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"Good morning, Emma."
Mm?
Her eyelids almost felt too heavy to lift, but she forced them open anyways. With a slight grimace, she blinked and swerved her gaze towards the speaker, one of the younger kids. While she was taking it easy, one of the kids would keep a watchful eye on her to make sure she rested. She had tried to protest at first, but was quickly shut down by the concerned and annoyed chatter of everyone else.
So, she was forced to go to bed.
"...good morning," Emma said drowsily, rubbing her eyes with a yawn. Pushing herself up, she pushed off the blanket and stood up. "Is breakfast ready?"
The younger kid shook his head. "Nope."
Ah. Oh well. Maybe she could help set in up, since her fever was finally gone - it wasn't exactly caused by a sickness, as Musica had told them, but everyone wanted to steer clear of her until it cleared up. And that was fine by her. She didn't want anyone here dying. She was going the get her, Ray, and the rest of her family out of here and to their destination.
For Norman.
Her fingers curled up into a fist and she clenched her fist until her knuckle were white as snow. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and she blinked them away, a frown on her face.
If she wanted to have the strength to do this, then she would need to eat breakfast, she realized belatedly as her stomach let out a loud growl. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and walked towards where they ate. She beckoned the little kid over to her, hiding her thoughts with a small smile.
"Come on," she said with false cheerfulness, "let's help everyone make breakfast, okay?"
"Okay!"
A large smile split his face, and he jumped to his feet with a fist dramatically in the air.
The next smile was genuine. As was her laughter.
Don't worry, Norman, I'm going to make sure everyone gets there alive.
Fresh water.
It tasted good - cool and slightly planty as it dribbled down her throat. A human being could live about three days without water, so she would need to drink up and stay hydrated. Also, Gilda would probably get made at her if she didn't stay healthy.
Drinking the last few drops, she sighed and began eating the outer layer of the fruit. It had a fruity and sweet taste that turned slightly sour if she kept chewing it for too long. Swallowing it, she reached for another one and tore into it easily, devouring it quickly. Apparently, the coating on the inside of the plant reacted to the oxygen in the air - Ray had deduced that from William Minerva's books, something even she hadn't figured out. There was a "monster" glossary in the back of one of the books that he had been looking into lately.
She wasn't as smart as Ray... or Norman, but she had her own skills that Ray didn't have as honed - athletics. It wasn't a brawn and brains situation though. She was a high-grade product to the demons, and so was Ray. They were both smart enough to hold their own and make quick decisions - when it came to the demons hunting them, they didn't have to worry as much. They were fresh, premium meat that was to be left untouched. Don and Gilda, too, were high quality meat, but were ultimately less valued.
But everyone else...
Everyone else was highly adaptive and learned quick. But if the hunters got their hands on on them, they would be killed. It did matter what happened to them
"So, how's everything going?" Emma asked him, and the black haired boy looked up at her, swallowing his mouthful of salad.
He seemed to think about it for a second, tapping a finger against the table. Everyone else had let to do other things, while they had stay and let everyone else eat first. Since Ray and her were older, they could go longer without eating. The others had of course stayed long enough for them to know that they were eating, then left. As far as she could tell, everything was going good - no one was dead, or even seriously injured, they had guides, and they knew where they were going. But it was possible that Ray had thought of something to be worried about.
"I think," Ray began carefully, "that everything is going fine. The sooner we get there, the better, but we shouldn't push ourselves too hard." He paused and glanced at her pointedly-
She smiled a bit sheepishly at his look. Yep, Gilda and Don had told her that too.
-and then continued: "So everything good." He paused, then nodded to himself. "I think it's safe to trust the two of them, too."
Then it became more real, and she grinned. "That's great!"
A tiny smile appeared on his face.
"Yeah."
The two of the sat there for a moment more, basking in the peaceful noises around them: the children in the other rooms, the sound of Musica teaching someone about healing herbs, and the clinking noises of the plates as Ray pushed them aside.
It sure was...
Zzzz...
Mmm? She could even hear bugs buzzing around - Ray blinked open his eyes, evidently hearing the insects too. She hadn't heard them before...
Was something wrong?
Zzzz... Fzzzz.... FZZZT.
Eh? Was it a bug?
She started to ask Ray about it, but the words died in her throat when he spoke up.
"Radio."
Ray's voice was sharp as he sat up in alarm, looking around for the source.
For a moment, she didn't get it. Her heart beating loudly in her chest, her breathing just a touch shallower. Why would...
Then she got it:
A radio... Demons!
Where...
No, no. Where was the noise coming from? It appeared that Ray had come to the same conclusion, so she whirled around. Where was it coming from - what direction should they run?
Backwards... or forward?
FZZZTTTTTTTTTT!
Then, the static stopped, and she nervously met Ray's gaze. The silence was horrible.
Horrible.
Very horribly tense.
"Hello," a voice suddenly boomed in her head, all around her and crawling in her mind like it was implanted there like a thought. "My name is D." Emotionless and beautiful were two words she could use to describe this person called D's voice. This voice was tearing into her mind, the way it invaded her head. She could still think and wonder, but there was a visitor now.
Was this a mortal cause?
Or divine?
Emma could hear her own breathing, as well as Ray's. His eyes darted to hers for a second, before he seemed to slowly get a grip on his feelings. They couldn't do anything yet. So they had to wait.
And listen.
"Thank you for your attention, world," D finally said, after a long, long minute of waiting. "I'm sure you are dying to know what I want, so I will lay it out plainly-"
A devilish pause.
One second. She heard the confused sound of the other children. She saw Ray's brows furrow. She felt-
"Amusement."
Huh?
What?
"That's it. I want amusement. Now that a certain individual has saved that Goddess, I'm bored again."
What did she want from them?
Emma turned her head to Ray, looked at him for help. But Ray didn't know how to stop God. She didn't how to stop God. None of them knew how to stop God.
She didn't want everyone to die.
"So I am reinstalling something I made a long time ago. For now on, this world is under the control of the system," D said in her head, and she finally relaxed just a bit, realizing there wasn't anything she could do about the voice in her head. "I want to watch you change this world, children of Gracefield, but I'm going to add some things-" She addressed them. She addressed them personally.
Before her thoughts could spin out of control, D added one more thing:
"Good luck."
Then, silence.
A long silence and nothing more.
There was only the sound of her unsteady breathing.
"Did you... hear that too?" Ray finally managed to ask.
The only thing she could do was nod.
After a long time of trying to get the younger children to calm down, with the help of Ray, Gilda and Don, she slumped down on the ground.
Sweat clung to her brows as her mind whirled - this was too surreal. Demons were one thing, but gods? That was too outlandish, even for her. What's more, this god, called D, knew about them and was watching them with interest. - for amusement. She didn't know what she considered amusing, but something told her it wasn't good.
For starters, what did she mean by "system"?
Struggling to tear her mind away from a torrent of paranoia, she tried to focus on the god's words.
Let's see...
The first thing that came to mind was like a computer or some type of electronic. From anything to the monitor room in Gracefield to a handheld video game, those things had systems.
Was that supposed to show that she thought of their struggles as a game?
Urgh, maybe Ray had an idea. He too, was deep in thought.
<Proficiency has reached the required level.>
<Acquired skill [Parallel Thinking Lv 1].>
Eh?
It sounded like D, but different somehow.
Wait.
Skill? Level? Just like a video game...
...oh.
Their world really was a game now.