Chapter Eleven: Tears In Heaven
1990 Words
Rather than sitting down, Ian paced back and forth in front of the table, saying, “I can’t believe this. You and I, are we...are we really in the game? Is everyone else here too? I feel like I’m in heaven!”
The horrible irony of that last bit was not lost on Elise.
“Ahh...well, sort of. I don’t know if anyone else is here. I hope not, anyway.” Elise said, leaning back in her chair both hands wrapping around the cup of coffee she’d already started on. “As far as I know, I only arrived here after I died in the other world...so...I guess you could think of it as heaven. A heaven where you can die all over again. This place is less like a game, and more like an alternate version of reality.”
That stopped the paladin short. He looked at her, then sat down as a dark memory began replaying in his mind. There was a fire. He was with Kade when the building collapsed on top of them.
“Kade...I mean, Moltar...is Moltar here?” he asked, growing somber as the implications of what she said sank in.
“Moltar is probably asleep in the officer quarters still, but...yeah. I don’t know if he’s, ah, Kade though. Maybe?” Ichigo had hinted that he’d been behaving strangely in the weeks after Pita died, but they’d all chalked it up to his boyfriend being horrifically murdered. Elise winced at the memory, and sipped at her hot coffee to distract herself.
“How long have you been here?” Ian asked.
“A year or so.” Elise replied, sighing a little.
She thought if she ever met another person like her it would be a relief; that she’d have someone to share the experience with - that maybe together they’d find a way to hold on to some of their past selves. Now she thought that the Goddess really liked to play cruel jokes on people. First, Pita, now this. If only she’d lost all the memories of her past life, maybe this wouldn’t be so hard. There was no way Ian would have any interest in her now; it was super weird that she’d hooked up with the other version of him. Besides, why would she want to be with a man who called her a crafting slave to her face?
“So, I guess you didn’t just quit the guild after that night…” Ian said, foggy memories of their argument coming back to him. She’d blocked him on Harmony, and when she never logged in again he just assumed she’d quit the game. He’d felt a little bad about that at the time, and had given Kade a bit of a dressing down in the aftermath when several more crafters quit as well. They’d barely convinced Ichigo to stick around; apparently he’d had a bit of a thing for the ranger.
The troubadour chuckled, and shook her head. “No, though there were times I wished I had.”
“Is that why everything is so different?” Ian asked, looking around the kitchen.
Elise had no idea what the original version of this guild hall had looked like, since it was before her time, but she doubted that anything in the building had escaped her influence. She’d been very clear about keeping the clutter and ugly, stupid, or mismatched decor out.
“Probably.” Ellie said, looking down at her coffee. “Uhm...so, you probably saw in the closet...my clothes.”
“Hmmm? Oh yeah, your armor is so cool...and…” Ian started, the faint smile that had been on his lips as he looked around wilted away as he saw the implication that she’d been trying to point out. “...and we were in the same bed this morning. So, I guess...you were hooking up with me, well, my character...”
Elise coughed a little, choking on the coffee that she’d been drinking. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she caught her breath, “H-hooking up? Haha...ha...yeah, sure. We were hooking up. That’s all it was. It doesn’t matter. He’s gone, right? You’re here now.”
The biting sarcasm in her voice was evident, and stung him - though he wasn’t entirely sure why. It was a reaction that felt separate from his actual feelings; feelings that belonged to someone else, who just happened to live in the back of his mind. He felt the beginnings of a headache as he tried to process everything he’d just been told, though it could have also been from lack of caffeine; that coffee Elise had was smelling awfully good.
“I’ll get my s**t out as soon as I can, but I need to get you caught up on stuff if you’re going to make it through today without the rest of the guild freaking out.” Elise said, her voice a little sharp.
“Great.” Ian said, though he didn’t sound the least bit excited to have more information dumped on him. “I should probably have a coffee first.”
Elise got up, and went to the coffee machine. She started pouring a cup, and had already added one sugar when she paused.
“Uhm…so, how do you take your coffee?” she asked after a long moment. She set her hand down, as it had started to shake a bit. She was probably trying to hide it, and though it hadn’t escaped the paladin’s notice, he decided it would be best to pretend it had.
“Black, with two sugars.” he said, watching from the corner of his eye as she steadied herself and added another cube of sugar to the coffee.
“I guess some things are the same.” she muttered under her breath.
Then, she sat back down and slid the mug across the table to him. She took a deep breath, another sip of coffee, then started talking. It was a long time before she finished, by which time the sun had already risen full into the sky.
Moltar shuffled shirtless into the kitchen sometime after the troubadour had finished filling the would be commander in on the current state of the guild. He scratched absently at his hairy barrel of a chest, grunting a bit in consternation at the coffee pot - which had already gone cold. After making a fresh pot and pouring himself a cup, he sat down at the table and looked at the other two. When Elise immediately averted her eyes from him, he leaned forward to get a better look at her. It had already been odd that neither of them said good morning.
“Ells…” Moltar grunted, boring holes into the side of her face with his eyes.
“Good morning, Moltar…” Elise finally said, keeping her red eyes focused on the empty coffee cup she was clutching between her hands.
He then looked over at Astredian, who looked at him, and smiled a little. “Morning, bro.”
“Shit.” Moltar muttered, then took a long drink of his fresh, black coffee wishing he’d made two pots. “I guess that makes three of us.”
Elise got up from the table, her face a storm. “You could have warned me, Kade!”
“I was hoping he survived.” the oathbreaker said, looking morose. “And please...I prefer Moltar. Moltar was...a better person than Kade.”
“f**k’s sake.” Elise said, throwing her hands up in frustration, not even taking in the strangeness of that last part. “How long has it been?”
“A few months.” the bear of a man admitted, looking cowed in the face of the troubadour’s anger.
“You...you’re the one who cornered me in the bathhouse? Seriously?!” Elise shouted, not caring if she woke up Ichigo, or the whole town for that matter.
“Bathhouse?” Ian said, looking a little confused. The other two ignored him completely.
“I have a lot to make up for.” Moltar said, looking up at Elise with pain in his dark, deep-set brown eyes. Pain, and the deep understanding that she always felt when she’d looked at him.
This doused her anger instantly, and she felt her breath catch in her throat as the white hot rage left her.
“Fine.” Elise said, her tone flat. “But you can babysit him until he gets settled in. I just...I can’t.”
Moltar nodded, and went back to drinking his coffee.
"I don't think I need a babysitter-" Ian started. Before he could get any further, however, Ichigo came tottering into the kitchen then, yawning hugely.
“We’re not supposed to be having a leadership meeting this morning, are we?” Ichigo asked as he wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye before pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
Ian stared at the tall catton cleric, obviously not recognizing him despite his distinct voice. He’d been used to hearing it come from a tiny female avatar, after all.
“Ichigo! My favorite Strawberry,” Elise said, eyeing Ian as she said the word ‘strawberry.’ She pulled a chair for the catton, motioning him to it as she continued, “What can I get you for breakfast?”
If Ichigo had noticed the odd, high, nervous pitch to the ranger’s voice, he didn’t say anything. He just smiled up at her, his ears perking up. “I’d love a waffle...maybe with strawberry cream, if it’s not too much to ask?”
Ellie smiled warmly at the request; it was her favorite and they both knew it. Pita used to make it for them all the time because of this; though the druid made everyone else’s favorites in turn as well. “Twist my arm, why don’t ya.”
Within the hour, Elise was sliding a platter stacked with waffles and a dish of freshly whipped cream tinted pink with strawberry power, as well as sliced strawberries, onto the table. They all served themselves, and though she didn’t want to, Elise couldn’t help but watch Ian take his first bite. When his eyes lit up, her heart did as well. It always made her happy when he enjoyed her food.
“This is fantastic...you’re going to make some lucky guy a good wife one day,” Ian said jovially, not noticing the crestfallen look on Elise’s face as he was distracted by the sound of Moltar choking.
“M’fine,” Moltar hacked, waving off the hand that Ian was using to smack his back. The oathbreaker looked to the troubadour again, concerned - though by then she’d rearranged her expression into some semblance of normal.
“Sure, rub it in why don’t you.” Ichigo grumbled a little. “We all know you’re madly in love.”
“Madly in love…?” Ian said, looking baffled. “With who?”
“We’re...we’re taking a break!” Elise said, her voice cracking, tears bubbling up in her eyes again, as she made this heart wrenching pronouncement.
- Writer
