During the two hours that I was simply staring into the empty passage, I began to think of the older brown haired girl with light blue eyes that I had just spent the day with. Though she wasn’t necessarily a beauty, she was still a charming girl with a captivating smile. Though I had only known her for barely a day, I found myself enchanted by her strange mannerisms and somewhat flamboyant actions. She seemed to be a person who takes great joy in the small things in life, and her joy seemed to be contagious as I would find myself smiling along with her.

Looking back at my twenty years of life spent in our small village, my thoughts began to drift to the time when the three of us decided to form a party and become adventurers. We told all the other villagers that the reason we wanted to leave and become adventurers, was that we wanted to achieve great things in life and not simply rot away as farmers living in the same village for all of our lives. Thus, giving ourselves the grand name of ‘The Sworn Blades’ after a drunk oath we took. We began training for our journey to Dene to officially register as adventurers and begin our journey into greatness.

The truth of the situation was a bit less noble than that however. The truth of the matter was that our village was very small, with the three of us being the only people within 5 years of each other counting either up or down, with nothing to do in the monotone world of our village but help in the farms and pass time with the three of us just fucking around. It was for this reason that Brent gathered us one day and told us that we needed to get the hell out of that place if we didn’t want to rot away there for the rest of our lives. Thus, after two years of training, we decided to enter this newly discovered labyrinth and test out our skills as a last trial, before heading over to Dene and officially becoming adventurers.

Though the two of them mainly wanted the opportunity to meet some women and experience some of the other pleasures that the world had to offer, part of me genuinely wanted to become a great adventurer and accomplish impressive heroic feats. It was for that reason that I decided to become an all-around support type of guy, as a way to fill in for the deficiencies in our party. However, though I had left with such thoughts and convictions in my mind, not planning to look for love like my two companions, it appeared that fate had something else planned for me.

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s because I hadn’t really met any girl that I could consider a love interest back in our village. Or if i’m so starved of love that I fell in love with the first person that seemed to fit the bill of someone that I could date. I don’t know if it was fate allowing me to meet the person who I would spend the rest of my life with so soon after departing. I didn’t really have an answer to any of my questions. However, the only thing that I did know and that mattered, was that I had fallen in love with Alex.

With the last grains of sand falling to the other side of the hourglass marking the end of my watch, I got up from my seated position and turned towards the passageway leading to our sleeping area, with a determination burning inside of me to get closer to the girl I had fallen in love with and confess to her. Thus, with a slight hop in my step, I began walking back towards the sleeping area, excited for the coming day tomorrow.

However, as I was nearing closer and closer to the sleeping area, I began hearing muffled sounds as if someone was struggling to breathe. Fearing that one of the idiots had done something inexcusable, I began to speed up my pace as I turned the corner and moved to the corridor of our sleeping area.

Against my expectations however, the sight before me left me feeling as if someone had punched my gut with all their strength, as my stomach began churning. In front of me was not the sight of one of my companions forcing themselves on top one of the girls, instead, I saw Alex sitting on top Brent who was lying on the floor, as she held his head with both of her hands and shared a passionate kiss with him. Quickly looking around, I noticed that Roger was nowhere to be seen. Thus, assuming that they too were doing something similar elsewhere, I began tracing my steps back as I went back around the corner and leaned my trembling body against the wall. 

Unable to keep myself standing even with the support from the wall, I began to slide down until I was sitting down on the floor. Thinking back on what I had just witnessed made me want to throw up, as it felt as though my heart was stuck in my throat. Thinking back on my previous thoughts, all I could do was curse at how stupid I was and at the same time, I couldn’t prevent feelings of anger and envy towards my two companions begin to form as tears began streaming down my eyes. Part of me even thought that they had rigged the drawing to ensure this outcome and get me out of the picture, while the four of them enjoyed their time together without me in the way. After all, the four of them had spent a lot of time together while I was the odd one walking in the back. And I was even beginning to think the only reason why Alex even looked back at me or paid attention to me was simply out of feeling of pity for stupid old me.

With my feelings of anger and betrayal beginning to overpower the heartbreak in my heart, I stood up with the intent of disrupting their little makeout session. After all, my time to keep watch was over, and I refused to keep allowing them to enjoy themselves while I was supposed to simply keep guard like an idiot. Thus, with the intent to march into the two and interrupt them, while most likely also slamming the hourglass in my hand onto Brent’s face, I stood up and turned towards the corner.

The second I turned the corner however, I was immediately faced with Alex’s face as her light blue eyes stared into mine. With her trademark smile on her face, Alex continued to look at me as I-

Feeling a hot sensation in my abdomen, I turned my eyes down to look at Alex’s hand holding the handle of a knife. The same knife that she had received from us that she was using to stab into my kidney. Raising my head once again, though not to look at Alex, but beyond at Brent, any feelings and thoughts of betrayal and hatred I had towards the man faded, as I was greeted by the sight of his lifeless, pale body laying on the ground, with clear signs of fear still visible in his open eyes. 

Turning my face to look back at Alex, I saw her now glowing yellow eyes gaze into my very soul, as a feeling of shock and extreme pain appeared suddenly from the place where I had been stabbed. 

Alex however, not minding the extreme pain and fear I was feeling at the moment, merely caressed my face with her free hand as she let go of the knife and held my head firmly between her two hands. Then, bringing her face closer to mine, she locked me into a deep kiss as her sweet honey like lips slowly robbed me of my consciousness.The last thought that came into my mind that was slowly being encompassed by absolute darkness, was that I should have trusted my instincts earlier, and not have gotten involved with the two girls that had been walking in our direction…