After every end to our adventure, Xylvia and I would always head over and open our shop until we get new locations for our next adventure. Our shops were filled with goods from our travels, so we had merchants from all over that place visit us. We were loaded with cash, so we didn't have to worry about our monthly rent, taxes, or food. Sometimes we would exchange our goods to the merchants for information about new places for an adventure. It was a huge cycle that we've repeated for two years, and it never gets old.
"Hey, Xylvia." I said as I was finished closing the shop.
"Yeah, What's up?" she asked.
"Umm...how kong do you think this will go on for?"
Xylvia was silent for a little bit.
"Well, I'd like to think for forever, but there's always an end to everything unfortunately." she said.
Xylvia and I walked over to our room. We lived in our shop because we loved admiring all of the awesome things that we've collected. There we're only two rooms in this shop. Since one of them is used for selling goods to people, Xylvia and I had to share the other room. We slept on bunk beds because Xylvia thought that would be fun. I didn't get it though because either way, we would still end up falling asleep. I guess she's still a little kid at heart or something.
"I just want to stay with you forever." Xylvia said.
"Wait...r-really?" I stuttered out.
"Of course really! Your the best friend I've ever had!"
If words could kill, that sentence would kill me in this world, in my original world, and in the afterlife.
"Oh...so that's what you meant." I muttered.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Xylvia asked.
"N-N-No...n-nothing!"
Our room was a pretty big mess. We didn't have enough room to put everything in there, so we had to put some of the stuff in our room. It looked like a room that you'd expect a pickpocket would have.
"Hey Xylvia." I said as I lay down on my bed (mine was the bottom bunk by the way).
"Yeah?" Xylvia said through her yawn from above me.
"What are your thoughts on...well...you know...romance?"
"Romance?"
Xylvia went silent for a bit again.
"Is there anyone you like that way?" she asked me.
"Well, I'm not completely sure," I said. "I just want an idea on what you think about it."
"Well, I think that romance is something that everyone wants to experience, even if they say that they don't want to. It's something that I hope to experience one day as well."
"Maybe that day will come for you." I said.
"You know, something tells me that day will come a lot sooner than you think."
"Do you want it to come sooner?"
"All I can say is that if romance does come for me, then I'll welcome it into my life with open arms and a huge smile."
As usual, Xylvia knew exactly what to say.
"Thank you." I said.
I don't know how, but I finally had my answer. My feelings for Xylvia...were love. I'm in love with Xylvia.
"Hey, Xylvia."
"Yeah?"
"Sorry for walking in on you when you were naked."
"That was three weeks ago and you're still hung up on that?" Ok then. If you feel that guilty, then tomorrow you can whip your dick out for me."
"W-W-Wait...WHAT?!?"
"Do that, then we'll be equal."
"OH GODDAMNIT!! I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHIIIIIIING!!!"
"You better impress me tomorrow."
I simply groaned and slammed my pillow above my head. I kind of hope that these feeling go away by tomorrow.
"...ro...iro...Hiro...Hiro..."
I woke up to someone calling my name.
"...Leonna...?"
"Yep, it's me," Leonna said. "Now get out of bed. You need breakfast and a good training session to start the day!"
Great. More sores and bruises to add to my muscles. At least breakfast was always great to look forward to. The reason for that was because...
"Flaps, meat strips, flat cakes, and apple cider." Leonna said.
Hell yeah.
"I think I'm gonna get a nosebleed just from the smell of it!" I said.
The names given to this worlds food are pretty weird. Flaps are omelets, meat strips are bacon, flat cakes are pancakes, and apple cider is...the same.
"It's weird to think that you eat the exact same stuff here like you did in your original world." Leonna said.
"What's weird are the names that you people gave this food." I said.
"In your mind it is."
"What's good about this food is that it isn't being made in a factory or just powder in a box. It's all home cooked!"
"By the way, you've never told me anything about your world. What's it like?"
"Well..."
I didn't know how to answer that question. In all honesty, I don't really know much about my own world. I've wanted to go on adventures, but I just couldn't because of my paranoia with my parents.
"I guess...it's more filthy than this world," I said. "It does get pretty at night, but nothing like this."
"What was your life like there?" Leonna asked.
"Well...it was...boring."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I never did what I wanted to do."
I told her everything about how my life went. About how my paranoia about my parents led me to living a life that they thought that I could be happy with. About how my life in Tokyo was a complete bust. About how I wished that I could restart my life all the way to the point when I was first born.
"I thought living in Tokyo would be full of excitement and adventure, but it ended up being nothing but boredom and stress that I couldn't take," I said. "I wanted excitement in my life. I wanted to feel the adrenaline rush that you get when you go and have some fun."
I thought that Leonna was going to laugh at me, but instead she just smiled.
"I'm was the same way Hiro," she said. "I used to love having a lot of fun in my life. However, all of that ended when my family was killed. I wanted to join the army and get revenge for my family, so I gave up my fun life and joined the battlefield."
"It sounds like the Army of Darkness takes more than just lives from us." I said.
"They take our personality away from us as well. The way we think. The way we interact. Our way of living. Once you come in contact with them, your life completely changes."
Those people who burned down the village did change my way of thinking. I always thought about adventures, but now I always had thoughts of killing them. Throat slits. Hung on a noose Decapitation. Cutting the limbs off. Most of my thoughts were about how I could kill them. There was one thought that kept me sane though. Xylvia. Xylvia was the reason why I'm still able to act normally. Getting her out of whatever place she's in is my top priority.
"I want you to think about that figure on the horse that you talked about and use that as fuel for your will to kill," Leonna said. "Then, I want you to slash at that tree over there."
Since my thoughts were mostly about how to kill that guy, it only took me a few seconds to summon the dark flame around me. I pictured that tree being the figure charging at me. I felt rage building up inside me. I felt like I was about to lose my mind, but I didn't let that happen. I knew that Xylvia would be on the other side. I kept that in my mind as well. I charged at the tree with full speed with my sword held above my head horizontally. When I was a few feet away from it, I swung at it as hard as I could. My sword was pretty heavy, but it felt light and easy to swing. In fact, my swing strangely felt comfortable as well. It was as if I was dancing. If Leonna was dancing with the light, then I guess that means that I'm dancing with the darkness.
When the blade met the tree, it cut through the bark cleanly. I could feel my sword cut through every inch of bark that it touched. The ending result was a tree falling down. My sword cut through a little more than half of the bark easily, but that was it.
"Nicely done Hiro," Leonna said while clapping her hands. "You went from getting your sword stuck on it to cutting it down."
"It's an improvement, but I'm still no where near strong enough yet." I said.
"That may be true, but if you continue to improve like this then you'll be able to take those guys on in no time."
Thoughts of being able to kill those guys soon started to swirl around my mind again.
"Umm...Hiro..." Leonna pointed at my sword.
When I realized that I was still engulfed in the dark flame, I immediately stopped pouring my willpower into my sword and started coming up with different thoughts. The dark flame eventually died down and faded into grey ashes.
"I really hate that sword." Leonna said.
"I know," I said. "Bit it's the only weapon I can use if I want to get stronger faster."
"Are you sure that you'll be fine if you keep playing with Devil's magic like that?"
"The blade chose me. So as long as I keep my thoughts in control, then I'll be fine."
Leonna had a worried look on her face, but she still nodded.
"Ok, I believe in you." she said.
"Thank you." I said.
Leonna was about to tell me something else, but she was interrupted by a bright light that suddenly appeared out of no where. When the light faded, we opened our eyes to see a giant castle in front of us. Leonna and I couldn't see anything but a terrain of black rock behind us. It looked like.a vast wasteland that was inhabitable. The castle was made of grey bricks and had a moat surrounding it. The moat was filled with a bright red liquid. I assumed the worst. The sky was also a blood red.
"Where are we?" I asked Leonna.
"I...I don't know," she said. "This is new to me. But more importantly, who brought us here?"
"That's a good que-."
A bridge suddenly fell down in front of us. It led to the front entrance of the castle. Someone appeared from the front of it. That person was...riding a horse.
My blood started to boil inside of me. I immediately pulled my sword out of it's sheath and charged at the figure.
"DIIIIIIIIIIE!!!" I shouted with rage.
"Wait! Don't...Hiro!"
I paid no attention to Leonna. I kept my eyes completely on the hooded prick. I got within a few feet from the figure.
"DIIIIIIIIE!!!"
I swung my sword at the figure, and it's halves...were separated.