Chương 26: Bygone Contemporaries, I

I was lost.

Not just physically, but mentally too.

I don't know the reason why or how it had come to this, but the person I had begun to most cherish in the world, had died.

She was gone, just like that.

I couldn't say any proper goodbyes to her, and neither did my two other disciples.

But at least… I confessed my love for her, and she seemed to feel the same way for me.

Step, step…

The sand beneath my feet ruffled as I crouched down, burying my face in my knees as I held my chest that was overcome and bubbling by emotions of all sorts.

Pain.

Anguish.

Sorrow.

Sadness.

Regret.

Grief.

Shame.

Frustration.

Desperation.

Despair.

Depression.

Anger.

I don't even care if they're different words for the same type of emotions that I was feeling, but I sure knew that they all stabbed differently.

Each fiercer than the other.

"I confessed my love to her, and she seemed to feel the same way for me too… so why? Why do I feel so crushed right now? Why do I feel like so much was lost?" I cried out, wailing as tears were about to take over my face once again.

Luke and Sean by my side were all the same.

During this whole time that we spent walking in this desert, they tried to act strong, hell, even console me.

But they were the same as me.

Even if they didn't see her romantically, they still grew attached to her as the friend and person that she was.

They also grieved all the same for this life lost.

"Selica…" I finally called out her name.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to the thin air, hoping that somehow she would get to hear my words.

In these moments, I truly felt like I had nothing else to lose anymore, for she was the one I most wanted to keep out of danger, and yet I was too late.

Yet, I failed to protect her.

Yet, I was powerless to heal such a grievous wound.

"I… I hate myself!" I whispered, not having the power to scream out the wrath I was feeling at myself.

I acted like I was so powerful, I trained them so they could become one of the strongest, and now? Now one of us is dead.

Dead!

Why?

Because I got so cocky and ignorant of this world's dangers and unexpected occurrences.

I was supposed to have the upper hand over the world that was my own piece of consciousness, and now what?

I get crushed by it.

Ah, I know for a fact that I will never forgive myself for this.

I will never forgive myself for killing the one and only girl I got to honestly love.

The one girl that was there for me when I was now in the dumps.

And the one girl that was now in front of me– "What?!"

I saw a group of people.

And amongst them, was a face identical to Selica's.

"Selica?" I called out her name from where I was standing, still hundreds of meters away.

"Huh?" Sean and Luke from beside me also noticed the same face as I did.

"But her hair…"

Yes, her hair color was different.

It was a beautiful raven that took over my eyes.

A pitch black dark that seemed to refuse any sort of light from making it disappear.

And her eyes… they were all the same, but in her case, sharp and dark the same as her hair color.

"Guys, she's Selica, right?" I asked out, rubbing my eyes in case I was seeing illusions from the scorching heat.

We hadn't even tried to find any water even though we were stranded in this place.

We were occupied by the crushing feeling of losing someone important to us.

"Yeah… It looks exactly like her, just with a different vibe." Sean voiced.

"Should we approach them?" I asked as I shifted my head towards what seemed a party of adventurers that have ventured here.

"Maybe they know where we are, and we can talk to that girl…" I said, trailing off by the end of the sentence.

"..." Luke stopped to think for a second and then nodded, "Let's do it."

***

We began walking towards them and they soon also took notice of us, they then did the same and started in our direction.

We were now face to face in front of a big, tall, and wide guy who seemed to be the party leader, "What are you all doing here?" He asked gruffly with a serious look on his face.

"Huh?" I was taken aback by his tone of voice, "No, we somehow ended up in this desert some hours ago. We were walking for a good while now when we saw you all here. Are you guys adventurers?" I asked, trying to sound normal after crying my eyes out for a good two hours.

"Adventurers? Bwahaha!" He burst out laughing like a cartoon character with his ginormous chest puffing back and forth, "You're funny, but yes, you may consider us something like that since we entered this dungeon."

"You entered this dungeon?" I repeated.

"Yeah, of course, how else would we be here? And what about you guys, did you enter it illegally? It was under strict security when we did so just earlier."

"Wait, wait," I asked, clenching the bloodied jacket which had become my sweat towel a bit tighter, "You entered? Security? Where did you enter it from?" I questioned as a bead of sweat trickled down the right side of my face, my gulp audible right after.

He pointed with his thumb behind his back, "We just entered from the door behind us… what?"

"There was no door there, though?" I raised my brow.

"Hold up, no, it was there, you all saw it right?!" He asked his party members with a terrifying expression written all over his face, which soon seeped into his party members who all had similar reactions.

"No, this–"

"Wait," I stopped him from speaking any further after scanning everyone's clothes, equipment, and bags. "Don't tell me… Can I ask you all where you are from?"

"... What for?" He asked after taking in my words.

"Hurry up, please… just tell me…" I urged.

"Our party is mostly made up of Japanese, South Korean, and Americans."

"Japanese?"

"South Korean?"

Sean and Luke repeated the unknown phrases to them.

I brought a hand to cover my face from the shocking revelation, "So you truly are from Earth...?"