Miguel took a deep breath.
Even with the inference that time had passed for all of them, it didn't really equate to much at the moment. If anything, it meant that they were still no wiser than they were at the start of this,
"Huzzah! Jestery and Cora have returned!" a voice announced as Jestery and Cora entered the room. "So, how's everyone doing?"
No one answered, instead deciding to ignore them. Cora then cleared her throat and stamped her foot against the floor. As much as the maid didn't want to do this, she didn't want to deal with a pissed-off Jestery for the next hour.
"Miss Jestery demands your attention." the maid explained. "If I were you people, I would give to her. Especially if you don't want to deal with her when she's mad."
All she got out of that was some muffled whispers from her fellow classmates. Possibly, they were talking about her master. More likely, they were talking about the latest episode of DR3.
"Really? Jestery expected you people to be more nostalgic." Jestery added and muttered something under her breath, cracking a smile afterwards. "After all, this is where we left the first one to their fate."
Even after saying that, she still got no answer. It had gotten quite frustrating at this point. After all, it was quite rude to ignore your majesty. Especially when they could quite easily remove you from reality.
"What do you want now?" Miguel remarked and pulled his katana out. "We followed your stupid robot, now what?"
Jestery didn't answer, instead deciding to just look around the room. Everyone continued with their respective business, not even acknowledging the prankster's presence.
"JESTERY DEMANDS YOUR PEOPLE'S FUCKING ATTENTION!" Jestery screamed and everyone focused in on her. "Thank you."
"Seriously?" Kain added and took a deep breath. "I think we could have done without the screaming."
Jestery gave the rogue a blank look, confused by what he was even talking about or wanted to point something out but couldn't. Not that it mattered now.
"So now what?" Layla inquired as they watched Jestery exit the room. "Free time, then."
After saying that, everyone nodded in agreement. Except for Kain, who decided to join Jestery in the hallway.
Freetime Start!
For Aqua Luli, it wasn't that hard of a decision to make.
"So, how have you been Miguel?" the pirate inquired and cracked a smile. "It's been quite a while since we've last talked."
Miguel didn't answer, his hands already on the hilt of his katana as Aqua watched on. For as much time had passed between the two, it felt as if a day hadn't passed since their last 'encounter'. Time and time again their paths would cross, with neither managing to figure out the purpose for such a phenomenon. Even then, the drive to figure out why wasn't there. A shame in a way.
"Fine." Miguel finally answered. "Especially when I don't have to deal with you."
The duo's gazes locked on, with neither willing to give the other up. Every meeting between the two was always like that, never seeming to go anywhere. Yet, the two somehow felt even closer than before. Not that either of them would admit that, seeing it as a sign of a fracture within their masks.
"Just shut up!" the duo announced and went their separate ways. Interactions-wise, is wasn't that great. But by the same token, it could've been far worse.
Your bond with Aqua has grown. Hope Shard gained!
Your bond with Miguel has grown. Hope Shard gained!
Miguel and Aqua looked at each other once more, quickly breaking away at the last second. They had already risked enough in this encounter alone. And now, it was time to distance themselves.
"Now who should I go talk to next?" Miguel thought as he gazed around the room. As much as he wanted to talk to Jestery, he doubted he would get the chance for the moment. So he went with his second option. In this case, that turned out to be Tobi.
"Fuck no." Miguel whispered, only to still to walk over to the COD Player anyway. Funny how that works out.
"What do you want?" Tobi responded and gave a Miguel a cautious glance, which quickly turned to laughter. "My, you actually want to hang out with me of all people?"
The fanfic writer didn't answer and instead chose to look out into space. Of course, Tobi decided to just move closer towards him.
"Come on, you got to have a reason for wanting to come to me."
Miguel took a deep breath, only to sigh.
"I just wanted too… get to know you better." the fanfic writer took a deep breath. "At the very least, maybe get to understand you."
Tobi only smiled, seeming to perk up from that response.
"Sounds good." Tobi answered and the two shook on out. "So what did you want to know?"
"Why Call of Duty?"
The COD player laughed and shook his head.
"Why fanfiction then?"
The two stared towards each other, coming to a similar conclusion. Of what, you probably already know. Since you're doing it right now.
What followed was a nice little chat of a variety of subjects that occurred during this unintentional hiatus. It was mostly small talk about little things that only mattered to them.
"Could please shut up?" both boys announced as Jestery and Kain returned. "Oh well."
Your bond with Tobi has grown. Hope Shard gained!
Your bond with Miguel has grown. Hope Shard gained!
"Everyone, we found something!" Jestery shouted as she jumped up and down. "Follow me!"
Without even telling the rest of the group what she and Kain had found, the jester headed off once more. Everyone else followed right behind, making sure to not let Jestery out of their sight. This was easier said than done, with the jester deciding to randomly teleport around. Though, she did eventually stop that as they got closer to their discovery.
It was a plain door, nothing special to really distinguish it from all the other plain doors one could find in other places in the digitalverse. Not that it matters.
"Okay then." Monokette whispered, only to turn her attention to Jestery. Currently, the jester was holding the doorknob and was attempting to do some form of acrobatic maneuver on it. Why she thought that was a good idea is beyond me.
"Is everyone ready?" Jestery inquired and got a whole bunch of nods. "Good. Since there is no turning back."
She then pulled opened the door and everyone headed through...
