Further talks on what path to take halted abruptly as John's phone buzzed. Checking the screen, he saw a message from Fae. He turned to Alice. "Hold on a moment, I need to take a quick break. Keep watch, will you? This is really important."
Alice gave him a puzzled look but nodded, her hand still resting on the hilt of her scythe. John found a relatively clean spot by a chipped street pole and sat down, his thumb hovering over Fae's message.
"Okay, not sure how things are on your side, but Jay's already got some survivors here. He said he found them wandering and invited them over. Sounds like they were at some sort of party when everything went to hell. Their classes aren't anything spectacular, but they don't seem to have been taken over by… them, unlike some of the others Jay mentioned seeing. There are seven of them total, all varying ages.
"Two swordsmen, probably around twenty-one? A builder who I think is a grandfather to one of them. Then there's a farmer; from what I gathered, he was a father but his daughter succumbed to the madness and left. Poor guy looked utterly heartbroken, really struggling to understand what's even happening. There's a chef around twenty, I think. And finally, two teens, around seventeen, who keep calling themselves 'magus' or something like that. Apparently, they were trying to sneak into the party when it all kicked off. The rest of the partygoers either fled in a panic, fell prey to the madness and begun yelling about ruling the world or ended up… well, as a mess of meat, or worse. Jay didn't want to elaborate, said it wasn't pretty and he didn't want me seeing it.
"He brought them back and has taken charge, even assigning jobs. Things are actually getting a mild level of organization here now in a very short amount of time. We figured early structure would help in the long run. It could make us safer, especially since he can use his class to form parties and increase our odds of making it through, or at least give us a solid foothold.
"I do think there was some combat, though. He seemed mentally or emotionally exhausted, not so much physically but there was a lot of blood on his clothes. He just said he didn't want to talk about it and left right after changing. I'm going to try talking to him when he gets back, or maybe get him to talk to you. You two might be able to help each other through this, similar experiences and all after all. As for me, I'm currently on organization and admin duty, tracking what supplies and everything else we currently have to keep me busy."
A pause, then: "How are things on your side? How are you feeling? How have things been going over there?"
John couldn't help but crack a small smile, shaking his head gently as he finished reading.
"Oh? Who's this? Your girlfriend? An unrequited love? Ooh, a love triangle!"
John almost jumped out of his skin as Alice's voice sounded out startlingly close came from directly behind him. He spun to find her leaning precariously over his shoulder, almost on top of him, yet somehow perfectly balanced on the shaft of her scythe. For a full beat, he simply stared trying to process her words. When the realization hit, he straightened, determined to set her straight before her imagination could sprint any further.
"None of that," he stated firmly. "She's my best friend. We've never actually met in person, but we're closer than most siblings, oddly enough. We've always tried to be there for each other, to help and support one another." He paused, looking away for a moment. "She's also just as much of a loon as I am. She understands what I say and doesn't dismiss my 'dreams' my mental buddies or shadow friends as signs of insanity, instability or as an overactive imagination. Instead, she tells me about her own. She stands by me and we bounce ideas back and forth well trying to figure out what the heck is actually going on. We even bridged our mindscape place things to a limited degree, shielding each other with our own energies. And yes," he anticipated her reaction, "I know how 'hippie' or 'chuunibyou' or even insane that might sound but it is what it is. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way."
Alice watched him, a confused expression slowly morphing into something else entirely. She reached out, patted him gently on the head and then pulled him into her chest, holding him in a surprisingly warm embrace.
"Don't worry," she murmured, her voice soft but firm. "I understand. You were such a loner and an outcast that the sudden changes were too much for you and your mind finally snapped. But you have me here with you now. We can wander the paths of madness together! Sanity is way overrated anyway, who needs it?"
John felt her grip tighten, but with a light push, he managed to free his head and prompt her to loosen her hold. "Well, I can't say I disliked that," he admitted, a flush rising to his cheeks from where she held his head. "Honestly, I doubt many guys would. But this probably isn't the best time for... something like that. Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch while I reply to my friend and talk to her for a little bit?" He didn't deny her assessment of his sanity, however.
"Oh, right!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes widening. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think we should commandeer one of the houses here and rest for the night before leaving when the sun comes up. Then we can see better without relying on your beloved fire to see and you won't have to worry so much about being attacked from the shadows, like what happened earlier. Honestly, it was kind of dumb luck that I even managed to save you back then, happy I did thoug, because I got Mister Stabby Stick from it! But still, I don't really know if I'd manage it a second time and I'd prefer you alive so more fights can happen, as opposed to you being dead from some kind of accident or idiocy or both."
John frowned. "I really want to get home though. I need to check on my family. No doubt my parents have no idea how to handle this and my brother... well, he would have definitely snapped in some way due to all this and not in the happy-go-lucky way you often show, but more of a bloodthirsty psycho way."
Alice placed a hand on her hip, her head tilted, a smug grin spreading across her face as if she just knew she was right. "You can't check on them if you're dead though. And you know I'm right. Heck, ask your special bestest buddy and they will agree with me. Call it a woman's intuition."
With a sigh, John decided to do exactly that. He began to type out his reply:
"Hey Fae, Glad things are slowly getting organized on your end. As for Jay, please do try to get him to talk to me, even if you have to push a little. He needs to get it out. The fact that I went through something similar, even if it doesn't offer direct comfort, might make him feel less alone. Sometimes that helps more than anyone realizes. See if you can find a way to link him to our chats. If he's a gamer, maybe he has a party chat function or something we can leverage to connect. Either way, he will need to talk about it, so just be there for him but don't push too hard.
As for your current job, I can't think of anyone more trustworthy for it. You'll definitely keep everything in order. But keep an eye on those 'magus' guys. Hopefully it's nothing, but if they're like the ones I've read about in manga or seen in anime, they might be far more trouble than they're worth.
So, on this side, I made a new friend? Her name is Alice. She saved my life a little earlier from a scythe-wielding guy who came from the shadows. She feels we should take shelter for the night since it's getting dark and continue in the morning when the sun is up, to avoid any further ambushes and because things might be quieter in the morning. What do you think?"
Alice, still peering over his shoulder, nodded along to his words, then poked his cheek. "Why add the question mark after 'friend' when you referred to me? Aren't we friends?"
Alice looked at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, her lower lip trembling. John felt a familiar pang of exasperation mixed with pity, a feeling that always conjured the image of a kicked puppy in his mind, a particularly pathetic and disabled kicked puppy.
"I'll correct that with my next message," he assured her, trying to placate the sudden storm, "but are you absolutely certain you want to be referred to as just a friend? Not my super amazing protector who saved my life? The super amazing Alice girl who is good at everything she does, the most beautiful and charming person around, gracing me with her presence as my travel companion?"
His words, it seemed, did their job too well as Alice instantly brightened, puffing out her chest and tilting her chin with the self-satisfied air of a preening peacock. "Indeed, you are quite lucky this one has chosen to go with you," she declared, her voice now overly sweet. "But we are friends, first and foremost. At least, that's how I see you since you will be giving me so much fun and I truly hope you feel the same. Otherwise, Mister Stabby Stick might get upset and feel the need to poke you until you do."
Her smile was wide and unsettling, her eyes half-lidded as she casually gestured with the scythe in her hand, its polished blade catching the last rays of the fading light. A shiver, not entirely of cold, traced a path down John's spine.
"I understand," he said quickly, inching away almost imperceptibly. "We're special friends, you and I and I'll make sure she knows it."
Just then, his phone buzzed and Fae's message flashed onto the screen.
"Are you alright?!?! Damn it, you need to be careful! I'm glad your new friend was at least there to protect you, but you're also going to need to get stronger. You can't expect to always rely on her. I'll let Jay know we need to watch the magus guys and I'll do what I can to get him in contact with you. And I do fully agree with her: get some shelter for the night, keep safe and when the sun's up you can continue on. It would also give things a bit of time to settle and a bunch of the people you'd encounter may move on. Even if some might set traps, if this girl has saved you once she will do it again for visible traps or keep you out of them. I'm not saying full-on trust her but she did save your life where she could have just left you to die and then killed the guy. You also need a small rest to come to grips with everything and have a small break. Got to go, need to finish taking stock and organizing rest areas, then sort guard shifts and rest times. I know it's still early, but you should also try to rest if you can."
John sighed, a sound that seemed to have become a constant companion lately. Alice, however, grinned wide and triumphant with a smile full of sharp teeth. "I told you so," she sang, a cheerful lilt in her voice. "Now let's go. That house up ahead looks wide open. Let's check it out; I think we can rest there tonight."
As John pushed himself to his feet, they made their way towards the silhouette of an old house not too far away. The front door lay in splinters, forced outwards. They moved cautiously, sweeping through each room and finding plenty of dried bloodstains and trails leading to the broken door. To John's immense relief, there were no bodies.
"This side," Alice instructed, gesturing to a surprisingly intact bedframe in a back room. "You get some rest. I'll take first watch. Then you can be lookout and wake me if anything happens or you see anything."
John started to protest, but a stern look from Alice, coupled with a slight, almost imperceptible shift of Mister Stabby Stick in her hands, silenced him. He nodded, resigned and lay down. The moment his head hit the pillow he felt the true depth of his exhaustion. The bed, surprisingly soft, seemed to swallow him whole and he drifted into unconsciousness quicker than he thought possible.
Silently, Alice walked over to his sleeping form. Her eyes lingered on his face for a moment before she turned to a nearby dresser. Opening a drawer, she retrieved a small, slender stick that emitted an almost unnoticeable wisp of smoke, that let off a faint, sweet smell that clung to the air. A smile played on her lips as she tucked it away.
"It would be so easy to end you right now," she whispered, her voice barely a breath. "A little jab through the heart, to slit your throat, to tie you up and carve you up as you bleed to death, a stab to the head or a vital organ… oh, if I stabbed you in the liver, that would be a wonderfully slow death." Her eyes, though, were gleaming with madness and a chilling bloodlust. "Be glad, then, that I want you alive. Honestly, if that thing hadn't said anything, I would have probably killed you back then instead of just watching. Now, let's see what makes you so interesting, shall we? Maybe you'll give me a nice fight once you grow stronger."
She reached out, her fingers hovering just inches from his cheek, before stopping. Instead, slowly and deliberately, she reached down and took John's phone. Pulling a small, rickety chair close to the bedside, she settled herself.
"Well, seems I'm on guard duty," Alice murmured to the unconscious John. "But that doesn't mean I can't be entertained at the same time. Let's see what music you have on here and any possible secrets, shall we? You're probably going to be out cold for at least six hours. Flower brew is dangerously potent, after all for those not used to it."
And with that she began scrolling through his phone, a predatory gleam in her eyes.