When the Crow Finds a Flock

Arc 0: Chapter 3

CONTENT WARNING/S: Slight mention of traumatic events, Slight nyctophobia.

Note: Footnotes at the end, as always! Since my school has started, I'll be a lot more busy. Chapter updates will be every Sunday from now on (unless I find myself too busy or going behind schedule). Also, sorry for the late update on Wattpad 😭

Chapter word count: 2,214 words

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1/19/2014, Sunday, Afternoon

"Where... am I?"

Goro mutters under his breath, looking around in confusion. A small prickle of fear crawls up his spine, and he tries to mentally prepare himself for whatever comes next. He's never been on a boat before, never mind a large cruise ship like this.

Goro takes careful steps toward the building on the ship. His heart rate increases, and he tries to calm himself from his panic. He's not scared, not at all. He's one of his school's star students for god's sake! If he can't handle whatever this Titanic-bullshit is, then he'd rather jump off the ship and drown himself instead.

"You're in the Metaverse!" A high-pitched, squeaky yet boyish voice suddenly speaks from behind him. Goro immediately turns around to see who spoke, and he sees...

Nothing?

"Ow! Hey!!" The same voice exclaims from below, to which Goro looks down and sees a strange fuzzy blob. It looks odd, and certainly out of place, with brown colored fur and the ends of its animal-like ears a yellow color. —

11/5/2016, Saturday, Afternoon

"Wait, what?" Sakamoto squints his eyes as he interrupts Goro from retelling his experiences. "So... you're telling me you met some weird blob thing in the Metaverse?!"

Goro holds back the urge to roll his eyes and give a sarcastic retort. "Please let me finish, Sakamoto-san."

Morgana tilts his head back in thought, "A blob in the Metaverse? I've never seen one before. Was it a shadow? What if it could be connected to my past?" The questions leave Goro to wonder exactly what the cat is talking about; does Morgana have amnesia or something? "How sad," Forsette says, and Goro can hear the sympathy coming from the girl's voice.

"Anyway–"

1/19/2014, Sunday, Afternoon

"A.. What are you?" Goro furrows his brows in confusion. The blob is rather small, reaching just to the middle of his calf. The blob harrumphs and its small, chunky arms cross over what would be its chest.

"I'm your Guide! Call me Arthur," The blob introduces itself, grinning up at Goro.

"My guide? I take it that you know where we are, then?" Goro asks, raising an eyebrow, looking at "Arthur" skeptically. It mentioned the "Metaverse" just a few seconds ago, and the term is slightly familiar to Goro, as if he's heard it somewhere. He has a lot of questions, and this blob that calls itself "Arthur" seems to have the answers to them, as it nods its head.

"Yep! We're in the Metaverse! A Palace, to be precise," Arthur says with a large grin on its face. "A Palace, you say?" Goro repeats, his tone filled with confusion. Like, a castle of some sort? This is a ship, though..

"It's what you call this type of place in the Metaverse!" Arthur explains, "It's basically the manifestation of a person's distorted thoughts and desires."

"To put it simply, this Palace is what its Ruler thinks the world around them is. Their distorted cognition of their surroundings causes the Palace to be formed."