Chapter 15: Talk and Preparations

I remember a time when I was younger, when I was far more confident inside my own skin. It was back then when I was around eight years old, back when my parents had allowed me to take my first music class with a private instructor. And while nowadays my father was happier with me taking my computer courses instead of practicing how to sing, I can't deny the fact that it was my pride and joy that I was a wonderful singer.

But me, back then when I was eight? To say I had a bad voice was like saying the sea was slightly wet or that cyanide was slightly toxic. Even now, I would easily admit that fact to whoever asked, as my singing back then was horrible. Horrible, utterly unpleasant, it was even easier to listen to someone scratch their nails on a blackboard than to listen to me sing back then.

The situation now can be compared to that. It was the anxious tension that my parents had when I asked them what they thought after I sang for the first time in front of them, times ten.

Nobody spoke up for what felt like an hour.

Resigned, I opened my mouth to break the silence - only for no words to come out as the person in front of me did the same with equal results. Thus, both of us closed our mouths, the words stuck in our tongues.

Again, nobody spoke.

"Y-You go first." I finally managed, my eyes averting towards my left. "You asked, so you can go first."

It took him a while, but Rain did get his mouth to speak.

"I know you maybe thinking this is all an act." Rain started, ignoring the way I lightly jumped at his almost casual reading of my thoughts. "But I assure you Myrddin - if anything, the me in reality is the act, and that this one is closer to the real me. Or I suppose it is."

"I suppose?" I raised a brow, my slightly cynical side being exposed without my will. "So do you mean to tell me that for your entire life outside this world, you act like some kind of emotionless, stuck-up, perfectionist student?"

Immediately after they left my mouth, I winced at my own words. I had not meant to say that-

"Yes." Rain answered simply, sounding so sullen that I forgot what I was thinking. "Yes, that's me."

All I could manage in response was a flat "Oh."

Everything went silent. Nothing, not even the sound of crickets, made a noise to ease the unforgiving silence.

I hated it. Not the awkwardness of it, no - at this point, the feeling was pretty much a childhood friend of sorts - I hated silence because I hated the empty emotion it brought. Plus, now I had another reason to hate silence.

Brian was as silent as a mouse in person. There, one more reason to hate silence and love music more.

I coughed into that silence, stepping forward to change the situation. "A-Alright then. Well, in the real world, I act as a stuttering, people-phobic music-obsessed loner. I'm as much as a weirdo as you are there, so don't worry."

Rain blinked. I had a feeling he had been expecting me to say something else.

Then he smiled, with a grin so bright it threatened to compete with the sun.

"Well, this is awkward!" He started with a laugh, stepping closer - and was that a slight choke I heard in there? "This was not what I expected when I met someone I knew from Fate Online in real life!"

"Trust me," I muttered almost sarcastically. "I didn't even think that was going to happen."

But it happened, didn't it?

"So. Is this time for re-introductions?" Rain said with a smile. "Between the two of us? I promise there would be no staffs hitting people in their face this time."

I rolled my eyes. "Did you even have to ask?"

Rain held out a hand. The midday sun shone brightly behind him, almost like a halo.

"Brian Walters, at your service. But you can call me Rain anytime if you'd like."

I clasped it with my own, giving it a firm shake.

"Well, Rain, my name is Mark Emrys. And Myrddin is fine by me as well."

"So, you are telling me, you thought that I was an Adventurer?"

A shrug. "What was I supposed to think? You were practically shaking on your legs inside that forest! I mean, what kind of Player would be scared of monsters?"

"You try being in that forest, stuck and unable to logout for a long, long time. And excuse me if I was terrified - I was at the last dredges of my willpower and you just smashed the rest to pieces with that insufferable stick!"

It was during the walk back towards the Grimm Orphanage that Rain and I talked things out. As it was, he was still going to call me Myrddin, and I, him as Rain. From an outsider's perspective, nothing much changed... other than the fact it became even lighter to talk between just the two of us.

"Hey, said insufferable stick saved our lives." Rain affected a hurt tone, but I knew he was just joking. "I tell you, that staff lasted for a day and a night bashing through acidic monsters with no problem!"

"Which only makes me more disgusted, considering it landed in my face." I retorted back, duly ignoring his tone. "In fact, if it weren't for the fact that we were fighting that boss monster, I would have been happy to see it go in a blast."

Rain paused in his step, lips pursed. "Oh yeah, about that. Is that sword of yours still fine? I mean, I did put it in quite a lot in the matter of minutes."

Made it explode more than a few times, blocked and deflected what felt like a gallon of acid with it, cutting to pieces some tentacles that were straight out of a horrific movie and stabbing it more than a few times with the monster of all monsters, but who's keeping track?

"Don't think about it too much." I tapped at the sword hung to my waist unfeelingly. "I don't really care for it anyway, and after seven days of straight out surviving inside that forest, I swear you can't do anything to it that it hasn't seen before."

Rain blinked. "Seven days? I remember you saying you were trapped before, but not that long."

Inwardly, I shook, remembering the long nights of stabbing bloody eyes and screeching mouths. It was only after the fifth night that I found out that singing abated the monsters - and it took Rain explaining to me his realization of sound damaging them before I realized how it worked.

Honestly, I thought the reason Rain wanted me to sing during that battle was because he liked the song. Everything else got kind of fuzzy back then.

That was when I remembered Rain was waiting for me to answer.

"I got trapped in that forest two and a half days ago in real time." I shrugged, trying to appear not as affected by the experience as I felt. "That's why I was absent in class yesterday - I was stuck inside Darkling Woods and unable to log out because of the game mechanics inside monster areas."

Rain made a frown. "This is the second time I've heard of that rule being a problem..."

He then murmured something I couldn't hear beneath his breath, before shaking his head and stomping off a bit darkly the rest of the way.

Feeling a bit put-out by the sudden change in the mood, I didn't speak either until we arrived to our destination.

“Rain! Uncle Myrddin!”

I futilely tried to ignore Rain’s snort at the difference of treatment of the kids from me to him. Hey, it might have been my fault for choosing a visage that looked far different from my real age, but it was Rain who was the weird one here!

I mean, actually choosing the same appearance in real life as in this world? Sure, it was what caused me to recognize him as Mark, but who does that?

“Welcome back you two.” Grimm said warmly as he opened the orphanage doors to let out a veritable swarm of children. “How were both of your times back at home in your world?”

I shot a look of surprise at Rain. He, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be even ruffled by the caretaker’s flippant knowledge of the real world, sending me a gaze that told: ‘Keep it down, I’ll explain later.’

“It was a shocking day,” Rain admitted almost shyly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “The two of us actually met out there – in the same class, in the same school even. I was practically shaking with surprise when Myrddin here called me out with just a look.”

‘You didn’t look like it,’ I retorted dryly in my head, remembering Rain’s stoic persona once again. ‘I might have been talking to a statue for all the reaction you showed.’

“So Players like the both of you don’t usually meet in your world?” Grimm placed his hand on his chin. “Interesting… but I’m far more surprised that Myrddin actually recognized you. Isn’t it the norm for Players to choose vastly different appearances?”

“Hey, Myrddin is over here.” I cut in, a bit annoyed they were talking over me. “And it was Rain’s fault – he actually chose to look the same over here as over there in our world.”

If anything, that only made Grimm look even more interested. “Fascinating.”

We were interrupted from our talk when I felt a sharp tug on one of my arms. Turning to look, I saw one young and very excitable limpet in a form of a child. Conrad, I remembered, as he gazed at me pleadingly with chocolate brown doe eyes that never failed to break any attempt to resist.

"Uncle Myrddin! Could you play with us?"

Of course, this situation wasn't different from any other and I in turn had to turn pleading eyes towards Rain.

The man had the gall to grin at me cheekily. I could've punched him there and then, if it weren't for the fact my right arm was currently pinned under the hold of a kid.

"Grimm~" Rain teased, sending a slight pat at the shoulder of the caretaker in question. "I believe Myrddin over here has volunteered himself as the kids' playtoy for today!"

"Oh, is that so?" I could have sworn Grimm's eyes twinkled madly at that moment. However, somehow he managed to continue on in a flat tone, as if commenting on the weather. "I am overjoyed."

I sent both of them scathing glares before finally resigning to the situation. With a sigh, I turned back to Conrad with a weary smile, still finding it strangely soothing to be seen wonderingly by those eyes.

"Alright, Conrad." I said with a mix of resignation and warmth to the kid. Conrad practically beamed with excitement. "I would go with you for today."

Tugged along by my arm, I pretended to not notice Rain and Grimm exchanging serious looks as I left to play with the children.

"So, what are we going to play today?"

I was a person who didn't dislike kids. Which didn't necessarily mean I liked them, or in real life anyways. Thus, I was always baffled whenever it came to be me to be the one the watch over the children inside Grimm Orphanage - as much as Rain teased and told me I took care of them wonderfully, I certainly never expected to ever find myself with a babysitting job.

But nevertheless, once more I found myself sitting beside those nearly a decade younger than my age, acting like some kind of adoptive parent.

"We can play Adventurers and Dragons!" Conrad clapped, ever the vocal one as he sat on my crossed legs. I expected them to be sore later. "We can be the Adventurers, and you can be the Dragon!"

I wondered about it for a minute, then shrugged in agreement. If anything, in this game at least my appearance - which for some reason, was completely ignored by the kids from the moment I met them - would be helpful. So, in response to Conrad's chirp of joy, I grabbed him with two arms before carrying him and stepping away from the rest of the kids.

I couldn't help it. I deadpanned, "Rawr."

"Ah!" Elena squeaked by her seat, pointing at me dramatically as she stood. I had a feeling it was Rain's influence on her. "Myrddin the Dragon has kidnapped Princess Conrad! We have to save him!"

Immediately, all kids except for Conrad stepped away from us, grouping together behind Elena.

"Go, Prince Elena! Go and save Princess Conrad!" They cheered, completely expectant of a good show. "Use your magic to defeat the Dragon and earn the heart of the Princess!

The game had officially begun.

"Hey! I'm no Princess, call me a Prince!"

And it seems our Princess has a loud mouth. Ah, why did I even kidnap him?

"Ha-ha-ha." I continued to ham it up, but still with no intonation of melodrama. "Is that so, Prince Elena? Would you dare to try to defeat me and gain the love of your dear little Princess?"

"Of course I would!" Elena answered with a surprising amount of fervor for someone so small. I had to smile secretively as I remembered what Rain told me of how she used to be. "With this magic of mine, I shall save Princess Conrad and the Kingdom of Grimm!"

Both of us continued to ignore Conrad's complaints. After all, he was the one who wanted to start the game.

"Ha!" I still went, voice still devoid of emotion. "Those parlor tricks of yours? Only a village idiot would try to defeat a Dragon like I am with such weak magic!"

Elena blinked, before a bright smile lit on her face. Immediately, she raised a hand and summoned a Magelight.

I had a feeling I walked into this one.

"An idiot? No, I am not an idiot." She shook her head, completely in character for the person I knew she was emulating. Yep, I really walked into this one. With blazing eyes, she smiled at me from where she stood. "I am the Fool! And as the Fool, I shall defeat you where you stand!"

She shot her Magelight at me. Of course it did no damage even as it rippled all over me as it hit, but who was I to mess with the kids' fun?

"Gah!" I gasped, with real drama this time as I clenched at my heart. Conrad, who at this point was basically pouting as he hung in my grip, began to smile. "My weakness! My darkness! How did you know that I was weak to the blessings of the Light!?"

I fell to my knees, letting go of Conrad. Said kid practically hopped away as he 'escaped', blushing in embarassment.

Elena crossed her arms as she walked towards me.

"You are dressed, clothed, armed, and colored in black." She said cheekily, really reminding me of Rain. "Who was I to not notice that?"

Scratch that. At this point, she was Rain v2.0.

"Yes!" The rest of the children cheered, waving their arms. "Prince Elena has defeated the Dragon and rescued Princess Conrad!"

Unless...

I laughed evilly, standing as I 'recovered' from my 'wounds'. "You think this is over, my dear Prince and Princess? I still have my second form!"

Elena gasped dramatically, taking a step back as every kid watching became quiet once more. Conrad, on the other had, was basically pushed back beside her as the 'Princess'.

"Don't you mean your final form!?"

I smirked. "No. Now, show me what you've got, Prince Elena!"

...Thus, we continued to play Adventurers and Dragons for the rest of the afternoon.

"Children, I have an announcement to make."

It was during that first night after we returned that Grimm came to the front of the dining table, hands clapped to take the attention of everyone. Mind you, it was all a bit difficult to do, as to hungry kids like the ones Grimm took care of, there was nothing more distracting than Rain's handmade food.

Speaking of Rain though, he sat quietly beside Grimm as he ate, not even turning to listen to the announcement.

"Starting tomorrow, Rain would leave." Grimm dropped, and like throwing hot water to a hive of bees, the kids went noisy. Especially Elena, who practically went white. "He has promised to go on a quest for me, and would be gone for a while."

"What is this quest?" I asked, knowing that even the loud Conrad wouldn't be able to utter a full sentence at the rate his lips were flapping.

"It's a scouting quest of sorts." Grimm answered, calmly sitting back to his seat. "Rain over here has promised to go to the lower mountains of Trevignon - a week's travel at most by foot - to meet a group of individuals there. I have heard of rumors about them having problems with peace."

A silence as everyone digested that bit of information. Then Conrad stood up, sheer adventure filling his eyes.

"So Rain is going to defeat them like he defeated that monster!?"

That monster being ???, but who was asking?

"No," Rain finally spoke himself, letting go of his cutlery. "Like Grimm had just announced, it's just a scouting mission. I'm not going to fight anyone or anything - instead, all I'm going to do is talk to them and find out about their situation. Then, I'm going back here to report it to Grimm."

There was much groaning from the kids at that confession. I, on the other hand, was deep in thought.

Why would Grimm want to know about that kind of information, I didn't know, but by the sound of 'report'...

"Ah, you're going to tell their story?"

Rain nodded in answer. Bingo.

By now, I knew of Rain's very special title 'Story Teller'. For one, not only was it very flashy whenever it was in effect, it was also a very useful way of becoming stronger without spending hard-earned skill points. But while the Story Teller was an amazing title, there was a limit to its abilities - or so, I've been told by Rain after he tested it to the best of his efforts.

One - the story had to be emotionally gripping. No jokes, no humor, no comedy; it had to be a heartfelt tale, one that was capable of taking the attention of dozens with no problem. The easiest way to do it was by retelling a particularly good novel, but one could simply use a tale from one's memories and it would work as long as it was interesting enough.

Two - a story could only give a listener its effects once. Rain had practiced that on me by telling me the story of the same book that he first used - needless to say, while my stats increased, Rain's didn't. I supposed this was to prevent any Story Teller from reaching crazy heights just by retelling the same story over and over.

And lastly, three - other than the bearer of the Story Teller himself, if a listener knew of the tale before it's told, the title would refuse to give stats to that listener. Again, I was the proof, as I didn't earn any stat points after Rain retold our fateful night together inside that forest, outside of the minor boost in INT after Rain retold his experience inside that hidden abode of forest that he found.

Thus, the best way of using the title was to actively go out in search of tales to tell. Books would work, but even for a world such as Fate Online, there was only so much time to pick out and read good books in the middle of all the other things to do, unless you were a Librarian or something similar.

And what more to find a good story than to go on a quest?

"So, children." Grimm continued from his seat, his eyes strangely weary as he met each one of the kids with a look - staying a few seconds for Elena in particular - that told 'be good'. "I expect all of you to act with proper manner tomorrow for when Rain leaves."

...Wait.

"How about me?" I blurted, trying to meet Rain's gaze but to no avail. "Am I going to be..." left behind?

Grimm leaned his head to the side. I would say he was moderately surprised, if it weren't for the fact his face remained as unreadable as ever. "Why, Rain hasn't told me that he was bringing you along."

Said person remained silent, looking back down to the table and causing everyone to keep quiet.

"Rain." I said softly from my side of the table. "Rain, look at me."

Rain finally raised his head. That was when I realized what he was feeling.

Hopeful. Rain's eyes were filled with a strange light, a sort of hope in them. In any other time, I wouldn't have known why it was so, but now, especially now I knew Rain's real life persona and problems, I understood. After all, I knew the feeling that he was no doubt thinking of that moment.

Rain was thinking, even now, that I wouldn't want to be part of his party.

Self-doubt. That was what Rain looked like - like he was in the middle of doubting himself to be worthy of me as a party member. It was so incongruent with my own low esteem of myself, that I was, for a moment, shocked at the situation.

"Are you sure...?" Rain sounded strangely weak at that moment, very unlike his usual cheery self. "I mean, it's not like you would be gaining something from this... I'm the one who needs to do it for my title..."

Everyone turned to me at that, but for once I didn't care about the attention I was getting.

"Rain." I made sure to keep my voice firm. "Of course I'm going to go with you."

Rain blinked, then his face abruptly formed a bright smile. By that, I knew that I said the right thing.

"Thank you."

I opened my mouth to say more, but then I was interrupted by Grimm.

"Good!"

The caretaker of the Orphanage was standing again, this time with a far less grim look on his features. His hands, which were again separating from the loud clap that he made, settled down to lean over his table.

"Well, children, as you have seen Myrddin has also promised to go on the quest with Rain tomorrow." This time, he was specifically looking at Conrad, who in turn was looking at me with a mix of sadness and joy. "Make sure that you all have said your goodbyes by then!"

Needless to say, the rest of the night was a mix of sombre and the kids rushing for the chance to talk to the two of us.

However, I didn't fail to notice Elena running off after dinner to her room, tears in her eyes even as she said her own goodbye to Rain.

"Are you still sure you're going with me? I mean, don't you like minding the children?"

I scoffed, though a bit surprised that Rain was still asking the same question for the dozenth time.

"Of course, Rain." I answered quickly, picking through the supplies Grimm had thankfully prepared for us in our week-long travel towards the Rocky Mountains. From medicines, to spare bandages, and even water, we had plenty to spare. "Who would watch over you otherwise?"

I didn't say anything about the way his body visibly relaxed again the moment I replied to his question with the same answer.

Really, Rain. At what point are you going to realize that I'm here to stay with you?

A smile rose over Rain's features again, but this time he crossed his arms, tilting his head in a way that I knew warned of a snarky comeback.

"Weren't you the one I had to protect inside that forest?"

A flush rose to my cheeks at that, but I ignored it in favor of countering Rain's unreasonable reply.

"Like I said, I was in shock!"

Rain made a few nods, shaking his head with a winning smile. "Sure, sure. Let's go with that."

After that, slowly together we finished up checking the supplies, placing them one by one in our inventories. We weren't leaving yet, but there was logic to preparing early and Rain wasn't one to sleep at night anyways. This time, to fully get it into his head that I was coming along with him, I woke up early. At this point, I already received and gave my goodbyes to the kids, so there was really nothing else to do other than to prepare to leave.

Rain, on the other hand, looked different. Or rather, he was finally wearing equipment outside the generic starter armor that practically gave no stat enhancements or protection.

Designed to allow maximum movement and minimum physical restriction, Rain's new clothes were made of lightly colored cloth that looked and possibly wore like smooth felt. The Fool now looked like one of the dignitaries I recognized from my time traveling alone before I met Rain - regal and commanding, but with a rustic feel, Rain now looked like he would easily fit in the theme that I knew the Elven Kingdom had.

"I never knew Elena was so good at making clothes."

Rain had a proud smile on his face, humming a happy tune. "I didn't know either, but nevertheless Elena has certainly succeeded in making me the best equipment I ever had."

"And the staff?" I asked, looking at the new weapon that was hung behind his back. Faintly, I also remembered the pain from the last one that I still had nightmares about. "Where did that come from?"

"This one's Grimm's own work."

I openly gaped like a fish. Now, why would I not when the new staff was practically a masterpiece? The handle was smooth, brown, and polished to the point it practically shined with a beautiful pattern of green-tinted leaf-shaped indents across the surface. There was a slight curve in the the wood there, I also could see, all to make it easy to hold as the top of the staff turned out to make the shape of a lightning bolt. And even that, with all its sharp curves and edges, looked like it was twisted into form, making it seem like the wood grew naturally in its current shape.

"I know, right?" Rain laughed at my incredulous look. Then, he shook his head. "But that man is the one who looks after an entire orphanage after all - who's to say he hasn't picked up woodworking at some point in his life? I mean, who else would make the chairs and tables that the kids use and could possibly break?"

I closed my jaw. What Rain said was reasonable - who was to say that Grimm didn't have a veritable set of skills of his own? After all, the man looked like the kind of person to take responsibility for everything that needed to be done for the orphanage - or outside his penchant for abruptly delegating other people to be the caretakers for his wards at least.

"I'm happy that you think so well of me, Rain. But I believe it is only because of the high-quality wood you gave me that that staff yours turned out so finely. Where did you find it, by the way?"

I jumped up in surprise, as said caretaker suddenly appeared behind me. When I turned to look at Grimm, his face was as unreadable as usual, but his eyes betrayed his amusement.

I couldn't hold back a glare at him for that.

"I-Inside the Forest of Life." Rain answered behind me, futilely trying not to laugh as he looked at Grimm. Et tu, Rain? "Remember the prize those animals gave me? It was that branch."

"Ah." Grimm looked disappointed. "Then I suppose I won't be getting more wood like that anytime soon."

"Anyway!" I cut in, turning to Rain. "Are we done now? When are we going to leave?"

Rain shook his head beside me with a grin. No doubt he was still amused. "Right now, actually."

Grimm smiled at the two of us.

"Good luck on your journey then, the both of you."

Later on, we left, starting our new quest, together this time in hope of meeting the people Grimm wanted us to talk to.

The quest would be difficult, the quest would be hard - that much, the both of us knew. Unlike the forests we were in or the river that we were supposed to follow, the Rocky Mountains were a far more treacherous place to travel to, even comparable to the Land of Demons that I came from.

From steep roads, to cold weather, to far more aggressive monsters and even the threat of bandit attacks, it certainly promised to be dangerous.

That was why minutes later after we left for the road, both of us turned back to look one final time to the orphanage behind us, savoring our last view of the place that had grown a place inside both of our minds.

Then, we saw them. The children, the kids we had watched over on our short time of stay inside the Grimm Orphanage as temporary caretakers. Beside them, Grimm stood proudly as they held up a large sign for us to read.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR QUEST, RAIN AND MYRDDIN!

"Rain!" Her voice was hard to hear from the distance we were in, which was a feat all on its own knowing who was the one yelling. Elena, the young elf girl I knew grew attached to Rain, had tears in her eyes as she waved her goodbyes for one last time. "Make sure to come back and tell us your next adventure, okay!?"

Rain laughed. His cheer was infectious, and if beads of moisture also threatened to fall from his eyes, well I wasn't about to be the one to point it out. Much.

"Of course!"

Then, Conrad's voice was the next one that we heard.

"Myrddin, Rain! Promise me you guys would teach me how to fight when you come back, alright!?"

Like a signal, that made the rest of the kids shout their own wishes and requests, all of them practically begging us to be their teachers, tutors, etc. Some of them even started jumping at each other, already arguing over who would be the one to get their promises fulfilled.

I laughed as well, even as Grimm visibly rolled his eyes even from the distance we were in.

"Good luck on that!"

Thus, came to start the beginning of yet another quest, of my first adventure with Rain.