Man, that has been one heck of a day, I never thought I'd see a skele-ton of things happening in one day. It's uncanny. I mean, it felt as if someplace in another timeline it was the anniversary of Undertale, even though it's the start of summer. Still, it's not over yet. I still have to keep working until the restaurant's closing hours.
Despite the chaos that happened when the characters from Undertale showed up, the rest of the day went by pretty well. Even with Vodka being drunk, her stubbornness kept her going and handled the day surprisingly better than I expected. Then again, she is literally the personification of an alcoholic drink, so I guess that makes sense…?
Finally, as the day ends, and after we clean up the place, some of us head to our dorms while others chill out in the living room. Sweet Tofu is once again listening to some music. I get curious and decide to approach him. Sweet sees me and takes off his headphones. "Well, hello, curious little thing~ What brings you here?" I point to the headphones. Sweet asked, "My headphones?" I nod. "Well, these are used to listen to different things, though you might not be into this kind of music, heehee~" I makes gestures that say something like, "Pffft. Yeah, right." I write {I'm curious, though. May I listen to it?} He lifts an eyebrow. "If you say so." I put on his headphones and he starts playing some music. As I expected, it is rock n' roll. It's actually not bad. Obviously, I've never listened to any of the songs here in Tierra, but back in Texas, I was quite the metalhead. I also like other genres, such as house, rock, dubstep, trance, and much more. Of course, there are some genres that I don't like, especially reggaeton. That genre is often cacophonous and vulgar, and the worst part is that the beat of those songs make you have them stuck in your head, and it's damn near impossible to get rid of them.
As I'm listening to the song from Sweet's portable CD player, I nod to the beat and rhythm of them song. Although I don't know this song, it has a familiar style similar to what you'd expect from my old world. In a way, it sounded like a mix of Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, with a hint of AC/DC's songs. As soon as the song ended, I hand the headphones to Sweet, who is happy that I liked his music. Although Sweet Tofu Food Souls are known to be malicious and downright creepy, this particular one doesn't seem to be half bad. Maybe he's one of those guys who are misunderstood because of what these specific Food Souls are known for (not to mention the voicelines and the bio).
As the next morning starts, I decide to help Samson train the new Food Souls. We all meet in the living room, discussing the plans for the next few days. We decide that Brownie, Tom Yum, and Black Tea work with Sweet Tofu and Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie in the front of the house. Meanwhile, Napoleon Cake and Coffee take a few lessons on cooking with Vodka and Bamboo Rice. Crepe, Sandwich, and I help Rice with vocabulary in the living room. As for the rest, they're out fighting Fallen Angels and gathering ingredients.
An hour passes, and so far, things have been going well. I mean, there hasn't been any Dine-and-Dashers, and Sweet hasn't been causing much trouble other than an incident that nearly happened because of a rather fussy six-year-old dining with his parents. I guess even Tierra has picky eaters. Butterscotch has gotten along with pretty much everyone in the restaurant, and seems to be able to lift the spirits of people who have been feeling down. At least, that's what I hear from Andre and the bamboo rats. I volunteered to work with Crepe and Sandwich to help Rice because I wanted to keep myself busy, and I'm very good with vocabulary. What? There's more to my vocabulary than my foul language, okay? I'm telling you, I can say more than swear words.
Anyway, I conveniently found a dictionary in the nearby bookshelf, so I decided to use it to help with Rice's speech. The funny thing is, despite my efforts to help, I still end up talking in my dragonspeak, and my attempts to talk like a human end up sounding creepy, so it kinda backfires. After some awkward moments, leading to an awkward silence, I excuse myself to see the Food Souls in the kitchen.
As I'm walking past the front of the house, I run into Sweet, who nearly steps on my tail while walking to a table with a tray of delicious-smelling food. Thankfully, he didn't step on my tail, which is why I said "nearly". Sweet greeted, "Whoops, sorry, Danny. I didn't see you there." I gestured coolly, assuring him that it's all good. I continue walking to the back of the house and get greeted by a "Howdy" from Butterscotch. Looking at the kitchen, Coffee has been keeping himself busy with the drinks and the dishes as Bambri and his rats were cooking up something so wonderfully delicious.
I jump up on the counter near the sink where Coffee is working. He greeted, "Well, hello, little dragon. What brings you here?~" Damn, he's so charming in-game, and he's even more so in person. I take out my notepad from my Inventory and write {Coffee.} He lifts an eyebrow, seemingly impressed in a subtle way. I add into the page I'd like a cappuccino please. He chuckles with the most gentle and warm smile I could ever see. "Well, aren't you an interesting creature?" he remarked. Bambri replied, "Yeah, she's pretty interesting. She seems to know a lot too. So, what brings you here, Danny RPG?" Coffee answered, "Well, she said she wants a cappuccino." Bambri's eyes widen. "Wow, I didn't know dragons like coffee. That's pretty cool." I nod in agreement. Coffee asked, "Well, tell you what, Danny. As soon as I finish up with these dishes, I'll brew some coffee for you. Does that sound good?" I smile and give him a thumbs-up. He gives me a surprised and confused look. Right. I forgot that I look pretty weird when I smile. I clear my throat and write in my notepad Right. I'll be in the living room and continue helping Rice out.
I turn around and look at the floor. I unfold my wings and hop off the counter. Gliding in the air, I attempt to do a graceful landing when I crash into the door a few feet above the ground. As I'm about to slide down painfully, I use my claws to cling onto it like a cartoon character about to fall from a great height. Obviously, that doesn't work, so Coffee manages to catch me before I could hit the floor. "Are you okay?" he asked. I give him a thumbs-up, and then I get off his hands. Coffee opens the door to the front of the house for me, and I walk through. I could hear a few murmurs about an increase in Fallen Angel attacks from the patrons while going past the room. I just hope the Food Souls that went out would be alright. Then again, since Spicy is out, I don't know who to feel more sorry for, the Food Souls who are with her or the Fallen Angels. Just when I'm about to open the door to the living room, someone opens the front door. It's Akira. It's been a while since I've seen her; I wonder how she's doing. I decide to follow her instead. It looks like she has a clipboard and a wooden chest. I bet she's here to check on our progress with that twenty-day beginner's event and to give us some more rewards with the things we've accomplished so far.
Butterscotch crosses paths with Akira and greets, "Howdy! Welcome to the Glorywest Grill! How may I help you?" Akira answered, "I'm here to see Master Attendant Samson to discuss some news about current events. D'you know where I can find him?"
"He's out finding ingredients in the forest and fighting Fallen Angels."
"Well, in the meantime, I wouldn't mind staying here for lunch."
"Sure, right this way, ma'am."
He escorts Akira to an empty table and gives her the menu. He then walks to the kitchen. Before I could walk away, the elf takes a glimpse at me and asks, "Hey, you're that dragon I've been hearing rumors about, right?" I look at her and nod. She added, "Well, come on over – I don't think we've properly introduced each other." I jump up on the table and sit. My tail flicks. Akira started, "Well, I'm Akira, and your name is Danny-something, right?" I nod. My notepad glitches into existence and I write {Danny RPG.}
"As in 'roleplaying games?'"
{Yes.}
"I think I might've seen you once or twice, but like I said, we haven't really met, have we?"
{I don't think so.}
"So, why 'RPG'? Are you some sort of gamer?"
{Yeah.}
"Cool. I don't really play much games since the restaurant business is hard work, but I tend to hear some things about some games once in a while. Actually, I think there might be an arcade somewhere around here. Maybe you could check it out sometime?"
{Sure, I can ask Master Attendant about it when he comes back. What kind of video games do they have here?}
"Well, there's this game where you play as a Food Soul, and you navigate through this maze, collecting ingredients, while avoiding Fallen Angels. Another popular one is this fighting game where these people get summoned to a tournament and fight to the death. And there's this other one where you hit these arrows on a screen by dancing."
{I know games like those; what are the ones you mentioned called?}
"I think the first one is called Maze of Spirits; the second I'm not really sure, but I think it's Might of Destiny or something like that, and the last one is Dance Resolution."
"There are games like that where I came from, but with similar titles – PAC-MAN, Mortal Kombat, and Dance Dance Revolution. I really love the second one. It's super badass on so many levels." (Then, again, it might be Dark Deception instead of PAC-MAN, but I don't think that's important right now.)
"Really, that's quite interesting. Where can I find out more about this?"
{Well, you definitely won't find them here; they're in a place so far away, you won't find them.}
"Oh, well, that sucks. Can I at least know the name of the place?"
I hesitate for a second, but I don't think it would hurt to only mention the name. So I write United States of America in the notepad.
"That sounds interesting. And, I'd like to know more about this Mortal Kombat. It sounds like a pretty cool title."
{Well, it is pretty much what you described – a bunch of people getting summoned to fight in a tournament to the death. But, there is a whole bunch of lore and worldbuilding.}
"Go on."
{Well, for starters, the whole thing takes place on a fictional planet called Earthrealm, which is like Tierra, but round.}
"Huh, I never would've thought of something like that."
{And along with Earthrealm, there's these other realms. So, to prevent invasion of the realms, these Elder Gods host a tournament once a generation, which is Mortal Kombat. It's a very challenging game, and has a load of awesome sequels to play with. The original game came out a few decades ago, and it was a simple game with each character having their own story, including a female playable character who is a soldier.}
"Really? I don't think I've heard anything like that."
{Yeah, back in the day, the only female characters in video games are non-playable damsels in distress that you gotta save from the bad guys, so having that sort of thing I mentioned earlier is a huge change.}
"Huh, that's pretty cool. What's the name of the character?"
{Sonya Blade.}
"Cool, so what kind of soldier is she?"
{A Special Forces agent from the United States military.}
"What's the 'military'?"
{An army of soldiers who serve and protect their homeland in different divisions. It's an American thing.}
"That's quite intriguing, because you seem to know more than you let everyone know. I mean, look at Samson and his Food Souls; you've been living with them for a while, and you're still nothing more than a woman of mystery."
{Touché. It's because some things are best left unknown. At least for now. Listen, I'd rather not talk much about my origin, since it's rather … well … ridiculous and outrageous at best.
"It's alright, though. You don't have to tell everything now. If you're not ready, then you're not ready. But, whatever your past may be, you have to tell them at some point."
{Yeah, I know.}
I hear the door leading to the back of the house opening. Coffee is coming out with a cup of coffee as Butterscotch does the same, but with a copy of the menu. I wave at Coffee as he's about to go to the living room, but then sees me waving. He walks over to the table. He greeted, "I thought you were going to help Rice with her vocabulary." I write in my notepad {I was going to, but then Akira wanted to talk to talk to me, so I decided to chat with her.} He reads the page, and Akira asks about what I wrote, so he hands the notepad to the elf. She remarked, "She's certainly an interesting dragon. I don't think I've ever met anyone like her." "Neither did all of us," he smiled. "As much as I enjoy a good conversation, I should get back to work. Take care, you two, alright?" He returns to the kitchen.
I pick my cup, gently blow onto it as steam is coming out of "the devil's gift", and take a small sip. Whoa…. It's … incredible. I used to drink instant coffee from those mini cups you'd see at Walmart, and it's quite pleasant (especially the cappuccino mixes), but there was one time I had a real cappuccino. I decide to look back at the flashback.
Three months ago
I was on a vacation with my family. It was spring break, and there had been a few rumors about a coronavirus pandemic. "Coronavirus Disease of 2019," or "COVID-19" for short. But, it had just started spreading, so we haven't been affected by it yet. So, were on a holiday break, and my parents decided months ago that we should travel to Europe on that break. Three days in Paris, France and three days in London, England. It was such a fun experience, but that's another story for another time. However, one detail stands out as I sip the cappuccino Coffee just gave me. It took me back to that one moment in time, when I was in a beautiful little restaurant in the sky garden atop of 20 Fenchurch Street (commonly nicknamed as "the Walkie-Talkie" due to its shape).
It was morning and we had to go through some TSA security like in the airport, but after that, we went to the restaurant thanks to the reservations we had. I remember ordering some sort of egg-related breakfast along with a cup of coffee, specifically a cappuccino. It was served in a white mug on a saucer, and the foam from the coffee had a mesmerizing heart shape on the surface of the drink. Even though I don't remember the breakfast itself, the soothing taste of coffee is memorable. Even though it was bitter, I didn't put any lumps of sugar onto the drink because it was just the right amount of bitterness. It was a wonderfully mellow taste, soothing my mind from any worries and the jet lag for a period of time. Funny thing about jet lag; when you're in a new country with a different time zone for the first time, you get so excited you can easily forget how sleep-deprived and jet lagged you've become from all that traveling. And then you get twice the jet lag on the flight back home.
Present Day
This coffee I'm taking a sip out of, it's just like that time back in London, but a million times better and more gourmet! I happily drink more of it, before I quickly realize that it's burning my tongue. I put the cup down and use my hand as a fan to cool down my mouth. Not to mention my eyes were tearing up from the hot temperature. Akira looks at me with bewilderment before asking, "Be careful, are you alright?" I stop fanning my mouth – my tongue is still sore, but I nod with a smile as I give a thumbs-up. Akira asked, "Have you had coffee before?" I shrug. {Yes, I really love it. I haven't had it since I got here. But now that I can write, and that the Food Soul is here, I can drink this stuff to my heart's content.}
"But, the place has been serving coffee before he got here. You didn't know that?"
{No, and I never asked until about a few minutes ago. But, that's good to know.}
"So, how long have you been drinking coffee?"
{I don't remember, but my mom once told me that when I was a baby, she had this cup of coffee with her, and decided to add it to this bottle of milk I was drinking out of. She remembered that I loved it, so I've been drinking coffee ever since.}
"That's quite awesome. But, wait, you said that you were drinking out of a bottle of milk at that time." – I nod – "Does that mean that you're a mammal?"
I nod. And then I realize that it's very unlikely that dragons are mammals since they're reptilian in physiology. Besides, since when do reptiles drink milk? Oops.
Akira looks at me with that surprised and confused look as she remarks, "Huh, I always thought dragons are reptiles, but I guess that's not always the case. It looks like I've got to learn more about dragons than I thought. But, then again, from what I've learned from you, it's almost as if you're human. I mean, your knowledge and the fact that you drink coffee and milk, it just seems so human."
{Guilty as charged,} I write. {Although, I'd prefer if you keep this between us for now.}
"But, why? What's so harmful about being – oh, I get it, you're hiding, aren't you?"
{No, but if we keep this conversation up, I probably will be.}
"You're right, let's change to another subject. Um, how about that combat game you told me about? I'd like to know more about it."
{Sure.}
"So, what else is there to know about it?"
{Well, aside from Special Forces, there's other factions. The Mortal Kombat game I played in particular – Mortal Kombat X – has six factions: Special Forces, White Lotus Society, Lin Kuei, Shirai Ryu, Black Dragon, and Brotherhood of Shadow. I don't know if there's other factions since I've only played three of the MK games, two of which are very old and the third one being roughly ten years old.}
"Wow, that's impressive. Which game was released during that time?"
"Mortal Kombat X."
"And the other two?"
{The other two were released in a time period known as the 1990's where I came from, which was about thirty years ago. That's when the original MK game got released along with its first sequel. Those are the other two games I was referring to. Despite the age, those games are utter 'Klassics,' so they're still very popular.}
"Heheh, that's funny. But, dang, that's a lot older than I imagined. From what I heard, video games weren't invented until about ten years ago."
{Really? I didn't know that.}
"Mm-hm, so it's quite strange that there are video games that have been around even before they were invented. Could it be that you're from the future?"
{Honestly, I don't know what time period this is.}
"Well, humans have ruled this world for about five hundred and fifty years, and the Wang Li era, which is when the Fallen Angels began appearing, started about thirty years ago."
{So, it's the year 550?}
"If it helps you make sense, then yeah. 1990 seems like a long time, and you said that was roughly thirty years ago. So, does that mean you're from the year 2020, or somewhere around that?"
I nod, with eyes wide open. Holy shit, not only am I in a different universe, but in a different time?! Damn, this is has gotta be some Rick and Morty shit, or something, maybe Doctor Who, though I haven't really seen that series.
Akira looks at me with the same expression. She uttered, "Then, that means, you're from the future. How did you get here, in this time?"
I take a few seconds to process this, before I start writing {I don't know. I can't remember anything, just what happened before.}
"Before what?"
{Before I got here. I remember getting out of high school as a sophomore, dreading my junior year, before waking up here somehow.}
We take a minute in silence to process this. I sit in a dreadful silence, hearing nothing but the relaxed chatter in the Glorywest Grill. Somehow, the indistinct conversations from the unaware patrons is making me feel a little bit better. I take another sip of that luxurious coffee and let the bitter yet mellow taste ease my mind. I've wanting to see the world for as long as I can remember, now I get to see beyond it without even knowing how or why. It feels strange, completely realizing that I've completely alienated myself from everything I knew. And yet, I'm here in Tierra, the fictional world of a video game, Food Fantasy, or rather, what used to be fictional. I'd deny everything and call this a dream, but everything I see, hear, taste, feel, and smell, it's all real. I decide to stop thinking about it before I spiral into insanity. I look at Akira, who seems so worried about my crestfallen state.
"I'm sorry," she started, "it must be really hard thinking about this. I can't imagine what it's like to go back in time, or even imagine the future."
{I'd rather not think about it. If I keep going, I'll lose my mind. Can I stay with you for a little longer? Being with the people I know helps me cope when I'm depressed.}
"Sure, Danny," Akira answered, she said, gently rubbing my scalp. Butterscotch approaches us, asking, "Howdy, are you ready – oh, my, what happened? Is Danny alright?"
I hastily scribble in my notebook and hand it to Akira. The writing reads {Spare as many details as possible. I don't want to cause worry.} Understanding my chicken scratch, she hands it back to me, and replies to Butterscotch, "It's Danny, she's not from around here, and she seems so lonely. I don't know what to do, but maybe you can figure something out?" The Food Soul understandably responded, "Of course, we'll do everything we can to cheer her up. Speaking of which, you haven't really eaten anything today, so would you like some lunch?" I nod and give them a small smile. I've been here for about a week and a half, I might as well learn what day of the week it is, if that still applies. Plus, I just realize how hungry I am, so I look at the menu and order a plate of baked lobster, and a refill for the cappuccino. Akira orders a plate of fried unagi, which (if my basic Japanese serves right) is freshwater eel. Butterscotch writes down the orders, takes the menu, and heads off to the back of the house.