Aside: The things I can't have.
Gary:
I yawned while stretching as I walked down the alleys of Haven. I had grown to love the city. It was unlike any place I knew. In one way the city was structured with clear streets and could be navigated with ease but delve deeper and there were secrets that even Dave didn't know about. Even while we trained, before we fought the Monster, on our off days I would wonder around looking for something new to find. Thinking about it, this was probably the reason I got to know Terra so well. She and I had often walked together. Although she was strong for her appearance it was still dangerous for her to go alone. Unfortunately I probably wouldn't do that again. Disregarding the fact we were leaving soon, I had broken my ties with her but it was for the better.
"Hey there!"
I jumped back as a beautiful young lady jumped out from the ally beside me, "Umm hey?"
She was smiling at me quite powerfully and looked oddly familiar but I couldn't quite tell what it was. More than anything her red eyes shone brightly and pierced into my own.
"Do I know you?" I asked.
She laughed, "Maybe, maybe not but I certainly wouldn't mind getting to know you better."
Nope, this was a trap. This was definitely a trap. Last time someone wanted to get to know me so randomly I had a knife pointed to my throat half an hour later.
"Right… sorry lady but I'm busy at the moment," I continued to walk past her but she suddenly threw herself around my arm. If I had felt any ill will from her actions I would have blown her away but for some reason my danger radar wasn't buzzing.
"Come on! Don't be a mean and hang out with me."
"…." So suspicious, "Look I'm not sure who you think I am but I don't believe we've met. Perhaps you're mistaking me for someone?"
"Nope I've got the right one," she smiled cheerily. Her overly happy personality and seemingly innocence reminded of a child but the size and shape of her body clearly denied that fact.
I gently tried to push her arms off mine but her grip was tight. I strained a smile,
"Really then who am I?"
Her face paled and it was clear that she was thinking quite hard, "I… uh… I umm, I saw you! That's right it was pretty far away but I saw you with the Lord during the festival. You're a Hero right?"
Strange, during the festival when we were visiting the various cities we should have been disguised by magic. Judging from her appearance she would be a High Demon. It wasn't too much of a stretch to believe she may have been able to see through it.
"And if I wasn't one of the Heroes would you leave me alone?"
"Nope," she replied bluntly, "I think I've come to like you. How about we go for a walk? I don't think we've been to the south quarter too much."
"We?"
"Ah I mean I… yes I." This girl was super suspicious. I looked around and scanned the area with my mana. Did Sis put me up to this? Send a beautiful girl right in my strike zone only to burst out and watch me flounder? Or it could be Dave, yeah I wouldn't put it past him…. I didn't feel anything suspicious other than the girl still clinging to me having an odd flow of mana around her.
"Fine, I was planning to head that way regardless but can I ask for your name at least?"
"It's Te- Teffiny…." She avoided my gaze.
"Teffiny… hi, my name is Gary. A pleasure to meet you."
"It's mutual," she pressed herself tighter against me.
"Okay hold it, we just met so can we have some distance?"
"Oh sorry," she let go a little disheartened but I didn't let it sink into me.
I thought after an hour or so of walking she would leave me alone but instead Teffiny joyfully walked and chatted beside me. She was avoiding anything about her actual life but happily talked about pretty much everything else. Her actions were somewhat enthusiastic as she pulled me to almost every strange looking store with wide eyes.
Lunch came by and we ate at a hidden basement café. Afterwards she insisted that she'd like to continue spending her time with me. With nothing better to do I agreed and what I had intended to be a short walk for lunch became a full day trip. There were still so many sights to see in Haven. It was a shame in just two days I would be back in my own world. A world without magic. Still with all the things I couldn't have and would leave behind, running away by staying here wasn't an option. And as I spent time with 'Teffiny' I reaffirmed my resolution.
The sun was setting as we leaned over a balcony hanging from one of the three pillars of Haven. The view was spectacular, the city spread beneath us and in the distance nestled close to the mountain was the Demon Lord's castle.
"Today was more fun than I thought it would be," I smiled.
"Right?" Teffiny purposefully nudged against my arm. "That's because of me isn't it?"
I laughed, "Yeah it was."
Her expression focused in thought as she pondered something and then with a firm nod she looked at me, "If it was so fun, c-can I ask for a reward?"
"A reward? So you really were just after my money," I teased.
"N-no! Of course not… I'd like something more personal."
"Sure," I smiled.
"A kiss," her deep red eyes stared back into mine.
I was taken aback. Before me was a beautiful girl who I got along with incredibly well. She was childish but tried to act mature, giving her a pure feeling. Honestly there was more than just a physical attraction to her, however I needed to end this farce.
"That's a little too much," I replied.
"Please," she insisted and leaned closer, "Just once… before you leave."
I reached over and patted her head gently, "Let's not take it too far Terra."
She backed away immediately, "T-Terra? I have no idea who you're talking about." Her eyes shot about trying to avoid mine. A terrible liar.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice? The way you acted, the food you ordered. I'm not sure why you're doing this but you can stop now."
"No! My name is Teffiny and I'm an adult!" she huffed angrily and puffed out her chest. "I'm not a child so don't treat me like one!"
"Terra…."
The sun set and as the light began to fade, smoke started to drift from her body. She began to wave her arms around in panic as her clothes fell loose and her body shrank back to its normal size.
"Why? I'm an adult… I'm meant to be an adult… I don't want to look like this anymore," she began to sniffle.
It reminded me of my own childhood. Back when Sis and I were living with our aunt. Her abuse towards us almost broke me and every night I'd wish I could grow up. Became an adult strong enough to protect my sister, someone who no one else could take lightly. For Terra it was worse. Watching everyone age without you, fight without you and die without you.
I kneeled down and hugged her small body, "It's okay. You're fine the way you are."
"No I'm not," she continued to cry. "Like this, you'll never see me as an adult."
"You're right but today you showed me just how you'll grow up and I can definitely tell you that you'll find somebody other than me. You were, are and will be a beautiful women."
Her crying stopped and she looked up at me with teary eyes, "Can I still ask for something?"
"Depends if I can give it to you or not," I smiled tenderly and stood up.
"Close your eyes."
"Okay…." I closed my eyes.
"Lean down a bit."
"Okay?"
There was a soft peck on my lips and I immediately opened my eyes. Terra's blushing face was right in front of mine. I really should have seen that coming but I didn't…. Oh god… Dave was going to kill me for this.
"Sorry," she pulled back. "At least let me have that before you leave."
"Well you just took it but I guess that's fine," I rubbed her head gently while forcing down the conflicting emotions inside me.
Her stomach made a gurgling noise and I laughed.
"General Fallon told me about a desert shop near here, so how about it, one last outing?"
Her hand clung to my arm and she looked at me with a dazzling smile, "Let's go."
Aside End:
Aside: My girlfriend from another country.
Carl:
Alicia and I snuggled against each other on the couch in our shared living room. Tomorrow we were leaving this world. I liked this place, it was nice and interesting but in a way incredibly brutal. Seriously when you think about it, monsters lived almost everywhere and there were people whose actual job was to exterminate them. Even with public order and patrolling soldiers, there were certain areas where bandit activity was quite high. Dave even told me about a Sea Dragon that lurked the oceans, something even he wouldn't want to meet.
In other words, as much as I'd made precious memories here and met Alicia, Gary, Sayuri and Dave, I wouldn't be too effected by leaving. I would be sad from not being able to see everyone again but the actual world? Not too bothered. My problem now was Alicia. She and I lived in different countries, just how was I meant to find her when we got back?
"Hmmm," Alicia looked straight ahead at Gary who was sitting not far from us. "Do you think Garr has been acting strange?" she whispered.
"I don't think so," I replied. "Maybe he doesn't want to leave."
"No it's not that," she shook her head. "It's something else, I can tell. He's bothered by someone." As if on cue he looked away and beyond the window outside before heaving a tired sigh. "See! That was the sigh of a forlorn lover. He totally got dumped."
Alicia was about to jump up but I held her down, "Why don't you leave him alone for now. Besides I think we need to talk."
"Huh?" she stared daggers at me, "Is this a 'we need to talk' or 'we need to talk'?" She said it differently each time but I was confused as to what she meant.
"It's a 'we need to talk'?" I answered unsure.
She gripped my collar and pulled me closer, "Are you breaking up with me?"
"What, no!" I replied while being shaken.
"Oh good," she dropped me and laughed. "Don't phrase it like that then."
I really wondered what she would have done if I had said yes but from experience, teasing her usually ended up with a physical retaliation.
"It's about what will happen after all this," I began. "When we get back to our world. Obviously we won't be sent back to the same place so the problem is…" I stared into her eyes, "How do I find you?"
"Ah…," she clapped her hands together, "I forgot about that. How about I give you my address? No wait, as soon as I get back I'll probably be moving. Hmmm, I don't have an email or phone number I can use either. How about you?"
"I can give you my address but do you have a passport?"
"No I don't," she sighed, "What if you meet me somewhere on a certain day?"
"I'd like to however when I get home I'll probably be grounded for who knows how long and I'm not sure my parents would let me take a sudden trip to Australia in the middle of the school term."
Alicia laughed, "Parents, school, ha! It's funny thinking about all that after we've done so much here. I don't even have parents anymore and school was just a way to kill time."
"It does feel weird doesn't it? Still, I'd really like you to meet them, my family." I gently cupped her hand in mine.
She blushed but then turned to panic, "Your family? That might not be a good idea… I mean I've done some things I'm not proud of and even I know I'm crass. They'll probably hate me."
I gripped her hand tighter, "I fell in love with you for a reason and I know my family will accept you for it."
"Carl…" she leaned her body into mine and I hugged her. Together we were locked in our own world, that was until a retching sound coughed.
"Argh…." Gary stood up. "I think I've had enough teen romance drama for today, I'm going to the library."
"See ya," Alicia replied unperturbed by his statement. As he left I felt kind of bad. They were twins and before I stepped into the picture they pretty much did everything together. As if reading my mind Alicia just smiled, "Don't worry about him. If he hated it he would say so. He's just jealous anyway."
I laughed lightly, "You're right but I can't imagine Gary being jealous."
"Oh he is. He doesn't show it much but he's secretly annoyed he didn't get any girls. You got me and Dave pretty much has Sayuri, although they're not talking at the moment."
"Maybe he does have someone. Someone he's keeping secret even from you," I teased her.
"No way," she scoffed. "The only girl who's even slightly interested in him is Terra but she's like ten or something."
"Actually she's 24," I said bluntly.
"What?" Alicia froze.
"Yeah, Dave said something about her aging slowly. She's pretty childish and her body is small but she can be pretty adult at times."
Alicia rose quickly as if having an epiphany, "I need to talk with my brother."
"Hang on," I quickly held her in place, "We still haven't finished our conversation. How do I meet you? I can't really remember my phone or email anymore."
"We can't even talk…. Ah! How do I talk to Sayuri?"
"Hmmm," my brow creased in thought.
The door opened and Dave walked inside. He noticed our strained pondering expressions,
"What's up with you two?"
"We're not sure how we'll meet again once we go home," I answered.
"Oh, I'll give you something for that. What's wrong? Why are you two looking at me like that? Did I not tell you before? Umm Alicia look there's no reason to be angry or anything. I solved the problem didn't I? Carl stop her! Carl? Oh come on, did I not tell you either? Well… I'm going to leave now."
"Get back here!" Alicia yelled and jumped after him and I let her. Even after all these months being together, Dave never really got the whole sharing information thing.
Aside End: