What Have We Done?

Elliot reached for the Manual but his eyes widened when the large book was missing in his bag.

The thought dawned him.

He hadn't saw the Manual for a few days now.

"What are you looking for?" Connor asked when he saw his friend rummaging his bag.

"The book," Elliot said. "The Manual is missing."

'The Manual had been uploaded to the Console.'

'Physical copy inexistent.'

It was as if the world was lifted from his shoulders. Elliot let out a heavy sighed of relief and regained his composure.

Sure enough, there was a new icon on the list of tabs in his Console.

< Status >

< Creator Status >

< Skills >

< Shop >

< Currency >

< Manual >

Elliot was only thinking of opening the < Manual > tab when it opened on its own.

So, I didn't have to say it out loud? Elliot asked himself in his mind.

Testing his theory, when the tab was opened, boxes of items were displayed. In the boxes were the picture of the items, its name and a short description. Each panel consists of 9 boxes.

There was an arrow on the right side of the boxes. Elliot stared at the arrow, focusing his mind on the arrow.

And as he expected, the panel switched.

On the left, there was a list of titles that were named with the sections of the book.

< Craft >

< Cook >

< Forge >

< Brew >

He went to the Brew tab and sought the HP replenishing concoctions. While he was doing that, Isabelle was damping a wet cloth that contained herbs on the twins' wounds.

"I don't think they will last," Isabelle said worriedly. "The attacks on them have been poisoned. The time I left, their HP was still at 100 each."

"The one on Frost seems to be stronger," Connor said.

Lance took a step forward, "Do you have an Absorption Gem?"

Isabelle nodded. "I have three."

"Take them," Lance ordered.

When Isabelle left the room, Lance brandished his swords. He held a stoic expression on his face that made Connor fidget in worry. The younger boy looked at his other friend who was too busy looking for a potion.

"Filius," Lance casted. There was a thin sheet of purple mist coming out from the twins. Their labored breathes were slowly steadying. Lance's sword glowed, absorbing the purple mist in the air. "This ability allows me to suck out poisons and curses."

Isabelle came back, carrying three small oval and semi-transparent stones. "Here are the Absorption Gems."

"These gems allow you to store magic in them," Lance said. Elliot stopped from his search and watched his friend. Lance pointed the tip of his black sword to one of the gems. "Veru."

His sword lit up and the purple mist flowed to the stones. The transparent gems were now murky purple. Isabelle took out a small pouch and placed the gems inside.

"I will keep these gems away."

"Elliot?" Lance called out. "Do you have the potion? Like the ones we took before. The one with the slime. You said you had a lot of those."

Elliot facepalmed, disappointed in himself. "Right."

He took the green potions from his Inventory and handed them to Isabelle. "The container will disappear after the content is finished."

Isabelle could only nod and take the potion. She was placing the tip of the container to Frost's lips when a message popped up in Elliot's Console.

'Enemy detected. Continue?'

Elliot was confused.

Why would the system warn him like his?

They had been in a party and a Conquest before. But right now, Frost was registered as an enemy?

Yes. Elliot thought.

'Potion taken.'

Frost's body lit up with a green light and dulled down not long after.

Isabelle took another container and made Ripple drink it. Once again the message popped up.

'Enemy detected. Continue?'

Yes.

Elliot's world spun.

The question kept repeating in his mind.

Why?

Why?

Why?

'Your friends are close, but your enemies are closer.'

The Manual's voice rang in his memory. It echoed in his mind.

What have you two done?

–

Ripple was the first one to wake up. She sat up and touched her head, feeling a bit dizzy.

"Ripple, you're awake," Connor cheered. He was walking to the twins but was abruptly stopped.

Elliot stood, putting himself in between the two.

"What have you two done?" Elliot asked, his voice was laced with curiosity and confusion.

Lance stood, "Elliot, what are you talking about?"

"My Console told me they were enemies," Elliot confessed. "I was wondering why. We were together twice. Yet, why did the Console tell me otherwise?"

Ripple was speechless for a moment before a sigh escaped her lips.

"W-We…" she trailed off. Looking at her sister and then returning his gaze at Elliot. "We betrayed our guild."

The room was filled with silence. Isabelle who was at her shop was feeling the heavy tension coming from inside the room.

"There was a mission. About Fatima and Elijah Carp," Ripple started. "They were survivors of The Azure Palace Conquest and a sponsor gave our guild a quest to assassinate them. An unknown man kept sending us the quest."

"Is that why you went to Yusta that day?" Elliot asked.

Ripple nodded that made Connor gasp.

"We were at the trees behind their house…" Ripple trailed off, closing her eyes to remember the memory. "Frost had a clear shot on Elijah. Her aim is always accurate and she never hesitates to fire. Especially when it involves a mission."

"And then what happened?" Connor ushered. "What changed your mind that you couldn't kill my parents?"

"I saw you."

Frost forced herself to sit up. She was still in a critical condition yet she managed to sit up and talk. "That night, of my time being a Ranger, I couldn't release the string."

Ripple sighed, "We returned to our guild and said that that they had already left Yusta. But after the Conquest…"

"What?" Connor spoke with a low voice, feeling conflicted.

"They discovered that the Carps have a child," Ripple finished. "And our mission was to kill you."

"Why would they want to kill me?" Connor cried. "I had never done anything to any of them. So did my parents."

"Because the world isn't filled with butterflies and rainbows," Lance said. Elliot was at the side, still taking everything in.

"You couldn't finish the mission that's why you betrayed them?" Elliot finally asked. "And why would we believe you? What would stop us from thinking that this isn't just some sick plot to let our guards down."

"We never asked you to believe us," Frost said seriously. For the first time, she didn't look like the warm person she was. Her aura was as cold as her name.

"We knew it was hard to believe that was why we were going to escape the guild but they caught us. Even after we were hunted after they found out we left the Carps go, we never sought for your help because we were ashamed. And we were scared that you would treat us like this."

Ripple looked at them dead in the eye. "And you just confirmed our fears."

"Let's just talk for a bit," Lance said but the twins didn't let him continue.

Ripple leaped to the other bed and held her sister's hands. "Goodbye."

"Fusion Cast!" they both chanted.

"Ripple's Drift!"

"Frost's Silence!"

In a blink of an eye, the two disappeared from the others' sight. Lance felt their aura fading until it completely vanished.

Elliot gulped, "What have I done?"