Taking the blow, I get sent tumbling backwards until I land on my back, then moments later Maple appears on top of me and says whilst punching me, “Where, the, hell, were, you, for, the, last, 6, months?”Continuing the beatdown, she says, “Do you even know how worried I was? I had thought you had died.” Crying, she says, “I thought I lost another member of my family.”Seeing her face, I sit up and hug her, then say, “I am so sorry, it is just that some unforeseeable circumstance came up and I was forced into this position. But just so you know, I have missed every single one of you all this time.”Feeling an unmistakable surge of disgust in my arms, I hear Maple say, “Yeah, right.”“Maple, the tone in which you said that makes me believe you don’t trust what I said.”Breaking out of my grip, she kicks me in the face and says, “It is because I don’t. I am willing to bet you overexerted yourself helping someone and have been in a coma or something.”“No, that isn’t tru-.”“EXACTLY,” The

Running around, I turn and look for a conversation I can insert Suzuka into. No, not that one, those guys are way too deep in conversation, what about them? No, they are talking about things I would rather not have Suzuka hear.But soon I see a target and say, “There!”Φ “What is it, Buloke?”“Jute, I just wanted to apologise.”Being coy, I say, “Whatever could you mean?”“I should have noticed the fact that you cut your hair shorter, that’s my fault.”Behind me, Holly, Juniper, and Acadia whisper, “Now they are going to passionately kiss and make up.”“Just like always.”“It is standard practice at this point.”Turning around, I shout, “SHUT UP. Now, Buloke, continue.”“All in all, Jute, I just wanted to say, I am so sor-.” Suddenly, Buloke is drop-kicked in the face by Orb, sending him to the ground.Looking directly at me, Orb says, “Hey Jute, how are you doing?”“Orb, what the hell was that?”“I just needed to talk to you as soon as possible, it definitely wasn’t revenge for him be

As she finishes speaking, a bad feeling washes over my body. This girl is trouble, I can feel it in my bones, but more than that, the little girl shaking in her arms reminds me of myself when I was with Orb.Should I run? No, I am no longer scared of anyone! My plan will go off perfectly, and I will be safe, so I should just continue.“The place where I lived was struck by a disease that killed countless people, and to my misfortune, my mother was struck by the same disease.So my father and I worked day after day to afford medicine for her. The work was intense; it took up so much of my time that the only solace I had was entertaining a boy and a girl.When we came home from work, she would crack both of us a smile, then we would stay by her side until she fell asleep.Then, when she did, I would run into the forest and pick out Kastabag flowers; it was a crimson and navy flower that is said to sprout when lightning strikes soil with high amounts of metal in it. My country was known f

While the crowd disperses, I sit down and say, “Now I need to get in contact with that creepy old grandma Ai.”Iancu asks, “Why would you do that?”“Sparrow said he has been spreading a bunch of information about the village of Aplos around, and because of all of that, now people are going to start wandering into and around Fimbulwinter, which is an issue for my plans going forward. I am going to use my favour from that old lady to spread a false rumour that there is no one from Fimbulwinter.”“But didn’t some of your people get sold to Basileia, so people would know they exist?”“Basileia is in shambles, and very few people can confirm that people from Aplos were even there. So the only question now is how to contact her?”Suzuka says, “I know how to contact her.”Turning our heads towards Suzuka, we say, “How?”From her clothes, she pulls out a kaidenwa, then says, “I have this here, a special Kaidenwa that only connects to Ai.”Confused, I say, “Why do you have that?”“Ai gave it to

-Break-Continent: Northern edge of Terrafide.Location: FimbulwinterΦ Feeling a tap on my head, I hear, “Guāng, wake up.”Immediately opening my eyes, I see our leader, Casandra, staring at me with an annoyed expression.Embarrassed, I ask, “Did I fall asleep?”“Like a storybook princess.”Beside the leader, the large man known as Thorgrim laughs and then says, “I thought one of us would have to kiss you awake.”Even more embarrassed, I say, “Sorry!” While bowing.Beside me, the girl, named Anouk, says, “In all honesty, you being asleep made all of us have a better ride since your shaking was bothering the hell out of me.”“Sorry.”“Could you stop fucking apologizing?”Scared, I say, “SORRY!”“DIDN’T I SAY STOP?”Thorgrim says, “Well, who could blame him, Anouk? You are much worse than any beast we’ve fought. Don’t worry, Guāng, you will eventually warm up to her.”Under her breath, she mutters, “I swear, why do we have to bring this rookie along?”I say, “Being quiet doesn’t work if