Ragnarok Fan Fiction ❯ I'll Be There, I Promise ❯ Chapter 2: Sem ( Chapter 2 )

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

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“Let's meet again here after eight years. When we are already eighteen, when were old enough.”
“And then?”
“I don't know, let's see, I'll give you a surprise! Just be sure to come here exactly after eight years.”
“I promise, you'll find me here.”
ooo
Jan and our promise. We met at Lutie when we were both ten and we promised that we'll meet again when we were eighteen. He said he'll have a surprise for me.
I smiled thinking about that thought. But my smile quickly faded away, I couldn't remember anything else. How old was I? And where the heck was I? And why couldn't I see anything? Did I become blind?
It then dawned on me that I had my eyes closed, and when I opened them, I wish my eyes just stayed shut. I was inside a small, badly maintained house, lying down on a hard and dirty bed.
I did not know how I manage not to sneeze in this house full of dust. I struggled to get out of the bed and tried not to knock over the piles of rubbish that were all over the place.
Where in the heck was I? And what was I doing in a place like that?
When I finally made my way to the door, the sunlight nearly blinded me. Jeez, I thought it was already night considering how dark it was inside the house.
Confused, I walked around the house to see where I was, and saw that the house was on top of a hill but a nearby town was not faraway. I knew that nobody probably live in the house I was staying at, and I needed to see people that I could ask. I felt that my mind is quickly nearing its chaos.
Where am I really? Have I forgotten everything? I quickly thought hard about my life, but I couldn't bring up anything. All I could remember was about Jan. What's wrong with me?
All of a sudden, a strong arm grabbed me and pinned me to the ground.
“What are you doing out here, eh? Did you enter my house?” my attacker said. He was about seventeen years old, but he was strong and had a tight grip on both of my wrists.
“Who are you? Please let me go,” I pleaded with my voice shaking.
“Not when I'm not yet done with you.” he said in a menacing tone. His hand let one of my wrists free, but it made my way up to my thigh.
This is so not happening to me, please.
He removed his hands from my thigh, but it went to my blouse, quickly removing the buttons.
“Please, let go of me. I don't mean any harm. I'll never bother you again,” I said but he continued to ignore me.
He finally managed to remove all the buttons in my blouse, but his eyes darted to my neck. He touched my necklace, a gold chain with a sapphire pendant, with surprise in his eyes. He suddenly let go of me and stood up.
“Are you Nia?” He suddenly asked.
I could not answer him. All I could do was to look at his eyes, which changed from that intimidating look to a gentle sight. Who is this guy?
With half of my body exposed to him, I quickly blushed and turned away from him.
“Who are you really? And why do you know me?” I shouted at him with anger.
“Fix yourself and come inside the house. I will tell you what you need to know.”
ooo
“I'm sorry.”
Those were the words that greeted me when I entered the house.
“Who are you!? And what am I doing here?” I demanded from him.
“Hey, no need to get angry with me. I did apologize. I didn't know that you were Nia that Arma told me about,” he answered.
Arma? Who are all these people?
“I know that look of yours. You don't remember anything, do you?” he suddenly asked me.
“How did you know?”
“Well, first things first. My name is Sem, and you're Danniella Archbald,” Sem said.
Okay, so his name is Sem. But I still don't know him!
“I know my own name,” I snapped.
“Sure you do, but other than that, do you remember anything else?”
I remain quiet and didn't answer. Well he did have a point, aside from my name, I could only remember Jan and the promise. Other than that, nada.
“You don't, right? I'm here to help you out. I suppose you don't remember Arma as well? Arma was the one who asked me to watch over you and to explain some things to you.” He added.
What the!? His answer left me in more confusion.
“What am I doing here?” I asked.
“Sit down and I'll explain everything,” Sem said and gave me a mug of hot chocolate. “You're Nia and you're sixteen years old. You're a knight who lives in Prontera. But you're here right now at Juno.”
So I'm sixteen, there's two years left before Jan and I will meet again.
“What the hell am I doing out here in Juno. I should get back to Prontera,” I said.
“You can't, Nia. There's a war outside and this area is safe. You can't go back yet.”
“But what am I doing here in Juno?”
“It's a long story, but it is my duty to explain it to you. Would you believe me if I told you that you are now in the past?” He asked and looked at me directly in my eyes to show that he was serious.
The answer would be no.
“No,” I frankly replied.
“This is just too hard for me. Why do I have to do this?” He said. “Please believe in what I would have to say. Because it is true that you are now in the past. The way to prove this to you is this, listen carefully.”
Wait a minute, this guy is nuts. He might even be crazy.
He paused for a moment and looked at me. He looked like he was waiting for me to respond.
“Err, go on,” I managed to say.
“The only thing that you remember is a guy named Jan and a promise to meet him when both of you are eighteen right?” Sem said.
How in the world did he know? Could this guy read minds?
“How did you know that!?” I exclaimed.
“It's hard to explain when you don't believe me, so now, would you believe in me?”
“Well, I guess I would.”
ooo
“As I have been telling you, you are now in your past which has been modified by Arma,” Sem told me for the third time.
Just who is this Arma guy?
“Err, who is Arma?”
“You won't know who he is…yet. But he was the one who sent you back here, and he asked me to watch over you. But I'm not the only one, there are twelve us that will watch over you. But only one at a time.”
This was getting way too confusing. I've got too many questions.
“If I really am in the past, why did I come here? Surely it isn't just because I'm bored right?” I asked him.
“Be patient and I'll tell you everything. You came back to the past in order to meet with Jan.”
“Why? Will I not meet him in Lutie when I turn eighteen?”
“I don't know, Nia. Honestly, Arma didn't tell us. He appeared to you during the present, and you agreed. He modified the past in which you are in. And so you're here at Juno with me.”
“And where do you enter in the picture?”
“I'm one out of the twelve guardians that Arma sent. We're here to guide and help you, as well as to remind you not to do anything stupid. This is a modified past, and anything that you do will greatly affect the present day. If you're not careful, you might just destroy Midgard.”
Yes, this guy is so out of his mind. Maybe that Arma, too.
“In case you're wondering how I knew that you were Nia, it was because of that necklace that you had. That's Arma's necklace. If you wish to return to the real past, just hand it over to a guardian, and you'll be back to the present, and everything you did here will not affect anything.”
So yes, not only was this guy out of his mind, I, too, would soon be overcome with insanity.
“Eh!? I thought you told me that everything that I do here will affect the present?” I shouted at him. This is seriously way too much.
“It will only happen once you fulfill your goal. It will only happen once you meet with Jan.”
“Oh, so now I get it now.” Almost.
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A month can do wonder to anybody's house, even if it was beyond every imaginable disaster. With nothing to do and with nobody as a companion, I just did my best to clean Sem's house so it would become acceptable for human condition. Well, at least for me.
According to Sem, I should at least spend two months with a guardian, and then move on to another guardian. I couldn't actually understand everything yet, but at least Sem is trying to help me.
I only see him during the morning, because of his job. It turns out that he is a hired stalker and he is earning well enough.
I was scared when I first knew what his job was. But he said that I should not worry since I'm a knight and knights are brave.
Ha ha ha. As if I remember being a knight, less alone to fight like a knight.
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“Hey, Nia, the war has ended and Prontera won the battle,” Sem greeted me one morning.
“Oh, did that really happen even if Arma didn't modify the past?” I asked.
Sem looked at me with a weird expression in his face.
“Beats me. I don't know. You shouldn't ask too many questions, Nia. Not all people know the answers,” he answered.
What the!? He could have just said he doesn't know.
“Another thing, Nia, tomorrow we'll journey towards Aldebaran.”
“What will we do there?”
“You'll meet your second guardian. It's been two months now. And I'm sure you learned a lot from me.” Sem said.
“That long now? I didn't actually think that I've been here for two months.”
Yes, really, it has been two months. Thank god!
“Ha ha, you are a good kid, Nia. I hope everything will be okay with Jan.” Sem exclaimed with a pat on my head.
I just hope the other guardians are not as crazy as Sem. Or maybe they're worse?
“Hey, what's with the look? You're going to miss me, right?” Sem asked.
Eew, in his dreams.
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“God, how much long to Aldebaran, anyway?” I whined as we made our way towards a thick forest.
“Well, we still have to climb up a mountain in order to reach it,” Sem answered.
What the!? My feet are killing me.
“I know that you're tired, Nia, But you're a knight for God's sake. Your endurance should be high.”
“Well, yeah, whatever you say, but in case you haven't notice, I don't even remember being a knight.”
“So, what? Ready to give up? It's easy, give me the necklace and it'll end your torture.”
Ugh, was this guy for real? I just stared back at him.
No way, I won't give up. I've been enduring all this craziness for almost two months now, and there's no way I'll turn my back. And besides, when I think about Jan, and his disappointed face, it sort of crushes my heart. And he'll probably hate me.
“No thanks, Sem. I'll do this for Jan.”
“That's the motivation, kid.”
“Hey, don't call me kid, we're about the same age you know!” I shouted to Sem, but he was nowhere around.
Huh? Where in the world did he go now?
“Hey, Sem? Quit playing games with me! This isn't funny,” I shouted but there was no reply.
“Alright, if you think I'm going to fall for your trick, dream on!” I called again but he was nowhere in sight.
That's weird, where did he go?
I decided that maybe he went ahead or he just got lost.
I was walking around when an arrow whizzed at me and nearly hit me.
What the!? Where in the world is Sem when you need him?
“Stop right there and don't move,” a female voice said that came above the tree.
“Who are you!?” I shouted.
An arrow whizzed at me again but I managed to evade it. Nearly.
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