The pain in her wrist and chest faded after a few minutes. Amadeo finished his work soon after. He didn't say anything, instead he tapped Ellen on the shoulder then pointed to the village.
Back at the village, Amadeo immediately left for the communal hall, his sagging, overstuffed backpack full of meat in tow.
Tear took his place at Ellen's side. "How did it go?"
"It was the same as always," Ellen said without thinking. When she did think, she realized she couldn't remember anything about her last hunt, not even the monster she'd killed, yet she felt certain she'd gone out into the forest several times before.
"You still don't look very healthy. Maybe you should go to bed early today."
Ellen agreed and returned to her home. She set her knife and buckler down beside her dresser, removed her shoes then climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
She was just about to fall asleep when Tear pushed open the front door and stepped inside. Tear lived with her, she just then remembered.
"I've been really busy all day," Tear said with a yawn. "I think I'll go to sleep early as well."
She removed her shoes, socks, shirt and skirt and stored them away in the dresser.
Ellen couldn't take her eyes off her. Tear was sickly thin, but even with her undergarments on she could see that Tear was well endowed in certain areas, much more so than herself.
She swallowed a gasp when Tear laid down in bed and curled up next to her. She had vague memories of Tear sleeping beside her in the past, but she'd kept all of her clothes on back then.
"Goodnight," Tear said, then she closed her eyes. "If you're cold don't be afraid to pull up a blanket, but don't worry about me. You're all the warmth I need."
Ellen lay awake a few minutes longer. A part of her wanted to flee or at least slip away from Tear's grasp, but she also didn't want to disturb her while she looked to be peacefully asleep.
Tear was warm, she had to give her that, and that warmth soon lulled her off to sleep.
The next day started off rather mundane. She spent the morning in the communal hall, first helping Tear wash and hang the laundry, then later checking the stockpiles of food to see if anything had gone bad.
She was on the last barrel when she heard voices outside. They sounded like Brendon and L.L.
Ellen left the communal hall. Brendon and L.L. were right outside.
"Our mission was a failure," L.L. explained to Sycamore and Amadeo, who had gathered around her. "We couldn't find a single person out there."
"It's probably for the best," Brendon said. "Monsters are drawn to people. Our group here isn't large enough to attract much attention."
Ellen seized up. This was not the first time she'd heard Brendon talk about monsters being drawn to people, but she couldn't remember when it had happened before. Thinking about it caused the fog in her mind to expand.
"How about monsters?" Sycamore asked. "See any big ones out there?"
"None worth mentioning," L.L. said. "You all look well enough, so I'm assuming you've had no trouble with monsters."
Amadeo nodded.
Ellen watched him for a moment, waiting to see if he'd speak, but he continued to stay mute and nobody but her seemed to care. "We killed a large one yesterday," she said. "We should have enough meat to last for a while."
"We'll see about that," Brendon said with a chuckle. "We've been stuck with nothing but fruit and bread for a few days now and I could use some real food."
Sycamore frowned at him. "We put a lot of effort into growing that fruit. You ought to be a little more thankful. Would you be happier with no food?"
His words fell on deaf ears. Brendon and L.L. darted passed him and made for the communal hall.
They were probably thirsty as well. Ellen visited the well behind her house, pulled up a bucket of water then brought it to Brendon and L.L. They were too busy stuffing their faces with monster meat to thank her, but Brendon at least gave her a nod.
Afterwards she helped them pack their backpacks for their next expedition. By the time she was finished, all the meat her and Amadeo had brought home yesterday was just about gone, which meant she'd have to go hunting again tomorrow.
She set out first thing in the morning. Amadeo went with her again, and just like before, he would not speak a single word.
"It's really strange how you won't talk," Ellen said on the way to the forest. "Do you at least talk to Alice? It's going to be hard for you two to raise your-" She shuddered. "I hope when Alice has her children, you'll speak to them."
Amadeo stared straight forward. He didn't show any signs of having heard her.
"What's wrong with you?" Ellen complained. "It's like you're not even human."
A new sensation struck her. It felt as if her head was being ripped in two. It hit hard enough to force her to her knees.
The scenery changed as she fell. The grassy plains and the bright blue sky vanished. Ellen found herself inside an expansive stone chamber. Something bright and yellow sat in the center. Before she could get a good look at it, the chamber vanished and the grassy plains returned.
Ellen remained on her knees, clenching her head. "Did you see that?" she asked Amadeo. "The whole world changed. I was... I don't where I was."
Amadeo shook his head, then flashed her a look of concern and pointed to the village.
"No, I'm alright now," Ellen said. She stood back up and resumed her trek to the forest.
What was that strange chamber? It felt oddly familiar. Maybe if the fog in her head ever cleared up, it would all come back to her.
Ellen paused near the edge of the forest. Unlike yesterday, there was nothing moving around. "We might be out here for awhile," she said, and Amadeo nodded.
The forest was calm. Too calm. Even after searching for over an hour, she couldn't spot a hint of life, monster or otherwise, anywhere.
Another hour soon passed, and she spotted a dark shape lingering beside a tree. Ellen readied herself, then realized it was just the corpse of the monster they'd killed yesterday. She sighed and continued on.
It was starting to look like they were going to go home empty handed, but then lunchtime rolled in and she finally spotted a monster.
It was a black, serpent-shaped creature a bit taller than her house, with a large mouth full of long teeth. It had two muscular arms, and over its hands it wore what looked like metallic gloves with three long nails sticking out the front. On its head it wore a dark gray helmet with one small horn in the front and two massive ones sticking out the sides in the back.
Ellen readied herself again, then paused. The monster's eyes were closed and it wasn't moving at all. It looked to be dead, which made no sense. Who could've killed it if not her and Amadeo?
"There's something strange about this," Ellen said. "What do you think-"
Amadeo shushed her, then started creeping forward. He moved right up beside the monster then set his shield down and grasped his sword with both hands.
The monster had fallen asleep, Ellen realized. She'd never seen a monster do that before. She didn't even know they needed to sleep.
Amadeo raised his sword up into the air then brought it down hard on the monster's neck. Bright red blood spurt out in every direction.
The monster stirred to life with a pained groan, then set its fiery red gaze on Amadeo.
Ellen charged forward. The serpent was larger than the monster they'd killed yesterday. Amadeo was going to need her help.
Or so she'd thought. The monster rose partway up then collapsed onto its side. It let out another pained groan and tried to push itself up, but its hand slipped and it collapsed again.
Again Amadeo brought his sword down on the monster's neck, which was already bleeding profusely. His second hit cut open another gaping wound, and the third just about severed the monster's head. Only a few stringy bits of muscle were left to hold its head to its body. Its eyes became dark.
Ellen slowed to stop. A sullen feeling swept over her. That had to be the lar
gest monster she'd seen in this dimension, yet Amadeo had killed it without her lifting a finger. He would also be the one carving it up and hauling the meat back to the village. What did she add to the hunt?
Despite having lost mass amounts of blood and most of its neck, the monster wasn't done. The fire in its eyes flared back up, then it raised one of its hands into the air above Amadeo's head.
"Get out of the way!" Ellen shouted.
Amadeo looked quickly over his shoulder then bolted forward. The monstrous hand crashed down right behind him, its nails missing him by a hair, and launched a cloud of dirt into the air.
The monster became still. Its fiery gaze dimmed then disappeared altogether.
Ellen breathed a sigh of relief. The sullen sensation was gone now. Maybe Amadeo didn't need her to fight beside him against every single monster, but there was still plenty she could do to help him.
She turned her back and waited while Amadeo carved out a backpack full of meat from the monster, then walked with him back to the village.
Alice was waiting outside the communal hall. Her face lit up. "Amadeo!" she cried. "You were gone for so long!"
She shuffled forward, her arms outstretched and her big stomach bouncing around as she moved. Amadeo set his sword and shield and backpack down and ran over to meet her.
Ellen averted her eyes while Alice and Amadeo smothered each other with affection. There was still something uncanny about their relationship, but they did seem happy together.
She grabbed Amadeo's backpack full of meat and started dragging it to the communal hall.
"You were gone for awhile," Alice said. "Did something happen out there?"
She wasn't going to get an answer, not from Amadeo, so Ellen said: "We-"
"Oh, I see," Alice said. "I'm glad Ellen was with you."
Ellen eyed them. Had Amadeo said something? She hadn't heard a word, not even a whisper. "Hold on," she said, but Alice was already walking away. "Did you talk?" she asked Amadeo, who responded with a surprised gaze.
Either the fog in her head was affecting her more than she'd first thought, or there was something very off about Amadeo. She glared at him, hoping for an explanation.
It didn't come. Amadeo took his backpack from her then left for the communal hall.
His sword and shield were still nearby. For a moment she considered grabbing them and holding them ransom until Amadeo spoke to her, but the others probably would not look kindly upon her for causing trouble over such a minor issue.
She grabbed the golden sword and shield, delivered them to Alice and Amadeo's house then returned home.
Tear was inside, cleaning. She had a damp rag in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. She looked up at Ellen. "Did you just get back? It feels like you were gone for a while."
"The forest was really calm today," Ellen said. It was calm every day, as far as she could remember, which was not very far at all. "But we found a monster with a lot of meat on it. It should last for a while."
Tear smiled. "You say that a lot, but whenever we have extra food everyone just starts eating more."
That was true, but Ellen couldn't complain. The regular outings kept things fresh, and the monsters lurking outside the village were much tamer than the monsters she vaguely remembered fighting in the past.
She put her knife and buckler away then pulled off her shoes and climbed into bed. "I feel tired. I'm going to sleep early again."
"Let me dump this water out then I'll join you," Tear said happily. She darted outside, her bucket rocking back and forth and spilling droplets of water all over.
What did join her mean? Tear joined her every night. Did she have something different planned for today?
She was too tired to worry about it. She laid back in bed and closed her eyes.
She opened them when her mattress started squeaking. Tear was crawling straight towards her. She was wearing nothing but her undergarments again.
Ellen recoiled away. It was one thing to have Tear curled up beside her, but she seemed to have something different planned this time.
She couldn't move fast enough. Tear was soon on top of her. Gently she clasped both of Ellen's hands.
"Have I ever told you," Tear said softly, "that you're my best friend in the whole world?"
"Y-yeah," Ellen stammered. Her whole body, especially her face, felt uncomfortably warm. It didn't help that Tear had woven her fingers in between her own. Her hands were surprisingly soft.
"And do you remember what you said to me back in the cathedral? It was right after that shadow... well, you know. You said you loved me."
Ellen nodded cautiously. She had said that. She'd meant to thank Tear for trying to save her, but her mind had been utterly befuddled at the time and she'd gotten all of her words and emotions mixed up.
"You were half dead at the time, and you smelled really bad, but that was a very special moment for me." Tear smiled down at her. "Have you ever thought about becoming more than just friends? I know it sounds strange since we're both... but I think it would work really well."
It was something she'd thought about before, Ellen couldn't deny it, but she'd never put any serious weight into those thoughts, not like Tear was doing now.
"I think about it all the time," Tear said. "There are some days where all I can think about is how I want to be close to you." Her face flushed red. "I'm so jealous of Amadeo. He gets to spend most of the day with you. I wish we could go hunting together, but somebody has to clean and take care of everyone's laundry."
This was too much. While she enjoyed Tear's company, this was too much too fast. Ellen tried to squirm away, but Tear's grip was too firm.
"What do you think?" Tear asked. "If you're not comfortable I don't mind waiting, but I can't keep my feelings bottled up forever."
Ellen only had time to mutter an awkward "Um!" before Tear closed her eyes, puckered her lips and started inching her face closer to her.
Her heart sped up. In pounded so hard her chest hurt. Tear was going kiss her first, then after that there was no telling what she'd try.
For a moment she felt completely at ease. Ever since they'd first met Tear had always been there to support her no matter how difficult the challenge she faced, which was more than she could say about a lot of her friends, plus the two of them had shared a bed so often that all of their friends probably already suspected there was something between them. None of them would be the least bit surprised if her and Tear announced that they'd fallen in love. Even she was starting to enjoy the idea.
Tear's small, heart-shaped face was so close she couldn't see anything else. Any second now their lips would connect and then there'd be no going back.
Ellen quivered. Tear was her friend, and she wanted it to stay that way. "S-stop," she stammered. "I'm not ready."
Tear opened her eyes and pulled back. "That's okay," she said warmly. "You've always been pretty stubborn, but you're not completely against the idea, are you?"
Ellen shook her head.
"And you don't mind sharing a bed with me, do you?"
She shook her head again.
Tear laid down beside her, pulled a blanket over herself and closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Ellen. I hope you feel better tomorrow."
"G-goodnight," Ellen stammered. Her whole body was so wrought with anxiety she couldn't imagine how she'd ever fall asleep, but somehow she managed to drift off after just a few minutes.
The sound of metal beating against wood woke her up the next morning.
Someone was knocking on the door. "Can you answer that?" Ellen asked Tear.
There was no answer. She opened her eyes, and couldn't find Tear anywhere.
The knocking grew louder. The door hinges rattled with each blow.
"Hold on," Ellen called out.
She climbed out of bed and hurried to the door. She couldn't imagine who would want to wake her up so early and for what reason, but she planned to make them regret it.
She ripped open the do
or. Brendon stood right outside. He looked down at her and smiled.
He wouldn't be smiling in a second. Ellen shot him a scowl. She had something nasty to say and it was just about to leave her mouth, but then she saw who was standing behind Brendon.
It was her friends, the ones she'd met back in the Monad Fortress: Ludendi, Barry and Trevor. Her anger vanished so fast it felt as if it had never existed.
Barry was the first to speak. "It took a little longer than we expected," he said, "but we found you, Ellen."
While he was still a bit on the chubby side, he was also more fit than she remembered. He wore a sleeveless shirt that left his muscular arms exposed. Ellen had trouble taking her eyes off them. His hair had not changed much either. It was just as short and brown as she remembered.
Ludendi stood beside him. She still kept her hair in a long, black ponytail that reached down to her waist. "We kept our promise," she said. "Do you even remember the promise we made back then, or were you too busy relaxing?"
Ellen felt ashamed. Before they'd left the Forlorn Dimension, they'd all promised to search for each other. It was her who'd convinced them to make that promise, yet she'd completely forgotten about them.
"Don't worry about it," Ludendi said with a smile. "Brendon told us how busy you are here. We didn't expect you to let everyone starve just so you could look for us."
"I hope you don't mind feeding us as well," Trevor said, his voice as meek as ever. He also looked exactly the same as Ellen remembered. He still had a youthful, almost feminine appearance. His hair was bright orange and hung just passed his chin. "We've been stuck eating scraps of bread for days. It was almost like we were back in the Fortress Brigade."
There was a name she hadn't heard in a while: the Fortress Brigade. Ellen's eyes watered up. The days she'd spent living in the Monad Fortress, doing odd jobs for the Fortress Brigade, had been one of the most enjoyable times of her life and she still hated how it had all ended.
Her coins, she remembered. Her friends would enjoy seeing her coin collection. It might give them a bit of nostalgia.
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