Winter break came to an end. When I woke up on my first day of school in the new year, I had escaped from a strange dream. I couldn't really remember much about what happened. All I really knew is that there was some guy there. He was supposed to be a friend, but he slowly disappeared. I just had no idea who he was. I shook my head, got myself up, and got dressed.

I then did the usual stuff to get ready for school and headed out. The walk to school was pretty slow. Honestly, I just wasn't ready to go back. I still hadn't gotten over how I'd been feeling and was worried about how I'd be performing in class. When I finally got to the building, I encountered Simon.

“Did you come to get your soul back?” he asked.

“I wasn't aware that you had it.” I replied.

“Not sure why you'd want it when the only thing inside is a fishing dimension.” he said.

“Enough about that.” I said, “Do you remember what happened a few months ago?”

“Ah, that.” said Simon, “I heard someone died at the end.”

“Yes,” I said, “That did happen.”

“And they can't come back?” asked Simon.

“She died in her own world,” I said, “so that won't be possible.”

“Damn, that sucks.” he said.

The two of us talked for a bit as we went inside. We soon split up and went to our own classes. Unfortunately for me, I was still having trouble focusing on anything that was being taught. I managed to make it to the end of the day and wondered when I would be contacted again. Just knowing that this “author” freak was out there really concerned me.

The fact that whoever it was had the nerve to use my face and name was even more concerning. I just hoped that he was lying when he said he was me. I didn't want to believe that this was some fictional world that some other version of myself created. That would just to be too cruel. Finding out that I was suffering because of another version of myself.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Mikaela, when she found me outside.

“Ah, n-nothing.” I said.

“What are you two talking about?” asked Catherine as she approached the two of us.

“We weren't really talking.” I said.

“You still worried about... things?” asked Mikaela.

“Maybe I am.” I replied.

“Okay, now I really want to know what you're talking about.” said Catherine.

“Don't worry about it right now.” I said.

“That's just going to make me worry about it.” replied Catherine.

“Sorry.” I said.

The three of us soon split up. As I walked home, I thought about how right Mikaela was. I was still worried about everything and hoped that we would start doing something about it soon. Since a lot of my old friends were gone, I did wonder who would be going on the next quest. As I thought about this stuff, I bumped into Cerise. Literally.

“Watch where you're going, kid.” she said.

“Ah, s-sorry.” I said.

Then I realized who she was.

“W-what do you want?” I asked.

“Well, I'm looking for new recruits.” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Jon and Lilith are too busy right now.” answered Cerise, “And we've lost contact with a lot of our old allies.”

“Lost contact?” I said, “Should I be worried?”

“Not really.” said Cerise, “They likely just moved to different places.”

“Ah.” I replied.

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked.

Cerise looked puzzled.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Y'know, about that author guy.” I said.

“Oh, him.” she said.

“Well?” I replied.

Cerise slammed her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

“I'm going to go off on my own to kill that bastard!” she said.

“Oh, good luck with that.” I said, “Wait... how do you know you're not talking to him now since we look alike?”

“You don't have the same threatening aura.” she said.

“Threatening aura?” I asked, “What are you talking about?”

“When you spend enough time training, you notice stuff like that.” answered Cerise.

“Oh.” I replied.

“You better get on home,” she said, “I've got work to do.”

“O-okay.” I responded.

I did as she said and headed home as she walked in the opposite direction. I could feel it. Something big was happening. And it was going to happen soon.