The Extra of The Lunerra

First, I took a deep breath, not one to relax myself, but one to prepare myself.

After the breath, silence enveloped my body. But also the room I was in. And... the person I was standing in front of.

"The truth can hurt you, Sue. No... it will."

With every word that came out of my mouth, her expression worsened. It was impossible for her not to realize something was wrong.

"I talked to just about everyone."

Lies.

"The rector, even the prince himself."

I'm going to lie.

But... that's the only lie I'm going to tell.

"Your brother, Paul. He escaped from Wiathen, maybe even Cevilian. Escaped, I say... because he is wanted."

I paused for a brief moment, thinking about my next words, but not wanting to be too silent, I continued quickly.

"Saligia, the organization that came out recently. Paul works for that organization, Sue. Probably for months, maybe years. I know it's a very... difficult and heavy thing to find out. But it's important. Because think... if he's innocent, why would he run? Why would he leave his home behind when he could strap himself to a lie detector and plead not guilty? You understand... right?"

I didn't even look at her face, I didn't really need to. Instead, I moved closer to her, I hugged her gently, thinking that maybe it would help a little.

The moment I felt how she was shaking, I was sure of my thoughts. Sue... she didn't want to believe what I was saying.

"But... I'm here."

I hugged her even tighter, unable to stop the expression on my face from falling slightly.

"I'll do everything I can to find Paul... I'll even make sure you... talk to him, if I can. As his sister, you have a right to hear right and wrong from him... don't you? So... even though I know it's hard, please be stronger. Please don't throw yourself, your life, away."

Again... Sue said nothing. I was equally silent.

But after a while, she moved slightly. If she didn't move much... she straightened up a little.

"A- are you... sure...? That Paul, my brother... I mean... that's who he is?"

I narrowed my eyes, trying hard not to clench my fist every second I felt the tremor, the hesitation in her voice. And yet...

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sorry, Sue. But... it's the truth."

Slowly, her arms, which until now had weakly yielded to gravity, rose. She hugged me the same way I hugged her. She didn't say a word, but... I didn't need to be clairvoyant to know what she was going through.

I started patting her back gently, stroking her hair while I was still hugging her.

"I'm with you, I'm here."

At the same time... I made another promise to myself.

I will not only find Paul, but I will make him regret putting Sue in this situation.

*******

I didn't really feel like leaving Sue alone. But knowing that she needed and wanted some time alone, I went out half an hour after our conversation about Paul.

But I didn't head straight to my own room. Instead, I started walking randomly through the academy to catch my breath, to take a walk. And I was... thinking... about Sue, about Paul... and about what I could do about it directly.

And... about myself.

I sighed lightly, turned my eyes to the sky, and started watching the clouds.

I don't feel... good, to be honest. I'm sure that what I'm doing is the right thing, but I still don't feel good, like... like I'm walking crooked, even though I'm walking the right way.

I need to deal with Paul faster, don't I? I need to deal with it head-on, rather than letting it slide... That's the only way Sue's gonna feel better.

Yeah, and so will I.

First of all... one of the things I can-

'Huh...?'

"Huh?"

I paused quickly, staring at the space in front of me, unable to stop the expression on my face from changing to surprise. And then... the turquoise marble of light that appeared in that void. And then the Sith's bewildered appearance, looking just like me.

My brow furrowed quickly.

'Sith, is something wrong?'

Sith looked up at the sky without saying anything. His brows were furrowed just like mine as if he was sure something was wrong. And soon, she nodded at my question, confirming my thought.

'The barrier. I felt a ripple on it.'

My eyebrows furrowed even more, my eyes narrowed even more. I had an idea of what I was hearing, but... I wanted to be sure.

'Are we talking about the same barrier, the one you couldn't cross when you tried to come to Lunerra?

'Yes.'

'Oh...'

My eyebrows straightened again. The expression on my face inevitably lost its seriousness, I felt myself relaxing a little.

And Sith was quick to notice.

'Do you have any idea what happened?'

'Pretty much.'

Spirits like Sith were creatures that could be contracted and used to great advantage in the game. Thanks to these spirits, people who were not overly skilled were suddenly able to fight, and some of the more powerful people were empowered even more.

They contributed greatly to humanity's ability to resist future disasters.

But... they are not accessible from the very beginning of the game. The planet or dimension they inhabit, I don't know what it is, is independent of the rest of the universe. They are separated from all external factors by an invisible, non-

physical, but truly gigantic and dimensional barrier.

When Adrian is approaching the end of the second year of the academy in the game, this barrier disappears and the spirits descend to Lunerra. And they can do this thanks to the dungeon that Leonard Quie and his team cleared out some time ago.

That's why that dungeon is so important... and will become even more important in the future. So much so that people from all over Lunerra will flock to enter the dungeon, and the economy and many other things will radically change.

Lunerra will quite literally enter a new era... an era that will be of great use to me.

'Did you just feel a simple ripple? Is there more to it?'

Sith gave me a suspicious look at first, as if he couldn't quite decide what to say. But she answered my question anyway.

'No, it was just a simple fluctuation.'

So... is it still a few weeks away? It will definitely happen sooner than in the game... Sith had this reaction in the main story about three weeks before the barrier was lifted.

I wonder what I did this time to cause even the spirits to descend on Lunerra early...?

'I see...'

I started moving forward again, slowly, but this time, I had different things on my mind, very different things.

'You might need to get ready, Sith.'

Sith spun around, then landed on my shoulder and gave me a serious sideways glance.

'You know what it is, as always. I won't ask how you know, but... what exactly is happening?'

'The barrier will be removed soon, completely.'

Sith's face suddenly paled, his eyes widening. Even his body stiffened.

'W- wait, are you serious? Then... Then the spirits can descend to Lunerra!'

'Yes, that's exactly what will happen.'

Sith quickly glided over my shoulder in front of me. He gave me a look so serious yet worried that I almost paused again.

'You know what this means, don't you?'

I kept walking anyway.

'Yes.'

And Sith continued to glide in front of me with the same expression.

'The Council of Spirits will also descend. And, aware of our presence, they will request a meeting. In short...'

'We will also meet my father...'

I couldn't help grinning involuntarily.

'And he's not going to be very happy that you ran away from home, that's for sure.'

An ugly expression appeared on Sith's face. He remained where he was, his eyes fixed on the floor. But after a brief moment, his gaze returned to me.

'You don't look very worried. Do you have a plan again?'

'Sort of, let's say. We'll get into a bit of trouble, like when we talked about you becoming a prince, but the payoff will be pretty good in the end. So don't worry.'

Sith let out a deep, really deep sigh. Then, as he often does, he transformed into a marble of light and entered my body through my chest.

'Whatever you're doing... just keep my father as far away from me as possible.'

As his voice got lower and lower, he said one last thing to me in my mind.

'Maybe I was acting like a really spoiled brat back then, I cannot lie... But there are many reasons why I ran away from there. And one of those reasons is my father.'

And then he disappeared, without saying anything else. Maybe he thought I already knew, maybe he didn't want to tell me... who knows.