Chapter 120: Coffee Talk, Part 1

The second-floor corridor had never looked more peculiar to me. 

Something so strangely, vaguely unfamiliar about all the familiarity that surrounded me. The faint blemishes in the floorboards, white walls that hung a dozen canvases of shamelessly pretentious paintings, even the long-ass carpet I keep crumpling up whenever I drag my feet on it… walking through it felt like a whole new experience.

Couldn't really put a finger on why I felt the way that I did, that was until I took a second glance through the stairway window. Sure, I may have walked these halls many more times than I have relationships… but I don't think I've ever seen them painted in a more vivid, clearer, sunnier light.

Not a cloud rolling by in the deep ocean blue of the skies, the weather was as perfect as it could possibly be. Not even out in the country had I seen a forecast so intent on replicating pure Nirvana. It was almost as if Mother Nature herself was trying to make up for the literal hell on Earth that's been pouring down these past 24 hours.

Maybe she was feeling a bit under the weather, herself. Mood swings, amirite?

Still, I couldn't deny the fact that the view of the outdoors wasn't a sight for sore eyes. Could almost forget how dour and sour my mood was just by taking in the vibrant greens and warm yellows. 

Then I finally landed myself on the broad expanse of the ground floor, which offered me, in contrast, a sobering visage that sent me tumbling right back down to the bitter dumps of reality.

Neither Ash nor Ria had moved a single inch since I last saw them. Still with breaths ever faint, still with eyes firmly shut. I had hoped they'd be conscious by now… that they'd be moving, walking, talking… Irene assured me that -

Irene wasn't with them. 

That spot in the living room where she always had been, where she sat crossed-legged, deep in thought… that spot laid vacant now. I don't get it, she said the process couldn't be interrupted, that stopping before it was finished could bring about drastic consequences. 

So what was this? 

My eyes went scouring at once. "Where did…?"

"Sleeping." Amanda's head went poking out from the corner of the kitchen wall, before she drew it back, her footsteps echoing along with the casualness in her voice. "Should have seen her the way I saw her when I came down. She's gone way past the point of just physical exhaustion."

Okay, seriously, it's really starting to seem like we're just taking turns falling asleep at one another. Feels as if we're living in our own exclusive timezone or something.

We gotta start amending that sometime soon… but for now, though, I got more pressing things on the mind. 

"The trance-breaking?" I asked, turning myself around the same corner Amanda disappeared into. "Did she do it? Is the sleep spell broken? Why are they still asleep?"

"Shh, slow down, don't panic," She said reassuringly. "She's done it. The sleep spell has been broken."

"So why are they - "

"Still asleep?" Amanda shrugged away. "Irene told me it was normal. If everything goes as planned, they'd be waking up by themselves pretty soon."

"Soon, huh?" 

"Just needs a little more patience is all."

That was all fine and dandy, I suppose. But now there was just one other thing that's bugging me. 

"She told you this?" I asked, stepping deeper into the kitchen. "She told you all this, but not me?"

Given the way Amanda started shaking her head, it seemed I wasn't the only one who thought it mighty peculiar.

"Strange, right?" She said. "I thought you'd be the first to get this kinda info, y'know… thought she might be eager to break the news to you first… certainly not me. I'm just here… heh, I'm not even sure why I'm here."

"Where is she now?"

"Upstairs. Room across from yours, I think? Mmm… certainly wasn't a guest room, there was a laptop on the desk."

Ash's room. From the corner of my eyes, think I might have seen the door was shut on my way down, just didn't bother to take note of it in the midst of everything.

What's up with you, Irene?

"Umm," A little clinking began to sound, fingernails tapping the side of a mug. "Don't mean to rush… but I don't suppose you could… yeah…"

Amanda stood on the other side of the glossy marble countertop, laid out in front of her she has already prepared the prime essentials for the coffee-brewing procedure. I was a little impressed with how immaculate everything was laid out, until I had a look through the kitchen sink and saw the complete opposite.

"How many times?" I asked, hauling myself deeper in for a closer look at the aftermath.

"In my defense, I used to be satisfied with how I made them… I'll clean it up!" Amanda hastily drew herself up beside me back to the scene of the crime. "Then I, uh… had a taste of yours… and I just couldn't get enough of it."

Somehow it felt as if I was getting the blame shifted onto me, certainly sounded that way… like some kind of drug-dealer enticing unknowing victims to his goods. It was just caffeine, but the guilt-ridden look on Amanda's face made it seem like so much more.

Don't really think I should be feeding any addictions here, but she did answer all my questions, and I did agree to it, so… dunno, we'll send her to rehab later, I guess.

So with a complying sigh, I started to brew up two hot cups of the bitter delight - much to her own delight, that soft squeal and eager clapping of hands was the same as a kid to an amusement park.

Guess I found a favorite of hers.

It was a little while later, after a bit of sink clearing and cleaning, that we leaned ourselves against the countertop, mugs in hand, savoring the smell of the browny swirls, staring out into the living room - waiting for God knows what to happen.

We were always waiting.

Took a small sip, and decided to indulge in a bit of light chatter cause what else am I gonna do?

"I don't suppose you know how magic works, do you?" 

I looked to the enamored coffee deviant to the side of me, watching the pure bliss on her expression, as her lips puckered and suckled the rims of her mug, before exhaling a great big breath of unbridled satisfaction. 

She turned to look at me, smiling euphorically. "What magic?"

"Any magic, I suppose," I said, waving a hand at nothing. "You played the game many times, I assume you might know a thing or two about these things."

Her lips went burrowing into the creamy essence again, and when they next poked out, they showed to me a small frown along with a little frothy mustache on top of it.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but I'm as normal as you are… well, normal-er than you are. My only experience with spells and abilities simply boils down to just pressing the right bumper on the controller."

Wasn't a surprise to hear that, still, it didn't really stop me from feeling a little disappointed. 

"Guess I'm just gonna have to wait on Irene, then…" I mused, downing an even bigger gulp. "I'm going nowhere real fast with this, aren't I?"

"It's a convoluted road, yeah," Amanda said. "But I think you'll do alright with it."

There they were again… words to assure. 

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

She took another sip, flashed another smile. "Just a hunch."

Hunch… the fine middle line between absolute faith and dubious doubts. I can run with hunches. At least with them, there weren't any expectations to live up to. Nobody to disappoint. No pressure. I can roll with that.

So ends the light chatter on my part, was perfectly content on finishing the rest of our drinks in silence - then Amanda turned to look at me once again.

"I was wrong by the way," She said.

I looked back, blinking once. "What?"

"The Blightfall. Asteria does have them." She continued, fulling turning herself sideways to me. "Couldn't focus on sleeping last night. So I went reading my old blogs. I found an old one I wrote about my first tour around Cyberware Game Studio."

"The ones that made Asteria."

"Yeah. Anyway, during the tour, I interviewed some of the developers of the game, I made sure to even record a transcript of it in case I forgot. One of the questions I asked the Game Director was if there was any piece of content that was cut from the game. Well obviously, he said yes."

Could kinda guess where this was going. "Blightfall."

"Global Blightfall." Amanda elaborated. "Cut mechanic. For every hundred or so innocent lives slain, Blight will start appearing in random different countries, and if the death count gets even higher, it'll even start pouring down at the exact same time. Sound familiar?"

That does sound familiar.

Very much familiar.

I think we might be able to go somewhere with this...