Shining with our Buddy Lights

“Why, thank you, Tasuku-kun. You’re not going to try and pile them on now, are you? That’ll just look silly.”

Standing back up, he hadn’t a mirror to take a gander at his reflection, but he was sure this western style accessory did not suit him in the slightest. (He’d still don it proudly, regardless!) Offering a smile at such an endearing youth, he was happy to admit to that even a closet pessimist like himself could garner some hope for the future ahead of them. Especially when kids like Tasuku were at the forefront and trying so hard.

“You’re leaving already? This was a rather short-lived party... But it can’t be helped, I guess. If you need to get a weapon, then that’s that.”

A pause, before a new idea came to mind.

To himself, all he ever noted was his ability to remain composed no matter the situation. Perhaps that gave others the impression that he was reliable and thus…

Arriving in Sanctorum, where the undead were already purging the streets, the young prince was hopelessly disadvantaged given his lack of experience… not to mention the functions of Eliesium were haywiring and disabling their primary skills and abilities from the get go. Not only had Aichi been classed on the more passive and support side, but without even a sword to swing in defense, he was vulnerable, useless.

Taking what supplies and goods he could salvage in the warring mess Aichi encountered a group of children NPC under his wing; in the goodness of his heart, he fled Sanctorum with them in hopes of finding a place they could take refuge in, at least until a patch was distributed. 

Weed was far from their reach, and with the NPCs complaining about their tired feet and empty stomachs, Aichi had no choice but to make a pit stop. Anostos, seemed a bit more welcoming, in terms of the spread of zombies, but there were still remnants of a larger threat looming within the shadows. The hungering scavengers perched atop abandoned buildings also eyed them with starved spite, probably in hopes that they drop dead and become their next meal. Even when this sent shivers down the young prince’s spine, he pressed on, entering a collapsing cathedral as their rest spot. Hopefully the greater deity of this ghost town would still watch over them. That was Aichi’s hope. As the children all sat around and curled up on the broken pews, Aichi caught a glimpse of flowers growing in the patches of sunlight and heading over.  

“Oh, these are alstromeria.”

The paler kind, a wishful flower. It was inspiring that, despite there being no life in Anostos, these flora still rebelliously remained. Aichi folding his hands together and giving his own prayer for their safety, he then bent down and gently stroked the fragile petals. Not that it ever did much to simply hope, but it was better than nothing in such a time of crisis. Attracting the childrens’ attention, and humoring them with the little knowledge he had retained about plants, he was also thoughtful enough to pass around some food, taking the smallest piece of bread for himself and eating it sparingly. 

Playing the part of a braver prince, was tolling on his mental state, and as the days whittled on by, Aichi had less and less energy to spare. Their supplies were close to running out and the situation had gotten to the point where Aichi the occasionally run out to gather more food and medicine was now a daily norm.  Staying just on the outskirts of Anostos, just so that he would be able to retreat back to the cathedral if need be, the young prince–with his newly acquired sharpened stick–carefully trekked the area on high alert. Of course, at the slightest hint of abnormal movement, he swung back in reflex, probably not able to hurt anyone in the slightest, but it was to garner himself a preemptive attack in order to follow suit and flee upon confirming danger.

Few zombies could amble through the thick undergrowth of the forested path that the two had decided to take, and the monsters that circled above couldn’t pick out their targets through the canopy. 

"We’re getting close to Sanctorum again... I don’t think we should go any farther than this, though. It’s probably still overrun by zombies. Hm...?”

A towering, decrepit archway caught his attention, and beside it, a sign that read “TURN BACK NOW.” That was ominous if anything, but there were no moans of the undead coming from the place. Perhaps...?

“Maybe we’ll find something in there.  You wanna check it out, Chronicle-san?”

As they entered the city limits, a chill settled over Tasuku, feeling the hair on the back of his neck prickle. There was something very unsettling about this place.

“It’s...really creepy here, huh. Maybe not even the zombies wanted to stay here.”

But as the two turned a corner, another figure suddenly emerged, brandishing a sharpened stick. Tasuku stepped back in reflex, nearly colliding with Chronicle.

“Tasupani!!”

Acting quickly before the situation could escalate any further, Chrono dashed upwards and struck at the branches entangled around Tasupani’s flailing body. Failing to land any damage against the armor-like bark with just his bare fists, Chrono was dealt a penalty in HP deduction as he felt his knuckles crack and burst uncomfortably, forcing him to fall back. Panicking to find a method of retaliation, the redheaded Vagrant could think of nothing better than searching for a weak spot, keeping the haunted willow preoccupied and away from any plans of consuming his partner with its splintered jaws. Striking at its main body and roots seemed to be effecting no change in response, and as Chrono failed to resolve their situation, Tasupani’s suffering increased in result. No…. no, this was far more terrifying than any nightmarish fiend he could ever encounter, and the thought of losing his only party member–his only friend–was driving Chrono’s sanity bar to its pits. 

No… no…! I haven’t even done anything for you! But I can’t do anything… my attacks are so useless! I… I—!

“STOP!! Let go of him!! You–!!”

“Nngh...!”

He felt the claws tighten around him, even as Chronicle fought to free him. It was a crushing grip, suffocating him as the hardened bark of the monster dug into his unprotected arms and legs and drew blood. His own HP was depleting slowly, and with every point it dropped, he could feel the pain accentuating. He could barely breathe...

“Ch...Chronicle-san...”

His voice left him as a strangled plea. But Chronicle hadn’t abandoned him yet. The redhead fought ferociously, even at the expense of his own health and sanity. And his ferocious assault on the monster was having an effect. As the monster’s grip loosened on Tasuku, he felt the air rush into his lungs again, almost painfully. And as the claw loosened further, Tasuku was able to coax his sword out of its hilt.

“Hah...!”

Swinging upwards, he failed to slice the claw off completely--the sword he had recovered was nothing more than a training sword, much like the one Tasuku had started with. But it was enough, and he tumbled from the monster’s grasp, landing unsteadily on his feet.

Ignoring the throbbing in his leg, he rushed forward with his sword, intercepting the other reaching claw with a powerful swing from his sword.

“I won’t let you touch him!”

He felt the impact reverberate uncomfortably through his blade, his arm tingling and numb--though it had served its purpose. The claw retreated back as the monster let out an ugly, guttural roar...

Yet their attacks did so little. It was as if the bark acted as armour... But there had to be something. As Chronicle continued his assault, Tasuku’s eyes darted around for a weak spot, his eyes eventually settling upon the bright coloured “fruits.”

They must be part of its body too...!

“Okay, Tasupani…” Thank you, is what he wanted to add on top of that, but a swelling, dry tongue prevented him from doing so (in other words his nerves got the best of him, though his sheepish nod was probably a good indication of his feelings if anything.) Standing up, he joined the small swordsman at his stride, finding it hard to be too apprehensive when he had someone so determined in his party.

As they gathered some supplies from the outskirts as planned, it seemed to be going swimmingly; though of course, as the sun melted into the horizon, shadows began to play tricks on their eyes–every few seconds now, Chrono was turning his head or watching anxiously at the slightest hint of movement. The undead weren’t as frightening as implied but to think that Eldrich monsters may appear and send their sanity plummeting well… Chrono didn’t want to wait around and find out what the likes of those atrocities were meant to resemble.

There was a bounty of edibles in their area. Edible vegetation, fruits, nuts, roots... Some even resembled the foods of the real world. As he gathered fruits and nuts into his pouch, he glanced around for Chronicle.

Huh? Where’d he go?

Knotting up the pouch, he waded through the grasses until he caught sight of his partner’s back.

“Hey, let’s not go too far! We need to get back to--”

It was then he noticed the ever-so-subtle movement of the tree’s branches, almost mistakable for movements in the breeze...except there was no breeze. And from where Tasuku stood, it looked very much like--

“Chronicle-san!!”

Dropping the pouch, sprinted towards Chronicle and shoved him out of the way--

--but the monster suddenly reacted, its claws tightening abruptly around Tasuku in an iron grip and lifting him off his feet.

“–Mine’s… a little lower than halfway…”

There was no hesitation in his decision. Tasuku stood up again, waiting for his partner to do the same.

“It’s either our sanity or our hunger. When we stay together, our sanity won’t go down as quickly. And if we stay close to Weed, we can head back quickly if we’re in danger of it depleting completely. As long as we’re together, we won’t be in any danger of that. But my presence won’t stop your hunger.”

“The both of us are strong. We can fight and protect ourselves. But there may be others who are weaker, or who aren’t good at this game. Undeserving people who get dragged into the crossfire. Those are the people who’d need medicine more, don’t you think?”

The ability to protect others… the reassurance of knowing you’re capable of independency and in return have the ability to reach out to others.. Chrono had never had that before. He had never even considered it. Ever.

“Y… yeah…” –But perhaps it wasn’t too late to start. He wanted to bloom that feeling into something more… into something coherent and apart of himself–into what he could consider a goal or a future, at least in this game world. 

“Oh, that’s a good idea! And we’d be helping other people in the process, so it’s two birds, one stone. Good thinking, Chronicle-san.”

He nodded, a smile on his face, feeling satisfied with the plan they had settled on. It wasn’t the resistance work he’d been hoping for, but it was still something. Baby steps, right?

“Let’s make sure to take care of ourselves too. There’s no telling what’ll happen when any of these meters is depleted completely, and I don’t really want to find out. We can’t help others if we die ourselves.”

The Tasuku from a few months ago would have never said such a thing, blindly and recklessly throwing all of his resources into helping others without thinking of his own welfare. But it had been in folly; after all, how could he help other people if he wasn’t even well enough to do so?

“You…. even if it means disadvantaging or endangering yourself, you’ll do anything to protect others? Even when they’re probably just NPCs? Written code and data…?” Chrono was sure that the inhabitants of those hospitals were more likely a setting than an actual service, but from the looks of Tasupani’s straight expression, it didn’t seem to matter much at all. Did he really weigh the lives of the inhabitants in Eliesium equally? Such a strange young man…

“I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you if things go awry.”   

“Tasupani…”

“The both of us are strong. We can fight and protect ourselves. But there may be others who are weaker, or who aren’t good at this game. Undeserving people who get dragged into the crossfire. Those are the people who’d need medicine more, don’t you think?”

Perhaps it was silly. Perhaps Tasuku was being a fool. Perhaps the people that surrounded them were NPCs and it would have no bearing on the real world if they died. But...

“Stealing is wrong...”

And that was the core behind Tasuku’s reasoning. The purest sense of justice.

“Tch…….”

Retreating to a desolate spot, and catching wind of a few whispers–some not even worth overhearing at all–Chrono stared down at those large cerise hues beckoning him, sighing heavily before taking a seat. It was to be noted that Chrono always kept his distance with others, and Tasupani was no exception; the gap between them was simply his own way of retaining his distrustful and abrasive stubbornness, the likes of which spoke of a troubled past not knowing the warmth of others–in other words, a spurned loneliness. But as much as he hated being alone in actuality, he’d never out rightly admit that he needed someone else… That wasn’t how someone of an independent demeanor acted. And Chrono, lying to himself in every sense, was one of those very people indeed. It’s not like he was with Tasupani out of desperation… he was plenty strong even by himself! Even Tasupani had said so, praising Chrono’s strength on many the occasion.  We’re only together… because I owe him a great debt. That’s all…

Tasuku saw himself in Chronicle in that sense.

“Stealing, huh...”

That definitely went against his morals. Was it not indirectly stealing from the weak and helpless?

“I’m sorry. I can’t condone that, especially not from hospitals. But, Chronicle-san... Our skills are locked, so that should stop you from depleting your own HP until the whole thing blows over, right? It’s just that you fight so recklessly...”

Not that Tasuku had any right to be lecturing Chronicle in that way. Though poised and controlled in a fight, he was, unfortunately, reckless in other ways...

“If it’s a matter of life and death, then we don’t have a choice. But let’s leave that as a last resort, okay?”

Without a single item in his inventory, this presumptuous event was certainly becoming a lot more daunting than anything else Chrono had gone up against before. No sooner did they realize that potions were of no use to them, but that hunger was most definitely a real ailment–the knot curling itself at the pit of Chrono’s gut… it only seemed to exacerbate his slowly decaying sanity as well. Everything was just one big conundrum, huh? Chrono couldn’t help but exhale silently in his own frustrated self-turmoil. 

“We’re safe for now… You’re not injured, are you?”

As they slowed themselves down to a more comfortable pace now that they were away from Sanctorum’s wild battle field, the incessant throbbing in his bleeding knuckles suddenly came to mind. Without his proper equipment, he had been forced to use what he had, and that being his bare fists, which were now busted raw.  But in light of other dilemmas, it wasn’t worth mentioning, especially not on Tasupani’s case. 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

More like because Chrono had suffered far worse, but that was neither here nor there.

“Resistance?”

Well, if it was Tasupani’s decision to join up and salvage their cause, then the redheaded vagrant would follow suit. After all, he owed the other his life, and on his road to redemption from past sin, maybe this was exactly what he’d need to take the first big step towards his end goal. 

“… Okay.”

“Ehhh..?!” “N-no way… the Player Killer in our resistance party? N-no thanks..” “I’m not trusting that asshole with my life! I’m already balls deep in trouble haha…” “S-sorry! You’re on your own!”

“You…!”

–No matter how kindly, or desperately, Tasupani asked the refugees huddling together in Weed, they either chose to flee the scene entirely, or brush him off on the account of Chrono being his partner. It was far too much to handle, and with his sanity and hunger already at a halfway point, Chrono wasn’t about to let these cowards disrespect him this way. “You stupid or something?! We all need to work together! Can’t you see he just wants to work alongside you gutless losers?! If you’re going to insult my partner, then I’ll really give you something you should be afraid of–!”

“......”

They had arrived in Weed safely, but they were not received as well as Tasuku would’ve hoped. 

“Hey...”

But that couldn’t justify Chronicle’s temper either. Gently placing his hand over Chronicle’s fist, he slowly pushed his arm down.

“It’s alright. He doesn’t look like he’s leading the resistance, so let’s try to find out who is, okay? I’m sure they wouldn’t be picky at a time like this, especially since we’re both pretty strong.”

It did warm his heart that Chronicle was defending him so vehemently, though... He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had stood up for him in such a way.

“You look pretty beat, actually. We haven’t had a chance to rest since coming here, so why don’t we do that? We had to walk an awfully long time and the journey was pretty rough. I’m sure a breather will help restore at least one of our meters too.”

Having refused to join the legion of zombies in favor of Tasupani’s companionship, Chrono battled alongside him, brandishing his brass knuckles to their fullest extent. For some reason, regardless of his near full HP bar, he could not access his skills, being forced to rely on such vanilla assaults as he felt himself wear down from the sheer number of enemies. 

Tearing down one, three returned in its place, and as Chrono leaped away to catch his breath, he met Tasupani’s back with his own, clicking his tongue distastefully. 

“But where else is there?! If we leave the city, we’ll still run into monsters!”

Indeed, Tasuku had insisted on attempting to save whomever they could, but there were still many more they could not protect. The sword he was holding now had been one that belonged to a casualty, and Tasuku already felt horrible about having to steal it off of the player’s rotting carcass when he realized his own sword was nowhere to be found, but...

“You’ve noticed those meters on your HUD, right? The one that says ‘sanity’ is dropping a lot faster than the other two... I have a feeling that being around these guys has something to do with it.”

He had reason to assume as much. The scene unfolding was like something out of a horror film; Tasuku felt nauseous just looking at the grotesque faces of the undead. The more he stared, the faster the meter would drop... But his natural sense of leadership and many years of conditioning allowed him to remain calm. So long as Chronicle was at his back...

“Over there!”

Where the zombies thinned in rank, Tasuku charged, cutting several down with his sword. The path led directly to the outskirts, and soon, they’d be in the wilderness as well. 

“C’mon!”

--

Barely escaping the undead mob, the two fled into the wooded area just beyond the city limits. Though it was eerily dark, Tasuku still felt more at ease than he had been since the outbreak started. After all, a shambling zombie would be hard-pressed to move through the dense underbrush.

He looked back at Chronicle.

“We’re safe for now... You’re not injured, are you?”

Though he realized the futility of the question as soon as he voiced it; potions were not functional anymore. They wouldn’t be able to deal with any fresh injury on the go...

But before he knew it, his friend had poofed away, disintegrating into bright blue and white pixelated squares. Must’ve been the special animation associated with the skill. Yu rubbed at the back of his head and debated whether or not to simply warp back, too. (Yet the moving blip on his mini-map gave him pause. Was Ryuuenji going to walk back?)

It didn’t take long for Ryuuenji to find him.

Given their first encounter in Eliesium Online, he didn’t want to think about it.

“That was really cool... Oh, I guess we’d have to set a different gesture to warp to Virtue Upheld, huh. I wonder what’d happen if we tried setting them both as the same one...”

Would he got split in half halfway? ...Yeah, on second thought, he wasn’t going to try it out. (There was probably a feature in the HUD that safeguarded against such a thing, anyway.)

“Is there any way to go there on foot? Or, uh...fly there? Being able to warp there is pretty convenient, but I’d really like to get a feel for the environments around. They’re really pretty around these parts.”

“Oh, sorry for rambling on. I’m ready when you are! I’ll follow you this time. Somehow.”

True enough, Narukami was right. The option to warp back to Sanctorum was indeed there, sitting right in front of him on the HUD.

“You’re...right! It’s right here!”

...At least he had gotten some spare gold out of all the monsters he had killed on the way back each time he had wandered away? Still, it was a little...well, suffice it to say that Tasuku was a little more than a bit embarrassed.

“I’m going to try it right now! We just set something, right?”

How about something simple like a tap of the foot--whoops!

Without thinking, Tasuku tried exactly that and disappeared from sight. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in front of the inn.

“...Huh? Narukami-san? Where are you?”

Right. Something more complex was in order...

--

Trying to find his way back to their rendezvous point wasn’t all too difficult--they hadn’t been too far from the entrance. Tasuku jogged up to the older teen, somewhat flustered with the accident.

“Sorry! I guess I shouldn’t have made it something so simple... Anyway, I got it. So, um... To Astrophel, I guess?”

“……”

Honestly… His rage and frustration toward Ryuuenji Tasuku had cooled considerably since their first meeting, but even the idea of using “Ryuuenji” and “friend” in the same sentence felt utterly ridiculous. The term “friend list” had become the norm for the function, Rouga knew; and registering one another in their contacts would only prove to be an advantage. He knew all that, yet…–

“… Guess so.” The teen finally conceded, eyebrows furrowing a fraction as he waved his player interface into existence. A bit annoying that this had to be done manually, but considering just where they were…a little wasted time most likely wouldn’t be a problem. 

“Joke or not, you’re going to have to believe it. None of us have a single clue as to how we got sucked into this game, and I definitely don’t remember anything relating to why I ended up here.”

Jack... Tasuku found his mind drifting back to his eternal companion. Had Jack been left behind in the Dragon World, worrying over the disappearance of his Buddy? Had he been taken captive by the same people who did this?

He had to get out of this came, no matter what the cost.

“Like you said, there’s no telling what’ll happen if a player’s HP goes down to 0... The pain you feel in this game--everything you feel, is as if you would feel it with your real body. So if you die here...it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that you’d die in real life too.”

Without any information to tell him otherwise, it was the only feasible conclusion Tasuku could come to. He looked back to Rouga.

“Oh, uhh, sorry. I just meant that by default, everyone can warp to Sanctorum. But you can change it to the city or to the space station, too. Virtue Upheld, it’s that star you can see up there even during the daytime. From there, I think we just walk through a portal or take a space shuttle to get to the asteroid field.”

“So that star right there’s Astrophel! I thought it was just there for aesthetic... So it really would be like going to space.”

It was quite an exciting prospect. Tasuku, like many other children, wondered what lay in the vast expanse. Even though this was a virtual, simulated world, it was also incredibly realistic, right down to the pain the players felt. So perhaps going to space in Eliesium Online would feel roughly the same as going to space in real life?

Not that Tasuku would really ever know what that would be like. There was no way he’d ever have the time or money for that kind of otherworldly expedition. So he’d have to make do with the sensations he’d feel while immersed within Eliesium Online.

“Eh...?! I didn’t know you could warp to Sanctorum... Is it class-restricted? Every time I left, I’d just keep walking back...”

“Those are the asteroid fields, right? It’s not too densely populated right now. Most people prefer sticking to the meadows around Sanctorum. I think it’s opt-in bias.” But Yu gave him a nod and started tapping at things on his HUD. The fastest way to get through would be to warp to Virtue Upheld, stock up on supplies, then go kick some hat ass.

Tasuku himself had an affinity for stars, so perhaps he would feel at home. Perhaps it’d be an ideal place to stargaze? Only one way to find out.

“Uh... Opt-in bias? Space station...? What does that mean? Are we gonna have to board a rocket ship to be able to get to Astrophel? That seems like a lot of work...”

He’d never played these games before, but didn’t one normally phase from one area to the next for playing convenience? Perhaps Tasuku was behind on the times...