Ebony wore a confident look after revealing her most ambitious plan, the one that would solve all her problems: going in search of the Eyes of God.
"The Eyes of God? What a great name… for a children's fairy tale!" Daniel shouted angrily, trying to break free from the roots.
"I don't know what you mean, idiot, but the Eyes of God do exist, and I know it because I had them at one point… Well, more or less…" Ebony said before letting out a sigh.
The blonde looked at her companions with confused eyes, but just moments ago one of them had been trying to kill her, the same one she had saved days earlier.
At that moment, she couldn't help but feel bad. They had faced dangers together, so she couldn't avoid looking at Daniel with sadness. When he noticed her gaze, he felt guilty and looked away.
"Alright… I guess if we're going to drag all the secrets out tonight, we might as well do it properly…" the girl said, looking at Lucian.
"When I said I knew where the treasure you're looking for was, I exaggerated a bit. I don't know exactly where to find it, but I do know how to find the treasure of the Eyes of God… Because in my previous life, I knew their world," Ebony said, then lowered her gaze.
"I don't want our relationship to fracture any more than it already has, especially because of me… I know Visitors are dangerous to your world… But I don't want any of that Hero bullshit or anything like that," Ebony said while looking Daniel in the face.
The boy, now a bit calmer, couldn't help but feel guilty about his outburst of anger. It wasn't easy to learn something of that magnitude, but after a moment of calm, he let out a sigh.
"Listen, I appreciate that you saved my life… But Visitors are bad news no matter what… I guess I'm not in a position to judge you… Just explain yourself so we can finally go to sleep," the boy said, trying to calm his thoughts.
Lucian saw his companions confused and angry with each other, so after a long sigh he looked at them both with melancholy.
"Alright, idiots, I'll explain something important. I come from another world, one where…" Ebony stopped, thinking about whether it was fair to mention the detail that for her all of this had been a game in her world.
"…One where I was able to see fragments of your world's history. I can't give many details, but I can say that I was part of your history for a brief moment… At least, I think I was…" the blonde said, remembering the hours she had spent on that continent.
"Maybe you won't believe it… But I loved this world more than I loved my own… And I still do. That's why I don't intend to seek its destruction… But I do want to achieve my dreams, and I wouldn't mind helping you achieve yours," the blonde said, averting her gaze slightly out of embarrassment at her own words.
"Listen… I don't know where you got the idea that it's a children's story, but it's real, completely real… (I think…) And when we have both eyes in hand, we'll be able to summon the forgotten god who watches over this world. When that happens, we can ask for a gift or a favor of any kind," the blonde said seriously.
"I see… Have you seen that god before? Do you know where those damn eyes are?" Lucian asked, intrigued by the possibility of the existence of such a divine artifact.
"Of course I have, well… kind of. It's just that I didn't manage to stay alive long enough to see him, but I do know where one of the eyes is. It's in a hidden temple… Let's see, it was in…" Ebony said, recalling moments from her previous life.
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In the middle of a hall filled with chairs facing a large stage stood Ebon. He was watching the people in charge of the "Towers and Legends Board" tournament in the middle of their big reveal before the penultimate day of the tournament began.
"Welcome, players from all over the world! We know this has been a crazy week in this tournament, where we broke the record for the most participants in the entire history of MOBAs!" shouted an enthusiastic man with a thick beard and a cap as he gave the opening speech.
"First of all, let me thank you for your support of our beloved game, especially with the non-linear MMORPG version that has been growing year after year. But as you already know, the tenth anniversary is approaching, and don't think we forgot about that."
The man in the cap paused his speech for a moment, then pointed with one hand at the giant screen above the stage. On it, a night sky appeared, with a white line cutting across the entire panorama.
"To celebrate this great year, we'll begin with the major event of…" the man said, holding his breath.
Suddenly, at the start of the line, an ornate title appeared on the screen reading "Forgotten Kingdom." The title looked frozen, with bones adorning the letters.
"Forgotten Kingdom! An event that will finally break the great northern barrier that prevented your visit to lands ruled by ice during the day and the northern lights at night!" As he spoke each word, the screen began to change, showing scenes from the new expansion.
"In this place, incredible challenges await us that I can't mention yet. This will last for the first third of the year! And then we'll move on to the next major event… The Awakening of the Forgotten God!" he shouted excitedly, pointing at the screen as it displayed a title with the words he had just mentioned.
That title was adorned with stars and a pair of glowing eyes decorating the O's, which excited the people present so much that they stood up from their seats, clapping loudly and shouting.
Since the game's launch, it had dropped hints event after event about the existence of the Forgotten God. It was the game's greatest mystery, and players had waited years to learn the secret surrounding this entity.
"We know how much you've speculated about this secret, we know how badly you wanted to learn more about this mysterious god! And at last, at last, we're going to reveal it! But of course, in due time. For now, I've been authorized to reveal two important details," he said, raising his arm and showing two fingers.
"First, to summon this god, just as many of you suspected and with no surprises, you'll need to find the crystallized eyes of the god to perform the summoning," the presenter said proudly, lowering one finger and pointing the other at the audience as if challenging them.
"And second! I'll give you a hint so that you champions from all over the world who've made it this far in the tournament can have an advantage in this search!" With a huge smile and a defiant look, the presenter pointed at the screen.
On the massive monitor, a cinematic began to play. A lady dressed in white, with a sweet voice, began singing a lullaby, until she turned to face the audience with bright blue eyes that seemed to look directly at Ebon.
At that moment, as if it were a twist of fate, the girl in white clothes formed a smile, and for a brief instant, her eyes became just like a cat's.