364 Days

14 Hours

47 Minutes

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—I’m alive?

—What happened?

Waking up from his slumber with his eyes still closed, he opened his map to confirm where he was.

—Still in Furio Village, surprised I wasn’t killed by those monsters who left me for dead.

Ace was thinking back on what happened.

The most he could remember is him being treated like a disgusting creature who didn’t deserve to be saved.

How did he even get here?

As if anyone in that bar would help him, they looked at him as if he was trash.

They looked at him as if he would only be making the country worse if he was to be left alive.

So how?

How was he able to feel the softness of a bed underneath his clothing?

How was he able to hear the sound of birds chirping outside?

How was he able to see this menu in his mind which was another indicator of him being alive?

*sniff, sniff*

—Food?

—It smells good!

He could smell a delicious breakfast being cooked in the other room.

*growl*

His stomach growled; he was starving.

Time to get up and find out who this person who saved him was.

He opened his eyes and brought his arm underneath his forehead, being blinded from the sudden sunlight hitting him.

He got up from the bed, his waist starting to sting from the sudden movement.

“—?!”

His wound was patched up.

It seemed like the wound was reduced somehow and then bandaged up to stop the rest of the bleeding.

He saw his backpack on the table beside the bed, all his stuff inside, even the remains of the clown costume that were switched with the bandages.

He exited his room to see he was in an inn.

It had a nice, homely feel to it which was accompanied by the scent of the eggs being cooked on the floor below.

He walked down the stairs at a slow pace, to reduce the pain as much as possible.

Once he reached the bottom, he moved towards the scent to see a demihuman cooking the breakfast he so badly wanted to feast off of.

She was a woman who was larger than average and, another demihuman with dog ears facing down on her head.

She was wearing an apron while she was cooking the morning meal, with a cheerful smile on her face, humming along while she sizzled the eggs to perfection.

“Umm.. are you the one who helped me last night?”

She looked over to see Ace, her mood dropping to face the same direction as her ears. The expression on her face would be one you would have on when taking out the trash, trying to breathe through your mouth instead of your nose because of the rancid stench leaking out the bag.

“-tch. As if I would help one of you lowlifes. The hooded girl who just left brought you in.”

“You got lucky, she paid a hefty sum of money to keep one of you humans in my inn.”

“Could you please tell me which way she went! I have to thank her!”

“You stay in my inn then ask me for directions? Get the fuck out, I’ve already gave you more than enough.”

What could he have done to make himself so despised?

Ace shook his head side to side.

He didn’t have time to think about that right now.

He needed to find this girl.

He ran out of the inn and looked both ways.

Nothing.

She couldn’t have gone far, the innkeeper said she just left.

Ace took a gamble and went right hoping he would see his savior.

His waist was starting to cause him pain but that didn’t matter right now, he wouldn’t even be able to feel pain without her help.

He stopped at the next intersection, looking around at the multiple shop stands, hoping to see a hooded figure…

Nothing.

“She’s not here.. she must have went the other way.”

Ignoring all the dirty looks he was being given, he turned around and went in the opposite direction, keeping his hopes up.

“Please, please, please be there.”

He ran and ran, not even paying attention to where he was going anymore.

He was now in a full sprint, completely ignoring the sharp pain on the side of his body.

He couldn’t let her get too far.

He ran and ran until…

A hooded figure stopped before him and…

He couldn’t stop in time.

“OW!”

He crashed with the hooded person, both of them falling due to the impact.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The girl in front of him said, with her hand on her forehead.

Her hood resisted the fall, remaining on her head, forcing darkness on her face. Ace was unable to see her face because of the hood, but that didn’t matter right now.

“Oh! It’s you! The guy who almost died yesterday! You made a lot of trouble for me you know!”

“Hahaha… yeah.. that’s me..”

A nervous laugh from Ace, still feeling sorry for bumping into her.

“I wanted to thank you and apologize for making you take care of me. I don’t have any money or anything but if there’s anything I can do...”

“No money?! What were you doing before I saved you?”

Before Ace could answer, they realized that they were in the middle of the road.

They were receiving deadly looks from all around, specifically Ace, who had no cover on his face.

“You can explain more later, follow me.”

They both got up and Ace started following the girl, not knowing where she was taking him.

She was a little shorter than Ace, standing at about 169cm but that’s all he knew about her, the rest of her body was covered with a hood and a robe.

They reached the edge of town, Ace recognizing where he was.

This was the entrance to Palio forest, the same place he came into the village from.

“We can’t talk in the village, let’s go in the forest for some peace and quiet.”

Ace didn’t want to go back in there, all there was, was bad memories.

He just got attacked the day before, how could he go back?

He started to sweat and back up slowly, staring into the forest.

“—?!”

The girl grabbed his arm and pulled him into the forest.

“What’re you backing out for, scaredy-cat. Monsters don’t come out as much in the morning.”

“And plus, I saw the dagger in your bag, you have to have some experience.”

They started to jog a little deeper into the forest, Ace still feeling on edge and taking glances around him every few seconds.

They stopped at a big tree and she sat down at the root.

She patted the floor next to her, to tell Ace to sit next to her.

“Cmon, cmon, hurry up.”

Ace sat down next to her, not letting his guard down in this forest.

“Now tell me, how’d you get those injuries?”

A chill went down Ace’s spine just remembering the battle he had last night.

A little hesitant and his voice quiet, Ace started to speak with a slightly scared tone of voice.

“A small monster with horns on its head attacked me at around midnight. It looked about the size of a small child. I got lucky and knocked it out, but it already put these wounds into me before that.”

“…”

The girl was silent for a few seconds until…

She started to laugh.

“Hehehehehheehahahahha…”

The first thing Ace thought when he saw that was…

She has a cute laugh.

*shake, shake, shake*

He shook his head a few times to forget about that.

She was laughing at him when he fought against a monster like that.

“hehehe.. I’m sorry... that’s just too funny…”

“You got those wounds from a Toriel..?”

“Haha, That’s impossible. How weak are you?”

“Even I’m pretty weak but cmon… a Toriel?”

“That’s lower than low.”

Ace’s cheeks started to redden up… she was making fun of his near-death experience like it was some child’s game.

This wasn’t out of anger though, he couldn’t be angry at her, she saved his life.

Ace was more on the embarrassed side.

Ace with a quiet voice...

“Shut up... I’m still new to this...”

“hehehehahaha..”

That embarrassment made her laugh even more... tears now starting to form into her eyes.

Ace started to get a little angry, but she still saved him, so he tried to contain it.

“OK, I think that’s enough.”

She continued to laugh.

His anger built up a little more this time...

“Cmon already, it’s not funny anymore.”

She continued to laugh.

He was at the point of not being able to contain it anymore but she still saved him, so he tried to stop it.

“You can stop now, the joke’s over.”

She continued to laugh.

“…”

—Ican’tbeangry, shesavedmylife, ican’tbeangry, shesavedmylife.

And continued.

—shesavedmylife, shesavedmylife, shesavedmylife.

And continued until…

“SHUT UP ALREADY! THAT’S ENOUGH! I GET IT, IM WEAK!”

He couldn’t contain it anymore.

He let it all out, shocking the girl in front of him.

She jumped back in reaction, her hood falling off in the moment.

Ace didn’t notice at the time because of his anger but, she was quite pretty.

She had long, light blue hair that reached her back, perfect as it is, not needing it styled.

Her eyes matched perfectly with the hair on her head, an aqua blue that anyone would be mesmerized by if they stared into them too long.

Her skin was not too pale, a perfect shade of peach, which complimented her two-piece eyes and hair set.

Her face proportions were perfect, her eyes not too separated from each other, and her small nose, a nice distance away from her lips.

She was also around the same age as Ace.

It looked as if she was no older than 18 but no younger than 16.

Again, she was quite pretty but, Ace didn’t notice it because of his rage.

That laugh that was adorable, but at the same time mocking him, he couldn’t stand it right now.

How could she just make fun of what he went through, that was traumatizing for him!

How could she just sit here and laugh like it was a joke?

She’s the one who saved him... she saw what he was like last night...

So how?!

He couldn’t take it...

He just wanted to let it all out...

And so, that’s what he did.

“I don’t know what’s weak and strong in this world! Get off my back!”

“My first battle ever is obviously going to go wrong! Leave me alone already!”

“I never asked to be thrown into the forest by myself with no support! What was I supposed to do?!”

“And then you drag me back here, the same place I was attacked the night before!”

“Not only did you bring me back, but you also criticized me about everything I just went through!”

“All I wanted to do was thank you, but you go on and on about something that was forced on me!”

“Don’t assume I’m a fighter just because I have a dagger! I don’t know shit about fighting!”

This wasn’t rage directed at the girl anymore, Ace was hurting just from remembering everything that happened since midnight.

Tears filled his eyes once again; this was the fourth time today. His eyes were drained from the excessive over usage.

He wanted to go home.

Somebody, please take this job for him…

Somebody, please take this responsibility from him…

Somebody, please take this source of despair from him…

Somebody, ple—

“—?!”

—

——

———

“I’m sorry... I’m so dumb. I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you...”

She hugged Ace and apologized for bringing up memories that he didn’t want brought up.

“…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t think it had such an impact on you... I’m sorry.”

It had only been a few hours since he has seen his family but...

This warmth.

This nostalgic, homely warmth made Ace’s streamy eyes flow even faster.

Biting his lip and his face scrunched, the tears continued to flow.

“No... I’m sorry...”

“*sniff* I... didn’t mean to... get mad at you...”

“*sniff* I was more mad... at someone else, I just directed it at you.”

“No, I was the one who brought back those memories, I’m sorry. You don’t need to explain anything to me, I shouldn’t have forced them out of you.”

“It’s fine, you saved my life so, I should be answering your questions... I’m sorry for getting... heated up.”

“Don’t worry about it... it’s natural for emotions to build up when thinking back on a traumatic experience.”

She also started to tear up a little, feeling bad for forcing those memories to come to the surface of his brain.

“*sniff* Hey, hey, why’re you crying? This is supposed to be my sad moment.”

Realizing she was crying for what she did, Ace tried to lighten the mood a little as he removed her arms from on top of his shoulders.

“*sniff* I’m sorry, I just feel horrible for what I did...”

“Haha, don’t worry about it. I’m over it now...”

“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your name yet...”

“Haha, I guess we never got to introductions. OK, I’ll start.”

Wiping her minimal amount of tears before speaking again, she gave her name.

“I’m Aliza, Aliza Runer.”

“Aliza, huh? That’s a nice name.”

“But you didn’t say anything about yourself. Whatever, it’s fine, I’ll start.”

“I’m Ace Bracker, a 16-year-old who can’t fight but is supposed to grow in skill really fast.”

“I don’t have any friends or family in this world, and I’m in a really weird situation right now that I can’t explain.”

“I also have no information about this world, so if you could enlighten me, that would be helpful.”

Aliza tilted her head at Ace’s response, questioning if he was joking or not.

“—? Whatever, I won’t question what you said because it doesn’t seem to me that you’re lying, but you better explain some time.”

“Ok ok, what about you? Tell me a little about yourself.”

“Ok, hmmm.. how do I start?”

“I’m a 16-year-old girl who has been adventuring for about 2 years now.”

“I’ve always loved to travel and go on adventures, but monsters would always get in the way, so I started to work on my swordsmanship. I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the past few years so if you would like, I could help you out a little.”

“That would be much appreciated, as I’m a little short on time.”

“One question, do you know of any “enemy of the kingdom”?”

“—?!”

“I’ve been told to defeat this enemy in exactly a year or this world would be destroyed.”

Aliza’s expression turned a little more serious and her tone of voice dropped as she began to speak.

“Whoever put you up to this task is crazy.”

“You couldn’t beat one Toriel, and they’re expecting you to beat that...”

“I believe you said your growth is fast, but I doubt anyone could do it in one year, that’s impossible.”

After hearing her words, Ace matched her tone.

“I don’t really know how strong this enemy is but...”

“I have to do it.”

“You were the first person to help me, and you seem pretty trustworthy so I will explain my situation to you later but, right now, I need basic information on this world and what the situation is.. please.”

“You are being completely serious. Who could put you up to such an unbelievable task?”

She looked at Ace to see him staring at her, his eyes not wavering.

She started to blush a little from being stared at, Ace still caught up in the heat of the moment, not letting his eyes move from their target.

“Ok ok, I will help you out... just stop... staring at me please.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, that was rude of me.”

“It’s fine...”

“Hmm... where should I start...? Do you know anything about this country?”

“I know the names of all the cities, villages, and forests. That’s about it.”

Ace had his map to get that information, but he didn’t know anything about the places specifically, only their names.

Aliza tilted her head once again, questioning if he was joking.

“Do you have amnesia? What’s up with that?”

“Whatever, we’ll start with the country itself.”

“You are currently in the country Felona, a kingdom with a capital city in its center and a lot of smaller villages surrounding it. You are at Furio Village, a village right on the south border of Felona.”

“I won’t go into detail about the other countries because it seems like you only have one goal and, your goal doesn’t relate to the other countries, except one.”

“Let’s talk a little more about Felona. It’s current king and queen are demihumans and most of the villages are populated by demihumans.”

“Notice how I’ve had my hood on the whole time... humans and anything that looks human, is hated in this country.”

“It happened a few years before I was born but there was a major war between the country of Felona and the country of Zineen, resulting in the current discrimination you are facing.”

“Zineen is a country of humans, so naturally, humans would be hated by Felona, the country that lost the war.”

“The demihumans are normally kind people but, when it comes to humans, pure hatred fills them up. To be honest, I’m surprised they didn’t kill you on the spot last night. They must’ve left you because you were going to die anyways.”

“That’s the situation between the humans and the demihumans.”

“Now, about this “enemy” that you need to face.”

Aliza paused for a second before beginning to speak again.

“The enemy you need to face is…”

“…”

“the country of Zineen themselves.”

“Specifically the head of the knights.”

“I’ve only heard rumours but, I’ve heard he’s a monster… a Cirto in human form.”

“He was the main force in the war, wiping out half of Felona’s army by himself.”

Ace stopped her before she could continue.

“Wait, wait, what’s a Cirto?”

“You don’t even know that?! You really are uninformed…”

“A Cirto is a species of monster that have gone extinct but, in the legends, it is said that they would kill everything in their path, wiping out entire countries just for enjoyment.”

“They wouldn’t spare anything or anyone. They would flatten forests, evaporate lakes, wipe out other species, and be laughing at the end of it.”

“I heard they went extinct when the snow started to fall. They had no resistance to the cold, wiping out the entire Cirto population.”

After hearing about this world-ending species, Ace could only wonder how difficult his task was.

“And this “head of the knights”, he’s just as strong as them?”

“Most likely, I haven’t encountered him, as I’ve never been to Zineen.”

“—? You’re not from Zineen? Is there other human countries?”

Aliza tilted her head.

“I’m not human, where’d you get that idea?”

“—?”

Ace jumped back from his position, shocked at what she just said.

“What do you mean you’re not human?! You look exactly like one!”

“How rude! It’s a common mistake but still, you should confirm before assuming.”

Folding her arms and turning away from Ace in response to the words that came out his mouth.

“So.. what are you?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a Shuna, a species that populates the country of Gorto in the north.”

“Zineen is in the south and Felona is to the west.”

“How can I tell the difference between you and a human?”

“Look here.”

Aliza lifted her chin, revealing a small, light blue gem attached to the skin underneath her chin.

“I cover my face because my gem is harder to see than others, but you still shouldn’t assume!

She said, as she pouted her face.

“So not everyone’s gem is underneath their chin?”

“Most of the Shuna’s gems are somewhere on their face, my case is a little rarer than others.”

“Other than that, Shuna are very similar to human, the gem is really the only thing that separates us.”

“We have the same lifespans, the same number of fingers, toes, eyes, anything you could think of.”

“Ok, anything else I need to know?”

“Of course there is, but I can’t explain it all right now, so I’ll just explain it while we’re travelling.”

“—? You’re coming with me?”

“I'm a traveler and I said I would help you work on your swordsmanship so might as well stick with you until the end.”

“Plus, even though it’s only been a few hours together, we’ve already been through quite a lot. I saved you from a sticky situation, you got mad at me, and you cried in front of me. That’s quite a lot if you ask me.”

“Ok but, promise me one thing.”

“Hm?”

“…”

“I will tell you something important later, promise to believe what I have to say.”

“That’s it?”

“You’re going to believe me?”

“You don’t seem to have any reason to lie. You need my help so why would you lie?”

“Thank you, I will explain later.”

Aliza stood up, held out her hand, and smiled.

“Glad to be working with you.”

Ace smiled back, grabbing her hand and lifting himself up.

“Me too.”