Chapter 2 - Arkron
It took a while for the women to come to terms with the image of the man in front of them. The human was lying on the bed, in the so-called 'fetal position, tears and snot wetting his face, while laughter and sobs escaped his mouth.
- Pathetic. - It was the only expression that Gih, the older woman, managed to express at that moment. - A man your age, crying like a child? How you managed to survive until now is a mystery to me.
- Gih, don't talk like that. We don't know what happened to this boy. What if he has a more serious problem than it looks like? He maybe impotent, for all we know! - Said the youngest; but despite her words, her eyes weren't too different from her friend's, showing clear contempt for the man lying on the floor.
Of course, the conversation between the two, this time, did not escape Ed's ears and attention; brought up by her words, he finally swallowed back his tears, and using the pillowcase to wipe his face, he straightened up as much as he could. After all, being snubbed by two elves wasn't exactly every man's dream, especially Ed, who had a special attachment to elves.
After getting ready as best he could, Ed stood up and looked at them.
- Sorry. What happened was trully shameful. - he said while lowering his head. - But, believe me, it was a difficult day for me. Starting the day with despair, dying, and, then, finding out i'm alive but completely lost, just sent myself in despair again. You see, I just needed to release some tension. I'm already fine. - Ed said while trying to fix the wrinkled shirt, with a look of contained shame.
The women couldn't comprehend. Although they understood the man's words now, they just couldn't make sense off them. How did he die? Wasn't he alive and kicking right now? So, what's in that room now, a fellow ghost? A hallucination?
- I cannot understand. Maybe our magic didn't work? Are you so weak that instead of conveying knowledge and words, your spirit has fried? - said Gih with an exasperated tone. She'd never seen a human like this before. Unlike elves, humans are a more expressive race, even a little wild. But the one in front of her is in another league altogether.
- Don't talk like that Gih. - said Luh, using all her willpower to restrain the impulse to snort at the man's words. - Hello sir. My name is Luh'a, this is Gih'a. But you can call us Luh and Gih. We found you outside the city, after an Arachnos' attack on our village; and we brought and treated you here. You slept for two days until you woke up just now. - said Luh, the youngest elf, trying to be diplomatc, although she still didn't seem comfortable with Ed's attitude.
- Luh'a and Gih'a. It's my pleasure to meet you. My name is Ed. I thank you for the help, but there's one thing I couldn't understand. What Arachnos' attack? - Ed was happy he could finally talk to the elves, but there seemed to still have a wall between them. What were they talking about?
- Where you are from? Arachnos, beings of the forest umbra, half man, half spider? Have you never saw one? They are not that uncommon at the border of the Umbra's Forest, how could've you come here without even knowing that much? - said Gih, clearly exasperated. After all, doesn't this guy know anything? - How did you manage to survive among those spiders if you don't even know the basics?!
Ed could hear the contempt in the elf's voice. But what could he say? He only knows Arachnos as TCG cards - which he had in his deck by the way, since they were very useful. However, from what could gather from the conversation now, were these creatures real in this world? Maybe with his death he was brought to some kind of purgatory, where his cards are coming to life one by one and tormenting him?
As he pondered this, his stomach made grotesque noises, clearly protesting the lack of food for the past few days, bringing another shamefull flush to his face; apparently he was destined not to make a good impression on these two elves. - This is trully a purgatory! - Ed thought with sadness.
- Sorry. Hehe, I think with the calm settling in, I'm starting to feel the effects of these two days sleeping. I'm confused, and there's a lot I need to explain, as well a lot I wanted explained to me. Couldn't we keep talking over something to eat?
The elves' expression finally improved after seeing the human's shy and sincere expression. He was weak after two days without food. Furthermore, he was sincere in expressing his words; clearly something strange was at work here, but rather than hiding the fact, he was ready to open up. This sign of honest didn't pass unnoticed by Gih and Luh.
- Sure. - Said Gih. Although her expression improved, she still maintained an austere posture. - Let's go to the living room first. Luh, bring some fruits, I think there must be some cakes or biscuits ready in the kitchen too, and maybe some tea?
- That's okay. Go on, I'll meet you there in a few minutes.
...
In the dinning room, moments later, three people were seated around a round table, on which a pot of tea was steaming with a citrus aroma, and besides it some cakes, fruits and cookies were served - and quickly disappearing.
Ed ate with gusto. After two years of eating instant noodles to save money, one death and two more days in a coma, everything on the table seemed like a real feast to him.
As he devoured the food, the two elves waited, gaping, beside him. As a rule, elves do not depend so much on food to survive, but on water and energy. However, they know that humans depend on high amount of sustenance to gain strength every day. Even though they had seen humans up close, and interacting with several, they had never seen them eating so eagerly.
After feeling sated, Ed finally stopped stuffing himself, and adopted a slightly more upright posture, with a slight touch of shame on his face as he realized that he practically ate everything that had been served on the table, alone.
- Satisfied? If you can, now tell us where you are from, and how did you get here? - Gih asked, in a rather direct way.
- Aham, yes, your cakes and fruits are very good, it's been a while since I ate that well. As for where I'm from, even if I tell, you problably won't know; I'm from planet Earth. A planet in a solar system where there is no magic, no elves, no Arachnos. I'm a profissional gamer, and in my world, among many games, there is one where we use cards with spells, creatures, and other beings, to compete.
Hearing Ed's words, the elves simply widened their eyes. - What? - They said together.
- So it is. If you have any magic to detect lies, you can use it. What I'm saying is true. Well, on my last day on Earth I made some dubious choices, and despite getting a really good card to play with, I ended up in a huge debt. So I decided to go out and try to earn some money to pay the bills; alas, on the way I had an accident, and, well, should've had died. That's why I said earlier: I died. Or at least I thought I did. But I was amazed when I woke up here. - Ed ended his words in a tone of solitude and exasperation. After all, he also had no idea what was going on.
- So you're not from Arkron? But from... Earth? - asked Luh.
- Arkron? Is that the name of your planet?
- No, Arkron is the name of our world. I don't know exactly what a planet is, but Arkron is a huge world with land, forests, swamps, plains, rivers and seas; few people have enough power to travel all over it. The region we are in is known as Fog Valley; we are between two mountains and the Umbra Forest. It's well protected and hidden, but living here also has its dangers. - replied Gih, still skeptical of the story told by Ed. - If you are not from Arkron, how did you appear among the Arachnos?
- Look, I don't even know exactly what an Arachno is in this World. But, in the game I told you about, there were cards that described such creatures. If I'm not mistaken, it's usually a kind of hybrid race, half-humanoid and half-spider, and can be divided into a few types, depending on its bloodline. The most common is the soldier Arachno, with a human body covered in fur and several eyes, it has two legs and four arms, as well as two spider legs growing on its back, and rely on physical force to battle. Then there is the Arachno commander, with a spider-like body and humanoid torso, its stronger and more agile than Arachno soldiers, in addition to exerting some influence over other spider-like creatures weaker than him. There's also the general Arachno, which has a humanoid body covered in fur and four pairs of legs sticking out of its back, besides, just how commanders, they can control even more types of spiders. Finally, there is the Arachno queen, with a humanoid body, except for the arachnid face and two wings, she is the ultimate symbol of the Arachnos and controls the entire race. Of course, each of them still have some other skills, but that's another matter. Anyway, this is all what I learned from reading the cards in the game, I've never actually seen one.
As Ed spoke, Gih didn't pass up the opportunity. Following on his own advice, her hands moved slightly and a faint glow ignited at her fingertips. Although it wasn't a powerful spell, she would be able to check his speech for traces that indicated lies, such as hesitation. But to the elves' astonishment, every word he said was true - or at least he believed it to be true.
And not only that, the brief description given for each type of arachne basically matches the ancient texts of the tribe! It must be understood that both women have lived in this valley for a long time, and have already faced everything and a little more that came out of the forest! And all this knowledge was compiled in the ancient texts. Of all the types of Arachnos named by Ed, apart from the general and the queen, they have seen the rest with their own eyes. The description he gave was practically perfect. Really! The only thing missing for perfect description was for him to see the creatures with his own eyes - after all, the words of someone who has been face to face with a creature will never be as real as that of someone who has only studied it in a book.
After finishing talking, Ed noticed the surprised expression in the women's eyes, and of course the light glow that Gih emanated from her hands. Not wanting to get in the way, he remained quiet. - I'll let them digest the information first. - he thought.
- So, if you really are an 'earthman', how did you get here? - asked Luh, after sometime, still not regaining her composure.
- It's not 'earthman', it's earthling, hehe. - corrected Ed, with a chuckle - And like I said, I don't know. The last memory I have was being hit by a metal block, falling to the ground and bleeding. Well, on second thought, my last vision was drawn to my deck, and I felt a slight flash. But let's face it, for someone dying, that was nothing more than a hallucination, wasn't it? - Ed replied, with a touch of pain after remembering his deck and his last acquisition before he died.
- Oh God, what a prank you played on me. - he thought, not holding back the regret of having regained his life, but not his cards.
The elves were amazed to realize that, again, this man's eyes were about to overflow with tears!