"Yeah, yeah. Okay, big brother." My voice was young at the time.
He was the only one that loved me. The one who cared and protected me from any dangers. I loved him so much more than my snobby and careless parents.
Not because my brother wasn't as strict, but because he actually raised me better than my mother and father.
My parents were against my imagination.
They never loved what I created and just tossed my projects aside and said. "Go find a real life." It's reality. They wanted me to be their "perfect-little-angel" but… even though I tried my hardest, my parents were never satisfied.
My father was so strict enough that he abused me because I hit him by saying, "Give up your dreams and die." It was a horrible quote.
A burden that stuck onto me and ruined it. My mother would slap me if she found out I was outside playing with my brother, and starve me if I were to disobey.
My brother tried to tell and report our parents but they were so wealthy that they could just get away with it. So instead of going outside, we would secretively seclude ourselves from society and make our own fantasies.
"Wow, your characters are so vivid! You're an artist, Chloe!"
Instead of him going against fantasies, my brother supported it. He loved the idea of escaping to a world that was your own. He even made this an entire game just because of it, and surpassed our parents' wealth.
"This is amazing."
Even when I was little and our abusive parents were still around, when they never knew about it, we would always play outside and roleplay our own characters and imagine. He was so energetic and popular.
Despite us having bad academic status, my brother was smart enough to raise me without my parents.
He knew that when they had struck blood on my face after their judgement, that he immediately left the house and took me with him. My brother was even old enough to drive this thing called cars, drive us to a place called an Airport, and escort us to the country of Japan.
. . .
Chloe turned over to Asahi's sun-mark on his clothes and commented with a low smile.
"That's why I felt so familiar with your name, Asahi. It's a word from that same place. They even call the country the Land of the Rising Sun."
Asahi's gray eyes broadened in realization as he finally figured out what made Chloe so happy with his name. It was a name that came from her world. As he remained silent, Chloe continued.
"When I left my birth country to Japan, I felt at ease, at peace that now I don't feel controlled. Just like what that girl did in this world, my brother would teach me the language of that nation, Japanese, and then introduce me to all this new stuff."
A soft chuckle flew out her mouth.
"It's the first time I've ever felt welcomed by strangers."
Asahi turned his head down and tried so hard not to well up a tear.
"..."
Chloe took a deep breath and continued as the peaceful, welcoming rays of sunlight emerged from the clouds.
"However, when my brother found out that both of us had this horrible virus in us, we were forced to be secluded from one another, quarantined in separate places, never to be seen again. My heart hurt when I found out that my brother disappeared.
It's exactly what I felt when I was summoned into this world. I roleplayed alone, no one understood. But that green-haired girl, who I forgot her name, was almost like him.
She was the one who taught me some of the language and this world. She never believed in judgement either. All she thought I was is a normal child. I can't imagine what it would be like if my brother had ended up here."
.* * *
As the flashback faded away in Chloe's mind, Asahi grabbed his fists and muttered.
"So… that's why you were so happy to find someone that could speak. No wonder why your clothes are so messed up, because…." He covered his mouth in shock. "If you say you're okay, then... I won't try to enforce it." Asahi's eyes adjusted over to the book, still feeling stumped about Chloe's origins.
"Do you still need me to teach you the language? O-Or are you okay? I heard you have been taught some. But..."
A calm tone and expression came up from her muffled sobs.
"I-It's fine. I think I remember now."
Asahi leaned over.
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yeah... I thought I lost my memory, but now that I'm here, I can remember a lot from those past years with that girl."
"Okay..."
* * *
Meanwhile, a silver-haired man rid the gushing geysers scattered everywhere on the field. He had sleek short hair, black attire, and fair skin. He watched as he crossed the ravine and struck creeping creatures that approached him.
As he was doing so, he never would have believed what he remembered.
"She's here. I… I can't believe it. She was right in front of my face and now I'm separated. Why is my memory so deteriorated? It's as if I wasn't summoned to this world."
The one that said that, the man that deemed himself as "perfect" was a man Asahi and Aletha had previously encountered.
It was a young man who had an earring attached to his pointed ears.
He was no other than Ubel.
As he watched the waterfall stream down a pit, Ubel detected footprints engraved on the dirt. The man shook his head in disbelief and found out something.
"Sister, I can't believe it… you're really here. I thought you were still at home. Thank god. I wish I remembered sooner but something stops me. It was a force that grappled in my mind, until now."
A gloom overcame him, coupled with a harvest of barren regrets. The faded azure lace on both his two eyes glimmered as his sight inventoried his surroundings.
"Just a couple away."
While he walked over, Ubel's sharp gun-metal blue eyes focused on the goopy creatures. He seized his wooden blade and unleashed another strike to his right, cutting through the trunk of a tree as sweat jumped out his face.
(CLANG)
A powerful cut formed and forced the tree down toward the pit. Chunks of wood rained and showered on his face and the creatures. All backed up and screeched menacingly.
"HISS!"
"Perfection doesn't come from judging. Perfection doesn't exist to anyone. You're only better when you believe you are perfect. And of course, I don't believe even my characters are perfect. At least this world is a fantasy rather than an underworld. It's almost like heaven."
Adrenaline thumped in Ubel's heart while he lifted his arm and unleashed an onslaught of four holographic wolves to attack the screaming creatures.
"NOW!"
Luckily, all the silver wolves' nails dug deep into the creature's thumbs and skin. Rapid strikes flew across the misty cliff as he struck once again at the animals.
"Chloe, for how long has it been since I have seen your face? I wish you could have witnessed me living my dream in this fantasy world. It's almost like we have envisioned, but even greater."
He passed through a vast expanse and tumbled down the hill.
"Though I made friends here, I still feel alone. Look at how much I have grown, are you proud of me? Of course you are."
As he followed the creatures toward an open field, Ubel clenched his fists.
"You know, Chloe… I wish you could have seen our fantasies come to life. It's… a lot stranger, and this world is almost like our imagination."
He took a deep breath and saw Asahi and Chloe running away from a dark creature. He chuckled as he sheathed his blade.
"Now I know you're here with me as well. After all these years of being alone, now you can see the warrior you wanted me to be."
Chloe looked over and barely missed Ubel's sight.
She hurriedly turned over and pierced her hand through the dirt, thus using its magical essence to reform and shape.
"That's how magic should be. Perfection doesn't come from judgement; I realized. It comes from our thoughts. Our parents were hypocritical, they were sent somewhere else. Don't worry about them; They deserve their punishment's."
Ubel released a sigh and pushed his gray hair back.
"Time is quite short now, I don't know where I have been, but now that I remember. I can finally prove our parents wrong. Just know one thing, sister. Our virus within us is not a curse, but a blessing."
Ubel shrugged his shoulders and walked away from Chloe.
"I don't want to surprise you too quickly. I want you to figure out the magic that resides within that "disease" or blessing given to us, without my help. I know I have raised you and helped you throughout your whole life, but I want you to fend for yourself for a change."
As he passed through the bushes, Ubel's final words echoed so loudly that Chloe could just merely hear him.
"Perhaps, this will be the first time that you can finally teach yourself, Chloe?"