Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

"You know-" I started. We were in my room. "How come you two are in my room? No offense but why me? Dick's room is obviously bigger."

Both Alisa and Ve were with me. Biteria was just jumping around. 

Dick's room was at least twice as big but I guess these guys trusted me more. It almost made me feel a lot better about myself. And it also allowed me to smile subconsciously. 

"Well-" Alisa managed. She was seated on the bed, legs hanging down. "Let's just say, process of elimination?" She didn't hold back one bit. 

She didn't have to be that frank though, geez. 

My good feeling went out of the drain in a matter of seconds. 

I gave her a dull look. "Uh-huh, you don't say."

Meanwhile, my third roommate, Ve was quietly lying on the bed polishing her claws. 

Biteria was with Alisa the whole day. She never even got near me today. My pouting bunny was super cute and I kind of wanted to hug her now. But as I went close to her, she just jumped out of the window. 

"There she goes." I really didn't want to see my bunny go though. It pained me to see that she left without even a purr. 

But more importantly, I got selected by process of elimination? Ouch!

"Close the window," Alisa said.

The temperature was kind of perfect now. 

"Wouldn't locking the window make the temps go high? And how'd she get back?"

"She'll be fine," Ve said. "The girl at the counter told us it was dangerous to keep the window open, remember? And it'll get pretty cold later on, so don't worry about it."

I locked the door and then the window. The window was made of some sort of see-through wood: not quite clear though. I covered it up with the curtains. 

"But why? I mean this place is like a fortress." So what could have possibly plagued the night? And not to mention the security seemed pretty spot on.

"She didn't go into detail but apparently something hunts men and women both at night. Mostly men though. " Alisa lied down too. 

The girl at the counter warned me too. "Well, that doesn't sound good I guess." And it had nothing to do with me: we'd leave tomorrow anyway and I didn't want any more trouble than necessary. I lied down on the bed. It was a lot comfortable than the sheets I usually slept on top off. "Oh yeah, that tree you were talking about." I gave a glance at Ve. I needed more information on it. And strangely I felt like I was forgetting something. 

Something important. But if I was forgetting something, then it probably wasn't that important, right? 

I had two demigods with me. This was the perfect opportunity to talk.

"Not tonight." Ve gave a side glance towards the door. 

I grinned. "kay." We were on the same page. 

But who could be eavesdropping on us at this hour? Ve motioned that she'd keep the first watch. 

I gave her a thumbs up and snuffed out the light. If Ve was this confident, I didn't have any reason to doubt her. 

Lianne was probably under the stars, and here I was, lying on a comfy bed. I'd kind of fell for her a long while ago but always told myself I won't confess, I won't commit. After all, I'd either die or leave this place after a year. So if I confessed and if she was in love with me too, it would have created a major problem and she would have suffered from a broken heart: after all, she was going to live a rather long life. But in the end, in the heat of the moment, I couldn't control myself, I couldn't control my emotions. I guess I no longer had any other choice but to take responsibility. And since I loved her, I wanted to too. I just had to make sure I won and didn't leave her behind, or maybe I could have stayed in this world too. It definitely wasn't something I could just think about nonchalantly though. 'Be safe Lianne.' But those were plans for the future. For now, I had to focus on getting stronger so I could win. 

And for that, I had to find that guy, the geezer mentioned. I couldn't waste time. I didn't have time, to begin with. 

I was kind of tired. 'Guess I'll just sleep for tonight.'

I fell asleep. 

***

My eyes were heavy and they were closed but even so, I could see blue all around me. I could feel the chill. 

It wasn't uncomfortable. 

Above me, was glistening blue water and below me was darkness. 'I'm underwater?'

Did Trerortra end up summoning me or something? While the feeling of being underwater was kind of nostalgic, it was also a very not so desirable feeling. 

I didn't see any massive snakes around though. 

Even at this state, I felt like sighing. I didn't feel anything though, not even the feeling of drowning. Actually, did I have a body, and was I even breathing? I didn't know. But I didn't like this feeling either. 

'Wait, this pattern-'

I looked around some more and sure enough, I saw something just below me. A ball of water. And someone was inside.

'Have I seen her before?'

It was a ball of some sort and I could see the shadow and the outline of a girl inside, she was at least ten feet if not bigger. Her hair was probably longer than me. 

I tried remembering. I was a lot calmer than I should have been. 

"Water." The girl inside the ball-shaped blue dome cried out. It was almost as though she was crying for centuries. 

I knew that voice and I'd heard it before. 

"I hate it!" Her voice echoed. 

'Water? I hate it? wait-' Realization hit me hard. 

I remembered. I'd heard the exact same voice last time and woke up. Back then I was in the desert. And it was a very brief dream before I abruptly woke up. But this time I didn't wake up and I had more control. 

"Hey, you!" My voice didn't go out. 'Can I imbue myself?' I tried but nothing happened. I couldn't feel my mana. "Can you hear me!?"

"Who is it?" But the thing heard me. The voice was female and it was almost as though she'd been crying for ages. She did ease up as she looked at me though. I could tell she was looking at me, but I couldn't make out her features apart from her long hair and outline. Her eyes were bluer than the sea. 

My voice wasn't here. But it reached her and her voice reached me. 

"Daarc Green, apostle of Tre-" I stopped. The gods hated Trerortra, so I had to be careful. "I am the apostle of Xerphas. Who are you?"

"I am who is called Anverosa. I was once the queen of the nine seas. What brings you here, apostle of Xerphas?"

Strangely, now she was calm. I guess she had some dignity left. 'Isn't she the one Xerphas was talking about?'

The water surged around her and I could tell she had power over water and yet, she was trapped in water itself. How ironic. 

"I'm not sure. I slept and once I woke up, I was here. Well, I'm probably still asleep." The keyword being probably. 

"I see. You must possess divine sense and are in the presence of divine blood."

I kind of didn't understand what she was talking about but I got the impression it had something to do with me sleeping next to two demigods. "Hey-"

"I know, we don't know each other, but I knew your God. I knew Xerphas, would you, o'apostle of Xerphas, free me from this prison? I will be eternally grateful." It was like she was begging me or something. 

She was right, I didn't know her. And I wasn't stupid enough to make fake promises either. Not to mention I didn't trust her one bit. 

"I'm on a mission to defeat the emperor of the demons. I don't think I can find you and free you. I don't even know, how to free you." But I couldn't lie either. I didn't want to go through any more lies. 

"I see." Her voice became sad again. 

I didn't show any signs of waking up. I just floated. I looked around some more but there was nothing in sight. Nothing alive, nothing dead. I couldn't see the end of the sea, and I couldn't see the surface either. It was almost as though this place was infinite. 

I guess I could always kill a bit of time. "Why are you here? What happened?"

"You!" She was almost surprised. "You'd want to know about me?" I didn't know why she was so surprised about it but her voice did sound a bit more enthusiastic. 

"Yes, of course." 

'What the hell did I just get myself into?'

Was I a trouble magnet or something?