Chapter 8: The Meeting w/ Arne

(George's PoV)

After Riley and I got dressed, we went downstairs to see Ashley and Andr sitting on the couches in the living room. When they both noticed our presence, they immediately looked away in embarrassment.

"So, girl, you still owe us an explanation about the eavesdropping "accident". I would suggest you to speak up as soon as you can." I said, as I sat in front of them, with Riley holding my arm. Both girls looked at me and stayed silent.

"Alright, listen up. I'm not mad at you, just because you did that. In fact, I'm not even mad at all. That's because I quite expected you girls to act up like that eventually, so don't take it too hard on yourselves. Let's just forget all those events and we should be fine. What do you think?"

"You're foolish..." I heard Andr whispering. "You're foolish, because you don't understand the concequences of having sex with Riley. It might had helped you unlock a new ability, but you did more harm than good. Not on her, but on both Ashley and me. Of course, you wouldn't even realize that. You just wanted to satisfy your perverted urges, didn't you...?"

'Well, shit. How do I make a comeback from this now?' I thought, while I gently pushed Riley away from me.

"Fine, then. I shall tell you the true side of the story. I had no intention to do those kinds of actions with Riley in the first place, no matter how stupid this might sound. Specifically, I would NEVER take things that far, if I didn't really want to. Not that Riley is not worth having that kind of relationship with me, but it is I who doesn't want those things happening so fast. I understand, that all this might sound gibberish to you, but that's the honest truth from my perspective." I replied and stopped there. Then, Ashley was about to say something as well, but her mouth got immediately blocked from Andr's.

"What the fuck?! What is all that sudden shit about??" I shouted, as I got up from the couch with frustration.

"You don't need to worry." Andr told me after the quick kiss. "I just felt like I had to continue my relationship with Ashley, since you aren't going to do it with anyone of us. Hope you don't mind." Then, she kept on kissing with Ashley, while she was grabbing her left breast. Ashley left a small moan inside Andr's lips and blushed immediately. At that point, I had turned my back on them and headed to my room.

"Andr sure is jealous..." I said through my teeth and opened the room's door.

*3:36 PM, Location: The Royal House of Skeletons*

"Everything is SOOOOO fucked up at the moment..." I told to myself and placed my hands behind my head. "I wish I knew what was inside their minds somehow." And, perfect timing, the door slowly opened. I looked there with the corner of my eye and noticed Ashley trying to tell me something.

"Can I...can I come in, George...?" She asked with a bit of stutter. I waved and she slowly got inside, closing the door behind her. (Not this again...) Then, she sat on the bottom right corner of my bed and said:

"Look, George. I know that you're quite upset about Andr's sudden breakout, but she has a point. I mean, while you were "taking a bath", she was telling me about the way you were treating her, when she was the only girl in your life. She told me, that she had started developing some feelings towards you, but she didn't know how to show them. And when she had taken the decision to confess to you, Riley showed up and basically ruined everything. She was really furious about that, but she never wanted to show it, because of the fear that you would get scared and kick her out of your house. After that incident, she was about to confess you here, but then *that* happened and... You know the rest. Nevertheless, the point of this whole thing is, that Andr began to fall in love with you and she's not emotionally ready to accept other relationships except hers. So don't go too hard on her, please. Just give her some time to think and she will probably..." At that point, her sentence was interrupted by a knock on the door. She was about to continue, but I signaled her not to.

"Who is it?" I asked, as I got up from the bed and opened the door.

It was Andr, with a pillow in her arms, waiting patiently to come in. I realized it and quickly stepped out of the way to let her pass, while giving Ashley a 'Well, that was quick.' look. Once she was inside, she sat on Ashley's right and whispered:

"I'm sorry...for my behaviour in the morning. I wasn't myself at that moment .. It's just that I... I..."

"It's alright. Ashley has informed me, so I know. The thing is, that I don't want to hurt anyone of you girls in any way. That's why I shall be the one asking sorry. I hope you understand now..." I said softly, as I crouched and firmly grasped her right hand. Then, a tear formed in her eyes and she hugged me tightly.

If it wasn't for Ashley, who was watching us with a sad look all this time, I would have hugged Andr back. But since I realized it, I pet her back, quickly backed off and got up. At that moment, I could swear that both of them stared at each other with a meaningful look, but I couldn't understand why.

"Well, I shall better get prepared to see Arne. It would be a big dickmove to leave him hanging." I eventually said and headed to the door. By the time I was about to open it, I felt two hands grabbing my shirt and pulling me from behind.

Suddenly, I was lying on the bed, with Ashley on my left and Andr on my right. I knew what could possibly happen, but I still had to ask:

"What are you doing, girls?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Ashley asked and gave me a lustful look. "We just want to show you our love!"

"I understand about Andr, but you? Since when??" I asked Ashley.

"When we were going to save Harold at the Snow Biome, even if I wasn't talking or treating you the best way, you still took care and helped me, when I needed it the most. If that's not enough for a woman like me to fall in love with a man like you, then what is?" She replied and came closer to me.

"Look, that's pretty flattering and all, but I really have to go at the moment. I know you wouldn't like such behaviour, but I wish things were different. So yeah, off I go!" I quickly told her and rushed to the door. But then something came in my mind and eavesdropped.

"Should we tell him?" I heard Andr asking.

"No, he'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, wanna make out?" Ashley asked back and chuckled. And that was pretty much it.

'Tell me what exactly?' I thought and scratched my head.

Then I realized, that I didn't know the way to the village (AKA the thing Andr and Ashley apparently wanted to tell me). I took a big, silent breath and rushed back inside my room.

"Alright, how do I..." I was about to say 'find the village', but I stopped in an instant, once I saw both girls half-naked, with one on top of the other.

*6:14 PM, Location: Arne's Shop*

"Hey, Arne!" I shouted, by the time I got inside the shop.

"Hey, man, good to see you safe and sound!!" He shouted back and shook his hand with mine. "Hope those assholes didn't do much of a damage to you, haha."

"Nah, don't worry about that. It's in the past now. Anyway, Andr informed me, that you wanted to tell me something?" I said.

"Oh right, I was about to forget that one!" He replied and went inside his workroom. When he came back, he was holding a small badge in the shape of an emerald, with leaves surrounding it. "It's the 'Mercenary Badge' of this biome. This is mostly handed to Villagers, who work as protectors of the Villages, but the King heard about your accomplishment here and decided to reward you gratefully. It's not the best reward, but it will help you get a name for yourself around for sure."

I took the badge from his palm and inspected it a bit. On the behind, there was a small piece of paper attached to it. I opened it and read it through my teeth:

"City of Tetrimia, tallest building..."

"Did you say something?" Arne asked.

"Oh no, I was just thinking something. Tell me, what's the path to the City of Tetrimia?" I asked back.

"Well, that's an odd and sudden question. To be honest, I've never been there, so I don't really know the road leading to it. You can still ask the guards here for navigation, if you like." He answered and grabbed an ACR from the shelf nearby.

"I see... Well, thanks for the info. It's been great to see you again." I replied with a smile and opened the door behind me. Although, I could swear that I spotted a pair of neat hidden blades on the left with the corner of my eye.

*3 hours and 39 minutes later*

When I got back to Ashley's home, I got welcomed by the whole female crew, including a cute 19-year-old girl in a green hoodie, sitting on the couches.

"George, I would like you to meet Cupa." Andr told me and pointed me the mew girl. "She's a very good friend of mine for a long time now and she wanted to say hello, since she was passing from the area. Say hi, Cupa!" The girl looked at me with a shy look and slowly waved at me.

"Ain't much of a talker, is she?" I whispered in Andr's ear and she nodded. "I see... Alright, I shall go to my room and sleep. Nice to meet you, Cupa." I said and headed to the staircase.

"Aren't you going to eat dinner, Master?" Riley shouted from the dining room.

"No, I'm fine. I just need some rest, that's all." I answered, although I was pretty hungry at the moment, but didn't really want to show it.

*Time skip to the following morning*

When the sunlights tickled my eyes and forced me to open them, I realized that a hand was touching my chest. I slowly turned around and saw Andr sleeping on my left. That did surprise me at first, but I let it pass. For a strange reason, I enjoyed the view of her sleeping with such an innocent look and smiled. Although, as I tried to get up, I felt someone holding me tight from my right. Being quite confused at that moment, I turned and faced Ashley burying her face on my shoulder and snoozing softly.