Abigail’s POV:

“I feel like I’ve actually got muscles now.”

“You’ve been swinging a piece of metal around for almost three months, I’d be damned if you didn’t.”

The final exam was coming up so there were a lot more students practising in the fields this early.

“Well, I’ll rest a bit more and go back to swinging.”

“Sure.”

And Al returned to singing. He’s actually gotten kind of better.

I still want to die from hearing it but at least he’s improved, I guess?

Well, whatever.

I began whistling to tune it out.

And that only prompted him to sing louder. 

I sighed and got up.

“You win this round.”

“When have I lost?”

“Never once.”

“Better luck next time.”

“Persistent hunk of scrap.”

“Now now, no need to be a sore loser about it.”

“I will feed you to the worms.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You are forgiven.”

 

“Never thought you’d know how to whistle.”

He asked as we sat down for breakfast.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you never cared much about anything that has no use to you.”

“That’s a pretty harsh way to put it.”

“Then have you ever done something nice to anyone besides making food for Heather? Which you charge her for by the way.”

“Only for the ingredients. And I did take you to the graveyard, and make those dolls.”

“Any humans?”

“Now you’re moving the goal post.”

“Well, you get my point. You don’t do something unless it benefits you, so why learn how to whistle?”

“My dad taught me how. Back when I was really little.”

Back when he was still alive…

“Anyways, how’s breakfast?”

“Bland.”

“So same as always.”

“Pretty much.” 

“Whatcha guys doing?”

Heather joined in.

“Al learned that I can whistle.”

“Ah. cool.”

Was it really that strange for me to whistle?

I thought as I ate. 

I whistled a bit.

“Hm?” 

Al decided to join in while Heather stared at me intently.

When we were done, she asked.

 “What brought that up?”

“Just felt like it after Al mentioned it.”

“Huh. Oh yeah, you can bring your sword when we meet up this afternoon.”

“Won’t it be awkward for you?”

“?”

“I mean, being unable to talk to hear him and all that. Being a middlewoman feels really weird for me.”

“It’s fine. And hey, I wanted to know him more. How about we have what he wants?”

“Sure.” 

“Steak!”

“She means pastries. Like a cake or something.”

“A cake with steak in it then!”

“A what?”

“You heard me!”

“Hah…. he wants a cake with a steak in it.”

“A what?”

“My point exactly.”

“I… don’t think that would taste good.”

“Let’s go with what you want then.”

“How about strawberry shortcake?”

“Wait wait, alright I’ll give an actual answer!”

“Alright then, what do you actually want?” 

“I just told you.”

“Not you.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s just go with honey cake.”

“He wants honey cake. You fine with that?”

“Yup!” 

“Alright, we’ll be going now.”

“Bye!”

“Bye!” 

“See you later.”

We went back to my room. 

 

“Why honey cake in particular?”

I asked while lying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

“I buy one every time my birthday comes along when I was here.”

“And that’s soon?”

“No. But it’s the only cake I know. Tastes great.”

“You still remember the name of the place you got them? Maybe we could check it out some day.”

“Forgot. Something kafe spelt with a c and there was this thing on the e.”

“You mean café?”

I spelt it on a piece of paper and showed it to him.

“Yeah that.”

“We went to one the other day, no idea if it’s the same one or not.”

“Is it beside an inn and a bar?”

“No idea.”

“Well, you girls can take me there someday.”

“I don’t think they allow weapons.”

“Then you just have to be sneaky about it.”

“You’re a metre long sword, I doubt I’ll be able to sneak you past.”

“Fine… Oh yeah, before I forget, when’s your birthday?”

“The second of Febuary.”

“Got it.”

“You going to plan something?”

“I might.”

“Well then I’ll look forward to it.”

But what can he do? Not like he can give a present or something.

Maybe a song? Though given his singing skills it’ll have to be the thought that counts.

Whatever. I grabbed a book and started reading.

 

“Alright, we’ll need to buy some honey for the cake.”

“Sure~”

“I finally get to see the outside world!”

“Good for you.”

“Hm?” 

“Al’s happy he finally gets to go outside campus.”

“Ah.” 

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah yeah.”

 

“While we’re out here, I want to check out the library too.”

Heather said after we got our honey.

“Sure, what for?”

“I wanted to see if there were other instances like your sword. And maybe there’s someone who recorded a way to talk to your sword.”

“I have a name, you know.”

“He wants you to call him by his name.”

“Al’s short for something, right?”

“Short for Albert.”

“So you do know my name!”

“Does he want to go with Albert or Al?”

“I’d much prefer Big d-”

“Al.”

“Hey!”

“I see. Al it is then.”

“What was that for!?

“No way I’m telling her what you told me.”

“Did he want to be called Albert?”

“No, something much worse.”

“?”

“It’s better if you don’t know. Trust me.”

“Okay….”

“It ain’t that bad!”

“To you maybe.”

“Hah…. Al is fine, I guess. I’ve gotten used to it.”

“He’s fine with Al.”

“Alright then. So as I was saying, I wanted to see if there's a way for me to hear Al. It would make things less confusing and way easier.”

“True. I want to find some new books to read as well.”

“Do you even know where it is?”

“No. Do you?”

“Do I?”

“Know where the library is.”

“Nope.”

“Well thankfully you have me around.”

“Wait why would you know?”

“You act as if I would never read books.”

“Generally I associate reading with less… eccentric people.”

“Yeah yeah, I say some questionable stuff. Let’s go.”

“Alright Al knows.”

“Good thing we brought him along then!”

“See? I’m useful!”

“I never said you weren’t.”

“You don’t say I am enough!”

“Because you aren’t useful enough.”

“Mean person.”

“Sorry. And thank you.”

“Yeah…. This is kind of awkward.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. If all goes well we don’t have to have this problem anymore.”

 

The library was quite a big place. Books lined the brown wooden shelves in alphabetical order divided into different categories.

I was scrolling through the fiction bookshelves when Al suddenly asked.

“What book you looking for?”

“That one series that got a new book, The Girl and the Woods.”

“What’s it about?”

“A forest with a mysterious girl and creepy stuff happens around itt.”

“Sounds pretty simple.”

“Many stories are. But it’s how the story pulls you in that matters.”

“Fair enough.”

Come to think of it, does he like to read too?

“I’m still surprised you read.”

“What, that I have a hobby?”

“One that is so plain, I guess.”

“What did you think I did for fun?”

Hm…. I never really asked him about the past, huh. The few times that the subject did come up ended up going nowhere, so this is a chance for me to actually get to know him.

Might as well have fun with this.

“Probably… something along the lines of getting drunk every day…”

“Eh?”

“...paying a prostitute every week or so, or maybe just luring some woman into your bed….”

“P-prostitute?”

He’s flustered by that?

“Harrassing others at the bar, probably sexually…”

“I-I think y-you’re going a bit far there…”

“Just thinking out loud.”

“You’re… uh… overestimating the pay the military gives you. And the power of my… meat.”

“You’re the one who calls himself the “meat lord”.”

“As a joke.”

“Still tells me a lot about the person saying that.”

“I… can’t deny that.”

“Judging from your reaction, I guess my assumptions were a bit exaggerated.”

“More than just a bit.”

“How much?”

“I’m still a virgin.”

“Oh…..”

“Prostitutes are expensive as hell I tell ya.”

“So you checked the price.”

“I wasn’t gonna get a woman by seducing her that’s for sure.”

“What makes you…..never mind.”

“I’m still surprised you haven’t thrown me out yet.

“I can’t afford a new sword.”

“Oh.”

“Well, you’re also not too bad to be around. Aside from the title… and singing.”

“My singing’s great dammit.”

“Maybe one day those words will come true. Found the book.”

“Wait, don’t you need an account?”

“Oh yeah. Maybe Heather has one?”

“This is her first time in the library too.”

“She has to open one to borrow her books too, so let’s just borrow this under her name.”

I sat down on a chair nearby with not many people around.

“Want me to read aloud to you?”

“Nah, I’m not good with horror.”

“That’s… surprising coming from someone who fought in a war.”

“And that was scary too.”

“Got any stories to share?”

“...You really want me to relive those old memories?”

Ah…. that was insensitive of me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Just messing with you. It’s better for you to know what you’re getting yourself into, so want me to tell you some war stories?”

“Sure.”

“Hah…” 

He sighed.

“Long long ago…”

“The war’s only a decade ago.”

“Hey, I wanted to make it dramatic…. I was stationed on defense for a city at the border so I just had to stand there and stay alive. Maybe kill a monster or two. But… just living there was horrible. Food with more garbage than here, and of less quantities. At some point I learned that they were serving us rat meat.”

“What did it taste like?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Well…. How bad could it have been?”

“Very tough and bitter. With an after taste that no amount of salt can bury.”

“Ah. That bad.”

“Anyways, back to story time. During the summer, there’d be rats that scurry around. And they’d trip over these trip wires we set up in case the enemy showed up. And every. damn. time. those trip wires get ticked we have to station outside for an hour as someone goes to check if that was an enemy or a rat. And that happens every day in the scorching sun and almost every night as well.”

“How many times was it actually an enemy?”

“Can’t remember but it wasn’t a lot. More often they’d just trample everything with bigger folks but at night they blended into the background so we’d stand watch until we’ve checked everywhere with a light stone….. And….”

He paused.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s… a lot of blood and guts…”

“...That’s it?”

“I mean, basically.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad.”

“It is.”

“How so?”

“Like…”

“Like….” 

“It’s just…”

“Just?” 

“....”

I’ll should stop prodding. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Nevermind then.”

“No, it’s not nevermind.”

“?”

“I…. I’ve been trying really hard not to think about this… but…. I guess I should  Hah…. it’s really hard to describe with just words, you know? ….War really wasn’t… a good fucking time. Just blood and guts is putting it lightly… People were torn to fucking shreds, mutilated… blood and guts gets everywhere…. and the smell is always ready to remind you of what a shit hole you’re living in. And it just gets worse when the battle is over. Having to clean up after it too…. A lot of the corpses…. When you lift them up to get rid of them…. their guts would pour out of the severed parts of their bodies…. And even more were just torn to pieces…. It was all just…. so…. so….. vile….”

His voice was shaky, as if he wanted to cry.

“And….”

Um…. I should probably stop him.

“I think you’ve said enough, let’s change the subj-”

“IT’S NEVER ENOUGH.”

He snapped before calming down a bit.

“Sorry… you probably don’t want to hear all this….”

I mean, probably not but he’s clearly in pain here. I don’t really know what I can do for him besides listen so I’ll keep going.

“It’s fine. I don’t think you should keep going but I’ll be here to listen if you do.”

“Thanks but…. If I did we’d be here for way too long… it’s never just one thing… it’s everything… from the smallest inconveniences like digging traps in the scorching sun to larger things like the constant fear of death and everything else in between.… Some of the people there managed to shake it off after a while but I never did. I…. I really wasn’t cut out for it, huh…” 

“Doesn’t that just mean you’re normal?”

“Heh, I suppose so. I actually really wanted to be special in some way back then. But I guess I failed.”

“You are kind of special right now. Not everyone gets to revive into a sword.”

“Sounds more like a downgrade from a regular revive to me.”

Time to change the topic.

“So, want me to read a book to you or something?”

“Sure.” 

“Got anything you want to check out?”

“If possible, see if there’s a copy of the “Journey” trilogy around there.”

“Alright.” 

I found book one of the trilogy and began reading.

From what I can tell it seems to be a simple hero’s journey, a prophecy is foretold and only one guy could follow it.

We were halfway through chapter three before Heather showed up with a stack of about 6-7 books, a lot of them with ghost or supernatural in their titles..

“Found you.”

“Ah.” 

“Were you in the middle of something?”

“Sort of. Just reading a book to Al to cheer him up.”

“Cheer him up?”

“He got depressed over remembering his time during the war.”

“Now then, let’s have that honey cake!”

“You’re back to usual, I see.”

“No point in moping forever. Even I don't have that energy.”

I turned back to Heather.

“So, you got everything you need?”

“Maybe. There’s a few books that I left behind.”

“I can help carry them. I only have four.”

“If it’s not too much trouble. But you still have the shopping bag.”

“It’s not that heavy. And we can put a few books in the bag.”

“Alright. This way.”

I have to wonder though, will I ever be in Al's shoes? On the battlefield fearing for my life.

I've never seen anyone die in front of me, how would I react? I can't even begin to imagine that.

I'll just hope that no war breaks out again.

Author’s note: sorry this chapter took so long. Summer school started and I started procrastinating hard. My goal now is to get part two out by next week but let’s see how that goes. 

 

One of the things I remember from Krimson Rogue’s video on Midnight Sun was that just because you have a list of interests doesn’t make your character stand out. What matters is not what they like or dislike but rather why they like it. While I never said it in the story, Abigail’s enjoyment for books comes from them being a cheap and reusable source of entertainment for when she was saving money. Al, as seen with how the story he chose was a hero’s journey, clearly likes the power fantasy and escapism. I wouldn’t say I have put like, some incredibly deep thought into my characters because I’m a very shallow person but I want to try my best to get into their heads. 

I know Al’s war rant probably constitutes an exposition dump but I really wanted to make it work as a way to characterize Al as a normal guy, maybe a bit weak emotionally. Whatever the case, as always: I thank you so very much for sticking with me. Don’t worry, I won’t die nor will I give up on this story. I’m just incredibly lazy and I hate myself for it.