Black Armor, White Fire, Pink Lantern

1

“This is the one for sure. Your reign will come to an end… Ilyana!”

The score was zero to nine. It wasn’t official, but I was keeping track. I licked my lips and wiped the sweat off my brow. I glanced over at Ilyana who casually popped a small bar of chocolate in her mouth as if she didn’t care. She glanced back at me… and sneered.

Oh, it’s on. For real this time.

My character, a dual dagger assassin, was the fastest in the game and deals massive damage. But he was also paper thin. A glass canon, as my friend Toby liked to put it. We were supposed to be celebrating his birthday, but Ilyana and I got a little carried away playing his console at the living room.

Ilyana’s character was the azure knight who used a magic staff instead of a sword, known to have complex inputs and difficult combo patterns. But for one reason or another she ended up maining it.

We heard our friends laugh at something over in the other room.

“Maybe it’s time we wrap this up,” Ilyana said. “I’m getting hungry again.”

“Oh, no.” I shook my head and laughed. “No, no, no. I was only getting warmed up. This is the match.”

“If you say so…”

Between us friends, Ilyana had always been the one to collect all the trophies, beat every secret boss, and do it all over again. Toby, Lyle, Carrie, Jess, they’ve always been somewhere in between. And me, well, I was the one who cried at the cutscenes and obsessed over the lore of the game. I was never really good at playing games, but I cared enough about them.

“You remember the last time you actually beat me?” Ilyana asked. “I think it was the previous version of this game.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, this character I’m using didn’t even use daggers yet. I remember fans getting annoyed that they changed his weapon set.”

“Right… but do you remember what you did after you beat me that time?”

“Umm…” Shit, what did I do? I liked this game, but I wasn’t super invested in it like I was now. “Did I pull off a super sweet combo or something?”

“Accidentally, yes.”

I could easily hear the bite in her tone.

“But that wasn’t the only thing you did. After I lost and we started another match, you took pity in me and started to throw. Almost immediately. Of course I won the next match easily.”

“I… did that?”

Ilyana laughed, but she wasn’t impressed. While on the character select screen, she pressed a series of buttons going up and down, left and right, until finally she landed on the same character I was on. Except when she selected the character it appeared as its previous iteration wielding a single katana. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Ryo, but this is getting old. But you know what? I’ll play as the same character. Let’s see how it goes.”

I literally stepped on a landmine.

I didn’t know Ilyana was hung up on that one time, and honestly, I just wanted to impress her. Or better yet, spend as much time playing with her as I could.

The match started and it brought me back to that time I accidentally did the combo. It wasn’t because I did it again… but because she did it to me intentionally.

The screen flashed ‘Perfect!’ and I wasn’t even mad. I was simply left in awe.

Calling Ilyana a gamer wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t really play that many games or followed every trend. But when she does, be it a game, a book, a movie, music, whatever it was… she hyper fixated. She collected every trophy, beat every secret boss, and did it all over again. And you know what? I loved her for it.

“Aww… what’s that now, ten to zero?” Ilyana said. “What would it take for you to win?”

I gritted my teeth and glared at her… as softly and calmly as I could.

“How about a little encouragement? Let’s see… if you win, I’ll give you a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Yup. If you win…” Ilyana tapped her cheek in thought, then grinned at me when she got it. “If you win, I’ll answer any question you want to know. I promise.”

2

“I got it, I got it, I got it!”

I ran at high speed, probably faster than I ever had, then jumped. With dark energy coursing through my legs, I leapt ten meters across a jagged terrain, then slammed my daggers down the fiend’s shell-like armor. Black smoke exploded from my attack, followed by the gushing of monster blood. I sliced through the beast’s back, taking off its rhinoceros-like head.

I jumped off the Everdark fiend, then quickly looked behind me.

A fountain of white flames burned across the rocky plain, immolating another fiend of a similar build to the one I felled. The thing looked like a giant white beetle with short, stubby feet and a bulbous head with a single tusk. The weird part was that its mouth opened at its chest, mangled teeth riddled across half its body.

When the flames fanned, Jennifer was standing behind the charred remains of the beast she defeated, arms raised with her bracers glowing.

The two of us made eye contact despite the distance, smiling to mark our win.

“Don’t let your guard down!” A voice called out.

Suddenly, a third fiend jumped directly out of the cursed forest. It was impossible to sense, as the Everdark didn’t just block out light but sound as well. It wasn’t obvious until one actually got close to it, but even the sound of wind didn’t pass through.

Before the fiend could land, its mouth fully open, three arrows zoomed across the field shutting it up. It crashed at the jagged rocks I just leaped over, making the land shake from its weight.

Far to the south, one of the guild’s three mighty bows, Hesina, cocked her massive crossbow. The short-haired woman wore plated armor on top of her kimono and trousers, similar to the guardsmen of Yorutei, but I doubted they’ve ever seen any use, considering monsters she fought died long before they reached her. “What did I say about fighting close to the Everdark?” she yelled, her massive round spectacles glinting against the sun. “You’ll just end up luring the fiends out!”

I blinked, then realized she was specifically talking to me. I looked at the Everdark and noticed a fourth fiend poking its tusk out. This was probably the most fiends I’ve seen in the same place.

I channeled dark energy in my legs again, then dashed south towards Hesina.

“Don’t lead it back to me, you idiot!”

Crap. I usually put my smoky trail on, which made it harder to detect my body, but fighting all afternoon had me exhausting my powers. And the fiend did chase after me. Sooner or later, I wouldn’t be able to run fast either.

Do I pivot and fight? It was still close to the Everdark. Maybe if I strike fast enough, I could defeat it quickly, then run away again.

The moment I pivoted, I saw flaming white swords pass me by like rockets. Two hit the Everdark fiend straight on its side, exploding in a fiery mess.

The fiend burned, but it still moved, so I shot it quickly with my extending sword straight to its head.

Two minutes later and the fiend finally stopped moving.

I glanced over at Jennifer and grinned. Then at Hesina with my head bowed in apology.

Sometime later, we gathered the remains of the fiends and ‘displayed’ them just outside the Everdark. It was a means to discourage other beasts from coming out of the forests, since apparently, the things didn’t eat each other. And intelligent as they were, seeing the corpses of their fellow fiends actually dissuaded them.

“At least it used to,” Hesina said as she shot the beasts’ carcass from atop the wagon with her crossbow. Four massive bolts pinned the burnt monster corpse in place. It wasn’t going anywhere. Not that it could.

I glanced over at the Everdark, which was a good distance away.

“What do you mean it used to work?” Jennifer asked as she fed the rikulai beast that pulled our wagon. “It’s not because I burned it too badly, right?”

Hesina snorted. “Nah, you did good. In the past few years, fiend attacks have been more common despite what we’re doing here. We don’t really know the reason, but the common theory is because Yorutei’s getting bigger. Not that the locals would admit that was the reason.” She turned to me. “Now get our marks, Ryota. Do your blade thing.”

I saluted the woman, which wasn’t really a thing in this world, but nobody’s told me it was a bad gesture yet. I ran over to the dead fiend and sliced off its massive tusk. This one’s burnt, but the other three we got should be proof enough.

“There is one other theory that’s going around,” Hesina said. “They say war is brewing far to the north of the Everdark. They say that’s what’s been agitating the fiends.”

“I thought the closest city on the other side is really far away,” I said. “Farther than Yorutei or Teshim.”

“It is, which is why nobody takes the theory seriously,” Hesina replied. “Besides, I doubt the beasts care or even know about it. Assuming its even true.”

Hesina looked at my handiwork and raised an eyebrow. The tusk was cut clean and shiny like a mirror. “Your ability’s pretty useful, you know that? I might have to ask Meifan to book you on every big hunt the guild marks. It usually takes forever to hack parts off monsters.”

“I aim to please,” I said as I threw the tusk into the pile. “As long as I don’t get booked during the festival, there are no complaints from me.”

“You’re really dead set on going, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s something we’ve looked forward to for a long time,” Jennifer interjected. “It’s the biggest event of the year.”

Hesina jumped off the wagon and shrugged. “Most people think that until they actually get here and see the Everdark in person. And yet here you are, literally in front of the cursed forest with a dead fiend and still raring to go.” She fixed her glasses and frowned at the blonde woman. “It’s not because of the dead fiend, is it? You guys aren’t afraid because you actually like fighting these things?”

Jennifer laughed. “Of course not! Only Ryota likes to fight.”

Hey, don’t make me sound like a crazy person!

“I mean I’m not gonna stop you,” Hesina said. “Most people that go are the older residents of Yorutei. And that’s because they know how great the event really is. I’ve been to the festival twice, and I say it’s absolutely worth the trip. They put on quite the show.” She checked the contents of our wagon, then hopped on the driver’s seat. “Done with feeding the thing?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jennifer said.

“Then get on, you two. I want to get back before the sun sets.”

Jennifer and I sat next to each other at the back of the wagon with our feet dangling at the side. We don’t usually get a ride like this out on hunt jobs, but the goal was to specifically hunt fiends and pin them outside the forest, so it was necessary. This was only the third time I’ve done the practice, but it was the first for Jennifer.

“You did awesome out there,” I said. “You also lasted longer than the last time we did a hunt together. You casted so many spells too.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Jennifer said.

I frowned.

“You’ve been distracted ever since you got back from your trip to that Yan Tak place,” I whispered. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking a lot about the Everdark… and the ancient stuff that used to exist there.” Jennifer looked in the direction of the cursed forest, then up at the sky, completely lost in thought.

“Does it have something to do with that book you’ve been writing?” I asked.

Jennifer looked at me in surprise. “You knew about that?”

“It’s where you write down your investigations, right?” I glanced over at Hesina, but the sound of the wagon’s wheels and the rikulai’s hooves were loud enough to drown out our voices.

“It is,” Jennifer said, blushing. “It sucks because I could only write stuff at the inn. You know, with the whole ink and brush thing.”

I laughed. Then sighed almost immediately.

“I should probably be doing the same thing.”

“No, I think you and Allen are better off out here honing your skills. We might need them at some point.”

“Hopefully we don’t.”

Jennifer laughed. Then she slowly leaned her head on my shoulder. “Sorry, I just need to rest for a bit.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Tomorrow…” she started. “I think I should be done tomorrow.”

“With your detective book?”

“With my super duper plan.”

“For what?”

“The festival. The mission.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t think you were actually formulating a plan. I thought we’d do that once we get to the festival.”

“We will. But I learned some interesting stuff at Yan Tak, so I got a bit overexcited and did some preliminary planning.”

“I probably shouldn’t have invited you to this hunt then. You could’ve focused on your work.”

Jennifer moved her head slightly and got really comfortable with my shoulder. “No, this is good,” she said, her voice getting even lower. “I’ll share to you what I found tomorrow… I might have it all figured out…”

When I glanced down at Jennifer, she’d fallen asleep.

It might’ve been our fake memories at work, but this wasn’t too bad. I’d let her rest until we get back.

3

“Hey, are you paying attention?” Jennifer said tapping the side of the boat. “I know its fun to sightsee, but this is important stuff.”

The three of us champions decided to hold one of our meetings on a leisurely boat ride going across the Tien Canal, the man-made waterway that passed through the east districts of Yorutei. And just now we went under the same bridge we crossed on our very first day on this town.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I walk by that bridge almost every day, and I never thought to actually take a boat to the guild. I always assumed these things are privately owned since it didn’t seem to come with a driver.”

And it didn’t. The sail-less, paddle-less, wooden ship was fully operated by a lantern bearing the symbol ‘pair’. Apparently, it automatically went from one paired lantern on one dock, to another paired lantern on another dock. The magic was lost on me, but altering the lantern’s gemstone properties did the trick. Smaller lanterns at the side of the boat also prevented it from crashing with the side of the canal or other boats. It was brilliant. The only downside was that the speed was set on the dock it departed from and couldn’t be changed until it reached its destination. The slower the ride, the more expensive the fee. Sounded like a rip off, but this was my first time, so I didn’t care.

“I used it once,” Allen said. “The bards at the tavern showed me around once…”

“Funny I was never invited before,” I said sarcastically. “Or told about it even once. Don’t worry, Allen, I only meant that remark for certain sleepyheads who use magic.”

I stretched my left arm theatrically as if my shoulder hurt.

Jennifer rolled her eyes, while Allen blinked in confusion.

“But my apologies,” I said. “I rudely interrupted you with my newbie energy. You were saying something about a ceremony at the village?”

“Multiple ceremonies happening every day,” Jennifer clarified, blushing. “It’s why they call it the ‘week of song’. And figure at least a few things yourself, Ryota, you just said you pass by that bridge every day!”

“Almost every day.”

“Ugh, whatever!”

“Actually, I can use a bit of magic too.”

Jennifer and I both looked at Allen.

“I… learned it… apparently,” Allen said. “According to my memories… but I can only do basic things.”

Jennifer groaned exasperatedly, then took out a small book. She held it in the middle of the boat, so it was easy for us to see. Its pages contained sketches and notes written by her in English. I wasn’t sure if what she wrote translated to the people of this world, but it simply looked English to me compared to the regular script I saw around Yorutei.

Jennifer pointed to one of the things she scribbled. “See here, I made notes about the legend of Yunha. Before the curse of the Everdark, people that used to live in the ancient empire ascended but left the state of Yunha behind. As for what ascended mean, this villager I met said many interpretations—they moved away, they died, they acquired magic power, whatever—nobody knows anymore. Anyway, it happened to them because a herald from heaven sang the ‘song of Esecha’.”

“Who’s Esecha?” Allen asked.

“Some ancient figure. They said its another herald from heaven, but nobody knows for sure. Point is, Esecha is the reason why the festival exists. People sing every year in order to reenact the past in hopes of one day ascending, like the rest of the empire did. Meanwhile, other villagers believe they do it as penance for betraying the empire and potentially lifting the curse. Whichever it is, the ritual eventually evolved into a performance art.”

Jennifer then showed more pages of her notes about the village, how Yunha both meant the country and its former king, how the empire of Lusia stretched across the northeastern continent of Yves, and many more.

It was fascinating to hear, but also to hear Jennifer tell it. The enthusiasm in her voice was infectious and charming that I mostly paid attention to her than the story. I might have to read her notes again.

And here I was searching the city like a headless chicken looking for clues. I almost went into the Everdark forest once, just to see if I can get anything new. The other members of the protectorate guild did not like that idea when I brought it up.

Jennifer tilted her head, blonde hair falling neatly on her shoulders. She smiled at me with a smug expression that reminded me a lot of Ilyana. My heart might have even skipped a beat. “Guess what object is absolutely necessary during the singing ceremony?”

“What?”

“The gemstone! Or at least, a gemstone. It couldn’t be anything else but what we’re after, right?”

“Wow, really?” Allen said in surprise.

“Yes, really,” Jennifer said, grinning widely. “Kazha—that’s the villager I met—did not want to elaborate, but apparently a special gemstone is used during the performance.”

“Wait, I think I’ve heard of this,” I said. “It’s practically the first thing people say when you ask them about the festival. Something about a fancy display of magic.”

Jennifer nodded. “Exactly. For the people of Yorutei the festival is all about the villagers performing a show. But I bet you two didn’t know the people of Yunha aren’t actually allowed to use magic. Lanterns are used freely, but actually singing the power of the gemstones is restricted, with the exception of the festival performance.”

“That makes it super important to the villagers,” Allen said, nodding. “I think I understand why this could be the gemstone we’re looking for.”

I watched as another boat pass us by bearing guardsmen travelling east. Unlike ours, their ride moved swiftly.

“That makes sense…” I said. “I just wonder if fate would send us all the way to this world to steal and break something that’s practically… well, a prop.”

“Kazha didn’t outright say it, but I think this gemstone is the same treasure stolen by the old ruler of Yunha,” Jennifer said. “As far as we know they still have the treasure.”

“But in that case, wouldn’t the treasure be sacred enough for the villagers to not parade it in front of visitors?”

“Well…” Jennifer looked to the side as if stumped.

I gently held Jennifer’s hand and squeezed it. “Oh, err, sorry, I didn’t mean to say your speculation was wrong, I’m just exploring possibilities. It’s still the best lead we’ve ever got.”

“No, honestly, it was nagging at me too,” Jennifer said. “I didn’t want to say ‘it felt too easy’ or ‘it’s too obvious’ because that kind of excuse only works in detective dramas. But you’re right. Kazha said the gemstone used in the performance is special, but it could still be a regular one used for show.”

Jennifer and I looked at each other and nodded. We laughed a little… and then realized we were holding each other’s hands. I don’t think I’ve ever held a woman’s hand this tightly before. I let go and looked at the buildings we passed by. Yay, sight seeing.

Allen giggled.

“No, Allen, see—” I stammered.

“It’s okay, Jennifer filled me in,” Allen said. “I think it’s cute that you two have a fake backstory together. You’re even engaged and everything.”

My eyes widened. “We are?” I looked at Jennifer. “We are?”

Jennifer sighed and showed me a ring from the necklace she wore. “The memory finally came to me,” she said. “Apparently, I’ve been carrying this for a long time. I don’t remember what it was, but we made a promise to each other.”

“Awwwww...”

Allen, I swear to God.

“What about you, Ryota?” Jennifer asked. “Any memories?”

“I.. might have had a dream or two,” I said. Nothing too spicy thankfully, but they were definitely romantic. A seaside stroll, dining in a high-class restaurant, a fancy boat ride not unlike this one. They were in far off places I knew nothing of, but in my dreams they felt familiar. What was even the point of any of it?

“I swear, I’m going to file a complaint to the arbiter when we get back,” Jennifer said. “This is unnecessarily distracting!”

“If I were to guess?” Allen said. “It might be some kind of emotional support system between you two. Remember how the arbiter said she can’t meddle with our mission but can give us encouragement? This might be that. Remember, I wasn’t even supposed to be here.”

Jennifer and I were obviously uncomfortable, so I had to change the subject.

“More importantly,” I started, “we only have two days before the festival starts, so all we can do is get whatever we can in Yorutei now, then proceed to investigate the village on our first few days there.”

“I say we limit it to three days max,” Jennifer said. “The festival is a week-long but a week in this world is ten days. The arbiter strictly said we had two months of earth time to pull off this mission, but if you think about it, that just means we’re going to reach our two-month time limit a few days after the festival ends.”

“You can finish your mission anytime,” I said sarcastically, as if mimicking the arbiter. “Anyway, you were saying?”

“Three days to investigate,” Jennifer continued, “five days to make plans, one day to execute plan. And then one extra day for safety. Hopefully we won’t need it, but it’s there. We also need to make plans for what we do if we go past the festival. We wouldn’t have much time, but our lives and probably this world, is literally on the line.”

“At that point, if push comes to shove, we’ll have to raid the village for any gemstone,” I said. “Maybe even fight in the Everdark. Or worse, fight the guild itself.”

Allen shivered. “Hopefully it doesn’t get to that.”

“We’re going to be fine,” Jennifer said. Then she opened her book to a sketch of the village.

I whistled.

“You’re really good at this.”

Jennifer blushed for a second. But then her expression soured almost as quickly. She almost closed her book on reflex, but she decided to keep it open.

“I already have a few ideas on what we should do.” Jennifer pointed on the south side of the map she drew. “I marked places I think would be important. I also asked Kazha how people get around the village and…” she flipped to another page with a more detailed drawing. “I think these places and these roads could be good for our escape. We’ll have to see it in person though.”

“As for if the gemstone in the performance is our target, then we could literally destroy it on stage during the ritual. If we need to make the scene public, then I couldn’t imagine a better time to do it. I was wondering if we could somehow get you to join in singing at the stage, Allen, but its strictly for villagers only.”

“Wha—me?” Allen said in surprise.

“You’re good at it,” Jennifer replied. “Not that you’ve gone on stage after that first time.”

Allen grumbled. “Give me a break… that took everything in me.”

“Eh, you’ll be fine. We do need to figure out how to get near the stage though. We could act drunk, or act like something was wrong, or—”

“Drunk?”

“It’s just an idea.”

I watched as the two bantered for some time. I don’t think Allen noticed but something changed in Jennifer’s tone. It was subtle, but I heard it. It didn’t even have anything to do with our fake relationship, she simply felt off.

If I considered all of the work she put into gathering all of this information, it made sense why she was put on this mission. Obviously, this went beyond a model’s skill set. But at the end of the day, unless Jennifer wanted to talk about it, then it wasn’t for me to press. All that mattered was that it was working for our advantage.

The only thing that bothered me was the reason I was picked for this world. What was it exactly that I could offer to make this mission a success? Was I simply hired muscle?

“What do you think about it, Ryota?” Allen asked.

I blinked. “Think of what?”

“Wearing masks!”

“Huh?”

“Are you spacing out again?” Jennifer said. “I had this other plan I wanted to run by you two. It’s a bit out there, but…”

I glanced at the lantern powering our boat and noticed its color slowly shift from blue to pink. The ‘pair’ symbol flashed ever so faintly to suggest it was nearing its destination.