Chapter 13: The Tragic Truth

Risa smiled as she placed a blanket over the sleeping wolf laying next to her. Quietly exiting the bedroom, Risa closed the door behind her only to be surprised by the figure standing behind her.

“Holy crap, Mariya. You startled me.”

“I hope you didn’t try to do anything with my brother while he was sleeping,” Mariya said with a smile on her face that revealed a dark undertone in her voice.

“Other than place a blanket over him to stop him from catching a cold? Nope. Well, we did have quite the time together but I’ll spare you the details of what he did with me,” Risa said with a blushing smile.

“I can take a guess. Just don’t break his heart, otherwise, I’ll have to rip out yours.”

“Don’t worry, your brother will be safe with me, I promise.”

“Good because he has been through a lot. We both have…”

Mariya didn’t speak for a moment as she recalled the various painful memories that ran through her mind.

“You want to talk about it?”

“With you? No.”

“Fine, fine. Anyway, what are you doing here? If you didn’t come to chat with me… wait…”

Risa turned to door and then looked back to Mariya, her face in shock by what she

“You’re going to bone your brother!?”

“Ew, no. What kind of sick pervert are you?”

“Hey, I’ve seen enough animation to know what happens between two siblings.”

“One, this isn’t an animation. Two, my brother would be extremely uncomfortable – as would I. Three, if you say something dumb like that again, I will inform my brother and you will regret it.”

Without another word, Mariya entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Sis?”

“Go back to sleep, nii.”

Laying down on the bed, Mariya stared up at the ceiling as she started to recall the emotional memories that continued to damage her from time to time. She recalled the way their father ruined her older brother’s self-esteem until it was non-existence. Then came the memories she tried to forget.

“You cold?” Wolfy asked as he turned over to see his sister shaking slightly.

Removing the blanket that covered his body, Wolfy placed it over his sister and cuddled up beside her.

“I wasn’t cold.”

“I know. Try not to think about it, we’re better off without him.”

Wolfy closed his eyes while Mariya continued to look up at the ceiling above her.

“Sleep, sis.”

“Nii…”

“Sleep.”

“Do you want to return to the real world?”

Wolfy open eye and sighed.

“We both know the real world just holds pain and suffering.”

“Okay, listen. What if you found Risa and the two of you started dating? Would you consider it?”

“I mean, I doubt it. Why would I risk going back to a world where nothing goes right? Even if she and I found each other and started dating who is to say it would even last? You know how ugly I am in the real world. Besides, I doubt she’s actually into all the things I explored with her a few hours ago.”

“Nii, I’m about to punch you. You’re not ugly, your fine. If anyone says otherwise, I’ll kill them – or punch them if we make it back the land of chains and laws.”

“Pretty sure you’re just saying that because you’re my sister.”

“Keep it up nii and you’re getting punched.”

“Love you too, sis. Now can we sleep? I feel exhausted.”

Mariya smiled and closed her eyes.

“We have a big day tomorrow. I have to…”

Looking over at her brother sleeping soundly, Mariya stopped talking and smiled as she patted Wolfy’s head.

#

Wolfy awoke to find Risa laying on top of him, her head cuddling his chest. Looking around the bedroom, he noticed that his sister was nowhere to be found. The sound of a soft yawn echoed throughout the room as he turned to see Risa just starting to wake up. With a playful smile, she straddled his hips and gazed into his eyes.

“Good morning, master.”

“Where’s my sister?”

“Calling for you sister to help you, master? Am I not enough?” Risa asked with a teasing smile.

Closing his eyes, Wolfy grabbed Risa by the wrist and threw her down onto the bed. Risa smiled and giggled as Wolfy snapped his fingers. In a flash, she found herself bound by a pair of black slimy tentacles wrapping around her wrist and ankles. She giggled with a playful wink as she looked over to him.

“Someone’s kinky in the morning.”

Wolfy smiled as he navigated the menu, pulling out a vial of purple liquid and a gold ring.

“What is that, master?”

Forcing the purple liquid down Risa’s throat, Wolfy smiled as he watched her smile turn into fear.

“M-Master…”

“This should keep you in a state of poison for about an hour.”

“B-But I’ll die!”

Without warning, Risa felt the inside of her body stick to convulse as she began coughing uncontrollably. A sticking feeling overtook her as she threw up onto the bed. She could see the green bar of her life points slowly draining. Wolfy smiled as he placed the ring on her finger. Her health quickly increased before dropping back down where it had been – all the while her body continued to throb in pain from the poison.

“Don’t worry, I would never let my adorable little slave die. Still, I have to punish you for that little joke. Feel free to think about what you said while I go pick out a present for my sister.”

With a nonchalant smile, Wolfy exited the room and made his way down the hallway. Entering into the main room of the guild building, he notice Mariya was busy pouring over notes and maps of the world. She was deep in thought to the point she wasn’t moving. Placing his hand on her shoulder jutted her from her state of focus, forcing her to look in his direction.

“Take a break, sis. You’re working too hard.”

“I’m fine, nii.”

“You always said I should take breaks and rest so now I’m telling you to do the same,” Wolfy said with a smile.

Mariya cleared the menu and turned to Wolfy.

“If I’m taking a break then you’re taking a break with me.”

“That sounds like a fair trade.”

The two of them exited the guild building and took in the sights of the city. Unlike the sky city of Sylveria, Arcadia was a city based off of the feudal era of Japan but appeared as if they were mixed with a blend of European architecture. While many of the players stood out from the environment around them, some players decided to immerse themselves into the atmosphere.

Walking down one of the busy shop streets, Mariya noticed a stall that was selling food similar to what was seen in Japan. Looking over to her brother she smiled and grabbed him by the hand.

“Let’s get some takoyaki, nii.”

Without warning, she rushed over to the stall as Wolfy maintained pace with her. The two of them sat down and were greeted with a smile by a young girl dressed in a shrine maiden outfit. Her long black hair was tied in the back with a crimson red ribbon with one strand of hair on the left side that was braided.

“What can I get for the two of you?”

“Takoyaki please!”

“You two are the leaders of Ideasthesia, right?”

“Technically, I’m the leader of the guild,” Mariya said with a smile.

“Think you could serve us our food first? I’m actually starting to get hungry,” Wolfy said as he felt his stomach starting to rumble.

The girl nodded and quickly opened the menu and navigated through the inventory until she had different ingredient for the food. In a flash, the girl prepared food for both Wolfy and Mariya that was hot and steaming with favourable juices. Without a second to waste, Wolfy downed his portion while Mariya slowly ate hers.

“I need to thank the two of you. This city was scary to live in at times with the previous guild.”

“We didn’t do much,” Mariya said as she continued to eat the rest of her food.

“If you want to thank us, you could give us a free round of takoyaki,” Wolfy said with a smile.

“Nii, that wasn’t subtle.”

“Why did I need to be subtle about it?”

The girl smiled.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind at all.”

Like before, the girl prepared the food and served it up with a cheerful expression on her face. After finishing their lunch, the two of them started to leave for the next activity to do together.

“Wait, I have a question to ask of you two,” the girl called out as she grabbed onto Wolfy’s arm.

“What is it?” Wolfy asked as he turned to the girl.

“Could I join your guild?”

Wolfy turned to his sister. Mariya waved her hand and brought up the interface. Navigating the various submenus, she looked over all members in the guild and looked to the girl in front of her.

“You’re going to make more takoyaki for us, right?” Mariya asked.

“And you said I wasn’t being subtle,” Wolfy remarked.

The girl smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make so much takoyaki the two of you will hate it.”

“Consider yourself apart of the guild,” Mariya said as she opened another menu to bring up the girl’s character information.

For a moment, Mariya stared at the name of the character and their gender. She was puzzled as he mind tried to process what she was seeing before her.

“You have the name of a girl but your gender is male and you look like a girl?”

“You’re not wrong. I’m actually a guy. Sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping for a girl. My name is Sorayume.”

“I’m completely okay with this,” Wolfy said.

“Same,” Mariya said as she added Sorayume to the guild.

A small guild emblem appeared next to Sorayume’s health bar.

“Thank you for letting me join your guild. I will serve you both well. Please, feel free to call me Sora.”

#

Mariya awoke to the enticing aroma of takoyaki wafting through the air. Looking over to her brother, she could see him cuddling Risa tightly. She smiled and gently patted his head. It was the first time in a while she had seen him look at peace when sleeping. Even if she didn’t know what he was dreaming about, it was clear that it was better than the nightmares he was having prior to having Risa as his slave.

“I’m glad to see you’re happy, nii-nii.”

Standing to her feet, Mariya headed for the source of the smell. Entering into one of the guild dinning rooms, she could see Sora creating takoyaki and some other different complementary spices.

“Good morning, Mariya. Hope you slept well,” Sora said with with a smile.

“Mornoon! It’s surprising to see you up so early.”

Sora finished up the food she was preparing and sit a small plate on the table in front of Mariya. The steam floated into the air and up to Mariya’s nose, giving her a pleasant smell while her senses were in a state of euphoria that she wished would never leave her.

“Well, I work at a maid cafe in the real world.”

“And you’re not wearing a maid uniform while serving up this wondrous meal, for shame,” Mariya joked as she took a single ball of takoyaki.

Placing the takoyaki in her mouth, she enjoyed the flavour of the juices boiling in her mouth. Among the spices, the steam of the heat started to get to her as she tried to blow on the food inside her mouth.

“This is so good! I’ll have to save some for my brother.”

“Don’t worry about that. I can make as much as you want. So, enjoy all of it.”

“Sora, you’re the best, for a guy.”

Sora smiled.

“If only I was a girl.”

“Why didn’t you play as a female character then or just gender-fluid like my brother?”

“I was playing with some friends before the death game started and I didn’t have much of a choice. They wanted to get together and have a guild so I was forced to make a guy character.”

Mariya picked up another piece of takoyaki as she listened to Sora’s story.

“If my friends had known about me being interested in girl’s outfits they would have likely made fun of me or bully me.”

“You make it sound as if they are dead.”

“That’s because they are. They wanted to go to that level sixty dungeon at the west coast. I forget what it’s called.”

“The Somatic Ruins of the Dead or just Xromia.”

“Right, that one. I didn’t feel like going and they ended up dying.”

Eating another piece of takoyaki, Mariya rested the palm of her hand against her cheek.

“Because you killed them.”

Sora tilted her head to the side with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, it’s obvious. You killed your friends so you could dress in girl clothes and be the girl you’ve always wanted to be.”

“I… No… There is—”

“No need to try and hide it. Personally, I don’t care. Just don’t try to kill me or my brother and we are perfectly fine.”

“But… I didn’t kill them, nor would I kill anyone for that matter.”

Mariya sighed and took another piece of takoyaki.

“Feel free to tell yourself whatever lie you want but keep the takoyaki coming.”

Sora simply nodded and headed back into the kitchen to make more takoyaki.

“So, here’s a question. Are you and Wolfy actually siblings?”

Mariya raised her eyebrow in a puzzled matter.

“What kind of question is that? Of course we’re siblings.”

“Oh? I just figured it was some fetish thing or some weird roleplay kink.”

“So many people seem to find it odd when they find out that we’re siblings. I honest don’t understand it. Why is it so odd for the two of us to be brother and sister?”

Sora shrugged her shoulders and served up another plate of takoyaki.

“I don’t know. Just figured the chances of you two being legitimate brother and sister was low.”

Mariya grabbed a piece of takoyaki and placed it in her mouth.

“Well, it’s true. We are brother and sister. Me and him are close and are always there for each other.”

“Sounds like he means the world to you.”

“What sister doesn’t care about their brother? Sure, he can be clingy, annoying at times and there are days where I just want to have some alone time but no matter what, he is the best brother I could ask for. He would say the same thing. No matter what, I wouldn’t change anything if it meant losing him.”

“Almost sounds like you love him. Do you have a brother complex or something?” Sora asked in a teasing tone.

Mariya smiled as she pulled out a dagger from her inventory.

“Sora, sweetie, I’d choose your words carefully from now on, understand? I love your takoyaki but if you say another cute remark like that again, I’ll ensure you become a true girl and then promptly kill you afterwards.”

Sora’s face turned pale at the threat.

“N-Noted…”

“Good boy.”

With a cheerful smile, Mariya picked up another piece of takoyaki and stuck it in her mouth.