A Long-Awaited Reunion

At first, Daffodil thought he was dreaming. Sure, everything else that had happened in the past few days was completely insane, but this felt like a whole other level. As much as he’d tried to convince himself that Ymara was full of it, it was hard to deny that he truly was an NPC after his brief journey in Caspia. And if Ymara had been correct about that, then he’d probably been right about everything else too. Daffodil had been resigning himself to a life without Asterion, and now here he was standing at the top of his valley, the sunset creating a halo behind him.

Even in his wildest dreams, Daffodil had never thought he would exist in the same space as Asterion. There were many times when he thought about turning on his mic and talking to the man, but he had never thought they would meet in real life. Both of them being brought into a video game was certainly not something Daffodil had ever considered, but here he was. Asterion was just out of reach, and the thought made Daffodil a little lightheaded as he realized he could reach Asterion. He could run his fingers through the man’s hair and hold his hand.

One moment Asterion was standing at the top of the ridge and the next he was at Daffodil’s side. “Daffodil!” he spoke again, clearly at a loss for what else to say. It was a heady feeling to hear Asterion’s voice. Daffodil had tried to imagine what he sounded like, but he hadn’t been close at all; his voice was a bit high and full of emotion and while Daffodil hadn’t expected it, he instantly knew it fit the man perfectly.

Asterion grabbed onto Daffodil’s arms like he needed confirmation Daffodil actually existed. Daffodil fought back a blush and felt his mind go blank for a moment at the fact that Asterion had been the first one to initiate contact. He stood there with his mouth open for a few moments before he managed to say, “Asterion!” Apparently the shock had limited his vocabulary as well.

Finally collecting himself, Daffodil said, “I- what? How are you here? Why do you remember me?” He broke eye contact with Asterion to glance in the direction of Ymara’s shrine. Was this part of his blessing? But that didn’t make sense. If it had been, Ymara would have mentioned it when he’d been explaining everything to Daffodil. So how could Asterion be standing in front of him?

“I was brought into this world,” Asterion said, still holding onto Daffodil like he was worried he’d fade away if he let go. “One minute I was in the middle of a cut scene, and the next I was standing in front of the god of WanderQuest.”

Daffodil nodded along to the similar story. “Me too,” he said. “The god blessed me for taking such good care of my valley. He turned me into an NPC so I could live in my valley forever.”

Asterion’s grip on him lightened. “What?” he asked with clear confusion. “Ymara brought me here to defeat the Demon Lord and save the world.”

At that, Daffodil broke off from his grip. “The world is ending?! What the fudge! A god blesses me to live in my valley for the rest of my life when the world is gonna implode in a few days?”

Asterion rushed to comfort him. “Don’t worry, Daffodil!” It was still weird to hear people calling him by his gamer tag, but Daffodil found he didn’t mind when Asterion did it. At least that hadn’t changed. “I’m here to kill the Demon Lord before that happens! I… I just hope I can actually do it.”

Asterion folded in on himself a little. Daffodil was shocked to see it; Asterion had never shown him anything but unwavering self-confidence, but he was clearly not at all convinced of his own skills. It completely contradicted the tag floating over his head: Legendary Hero. Even Ymara knew Asterion had skills no one else possessed if he gave him a title like that.

It was Daffodil’s turn to comfort Asterion, so he put his hands on Asterion’s shoulders. The man looked up in surprise and seemed even more shocked to see the determination in Daffodil’s gaze. “You can do this,” Daffodil said. “Besides, I’m coming with you!”

“You can’t!” Asterion quickly contradicted. “It’s going to be really dangerous, and you’re at such a low level! I can’t let anything bad happen to you.” Daffodil startled at the admission. He was pretty sure Asterion also considered him to be his best friend, but to admit so immediately and freely that he wouldn’t let Daffodil get injured? He knew he shouldn’t look for a deeper meaning, knew it was probably just Asterion’s knightly personality, but Daffodil’s chest still warmed at the thought. Hesitantly, Asterion added, “I’m here because I’ve been given a job to do, but you were brought into WanderQuest as a blessing! You should be able to relax in your valley and live your dream!”

Before Daffodil even knew what he was doing, he smiled and said, “It wouldn’t be my dream unless you were there with me.” Daffodil’s eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said. He quickly steeled his gaze and tried to save face by adding, “Not to mention, it’s my retirement. I can choose how I want to spend it, and I’ve decided I need some more adventure in my life.”

Asterion didn’t seem to pick up on the clear love confession Daffodil had just given, and instead said, “Are you sure? Some of the monsters in this world are really strong and ugly, and I know you don’t like dealing with them.”

Daffodil gave him another smile and said, “Then I guess you’re just gonna have to protect me.”

It was Asterion’s turn to go wide-eyed. He silently nodded his head, and Daffodil took that as confirmation that he was allowed on the journey. He gave Asterion’s shoulder another pat and said, “Great! Let me say goodbye to my babies and we can head out first thing tomorrow morning.” He knew it would be hard saying farewell to his valley, both the flowers he cared for so deeply as well as the safety it provided, but as he looked at Asterion again he realized the choice wasn’t a difficult one to make at all.