Key:

( ) = Speaker or side notes

{ } = POV

[ ] = Titles/Move names

Location: Runscav, Draacia Kingdom, Paradisial Plains

{Rex Yamamoto}

Date: 26 days since Merge

We were taken into what must’ve been the cargo bay of the aircraft. This portion of the plane seemed to still be relatively intact as it was dark and dank, however bits of sunlight still managed to light up certain areas due to small cracks in the fuselage.

“Hey, why is the ground here so damp? What is this stuff? It’s not water, I can at least tell that much. I mean, water isn’t black and doesn’t smell like this, even if it has gone foul.”(Brutus)

“It’s fuel, you know, oil.”(Malcolm)

“Oil, why would you be carrying oil in this thing? Did you need to light fires for light or something?”(Brutus)

“I thought we told you this. In our world, we’ve managed to find a way to use oil to power different machines. You know, kind of like how magic is needed for some of the tech we have is needed to work, like these earpieces for example. Without magic, these things would be completely useless.”(Rex)

“Ah, I see. But, that doesn’t explain why it’s all over the place.”(Brutus)

“The fuel tank was pierced when we crashed and the remaining fuel it had been carrying leaked out. This entire area is now covered in fuel, so if you don’t want to die a fiery death, I wouldn’t recommend lighting any sort of fire in here. I’ve had to use the emergency lamps we had been carrying to provide some light in here.”(Malcolm)

Soon we came across a makeshift camp. Malcolm motioned for us to sit on a few crates that were nearby. Once we were all settled, we began our discussion.

“So, based on your knowledge of our insignia, you should be from the old world, am I right?”(Malcolm)

“If what you mean by the old world is Earth, then yes, we’re both from that world. Both Rex and I, Takeru Yamamoto, are from Japan.”(Pops/Takeru)

“Japan huh? You two don’t look like military, what are you guys doing all the way out here?”(Malcolm)

“Well.. we-”(Pops/Takeru)

“We both came out here in search of something to kill time. This guy over here convinced me that we should do it, and since he’s my dad, I had no other choice but to follow him. If I didn’t, he would probably be dead by now.”(Rex)

“Oi! That isn’t the full story! Hell, half of that is made up! You came willingly with me, and I could’ve survived on my own! And what are you trying to do, that story makes it seem like I’m the bad guy here!”(Pops/Takeru)

“Well, that’s the gist of it isn’t it?”(Rex)

“Ahem. Anyways, from what I understand of that little spat you just had there, you came out here on a whim?”(Malcolm)

“Yeah, pretty much.”(Rex)

Malcolm had somewhat of a bewildered look, but soon returned back to normal. Wait a second, does that mean he just thinks that “oh, well these guys look like they’d do this type of thing”. Do we really look that reckless? Really?

“It’s not like we came out here not knowing what we were getting into though, we knew the entire geography and landscape of the area before coming out here, and what dangers we probably would’ve encountered.”(Pops/Takeru)

“Ah, so I assume you played that game as well? Yes, most of the top brass have been informed that this world is similar to that of a video game. How do they know this? Apparently, a governor’s son was an addict, and immediately saw the resemblance. Anyways, how long have you guys been out here?”(Malcolm)

“Probably 22 to 23 days now I think? We left around 3 or 4 days after all this happened.”(Pops/Takeru)

“Ah, you mean the Merge. That’s what everyone’s calling it now since our world has pretty much mixed with another. Anyways, since you’ve been out here for almost a month, what can you tell me about this world.”(Malcolm)

We proceeded to tell him of everything we knew about this world of Jukaria and the Draacia Kingdom. We also told him about what we had experienced during our days out here, and explained to him who Brutus was. I mean, this was sort of an information swap, since we were somewhat interested in learning of what had happened to the world while we were gone.

“Huh, I see, so we beat them in technological superiority, but they have magic on their side, as well as thousands of different mythological races? Well then, Brutus was it? Based on your background, and having finally talked to you for a bit, I must apologize to you, I had the wrong idea about you.”(Malcolm)

Malcolm gaze has seemed to have softened after having been told Brutus’s past. He also seems to have relaxed more since having the situation explained to him.

“Uh, no, it’s quite alright.”(Brutus)

“*Sigh* so you want to know about what’s going on back in our world right? Well, I can tell you, it ain’t pretty. All nations are now under martial law, and the border for each country have been heavily reinforced. Hell, some countries are even building walls now to define their borders. Surprisingly, no appeared close to any of the new nations and empires of this world, although we wouldn’t really say that everything's alright. Several nations have spotted large armies heading toward their borders, and some are already engaged in combat. Regular citizens are being conscripted to bolster their ranks. Even in countries that aren’t under attack, looting and rioting have begun to occur more frequently since the Merge. I think the only countries that are doing somewhat ok are those island nations, like Japan and the UK. Although unlike Japan, whose entire western border is connected to a vast desert, The UK is now in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of kilometers away from any landmass.”

“What about boats and planes that had already departed when the merge happened?”(Rex)

“They’re all gone. Any boat or plane that wasn’t within a certain radius of a country all crashed or sank due to technological failure or environmental anomalies, such as giant whirlpools or tornados. And before you ask, there weren’t any survivors, believe me, we’ve looked, there no one left.”(Malcolm)

“Ok, so what were you guys doing? How’d you plane crash?”(Pops/Takeru)

“My group was enroute to Japan. We were heading there to deliver some personnel in accordance to a new world treaty formed by all nations of the old world. Since both our countries are pretty much out of harm's way, we’ve been assigned with logistics. We’d been transporting a logistics team to Japan to help them out, but, as you’ve probably already guessed, they’re dead. Our plane crashed due to an unidentified creature which attacked us. It tore our right wing off and then left us for dead. Now that I think about it, it probably must’ve been a dragon when I look back to that disaster. I’d caught a glimpse of it when I went up to the cockpit. It was one dangerous looking bastard I’ll tell ya. Only reason I’m still alive is due to sheer luck. We slammed into the ground head first. It wasn’t a nosedive or anything, but the cockpit was the first thing to come in contact with the ground. I’d managed to strap in before all this, and was just lucky that the seat I’d chosen hadn’t been the area where the fuselage tore in half. Everyone else either died due to either not being able to strap in properly, or because they had been thrown from their seats and died due to the force that was placed on their bodies due to the impact. I don’t think you saw it on your way here, but the left side of the cockpit window is smashed. The pilot was thrown from his seat through the window and, well, you get the gist of it.”(Malcolm)

“Damn, sorry for your losses. So, what do you think you’re going to do now?”(Pops/Takeru)

“Well, I think I’ll be joining you guys.”(Malcolm)

It took us a bit before our brains fully processed what Malcolm had said.

“Eh!?”(Rex’s party)

“You heard me, I’m joining you guys.”(Malcolm)

“But, don’t you have a job that you need to do!?”(Pops/Takeru)

“Yeah, he’s right! What about getting to Japan and helping the logistics team there?”(Rex)

“Ah, well you see, I was actually conscripted into the army, and believe me when I say I hated every single fucking day of it. This gives me a way out of that. I mean, you adventurers are in a sense just freelancers that do odd jobs and get paid, not to mention the fact that you pretty much get powers and such from doing those things, right? I mean that’s what you told me earlier. So why not let me join you guys? I’m a mechanic that was placed on this team because my skills are unmatched! Wouldn’t you like to have a teammate like that?”(Malcolm)

“He brings up a good point. Having more skilled people in our party never hurts. What do you think guys?”(Pops/Takeru)

“Although I think it’s a bit hasty, I don’t really see the problem with it. I mean, we did let Brutus into our group a few minutes after meeting him, didn’t we? I say welcome to the party.”(Rex)

“Well, since I joined you guys only just recently, I don’t really think that I have much right in deciding this, but since you guys seem to agree on letting him in, I see no problems with it either.”(Brutus)

“Since that’s settled, how ‘bout we head back to wherever you came from? We’ll scavenge what we can from this wreck and head back to that town you were talking about, and once we’re there, head to the nearest bar, cause I really need a drink after all this!”(Malcolm)

And so, another member has joined our party. With his self-proclaimed unmatched ability in his job as a mechanic, he may prove to be a useful member.