's thought processes. He then ambled into his kitchen and put some leftovers in the microwave. Thanks to him living alone in an apartment he doesn't have to worry about waking anyone but he's too lazy to cook something.
After eating the leftovers Emperor cleaned up after himself and went to sleep. That night he dreamed about ruling the world as he always did but tonight the world was Fantasy Chronicles instead of real life.
End of Side Stories.
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Author's Note:First off you may ask Part 1? Is there going to be a part 2? Well unfortunately for you that's your healthy dosage of CLIFFHANGER this time. Second I made this due to demand for some character development, went unexpectedly well so I may do so again later.
Vote ended with Lynford as the chosen name.
Chapter 4: http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3542