Chapter 2: Temper

"What exactly is it that you need help in?" Saphira asked. Mataras raised an eyebrow on his end, but he ultimately didn't say anything. Yet, anyways.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my journal and started flipping through the pages, searching for the one that held her answer.

Arriving at what I was looking for, I gently placed it on the table in their direction, sliding it towards them. Depicted on the pages was a map of a majority of the floor we were on, which was a massive ocean for the most part. The only way to travel between towns was by ships ferried by NPCs, or if a player owned one themselves.

The map had several notes scribbled on it, limericks that were dissected line by line, arrows that pointed to certain areas, but the thing that caught the two players attention the most was a certain area at sea that was circled several times.

"If you ask around, there are several areas and NPCs on this floor that allude to a hidden dungeon." I start. "Cryptic riddles, codes, even hidden in one of the side quests on this floor, they all say where that hidden dungeon is." My nervousness slowly slipped away as I talked about the dungeon. Whenever I get caught up in the moment, I tend to tune the rest of the world out, leaving me in my perfect environment.

"…Yea, lots of people heard about the hidden dungeon on Floor 5, but no one knows how to access it, let alone find its location." Mataras noted, picking up the journal.

"…So…are you telling us that you found it?" Saphira asks, the skepticism hiding in her voice.

I give them a nod. "It wasn't easy. I had to talk to practically every person on this floor, check the details on every quest down here…It was quite the chore, with only a single person's word, the bartender in the main square, that this dungeon even existed…" I tugged at the collar of my trench coat, re-adjusting it. "…But I believe that I found it."

Mataras looked up from the journal. "You 'believe' you found it?"

Crossing my left arm over my waist and resting my right elbow on my wrist, I brought my hand up, my index finger resting right under my nose and closed my eyes. "There is a small chance that I'm wrong, but I firmly believe that this is the location."

Mataras laid the journal back on the surface of the table. "What exactly is it that you're asking us to do?"

My eyelids snapped open as they looked at me with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. "If you want, I would appreciate your help clearing it."

Silence.

I could feel the air between us get…tense? Awkward? It was difficult to pin he exact feeling, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

"You expect three players to go and raid a secret dungeon." It was Mataras who spoke. I shifted in my seat, my nervousness slowly returning.

"Well…Yes."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you realize how imbecilic that sounds? You can't just go and raid on a dungeon without the proper preparations."

"…I am not unprepared, I'll tell you that much."

Saphira shook her head. "Phantom, I'm sorry, but Mataras is right. You can't just march through a dungeon with a couple of players." A thought comes to her head as she takes a sip of her tea. "We could ask a few other people to join us, make it a bit e- "

"NO!" I react, my hand suddenly reaching out in a 'halt' motion. My voice comes out louder and sharper than I realize. Saphira's eyes widened as she visibly flinches. In response, Mataras's eyes grow dark as his hand swiftly grips the hilt of his sword.

I froze, the intimidation radiating off of Mataras like a heat wave does the sun. In that moment when I looked into his eyes, He looked like he would kill me.

I slowly retracted my hand and tried to recompose myself. "Erm…my-my apologies, I reacted too-too suddenly." I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my nerves. Mataras kept his hand on his sword's hilt. "…No, I would prefer it if as little players as possible entered the dungeon."

Saphira gently nudged Mataras, who then looked down at his hand, and brought it back up in front of him. "Why is that?" She asked gently. Taking another deep breath, I was silent for a few seconds as I wondered how I should put it.

"…I…There is something down there I would like to…keep out of other people's grasp…"

Mataras looked between me and my journal a couple of times before speaking. "So, in other words, you think there is some rare item down there that you want. An item that would more likely go to you, the smaller the group is?" His voice was low.

I almost flinched. Whether or not he was intending to be intimidating, he was doing a good job. "You-you don't…well, that-that's not entirely the truth- "

"Not entirely the truth?" He stood up from his chair, with the wooden seat making almost a resounding scrape across the wood floor.

"Mataras, please." Saphira tried to settle him down, but He continued to remain standing, looking me square in the eye.

"Your selfishness in this case would get all three of us killed."

"I asked you how high of a level you are- "

"That isn't important. It's your OWN level that is. Only someone who's green as grass could come up with an idiotic plan such as your own."

His words resounded in me. Almost like a video loop, they played in my mind over and over and over again. Any trace of my nervousness was erased. I stood from my chair to meet him at eye level. "What are you insinuating?"

He stared me down. "What level are you?"

I could have ended the disagreement then and there by answering him, but his comment stirred up something in me. I was feeling rebellious. "You won't tell me your level, so then why should I tell you mine?"

He started to snarl at me, as if he didn't like my sudden attitude towards him. "Perhaps because you won't be receiving our help if you continue to be disagreeable. You won't get a larger party due to your own greed. Our levels are meaningless if we're going up against hordes of monsters in a dungeon."

I give him a grim look of defiance. "It didn't sound like you intended on helping me anyways. Maybe you're just afraid of going up against 'hordes of monsters in a dungeon.'"

Saphira stood up from her chair with an air of authority. "Mataras. Phantom. Your pointless arguing is getting us nowhere."

I don't know about Mataras, but to me her plea fell on deaf ears as my own infuriation rose. "Perhaps you yourself are just too weak to enter a dungeon like that, and you're too cowardly to admit it."

Quicker than a flash of lightning, Mataras unsheathed his sword and held it at the side of my neck. All in one single movement. It was so fast that I swear I could feel gusts of wind against my skin.

The metal didn't touch me, but it was mere millimeters away from doing so.

"I suggest you hold your tongue before I cut it out myself." Mataras growled, venomous fury lacing his words. My eyes widened as I stumbled back and tripped over the chair, falling in a heap on the floor.

"MATARAS!" I registered the near-scream of Saphira in my startled state. My eyes were shut, but I slowly opened them up to see Saphira giving a slap to Mataras across the face. The most odd thing though was the fact that Mataras didn't retaliate against her in any way.

He's a powder keg about to blow, yet Saphira can slap him across the face and not feel the heat of an explosion? I made my way to my feet, my mind running a mile a minute with the adrenaline pumping from the experience of having a sword to my throat. What kind of friends are they that he can just accept a slap like tha…

My eyes widened. I rapidly inhaled a single breath. My entire body tensed. All of a sudden, the air around me chilled me to my very bone. Mataras and Saphira were still quietly arguing, so they didn't notice me tense up.

I barely registered a sigh of exasperation from Saphira. "Phantom, I'm truly sorry about that on behalf of Ma…" She finally turned towards me and noticed me in my shocked state, same as Mataras. She gave me a look that almost screamed of worry. "Are…are you alright, Phantom?"

I blinked a few times.

No.

"Ye-yes. I'm alright. Tha-thanks for asking." The floodgates that were opened from earlier I managed to close with the two of them coming over to my table and talking with me, but now…

…Now they were thoroughly opened and nothing could stop them.

In an effort to hide my weakness in my face, I quickly pulled my hood back over my face. However, I couldn't tell in that moment that my body was quivering. "I'm-I'm sorry to bother the two-two of you. Thanks for-for talking with me-me."

Before either of them could say a word, I bolted out the door of the café, back into the thunderous storm outside.

I couldn't feel the cold of the rain anymore. I couldn't feel how it froze me down to my very core. I kept running, eventually making it to a hotel I stopped at a little before going to the café.

Rushing inside, I bolted up the stairs and to my room door, dashing inside and slamming the door shut.

My back leaned against the door for a few minutes. I was panting heavily, and it wasn't due to the running. I reached up slowly and touched my face, only to be met with wetness.

It wasn't rainwater.

The memories, these cursed memories continued to flow out of the depths of my mind and into my being. I broke down right there, weeping and collapsing onto the floor with nothing but my name and my past.

Mataras and Saphira…I observed and finally found out their true relation.

I wish that I could stop observing. Stop forever and live without the pain of knowing.

…

"You didn't have to put a sword to his neck. That was a bit too far." Saphira told Mataras. After Phantom mysteriously left them, they decided to head back to their own hotel room and rest up. It was a long day for them, and they wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible.

"So are you saying that I was the only one to step out of line?" Mataras countered her. "You heard what he said."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "…I never said that he was justified either. All I'm saying is that there are better ways to deal with problems than lodging them on the end of your blade."

Mataras snorted. "The towns' a safe zone. He wasn't in any real danger."

"So just because a person can't die gives you the right to threaten them?"

Silence between the two of them became present as they walked up the stairs to their room.

"Why would someone want to raid a dungeon in a three-man party anyways? That just seems…suicidal, if anything." Saphira wondered, bringing a finger to her chin.

Mataras shook his head as he opened their room door. "Not really. Not if your level is high enough, anyways."

The two of them entered and each sat on their bed, facing directly across from each other. "So, are you saying that we could clear that dungeon?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Maybe if we had one or two more people on our level, then yea I'd say that it's within the realm of possibility."

Saphira narrowed his eyes at him. "Then why did you give Phantom such a hard time about it being an 'imbecilic' idea?"

"Because," Mataras started to respond. "He sounded like he spent most of his time on the lower floors such as Floor 5. I may very well be wrong but it seemed to me that he isn't on our level." He moves from the sitting position to laying on his back on the bed. "It doesn't help that he refuses to tell us his level, insinuating it may be low."

"Or he may have another reason." Saphira countered, getting ready to fall asleep. "Who knows, He may surprise us."

"Hm. Maybe…"

"…Mataras?"

He rolled on his side to see his sister's face. "Yea, Saphira?"

"…The look on his face before he left…He looked like he had seen a ghost."

Mataras closed his eyes, as if he was deep in thought. "…I can't say to know what kind of person Phantom is by knowing him only for a few minutes." A few seconds of silence passed before he rolled back on his back. "Goodnight, Saphira."

"Goodnight Mataras."

I honestly don't have much to say for this chapter, other than this is most likely going to be the regular length for them. Mainly just so I can capture the quality while also getting chapters out in a timely manner. I'm trying so hard to write these things and to not, in the end, get burned out and stop writing it.

Well, as always, thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!

-Silver