I felt a soft fur brush my cheeks as I struggled to open my eyes. I don't remember owning any stuffed toy this soft though. Still it feels so good in my skin that I just want to bury my face in it forever.
I felt the stuffed toy squirm as I tried to hug it close to me, as if trying to get away. Pfft! As if toys can move. I dismissed the thought and just hugged it closer. When it stopped moving after a while, I felt myself going back to sleep.
"I knew I'd find you here. Come on. That prude's gonna kill me if we don't show up by sunset." A man's voice said from behind me, and felt him shake me awake. Somehow the voice sounded familiar, though I'm pretty sure I've never heard it before. "Avy, come on. I haven't had a proper bath for days, I wanna go back to the guild dorms as soon as possible."
"Five more minutes." I heard my half-asleep self say. Seriously, I haven't had a proper sleep for days. A couple more minutes wouldn't hurt.
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain from my side, which made me sit up straight and fully awake.
"What the-!"
"Works everytime." A ragged looking man squating beside me said, smirking smugly. "Come on, never mind that killjoy, Jeila won't let me hear the end of it if we don't get back now."
I blinked a couple of times at the man in front of me.
"N-Nero?" I stammered, not believing what I'm seeing. Am I dreaming?
"Yeah?" He answered, then looked at me weirdly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Y-You-! How-!"
"What's wrong with you? Are you still asleep?" He shook his head at me as he stood up. "Good thing I bought some Oregon Gems ahead of time. Here." He tossed me a familiar orange gem.
"T-This-!" I turned over the gem in my hand. Checking if it's really the same gem as I think it is, though I've only seen it from my computer screen.
"You're acting very weird, Avy."
"Avy? Me? As in Avyzhia?"
"Uh, yeah? That's your name, isn't it?" He raised a brow at me. "Unless you have another name?"
"No way!" I stood up and looked around me, sure enough I know this place. This is where everything started. The landscape, the trees, the monsters. "Danglebells! Was I using a real life moonbeast as a pillow just now?" I exclaimed, as the Moonbeast at my feet hurriedly scurried away.
I can't believe it! Is this real? Am I dreaming? How is this possible?
"Pinch me." I turned back to Nero and offered him my arm, my vambrace covered arm. I could barely contain my excitement.
"What? Why? Are you okay?" Nero looked at me weirdly.
"I have to know if I'm dreaming or not."
Nero looked at me like I've gone mad, but humored me nonetheless; though not by pinching my offered arm but by flicking my forehead.
I shrieked in pain, but was still grinning like mad as I looked him excitedly. "I'm not dreaming!"
"Good for you. Now can we go?"
"This is so awesome! Danglebells! I can't believe it!"
"What is wrong with you? Did the goddess played a trick on you or something?"
"Wait. By guild dorm you mean, Emblem's guild dorm, right? Right?"
"Uh, yes? Unless you have another guild I'm not aware of?"
"Let's go, let go, let's go!"
"Alright, alright. I get it." He sighed and was about to activate his gem when he realized something. "By the way, shouldn't you change before we go back? You know someone's going to have a feat if he sees you parading around the guild in that..." He gestured towards my outfit.
"Huh?" I looked at what I'm wearing and gave him a confused look. "Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
I mean, sure it's a bit too revealing, but this is the diffult costume for Demon Blade class and I happen to like it very much, even thought of doing cosplay in the next convention.
"I look pretty good, don't I? And who are you talking about since earlier?"
Nero looked at me like I've really gone crazy. "Are you really okay? Did the goddess do something to you after the trial? I'm talking about that stuck-up, Teiran." He sighed heavily. "Nevermind. I'm more concerned for when Jeila sees us together, she already made a big fuss when we left together for the trial."
"You mean the first lady's apprentice, Jeila Loveroot? Are you together?" Didn't they hate each other? I remember they're always bickering in the guild chatroom. And what does he mean by Teiran having a feat? He can't possibly be talking about 'that' Teiran, although I do only know that one Teiran. But why would he care with what I'm wearing? I barely interact with him.
He made a face at me and shook his head. "Make sure you get plenty of rest when we get back, something is definitely wrong with you. Come on."
I pouted at him but didn't say anything else.
We held the Oregon Gems in front of us and crushed it effortlessly in our hands. We were then engulfed in orange light and in an instant found ourselves in the guild's portal chamber.
I blinked a few times, trying to take in what just happened. Other than feeling a little fuzzy, it wasn't that bad. So that's how it is, when I was just playing in my computer I didn't even give it much thought. This is just awesome!
"Stop spacing out already." Nero pinched both my cheeks.
"Aw!" I swatted his hands away and tried to soothe my cheeks.
Nero just smirked. "I'm going to look for Jeila now. I suggest you get to your room as soon as you can and change before you get any unwanted attention."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I pouted.
Before he could answer though, somebody already noticed us and made his way to our direction.
"Oh, Nero's back! Congratulations on the class upgrade. Is Avyzhia with you? Teiran's been in a bad mood for a while now. You better not let him see you." He chuckled.
Nero rolled his eyes as he turned to the man coming our way, "You don't have to worry about that, who would want to see him anyway?"
"Hey, Keith!" I waved cheerfully at him, startling him.
"A-Avyzhia?" His eyes widened, looking at my appearance from head to toe. "Wow! Is that really you?"
"I should say 'long time no see', right?"
"W-Whoah! You're looking great!"
"I know, right?" I grinned at him and then smirked at Nero. Told you I looked good.
"Whatever. Just don't let Teiran see you looking at her like that or you'll have your eyes gauged out." He said boredly. "And you, get changed. I'll go report to the guild master for the both of us."
And with that Nero took off, leaving me with an uneasy Keith.
"He's right. You better get to your room now, Avyzhia. We don't know what Teiran's gonna do if he sees you like this, plus I'm sure you're tired." He said as he tried to avoid looking at me.
"Sure. See you around, Keith." I waved at him good bye and took off.
"Y-Yeah. See you..."
Why are they making a fuss about Teiran and my outfit? Is he being overprotective over me or something? Why would he? Are they saying that we're...
I shook my head. Nevermind, no point pondering about it.
I looked around the guild to distract me from such thoughts and gasped. It's way better than I imagined. I rarely spend time at the guild before, usually I just came for the daily contribution and weekly dungeon runs but I know it like the back of my hand. The real deal is just awesome!
That's the hallway leading to the guild dungeons, that one to the guild cafe... Oh! And those stairs lead to the Hall of Fame chamber. I wonder what the legendary weapons looked like in person. I can't wait to check it out.
"Hey, beautiful. Are you a new recruit? If you're looking for the guild manager I can show you the way."
I turned my head to the wizard approaching me with a flirtatious smile on his face. Isn't he...
"Sir Rim?" Well, he's the only wizard in the guild who'd wear something so flashy and still flirt shamelessly, especially to new comers. "It's so good to see you again!"
Wow. He's the same as I imagined. I remember the time Nero and I first got into the guild, he flirted with me nonstop in the guild chatroom, that is until Nero got fed up and hinted that the two of us are in a relationship. Although there's no truth to it, since then everybody thought that we really were. And we never really tried to prove otherwise.
Sir Rim is one of the people I admired most in the guild though. As the Vice, he can be really strict at times especially during guild wars and dungeon runs, but outside that he's quite popular for being very approachable and helpful.
"Huh? Do we know each other?"
"What are you talking about? It's me Av- !"
"Back off, gigolo." Someone growled from behind me as a cape covered me from neck down. "I suggest you leave now before I dig out your eyes. And that applies to all of you." He glared at everyone around us, apparently so intensely that nobody dared to do otherwise.
"H-Hey... So it was Avyzhia." Sir Rim laughed nervously. "Wow. I didn't recognize you there. Congratulations on the class advancement."
"Uh, thank you."
I looked at the man beside me, still glaring daggers at Sir Rim's direction. Isn't this Teiran?
"W-Well that's it for me. I remembered I still have to do something... somewhere." He chuckled uneasily as he walked away. "See you around, Avyzhia."
"See you!"
"I thought I told you to come see me as soon as you get back." Teiran said beside me as he looked at me, clearly upset.
"Sorry?"
He shook his head and started to lead me towards the hallway to the girls dormitory. "Let's get you to your room first so you can rest. By the way, what the heck are you wearing anyway? Walking around the guild without a care too. Did you forget that most of the members are guys? Everybody was staring at you! Those shameless dogs, I'll dig out their eyes and feed it to Savage Hounds."
"But I like what I'm wearing." I protested. Nothing's wrong with what I'm wearing, what's the big deal?
"Well I don't. I can't let those dogs lust over my sister."
"S-Sister?"
He's my brother? Huh?
"What is that fucker Nero even thinking, leaving you looking like this. I'm going to give that shit a good beating."
What?
Just then we stopped in front of double door leading to the dorms.
He patted my head and smiled affectionately. "Get some rest for now. I'll come get you tomorrow morning so we can get breakfast together, and then we can try out your new moves."
"Uh, okay..."
"And don't even think about wearing that again tomorrow." He glared at my clothes. "I'll have Rheal get you something decent to wear, since you probably don't have anything in your closet anyway... so wait for her in your room."
"W-What?" I blushed at his words. "What are you talking about?"
"Everybody knows how much of a cheapstake you are when it comes to clothes, since you spend all your coins on your gears and equipments. Not that I blame you."
What the hell.
"Anyway, don't worry about it. Your brother will take care of it." Suddenly he hugged me. "I can't believe my little sister is a Demon Blade now. Seems like just yesterday when you were still a novice struggling to kill a level 1 Moonbeast."
"Hey, cut it out." I pouted as I blushed furiously. "All novices go through that."
Teiran chuckled and let me go. "Alright, I'll stop teasing. I already asked Merideth to bring up some supper. Eat then rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
"F-Fine."
I watched until he turned to the corner to the main hall before turning to the double door behind me.