Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Paradox Hearts ❯ Repetitions ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Paradox Hearts

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 1: Repetitions

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It was a beautiful day and the sun glared brightly through the clear window of Volgore's small studio. Opening his purple eyes, long lashes separated slowly as the light of day presented itself before him. The Italian threw his red and white silk covers off of his well-muscled body as he arose and turned. He placed his feet on the plush, red carpet and remained still in a half-asleep haze.

He glanced at the calendar that was pinned to a poster board on his wall, marked with dates and highlighted with events in his career and personal life. The date read May seventeenth. To him, it seemed as if it was the day that would never end.

'It's like I'm stuck in a daze. The same day repeats itself like a broken record.' The Italian thought to himself as he stood in the shower as water ran down every curve of his nude body, caressing every muscle. The warmth felt soothing against his skin.

After this, he would go about his normal routine and head toward the modeling agency for a few photo shoots. Today's photo shoot was a seductive one, where he would be posing in the nude, wrapped in a pristine sheet that covered his selective parts. The flashes of camera lights filled the room as he laid there, head tilted back as he struck a pose. 'All the way down to the compliments being thrown out by my adoring fans.'

The photo session was relatively short, and Volgore had done so much thinking that what was an hour in reality seemed like mere minutes and he found himself walking down the hallway. Volgore sighed to himself. It was an empty sigh, reflecting his empty feelings. Everything felt hollow, mundane, as if he had simply just been existing one day after another. Nothing was fulfilling anymore. It all seemed the same. It was the same routine, day in and day out.

"Oh my gosh!" A young, feminine voice broke his thoughts as a teenage girl ran up to him, her body trembling in excitement as she clasped her hands together with a bright smile on her face. "Great photo shoot, Mr. Chollissnoli! You were absolutely gorgeous in that lost shot!"

It was just a fan girl of his. Flashing the girl a kind smile, he decided to thank her for her compliment. After all, if it wasn't for his fans, he wouldn't have reached the level of stardom that he had. Fans make people like him, and he was grateful to all of the fans he had. However, this just seemed way too familiar.

'An eternal déjà vu…But why? Doesn't anyone suspect anything aside from me? It's been like this for two days. Yesterday, I thought I was just having an odd occurrence. I even blamed my own forgetfulness on the date. Being a famous model, I am usually busy with my work and I can sometimes be negligent on remembering dates and things of that nature. Even if that was the case, this is the third day. It's like time is stuck in repetition. By now I've even memorized what people said, did and around what time they did they said things.

How can this be? How can time be thrown off like this? How do you even go about trying to stop it, or get it to move on? I can't keep living like this…stuck in this rut.'

After his contemplation on the subject, Volgore began to try and assess his situation. "There has to be something different about today," he spoke as the confused fan questioned him. The black-haired model simply ran past her without a word, causing even more confusion as he barely caught wind of her 'huh' noise. She produced an odd expression.

The bewildered girl placed a finger to her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. "How weird…"

Deep purple eyes darted around the hallways, trying to catch any little thing that might have went against the normality of that day, as he remembered it. There had to be something, anything different about that day. Maybe he was just desperate for some sort of change. Maybe he was delirious. Who knew? He just wanted it to end.

Volgore raced around the corner and peered down one of the hallways of the production building, stopping at the end of it. 'This is all the same. It's all the same, right down to the most subtle of things. The people are the same, right down to the most subtle of movements. The same conversations, the same gestures…everything. I have to find out what's going on here, before I go insane. Something like this only exists in sci-fi movies.' He made his way up towards the top of the building.

Slowly, Volgore opened the door to the top floor, half-way dreading what he would find. If it was like everything else he had encountered that day, it would just prove to be normal.

But this time, it was quite different.

The door opened and the model was engulfed in a blinding white light. 'What?' His thoughts ran wild as his eyes widened on the site before him. 'What in the world is that?' He saw what looked like a girl, standing on the ledge of the building.

She looked very out of place, attired in a black Lolita dress that was composed of leather and black feathers that lined the top and bottom. The mysterious being had long, black, leather gloves and tall black heels that laced up both legs, tying just below her knees. She turned slightly, long, brown hair blowing in the wind as she looked at him with emotionless eyes. This girl seemed to be no older than seventeen in age but she had very mature features.

Volgore wondered if she was a model who worked in the same building…but how can that be? He knew nearly all of the models and he'd never seen one quite like her. Maybe she was a new recruit? He would have known about that too, from his fellow workers.

There was something far too abnormal about this girl. Who was she? Where was that strange light that was surrounding her coming from?

'That girl? Is she the one who's changing everything like this? Who is she? Is she a model or something? No…Unless she's uprising talent, I've never seen her before.' Volgore decided to make himself known. "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here, and what's that light?"

"It's time to relive the day," the girl's words were wise for her age, and she looked at him with a flicker of emotions in her pale blue eyes. It was clear that he had stumbled upon something that he hadn't and the girl was most annoyed with his presence.

"What? What are you talking about?" Volgore was confused by the situation at hand. Not only did it seem that this girl was disrupting the space-time continuum somehow, but she was about to erase the fact that they had ever met.

She held out her hand and brought it straight above her head. "Return to the way it was before," her words commanded the light as it grew in radiance, nearly blinding him as it consumed everything around it. Volgore felt as if he was floating, lost in a bath of pure, golden light.

He couldn't remember when he came to, but the model found himself posing for the exact same photo shoot that he had just gotten out of. A look of shock ran across his face as the camera flashed, preserving his expression forever, inside of a single photograph.

'What? I'm back where I was before.' Before he could even process the entire thought, Volgore was pulled from his mental state by the head photographer.

"Hey, try to keep on focus! Your expression ruined the shot! Let's try that pose again!"

"Yes, sir, I apologize. I was startled by the flash," the dark-haired man made up a plausible excuse for destroying the photo. Better a white lie, than tell him something that made him seem as if he had gone crazy.

"Keep on focus," the man scolded. "Stop drifting off. This shot is supposed to look natural and sexy, not like you just witnessed a murder!"

"Sorry, Mr. Geist, it won't happen again," the model apologized once more with a slight bow. He knew that this was not his normal attitude towards photo shoots, but he couldn't help but be a little suspicious and shocked that he would have to repeat the day over, and with no sleep on top of that.

Mr. Geist walked slowly over to the man and crouched beside of him with a sympathetic look etched on his face as he laid a hand on the man's bare shoulder. "Volgore, you're not usually like this. What's bothering you? You know this photo shoot is important," the man's voice was gentle and not so brash. It helped his nerves, at least.

"Have you ever felt as if your life was in a state of repetition?" Volgore looked the man straight in the eyes. Mr. Geist simply blinked in confusion. He wondered where such a question came from.

It seemed that the man was much worse off than he originally thought.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"As if your life has come to a complete standstill, like you're stuck in a moment of time and just keep reliving the same day," Volgore hoped that Mr. Geist would realize that the day had repeated itself just like he did, but he doubted the other man would come to that conclusion so easily.

Knowing his luck, Mr. Geist would just think he was crazy.

"Do you need to rest? We have been working you hard lately. I'm wondering if you're beginning to crack." Sure enough, Mr. Geist did indeed, think that he was crazy. The elder man placed a hand on the model's head, trying to feel his temperature.

"I'd like to leave early, if you don't mind." As long as they thought that there was something wrong with him, the model decided to play off of their emotions so that he could get out of the photo shoot early. If he could get out early, then he could go back up to the top of the building and see if that mysterious girl was still there. She undoubtedly knew the answers to why the day had constantly been repeating itself.

"Go and take your mind off of things. Come back tomorrow and we'll start anew," he was dismissed and without much fight from the head man in charge. Volgore didn't think that he'd have it so easy, considering their dead line was so soon, but that didn't bother him at all.

He was just glad that Mr. Geist had some pathos on him. That and a part of him was happy that he had worked so hard getting ad photos done. It was all the more reason to make him think that he was just stressed out from all of the work.

Ironic how well that played out.

Volgore agreed and stood up, catching the pristine sheets before they slipped from his hips. 'I'll go and get dressed.' The model thought to himself as he changed into his usual clothes of the day: black dress shoes, black, tight leather pants and a dark purple baggy shirt with ruffles. He walked down the same hall for the third time and saw the same girl run up to him with the same bright-eyed expression.

'Let me guess…Oh my gosh! Great photo shoot, Mr. Chollissnoli. You were absolutely gorgeous in that last shot!' His thoughts berated the situation he was about to face and like clockwork, the girl opened her mouth to speak.

"Great photo shoot, Mr. Chollissnoli. You were absolutely gorgeous in that last shot!" Her excited voice played over in his head like a worn out CD track. After hearing something so many times, it lost all meaning.

"Thank you," Volgore said in an unamused voice. 'This is the 3rd day that I'm stuck in this déjà vu. At least I know what's been causing it.' A split-second flashback of the mysterious maiden's face reeled through his thoughts, distracting him momentarily. 'That girl. That girl and her glowing light. She can somehow mess with time. That light…It looked like she was opening some kind of gateway in space and time, but that seems impossible. It isn't like I can tell somebody. They'd all think that I should be committed. This is something I have to do by myself, but how do I get things back to normal? Who was she anyway? Even if I try to stop her, she'll just start over and I'll be stuck in the photo shoot again.'

"Huh?" He blinked as he could have sworn that he saw the girl turn the corner of one of the hallways. "That's her!" Volgore's face lit up as he bolted off, turning the corner sharply only to run face first into an open door with a loud crash. The model fell on his back with his head facing the hallway.

"My beautiful face…" The black-haired male whined before he noticed a girl walk out from behind the door. "Huh?" Violet eyes moved over to her figure.

It was the leather-clad girl, and he had a clear view…straight up her dress. The brown haired girl looked down at him, clearly irritated.

"You perv. If you're trying to look up my dress, then please stop it," tears streamed down his face, looking much like Twin Rivers. This wasn't the kind of meeting he wanted that was for sure. Not only had he ran face first into a door, but he managed to get all the wrong views of his mysterious time traveler.

Volgore quickly stood. "You're the girl I saw. You're the one making that strange light. You also sent me back in time because I saw you. You think I'd forget but I didn't," he could see the girl's eyes get wide. She probably didn't expect him to even remember her. "Why do you keep repeating today? Is this day important to you somehow?" The black-haired model wanted to know. If he found out the answer to his question, maybe he could work something out with this mysterious maiden.

She held her hand out as the familiar white light began to engulf the room. Clearly, she wasn't going to be so cooperative about things.

"Wait!" Volgore cried out as he waved his hands in front of him like mad. "Don't send me-" Once again, the light blinded him and he was sent back to his normal position, posing in the photo shoot. "Back…" His voice cracked as he felt himself die on the inside. This would be day five with no sleep.

A dumbfounded and stressed look crossed his face as the camera flashed, snapping a tired and at wit's end expression that once again, destroyed the shot.

"Keep on focus," just like clockwork, he was scolded again. "Stop drifting off. This shot is supposed to look natural and sexy, not like you just witnessed a murder!"

That was it.

He'd had it, and he couldn't take any more.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Volgore screamed at the top of his lungs. If he got sent back one more time, he didn't know what he'd do. He already went through four days without sleep. His body was beginning to wear down. Soon, the model wouldn't have a choice but to go to sleep.

"Do you need to rest? We have been working you hard lately. I'm wondering if you're beginning to crack," the familiar expression of concern was on his face.

By this time, Volgore was sick of seeing the same doorway over and over but still, he passed through it and out of the photo shoot. The model was exhausted from running on no sleep, and still he continued to persevere. No matter how many times he got sent back, Volgore swore that he would get to the bottom of everything. He swore to the powers to be that he was going to go bonkers if he never figured out what was going on.

"Oh my gosh! Great photo shoot, Mr. Chollissnoli! Too bad you cracked in that last shot. You would have been gorgeous!" The same cheerful girl approached him for a third time. This time, what she said was slightly different. However, that made no difference since it was his own fault that situation was altered.

"Thank you," Volgore attempted to keep himself in a cheerful mood as he walked away and down the same hall he had walked down far too much in one instance. 'What do I do now? I feel like screaming.' The Italian thought to himself as a trudged down the hall.

Just then, he caught sight of the girl in leather. 'This again? Well, I'd better follow her, unless I want to keep reliving today.' Using all of the strength he could muster, the dark-haired man took off after the strange figure. His body felt like a led weight and it was as if he were trying to walk through gallons of rushing water, even though he was running. 'My body is worn down. I haven't slept in two days. If I keep this up, I'll die from lack of sleep.'

Volgore ran up the stairs, attempting to skip some as he tried to make less work for himself. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the top of the building and opened the door. Once again, he was blinded by that familiar illumination. He could see the girl in front of something that looked light a tear in the sky made by the same light that blinded him earlier.

The model bolted through the light, not really sure what he was headed for but he sincerely hoped that he would come close enough to get a good view of her without being blinded at the very least. The toffee haired female looked as if she was about to take a step into the light-tear in the sky.

After she heard someone coming at an alarming rate, she paused and glanced over her shoulder to se Volgore dashing at her. He was charging too quickly and he wouldn't be able to stop in time. Gasping, she braced herself for an impact that would send both of the plummeting from the production building, straight to their death.

Volgore tried to skid to a stop but he knew that he was too late. The handsome man let out a scream as he collided into the girl's form, knocking both of them into the light tear. The golden glow was blinding and for a moment, all he could see was a bath of color before it faded and he found himself falling from what seemed like the sky.

Was this another time repetition? Was he about to die? What was his fate this time?

'Where the hell am I?' Lavender eyes glanced around and saw what looked like a landscape below him, only it wasn't composed of the industrial cityscape that he was used to. It consisted of several widely-spaced trees and lush, rolling hills with an occasional house, forest or cave. Where was this odd place? Was this the world that existed inside of the golden tear in the sky?

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Down below, unaware of what would soon be hurled her way, a woman in extravagant boy's Victorian attire made her way up one of the tall hills. After her climb, the athletic woman made her way to a nearby tree and stopped on the outskirts of the tree's shadow to wipe her brow with her white-gloved hand.

'That was close. I was nearly killed by that last one. However, I got what I was searching for.' She opened her hand to reveal a finely polished and beautifully cut crystal. The light blue stone reflected the sunlight and sparkled brilliantly as its mistress bathed in its glory. 'All I have to do is get to the temple and I can finally achieve my goal in finding her.'

"I've been waiting for this chance," the woman's deep, mature voice slipped through her blood-colored lips as a twisted smile came across her face.

Suddenly, the sound of a quickly approaching scream reached her ears and she turned her attention to the supposed source of the scream- the sky. Confused, her long, uncovered red eye peered from beneath her hat to see what looked like a man hurling at her at an incredible speed.

"What the hell?" The woman looked unamused and side-stepped to avoid being hit with the screaming Italian as his form plummeted into the ground. The white-haired female simply stared down at the model, which lay there in a pained, crumpled heap. The hair from her bob cut hung around her face and her long bangs, combed to one side to hide her left eye followed suit. "What are you? Some sort of stupid angel or something?"

"My beautiful face…" Volgore whined, his thick Italian accent shining through his speech. This had truly not been his day, and falling from the sky was definitely something that added insult to injury.

"Who the hell are you?" The white-clad woman was not sure that he had entirely heard her the first time.

Volgore slowly sat up, Twin Rivers cascading down his face as he mourned his own bad luck. "Huh? Who are you?"

"That's what I was asking. You're the one who nearly fell on me," she crossed her arms over her well-developed chest. For someone who wore elegant boy's clothes, this woman sure did have a figure to her. If he could see all of her face, he would have deemed her beautiful enough to be model of sorts.

"My name is Volgore Chollissnoli. I am a world famous fashion model and dancer. I also sing, but it's a minor undertaking of mine," the Italian bragged on his own abilities, nearly flaunting them in the woman's face before asking her of her own name.

"My name is Suzanna Taft," she introduced herself in an informative manner as she took a couple of steps towards him, lifting his chin. She stared into his violet eyes with her single uncovered red one. It shone coldly in the shadow that her hat created. "Volgore Chollissnoli, huh?"

With a 'yes' the bold Italian flashed his most dashing smile. Surely she had heard of him.

"Your name sounds foreign and you have an accent."

"I am from Venice, Italy."

"Did you say that you were a model?" The woman thought back on his prior introduction. She couldn't help but notice that he only shoved that fact in her face upon their strange meeting.

"Yes," maybe she was pulling everything together. Perhaps she really did know who he was! After all, it was hard to ignore a model as talented and handsome as he.

"I've never heard of you," then again, maybe not.

Volgore frowned as he wept over not getting any special treatment or even being recognized for who he was. It was as if he were in another world altogether, where he started off as a homeless nobody. He had worked so hard for his fame and now he was reduced to being a mere peasant.

"Such a cruel thing to say," he whined.

"Would you rather I lie?" Suzanna asked simply, unamused at his actions.

"It keeps my ego lifted."

"Yeah, no offense, pretty boy, but you seem to have literally fallen from Cloud Nine," the white-haired woman was glad that this was a mere happening and he wasn't a permanent member of her team. Watching him was pathetic.

"I was brought here by a girl, actually," Volgore dusted himself off and stood before his newly found companion.

"A girl?"

"Yes, I know you might think I'm crazy, but this girl can make some kind of dimensional gateway. She seems to have the ability to control space and time-" Volgore tried to explain, but before he could, he was cut off.

"So, she can time travel?" Suzanna's emotions were very hard to read. It was as if he was talking to a stone wall, hard and emotionless. She was like a soldier, always straight in posture, looking like an elegant boy with her form-fitting jacket with a ruffled undershirt and long train of ruffled lace that cascaded from beneath her white coat on the right side, making its way to the floor. The only traces of color on her clothes were her black socks and shoes with large golden buckles.

Everything about this woman was white, her clothes, her hair…She even wore a trace of white eye shadow that made her red pupil stand out all the more.

"Yeah, she even made the same day repeat itself four times in a row. She's probably still doing it. Although I have no idea why…" Volgore continued his explanation. He thought for sure that Suzanna would tell him that he was going insane, but he was surprised that she was listening to him and seeming to take him seriously.

Placing her hands on her hips, Suzanna shifted her weight. "So, is she from your world or what?"

"My…World?" It was so strange to hear someone refer to it as that. The fact that he was in a different world was something that was just now sinking into his mind.

"There is no Italy in this world," the white-haired woman confirmed his question. "This is the land of Arceaus."

"Arceaus? I've never heard of a place like that."

"Well, that makes us pretty even, since I've never heard of this Venice place that you've been telling me about," she replied. When it came to their home towns, either was just as clueless. Not only did Suzanna not know where Venice was, she didn't even know where Italy was! Italy is the home of so many famous things. How could someone not know Italy?

He glanced up towards the skies, so blue and calm, heavily blanketed with clouds. Volgore couldn't believe he fell from the sky. It was wild beyond comprehension. The very thought of it still wowed him. "I fell such a long way…I can't believe I'm not dead."

"So, is that girl from your world or not?" Suzanna didn't care about his bodily injuries or even his life. She had things to do and being to fight, all Volgore was doing was taking up her time.

"No one in my world can do that kind of thing. Plus, this girl, she doesn't look like anyone from my country, let alone my world." Of all of the people and different cultures he remembered, this girl didn't seem to fit in any category. Her clothes and the leather-like material that they were made out of was otherworldly.

"Oh really? What did she look like?" If the girl wasn't from his world, then maybe she was from the one she existed in.

"She wore a black dress made of leather and feathers," Volgore began to tell Suzanna all of the details that he could possibly remember in that short time of interacting with her. "She had long, brown hair and eyes that were so light blue that they were nearly white. She looked young, in her mid to older teens and she wore nothing but black." The longer his explanation ran, the more time all of the details had to sink in to the stoic woman.

After a while, Suzanna's eye widened. 'Could she be…?' She seemed to instantly realize who he was describing. "The Girl of Anai?"

"The what?" Volgore asked in mid-description.

"The Girl of Anai can travel through worlds. She also has the ability to change time. I bet that's who you saw," she could nearly be sure of it. There was no other figure in her world like the Girl of Anai, and those who saw her instantly recognized her.

"So, she's from this world?"

"No one really knows where she's from or even who she is. She's a complete mystery to us," Suzanna educated the newcomer on this special girl. "The only thing we know is that she's very powerful and important to this world. She has a great power. When the Girl of Anai is involved in anything, dreams and wishes become reality. I've been searching for her."

"You know where she is?" If she knew, then maybe they could travel together and find her. If they found her, then he could return to Italy.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be searching for her right now," the answer was obvious, wasn't it? Honestly, did he see her there with him?

"Take me with you. I have to find her and find out why she's been constantly repeating May seventeenth in my world, and how I can get back to my home," Volgore hoped that Suzanna would take him along with her. He was desperate to go. He had to go, no matter what. The Italian model would do anything and go through anything in order to only be her partner.

"You want me to help you get to your home world?" That was an undertaking. Suzanna had not counted on acquiring any team mates any time soon. She had always considered herself a one woman show, and never accepted help of any kind, much less was the type to form a team. Her independence and stubborn personality prevented anyone from sticking with her for too long.

"Please…if anyone knows anything about her, you do. You're the only one in this world who would probably even consider helping me," the black-haired man practically begged her to consider his suggestion.

"Do you have any special abilities?" Suzanna asked. Surely, he could do something that would prove useful to her.

Volgore smiled as he flashed his most masculine and dashing pose, placing a hand on his hip and gestured out with his other hand. Then, the model spun around and flipped his bangs. "Well, I am an internationally famous model. I can also dance, sing, choreograph, and act. They go hand-in-hand-"

"I don't mean talent, I mean skills. I mean, how can you make yourself useful? You're good-looking, you can move around and you talk a lot. Unless you're a good negotiator, you won't make it here," Suzanna cut him off. She was more than tired of his explanations and bragging.

"I don't know how to do much else. I do have a little fighting skill-" Volgore tried to explain but he soon only had a view of the tomboy's back as she walked away. Suzanna didn't even want to hear him out.

"I don't have time to baby sit you," the woman never once looked back at him.

As he saw his hope fade, Volgore became desperate. "You can't leave me here!"

Those words alone got the woman to stop and casually glance over her shoulder. "Sure I can. I don't know who you are, I don't want to help you and you're in my way." After having that said, she continued to walk away, leaving the man out in the middle of nowhere to fend for himself.

The model ran after her, and practically begged her to stay by her side. "I won't be in the way! You can't leave me!" This was undoubtedly the most embarrassing moment of his life. He never thought that he'd be throwing himself at someone but he was distressed and he felt that if he simply let her leave him, that he wouldn't have a chance at understanding anything about this new world that he emerged in, much less be able to survive on his own.

"Go away."

"I can't. I don't know where to go or anything about this place," he was truly lost, and any traveling he'd do would only consist of wandering around like a chicken with its head cut off.

"You're distracting me. Besides, you'll learn. I did," she couldn't be easy on him. This was not any time to have a heart for this guy. Even if, in a way, she felt sympathy for him. Volgore was new to her world, and that made him vulnerable and naive about the things that went on there.

"Were you along when you first came here?" That question that slipped from his lips was enough to make direct contact with the soft spot in her heart. Suzanna stopped, trying to level out any feelings that arose within her.

"Were you?" Volgore pressed a little unsurely.

"I don't have time for this," the white-clad female bravely fought off whatever emotion still clung to her soul regarding the Italian's position. She didn't want to care about him, but for some strange reason, she couldn't help but sympathize. His pathetic face didn't help her decision anymore than she wanted it to either.

"You had time to talk to me before," the model tried to make a point, still determined to stick with her.

"You're pissing me off," Suzanna frowned.

"You could help me. Just a little…" Volgore clasped his hands together and got in front of her, staring at her with soulful eyes. "That's all I ask. I know nothing about this world and the one person who could help me is just going to turn their back on me. Is that how you'd want someone to treat you?"

Suzanna's eye narrowed. He just kept assaulting her heart. "That's what happened to me, and you can adapt like I did," she stated coldly.

"You're from another world too, aren't you?"

"What if I am? That doesn't make us friends," the woman stood her ground. She would not be pushed into accepting him just because their situations were the same.

"You don't have to be my friend. I just want a little help, and I'll go away, a little help and I'll leave you alone. When I feel like I can travel alone, I'll leave. I'll stay out of your way and I won't ask you anything unless I have to." Nothing was being solved at this rate. He'd just keep annoying her with his constant begging.

"Fine, since you won't stop annoying me until I agree," Suzanna instantly regretted that decision, but it was too late to take it back now. "You signed your own death warrant. Don't complain if you get hurt or die."

"I won't! Thank you!" Volgore felt a huge relief as he smiled brightly, happy to have a place to finally belong. Not only that, but he and Suzanna had the same goal- to find the Girl of Anai. With that in mind, he knew that he would one day be able to return home with her help.

"Yeah, yeah…" Suzanna brushed off his words of thanks. She wasn't too please with him tagging along, but she knew that she had to just deal with it for now. 'How annoying, I hope this guy with a funny accent knows what he's doing. The last thing I need is a weird tag along like him. If he knew what was good for him, he'd stay away while he had the chance. There's a reason I travel alone, after all.'

To Be Continued