Tales From The Kronos

Emely woke up in front of a big castle. She was lost at first, but quickly remembered the reason why she was here in the first place. Her clothes were different, instead of the orange and black uniform of the Kronos, she had a kind of medieval armor on her. A voice suddenly echoed, like it was coming from the sky.

*Emely, can you hear us?*

"Gwyn, is that you?" Emely asked when she recognized the voice of the doctor.

*Yes, we really can communicate. We can't see anything though.*

"It's fine." Answered Emely with confidence "I have a sword, what could go wrong?"

When she looked around, she noticed some pawprints on the ground, leading to the castle. Without hesitation, she ran into the castle.

The insides of the castle were foggy, making it hard to navigate. Not only that, but it didn't seem to follow any logic. Hallways leading to nowhere, doors leading to empty rooms. It was hard to find the way, but Emely wasn't going to give up.

She opened a door like she did before, except that this time, a sort of slime was waiting behind it.

"Aww, he's so cute. It makes me want to pet it."

She walked toward it, but instead of being friendly, the slime attacked Emely, bashing her violently.

"Hey, that hurt!"

Emely took her sword and hit back, instantly exploding the slime.

*Are you alright? What happened?*

"I don't know, a cute ball attacked me, you really can't trust anyone! I shouldn't have activated pain while building the simulation."

Emely continued her exploration, keeping herself on her guard. Walking around the empty castle made her regret toying around with virtual worlds.

She kept going farther into the castle, easily killing any enemies on her way. It almost seemed too easy, which she wasn't expecting.

"Aren't video games supposed to be challenging? I feel like I'm way too powerful for them."

*Is it not because you have the leader's items? I don't know much about video games, but if she played for a while she must have gotten some powerful things.*

"Maybe." Emely suddenly stopped and frantically searched in her pockets. She figured that there were maybe some interesting things that could help her. All she could find was a bunch of keys, at least a hundred potions, and a diary, which left her disappointed "I thought I'd have a gun, not a journal..."

*Maybe it's a magical one?*

Emely opened it without any hope, she read out loud, to make sure the others could hear.

"Neige found my diary. He said he won't read it, but just in case I'll write here instead. What are the odds that he would play this game after all, he always says it's boring."

*Is it the leader's actual diary?*

"What? I don't want to read that, it's personal. I think that I shouldn't look at it." Emely said those words but kept reading the journal with a guilty mind "That page is funny, she wrote that she forgets names easily, so she wrote them in her diary to not forget."

*I thought you didn't want to read it?*

"Come on, aren't you curious? Neige's last name is Luck apparently, but she made a mistake with Silva's name."

*Really? It's weird.*

"I know, right? She wrote that her last name was Nilla, but Silva told me her last name was Gina. Do you think it's because she trusts me more than the leader?"

*No Emely, Silva's name is Nilla. She just was joking with you.*

"That would be a weird thing to joke about, and why would she lie about it?"

*Her name is Silva.*

"Yeah?"

*And she told you her last name was Gina...*

"I still don't understand why she would lie about it."

Gwyn's voice was silent for a moment. She let out a sigh, before talking again.

*Just stay innocent Emely. Can you search for Cinnamon now?*

"Wait, there's cool stuff in here. Did you know that Silva's birthday was the 6th of July?"

*July? It's probably a thing from her world.*

Emely continued to flip through the pages, absorbed by the knowledge in her hands.

"She really writes a lot about us, did you know that Silva's favorite food was croissant?... What's a croissant?"

*Emely... Are you just looking at information on Silva?*

"Me? Nooo, I hate Silva. I just... Happen to find pages about her." Emely was glad that Gwyn wasn't here to see her blush, and continued to read the diary "Hey, there's a page about the game! I'll read it, maybe it has useful information."

Emely cleared her throat, preparing to read the page.

"I really love that game, it's the only place I feel comfortable in. I don't have to think about the universe, my duties, or my fears. I just walk around and finish the same dungeon for the thousand times. Well... Maybe it doesn't work so well. I'm still writing about my problems, even while playing. I just wish I could talk with the others, Neige isn't always here, and loneliness is getting to me. Is it going to be forever like that? I doubt there's a way to fix the world once and for all. I should stop now, I'm just depressing myself."

Emely closed the book and slowly put it in her pocket before hearing Gwyn's voice again.

*You're satisfied? You can go search for Cinnamon now?*

"Y... Yes." Emely took her sword back in her hand, ready to move forward "When the leader's back, we should throw a party for her. I'm sure it will make her happy."

*It's not a bad idea, but for now, focus.*

"Okay, I still didn't find a map though. For someone that played this game for so long, she's not well prepared."

Emely continued through the castle, making her way upward. She wasn't sure it was the right way, but she felt like she was making progress at least. She continued to slay all enemies on her path like it was nothing, boring her more and more.

"Is that how Silva feels when she goes on missions? It doesn't feel that exciting."

*What did you expect? She's not going to amusement parks. By the way, it's funny how you talk about her so much lately.*

"This dumb bat? She just is so annoying, I can't stop thinking about her."

*Can't stop thinking about her, huh?*

When Emely realized what she said she blushed even harder, and even if no one saw her, she hid her face in embarrassment.

"I meant that she's so troublesome, I can't stop thinking about the problems she brings."

*I think that it's not the only reason. Are you jealous of her because she goes on adventures?*

"Well... It's possible, I'd like to go on adventures too."

*I can always talk about it with the leader, we'll find an easy adventure where you could replace Silva.*

"What? No, I should replace Neige or Sepide, since you know... I think it would be better like that."

Emely could hear Gwyn chuckle a bit, before taking her serious tone again.

*So you want to go on adventures with Silva, right?*

"No, it's just that we happen to go on adventures together that way. I'm not trying to go with her."

*Come on Emely, it's just me and you, you can be honest.*

Emely thought for a moment, still unsure what to think.

"I am being honest..."

*So, what do you think of Silva?*

Emely wasn't sure what to answer. It was still a bit hazy for her, but she tried her best to answer how she could.

"I just wish she'd take care of herself better. She goes to see you almost every day."

*Don't worry, I take care of that part. And what about her as a person?*

"Well, she's pretty cool. She's blind, but she still manages to go on missions. And when she trains, she really looks determined and strong. I insult her a lot, but as she said, it's just our way of communicating now. I just wish I could tell her to keep going and not give up instead of saying that her paintings suck."

*It seems like you have a lot of respect and admiration for her.*

"Yeah, I wish we could be good friends instead." Emely realized that she had been smiling ever since she started talking about Silva. She would have been embarrassed if Gwyn could see her and considered herself lucky no one could.

*Only good friends? I feel like there's more to it."

"I don't think she'd be interested in more, only being friends is enough."

*You know, I'm kind of her therapist.*

"I think everyone figured it was something like that."

*Yes, and she tell me things she never said to anyone. Like for example, how would you feel if I told you she thought about kissing you?*

"Ki-Ki-Kiss?" Emely had a face as red as a tomato, and asked with a voice full of hope "Is it true?"

*No, it wasn't. I was just curious to know your reaction.*

Emely suddenly stopped blushing and took a neutral expression, trying very hard to hide her frustration.

"You're a horrible therapist." Said Emely while pouting.

*I'm a pharmacist, not a therapist. I don't understand why I became Silva's therapist in the first place. Anyway, I don't even think that Silva is into girls, but you should probably talk to her about your feelings, even if you don't talk about your romantic feelings for her.*

"I don't have romantic feelings! You took me by surprise!"

Emely suddenly noticed Cinnamon, walking right in front of her. He was in a big room with a throne inside it. She smiled cheerily and ran toward him, trying to catch him.

*Either way, it's important to talk about it to her. I'm sure she has similar feelings for you and wishes she could be friends with you.*

Gwyn waited for an answer from Emely. Only the silence acted as her answer, worrying her a little.

*Emely? Are you just being shy?*

Despite waiting for a few more minutes, not a single sound came out to her, only silence.

*Emely? Are you okay? Answer me!*