September 19th, 2030 *Night*

This night was something I had been looking forward to for quite some time. Never before did I drink with Liam, essentially due to the distance between us. Now, after so long of just being internet friends, we were finally going to drink together as bros. Something like this could not be done with my family back home. I didn't trust them enough, and it didn't help that some of my siblings tended to act rather intolerable when intoxicated. Fortunately, I had much more control than those people, and I was much more of a heavyweight when it came to drinking.

Arkaid could tell that I was fairly excited for this. She took to the sidelines as I set everything up, ordered some food to be delivered, and organized the room for a much more social setting. I had chairs surrounding the main table, and I had the television set up for much more convenience. As I kept doing this, Arkaid remained seated on the couch. Her hands were settled in her lap as she watched as I eagerly went over everything. I was almost out of breath when I ordered some Takoyaki and some Hibachi to be delivered. She was glancing at a book in her hands, but she couldn't continue reading it. Once she tried, I did something else that, apparently, she found quite humorous.

I could only assume that she found my sudden eccentric attitude to be fun to look at like she was watching an evening show before her eyes. Even though I, at first, found it a bit flattering, the back of my mind questioned if she was laughing at me or just laughing with me in a much more fond way. Even though my mind knew the answer, my anxiety kept me from simply accepting it. Regardless, I continued to do what I did.

I had just finished ordering the food when I heard a couple knocks at the door. Arkaid offered to get it, quickly getting out of her seat. I didn't want her to do anything, especially since this was an event planned by me, but I really just wanted her to relax. She appeared to be a bit 'off' when I met up with her again after the psychological analysis. Not wanting her to feel overwhelmed, I denied her requests to help me with the preparations. Even so, she took her chance and opened the door, welcoming our two guests. "Welcome to our apartment, you two." Arkaid easily recognized the 'edgelord' and the leader of the Purgatory Knights. Demios was in his SD form, grasping onto Liam's shoulders as the two entered the living space. I was just about to get up when Liam plopped himself down on a nearby chair. At first, I found his actions to be too lax for comprehension.

"Thanks, Arkaid,… so this is your gaff?" Liam asked back. His speech was a bit slower than normal. It was then that I noticed that he was holding onto something in his right hand. Arkaid closed the door as Demios made himself comfortable in a nearby chair. Since Arkaid and I acted as the hostess and host, we took the couch. Arkaid soon noticed the bottle in Liam's hands, informing us exactly what we needed to know. We looked back to Liam to notice that he was a bit gigglish in his overall demeanor.

I raised a brow as I grasped the bottle from his right hand. He complained for a moment before I started reading the bottle itself. It was then that I noticed he was holding an identical bottle in his other hand. The bottle was something I recognized, for I recalled Liam mentioning this brand to me; Kopparberg premium cider, strawberry, and lime, 4 percent. My buddy noticed that I couldn't stop chuckling at the realization. "You got tipsy off this? Lightweight."

Liam chuckled before slowly shaking his head. "When ya… drink enuff of it, you'll feel it."

"Even so, it would take a while with this light crap."

"Gobshite," Liam returned. "Ya drink vodka. I hate the taste of that shit."

"That's why you mix it, genius," I replied in a mocking tone. Arkaid shook her head, but she appeared to smile slightly at the sight of such an idiotic act. I looked over to Demios to see if he too was already affected. Not to my surprise, the dragon looked rather fine. "Surprised you let him start."

Demios grunted back. "He wanted to get started. I didn't want our first night with you to be offputting, but Liam insisted on this," the dragon continued. He crossed his arms before turning his head to face his buddy. "Also, it's fair of him to start drinking that stuff beforehand. If he waited until now, I swear, by the time he finally got drunk, you and Arkaid would be out like a light."

Arkaid interjected. "I do not find it fair to assume that I ingest too much alcohol to the point of losing consciousness," she hastily replied. "My buddy and I consume alcohol at the same rate. We do not go too far."

The leader of the Purgatory Knights snickered. "Don't get offended now. Besides,-" Demios soon reached over for one of the settled cups. He grasped the large bottle of vodka before letting it pour into his glass. "I preferred the stronger stuff anyways."

I smirked. "Hell yeah."

My partner crossed her arms, finding herself to be perplexed at such statements. "I didn't imagine you for the drinking type, Demios," Arkaid began. "Mostly due to your situation, that is. Once your military was trapped in Darkness Dragon World, I doubt finding such a substance would've been easy."

Demios had finished taking his first, long sip. I heard him swallow before letting off a slight cough, clearing his throat. He looked over to Arkaid with cocky eyes. "Ma'am, when stuck in a world like that, living for an eternity, you need means of self-preservation in order to keep everyone from going completely insane." The dragon took another sip. It was longer; he downed the cup and quickly turned back to me. "We were able to create something along the lines of what you humans called 'Moonshine.'

I voiced my interest. "Last I heard of that, it was a history lesson concerning alcohol being banned in America." I paused, soon looking at myself before pouring a cup of Svedka vodka and mixing it with Midori. "Thinking back, it's hard to see my life without alcohol in it. The drinking nights help me quite a lot."

Demios nodded. "And, in a world where literally everything wants you to stop existing, something like that is needed to take the edge off." Demios soon started laughing at himself. "If I threatened to ban alcohol due to horrible military members, I'm pretty certain I would've been overthrown."

Liam rolled his eyes as he poured his cider into a nearby cup. "You would've whooped their asses, to be fair."

"No, I wouldn't have," Demios returned lowly. "There's a reason why I take offense when Tasuku questions the Purgatory Knights. We are a brotherhood, tied by an intense loyalty. Without it, we certainly would've died off or, due to our immortality, continued to be tortured within that world forever."

I wanted to talk to Liam about his immortality. However, he was so far gone that I couldn't bring myself too. Arkaid could feel how uneasy I was at the moment, soon nudging me with her right shoulder. My eyes instinctively turned to hers as she held up her drink. She smiled before taking a drink. To me, it was a way of telling me that now was a time for good times to, seemingly, always last. I chuckled at myself for how foolish I was acting.

One thing led to another, and I found myself participating in a buddyfight against Liam. We were both so freaking gone, but we were still coherent to an extent. Arkaid was lying across the couch in her normal form while Demios maintained a slight high from the looks of things. He wearily motioned side to side a few times, but he still appeared to be in control. My buddy was eating her Tokoyaki peacefully as she watched the scene before her. The food was displayed on the table, but some bits were clumsily dispersed on the floor. Our two buddies watched us as we sloppily played the cardgame we appeared to take so seriously only yesterday.

My head felt incredibly heavy, and my body reacted to my wobbles with slight jeers and laughs. Liam, on the other hand, was resting his body against a heavy chair, keeping him from falling down. Our positions in the game were reaching the climax, with him having 4 life and me at 3. I appeared to be taking in deep breaths as I motioned the cards on the wooden table. Playing the game by just utilizing the real cards, instead of using the holograms, was rather odd the longer we played. We didn't have to follow the rules to a T.

This was noted when Liam, seemingly, pulled a card straight out of his ass. Not to say that he was cheating, but he drew the one card he needed. He grinned as he looked down at my board, noticing that neither one of us had a monster in their respective centers. "Final… Phase, shitebag," Liam plopped a card on his board. It was an interesting card, to say the least, though in my state I couldn't read the rest of its ability. "Pay two gauge, I'll deal three damage to you. Dead."

"Oh, yeah?" I replied in a mocking manner. "Well, I activate the secret ability of my sword, allowing me to gain all my life back, ya tool."

Of course, that's not how the sword worked. We reached a point where we honestly didn't care about how the game was supposed to play. I noticed Arkaid rolling her eyes before laughing extremely loud. Even in my drunken state, I found it incredibly odd that she burst out into such an intense fit of laughter. Demios shared that opinion, soon staring at her like he was witnessing a completely new individual appearing before him. Liam, on the other hand, simply ran with the joke. "Oh, fair play, but I negate that effect using Black Dragon Shield."

"It negates attacks, not life gain, you idiot."

"I'm using its secret ability, ya eigit."

"Well, I negate that by using Green Dragon Shield. I can do that because Green is better than Blue."

"Black Dragon Shield, not Blue, you racist."

"Prick," I quickly retorted. "Black and Blue Dragon Shields have the same secret ability."

"That doesn't work 'ere," Liam replied. "I'm using Purgatory Knights, so I gain the ability to negate your abilities."

"Well Dragon World is a light Darkness Dragon World, and the light illuminates the darkness."

"Racist."

"Dumbass."

"Eigit."

Arkaid found the perfect opportunity to enter the conversation. She crossed her arms and grinned so slyly that you could've sworn that she was thinking up a nasty plot. However, her crooked smile almost sent me to silence, making it so that I couldn't even gasp at the sight of her look. "You're both idiots," she quickly retorted. "Or, what Liam said… Eeeeegits."

Liam and I froze for a moment. The way she said that word; so much stress was put on the 'E' that her tone seemed to get lower. It made me double-take for a moment, for witnessing such an oddball moment from her was extremely rare, especially when I knew her for being rather cautious with how she worded things. Liam looked to me, and I looked back to her. "S-sorry, Arkaid, what the hell did you just say?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeegits," Arkaid retorted.

Liam and I were simply dead after that. Nothing was making sense anymore, and I simply adored that. The fact that someone like her had her own regality crumble before her and, from the looks of things, unbeknownst to her, it was extraordinary to witness it. I had to hold onto my stomach as I curled up on the floor. I could hear Liam rolling around as Demios chuckled to himself. He managed to keep himself cool while Liam and I were just too 'dead.' After knowing Arkaid for as long as I did, while also understanding how much she maintains her regality, it was a pleasure seeing the alcohol pry open Arkaid's shell.

Arkaid didn't get any of this. She simply turned around and huffed back at us. She was obviously just as intoxicated as the rest of us, for her face was completely flushed. "Stop acting like a bunch of idiots, especially you, CJ." Her request was drowned out by my intoxicated laughter. I nearly knocked over the sealed bottle of nearly-empty vodka. While rolling, I flattened a piece of Takoyaki that happened to fall onto the floor, causing the foody goodness to splatter under my back's weight. My buddy could only roll her eyes as she turned away for a moment. She was left in a position where she was eying where Demios was sitting. He appeared to be enjoying the remains of his vodka when Arkaid slowly directed her pointer finger at a foreign object. "Look." Demios paused for a moment as his eyes followed to where Arkaid directed. His eyes widened, freezing his body as he noticed the small figure on his left shoulder. It was the dreadful, horrifying, intensely creepy creature known as a common house spider!

That was enough for the leader of the Purgatory Knights. He flipped out, leaping from his chair before slamming into Liam. Arkaid merely went to where the spider had dropped before killing it with a napkin. Demios was glaring at where the spider once existed, grasping tightly onto his buddy as Liam was then stirred from his laughter. The oddity of this event caught my attention as Arkaid unfolded the napkin, looking into the contents of the spider corpse. She slyly grinned before looking over at the shaken leader. "Behold, the bane of the Purgatory Knights Leader."

Demios grunted loudly before looking away, making Liam sigh to himself in the process. "Yeah, that's Demios's thing; he can't stand spiders."

The leader of the Purgatory Knights, possibly wishing to reclaim his honor, quickly argued back. "As a leader of the Purgatory Knights, I have slain spiders of enormous sizes! And yet…." He winced at the sight of the small spider's corpse. "I… do not like small spiders."

Liam shook his head. "Doesn't make a lick of sense at all, like."

I interjected. "Actually, I agree with him," I quickly noted. "Spiders that I know of creep me out because they 'appear' to be incredibly fast, but that is due to their small sizes. If they were bigger, they would be slower and easier to deal with."

Demios roared in agreement. "Exactly! See, Liam! Listen to the smart one!"

His buddy sighed. "No. You're both gobshites."

Arkaid audibly sighed before stretching herself out across the couch again. I guess she simply wanted to exhale but, due to her odd movement, she managed to let out an audible groan. She stretched herself out in a vertical fashion, making it so she only took up half the couch. She looked over to me, pouting intensely before turning away. "You're taking that side of the couch. No buts about it."

I groaned back. "This again?" I chuckled softly. After Liam and I placed all of our cards back in our Core Deck Cases, I positioned myself on the couch next to her. To settle myself down, I placed my legs on the coffee table before me, allowing me to sit back with maximum comfort. Arkaid, unusually, even for her drunken state, did the same and placed her arms behind her head. She sighed happily as she closed her eyes, slowly muttering things to herself. I was too far gone to really care at that point, so my attention was back on Demios and Liam.

Liam smirked. "She has you on a leash, I see."

"Don't start, dumbo," I returned. "We own the couch. You and your "spider-loving" friend get the chairs."

Demios got annoyed, but because he was still in his SD form it appeared to look rather comedic. "I thought you understood me!"

"I did. Doesn't change the fact that you're still more afraid of spiders than I am."

Liam snickered back. "Liam and CJ, leaders of the Purgatory Knights. Demios dethroned."

Demios went cold. "There's a line."

"Got it," Liam hastily replied. His cocky tone vanished almost instantly. Fortunately, even I wouldn't have crossed that line, though that probably is due to how cautious I normally am. Other than Liam, Arkaid was close to the line, but she merely questioned the strength of such a leader in a joking manner, she didn't joke about taking the leader's position. The context was different, and it was good to see that Liam understood that rather quickly. It told me he was able to catch on to things faster than I remembered to be possible for him. However, that incident made him want to change the subject. He positioned himself on his chair and laid his legs out on the table, watching, with Demios, as Arkaid and I remained rather still.

Finally, Arkaid mentioned something out loud. "Why are people so calm?"

Intrigued by the question, I got myself involved. "How do you mean?"

Liam and Demios looked to each other for a moment as Arkaid continued speaking. "I'm not exactly angry that people such as ourselves are able to do this sort of thing. In fact, I find myself loving moments like these. However, I realized that there are forces, especially monsters, that could destroy any world in the universes attached to this one." Arkaid looked over to me. "I'm sure that your military is quite powerful."

I nodded back to her. "Yeah. Nuclear warheads and the like."

"Certainly, and those weapons have the potential of ending all life as we know it, and that's only in your world," Arkaid continued. She wasn't speaking fearfully, and the rest of us weren't exactly afraid of her conversation. It was rather weird, but I believe the alcohol allowed us to have this conversation, in this world, while we felt like we were no longer a part of it. Instead of having this conversation like we were people within it, for some reason or another, I felt like we were talking like we were an existence apart from it all. "There are so many 'weapons' or 'forces' that can do so much harm, yet the common folk appears to be so calm."

Liam shrugged his shoulders. "I'd say it's oblivnous."

"Obliviousness," Arkaid corrected.

"Yeah, that," Liam returned. "Maybe they try to not know."

I found myself partially in agreement, but not completely. "Well, by the time we really know, we'd be dead," I replied. Everyone turned to me. I could only guess that they found my response to be morbid in a sense. "To me, I care a lot about 'how' I die, not exactly if I die or not. If such a weapon blows me up, I'd die in an instant. I wouldn't feel it. I wouldn't have to witness my loved ones die in front of me, and I certainly wouldn't suffer at all."

Demios intervened. "That sounds selfish."

"Everyone's selfish in a way," I calmly returned as I took another sip from my cup. I looked over to Arkaid as she patiently waited for more answers. "A being like that Yamigedo person. His version of 'destroying the world,' according to what was recorded, involved creating a world where living conditions were downright horrid yet, apparently, the human species survived. It led us to a world where we had to suffer until our eventual deaths. That's a fate I'd fear."

Arkaid nodded. "I guess it really depends," she looked up at the ceiling. "On Dragon World, there was once a dragon so powerful that it almost destroyed Dragon World. Even I hardly remember the name; it was such a long time ago. I feel like I can remember it…." Arkaid pondered for a moment. When she realized she couldn't remember the name, she continued on. "… Regardless, such a being almost brought the world to ruin. According to the legends I've read, they were only able to seal the horrid creature."

Liam scoffed back. "Gobshites. They place too much faith on that," he returned. Arkaid and I immediately turned to him, finding his response to be rather out there for him. "Your world's last hope is on that seal. If it breaks, without anyone knowing, you're done."

Demios turned to his buddy. "That could be said for us here. If anyone of the governments went too far, everything could be destroyed."

Liam shrugged his shoulders back to him. "That's why we're all fucked."

"You don't sound happy about it."

"Of course I'm not, don't be thick." Liam leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms as he stared back at Arkaid and I. "Thinkin' on it now, ye all are expected to keep living with that fear over our heads. We fear it for so long that we finally reach a point where we just don't care until it finally happens. It's sickening to me that such a thing exists and we can't really do a thing about it except hope that everything's okay."

I turned to Arkaid, watching her as she started to relax after hearing that. It was obvious to me that this was a question that was on her mind for a while. Despite that, there was no event where she could just pop such a strange question. "What made you think of it now, Arkaid?"

"I started thinking back to the Yamigedo incident," Arkaid replied. She found herself tucking her legs closer to her body, soon curling up before turning to her right. The light blue dragon let out a soft sigh as she continued on. "The reputation of the Omni Lords dropped after the incident was finally resolved. The power of Yamigedo, since then, has been grossly underestimated."

"That's what happens when a 12-year-old boy defeats a deity almost on his own."

"But he didn't do it on his own," Arkaid mumbled back. "Don't be an idiot and think like them, CJ. The Fifth Omni Lord's Successor was given Tenbu's power. Without that, defeating the deity would've been near impossible, and the Cavalry Dragons, including myself, had no say in the decision." Arkaid pouted openly as she intensely crossed her arms. She didn't seem to be taken this too seriously—to which I blamed her drunken state—but the rest of us was able to detect that she was still feeling rather aggressive about this. "The worlds doubt our capabilities, so now they no longer think of us as capable of dealing with greater threats. However, they aren't shocked that a barrier keeping light and dark separate is now known for being incapable. Instead, they look so blasé about it."

Demios grumbled. "Certainly that's the case, but I didn't expect for that to get to someone like you."

"It didn't get to me, you idiot," Arkaid pouted back. "It's … just something that's been on my mind. Sometimes I find myself wondering what would've happened if that never occurred."

For a moment, I found myself wondering the same thing. What would've happened if the Fifth Omnis never lost their reputation? Such a thought never came to my mind before. It was then that a sudden thought came into my mind. At first, the thought hurt me, though I needed to play it off for laughs. I turned to the group and held my glass. "Well, I know one thing; you wouldn't have been stuck with me, that's for sure."

The room fell silent. The only noise that could be heard was my slight cough as I drank, even more, vodka into my system. Arkaid looked over to me, bewildered for a moment. When I looked to the others, I noticed that the same expression was shared on their faces. I knew that I needed to give myself some explanation. However, I needed to keep forcing a smile. I didn't want anyone to think I was hurt. I looked over to Arkaid before I started speaking. "Well, for starters, I only had the chance to meet you because other employees were ignoring your pleas for attention when you wanted to go over your theories. In fact, if you weren't ignored in the first place, you probably would've been able to find someone you liked in Japan, so you wouldn't even bother stopping in New York." Arkaid looked intense for a moment. The alcohol didn't appear to lighten her mood. "I'm not saying you wouldn't like a person like me, I'm just saying that there's a good chance that you would've found someone much more… preferable."

"You are a complete and total idiot, CJ," Arkaid coldly replied. She took another drink from her glass. She coughed slightly, clearing her throat as she continued speaking. "Don't say things you don't mean..." She appeared saddened by my words. I couldn't help but feel guilty for even saying anything to begin with. However, a part of me still felt like there was enough reason behind my words.

"I'm telling the truth," I replied. "It has nothing to do with self-esteem and whatnot so don't drag that in. There are billions of human beings across the globe. Are you really going to tell me that I, no matter what, would've been your number one choice?" Arkaid glared at me again. "Especially when you told me that you decided to be my buddy after our talk?" My smile faded for a moment, but I quickly managed to bring it back up. "Jeez, Arkaid. Is the alcohol getting to you? You must be slipping."

Arkaid paused for a moment. It was like her mind paused and attempted to rewind and replay the events that just transpired. Finally, she smirked and chuckled at herself. Although she still had her arms crossed, she appeared to be much more content. From the looks of things, something told me that she wasn't taking my claims seriously. It didn't bother me though, especially since her smile didn't show any trace of forcefulness. "Of course. Nevermind," she returned back to me. "Since that's the case, I'm glad it happened. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met a giant idiot like you."

September 20th, 2030 *Morning*

Waking up the next morning was hell. I wasn't hungover, but my desert of a tongue made me feel incredibly dry. The first thing I did, after crawling out of my bed, was walk over to the fridge and grab a water bottle. Out of impatience, I ripped my fridge open, quickly grabbing one of the available bottles. Because I wasn't cautious with my actions, some of the bottles next to the one I grabbed tumbled to the sides of the fridge. I quickly closed it, keeping the bottles from falling out. Without much thought, I downed the entire bottle of water, making me feel completely reborn.

I enjoyed last night. Even though one conversation almost went out of control, I found the night to be something I wished to cherish. As I looked at the couch, watching as Liam had his body sprawled out on the couch, it made me happy that he was able to come. My eyes went over to the left due to me hearing a small noise. Demios was awake and in his SD form. He was looking over to me as he remained content in a soft chair. "Morning, Demios," I stated.

"Morning to you, CJ," Demios returned. "I've been up for a while. Is Arkaid awake?"

"I didn't see her leave her room," I replied before turning to her room. The door was still closed, keeping us completely out of the loop. "Guess she's just as wiped out as Liam."

"Typical," the dragon snorted. He looked over at his exhausted buddy. The man's arms sagged over the edge of the couch. "I wanted to get something to eat, too."

It was at that moment that I decided to check my phone. My initial reason was that I wanted to see if there was any place open for us to eat at. There was a restaurant called Ivy Place that seemed pretty good, and I figured I could take Demios there since I doubted that he had such a strong affinity towards Tokoyaki like Arkaid did. When I checked the time—it was 9:30 in the morning—I noticed that I received a text from my boss. I read it to myself. "Could we meet up whenever you can? I'm available whenever. I want to tell you something, but not over the phone."

I was too tired to really take the message seriously. Without thinking, I texted back the following; "Sure. Meet me at Ivy Place. I'll be getting breakfast there." No later than thirty seconds after I sent it did a message return back to me. She was hounding her phone. I began to feel a bit uneasy as I read the normally-casual text. "I already ate, but I'll meet you there."

Demios graciously accepted the offer for breakfast. Apparently, he had heard decent things about this restaurant, so that rang good news for me. I was content in knowing that this place had a decent reputation. It wasn't long into our walk when I felt somewhat chilly. It was slowly approaching Fall and I completely underestimated the chilly weather. I must admit that it was getting to me, but Demios appeared completely unphased by it.

He took notice of this, soon finding himself to be rather amused by the performance. "Your sweatshirt isn't enough?"

"I only like the cold if it gives me a reason to stay inside," I muttered back.

The dragon snickered at me. "You're too fortunate."

"Speaking of that, I'm happy that you were able to make it last night," I replied back. Demios flew to my side and hovered beside me. "I won't ask about your business, but I hope that you enjoyed yourself last night."

"I did; it was great to see that you're still pulling through." Demios smiled confidently. "After what happened, I didn't expect you to bounce back as quick as you are."

"Apparently, Arkaid doubts that," I returned. "When I met up with her and Liam, she was looking at me like I was hiding something."

"You look alright to me, CJ," Demios returned. "However, she has a great eye. For her to pick up on Liam's energy… that was no easy feat."

I nodded back. "Yeah… I wanted to talk to Liam about that, but…." I looked forward, hoping to find something to distract me from the conversation. Nothing was coming up. I sighed, knowing well that I had to go through with it. "I know how it works… but I'm afraid to ask him what drove him to do this."

"It stays between me and him," Demios returned. "Unless he's willing to talk about it with you, then that's that. But that makes me think of another thing." The sudden comment made me look back to him. He stopped flying, now placing himself down on the pavement. He looked up at me with cold, stern eyes. "It's about what you and Arkaid talked about last night."

"About people ignoring something to be feared?"

"That's a part of our daily lives. Back on Darkness Dragon World we feared the world around us and fought hard, so I couldn't care less about it. What I'm on about is that comment you brought up and how she reacted." It was obvious to me what he was thinking. I found myself antsy all of a sudden. "Do you really feel that way?"

"… Demios, she's an intellectual, so I know that she must have a specific bar of who she'd accept." I shoved my hands into my sweatshirt pockets. They hung in a depressing tone as they moaned with each of my nervous sways. "And besides, it's wrong for me to be glad that things happened the way they did, but it's weird knowing that she could've never met me."

"You speak like she would've happily chosen someone else."

"Why wouldn't she? If the Yamigedo incident never happened, then we would've never met; plain and simple." My shoulders hung low as I leaned against a nearby wall. I stroked my chin with my right hand, feeling my facial hair with each stroke. I tried to ponder to myself; why was I getting upset now of all times? Why can't I feign a feeling of content? I come across as such a child! "I thought we already covered this last night. It's fine. I'm fine. There's no reason to keep talking about it."

"There is. You're affected by it."

"Why should you care? You're the leader of a military group. Why should you care about the feelings of one guy?"

"Because," Demios began. He walked up to me, staring sternly into my eyes. "Meaningless or not, what one feels can make or break a soldier. If a loyal soldier breaks down, that's the true death of them. Even though they're protected by the curse, if one's soul finally gives up on everything, then it is all over; nothing can be done unless that person is mended and able to fight once again."

"I can still fight, Demios," I returned back. "… Wait, what am I saying? I'm not some military man, and I'm not broken and in need of mending. I'm merely accepting a fact and I'm a bit bothered by it. That's it."

"So you admit it is bothering you."

"Demios. Stop." I shook my head back to him. "I'm fine. She's fine. We're all fine. Nothing's wrong with us."

"How can I be sure that you're fine?" Demios asked curiously.

"Because, to be honest, even though it is great to have one, I don't need a buddy," I coldly turned to him. Confused, he motioned backward for a moment. "In my eyes, I can't even take a buddy's words anymore. Even Arkaid's word is doubted at the back of my mind. After the three others left, I got used to it. But, if she's going to leave, I want her to go before we get too close."

Demios crossed his arms. He found the situation to be fairly perplexing. He looked around, noticing that no one else was nearby. "Strange," he muttered back to me. "I haven't heard you mention much about your old buddies. Did they leave?"

"… This will only stay between you and me. Got it?" Demios sternly nodded. It was weird… I was taking his word over someone like Arkaid's, but seeing as how the Purgatory Knights practically had to fight through hell and back, utilizing their brotherhood as the main means of power, it made sense to me to trust such a group. "Liam knows about this too. Fortunately, he's keeping quiet about it, but other than him... Well... Everyone thinks the previous three buddies that were with me only left because they had an urgent matter to attend to." I found myself kneeling down to Demios, getting even closer to him. My voice grew quieter as I struggled to let the last few words out. "… The truth is, I have no idea why they left."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, one day they were here, and the next day they were gone." It… was definitely hard to express such a truth. The information appeared to weigh me down, making it difficult to stand myself back up. I took in a deep breath before letting off a long sigh. The coast was still clear. Everything else that could be audible to anyone else could be interpreted as something else. I knew it was fine to speak on normal terms. "I felt… betrayed, after that. After losing three buddies like that, how could I bring myself to trust Arkaid who, after realizing the truth, could only contact me because I was the only one who'd give her the time?"

"That's… definitely a conundrum," Demios retorted. He crossed his arms and stared at the pavement beneath his dragon-like feet. "If any of the Purgatory Knights attempted to betray me, I'd feel skeptical myself. You were left alone."

"And they left notes, in their handwriting too," I quickly replied. "They were all so fucking vague. They just talked about how they couldn't stay, they just couldn't."

"Did you keep the notes?"

"No, I trashed them," I returned. "I was afraid that, if anyone found them, then they'd think I did something crazy to drive them all off."

"I… can't help but admit that such an idea wouldn't be too crazy to believe."

"Exactly," I moaned. "If they saw those notes, and put that together with the fact that three buddies left me, why would another one want to trust me?"

"So this is your true issue."

"I just… can't see myself as worthy after what happened. If…." I couldn't help but start to trail off. Nervously, I coughed multiple times in hopes of clearing my throat. My voice was starting to strain. "If… something was really wrong with me, and I end up driving her off, then it makes me dream that the Omni Lords didn't lose their reputation, then Arkaid wouldn't waste her time on me."

"… You and Liam are very similar." The sudden statement broke me from my tirade. Demios glared up at me. He gave off a confident aura as he spoke, demanding that I give him my attention. "You and Liam both feel like a burden to us, despite me feeling like I'm a burden to him." He looked away from me for a moment. "… It makes me wonder; what if she feels like a burden to you?"

"How in the hell would that be?"

"You place her in too high regard," Demios returned. "She's nervous about something."

"There's no way she is. She's too strong for that."

"… I respect you for that," Demios replied with a strong smile. "Regardless, I appreciate you telling me your feelings. Now I'm truly confident in this truth; you and Liam are the same, yet different."

"You mentioned something like that before," I replied. "We're going along the same path, yet different."

"I'm glad to have met you. You've influenced Liam and his actions more than you know."

I didn't have enough time to retort that. Right when I was about to respond, a familiar voice entered my right ear. It came across as abnormally soft. For her to use such a softer voice… it wasn't normal for her. "Hey, guess it's good to meet up here." When Demios and I turned, I saw my boss standing before me with Halia on her right shoulder. Even though Ms. Fridrik's face didn't give me any clues, Halia's beak drooped forward as she hunched her back slightly. It was enough to tell me that something was completely off. "From the looks of things, you two didn't eat breakfast yet. Where's Arkaid?"

"She's at home with Liam. I wanted to get breakfast with Demios when I got your text, boss."

"Alright, then I might as well cut to the chase," she continued. She appeared to be visibly nervous, but she wasn't giving me many clues to run on. The only main clue was Halia, for she appeared to be parroting what Ms. Fridrik was feeling; doubt, weariness, and sadness. Ms. Fridrik must've been so focused on trying to keep herself composed that she was ignoring Halia and her feelings. "Chase, I just wanted you to know that we were able to identify some of the traits of Master Eirik."

"Wait, when did this happen?"

"It actually… happened yesterday, around the time you were getting checked up."

"I could've postponed that until after the visit," I hastily returned. Ms. Fridrik was unmoved by my sudden comment. "Boss, why are you trying to go out of your way to keep me from getting involved?"

"Before, it's because of your inexperience in the field. However, after you witnessed the crime scene, I knew that you aren't ready to take part in this investigation."

"Hold on, what do you mean by that?"

"I'm putting you on a paid suspension." My mind went blank after that. I twitched repeatedly as my brain gave out, attempting to revive itself as it tried to process the information given to me. It was just too surreal to process what she had just stated to me. "We have reason to suspect that you are in need of some time off after how you reacted to the crime scene and how you influenced the murder."

"I-It wasn't my fault, Boss!"

She nodded back. "… Yes, I'm aware of that now. That gets to my next point; I apologize for mistreating you the way I did, Chase."

"Boss, that doesn't bother me anymore. I just want to know why you're keeping me away from the very thing that brought us all here in the first place!"

"It's only for this week," Ms. Fridrik returned. "After that, you'll be allowed to return back to the field and work with your friends. Until then, however, I expect you not to get involved. Do not play the hero."

Demios scoffed back at her. "How do we know that you're not doing this out of anger?"

"Trust me, when I brought the information we found, Chase was commended," she began. "A few of the people above us stated that there was a chance we could've missed all of it. Another one stated that, if Chase's group didn't get involved, and if another random team beat Hoshi, then the body would've been found and no one would've known until much later, especially since it was only because of Chase's group that the body was ever found."

I interjected. "But that's based on the possibility that the guy was murdered by his boss for disobeying orders! That's coincidental at best!"

"Not when the backgrounds of the other victims showed such barbaric histories, including that of deceit and betrayal," Ms. Fridrik returned. "In our cases, it was just enough to keep the investigation going. It may not seem like much to you, but for right now this is our means of tackling this, and I hope that you will remain uninvolved." Ms. Fridrik mustered up an intense stare. She pierced my eyes as her posture made her almost grow. She appeared to make me feel small in comparison to the kind of power she appeared to wield. Yet, on her shoulder, Halia remained distraught and saddened. "Is. That. Clear. Chase?"

"… Yes, Boss."

"Good, then I hope you two enjoy your breakfast. Do not show up at the HQ unless it's for a visit or psyche analysis. That is all." She turned away, starting off for the next block. It was then that her buddy turned back to me. Halia appeared to cry as she slowly turned her head away. It was fortunate for them that they couldn't see me, for my right hand was curled into an intense fist. I hated this. This was complete bullshit.

Demios scoffed back at them before turning to me. "Don't let 'er get to you," the dragon roared lowly. "She'll see that discarding you will cost her yet."

But it didn't cost her, especially what happened afterward. If anything, it simply left me feeling more alone and underprepared for the threat due to come.