In Memoriam

The worst part about being stuck under the cacti is that Azuki had to come and rescue us. And of course she had to make it super awkward for the both of us. And of course she had to ruin what could have been a perfectly cozy moment. Seriously?! God, can you not spare me just five minutes away from this girl? Please??

“If you two wanted some alone time, you could’ve just asked.” Azuki continues to tease.

“Hey! Us being stuck under the bramble gave you and Jet the perfect opportunity to finish off the wyrm. It was strategic! So, I think a simple thank you would be nice.”

“Thank you!” Jet says it without hesitation. That’s sweet, but I needed Azuki to say it. What surprises me is that he turns to her and says, “Now you say it.”

We all look at Azuki expectantly. Her eyes narrow in disgust at the thought. Jet then decides to give her a little ‘encouragement’ by punching her in the shoulder.

“...Thank you.” Azuki spits out the words like acid on her tongue. It was kinda funny to watch her furrowed expression. I try to stifle my proud stupid grin, but I can’t help it. Azuki turns away with an emphatic “hmmph” sound. “Now, what are we going to do with that giant wyrm?”

She gestures over to the dead wyrm. Spector and I walk out of the cacti patch to get a closer look of the absolute slaughter . Together, Azuki and Jet were able to slice through wide sections of the wyrm’s skin to bleed it out. Some portions look nastier than others. Oh frick is that bone? I almost feel sorry for this big ol’ monster, but he did eat my favorite horse Chestnut.

“Should we hold a funeral for Chestnut?”

The three turn around and give me weird looks. I guess it’s odd to have a funeral for a horse, but I feel bad for the poor baby.

“...who?” Spector asks clearly having forgotten.

“He’s the horse. June named it so I wouldn’t eat it…” Azuki pauses. I’m surprised she remembers that. “Anyways, why do you care so much about him? You barely even knew… it.”

The way Azuki talks is like she’s trying to restrain herself, but I don’t know why. Honestly I suppose she does have a point. For many adventurers a horse is just a horse, but isn’t that wrong?

“I don’t know, but I think someone should care right? Chestnut was alive just like we are now. He just got unlucky. A good adventurer should always form a close relationship with their steed.”

I guess the suggestion was stupid. No way are any of them going to agree to something like this.

“Okay. Let’s hold a feast.” Azuki chimes in.

“Huh?”

“You heard me. Horses love to eat stuff, so let’s have a feast in his honor and then give a few words if you really want to.” Wow, Azuki really surprised me there. Does she really have a sensitive side?

“Now boys, let’s cut open the remains of that wyrm and grill it over an open fire. We shall consume the very thing that took our dearly departed friend tearing. Vengeance will be ours! FOR CHESTNUT!!”

Okay I take back everything I said, Azuki is a psychopath.

She’s got a point though, we do need to eat since I stupidly forgot to pack enough food. And I guess this wyrm thing looks semi-edible. Oh God, this is probably going to taste disgusting isn’t it?

The skin and scales looked difficult to cut through, but thankfully Jet’s brute strength made it look easy. He then insists on cooking the wyrm so we sit back and watch him work. When he’s finished, he delivers the meat to each of us on the inside of his shield like a waiter at a fancy restaurant.

“Ta da! Skewer a la Wyrm. Bone appa teeth.”

Huh. I suddenly get the feeling Jet doesn’t know a lick of French. I stare at the food before I get ready to ask the others. “So would anyone like to say a few words for Chestnut?”

“Oh so we are going through with that huh?” Azuki says slyly. Oh come on Azuki you said it was a good idea! I shoot her a look and she sighs.

“Well then I’ll start. Chestnut you were a good horse. I wanted to eat you when I was hungry. It turns out I wasn’t so hungry that I could eat a horse. I could restrain myself, but my hunger blinded me like a wild animal.” She’s not going to take this seriously is she?

She continues, “I was totally hungry enough to eat this stupid wyrm though. At least you went down fast Chestnut, unlike this sorry soul.” She gestures to the carcass of the giant sand wyrm. “He had an agonizing death...”

Azuki pauses and takes a deep breath before unleashing a trail of heated words. “SCREW YOU WYRM! DOWN WITH THE FOOD CHAIN! DOWN WITH THE APEX PREDATOR!!”

Spector clutches his elf ears grimacing while Jet stares at Azuki in shock. I don’t think anyone has anything to follow THAT up.

“Alright well I’m done. Who’s next?” Azuki looks at the boys who frankly look catatonic. Then she looks at me. What the hell am I supposed to say now?!

“Umm… rest in peace Chestnut. Bon appetit?”

And so we dig in. Wyrm skewers are chewy, but incredibly juicy. Surprisingly I’m not as thirsty anymore either. I think wyrms store a decent amount of water in their bodies kinda like camels do so that they can survive desert heat. Neat.

“Now before we go to sleep, did anyone eat any sand in their illusion dreams?” Azuki asked.

“Uh, I think I remember eating a hamburger… was I just swallowing sand then?” Jet seems really concerned and I would be based on Azuki’s expression.

“You shouldn’t have done that…” Azuki’s face drops and her eyes convey an expression of fear. Oh God what happened? She continues to explain, “if you eat the sand in your dreams, you’ll be ingesting the eggs of baby sand wyrms. Once they hatch they’ll continue to feed off your lifeforce until they’re mature enough. Then they’ll rip through your flesh and bone to start the cycle all over again.”

“NOO!” Jet shouts in a panic and starts dry heaving in an attempt to make himself sick. I run over to him to try and help. Maybe there’s a magic de-wyrming spell? In the distance, I can hear Spector and Azuki talking to each other.

“He’s not actually going to die is he?” Spector asks in a tired tone.

Azuki quietly giggles to herself so Jet can’t hear. “Yeah I’m just kidding, but he’ll probably poop weird for about a week.”

I’m going to kill her. Well to reassure Jet I said a bunch of mumbo jumbo words that vaguely sounded like a spell in hopes to ease his worry. As far as he knows, he is now wyrm egg free.

“Now we’re getting close to the next city, but without our horses we should probably stay here for the rest of the night.” Aww Spector’s right. Rest in Peace Chestnut. Oh, and screw you Maple.

“Let’s sleep in shifts. There’s probably plenty more monsters lurking around during the night. So… who wants to go first?” Jet asked.

“One. Two. Three. Not it!” Azuki shouts out and touches her claw to her nose. Jet quickly follows suit. Great, we're back in elementary school.

I look over to Spector who hasn’t touched his finger to his nose yet. I think he’s volunteering to do the night shift first. I want to be lazy, but I can’t let him do that. He must be exhausted from carrying us during the sand wyrm fight.

I let out a sigh. “I’ll do it.”

“No, that's okay, I can take the first watch.” Spector insists.

“Then let’s take the first watch together,” I suggest. “Besides, it’s probably better if two of us are awake anyways. We’ll let the two lazy bones go next.”

With the sun now set over the desert hills, The Syla sands have cooled off significantly. So, we keep the campfire going to stay warm. Azuki and Jet have passed out quickly. I’m getting pretty tired. At this point, I think talking is the only thing that can keep me awake. It’s a bit awkward though. I know Spector is kinda the mysterious quiet type, but I do want to know more about him.

“So…”

“So…?” He responds. This was more playful of him than I expected.

“You must be pretty tired too huh?”

“Yeah…”

“So… Do you mind if we talk for a bit?”

“Yeah I don’t mind…”

Cool I got the go ahead. Problem is what do I ask him? Oooh I know!

“So, what were you like before you came here?”

“... no comment.”

“Oh come on! I know you’re oh so secretive, but you don’t have to spill all the beans! Just tell me a little bit about yourself.”

“It’s easier to be closed off. You lose people here if you’re not careful. It’s best not to get close.” Spector ruminates on this like the ‘I work alone’ vigilante type he is. It’s frustrating as hell, but understandable I guess.

“I get it.” I poke at the fire with a stick. Well, this conversation died faster than a goldfish from a carnival.

“But…” Spector starts. It sounds like he’s ready to share something. Aaah he’s opening up! Don’t get too excited. Control yourself June!!

“I was a bit of a loner in school. My dad was constantly moving for work, so I’d be transferring from one place to another. I didn’t really have any friends.”

Aww well this conversation is a buzzkill. Not to say that it’s boring or anything, but that it’s super sad. I’d totally be friends with him in the real world! He’s very thoughtful. He deserves good friends.

“But…” Spector continues. Oh so there’s more to the story! I lean in with my elbows on my lap and my hands propping up my face. I want him to know I’m interested. He looks at me and smiles a bit. “But I found a club at my high school. A girl reached out to me and handed me a flyer.”

“Oh kinda like how you handed me the flyer for the Isekai Anonymous group!”

“Yeah like that.” Spector pauses. “What I didn’t realize was that being part of a club like that could change my entire outlook. Being in a group that shares a common interest, it feels like being a member of one big family. She saved my life. She’s my hero.”

I’d so love to be a hero like that. I suppose I forget that stuff like that can be seen as heroic too. I’m so wrapped up in feeling not strong enough or smart enough, so maybe just being kind enough IS good enough? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I can listen to this guy next to me who is clearly sharing more to me than he has to anyone in a long time.

“She sounds cool.” I don’t want to pry, but I’ve got to know. “Do you… like her?”

He nods. Aww that’s so cute! I have to admit, I’m a bit bummed out that he’s smitten, especially after he was so kind to me the day everything went to hell. If she’s interested, then she’s definitely a lucky gal. And she better treat him well. In the meantime, I’d love to play wingwoman for him. He deserves to be happy.

“Does she know you like her?”

This time he shakes his head no. The poor guy is probably too nervous to tell her, but we can work on that. I know just the thing!

“But-”

“Well!”

Oh we started talking at the same time! This is a bit awkward.

“Aah you go first…” Spector says, hiding his face in a blushed whisper.

“Well then! It might take some time, but we’re going to get you back to the real world and you’re going to confess to that girl. That’s a promise.”

I hold out my pinky finger and he grabs back with his. Once again, this touch feels like a familiar spark. He nervously pulls back and I brush my hair behind my ears. I have to ask one more question if he’s willing.

“Hey Spector. This club you were part of, what kinda club was-”

“Hey guys!” Jet comes up from behind and ruffles Spector’s hair. Aww, terrible timing man. “So I’ll take the second shift from you now if you want.”

“Alright I’ll wake Azuki then.” I walk over to Azuki and whisper in her ear a bit. She’s sound asleep. I shake her shoulders gently at first. Then I rock her back and forth violently. Nothing. Dang this girl could sleep through an earthquake!

“June don’t even bother, Azuki could probably sleep through an avalanche.” Oh wow, different natural disasters, but great minds do think alike. “I can take the second shift with Jet. You go get some rest.”

“Are you sure?” He nods. I feel bad taking advantage of his generosity, but I am exhausted. If manna for magic users is a thing, I’ll for sure need a good night’s sleep to recharge. That, and I really don’t want Jet to take the night shift by himself.

“Thank you Spector. Goodnight.”

I wake up the next morning feeling a little groggy, but not too bad overall. The guys however don’t look so good. Azuki is probably fine. She got like twelve hours of sleep. Honestly, a bear probably sleeps less in hibernation than she does in a week.

“Hey Azuki, did you get a good night’s sleep?” I ask.

“Actually no,” Azuki sighs. “I had this terribly vivid dream in the middle of the night where someone started shaking me! Luckily I was able to get back to sleep eventually…”

That little jerk! She pretended to be asleep on purpose!! Keep cool June. Pretty soon this quest will be over and you won’t have to deal with these antics. One can only put up with so much and Azuki?! She is pushing me past my limit!

Before we go, we slice up some more of the sand wyrm and roast it for a bit for an on the go travel snack. Still horrible to look at, but tastes surprisingly better than it looks. All part of a balanced breakfast.

So, we pack up our things (or more accurately, what’s still left from the wyrm fight), and continue our journey south. The lantern starts to light up with an increasingly brighter flash and a low hum that starts to get louder over time. Hopefully we’ll reach Mount Calamity soon. Otherwise, I have a feeling that in a couple days a very ugly, bony wizard is gonna jump out of that lantern and kill us all. No pressure.