“See? This type of shit, is exactly why I don’t want to travel with any of you. Not only did you accuse me of being a thief for, what, a Gem? But you also almost attacked me over it. And I don’t feel like my death was fully off the table. Couldn’t you assholes have just, you know, asked? If I had stole it, which I did not, do you think I would have been in a position to refuse to return it? Why can’t you people be normal and sane for five god damn minutes?”
Truthfully, I was pissed. No tricks or traps or mental gymnastics, I was straight up mad. I meant every single god damn word I just said too. If I had stolen something and getting beat up was an option, wouldn’t I have returned it? Threats were a perfectly viable option! You didn’t need to light yourself on fire and approach it like a funeral! What was with the melodrama anyway?!
Tyler and Riary looked not okay at all. Both of them seemed to be emotionally pulled taut. I knew that look, I had been feeling that up until a few days ago. They were mentally and emotionally exhausted. I shook my head and turned to the only well put together person in the room, besides me.
“Derek… we’re, I’m sorry.” Konohora said it, so she must mean it, which was surprisingly worth something. Huh. A truth priestess can’t exactly give empty platitudes I was pretty sure.
“Whatever. You can all fuck off for all I care. But we can come back to that. While the other two pull themselves together a little, let’s talk. I’m gonna want and need an explanation.”
At that, everyone looked at me and then to Tyler. Jesus Christ, what now?
“It’s, It’s fine. Wait, I- I just need a moment.”
“Tyler!” Riary said. “He, you…”
It was creepy and bizarre seeing Riary so distraught that her normal self seemed to be struggling to be around. I much preferred her normal, angry self to this.
“I…” Tyler started and then pulled himself together a little and looked me in the eye. He took a few deep breaths and then began to talk.
“Derek. I’m sorry. About all of this, about how I treated you, about how I made you feel. I, I respect you. I think you’re great and amazing. You were nearly killed because of us trying to save your friend, and I never even apologized. I know you’re a person, I know, and I’m sorry I never acted like it. You deserve more and better. I thought, I think, of us as friends. As close companions. This…” He swept his hand out to all of us. “Should never have happened!”
Riary flinched.
“But we could have talked. We could have, we could have trusted you. We haven’t known each other long, and I don’t know you as well as I should, but I’d like to. I don’t want to leave things… broken between us. Between all of us.”
Tyler took a deep breath and then said his final piece.
“I’m a Hero, a True Hero, from another world. Earth. And I’m trying to find the Gems to get home.”
My jaw dropped.
My mind shattered to droplets, like rain falling onto dry sand. The sounds of thunder could be heard as everything became muffled.
So, so much information so fast. But one element, one part of it all, stood out to me.
‘Earth’
Tyler was from Earth.
My planet, my home, my world. The place I had grown up in, the place I was born, the place I was comfortable living out my life in, only just a month ago. Tyler was from there. Which meant…
I felt my body shake.
Could…. I go home?
My breathing grew ragged fast. I could hear it in my own ears but my mind spun and spun and spun. I had never considered really getting back. Every time, every single time, it would go to how I had gotten here in the first place, to how my body had changed. The Gems had never really seemed an option to me. They certainly opened up to new places, allowing people to travel through worlds, but with a horrible sample size of one, I would never take that trip again.
But Tyler hadn’t gotten here through a Gem, had he?
Home. I could go home. Did, did I want to go home? My brain was on fire.
“Derek?” Tyler called out.
I looked up, at the people around me. Konohora, a priestess of Truth whose sole mission in life seemed to be guiding her party members. Riary, a Fire Mage seeped in wrath, hatred, and anger, looking broken on the ground. And Tyler, a Hero, no, a ‘True’ Hero summoned from the same world as me.
“I think we all… need to have a bit longer of a talk here.” I said.
We all sat down and began to work out whatever mess was going on. Because, there was more information. I was missing whole chunks of information. Tyler started, with Konohora clarifying certain aspects as he continued to talk. How he was summoned, how he met a Goddess he didn’t know, why they were traveling originally, and how they had shifted goals in order to try and get Tyler back home.
And then came the harder hitting information.
“You… found one of the Gems in Vanessa’s burnt down mansion?” I asked Riary.
“...Yes.” Riary did not look okay.
And the reason why only became more apparent. She had lost it.
That sent a spike of fear coursing through me. One Gem led to literal hell with trillions, of trillions, of souls experiencing unending eternal agony. More people than a thousand planets could ever have. More people than a billion planets could have. Awful to such a degree that the very memories of it had to be sealed away from me, leaving me with only barebone information, lest I die from it. No mortal could properly experience Hell. An old question arose in me, a horrifying one that I hated that I now had to ask.
Where did the other Gems lead to?
Either way, Riary had lost it. She hadn’t told anyone about it, and now it was gone. Well, she hadn’t told anyone till last night, right after my refusal. That they had waited a day blew my mind, I definitely wouldn’t have. They thought I had it. Because who else could have taken it, apparently. Fair enough, really. But I really hadn’t taken it. I wouldn’t have even if I knew Riary had it. Though… I might have ran far, far fucking away as fast as I could. I didn’t want to be anywhere near any Gems.
And now it had led up to this. They had confronted me, only to learn that I didn’t take it. Leaving them up shit creek without a paddle, no leads, and extremely turbulent emotions between everyone. Good god, my relaxing days are over.
“Well, in summary so we’re all crystal clear. I did not take the Gem. This was the first I’m hearing that you had it at all.” I said.
Everyone looked down at that and all were silent for a moment. I let them have the moment, before I opened my mouth.
“Well, alright. First off, Tyler, you’re a fool.”
“What?” He looked at me in surprise and confusion.
I was going to rip this god damn band-aid clean off. Someone had taken a Gem. Knowingly taken it. And before that, a vampire had it. Forces, pretty evil forces at that, were clearly making moves on things I considered dangerous enough that the universe’s destruction was the preference. I could only pray that the rest of the Gems were weaker or led to some place nice or less awful and evil. But in order to get the only group of people I knew that could be directed to actually handle it, it was time to fix these stupid misunderstandings.
“You shouldn’t have told me you’re a True Hero. You literally don’t know me. We have both said as much. Whoever decided to give that information to a Truth Priestess who can’t lie, is also a god damn idiot. Stupid King. There was literally no reason for you to share that with me. Your notion of friendship is childish and I would strongly recommend never, ever, telling anyone that information again. Especially as ‘starting a multi-territory war’ or at least multiple kingdoms, is apparently on the table, solely because of your existence.”
Tyler scratched his cheek while I turned to the next person.
“Riary. Look, you’re a mess, and I get it. But you have literally had like a year to make a move and apparently multiple months to think about and realize Tyler is going to try and go home. I get that finding a potential key home for him, all of a sudden, may have affected your thinking, especially after that battle. But here, let me help you. Tyler, Riary has feelings for you, wait no, you’re an idiot, let me be blunt. Riary probably loves you. She doesn’t want you to go home. She is still trying to help you get home, because she cares about you and wants you to be happy. You guys need to talk about that.”
Tyler and Riary both gaped at me, looking like I had smacked them as I turned to Konohora.
“And you… you’ve got it pretty rough huh?”
She smiled self-deprecatingly at me. A real ‘Yes, my life is to suffer with these two’ look.
“Now that we’ve got all our ducks lined up, let’s talk about moving forward. I don’t know about the future but right now, we’ve got a missing Gem and oh yeah, literal fucking cultists that killed pretty close to our inn. Are they related? Maybe! It just seems like a pretty weird coincidence. Especially with how that body seemed to just appear nearby in broad daylight. Either way, let’s deal with that and you know, do your actual jobs as Heroes. And along the way, let’s find the Gem. It’s most likely still in town since it’s only been gone for a few days after all. After that, well, we’ll cross that road when we get to it.”
After I was done speaking, there was silence for a moment, before Riary spoke up first.
“You really hate subtly don’t you?” She said angrily.
Now it was my turn to stare in shock at her.
“I don’t want to fucking hear that from you. Now Konohora, let’s go discuss a plan while these two talk about their feelings.”
Konohora nodded and Riary’s eyes widened.
“Wait, you can’t just-!”
“That sounds like a great idea Derek.”
Konohora followed me out the room, leaving a very confused and shocked Tyler, and a panicking Riary.
The last words I heard as I was leaving were ‘You love me?’ from Tyler.
Bleh. Misunderstandings were garbage. Just talk about your feelings damn it!
I had a lot to think about too. The possibility of returning home to Earth, the fact that I really hadn’t taken it seriously how a human summoned to this world as a demon might cause a massive war, with everyone trying to kill me, or the absolute apocalyptic kind of damage a malicious force could do with a Gem.
I really didn’t want to dedicate my life to hunting the damn things down… I was already doing enough!
These damn things were going to haunt me all the way to my grave!
“See? This type of shit, is exactly why I don’t want to travel with any of you. Not only did you accuse me of being a thief for, what, a Gem? But you also almost attacked me over it. And I don’t feel like my death was fully off the table. Couldn’t you assholes have just, you know, asked? If I had stole it, which I did not, do you think I would have been in a position to refuse to return it? Why can’t you people be normal and sane for five god damn minutes?”
Truthfully, I was pissed. No tricks or traps or mental gymnastics, I was straight up mad. I meant every single god damn word I just said too. If I had stolen something and getting beat up was an option, wouldn’t I have returned it? Threats were a perfectly viable option! You didn’t need to light yourself on fire and approach it like a funeral! What was with the melodrama anyway?!
Tyler and Riary looked not okay at all. Both of them seemed to be emotionally pulled taut. I knew that look, I had been feeling that up until a few days ago. They were mentally and emotionally exhausted. I shook my head and turned to the only well put together person in the room, besides me.
“Derek… we’re, I’m sorry.” Konohora said it, so she must mean it, which was surprisingly worth something. Huh. A truth priestess can’t exactly give empty platitudes I was pretty sure.
“Whatever. You can all fuck off for all I care. But we can come back to that. While the other two pull themselves together a little, let’s talk. I’m gonna want and need an explanation.”
At that, everyone looked at me and then to Tyler. Jesus Christ, what now?
“It’s, It’s fine. Wait, I- I just need a moment.”
“Tyler!” Riary said. “He, you…”
It was creepy and bizarre seeing Riary so distraught that her normal self seemed to be struggling to be around. I much preferred her normal, angry self to this.
“I…” Tyler started and then pulled himself together a little and looked me in the eye. He took a few deep breaths and then began to talk.
“Derek. I’m sorry. About all of this, about how I treated you, about how I made you feel. I, I respect you. I think you’re great and amazing. You were nearly killed because of us trying to save your friend, and I never even apologized. I know you’re a person, I know, and I’m sorry I never acted like it. You deserve more and better. I thought, I think, of us as friends. As close companions. This…” He swept his hand out to all of us. “Should never have happened!”
Riary flinched.
“But we could have talked. We could have, we could have trusted you. We haven’t known each other long, and I don’t know you as well as I should, but I’d like to. I don’t want to leave things… broken between us. Between all of us.”
Tyler took a deep breath and then said his final piece.
“I’m a Hero, a True Hero, from another world. Earth. And I’m trying to find the Gems to get home.”
My jaw dropped.
My mind shattered to droplets, like rain falling onto dry sand. The sounds of thunder could be heard as everything became muffled.
So, so much information so fast. But one element, one part of it all, stood out to me.
‘Earth’
Tyler was from Earth.
My planet, my home, my world. The place I had grown up in, the place I was born, the place I was comfortable living out my life in, only just a month ago. Tyler was from there. Which meant…
I felt my body shake.
Could…. I go home?
My breathing grew ragged fast. I could hear it in my own ears but my mind spun and spun and spun. I had never considered really getting back. Every time, every single time, it would go to how I had gotten here in the first place, to how my body had changed. The Gems had never really seemed an option to me. They certainly opened up to new places, allowing people to travel through worlds, but with a horrible sample size of one, I would never take that trip again.
But Tyler hadn’t gotten here through a Gem, had he?
Home. I could go home. Did, did I want to go home? My brain was on fire.
“Derek?” Tyler called out.
I looked up, at the people around me. Konohora, a priestess of Truth whose sole mission in life seemed to be guiding her party members. Riary, a Fire Mage seeped in wrath, hatred, and anger, looking broken on the ground. And Tyler, a Hero, no, a ‘True’ Hero summoned from the same world as me.
“I think we all… need to have a bit longer of a talk here.” I said.
We all sat down and began to work out whatever mess was going on. Because, there was more information. I was missing whole chunks of information. Tyler started, with Konohora clarifying certain aspects as he continued to talk. How he was summoned, how he met a Goddess he didn’t know, why they were traveling originally, and how they had shifted goals in order to try and get Tyler back home.
And then came the harder hitting information.
“You… found one of the Gems in Vanessa’s burnt down mansion?” I asked Riary.
“...Yes.” Riary did not look okay.
And the reason why only became more apparent. She had lost it.
That sent a spike of fear coursing through me. One Gem led to literal hell with trillions, of trillions, of souls experiencing unending eternal agony. More people than a thousand planets could ever have. More people than a billion planets could have. Awful to such a degree that the very memories of it had to be sealed away from me, leaving me with only barebone information, lest I die from it. No mortal could properly experience Hell. An old question arose in me, a horrifying one that I hated that I now had to ask.
Where did the other Gems lead to?
Either way, Riary had lost it. She hadn’t told anyone about it, and now it was gone. Well, she hadn’t told anyone till last night, right after my refusal. That they had waited a day blew my mind, I definitely wouldn’t have. They thought I had it. Because who else could have taken it, apparently. Fair enough, really. But I really hadn’t taken it. I wouldn’t have even if I knew Riary had it. Though… I might have ran far, far fucking away as fast as I could. I didn’t want to be anywhere near any Gems.
And now it had led up to this. They had confronted me, only to learn that I didn’t take it. Leaving them up shit creek without a paddle, no leads, and extremely turbulent emotions between everyone. Good god, my relaxing days are over.
“Well, in summary so we’re all crystal clear. I did not take the Gem. This was the first I’m hearing that you had it at all.” I said.
Everyone looked down at that and all were silent for a moment. I let them have the moment, before I opened my mouth.
“Well, alright. First off, Tyler, you’re a fool.”
“What?” He looked at me in surprise and confusion.
I was going to rip this god damn band-aid clean off. Someone had taken a Gem. Knowingly taken it. And before that, a vampire had it. Forces, pretty evil forces at that, were clearly making moves on things I considered dangerous enough that the universe’s destruction was the preference. I could only pray that the rest of the Gems were weaker or led to some place nice or less awful and evil. But in order to get the only group of people I knew that could be directed to actually handle it, it was time to fix these stupid misunderstandings.
“You shouldn’t have told me you’re a True Hero. You literally don’t know me. We have both said as much. Whoever decided to give that information to a Truth Priestess who can’t lie, is also a god damn idiot. Stupid King. There was literally no reason for you to share that with me. Your notion of friendship is childish and I would strongly recommend never, ever, telling anyone that information again. Especially as ‘starting a multi-territory war’ or at least multiple kingdoms, is apparently on the table, solely because of your existence.”
Tyler scratched his cheek while I turned to the next person.
“Riary. Look, you’re a mess, and I get it. But you have literally had like a year to make a move and apparently multiple months to think about and realize Tyler is going to try and go home. I get that finding a potential key home for him, all of a sudden, may have affected your thinking, especially after that battle. But here, let me help you. Tyler, Riary has feelings for you, wait no, you’re an idiot, let me be blunt. Riary probably loves you. She doesn’t want you to go home. She is still trying to help you get home, because she cares about you and wants you to be happy. You guys need to talk about that.”
Tyler and Riary both gaped at me, looking like I had smacked them as I turned to Konohora.
“And you… you’ve got it pretty rough huh?”
She smiled self-deprecatingly at me. A real ‘Yes, my life is to suffer with these two’ look.
“Now that we’ve got all our ducks lined up, let’s talk about moving forward. I don’t know about the future but right now, we’ve got a missing Gem and oh yeah, literal fucking cultists that killed pretty close to our inn. Are they related? Maybe! It just seems like a pretty weird coincidence. Especially with how that body seemed to just appear nearby in broad daylight. Either way, let’s deal with that and you know, do your actual jobs as Heroes. And along the way, let’s find the Gem. It’s most likely still in town since it’s only been gone for a few days after all. After that, well, we’ll cross that road when we get to it.”
After I was done speaking, there was silence for a moment, before Riary spoke up first.
“You really hate subtly don’t you?” She said angrily.
Now it was my turn to stare in shock at her.
“I don’t want to fucking hear that from you. Now Konohora, let’s go discuss a plan while these two talk about their feelings.”
Konohora nodded and Riary’s eyes widened.
“Wait, you can’t just-!”
“That sounds like a great idea Derek.”
Konohora followed me out the room, leaving a very confused and shocked Tyler, and a panicking Riary.
The last words I heard as I was leaving were ‘You love me?’ from Tyler.
Bleh. Misunderstandings were garbage. Just talk about your feelings damn it!
I had a lot to think about too. The possibility of returning home to Earth, the fact that I really hadn’t taken it seriously how a human summoned to this world as a demon might cause a massive war, with everyone trying to kill me, or the absolute apocalyptic kind of damage a malicious force could do with a Gem.
I really didn’t want to dedicate my life to hunting the damn things down… I was already doing enough!
These damn things were going to haunt me all the way to my grave!
