At first, when Stabs suggested on having a party for their victory on getting the five spots seemed like a good idea. Sophie had thought it would be a great chance to loosen up a bit from all the stress she had been through for the past few days. She had thought it would be just a small party with no major incidents and chatting with one another peacefully, with no loathing hatred shared between one against the other.

Now? She was starting to reconsider her choice of choosing to stay back at home instead now.

“Whatchya flapping about -hic- PedoBeeEEAAAR! Who you calling a dragoness haaa?!” Phoenix yelled drunk, waving a bottle of what was supposed to be apple juice back and forth unsteadily. Even though it was obvious by then the insult was clearly meant for the tall lad, she was yelling towards a very confused and thoroughly shaken Alois instead.

“I am not a beeaar! -hic - I am um...What am I-hic- again? Oh yea! I am a woolf! Roooaaaarr!” Arma hollered loudly, also bellowing drunk at the poor frightened Alois. Even though Arma tried to look intimidating, there was a lazy smile drawn across his features and he was chuckling euphorically. Both Phoenix and Arma were unmistakably drunk, reeking of alcohol and their eyesight already failing them as they were venting their anger to the innocent sixteen year old boy while assuming it was the other individual.

“Hic! Hahaha you brute! That’s not whaaaaat the wolf-hic!- sounds like dumb skuuuulllll!” Euphino, who was sitting on a cushion on the floor snickered lightly, slurring his words together it almost didn’t make sense. As most of you have guessed by now, yes he was the third person drunk as well, and they weren’t the only ones too.

“Yea Aimagedin! Wolf says.....MOOO!!” Caterpillar announced at an inebriated tone, his face flushed red and he too, reeking of alcohol. He chuckled lightly before he started making car noises, steering roughly right and left before he toppled over completely, only to laugh to himself more. Sophie sighed irritably, pinching the bridge of her nose at the oncoming headache as if she was experiencing a hangover.

“Why did you spike their drinks with alcohol?” Sophie asked to the only sober person, aside from Alois, who was capturing everyone else’s idiotic moments on tape.

“Hmm? I wanted to experiment a bit and do a little documentary. Who knew it would turn out to be this good huh?” Zatch chortled evilly, his Cheshire smile unwavering as Alois looked as if he was about to cry with Arma and Phoenix bellowing nonsense at him. There was a crash and Sophie turned to find Ophelia stomping furiously on the ground and wailing like a spoilt child.

“I wanna ride a hooorseee Tubby!-hic- Be my poonyyy!” Ophelia bawled furiously, stomping both feet on the floor to the point that Sophie felt the ground vibrate from her feet. To say that she was very much perturbed to find Ophelia acting like an immature kid, more or less get tricked into getting alcohol and unable to hold her liquor despite being the eldest, it would be an understatement.

“Oookiiess your-hic- highness! And its Staaa-hic-bbbyyy!” Stabs roared loudly even though he had the most happiest and innocent smile on his face. Sophie almost choked on air when he went all fours without hesitation and allowed Ophelia sat on top of him. At first, Stabs fell nose first on the carpet before, in his drunken state, activated his Major of Strength and started trotting back and forth like a real horse. Ophelia giggled intoxicated, also having that distinguish blush on her face but it was the fact that she was smiling without malice that took Sophie off guard.

“Giddyup Horsey! I shaaaall call you-hic- Evangelion! Forwaaard Maaarch Juniper!” Even though Stabs was too drunk to notice the frequent name change, Stabs did what Ophelia told him and obediently, as well as happily, started trotting back and forth again. If Sophie was in a cartoon show, she was sure she would felt a sweat drop as she witnessed all of this with her bare eyes. She knew that Arma had mentioned that they weren’t exactly a normal bunch, but this defined that statement to a whole new level. Zatch was shaking so much; Sophie could tell he was trying really hard not to hold back his laughter.

“You do know you are so dead once they are sober and find out that you caught them on tape.” Sophie interrogated lightly, hoping that Zatch would see reason and cure this madness. However, this only made Zatch’s evil smirk grow and Sophie decided to let the matter drop. The only reason she wasn’t as drunk as the others was because she had caught Zatch smirking a bit too innocently as he served apple juice.

After being his freelancer for a week, she had learned that he was not as crazy as she had thought; he was pretty much the very best example of a person who is more or less bonkers. Also, why did it feel like she was forgetting someone? Like she needed to do a headcount?

Before she could do anything about it, she was taken off guard when the cushion which Euphino sat upon suddenly shot him up skywards, making him ram his head first on the ceiling before falling down with a confused expression frozen on his face as he descended down with a puzzled face. The entire ruckus stopped instantly and the drunk individuals went quiet, startled at the sudden unexpected flight. Sophie gasped in horror and didn’t notice that she had jumped to the couch in fright, vaguely noticing the trickster like laughter in the background.

“He went weeeee!~ Weeeeeee!~ How did you like your first time being an astronaaaut?~!” Zessica droned cheekily, a huge grin plastered on her face as she had a bomb detonating device like thing in her hands, stating who the culprit was. Sophie stared at her in disbelief, looking at the younger girl with new light. How she ever thought Zessica could ever be harmless was simply beyond what she could comprehend. She was obviously not updated about how Zessica used to be a mischief maker in the past. Euphino, who seemingly got his consciousness back, was staring at Caterpillar, assuming he was Zessica and smiled wildly.

“Ooooh! I can see staaars! I’ma-hic- astronaaaut!! Yipee!” Sophie then saw Euphino’s smile fade away slowly and it was then replaced with a frown which quickly escalated into anger.

“Maarshiaaaan!” The curly haired boy hissed before he lunged himself at Caterpillar who yelped. One thing lead to another and Sophie was growing all the more irritated when a huge fight broke out between Caterpillar and Euphino, huge as in two babies fighting each other with rattling toys. Arma and Phoenix, noticing the change of atmosphere started cheering only to find that they were cheering to the opposite player. Anger blazing, both of them lunged at the unfortunate Alois, who the other two still thought it was the other individual and started beating each other, albeit weakly.

“Look! The fools are fighting-hic-among each other! We shall have to saaaave them! Onward my dear Tubby!!!” Ophelia ordered, one finger pointed across the ‘fight’ nobly and Sophie almost stumbled off the couch when Stabs neighed. Sophie knew that Ophelia would be caught dead if she were to say ‘my dear Tubby’ so blatantly. Just when Stabs was about to trot over to them, Sophie noticed some thin line glistening in the light and soon, Stabs ran full speed towards it, tripping on it and sent Ophelia flying. At the silver haired girl’s peripheral vision, Sophie caught Zessica giggling elastically with the said transparent string which tripped Stabs up, once again marking her as the culprit.

However, the Rising Star Prodigy landed on her feet after doing a summersault and standing upright with two hands up in the air, like a gymnastic. The ‘fights’ was interrupted again and all five of them stared at the tanned girl with a look at her with awe.

“Yaaawn! Okay I am tired now!” Ophelia announced suddenly and Sophie watched with wide eyes as she collapsed heavily on the ground. A second later, a vague snore drifted in the air, confirming the silver haired girl’s suspicions. Zessica broke into fits of uproarious laughter as the other simply shrugged their shoulders, resuming their weak cat punches at each other. By then Zatch was on the floor, camera laid unforgotten away from his grip and he was clutching his stomach, barely suppressing the laughter in his chest. His laughter rose to octaves when Zessica turned Stab’s to an astronaut, making the poor lanky boy shoot skywards with God knows what and knocking him out in one hit as he fell down in spiral motion.

“Ooooh....Pretty staaars....” Stabs mumbled incoherently, making Sophie to shake her head in disbelief.

“Waaaaah! Zaaatch! PedoBeaaarrr is being-hic- so meeeaaan!”Phoenix suddenly wailed and before Sophie and Zatch could prepare themselves to see it coming, the fiery girl pounced on the surprised informant and hugged him tightly while actual tears started sprouting in her baby blue eyes. Sophie saw all the cheeky malice from Zatch’s face slowly melted away and a slightly perturbed expression took over. The silver haired girl did not fail to notice that the informant was also blushing slightly at the close contact as Phoenix wailed into his chest.

“Whaaaarrttt? Phooeeeniccccss is a dragoon! Rooooaaar!” Arma hollered and before he could do anything further, Sophie jumped when Zessica came out of nowhere and hugged Arma tightly with a bubbly happy face.

“Roooaaaar! Aaaammyyyy! Let’s go outsiiiiide! I want fresh aaaaair!!” Zessica piped up cheerfully. Sophie saw Arma give something more like a broad lazy smile and to her surprise, the tall lad obediently led her out, with her still hugging his waist. For a moment, Sophie wondered whether she should be worried when she heard Phoenix said something that shocked all the nerves in her body out of the silver haired girl.

“Zaaaaaatch! You are sooo mean too! I confessed to you already but you never respoooooondeeeeeed! How long are you-hic- going to make me waaaaaait!!!” Phoenix bawled, angrily punching the informant’s chest weakly to which Zatch simply let her do as she pleased. A few weaker cat punches later, Phoenix started crying and Sophie saw the pang of guilt and pain displaying on the informant’s eyes. Sighing, Zatch hugged the girl lightly and patted Phoenix’s head gently in a comforting manner.

“I like you too Phoenix...Just wait a little longer. You may think that I am the most obnoxious pain in the butt bastard you ever known but saying such a thing takes real courage.” Phoenix sobbed into Zatch’s chest even more violently to which Zatch tenderly rubbed circles on Phoenix’s back soothingly while running his other free hand through her fiery red hair. Soon, the sobs died down till it ceased to exist and a soft smile appeared when he heard Phoenix snore lightly, confirming that she was asleep.

“So you do like her, but why the hesitation and why were you able to tell it only now?” Sophie inquired to which Zatch simply gave Sophie his trademark Cheshire smile. However, this time it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I will be honest with you. Phoenix didn’t have a good past and I think she needs someone to fill in the part of ‘family’ within her first. To me, she is still a little girl so I don’t think she is ready to face this sort of relationship yet. That is why I am comfortable with Arma acting as the ‘older brother’ even though he is the younger one. You can say I am waiting for her to ‘grow up’ and the only reason I can confess easily now is because she won’t remember it in the next morning.” Sophie frowned lightly. She could see sense in this but still; she didn’t find it as a strong reason to be reluctant.

“I think you are just dragging it Zatch. She might ‘grow up’ faster than you think and if you keep this up, you might lose her altogether. Plus, have you considered the chances of her not forgetting what you just said when she is sober?” To this, Zatch smirked proudly which brought more cartoonish sweat drops trickling down Sophie’s head.

“Well I’ll just ask Zessica the next time I see her. She is a wiz at calculating probability of virtual reality.” Sophie face palmed then, trying really hard to adjust to the very bizarre and foreign environment. Euphino and Caterpillar had long since gave up on their ‘fight’ and was sleeping peacefully too. Ophelia was on the same boat where as Stabs and Alois were clearly knocked out.

“Also, are you really not that worried what would happen to Zessica and Arma outside? They may be a great Team but they are also a great pair in unintentionally getting themselves in all sorts of mishaps and troubles.” To this, Sophie groaned, knowing that the concern and worry was going to claw deeply into her mind but first, she needed to get these insentient players on a bed before their body grow rigid and stiff from staying on a hard surface for too long that is including Ophelia. According to Zatch, there were five bedrooms free in this house right? Seeing there were five, not counting Phoenix who was happily dozing off in Zatch’s arms, it was perfect! Although, she would need some help...

“Feyone! Sorry but I need you again! Sorry about tha-

Sophie trailed off when the said creature appeared a few feet away from her. Feyone cocked her head to a side, her long pink hair swishing about. Sophie’s eyes widened as she opened a closed her mouth slowly, greatly imitating that of a goldfish. Zatch’s eyes widened in a fraction too before it settled to that irritable smirk. The kind of smirk that said he knew everything.

Instead of the armour she was wearing when she was summoned for the first few times, there was a bright fluorescent pink apron over them. She was holding a cleaver which looked far more threatening than the sword she had with her. Contradicting the cleaver, was the chocolate powder with the company of flour dusting her apron but that did not make Sophie feel any better.  It was also just this moment that Euphino decided to wake up, catching the mystical being’s attention.

“....Ooooh! Pretty hot lady!.... Sorry I would loooove you to-hic- cut me up but I valuuuue my life. Plus! You are not my type~” With that said out loud, Sophie watched in bewildered as Euphino chuckled to himself, pull back and fall asleep again. Feyone stared at him peculiarly, still holding the cleaver as she turned to Sophie. Of course Sophie had forgotten, or more likely never thought about giving Feyone a voice so all the creature can do was shrug her shoulders to specify that she did not get this boy at all. Sophie nodded in agreement while Zatch chuckled in amusement.

“I didn’t know you...cook...” Sophie frowned at her choice of words to which Feyone simply shrugged again. Zatch and Sophie watched as Feyone took off her apron, making it disappear into tiny pixels and the cleaver she had in hand started altering to the shape of the sword which the two players were familiar with Feyone wielding with her expert fingers, sliding it back to her belt on her mini skirt. She then bowed her head curtly towards Sophie before standing upright to show she was ready to serve.

“Help me get them to the bedrooms at the second floor. Do it quickly because two of my friends are outside at the dark so we don’t know what sort of trouble they will find themselves into.” Feyone nodded instantly and without saying another word, to which she can’t, quickly getting to work.

***

“Ahahaha! Amy got a headache! Amy got a headache!” Arma grunted loudly and spoke incoherent words as he dealt with the hangover. He didn’t know how, but one way or another he pretty much sobered up once he was exposed to fresh air but the way Zessica was chanting, as drunk as she was while balancing herself on the edge of the pavement, it was like she was drawing nails against a board, hammering his head to the point he wanted to just rip it out. He also wanted to shut the babbling nonsense up but since Zessica was drunk, no thanks to Zatch and he couldn’t help but let her go. Even if she wasn’t drunk, he was sure he would succumb in the end as well.

“Woaah! I am dizzy!” Zessica said giddily, almost stumbling face first into the pavement if Arma hadn’t caught her in time, only making her giggle even further. Just when Arma was about to lecture her to be a bit more careful, he stopped himself when the tipsy smile soon turned to a frown, which quickly escalated to one of pain. Clutching her head tightly, Arma kept her steady as she massaged the sides of her head.

“Oh God, is this what a hangover feels like?” Zessica asked slightly in distress as Arma ran his large warm hand through her ivory black hair in an attempt to comfort the shorter player. The annoying mischievous voice was gone and the calm and composed one was back, proving more than enough evidence to know that she too, was gradually sobering up.

“I guess... If I had known Zatch would pull a sick prank like that I wouldn’t have let you drink that juice.” Arma vowed lightly which made Zessica blink.

“Why would you do that?” She suddenly asked, making Arma go red when he realised he got trapped like a rat at a corner. However, he wasn’t feeling too pressurised, probably because of the alcohol numbing his brain, that he was able to reply back almost calmly.

“Because you are my partner... We both look out for each other don’t we?”

“...Oh...” Arma felt his heart drop when he heard a faint hint of disappointment in Zessica’s voice. What did he say? Did he say something that upset her? Was this the answer she was not expecting? Was it a trick question? Just how was he supposed to answer to not get that disappointed response from her?

“Hey Arma?” Zessica suddenly asked, resuming her stroll by balancing at the edge of the pavement again, almost stumbling on the empty road. Arma felt his heart pick a beat as he used most of his sheer willpower to calm down and reply with a steady voice. It was a good thing it was dark or Zessica would have noticed how completely nerve wrecked Arma was and the way his face could make any tomato jealous.

“Yea?”

“Are you hurt when you realised Titania wanted to use you? Are you hurt to find out I kept it from you this whole time?” Arma almost choked nothing but thin air as he almost fell by tripping over his feet. The question was so random, and one that of a heavy subject, he was more or less surprised when he didn’t expect it coming from Zessica. She was the girl who appeared and reappeared at will after all, outlining shadow player to a whole new level. The tall lad stared at the younger girl’s back, wondering without a doubt what sort of low esteem and negative thoughts that Zessica was harbouring inside of her. However, even if Arma saw her face to read her, he knew he would find none since for the life of him, he never figured her out.

“W-well...I was shocked to find that Titania wasn’t who I thought she was and that well...I was a tiny bit hurt that you didn’t tell me but I know you did it with good reason. You didn’t want me to find out and you probably thought I won’t believe you. I probably wouldn’t either back then but now you can tell me anything okay? It’s okay if the truth hurts. Just next time, don’t deal it with yourself.”There was no response from Zessica but she took him off guard when she suddenly stopped.

“...I felt envious of her...” Zessica suddenly stated, making Arma’s grey eyes widen for a fraction before realising that she was taking Arma’s advice to consideration. Although, he didn’t knew she was going to do it so soon!

“...Every time you were with her...every moment you spent with her...it was almost like she was snatching you from me...I know I don’t own you but it feels like she was taking that comfortable spot I had when I am with you...” Arma’s incredulous face softened gradually as he hesitantly ruffled her ivory black hair fondly.

“It’s okay...All that is over now. Hopefully with us being the five representatives of Wind Crest we won’t have Titania to bother us again. Don’t worry if you think that someone is taking me away, because for one thing, I can’t leave you alone. Back when we met, you said it didn’t have to be me but like how it was back then, it has to be you.” More silence was his answer, when Zessica, very tentatively looked back. Arma was lucky that the moon was shining brightly or otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to notice Zessica had all her guards down, her emotions completely bare on her face, making her look vulnerable. There were shining lines on her cheeks, where tears were spilled which Arma noticed only then.

“Why? How do you keep up with someone as weak and small as me? How can you endure someone who has to depend on medicine and on you to make myself worthy as a player?”

‘Oh...so Titania’s words have affected her...’ Arma thought grimly before smiling and brushing away the tears that stained her lovely features. Who would have thought that the girl who seldom speaks carried such a huge boulder of insecurities in her head? Arma knew now that despite being strong psychologically, there were the times when she becomes weak in that area as well, making her world shatter and forcing her to shun everything out.

“Because you are a very special person to me Zessica. Always had...always will... and I will never ever think of you as a burden. It’s because of you that we even made it to the finals. If you haven’t accepted Euphino’s Declaration of War, I am sure we wouldn’t have this much fun till now.” The corner of Zessica’s lips tipped up gradually as she wiped away the remaining tears on her face.

“Ah, I forgot about that Declaration of War. Think you can still have me as your partner with a duel against him?” Zessica asked cheekily, now strolling on top of a bench with no care in the world. Arma chuckled nervously for he still hasn’t figured out Euphino’s Major yet. He had a feeling that Zatch would know but for some reason, he didn’t want to find out from someone else. He wanted to discover it himself. The main question was, if speed isn’t his Major since that is rightfully owned by Stabs, then what other factors plays with speed itself? Stopping wasn’t right since Caterpillar owns that Major too.

“I hope so; I don’t want to lose you so soon after I said you are special to me.” Arma surprised himself by saying this out loud. Usually he wouldn’t be able to say such embarrassing things so blatantly. He blamed the alcohol numbing his brain. Zessica stopped short on one bench and glanced at him with an amused smile, one that Arma can’t help but reciprocate back.

“My my~ Since when did you become so corny?~” Zessica cheekily added, poking him in the ribs now that she had the bench to boost her height. Arma chuckled lightly, then without warning, had the most evil smirk Zessica ever saw. For a moment, the short girl wondered what he could be thinking when she realised something. Her cheeky smile soon turned out to be horror and before Arma could react, she was already running for dear life.

“Nuuuh! You shall not tickle me!!” Zessica yelled gleefully while Arma jogged from behind, laughing uproariously. Still, he was surprised that despite drinking the same amount of alcohol as Arma, how Zessica quickly analyzed her situation and guessed Arma’s way of thinking so quickly amazed him.

“In your dreams!!” Arma yelled back already catching up speed. It was when they passed a deserted playground when Arma wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back, making her gasp. He then quickly pinned her down on the ground, gently at that and used her confusion to his advantage by tickling her sides swiftly. The response was immediate as Zessica struggle and guffawed loudly.

“AHAHAHA! NUUUUH!!! STAAAHP!! STAAAAHP! I CAN’T BREA-AHAHAHAA! OH GOD, NUUUUH! STAAP I AM DROOLING! I AM DROOLING!!” Arma was having fun watching her reaction and a feeling of satisfaction spread across him when he realised that she was laughing because he was the cause of it. He won’t deny that he was feeling giddy himself just watching how amusing and ticklish Zessica was.

However, he eventually gave her a break when she uttered the last sentence out of bewilderment. He was all the more surprised that it was true, probably from laughing so much. Zessica gasped loudly and wiped the thin line of drool from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Fresh tears had escaped from the corner of her eyes and Arma knew it was out of happiness. Although, he did feel an electrical sensation of attraction flow through him when he registered her flushed red face and a playful scowl which she gave him a moment later.

“You are impossible! I hate you!” Zessica cried teasingly, poking him on the chest which Arma beamed.

“Nah, you love me.” The moment it was out, Arma was left dumbstruck. He had said it without thinking! It just came so naturally the tall lad was surprised at himself that he sounded so calm when he uttered it out. Usually he would be stuttering before he could even say the ‘L’ word. Judging by the look of Zessica was giving him then; he could say that she too, was a victim of surprise. Before the tall lad could explain it was just a joke, he was almost left breathless when she smiled.

“Yea I don’t hate you. I never will anyway. You are too cute to hate.” Arma felt his heart skip a beat and he was lucky that it was dark because he was blushing an impossible shade of red again. He gulped, wondering whether this was a dream. So it would make sense that he should pinch himself to find out it was a dream right? But did that happen? Nope, he pinched Zessica instead.

“Owie! Ow ow ow are you testing something again?” Zessica asked quizzically when Arma pulled her cheek gently. Realising what he was doing absentmindedly, Arma quickly retracted his hand and stared at the girl who was staring back innocently. By then, he should have noticed that he was still towering over the young girl and he should have been worried that there would definitely be a huge misunderstanding if a passerby saw, but right then, his mind was completely blank.

“...Maybe?” Arma spoke, pinching the other cheek to which Zessica giggle again.

 “Hmm...I am going to test something again okay? You can push away if you feel uncomfortable.” The words were already out before he could stop then and instantly, Arma felt his cheeks burn up into flames. He knew that his body was acting on its own again, like a marionette on curse strings. Zessica blinked her vibrant emerald green eyes in the darkness but he could feel her nod in approval.

Taking a shaky breathe, Arma gently lifted the fringe of Zessica’s ivory black hair, revealing the bandaged forehead before he traced his hand down towards the scar on her cheekbone, caressing it softly with his thumb. The tall lad blushed again when the young girl leaned into the touch, smiling coyly with innocence radiating out from it.

“How are you so warm?” Zessica asked curiously to which Arma gulped, not trusting his voice to reply. He continued forth as he stopped caressing the scar and cupped her left cheek gently. He then trailed his hand towards her succulent lips, lifting her chin in the process. By then, Zessica was staring peculiarly at Arma and the tall lad wondered whether she was feeling disturbed. However, she made no attempt in pushing him away, which meant that she was still fine right? She was still comfortable with him right? She was completely alright right?

Arma didn’t know. He really didn’t because his heart was beating erratically in his chest that it throbbed his ears. His mind was blank, buzzing with a swarm of busy bees that made all rational thinking to cease in his cluttered mind. More than anything, he wanted to know how it would feel if her luscious lips were on his and he was very tempted but he was also terrified if Zessica would feel repulsed and push him away.

But she still hasn’t yet right?

Encouraged by this, Arma leaned his head down where their noses were touching each other, their breathe becoming warm on each other’s lips. This was how far he had gone before he used all his will power to breakaway. Zessica was still not showing any hint of disgust or anything that would tell what she was thinking. She didn’t move at all, making it difficult to know whether she thought or even felt something. How was she so calm? Was it because he was her ‘partner’?

With another shaky breathe, Arma closed his eyes slowly and leaned in, finally doing the one thing that he wanted to do for months. He kissed her gently, a little hesitant at first by allowing Zessica to have the chance to shove him away but to his surprise, she did no such thing. Instead, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. They stayed like that for a moment before Arma reluctantly broke away from the bliss and glanced at her with wide perplexed eyes. Zessica only smirked cheekily with the biggest grin in the world, her cheeks dusted with a faint hint of red.

“So this is what a kiss filled with love feels like.” The short girl grinned broadly which made Arma blow up into flames again. It just only confirmed that he wasn’t dreaming and that the moment really happened. What shocked him was that Zessica was indicating that she also loved him back, and that made things all the more supreme.

“Really? You like this idiot?” Arma chuckled playfully to which Zessica gave her trickster smile.

“Well you are an idiot, a mother clucking hen at that.” When Arma pouted Zessica giggled and cupped both his cheeks gently.

“But you are my idiot. Now let’s go back before they destroy the house.” Arma grinned getting up and picking her up in a bridal style they both knew so well. Zessica simply smiled and rested her bandaged head on his chest. She listened to Arma’s erratic heartbeat, smiling gently when it was lulling her to sleep. It was strong and even though beating at a high rate, it was comforting, like the tall lad. It was as if nothing would harm her if Arma was there to protect her.

***

Even though the Rising Star Prodigy was what people envisioned her as the type to smoke, drink liquor, and do what rebellious and stupid people do, she never done those things in her life. Sure the voices tempted her to do them but her sense of right and wrong were strong and she had vowed she would never drink or smoke in her life or do anything that will affect her health in the near future. So of course, she was the unfortunate girl to remember what the embarrassing stuff she did once she woke up sober and with a pounding headache. She didn’t know how she ended up in this bedroom which was not her and she didn’t want to think about it. God knows what she did and maybe it would be bliss if she was unaware.

The morning light coming from the window was doing very little to improve her mood and she was just as testy as a vampire in daylight. She glared at the window, hoping it would break into flames but it only allowed her headache to grow worse. She was more or less surprised when someone drew the curtains closed, shielding her overly sensitive eyes. She had thought she was alone.

“Feel better?” A voice, male at that asked. Ophelia looked up and squinted at the blurry figure across her. She instantly recognised him as the lanky guy, Stabs who she made into a pony last night. Just the memory of it was enough to make her grunt and rest her head on her knees in embarrassment. Never in her life had she thought she would react so strongly with alcohol. With the voices taunting her in her mind, she badly wanted to beat that culprit into a pulp, destroy the voices and disappear into a tiny ball.

“I’ll take that as a no. You don’t remember what happened last night too right?” Stabs asked hopefully to which Ophelia gave him the stink eye of doom. First of all, she did not get this guy at all. Why was he so... composed and serene around her? Why wasn’t he scared of her and bailing by the second she glared at him? Oh yea, he is Zessica’s cousin. The recollection of this was making her teeth grit together and Ophelia knew her teeth would be broken if she applied any more force than that.

“Unfortunately I do remember and I don’t want to talk about it.” Ophelia spat in a cursed tone, clearly getting irked by this lad more and more by the second with the hangover to back her up.

“Why haven’t you revealed her that you are her missing cousin yet anyway? Don’t you wanna have like... that sappy family reunion thing?” Stabs stopped short, his navy blue eyes widening as if he hadn’t thought of this before. This grinded Ophelia’s nerves the wrong way and just when she was about to pounce on him, follow what the voices were telling her to beat this guy to a pulp, Stabs beat her to it by speaking up.

“Well... I don’t remember anything about being Zessica’s cousin...”

“...So you don’t believe me huh? Figures.” Ophelia clicked her tongue roughly before ignoring the heavy sadistic voices in her head. When will they shut up? How long would that guy leave her to suffer from this living nightmare?

“No, no you got that wrong.” Stabs replied, waving his hand good naturedly. “I do believe you it’s just that I don’t want to say to Zessica that I am her cousin she has been looking for this whole time without having memories of her first. It doesn’t feel right.” Ophelia took this account, finding sense in his reason and right before she could stop herself, the words were already leaving her mouth.

“What if I said I can give you your memories back?” Stabs’s eyes widened in surprise while Ophelia bit down on her tongue furiously. There she goes again, opening her big fat mouth.

“You can? How?” Stabs asked curiously, clearly intrigued. Ophelia sighed, knowing she could just lie and tell that he had been fooled but she had already admitted that Zessica was his cousin and she also didn’t want to lie to the relative of her former partner. For once, she didn’t give a damn about what the voices told her, nor the promise that guy told her two years ago. Besides, the secret was going to be slipped sooner or later anyway.

“These voices in my head, they aren’t exactly voices. I don’t have schizophrenia but I act like I do because I have the symptoms of it when actually, what I have in my head right now is completely different.” Ophelia ran a hand through her green hair tiredly, feeling the world on her shoulders and banging in her head as Stabs nodded curiously, sitting next to the bed.

“Go on...” The lanky lad prodded on before handing Ophelia a glass of water and painkillers which she noticed only then. Without further much thought, she quickly swallowed the pill and drank the water. She was more or less relieved when some of the annoying voices dimmed down a bit.

“You can say these voices are memories of what the Phantom Dancer stole back in the Taboo. He needed a vessel to bear all of these memories and I just happened to be the lucky one to be picked. Most of the time, these memories somehow gain consciousness and they become voices, having a will of their own. He had already placed some memories of some people in my head even way before the Taboo... one of them is yours.” To this, Stabs blinked.

“Eh? Mine? But I don’t remember anyone....I mean I never suspected that the Phantom Dancer would erase my memories too...was it before the Taboo?” Ophelia nodded, kneading her forehead lightly before proceeding forth.

“I don’t know why he did it but he wanted me to keep these memories within my head to protect the AI. I don’t know how you are involved or how some of the others are involved but that’s the way it is. Then the Taboo occurred and he just added more memories in my head since he couldn’t trust someone else to bear them. I really hate him for that. He doesn’t know what absolute hell I went through just to keep these damn memories of thousands of people sealed.” Ophelia snapped slightly before taking a few deep breathes and calming herself down. Stabs allowed her words to repeat in his head, still having a difficult time to process the new information.

“Wait, you said all the memories of which the Phantom Dancer stole. Meaning you can bring back Zessica’s memories too right? Along with Arma’s?” Stabs hopeful face soon died down when Ophelia shook her head lightly.

“There are some people’s memories I don’t have. Zessica and Armageddon are one of them; even that Time Keeper and that absentminded boy with a girly name I think was Alice? Yea him. There are some memories he keeps to himself for some reason. God knows why plus he told me not to reveal any memories of other people but if it’s you, I think its okay. I don’t find anything that too revealing in yours.” Stabs frowned when Ophelia mentioned Caterpillar and Alois but soon thought that maybe because they weren’t in the Taboo two years ago.

“So whose memories did you have before the Taboo?” Stabs piped up casually and Ophelia couldn’t help but feel...irked about him. How did he trust her so easily? Shouldn’t he have some suspicions on the chances that she might be lying? Not that she was but really, this guy was being too naive.

“Some bunch of idiots who wanted the AI to their power. Now do you want your memories or not?” Ophelia snapped, not in the mood to add anything further. She had already spilled too much from her tongue and she knew that just by giving this guy’s memories back of his cousin would already make her close to digging her already shallow grave.

Stabs flinched back momentarily at her harsh tone and furiously nodded his head, to which the Rising Star Prodigy sighed irritably. Without much further thought, she concentrated on his voice, the younger version of him. Soon, images of Zessica in the hospital and his average young boy’s room appeared to her mind. There were school days too and there were tons of friends he had back on Earth, probably gone to ashes on Doomsday.

Shuddering and not wanting to think deeply about that any further, Ophelia placed two fingers on Stabs forehead, focusing all of his younger childhood memories and trying to imagine it flowing from her head, to her shoulders and through her arm that would penetrate through his forehead. She never tried it before and she cringed lightly when she felt the uncomfortable feeling of something flowing out of her mind. When Stabs stiffened considerably, Ophelia knew that it was working as the images slowly faded away, replaced with taunting noises.

“Shoot” Ophelia gritted her teeth tightly, removing her fingers from Stabs’s forehead who looked quite dazed. She quickly concentrated on the terrible sadistic voices, screaming internally as loud as she could to shun them out, going as far as to clutch her head and duck her head down low. It was a small trick she had learned every time she felt her consciousness and will power draining away. Every time when she either felt paranoid that people were listening to her mind and every time she felt the urge to follow what the voices told her, she would scream inside and there would be a brief moment of silence. It didn’t stop the voices, but it quietened them down.

“....Project BlackWood...” Stabs muttered suddenly as Ophelia blinked. She glanced up to find that Stabs’s navy blue eyes were widened to saucers, as if he had forgotten something important and only to realise it then. He was suddenly at the edge of his seat, barely containing his excitement when he had the biggest grin on his face, shocking Ophelia to no boundaries. What was up with him now?

“I knew I saw it somewhere before! It’s in the colourless world! The word BlackWood was in that colourless world I had in that prize!” Stabs cried out excitedly, almost jumping up and down when the happy go lucky face suddenly melted away and was replaced with one of that look of being upset. Sighing, Stabs slunk back down on his chair in defeat, as if all hope was lost. Ophelia just continued to stare; wondering just how was he alike to Zessica in any way.

“I forgot... I lost the prize too. Now we don’t have any training ground or any chance of getting to that place where we could find what the meaning of Project BlackWood is.” Stabs muttered to himself grimly, a disappointed aura settling on his shoulders as he tapped his fingers on his arms thoughtlessly. She didn’t know why but the way Stabs was talking just a moment ago, Ophelia couldn’t hold the suspense anymore.

“Just what is this Project BlackWood thing you are yapping about?” Stabs blinked momentarily before breaking into a large smile.

“It’s from a letter the Phantom Dancer addressed to Arma. He mentioned something about Project BlackWood with some code number on it. At first I didn’t remember it but now that you bring back my memories I do. Back on Earth, I remember sneaking into some room since I got bored and found this documentary.” Ophelia raised an eyebrow lightly, her voice heavy with sarcasm the moment she spoke.

“Sounds a lot like you when I met you in Dr.Bender’s office.” To this, Stabs gulped nothing but air guiltily, not wanting to reveal that he had taken a copy of her medical condition, which was now a horrible present from the Phantom Dancer on that day.

“I don’t remember which room it was and what I was doing since I was like seven back then. So I was looking through some things and saw Project BlackWood on this paper. That’s as far as I could remember. Then I recall seeing this building back in that colourless world I won through a game that had the name BlackWood on it too. My guess it’s some project that both the Phantom Dancer and the Creator of this game were building.”

“And I am assuming the Phantom Dancer knew this and took your memories away in the first place. So this Project BlackWood thing is supposed to be a secret or something?” Ophelia inquired nonchalantly to which Stabs shrugged his shoulders, unable to come up with any solid theory of his own.

“I’ll ask Zatch about it and maybe he can find my lost prize. Oh, I forgot to ask but would it be rude if I ask who the legendary player who destroyed half the game stage two years ago was? Please?! I am dying to just know that that person exists!” Stabs suddenly cried, bringing his hands together to some sort of prayer as he conjured up the most innocent and begging expression he could muster. Ophelia stared at him as if he was nothing but dirt on her shoe while debating on her answer.

He was acting so much like a kicked puppy! She had already told him tons of secrets already, going as far as to unlock the one the Phantom Dancer was probably trying to hide this whole time. Would it hurt if she revealed a bit more?

.......Ah to hell with it! That bastard should have known that this would be the consequence of rudely placing thousand people’s memories in her brain in the first place!

“If you are talking about the Phantom Dancer then no, I do not know who he is because I never saw him. I only got his messages by via texts. The last time I heard of him was back in the Taboo and I almost saw him too but I was beaten up pretty badly trying to prevent some scumbags from getting their hands on the player who destroyed more than half the game stage.” Stabs’s face fell the moment he heard that Ophelia too, didn’t know the identity of the Phantom Dancer when he heard the last statement. His gloom quickly turned to a frown as he asked the first question that popped into his mind.

“Huh?” Ophelia rolled her eyes, not expecting him to be so dense. Zessica was far better at picking up the little details than this cousin of hers.

“I lied on the interview about the player who became a legend, duh! Phantom Dancer is the one who stole memories of people present in the Taboo who witnessed something... incredible. While the person who did the incredible by demolishing more than half of that stage is someone else entirely.”

“So you are saying... the Phantom Dancer is not the one who wiped out the stage?” Stabs asked confusedly and felt his jaw drop the ground when Ophelia nodded.

“Yep. Wanna know who did?” Stabs went quiet and Ophelia felt an evil smirk stretch on her features as she watched him gulp lightly. However, Stabs was already too curious to know who the legendary player was and he couldn’t help but nod warily. Once he did, he felt knots tying in his stomach and dread leaning on his chest when Ophelia’s smirk grew only wider and more malicious.

“You should have known. After all, you are related to her.” Stabs felt his jaw hung open again when he processed the last sentence.

“Zessica?”

Author's note: Long chapter I know but meh, I don't care anymore and I certainly loved making this to a cliff hanger so in your face! =P kidding! I will always love you guys! So this story had gotten pretty long so instead of the range of 20-30 chapters, I think it would end around 45 chapters? Hopefully less than 40?

haha who knows right? The Feyone part with the kitchen apron and cleaver was totally inspired by FrozenKeys xD I sort of rushed this so please notify me any mistakes. Oh and dont forget to vote!