Holy Alleluia, it's a new chapter! Who here saw this coming today? Not me, that's for sure. Well, I suppose I did see it coming earlier today when I decided to finish writing the chapter. Last week, though? Pfft. Not at all. At least I posted this chapter before February, like I said I hoped I would at the end of the last chapter. Still, seven months is a long time. Sorry about that. Actually, it has been so long since I last posted a chapter that I don't even remember what I usually put up here. Just give me a second to look it up.
...
Okay, I figured it out. Anyway, college is working out pretty well so far. Did I mention that I was in college now? No, probably not. The previous chapter did mention that I had graduated high school, so I guess it would have been a safe assumption to think that I was in college now. Whatever. You guys don't care about that, anyway. You guys are here because you probably received a notification that there is a new chapter added to this story, and that's what you want to read, not my stupid ramblings about my life.
I do hope that you guys really enjoy this chapter. Not much in-game progress in this chapter, but this chapter is still extremely important for the story overall for a number of reasons. It was hard to write, though. There's a lot of emotional drama in this chapter. Like, A LOT! As an emotionless robot, that wasn't very easy for me to write. I tried a new style of writing for one section. I'm not sure how I did, but I think that I did good. Or not. I don't know. You guys let me know how I did.
Speaking of the story, part of the reason that this chapter took so long is that I've started a new run of DQIX, and I'm going to be using it as a reference guide for the foreseeable future. Granted, it's not like I had that much to play up to, but that's the excuse I'm going with. Well, that, and, of course, college, but I digress.
Anyway, the third main character is revealed in this chapter. I'm sure you've all been waiting anxiously for their reveal. Well, the wait is now over. As soon as you finish reading this unnecessarily long author's note and about half the chapter, something should be revealed. Now, I hope you all actually remember that I held some kind of contest/suggestion box for helping me decide how to incorporate the other two party members. Well, I'm happy to announce that there are actually three winners this time. All three people described very similar scenarios, and I decided to go with some kind of combination of the three. The three winners, in order of when they posted their reviews, are Master of Red Windex, Nothing on here, and Yurei Hanatsuki. Congratulations! You three all win the satisfaction that you helped write part of this story. And, if you want, if you Google a picture of a cookie, you can have that, too.
My goodness. What else do I have to say before I can let you read the actual chapter? Oh. It's just the disclaimer and the reviews. Very good. I'll just add those right here, and I'll see you guys in 20-30 minutes at the bottom of the page. I hope you like the chapter!
Disclaimer
Dragon Quest IX is property of Square Enix and Nintendo and not me and probably not you.
What I do own are the characters that I make up, such as Michael, Jessica, and the new person in this chapter and some of the crazy things that happens around them.
Reviews:
Uchiha Orion: Yes, yes, I know. Forced drama = Bad. The wind magic really was her big secret. Then I realized that that was actually a terrible idea, so I rewrote the next few chapters to undo that and give her a new secret. As for your suggestion, I appreciate the effort that you put into it, but I just don't think that I could get it to fit in with the rest of the story as I have it planned so far.
LuckyMoonWriter: Hashtags Shmeshtags.
Shadow of the Dragons: Here you go! I wrote more of this story. I blame the high quality on my perfectionism. Unfortunately, that means that each chapter will take longer that I would like to write. It's an unfortunate relationship, to be sure.
Rosalynne Myers: Thanks for letting me know about the point of view error in one of the earlier chapters. As for the repetition of the same phrase in two different chapters, I'm sorry. I understand what you're saying, but I don't think that that's really that big of a problem. I apologize if you disagree with me about this.
I'm Sorry: I suppose you don't really want a response to this review, do you?
Act 1 – Part 8: A Sickening Feeling
(Michael's POV)
By the time I woke up the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky. I wasn't surprised, though, given everything that had happened last night. All things considered, the outcome was much better than I had expected.
Specifically, I wasn't punched in the face again.
As I was getting ready for whatever it was that I was going to do today, Jessica began to stir. "Morning," I greeted.
"Mehrning," she responded groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I had the weirdest dream where..."
"It wasn't a dream," I interrupted, predicting what she was about to say.
"Excuse me?"
"Whatever you were dreaming, it really happened," I explained.
"Really?" she asked. "I really went swimming in a lake filled with chocolate Slimes last night?"
I just stared at her for a second before quickly standing up and leaving the room, smacking myself the entire way down the stairs.
(Jessica's POV)
Seeing how easy it was to mess with Michael, I couldn't help but snicker. As I started to calm myself down and get out of bed, a familiar faerie materialized next to me.
"Good morning, Stella."
"Hmph," is all she said in response.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so grumpy today?"
"What you did to Michael just now was mean," she explained.
"Nah. It was just a joke. I'm sure he understands."
"It was still mean of you."
I looked at her and crossed my arms. "You mess with Michael all the time. Admit it, you thought this was hilarious."
Stella looked nervously to the floor. "N-no...I didn't th-" She then burst out laughing hysterically. "Yes! You're right. It was beautiful. You got him so good. Did you see the look on his face? Hahah-" She suddenly caught herself and cleared her throat. "Regardless of how funny it is, stop teasing the poor guy. That's my job, and I tend to keep it that way."
I laughed. "Sorry, Stella, but I think you're going to need to find a new job." Stella huffed in irritation, and then flew out of the room much like Michael had done just a few minutes earlier. I just laughed to myself. "I wish everyday could be this fun."
(Michael's POV)
Half an hour after...that...happened, I still felt totally embarrassed about it. To cope, I was pretending to nap at one of the tables at the inn. I was joined, of course, by Stella, who came down a few minutes after me in a really bad mood. I didn't bother asking her what was wrong. She probably wouldn't tell me, anyway.
While we were brooding together, someone came over to talk with me. It was Erinn. "Michael, are you okay?"
I quickly sat up and pretended that nothing was wrong. "What? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. I'm just...uh...just trying to rest a little while waiting for Jessica to come down." Stella snorted at the mention of Jessica, so I discretely flicked a crumb from the table at her. For some reason, she seemed to become even madder after that.
"Are you sure, Michael? You seem like you're moping for some reason."
"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I'm just tired, is all." She raised an eyebrow incredulously. She obviously doubted my story.
"Whatever," she replied, shaking her head. Then she seemed to remember the original reason she came over to talk to me. "Anyway, everyone's talking about how the wandering minstrel Michael and his partner Jessica saved Stornway! You should hear them!" She paused for a second, then added "Actually, you probably already have. It's been a couple of days at this point, hasn't it?"
"Yeah…" I answered.
"Hm…Sorry for taking so long to congratulate you guys."
"It's fine, Erinn," I reassured her. "You've been really busy taking care of the inn."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." She continued with her original thought. "Besides, you've become quite the celebrity. I must say, I'm getting quite a lot of attention just because I'm friends with you!"
I smiled. "I'm happy that I could be of help once again."
"I knew you would be," she said, returning the smile. She began turning back towards her other duties when she suddenly remembered one last thing. "Oh, yes, before I forget, I found something when I was cleaning out the cellar." She pointed at an oddly shaped pot sitting on the counter. When I looked at it, I swore that it winked at me, which surprised me, since it didn't actually have any eyes. "Supposedly, it's a pot for doing alchemy in," Erinn explained. "Apparently, an impoverished alchemist left it to pay off his bill ages ago. I'm not really sure how you use it, actually, but it's a nice-looking thing, so I thought I'd pop it up here to brighten the place up a bit." She paused for a few seconds, staring at it, apparently taking in its…beauty. "…Oh, yes," she mused. "Very tasteful. It's beautifully made as well. Yep, I've got a good feeling about this old thing."
Stella, with were brilliant sense of style, looked at Erinn like she had completely lost her mind. I just slowly nodded in agreement until I noticed a familiar flash of red out of the corner of my eye. "Oh, look, here comes Jessica."
Erinn turned around and saw Jessica coming down the stairs. "Okay. I'll go get you guys some food, and then you guys can go out and do some more adventuring."
"Thanks, Erinn," I replied as she left and Jessica came over to the table that I was sitting at.
"Hey, Michael. How're you doing?"
"Fine. Why do you ask?"
Jessica smirked. "Well, it just looks like you had a terrible nightmare. Want to talk about it?"
"Well, actually…Oh, shut up," I responded, realizing what she was implying.
"For the love of the Almighty, I can't take these damn mortals anymore!" Stella cried out before finally disappearing back into wherever it is that she goes to. I just shook my head and groaned. This was going to be a very long day.
(Michael's POV)
We had just crossed over the eastern checkpoint over the river into the Coffinwell region. Almost immediately, the weather became much cooler. Glancing over at Jessica, I noticed that she didn't appear to be too affected by the sudden temperature change. After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that she's probably used to it since she grew up here. That would also explain why she seemed so relaxed right now.
As we continued walking down the path, the sun slowly started to drop through the sky, signaling how late in the afternoon it was getting. To pass the time, Jessica was giving me a crash course on the monsters that live in this region.
"One of the most important things you can remember is that you should never go near anything that looks like an abandoned cart," she lectured.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because that would be a Chariot Chappie, and they will kill you by running through you with their dual spears."
"Ah. Yes, that would be bad. Thanks for the advice."
"No problem. Also, beware of large, spiky, orange plants."
"Why? Are those also monsters?"
"Yes, they are Leafy Larrikins, and if they spot you, they won't stop chasing you until they get you."
"Good to know." I looked up and saw the sun was getting ever closer to the horizon. "How much farther until we reach Coffinwell?" I asked.
"Not long now," she answered. "Look over there in the distance. See the small hill with walls around it? That's Coffinwell."
I looked, and sure enough, there was what appeared to be a town at the end of the path. I could even start to see a few lights popping up within the walls. "Awesome. Let's hurry up so we can get there sooner."
She nodded in agreement. "Alright. I'll race you there." I chuckled to myself and started running after her. No longer having to hide my true strength, I quickly overtook Jessica, who called out after me. "Hey! No fair! You can't us your Celestial powers!"
"You never said I couldn't," I called back. "Besides, you're the one that challenged me to a race." She huffed in indignation in response.
After a few minutes, we had both cut the distance to Coffinwell to a mere fraction of what it was earlier. However, as I got closer to the city, something seemed to start bothering me. I stopped running and looked up at the walls of the city, which were now close enough to shroud me in their long evening shadows. Jessica caught up to where I was standing after a minute and stopped next to me.
"What's wrong, Michael?" she asked.
"I don't know. My gut is just telling me that there is something very wrong going on around here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, just stop and listen for a moment. What do you hear?"
She stood silent for a minute, listening intently to her surroundings, before responding. "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly. We were able to hear the noises of Stornway from miles away, yet, here we are, standing next to Coffinwell, and we can't hear anything coming from inside."
Jessica thought about this for a moment, her face starting to pale. "Do you think something's wrong?"
"I don't know, but something's not right." I noticed that Jessica was starting to get panicked. "Come on," I said. "Let's get inside the city and see what's going on before we get too upset, okay."
She took a deep breath, and calmed herself down. "Okay. Let's go."
We walked through the entrance of the town, and I immediately knew that I was, unfortunately, right. The town was nearly completely silent. There were very few people outside, and none of them seemed to be in a good mood. Jessica and I just stood at the entrance for a few moments, looking around to see if we could figure out what had happened here.
As we stood there, a man standing nearby walked up to us, a grim look on his face. "I don't mean to speak out of turn," he said, "but I'd keep away from this place if I were you. Coffinwell's days are numbered, you mark my words. If you don't want to perish along with the rest of us, be on your way."
As he spoke, I noticed that Jessica had paled again. "What do you mean? What's going on?" she questioned.
The man turned towards her, and seemed to recognize her. "Jessica? Is that you? Oh, dear… I suppose it can't be helped, then." He then turned and walked away, leaving us both confused by his final cryptic message.
We both glanced at each other, the worry obvious on both our faces. As we did, I noticed something that made me more worried than before. Atop a small hill in the west side of town, sat a church. Next to it I saw something that made my heart drop. This couldn't be good.
(Jessica's POV)
I noticed that Michael was focusing on something behind me, so I turned around and found the local church. Outside of it stood two women. One was an older priestess dressed in the traditional blue gown while the other appeared to be a younger priestess with brown, shoulder-length hair, glasses, and an extremely modest yellow dress with a staff hanging over that back. I don't know why, but the second woman seemed familiar to me for some reason.
They both were facing away from us, having a quiet conversation. In front of them sat Coffinwell's graveyard. I could feel the blood leave my face when my eyes laid on it. Never in Coffinwell's history had the graveyard ever been that big. I looked back at Michael. He simply nodded, and we headed up the stairs towards the two women.
As we neared them, we were able to hear parts of their conversation.
"It looks like our lovely churchyard will be filled with new graves before long." the older woman exclaimed.
The young priestess appeared to be shocked by what she had just heard. "Don't say that! Dr. Phlegming will find a cure before long. We just need to remain hopeful."
The older woman smiled at her young companion. "My dear Allison, how I wish I could still think like you." I silently gasped. Did she say Allison? Could it really be? It has been so long… "But, I imagine mine will be- (cough cough) Ahem. Ahem. (cough)." Very suddenly, she starting coughing uncontrollably, and the younger priestess, Allison, quickly moved to support her. "Dear Almighty," the older woman said between coughs, "soon I will be returned unto You. (cough)"
They noticed our presence once we reached the top of the stairs. When Allison saw me, her face obtained a mixture of both surprise and horror. "Jessica? W-what are you doing here?" she asked, clearly caught off guard by my presence.
"Allison," I began in a chillingly calm voice. "What's going on here?"
Allison appeared to become extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Um…," she stalled, trying to find an answer. "It's better if you don't know, and you should probably just leave this place as fast as possible and never come back."
I stared at her for a few seconds, then crossed my arms and sternly replied "You've known me long enough to know that that isn't going to happen. Someone just told us that Coffinwell's days are numbered. What's going on? Tell me the truth!"
Allison bit her lip and looked towards the ground, clearly unsure of how to proceed. To her relief, her older companion, who had finally finished coughing, answered for her. "It's the contagion, my dear. It's tearing through the town. We've already lost so many people to the disease, and many more are on their way, myself included." I hadn't really noticed it before because I was so focused on Allison, but now that I looked closer at the older woman, I could see that she appeared extremely old and fragile, with lifeless eyes draped with deep bags that hung low down her gaunt face. She was definitely ill with something powerful. "If you really want to know more, my dears, I'd recommend that you go visit Mayor Laria–"
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Allison was slowly shuffling back towards the graves. Before the old priestess even had a chance to finish, I quickly spun towards Allison and loudly confronted her. "Allison!" I practically screamed at her. "Where are you going?" Allison's face bleached, clearly horrified that I had noticed her.
The priestess shook her head and sighed. "My dear Allison, sometimes you are just too good of a friend. However, this is something you just can't protect her from."
"Wait, what? Protect me from what?" I asked, confused.
"Allison, just let her find out. It's inevitable," the priestess ordered.
Allison sighed. "I wish you had just left when I told you to, Jessica. Everything would have been easier if you did." Allison began moving back to the left, then hesitated. "It's like she said," Allison added. "We've lost a lot of people to the disease."
"Allison," the priestess said firmly, "stop leaving her guessing. Just get out of the way and let her see it for herself."
Allison sighed once more. "I'm sorry, Jessica. I really am," she added as she did as her elder ordered. Once she was out of the way, my eyes quickly fell on the gravestone that she was blocking…
(Michael's POV)
Within seconds of Allison moving out of the way, Jessica ran up to the gravestone and collapsed in front of it. The sound of heavy sobbing mixed with waves of intense pain followed shortly after. I looked at the grave myself, already knowing what it was going to say.
Here lies
William and Marissa
Loving parents of
Jessica
Taken too soon by
The Contagion
Upon reading those words, my worst fears were confirmed. I looked back at the two women, both with somber expressions on their faces. "When?" I asked.
"A month ago," answered Allison.
"Ever since the earthquake, it has just been one heartbreak after another," the priestess added.
The earthquake. Was nothing spared from the consequences of that event so many weeks ago? Is any place left unscathed?
"Is there anything anyone can do to stop this?" I asked.
"Some people are trying to find ways to fight this," the priestess replied. "Allison here is an extremely skilled priestess, so she's been using all of her healing magic to treat those who have the disease. She even refused to return to Swinedimples Academy after the outbreak began at the end of her summer break."
Allison shook her head. "My skills are more needed here. Going to school is not a priority right now."
The older woman nodded in agreement. "Also, Mayor Laria is working with a scientist named Dr. Phlegming to find a true cure to the plague so that it can be rid of once and for all. They even managed to set aside their major disagreement in order to do so." She coughed, and paused a moment to catch her breath. "That's all I know about it. If you want to find out more, I'd go talk to Mayor Laria himself."
We all just stood there for a few minutes in silence, mourning for the loss of Jessica's parents. Jessica was still crying in front of the grave, but her sobbing had quieted down to a soft whimper. I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to be in right now. She had gone through so much emotional pain over the past few days. I honestly had no idea what was still keeping her together.
Eventually, the priestess broke the silence. "Allison, dear, it's getting late. Why don't you show these two where the inn is? You can take them to see the Mayor tomorrow morning."
"Yes, ma'am," Allison responded. She knelt down next to her grieving friend. "C'mon, Jessica. Let me take you to the inn so you can get some rest." No response came from Jessica except for continued sobbing.
Allison hung her head in exasperation, then looked back up at me with a pleading expression on her face. I nodded in understanding and softly walked towards Jessica, kneeling next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Jessica. Look, I know you're upset. You have every right to be. I can't even begin to imagine how much pain you are in. I don't think that I ever will be able to, either. I'm sorry Jessica. I truly am. However, there is nothing that you can do at this point. Crying on their grave won't bring them back, and it won't accomplish much else either. At least let us take you to the inn. Once we get there, you can keep crying if you want, but at least you'll be somewhere safer at that point. And, if you want, you can even eat something and get some rest. Please, Jessica?"
There were a few seconds of silence after I had finished. Everyone present was watching Jessica to see how she would react to what I had said. After a moment, she lowered her head, took a deep breath, and slowly stood up. With her head still lowered, she very softly responded "Okay."
With a look of relief on her face, Allison gently grabbed Jessica's arm and pointed towards the center of Coffinwell. "The inn's over in that direction. You still remember where it is, don't you Jessica?" Jessica remained silent. Taking that as a yes, Allison began to softly guide her towards the inn. I made sure that I stayed close to her the entire time.
As we left the church courtyard, the priestess began walking towards the church. When she reached the front doors, she turned back to look at us. She saw me looking at her and smiled sadly back. Then she began coughing again. Still coughing, she stepped into the church, closing the doors behind her.
(Allison's POV)
Today did not go as I expected it to go. To be fair, I don't think anybody had expected today to go the way that it did. It certainly was a surprise to Jessica again after all of these years. I just wish that it could have been under better circumstances. I hope she doesn't hate me after today. I wouldn't blame her if she did, though.
Her companion seemed nice enough when I introduced myself as Jessica's childhood friend. What did he say his name was? Mark? No. Matthew? No, not that, either. It was something with an M. Martin-Max-Mitchel-Mike-Michael! That's what it was. I can't believe I almost forgot his name. That would have been embarrassing., Something about him bothers me, though. I'm not sure why, but I feel like he's hiding something. I wonder if Jessica knows what it is.
Hang on. What's that sound? It sounds like somebody is walking in the hallway outside. I wonder if can see who it is through the door to my room. The innkeeper is so generous to let me stay at the inn for free. I guess it's her way of repaying me for all of the help I've been trying to give around Coffinwell. Wait, what I am thinking? Focus on the task at hand, Allison. I know I'm tired, but that's no excuse to let my mind wander. Unless it wants to wander to sleep. That'd be nice. Why can't I go to sleep tonight? I guess I just have too much going on through my head right now.
Dang it, Allison! You let your mind wander again. Focus! Who's in the hallway? Let me see if I can see them through the side of the door. Oh! It's Michael. I wonder if he's having trouble sleeping, too. I suppose going for a walk wouldn't be a terrible idea if you couldn't sleep. Wait, is he actually talking to himself? It looks like it. Who else would he be talking to? I don't know. He's so weird.
How did Jessica even end up with this guy? I don't even begin to imagine. All I know is that I'm going back to bed. Huh. Was this room always this dark? Oh, whatever. I'm sure I can find my back to the bed anyway. Now, let me see. If I just take a couple of steps over here, I should be almost the-
"Ow!"
Oh, shit. Did he hear that? No, I don't think so. He's still walking away. Whew. That was close. What did I do? Kick a chair? By the Almighty, that hurts really bad. I need to be more careful when I can't see. Okay now, where's the bed. Ah, here it is. Maybe I can get some sleep if I just try to quiet my mind down. Right, like that'll happen. Well, I suppose it's worth a shot…
(Michael's POV)
"Did you here that, Michael?"
"Yeah. It sounded like someone just kicked a chair." I was in a middle of an important conversation with Stella when we heard someone shout in one of the nearby rooms.
"Kicked a chair?" Stella repeated. "Wingless creatures are such klutzes when it comes to using their legs. How can you stand having to use your legs in order to move around?"
I shrugged. "I guess you just get used to it after a while." She scoffed. "If you want, I could tear off your wings so you could share this wonderful experience with me."
Stella just stopped in midair and slowly turned towards me with a look a pure horror on her face. "Oh my Almighty, Michael! Talk about taking a joke way too far. I mean, where did that even come from?"
"I don't know. It just popped into my head."
Stella just stared at me, nodding her head wearily. "Alrighty then. If that's what you said happened, I'm not going to question it."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to tear off your wings, Stella."
"You better not," she responded. "You couldn't possibly imagine how much trouble you would be in if you did."
"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we should get back to looking for Jessica. I have no idea where she could have gone at this time of night." I could only begin to imagine why she had decided to get up and leave in the middle of the night. It wasn't the most welcome of surprises to see that she wasn't in her bed when I happened to wake up while tossing in my sleep.
"Maybe she just doesn't want to be by you anymore, so she's trying to run away while you're sleeping," Stella suggested.
"Thank you, Stella, for that cheerful thought. Why on Protectorate would she be running away from me?"
"Well…" Stella started, "what you said to her while at the graveyard wasn't exactly the nicest thing you could have said."
I nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. I understand what you mean. You're right, actually. What I said back then definitely was not the nicest thing I could have said to her at the time."
"Then why did you say it, Michael? You might have really hurt her feelings."
"No, Stella, I didn't. In fact, I did the exact opposite."
Stella just looked at me in disbelief. "What? How can you say that?"
I paused for a second, trying to figure out what the best way to explain this was. "You're right, Stella. I could have said something really nice. But, you know what? It wouldn't have done anything because she was stuck in a state of denial. True, she might have temporarily felt a little better, but the kind words would eventually lose their effect, and she would be left in the same state as before. Instead, I told her what she needed to hear so that she could begin to accept what had happened. Yes, she's still in pain, but at least now she's starting to come to terms with the past, instead of letting herself be consumed by it. I just…gave her a nudge in the right direction."
Stella just stared at me with her jaw dropped. "That…actually makes a lot of sense."
"Remember, Stella. I'm a Celestrian. It's practically my job to help people feel better. You should have better faith in me sometimes."
"Yeah…" Stella agreed, still speechless.
I smiled at her reaction. "C'mon, Stella, let's go. Jessica has to be around here somewhere. Let's try looking upstairs," I said as I started up the nearby staircase. Stella followed silently behind me.
(Jessica's POV)
Amazingly, Coffinwell was even more eerie and still at night than it was during the day. However, there is no denying that this is the place where I grew up. The view from on top of the inn was still the exact same as when I hung out up here as a child.
A small smile snuck its way onto my face as memories of sitting up here and spending whole afternoons just staring at the clouds and talking with Allison. Life was so simple back then.
A soft breeze blew its way across the rooftops. I took a deep breath, remembering the familiar smells from my childhood. This time, however, there was something slightly different about the smell. There was something else mixed in with it. It was a smell of sickness. Sickness and…death.
I could feel the tears starting to form in my eyes almost immediately after I thought that. I instinctively pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in legs in order to muffle the sounds of my sobbing.
"Mom…Dad…" I managed to get out through my tears. "Why did you have to leave me? Why did you have to go so soon?" I continued to cry for a few more minutes without saying anything. "I never even got to say goodbye to you guys. Now…now I'm all alone." A few more minutes went by where I didn't say anything. "Why, Almighty? Why? Why did you take them from me? Haven't I suffered enough in my life?" A few more moments of silence. The flow of tears began to slow. "Does anybody even care about me anymore?"
As the tears finally stopped streaming down my face, I heard something moving from behind me. I didn't care what it was, though, so I just stayed in my current position, with my face hidden between my legs. It wasn't until I sensed someone sitting down next to me and put their arm around me that I finally lifted my head to see who was with me.
It was Michael.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at me.
"Oh, yes," I snapped back. "I'm just splendid. Thanks for asking,"
"I'm sorry. That was a pretty stupid question to ask." I just rolled my eyes. "Anyway, what are you doing out here?"
I sighed. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get some fresh air. This is where I always came whenever I needed to escape life and just relax for a little bit as a child. Unfortunately, coming up here dragged up more memories than I could handle right now." Even in the low light, I'm sure that he could easily see the paths that the tears had left on cheeks.
Suddenly, he used the arm he already had across my back to pull me into a half hug, completely catching me off guard. "I know that this has been really hard for you," he said, "but I want you to know that I will always be there to support you."
After he said that, I started to cry again, although it was for a slightly different reason than earlier. "Thank you, Michael," I responded. "You don't know how much that means to me." He just smiled in response and pulled me in a little closer.
I'm not sure how long we stayed in that position, looking out over the town, but I didn't really care anyway. At some point, the wind carried a small amount of fog from the nearby mountains. When it reached us, the temperature dropped quite a bit, and I started to shiver, which Michael noticed. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get back inside. We should probably try to get some sleep anyway." I only nodded as I let him guide me back to the room where we were staying for the night. I was still sad deep inside, but I found I could tolerate the pain a little better knowing that I could always rely on Michael when I needed him. With that thought in mind, I was able to easily relax once I had gotten into my bed. Sleep quickly followed.
(Michael's POV)
It was morning again, and I was trying to eat some breakfast while waiting for Jessica to wake up. It was kind of hard to do so, though, because Allison, who was also up already, kept staring at me strangely, and it was really starting to bother me. I was actually about to ask her stop when Jessica finally stepped into the room.
Allison greeted her before I was able to. "Good morning, Jessica. How'd you sleep?"
Jessica shrugged in response. "Okay, I guess." I swear I heard something that sounded like Allison mentioning how lucky she was or something under her breath. "Actually, I still feel a little exhausted," Jessica continued. "My muscles feel a little stiff, too. I must have slept funny last night."
Allison's eyebrows raised a little when she said that. "How are you feeling, Jessica?"
"Fine, I suppose. I can't really compla-" Jessica cut herself off when she suddenly sneezed. And then sneezed a second time. And a third time after that. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "I guess something got up my nose."
At this point, Allison seemed really nervous, although it looked like she was trying to remain calm. "Well, why don't you take a seat and eat something?" Allison offered. "I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards. Here, have a glass of juice." Allison handed Jessica a glass of orange juice.
"Thanks," Jessica replied, gratefully accepting the glass. However, right before she took a sip of it, she suddenly started strongly coughing. Almost immediately, Allison jumped out of her seat and rushed to Jessica's side.
"Almighty, please no," Allison practically begged while helping her friend catch her breath. "Not you, too, Jessica."
I just looked at the two of them for a couple of moments, trying to figure out what Allison was talking about. However, it very quickly dawned on me. "Oh, no. Not that. Anything but that."
Jessica had finally caught her breath again, and was now frantically looking back and forth between Allison and myself. "What?" she asked, panicked. "Not what? What's wrong with me?"
"Jessica," Allison began to explain, struggling to remain calm, "you…you caught the Contagion."
Well, there you have it. One more chapter that I hope you all enjoyed. Was it worth the long wait?
What do you guys think of the new character, Allison? I feel like I did a pretty good job of introducing her; but, again, I usually have no idea what I'm talking about, so I need you guys to let me know in the reviews what you thought of her, as well as the chapter in general.
Of course, the contest/suggestion box thingy is still in effect for the fourth and final character. As I currently have it planned out, it's going to be a very long time until they appear. Like, over halfway through Act 2. Of course, if you guys can come up with a better introduction for them than I currently have, I'd love to hear it. Just leave your idea in your review. Remember, I already have name, gender, vocation, and personality decided. All you guys have to do is come up with a way for me to introduce them into the story. Of course, you can add more details if you want. You never know what might make me change my mind.
When will the next chapter be released? I have no idea, but I would love to be able to add a chapter on April 12th, which happens to be this story's second anniversary of being published. No promises, though. That's only four months away, and I currently don't have the best record at updated in a timely fashion.
Before I leave, though, I just want to thank all of you for your patience with me. I know that the gap between chapters is far too long. I also know that you guys say that it's always worth the wait and that my personal life is more important than this story. I just feel so bad when I have a half-finished chapter sitting on my computer and it has been months since the last update. For those of you who have been following me for a while now, thank you for your continued faith in me and your patience when waiting for chapters. For those of you who have just started following this story, thank you for taking a leap of faith in choosing to follow a story that had sat dormant for so long. You guys really are the best readers that I could have hoped for. Whew. I just needed to get that off of my chest.
Anyway, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. As always, I'm not perfect when it comes to writing, so if anyone finds an error somewhere in this chapter or anywhere else in the story, please don't hesitate to mention it in your review or send me a quick message. I'll try to fix the problem as soon as possible. If I'm to catch every little error that shows up in this story, I'm going to need everyone's help.
Until next time, whenever that happens to be, this has been D~F.
