9 Artifact

"I like you. I honestly like you." Elizabeth Everwood's words were like foreign language to his ears. Frey understood none of it. Or maybe, his head had simply stopped working altogether.

He only came all the way up to the school rooftop because Perry told him there was a surprise waiting for him up here. Should've known that idiot's grin spelled trouble for him.

Alone on the rooftop the two of them were. Elizabeth stood three meters ahead, and she'd been sightseeing, leaning against the railing, before she sensed Frey. She began marching closer to him, with large strides of confidence.

"Hey Elizabeth," Frey cleared his throat. "maybe you're mistaking me for someone else? I only came here because my friend told me to--"

"--Shut up." she cut him off. Elizabeth was finally in front of him, her face inches close to him.

The sky was deep orange laced with purple strips of cloud. The sun, well setting to the west, painted the whole scene with a scarlet glow.

Sunlight complemented Elizabeth's face like a charm, and suddenly Frey was aware of how long her lashes were, colored chestnut like her wavy short hair. How her blue eyes glowed. How soft her pink lips looked. Frey never found Elizabeth so beautiful before. Sure, she was beautiful, treated the Campus Queen by everyone in the school, but he couldn't care less about her. Until now.

Even when they go to the same book club every Thursday, Frey always had his head buried in his book, that the most he'd seen of her was around the corner of his vision.

"Elizabeth?" Frey turned away, cheeks burning, palms cold. Her face was close. Too close. Safe to say, it was the closest they've ever been to each other, physically.

"A lot of boys had asked me out," Elizabeth started. "but none of them interested me more than you. You never tried to talk to me, never tried to impress me, and to be honest, I took it as an insult. Who does this guy think he is, ignoring me?"

"I didn't mean to ignore you."

He was ignored.

"I sneaked glances at you when you weren't looking, and I always tried to make you look my way, even hiding your books so that you'd ask me if I knew where they were. I didn't notice it, but I began looking forward to attending book club every week."

"Uh... So you hid my books?" Frey asked.

"Yes. It was your fault anyway, you were such a snob. You got a problem with that?" Elizabeth raised a brow.

"N-no." he had a lot of problems with it.

Frey didn't know Elizabeth Everwood was so... irrational. He was reminded again why he didn't talk to people, especially to women.

"So if you don't have a problem, that means we're dating now, yes?"

"Yeah we're--wait what? Aren't we taking this a little too fast?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "So you're saying you don't want to be in a relationship with me?"

"No I don't mean... I mean I don't mind, but don't you think we should get to know each other better first? Look, I don't even know a thing about yo"

"You're right. We should get to know each other." Elizabeth held his cheeks. She pulled him in for a kiss. Frey closed his eyes, savoring the warmth of the moment. What was just three seconds of touch of their lips felt eternal to him. An eternity that ended too soon. He opened his eyes.

Elizabeth... Elise, was no longer the one in front of him.

It was a woman with golden eyes, seductive red lips, wearing a black gown laced with red.

"Frey Alcott." Victorina smiled. Paralysis shot through his body.

"No..." He couldn't take a step back. He couldn't do anything. Victorina locked lips with him, but it was cold, poisonous. He felt as though she was sapping the strength out of him. He didn't close his eyes. Who knew what would happen if he did.

Over the rooftop's metal railing a fray of black tentacles appeard. They coiled around the railing, as bright blue light slowly rose up. Victorina still held him in a kiss. He could hear the slurch as the thing that killed him dragged itself over the railing and onto the rooftop, its dozen eyes glowing fatal blue.

Frey's eyes shot open. Above him was the cottage's ceiling made of weaved grass.

"Elise..." he murmured, still laying in bed. His heart pounded on his chest. Beads of sweat peppered his face.

It's been a month since the game had started. A total of four Players had been eliminated since then.

It was the end of his training. He dragged himself up and wiped his body with cloth, before going out.

He walked up to Shin, who sat on the grass outside the cottage in deep meditation.

"Shin." he called out from behind.

"Yo." the man said without turning to face him. "It's your graduation day. You ready?" The wind blew, cold and gentle, ruffling the grass and soothing their kimonos.

"Hell yes." he said. He meant it.

"Then you best pack your things up and get suited. But, before that," the man stood up with a grunt. "follow me."

They both walked to the back of the small cottage. Frey didn't know why. Shin unstrapped the sheathed katana from his waist. Frey never saw Shin use the sword, but he knew it was his Player Weapon.

"Hey, kid. Remember what I told you about Artifacts?" Shin asked.

"That they're the strongest weapons that grow stronger with use?"

"Right. Actually, there's one thing about them that I forgot to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well Artifacts grow with time and use, but they have a side effect to the owner."

"Which is?" He was growing suspicious. Why did Shin choose to tell him now, of all the times, and not sooner?

"Artifacts, they bind with their wielder, one way or another. It's some sort of a mutualistic relationship between owner and tool.

"I'm gonna go straight to the point, Frey. The reason why I never taught you how to use your Player Weapon, is because your armblade is an Artifact. And it's not a good one."

"What... do you mean?"

"I've seen your weapon--fought against it, even, twenty years ago."

Frey's face contorted in bewilderment. "You mean, a Player of your generation had the same Player Weapon?"

But how can that be? He thought each Player was given their own unique weapon suited to their fighting tendencies. Was that not how it worked?

"I don't know. It's been a long time ago and honestly, I wasn't sure it really was the same weapon, until yesterday Mori confirmed it."

"Who's Mori? Your smith friend?"

Shin tapped on the hilt of his katana. "This, this is Mori."

He grabbed the sword's handle and pulled it from its scabbard with a flash. Gleaming acidic green was Shin's mysterious blade finally drawn. It was a thin Japanese sword that, instead of having a black and silver blade, was jade-colored all over with a toxic luster. On the blade collar just before the guard, a green eye was affixed.

The eye shifted, that it stared at Frey with its jade-colored iris. It blinked a few times, before turning away.

Frey had pretty much lost it at this point. In this world, books write themselves. He thought he had understood that this world was magical, and therefore he shouldn't expect anything "normal" to come out of it, but still a sword with an eye? Is it gonna talk next?

"I do not like the stare your student is giving me, human. He's perfectly like you when we first met: Rude." The sword told Shin.

Okay it talked. Without having a mouth.

"Now, now." Shin stroked the blade softly with his hand as if caressing it. "He's a good kid."

"Stop whatever you are doing right now, or I will be forced to kill you." Shin stopped soothing the blade.

"Anyway, Mori here is my buddy, as you can see. He doesn't like people except me so--"

"--I don't like you as well, human." the sword cut him off.

"Savage." Frey tried not to giggle.

"Harsh." Shin forced a dry laugh. "Anyway, Mori here has better memory than I have. He was the weapon I was using when I had an encounter with the owner of your armblade. Isn't that right, Mori?"

"It is. It's the same weapon." Mori confirmed. "Though I do not know how that can be; I was the one to destroy that weapon. I've cut it to a million pieces, after its Player had died."

"You see, when a Player dies, his Player Weapon becomes the property of the Player who killed him. I have killed thirteen Players. Twelve of their weapons I buried. They're thirteen feet underneath the soil we're stepping on right now, in a large chest only I can open." Shin glanced at the ground and tapped his foot. "The one remaining, I destroyed."

Shin was onto something, Frey was sure. And he didn't like where things were going. He looked at his armblade, on the green-speckled blue gem sitting on its steel. "And that one you destroyed, you believe it's this weapon?"

"Right." Shin nodded.

"But why? Why did you destroy it, instead of burying it with the other twelve weapons?"

Shin bit his lip, head bowed down. The only time he'd seen Shin like this, was when he talked about his life on Earth.

"Foolish human." Mori interjected. "You would have done the same, if you knew what that thing on your arm can do.

"No, I am sure you will, once it goes out of your control."