The sound of mugs clashed as the foam within them splattered onto the table uncaringly, and we cheered at our simple meet-up. Those same mugs then tapped the table gently before they were effortlessly consumed.
This was only the second time since the Kingdom's Guild Draft five years ago that we had spent time altogether like this.
Everyone was in casual attire today; apparently, I didn't get the memo. Though, I suppose the Black Wolves uniform was more on the casual side anyway. I sat there with my jacket off, and for once I was grateful I had worn sneakers today instead of boots.
It was extremely hard to get these guys together in the same room—mainly because Zeno was always out, and Snow and Rex often took on ad hoc missions while Ryo was busy with Kingdom duties.
Out of the five of us, Zeno was probably the busiest of us all. In fact, he spent more time outside of the Kingdom than he did within it. I wouldn't be surprised if by tomorrow's time, he would be off once again.
"Speaking of which," I said as we gulped. "Zeno, you've been here for over a week now. When are you heading out again?"
He finished his mug and placed it gently on the table, wiping the foam from his upper lip before responding, "Whatever do you mean, Greed?"
Bewildered, I asked again, "When. Are. You. Heading. Out? Should I spell out the words for you, too?"
He chuckled and said casually, "I'm not."
I blinked, and so did Snow right next to me. Ryo sat to my other side, continuing to chug his beer—the last to finish; he was lightweight compared to the rest of us.
I faced Ryo next. "You know something, don't you?"
He burped and replied, "Ah, Zeno? Yeah, he's gonna stay until the Tournament to train!"
"HE'S WHAAAT!?" Snow, Rex, and I said at the same time, almost hovering over Zeno, who nervously shooed at us.
He cleared his throat. "It's true! It will probably be the longest I've stayed in the Kingdom since becoming Vice Captain. I'm not only here to train, but also to bond with my crew." He shifted the mood to a more serious tone before going on, "You see, ever since becoming Vice Captain of the Purple Panthers, I haven't exactly earned the respect of my peers for a few reasons. When I was appointed, I was still fairly green." This was true. Zeno was the first out of us five to become a Vice Captain. Next, it was Ryo, then Snow and Rex simultaneously, then myself. "On top of that, I am away most times. In all honesty, Captain Tubolt only promoted me so that I could work under Arcane King Daz in his place as one of his select mages. It was his way of extending his services to the Valley, so that the Purple Panthers have a face outside Kingdom walls."
That made a lot of sense as he broke it down. Tubolt might have been a prick, but he chose right on the person to represent his Guild outside the Valley. With a face and personality like his—I studied Zeno—who wouldn't like him?
"But, alas," he went on. "At the time, I was also one of the newest members, so to become Vice Captain before many of the Purple Panthers' senior members didn't help my credibility among them."
"Do not worry, friend!" Ryo said cheerfully. "You are a strong mage. You wouldn't have been promoted so soon otherwise! You forget that all of us had to go through something similar. We were all novices together after all. Now look at us! Five years…" He began reminiscing. "Look what we've accomplished within five years!"
"All except Dweeb! What, weren't you like the Black Wolves' second member aside from Asura? Yeah, there weren't many options for Asura there," Rex joked.
"Third, actually, you ass," I retorted.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot the 1st Exec was Asura's first, then Code, and then you. Silly me. That means you weren't even second choice… you were bottom of the barrel!" Rex scratched his head as he proceeded to jest.
"Stupid. You said it yourself—1st Exec… which means he's technically under me."
"Didn't he choose to be 1st Exec though? Which means you were last choice even with the second title… talk about a vanilla top…" He saw the waitress, snapping his fingers and pointing back to us, silently ordering more beer all around.
I then shot the paper sheath of my straw at his eye, and he staggered backward, hands on his face as Snow chortled at his anguish.
"Anyway, it's good you're gonna be here. Means we'll be seeing more of you until the Tournament!" Snow spoke to Zeno after his laugh, then turned his attention to me. "Speaking of which, Dweeb, are you—"
He saw Ryo wave his hands at him before going on, gesturing with a straightened hand to his neck not to ask what he was about to ask. But I already knew…
"All good, Ryo. We can talk about it, I guess," I said.
They all perked their ears as I prepared to speak.
"I'm j… ng…" I said purposely quieted under my breath.
"You're what? Jerking?" Snow spat, getting back at me from when I made a similar joke to him at the Kingdom's Guild Meeting.
"I said I'm joi…ng…"
"Speak up, Vanilla Wolf!" Rex barked, and with probably a new nickname to go in the collection.
"I said I'm fucking joining! I'm gonna be in the fucking Tournament!" I bellowed at last. The tables near us turned their heads as I did, chattering amongst themselves afterward.
Blank stares met me from all four of those idiots…
"YOU ARE!?" they shouted in reply.
I rolled my eyes at them. "Keeper, is it that big of a deal?"
"Fuck!" Rex yelled, throwing his hands over his face, and then slamming his arms on the table with his head lowered.
Snow chuckled maniacally and said, "Pay up, shitbag!"
Rex pulled out his wallet reluctantly, handing Snow a wad of eterna. Snow grabbed it aggressively and started counting in front of him.
He then looked over to Zeno. "You too, pretty boy. You really thought I forgot?"
Zeno nervously twitched an eyebrow, and slowly but surely pulled out his wallet. He politely handed Snow another wad of eterna, which was snatched almost immediately, being counted alongside Rex's stack.
"What the fuck are you guys doing?" I asked incredulously.
"See, Ryo. We could have split this fifty-fifty if you had agreed to it! But someone was too chickenshit to bet!"
"You guys' fucking bet if I was gonna join the Tournament!?"
They ignored me as Snow continued to brag about his earnings.
Rex slammed his head down onto the table again, visibly depressed. But as the round of beer came, he shot up, grabbed a mug, and chugged it before the waitress could even place the rest down. And Zeno remained looking inside his wallet like he was questioning his life decisions. "That was all my earnings from the last mission…" he whispered, loud enough for us to hear. "I need to take another job!"
He rose from his seat, but was dragged down by Rex, who held onto his jacket, forcing him to sit back down.
"In any case," Ryo spoke. "I'm glad Daz was able to convince you!"
"So, you knew?"
Ryo meekly scratched his head.
"He almost killed me, you ass!" I yelled, even though he was right next to me.
"Oh? I had no idea you guys fought. He merely told me he was going to try to convince you to join the Tournament. He didn't exactly get into detail with how he was going to do it."
I didn't explain it to Ryo, nor did he pry, so I left it at that.
When our food came, we dug in and continued to banter, chugging away our endless supply of beer all the while. Ryo and Snow went over to Rex's side, talking about some sport I knew nothing about in the Ocean Kingdom called 'Boko' while Zeno joined me on the other side opposite them, and watched them argue amongst themselves—Ryo looking like the referee between the other two.
Zeno sat quietly. Both his hands were on his beer mug, sitting up straight. I glanced at him and started up a topic I'd have to face eventually… "So, uh…"
He faced me and smiled, waiting for me to speak. I had a feeling he already knew what I was going to bring up, but he was polite and let me gather my thoughts to at least utter a few words.
"Belle and I… we're…" I rubbed my neck anxiously. "Man, how do I put this…"
"I know," he said with a soft interjection.
I raised a brow, surprised he did. I had a feeling Ryo had slipped up somehow. At least he only did it with not-so-sensitive information. However, this wasn't something I wanted too many people to know right away. Especially with Zeno, he had been very fond of Belle since she had made her appearance randomly at the Kingdom's Guild Draft, then made it into the Snow Lily Knights as their immediate Vice Captain, not even a member to start. A goddamn Vice Captain upon draft at only seventeen years of age. Then, a few years later, she started her own Guild—the Golden Rose Knights. I only learned this info from Snow earlier on our walk here…
"YOU'RE DATING WHO!?" he and Rex droned over me as we passed through a plaza on the way to 'Alleyway Noodles' (our unofficial name for the place).
Snow clicked his tongue and contemplated to himself as he put two fingers to the bridge of his nose, pondering to himself while Rex was still awestruck, inches from my face.
"Listen, this is huge. I don't know how long it's going to take for me to get over this 'cause you actually pulling the Princess of the fucking Valley is headline news as it is," Snow lectured. "But when you bring this up to him, you're gonna need to be more tactful, my guy. Now listen up. There's a few things you need to know…
After learning about everything Belle had accomplished while I was roaming around with amnesia, I started to feel really guilty. When I thought back at it all, her and I had never even interacted until the most recent Kingdom's Guild Meeting just a few weeks ago. Only then, when I was able to hear her voice, and bask in the pleasure of her speaking only to me—when her eyes looked only to me, did I realize something was up. It was as if she was waiting for the right moment. And now here we were.
"Congratulations. Ryo accidentally shared that with me, but I had a feeling that might have been the case eventually," he reassured.
"Eventually?"
"Without a doubt." He stared at the reflection of himself through the beer left in his mug. Reflecting his short reddish-purple hair and his eyes that were always closed while he smiled, in view at last, revealing their red and blue hue—never once becoming purple.
"Do you know why I smile so often?" he asked.
"'Cause you're actually a decent guy unlike the rest of us? Minus Ryo of course, but he's defaulted that way, so… not exactly a flex," I replied looking at Ryo who continued to banter with the other two idiots as politely as possible; it was like he could never be anything but a good person.
Zeno chuckled, then said, "I'm grateful that's how I'm perceived… Actually, it's because I'm ashamed."
I looked back at him, raising a brow.
"You see, I always come close, but never become," he spoke quieter now.
I merely listened. Elbow propped on the table, and fist holding up my head.
"My mother had blue eyes, and my father had red. You would think that when their child was born, his eyes would simply be one of theirs, or perhaps even a rarer case, and become purple. Instead, I was given both shades, and depending on the light, my eyes were either a full red, a full blue, heterochromatic or simply both at the same time on both eyes. Never once would they ever turn purple, though. Ironic that I get drafted into a Guild that is wholeheartedly that color." He lifted his head and held that cheerful smile he always had, eyes hiding again. "I bring this up because it's been a recurring pattern in my life. Every time I get close to something, whether it be a goal or… a person… I always fall short. Like a wall I am not allowed to go through no matter how hard I try."
Zeno was always the softhearted one out of the five of us. He was intellectual and poetic. I often admired that about him. I almost chuckled at the way he was talking about himself now—open with his insecurity. But I empathized with the point he was trying to make. Still, I couldn't help but crack a joke, "At least your hair turned out purple… even if it is the wrong shade."
He chuckled gleefully. "I bet you didn't even know it's dyed."
"No shit?"
"No shit. Look at my roots, they're dark brown. Been dying it since the day we met! My hair is totally fried!"
"Fucking Keeper, they are!"
He smirked and straightened, pausing for a second before continuing his thought. "When I first saw Belle at the Kingdom's Guild Draft, I fell in love. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen."
I was idle now. Letting Zeno get this off his chest, listening intently as any close friend should.
"Even when I finally became the Vice Captain, I never once took my eyes off her. She kept soaring higher and higher. From immediate Vice Captain of the Snow Lilies, to then the Captain of the Golden Rose Knights, and then being the only other Guild stationed in a whole Sub-Kingdom to protect. She became the Valley Kingdom's beacon. Earned the title of 'Princess of the Valley'. Even from afar, I watched her. Even while I was away, I was always up to date with the things she accomplished. I even knew immediately that she had become an SS Rank mage after defeating a Colossal Sand Dragon on her own. I witnessed the whole thing after all… from afar."
So did I. From the Black Wolves garden that very day. I just hadn't realized it at the time. I was amazed. I knew he liked her, but not this much.
He went on, "But even as I got close to her and even, dare I say, confessed my love to her… while my eyes were on her the whole time… her eyes were always on you."
I got goosebumps hearing this from him. While I was ignorant and forgot about everything, Belle never once gave up. She watched from afar. Waiting. Becoming. Because she couldn't directly confront me due to her curse. When the stars aligned and she was able to come in contact with me that day, I could only imagine how elated she was. I would be, too. And that made me feel ashamed of myself.
"The way she looked at you… It was like you were her long-lost lover." The irony behind those words was unbeknownst to him. "It was like there was no one else aside from you that she wanted… I was jealous of that… Keeper, I was fucking jealous of you, Greed. And when I found out that she finally got her wish, it was sweet and bitter news to swallow. Sweet because I was happy for you both, bitter because I wanted it to be me."
The silence between us was deafening. I even noticed Ryo, Rex, and Snow tone down their chatter next to us, but they were respectful and left us alone. Ryo even started up different topics in an attempt to distract. Snow and Rex followed his lead without question.
"Again, I fell short. Just like my eyes, so close… but never truly becoming purple."
After sharing all that, the word was more than just a playful analogy now.
It was sad and beautiful all in the same. Still, I didn't speak. The stage was his and his alone. And I alone was his audience.
"Please don't mind me," he said lastly. "I just wanted to get that off my chest. Truly, as a friend, I hold no resentment toward you. You, Snow, Rex, Ryo… you're all the closest friends I could ever be blessed with. If there was anything I achieved, it was all of you." He was radiant with glee; I couldn't help but get goosebumps from that. "This is going to sound silly to you, Greed, but the main reason I want to attend the Tournament is so that I can win and become a Captain of my own Guild. Those were the conditions for the winner, from what I heard."
Finally interjecting, Rex commented, "Not if I win first!"
"Ha! You? Win the Valley fucking Tournament? Over my dead body!" Snow jabbed.
"I thought we didn't do death jokes anymore, you prick!?" Rex retaliated.
"I was simply using it as a marker for your accomplishments, meaning I'll be long gone before you ever get to that point!"
"You're a true asshole, you know that? I hope we get to face each other in the ring so I can shove that stupid prickly hair of yours up your goddamn ass! You dumb-butt-sniffing-indoor-sunglasses-wearing-biohazard!"
"Oh, I hope I get to face you, too, so I can shove that stupid bandana—that I bet you never fucking wash—down your gaping throat you dick-sucking-toilet-smelling-broken-winged-skyrat!"
They both stepped over the table, somehow avoiding our mugs and empty plates—all shuddering upon their spectacle. They were visibly buzzed, foreheads pressed, arms locked, and wrestling all the while. This would have been considered a scene if it weren't for the rest of the customers and even the staff, glued to the projection screens, then. Something had apparently gotten their attention over us…
Ryo tried to break them up as Zeno laughed loudly. I smiled and simply sat back watching them all.
At the end of their quarrel, Ryo made his way over in the middle of us, and stuck out his fist. We all stopped what we were doing, looking him up and down.
Rex threw in his fist next, wiping his bloody nose—that he somehow had. Then Snow. Then Zeno. All of them doing this instinctively like it was the code.
They all faced me, waiting as I took my time, just like before when we had done this the first time after being drafted to our Guilds.
"Come on, friend. Don't tell me you're too cool for us now?" Ryo snickered.
"I think that's the case, bro got an Acting Captain role and thinks he's better than us! Nah, you chopped fool!" Rex teased.
"I hope I get to fight you, too, Dweeb. Remember the first time at the Draft? I smoked your ass!" Snow reminisced.
"You can't let me lay my feelings on the table without any form of reciprocation now, can you, Greed? After all… I need to witness the strength of the one Belle fell in love with. Otherwise, I'll assume you're just all talk and no spine," Zeno playfully taunted. And that same closed-eyes grin he will forever be known for beamed like a pleasant morning sun.
I closed my eyes in turn and sighed, sticking out my fist in a prolonged, anticipated fashion along with theirs.
"I'll give it my best, I guess… Just don't come crying to me when you all lose to a mage who can't use magic."
They howled at that like a pack of obnoxious wolves. If I had a say, I'd recruit them all into the Black Wolf Knights in a heartbeat. Until then, it was just a sweet dream.
When our fists were all locked above the center of the table, Ryo said lastly, "I'll do my best as well. Let's see how much you all have truly grown!"
"Divided by Guilds, united by beer!" Rex shouted as he tossed up his mug, and we all followed suit.
Just like then, this was our pact. A pact to give each other a run for their eterna in the coming Valley Tournament. And maybe, even afterward… After all, the bar always rose with them. They were like a tide that forced you to rise.
A rising tide raises all ships… I thought to myself. Where have I heard that reference before?
Little did I realize at the time, after whatever was just on the screens, all eyes—from the other customers to the waitresses and chefs, and even passerby's—were on me.