It had to be at least four and a half feet long! It was rusted but I could tell that this thing still had some durability left in it.
"This thing's surprisingly light for its size," I said, admiring the steel blade. "Up close, this thing looks ancient."
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared out of nowhere right under us. I backed away quickly, thinking that it was an attack or something. When I got a good look at it from a safe distance, I could see someone standing there. It looked like a projection or something.
"Hello future hero," it said. " To whomever you are, I have left you a message. If you're hearing this then it must mean that you have pulled the sword out of it's sheath."
I looked at the sword that I was holding. I wonder how important this sword is?
"That sword was the same sword used by the first hero over thousands of years ago," the projector said. "Before he died, he left this sword in this room in hopes that one day a new hero would be able to find it and use it to defeat the Army of Darkness once and for all."
"Hey Xylvia. If this sword was meant for a hero to find, then how come this sword is still here after so many heroes were summoned."
"Most of the heroes were cocky son of a bitches. They thought they were invulnerable, so they didn't even try to find the sword. After so many cocky heroes were summoned, the legend of that sword has been long forgotten by most people."
"Hey, I have an idea! If we give this sword to the current hero, then he or she could use it to fight against the Army of Darkness."
"Hopefully the 'heroic' bastard is still alive."
"I should probably mention something about the other chest," the projector said. "If you open the left chest, then you will get dosed with a dust that lets you act on what you desire the most. I don't know how long it will last if so much time passes, but please be wary of that."
Left chest? Didn't we open the right one first?
"Oh wait, did I put the sword in the right chest? Ummm..."
The projector raised his hand and he suddenly disappeared.
"That dumbass," Xylvia shouted in frustration. "How hard is it to learn your left from your right?! And I ended up getting drugged because of some stupid mistake…again…"
"Xylvia and I have had our shares of getting blasted with strange native over the course of two years. It was a huge struggle to recover from at first, but it got easier as we learned how to make medicine for it ourselves.
"Well, this was a bust," I sighed. "This sword might be valuable and all, but I was really hoping for at least some treasure or ancient magic."
"It's not all that bad," Xylvia said, trying to cheer me up. "Getting this sword to the hero can cause the ending of a thousand year long war."
"Yeah, there's that to."
"Cheer up. We'll find something that'll blow us away again some other time. Let's get out of here now. Look, there's a tunnel that looks like an exit over there."
When we saw the light to the outside of the caves, it felt like we were in the caves for years. In reality, it had only been three hours.
Maaaaan, I'm beat..." Xylvia said stretching her arms out.
"Same here."
We sat down a few feet away from the entrance of the cave and looked at the sun setting behind the village in the distance.
"Has it really been two years?" Xylvia asked.
"Sure has," I said. "But it feels like a century had passed." I said
"Usually this is where we would be saying 'time sure does fly', but it feels like the exact opposite happened."
She was right. We've been on so many adventures. We went from treacherous canyons, to deep jungles, to icy temples, to whatever else you can consider exciting.
"I feel like we still haven't even scratched the surface of exploring this world." I said.
"You might be right," Xylvia said. "We've still got a long ways to go. I sure hope that we find another one of those cool shiny buildings."
The sun was about a few feet away from disappearing from plain sight.
"Hey Hiro."
"Yeah."
"Do you want to know about what happened to my mother?"
I remember her mentioning her mother back when we first met. From the look she had on her face, I could tell that talking about her made her sad.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." I said.
"No, I'm not asking myself. I'm asking you."
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little curious. I actually did want to know a little more about her family. She told me that she had always lived a poor life because her father left her and her mother for someone else. However, I think she didn't have trouble telling me that because she hated him.
"He was a selfish bastard," I remember her saying. "I hope he gets killed by the Army of Darkness."
She would hardly mention anything about her mother though. She only told me that her mother was the only person she could ever lean on in her life. I can't imagine what it'd be like to lose someone like that.
"Ok," I said. "Tell me about your mother.
Xylvia smiled, then took a few deep breaths.
"Ok, here it goes."
I made sure to keep all of my attention on her as she spoke.
"My mother was always working herself to death," she said. "She did anything she could to get money, no matter how tough it was. She was like a slave being ordered around every second of her life. She even went as far as prostituting herself. However, even through all that pain she endured for me, she kept smiling. 'Don't worry my beloved child', she would say. 'Your life will be full of adventure soon'."
I did everything I could to keep myself from crying. I never knew that her mother was so strong-willed.
"One day, our village was attacked by the Army of Darkness," Xylvia continued. "My mother and I tried to escape from there together, but my mother was struck by one of the knights. I tried to help her get up, but she just shook her head and smiled. 'I did what I could to start your adventure', she said. 'Now it's up to you to live it. I love you, Xylvia.'
Xylvia started to cry when she finished that last part. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat there like a complete idiot and did nothing. I've never seen Xylvia cry, so this was new to me.
"I had to watch my mother get ripped into pieces," she said sounding both frustrated and sad. "She was all I had in my life! It's all my father's fault. If he wasn't so fucking selfish then...then...mom wouldn't be..."
I wanted to stop her. I didn't want to see her like this, but I was too shocked from seeing her like this. She was always so cheery and full of energy. She never even got mad before either. One time, I accidentally walked on her changing. I thought she was going to kill me, but instead she just laughed hysterically.
"You should see the look on her face." she had said to me.
Seeing her act like this was something that I've never seen from her before. That was why I couldn't move. I couldn't move because I was curious. I'm such an idiot.
"After a week of walking, I eventually stumbled into the Town of Colors," Xylvia said calming down a little. "I slept in an ally and never moved from that spot. I wanted to stay there until i dies, but then a woman in a hood found me. She gave ma an apple to eat and asked me what my name was, then she took me in.
"Was that woman Gleam?" I asked.
Xylvia nodded.
"I've lived in that palace ever since she found me. She took care of me as if I were her own daughter. I got sick of the apples though since I had them everyday. One day, she told me to go find the summoned one and bring him to her. That was you. I think the reason why she told me to do that was so I could meet you Hiro."
"You really think she planned all that out?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but I do think that there was a reason why I met you. I think this is it. I met you because I've always wanted to go on adventures, and you helped me accomplish that goal. So, Hiro...thank you..."
The smile on her face made my heart race. I had to say something now.
"Hey Xylvia," I said. "You...can always...l-lean on me if you need to."
Xylvia looked up at me with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"I may not know what it's like to lose someone you care so much about, but I do know what it's like to be alone," I continued. "I know I've already told you this before, but I just wanted to let you know that I'll never leave you behind. I'll always be by your side."
Saying those words took everything that I had out of me. Xylvia started to laugh though.
"Look at you trying so hard." she said through her laughter.
"H-Hey, I'm being serious," I said.
"I know." she said.
Xylvia then got up and started to head back to the village.
"You're so considerate and kind," she said to me. "You appreciate your values more than anything, as well as the values of other. That's what I love about you."
I nearly dropped dead when she said that. When I heard her say "love" and "you," I wanted to hug her so badly. Kiss her even. But…I was just too scared to cross that line. What if she…hates me? She's nothing like "her," but still…
"I'm not that special," I said, shaking my head. "I'm just trying to live my best life."
Xylvia smiled. However, this smile was different. It wasn't a friendly smile, it looked more…smug? Like, the way a prankster would smile whenever something was going according to plan.
"You ever thought of how to make your life better?" Xylvia asked me.
"What do you mean, I asked nervously.
"Please tell me. What's one thing that would make this exciting life of yours even better? Treasure? Magic? A cool weapon? Or…something else?"
She crept closer to me, carefully watching my every move. Even the little shivers I did whenever she took another step closer to me.
"Hey, Hiro. What if…we…kissed?" She asked me, caressing my cheek with her hand.
"If we did…I…I'd be flying to the moon after that."
"You wanna…try it?"
"I…do. But, what if it goes wrong? What if…I'm not…good enough?"
"I don't think that'll be an issue."
"Hmm?!"
It all happened so fast. She didn't even give me a second to prepare. She just…went for it. Every part of her mouth was rubbing against mine. Soft, yet intense brushes. A hot, fast-paced, intense kiss that showed no sign of stopping. Every few second, her tongue would brush against mine, sending shivers down my spine along with a throbbing wave of heat through my face.
Everything about this felt perfect. Too perfect. Every part of my brain was trying to tell me no. Was trying to shout, scream "WAKE UP" at me. The lingering doubts in my mind, my own fear of ever trying to find a relationship ever again.
I do want this. I've wanted this so badly, for so long. So long it hurt. Hurt to look at her and think that I could never tell her. I've always wanted to tell her. Tell her that I…that I…
We pulled back slowly, a sting of spit curving downwards and disappearing without a trace. As I caught my breath, I finally said the words I've been wanting to say for over a year.
"I love you…" I choked, tears falling down from my face.
"It's about time," Xylvia said. "I've waited…for so long… You're so mean for doing that to me…"
We leaned in for a mother kiss, but…
"Is that smoke?" Xylvia asked.
There was a village located about three miles from where we were in the mountains. Her eyes weren't lying to her. There really was smoke coming from the village.
"Could it be a bonfire or something?" Xylvia asked.
I looked closer at the village and saw something glowing. But that glow suddenly turned into a flare. Flames? Yes, they were flames.
Xylvia, we need to get there. NOW!!"