14 Unhelpful front desk

Now that the three of them had gone through all the powers and related things, one would have thought that they were done but no. Aurora still had some questions. He already did answer a few but some things remained a mystery. For example, was it or was it not in the end a thing like in the hunger games?

"No, not at all, he answered, there were no special rules here and he said nothing about other participants. Maybe in some other world we will have to fight someone else but for now, we will be safe from attacks by other participants for at least ten years."

Another weight was removed from her chest. She felt so relieved to know this.

"The only real rule the god voice told me about was that if we ever brought something to a world that wasn't supposed to be there, the world would try to reject it and us causing everything to get much harder than it should. We shouldn't have to worry too much about this since everything from the choice shop at the start of an adventure is taken from the world to which it is linked. (1)

"Since it's both your first adventure-world thingy, it means that it's impossible for you to have something that doesn't belong here right?"

"Yes, you got it Gilly. The only thing that could break the balance is the small magic of Aurora but if we just refrain from using it too much, we should be alright."

Got it, don't bring stuff that isn't supposed to be there, that's easy enough. Thought Aurora.

(Then, what about quests, the party invitation mention those, and reward points.)

"I do not know at all, The objective the voice gave us both was to survive ten years but maybe there are some quest or things to do at the same time like in an rpg."

Aurora had not played many rpg in her life but she still understood what he meant.

(Do you think there are quest givers?)

"Maybe, who knows? We will know how quests work only when we get one. As for the reward points, I'm pretty sure they have to do with the quests."

(That would make sense. What about the companion limit.)

"I have absolutely no idea but I need to find out. Maybe the answer for Gilly is there."

"You mean how to bring me after those ten years?"

A light of hope flashed in her eyes.

"Yes, maybe this is what companions are referring to, it could also be just pets like a battle monster for example. I have no way of finding out for now. It's my best bet thought."

"I know you will do your best. She said while embracing him."

"Of course I will do my best! Next."

(What and where is the safehouse?)

"I have no idea, the god said we wouldn't be able to access it until the end of the first adventure so you will have to wait ten more years to access it. Anything else you want to ask?"

There was still one last question that was really bothering her.

(Are the anime characters in this world or not?)

"Great question!" Exclaimed Blaze, impressed by it. "I have no clue at all, I didn't think about it before. I was too focused on just trying to escape."

"What anime characters?" Asked Gilly. She had no way to know after all.

"I told you before that this world had a series of games on it in the world I came from right? There was a animated show too."

"Then, since there was a game and a show that were pretty much the same as here, she is asking if the characters are here too?"

(Yes. Maybe they can help?)

"Maybe, or maybe they will be against us if they are here. We are criminals after all and those are the good guys."

(We aren't really the bad guys though, we are just stuck.)

"Maybe, there is no way to know aside from taking the risk of calling them, if they are here at all. Even if they do exist, maybe they are long dead or aren't born yet. There are some differences with the games and animated show too, mainly the violence and complexity of this whole thing. If they are here, they might not be like the show or games presented them at all."

"Hey, I got a sudden thought." Interrupted Gilly with a serious face.

"What?"

"You keep saying you are here because you were dragged into a show to entertain that one god right? Could the character from the animated show you both watched also have been like you?"

That was a very interesting idea.

"I don't know but if he was like us, he may have had the same as Aurora and it would explain why he stayed ten years old for so fucking long."

If that was true, it would imply that the show that was based on the games was based on this world instead and that consequently, the games as well. It would make sense then that a bunch of ten years old would crush criminal teams whole. It was part of their challenge.

"We should definitely check if all those guys do exist or not. It might change our course of action drastically."

There were some of those character he really didn't want to come across.

"We'll do that later though because for now, we have more important things to do. Do you have any other question?" (2)

(I think that is all I need for now. This is all much simpler than I thought it was.)

It was true that since she had took that blood oath, she had felt extremely relieved, like she was floating on some kind of mind numbing mushy pillows. She happily went along with all that was going on but somewhere in her head, something was whispering to her that she had done something she didn't need to at all. Why did she do it? She pushed the thought away with a question.

(What happened to the invitation?)

"I don't know, It just vanished after our oaths while you were both spacing out." Answered Gilly.

"What do you mean vanished?"

It was a rater strange turn of event, was it not? Why would that thing vanish?

"I don't know, it just did, one moment it was in my hands, and then, there wasn't a thing anymore, it was just gone with all our blood."

"That's strange..."

Aurora didn't like that kind of strange. She doubted it had any real significance but it still scarred her a little. It was like a ghost letter. She didn't like ghosts.

"Well it did work as intended anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."

"I would've loved to keep it as a souvenir. There is our blood all over it after all, I feel like it's precious to me. It's like a proof of our love for each other."

Gilly looked a little downhearted but Blaze was there to put her back up like usual.

"You don't need that for a proof of our love, I have a hole in my hand to prove it, and soon, a ring on your finger too. Even if the blood itself is lost, the mark of how I gave it is still there and of course, my feelings aren't vanishing anywhere."

"Hooon, Thanks blaze."

As Gilly gave him another kiss in that pink haze of an aura that covered them. Aurora thought that they were cute. She loved the way they loved each other, it was adorable, like a small puppy. Still, it would be better to move on already.

After they were done, they put everything back in the bags. Blaze took the time to pick up all of Gilly's belongings and stored them in his bag like he said he would. They then went back to the computer and searched for the news.

Everything had went as Blaze hoped it would.

<The police force of Hitawar city assaulted an office building today after an anonymous call from a nearby concerned citizen. The events took place at the 7872 Gladrock street. On site, the HCPD arrested no less than twenty five members of Dragonlaw and confiscated a number of their equipment including weapons, stolen goods and three vehicles. Five officers of the HCPD were injured in the assault and two members of Dragonlaw were killed. None of them have told the police department of Hitawar city what they were planning yet but one let slip that they had seen their leader this very day. Governmental agencies are on their way to interrogate the arrested members and officials are claiming that they are very close on catching the elusive leader of Dragonlaw, Blaze sherwood.>

"This is great! Quick, go taunt the government on our page, tell them we almost got caught." Said Blaze.

"Yeah, said Gilly, having fun. Here: Ouff, What a day, we had to deal with dumb spaceman scrubs and then almost walked in on a police raid. We still got everything we needed, maybe if the cops had their eyes open we would be dead by now. ; )"

"Good, post that, we will get a good laugh out of it."

(Is it not a bad idea to anger the police?")

Aurora thought that if it was her, she would try to hide herself as much as possible and try to calm them down slowly.

"Well, it doesn't matter much what we tell them anyway. Might as well get some fun out of it. Also, there is a very slim chance that they might think we are already far away since we dare laugh at them. We didn't need it anymore but you can now see, I really did call the cops to those Dagonlaw guys."

(You did do as you said you would in the end. I'm glad, now that I am stuck with you, I appreciate that you are not a bad person.)

"Yes, let's partake in jolly cooperation from now on. You only have to praise me as you praise the sun!"

He had his arms raised in the air like an idiot waiting for applause but neither of the girls understood what he meant.

"Sometimes, I don't understand your jokes."

"I understand that you haven't seen the world from my other life so it's fine for you to not get it but what is hurting me is that even Aurora doesn't get it. Not even a chuckle, How old were you when you got forcibly reincarnated?"

(Ten)

"I see, too small to get it."

(I am not small! I just don't grow fast!)

"I was twenty five when the white light god got me."

(This means you are more than thirty years old! Forty even! You are an old man!)

Gilly started laughing again.

"A dirty old man who goes out with a chick not even twenty."

"That's obviously not how it works! You can't say I'm forty, I'm barely seventeen. Those are two completely different lives! If we followed your logic, you would be older than Gilly which is obviously not the case."

Blaze had taught about it a lot and had decided. He would consider himself a seventeen years old of mind and body with forty years of experience. He had felt confused before but now no so much. His first life was another life after all. Remembering it didn't make him any older, just more knowledgeable. He still had the mind of a seventeen years old guy, that was what he was after all. Maybe he would have got some comments about his maturity if he had led a normal life from then on but that was the extent of the influence of his past life over this one.

Aurora disagreed, she had read many stories in which the character was reborn remembering his past life but acted like the old him even when he was a kid, giving him a head start over everyone else. She was sure that she would have done the same if she had been able to remember her other life earlier. She didn't feel like she was older than Gilly but it was really the case anyway. For her, it was more like a continuation than a restart but since there was no real point into disagreeing with him now, she just moved on.

(Ok then, What do we do next?) She could always go back to it later.

Blaze was happy to brush over the subject and Gilly had nothing decent to say so she let the subject go too.

"I had a hard time thinking of how we would get in and back out of the city without getting caught. We laugh at them a lot but we aren't invisible. the moment we walk somewhere where there are people, the cops will be right on us. Now that you are here though, that's a completely different story."

"What do you mean? How would her presence change anything?"

Yeah, he wouldn't sacrifice her right away would he? He wouldn't ask her to fight the police right?

"We can use her as cover."

He would! He wanted to use her as a shield!

"Everyone knows who she is. With the chaos all around here, it wouldn't be surprising to see her with bodyguards. If we can just find a way to hide our identities, we can pretend to be her bodyguards as she goes on her journey.

Thank god, not the white light one, any other god, he didn't want to use her as a shield. He just meant he wanted to hide in her shadow.

"Are you sure this would work?"

Gilly didn't seem convinced at all, her face was full of concern.

"If we have an amazing disguise then yes. Who would suspect a ten years old of hiding two of the most wanted terrorist?"

"But most people aren't so dumb, If even only one recognize us we're fucked. Did you think a pair of big sunglasses would do the trick?"

"I'm sure you can come up with something, you are the good one with clothes and disguises. We just need some kind of mask. They could still identify you with your hair but you aren't the only redhead in existence. I don't think the mind of anyone would ever leap from 'the guard of this girl has red hair' to 'she must be Gilly Linton'."

"I still think this is unsafe, only one mistake and we are dead."

"Anything we do would be unsafe, there are no perfectly safe plan. The only way to fuck this up incredibly is if Dragonlaw announces that they have kidnapped Aurora. If that was the case, her two bodyguards would quickly become her captors in the eyes of everyone."

"That seems like a pretty big flaw since we have no idea what they are doing.

"Yes, I don't wish to live below the sword of Damocles either but there is a pretty easy way to make sure this wouldn't happen."

"What is this way?"

"We just have to get her father on our side. If they say they have her, he can just go on TV and say the opposite."

(You said to not call my parents earlier.) He was already contradicting himself and they had barely begun. Maybe he wasn't as reliable as she hoped.

"I said until we know what we are doing. This is what we are talking about right now, we are making a plan. In the end, we do not have that many choices. We could pretend that you are our hostage and reinforce the impression that we are leaders of Dragonlaw or we could do the opposite and say we saved you from them. In a truly ideal world, Dragonlaw would have to think that keeping you is part of the plan and your father would have to pretend that you really are captured by them while still acting as if you were safe.

"Your last sentence made absolutely no sense."

Blaze wasn't fazed by this and explained once more.

"Look, if Dragonlaw truly did capture Aurora, her father would notice at some point and try to do something about it right?"

"That would make a lot of sense."

"But we need him to say his daughter is fine, to be able to walk around freely. If we contact him first and he somehow accept to do that, when Dragonlaw will try to do whatever, he will laugh in their face and we will be revealed to be not on their side. If Her father acted as if we were truly from Dragonlaw but still said Aurora was fine, we could still pretend that we are part of Dragonlaw in front of the minions."

"It's not worth it at all though, in this scenario, her father would be at the beck and call of Dragonlaw. Plus, it doesn't matter at all what we look like to Dragonlaw since if it's exposed you aren't working with them, it just proves that you were framed for everything. I think that whatever we do, your dad will try to make it appear as if it was part of the plan to quiet rumors. We should just tell him she's safe without all the confusing stuff."

(I don't want my parents to worry about me all the time.) Added Aurrora.

"Alright, those are all valid points. I will side with you, we should get Aurora's father on our side."

He didn't really mind conceding on this, the advantages of that play were too small for the trouble, he could probably find anther way.

"What about our mean to get everything we need from town? What are your thoughts?"

(Could we not just ask father to give us all we need?)

"We could, but it just goes around the problem instead of fixing it. If we have to go into town for something, like for example, so you can challenge a gym for your rite of adulthood, you would have to go alone."

Aurora had forgot about the badges. She was way too scared to go alone, what if more guys from Dragonlaw were waiting there.

"Is it not pointless to get them though? Since you will be gone from this world in ten years?" Asked Gilly.

That was true, she didn't need them really. She could just go back home and wait the ten years out.

"We still need to go in town eventually for our wedding."

"Oh..."

A wedding? Aurora knew they were really a close couple but she had thought that the time when Gilly had called him her husband had been a joke.

"If we have to go for sure at least once, might as well fix this situation properly."

"Yeah."

"Then I only need to worry about rings and find the right place, the right time and the right priest."

"And so you will put all our lives on my shoulders and ask me to find an inconspicuous way to hide our faces."

"If I have to, yes, I believe in you. We need something to hide our identities and a good reason to do so."

"I cannot create a good reason to hide our faces from nothing, no one would believe it without a good proof."

(The only way they would believe it without a doubt would be for my father to announce it himself.) If she was to explain it herself, people wouldn't believe it. Even more so if the two supposed guards were the one translating what she was saying.

"Then we would need him to design some kind of mask or helmet and present it to the press saying that those wearing it are his trusted guards and only them are allowed to wear it. Two of those guards being dispatched to protect his daughter. As public knowledge, it wouldn't be surprising to see us with her."

"But for this to work, we need to convince him somehow that we are on the same side as his daughter and that this whole complicated plan is to his advantage."

"Do you think we can do it? Is this possible?" He asked Aurora.

Her father would usually go for the path with the largest profit but this was about her safety. She had no idea how he would react. Maybe he would just do it if she asked nicely? More likely he would say it's too dangerous and have her go back home.

(He would agree if this was the safest way for me but I think he will ask me to go back home instead. Walking around with two wanted criminal isn't safe at all.)

"What cards do we have to play?" Asked Gilly wondering.

"We don't have many. We can possibly be used as shields against Dragonlaw. I can teach her combat technique and the oath as well as the party will keep us from ever betraying her, making us the safest group for her. Besides that, we have nothing."

"It would be much easier if we just knew what he wanted."

(Father is a businessman, we could just ask him what he wants and negotiate. I could also just tell him that I will stay with you no matter what, it may make him angry but in the end he will have no choice but to accept because he can't reach me.)

"Okay then, does anyone have a better idea?"

Blaze looked at them both for a moment, waiting to see if one of the two would be struck by a sudden brilliant idea. None came. Blaze didn't like uncertain things. He never made a move unless he was certain of the outcome or at least that had been the case until recently. Everything that happened since this morning was not going as planned and it was annoying him.

His only choices right now were to either rely on Aurora's father to hide himself in plain sight or go in and out as fast as possible and disappear for a while until people forgot what he looked like. The second option was incredibly dangerous. One policeman was sufficient to screw everything up and even if everything went smoothly, he probably wouldn't be able to follow his promise to Gilly. He would have to hope that everything fixed itself or hope that he could find some kind of better plan.

On the other hand, he could try his luck with Mr. Stardust and hope that all would go well. For now, because of all the advantages it offered him, it seemed like the best plan but, who knew if a better one would come up in a couple of days, or weeks. Maybe waiting for a safer option to show itself was better than gambling everything right at the start. Waiting felt like the best strategy here but it could seriously damage his options later on if Dragonlaw made a move against Aurora's family first.

"Alright, since it's the best we got, we will go with that."

He took his p-gear out and asked Aurora to give him her father's phone number. He had to do it himself since she had been locked out anyway.

"What are you even going to tell him?"

"The truth, at this point, there is not much else I can offer him."

Once he had the number, he used the video call option to contact Mr. Stardust. He did not have to wait long before someone unexpected answered. The video call was refused and only a feminine voice came in.

"This is the Starfuel main office desk what can I do for you?"

Had his call been transferred?

"Yes hello, did I not call the right number? I thought I composed Mr. Stardust personal phone number?"

"Every unrecognized calls are transferred here. Mr. Stardust is a busy man, he doesn't have the time to answer every random person that calls him. Tell me, what could I do for you."

She was polite enough but this wasn't helpful to him at all.

"This is really important, I really need to talk to him. Forward my call to him. That is the only thing I need from you."

"I'm sorry sir but I can't do that, I'm being very polite to you but you don't seem to understand that Mr. Stardust doesn't answer for just anyone. Tell me your name and the reason of your call, I will forward this to him later and he will call you back in the coming week if he deems it necessary."

Blaze scratched his previous opinion of her, he found her pretty irritating. He understood that she was just doing her job and he understood that she probably received dozens of calls like this every day but his call was a legit one.

Blaze may have felt irritated but Aurora felt really angry, how was it this hard to get in touch with her own father!

"Giving you those information would put the lives of many people in danger, I cannot do it."

"Then I am sorry but I can't transfer your call."

Aurora was furious and made sharp gestures to him. (Ask for her name.)

"What is your name miss?"

"I have no obligation to give you my name."

She had even dropped the sir now. She was clearly treating him as a garbage prank call. Aurora was furious. (I will get her fired, all of them if I have to.)

"Well then, I will find another way to contact him, just know that you will probably lose your job when I do find a way to reach him."

"Yes of course, good night punk."

There was a click and the line was cut. His brow twitched of annoyance and he snorted before asking Aurora the number of her mother. He really didn't give a damn about that annoying B-hole.

His new companion, just as annoyed as he was, gave him the new number and he once again made the call. It rang again and again but no one picked up.

What was going on with the those phone calls right now? When it stopped, he called again. He would make it ring as long as it took. That call was very important, whatever she was doing could wait. At some point Aurora started grinding her teeth out of frustration. At least, he wasn't the only one frustrated by this whole thing. What could she possibly be doing that stopped her from picking up?

The third time he called, at last, the phone got picked up. Once again he was thrown off by the voice who answered, it was a man.

"Look, Aurelia is busy right now, she will call back later."

Blaze didn't even have the time to say anything before the line was cut. His brow twitched in anger harder than before and Gilly had to bite her lips to not laugh at his trouble.

He took a big breath through his teeth and composed the number again. Aurora thought she had recognized the voice but she wasn't quite sure.

(I think it's Hergis but I'm not sure.) After all, what would he be doing with her mother's phone?

The call was picked up again but this time, it was blaze who didn't give him the chance to talk.

"Hergis, if you dare hang up that phone again I will personally come over to rip you in half."

How long were they all planning on keeping him running phone calls! He had enough already! He still had other things to do today! How could it be so hard to call someone? It shouldn't take half an hour just to speak to someone.

"Yeah? Who are you?" Presumed Hergis answered.

Blaze could hear the mockery in his tone but also some strange sloppy noises quietly happening in the background.

"Your boss, Blaze. What the fuck are you doing with that phone and what's the noise in the background?"

If he truly worked for Dragonlaw, he would understand what he meant.

"Oh... I... I see... Could it, ohhhh, wait just a couple of minutes?"

Blaze finally recognized the sounds and had no idea how to answer that. In the most unexpected turn of event, that bastard was having sex with Aurora's mother. He breathed a huge amount of air from his nose but still couldn't keep his voice down when he answered. Blaze had quite enough stupidity for the day already. He was about to blow his top.

"STOP FUCKING HER AND GIVE HER THE DAMN PHONE!" (3)

***

(1) Should I or should I not just revert back to calling them jumps? Let me know down bellow.

(2) This would be the first time I request your help! Since I have no patrons it all falls unto you. I will make a poll public on my Patreon. The question is: Do the cannon characters exist? The choices are:

A. Yes, in the past.

B. Yes they are here right now.

C. They never existed and never will

D. The main characters were participants/jumpers and are now gone, the others are still here.

E. It never was the same universe in the first place.

If you don't want to go all the way to my Patreon to answer that, you can just leave a comment bellow with your opinion, that's fine too. Whatever you all choose, be aware that the names will not be the same to keep with the theme of "I changed all the names".

(3) By all the gods, everyone is so rude and crude here.