8 Chapter 8: The Hero's Journy

Volume 1

Chapter 8: The Heroes Journey

"Hey Elise, are you even listening to me?" I blink and look back at the girl sitting opposite me. She is on the cheer team and one of the least pleasant people I commonly talk to. "I was telling you about my new hairdresser, but you kept staring over my shoulder."

"I was listening," I assure her. At least talking with people like her is easy to do. I do not even have to pay attention most of the time, and I still know what to say. "You told me how he fixed that bad haircut your last hairdresser gave you."

"I was surprised that place is still open when I walked by it the other day. That guy was an idiot,"

I turn her out once again. I feel like she tells me this every single day without exception. Looking back at Luke, I see one of the class bullies getting too close, but I scare him off with a glare. I am glad he learned from our little talk at the beginning of the year after he stole Luke's book and threw it onto the school's roof. I nod to the girl talking, pretending I am still listening to her complaining while I make sure that stupid bully goes back to his friends. Looking at the clock again, I see the teacher is late, most likely because he is flirting with our principal. They may try to hide it, but nearly everyone knows they are in a relationship.

"Maybe I should sue him," I look back at the girl as she finally says something that attracts my attention. "Do you think your parents will take my case?"

It may be because my parents are lawyers or I have recently been interested in a particular crime series. Still, I cannot help but want to hear more about this.

"Only if you are willing to pay a small fortune,"

When my parents attended school plays and events, they would only come if I agreed not to have my allowance that week, saying their time was important. They do not care about anything but money. I couldn't expect them to pay the ransom if I were kidnapped.

"They never do anything for free,"

"That's a shame. I hear they always win their cases," I nod again.

Even when their client is clearly guilty of their crimes, they will win their case. I once asked them if they felt guilty about their clients repeating their crimes. It was after a news report where a man killed a store worker in an armed robbery after my parents got assault charges against him dropped, but my parents just smiled. "We give our clients what they pay for," My mother told me, not sounding bothered that if it weren't for her, that man would have been in jail and that store worker still alive. They are monsters. They never feel remorse or turn away bad clients who want to stay free to continue their criminal ways.

"Then what about Jack? His parents are lawyers too,"

My displeasure at hearing his name must show on my face because the girl backs away. Jack is the worse. He thinks the world revolves around him because he is captain of the football team and already got college teams wanting to recruit him. Jack is disrespectful, arrogant, and the leader of the class bullies.

I hate him and want nothing to do with him despite our parents wanting us to get married just because they work together. I would never see or talk to Jack if it were up to me, but my parents keep inviting him for dinner. I look over to Luke again. Why could my parents not have picked him?

I need a break from people like her who only care about themselves and talk to the only person who has ever shown an interest in me. At least an interest that goes beyond looks and my wealthy parents.

Walking up to him, I smile, seeing Luke as defenceless as always. I used to tease him all the time about this and constantly sneak up on him. He eventually got me back with a water gun one summer, but I laughed more than him at that. It was the first time anyone had ever done anything like that to me. Unlike everyone else, who saw me only as my parent's child Luke saw me as just a normal kid.

"Hey, Luke," I call out. I restrain myself as tempting as it is to scare him like old times. Maybe one day, we can go back to the way things are. "What are you reading?"

"Just some lame comedy," He shrugs, setting the book down.

I think someone mentioned this book being bad before.

"Is it really that bad?" I leaned in and read the blurb. "I have not seen that book before. What's it about?"

"Just a comedy with bad jokes and characters," He answers as I finish reading. So, it is a bad book about a guy in love with a girl trapped in an arranged marriage. "It's really not that good."

"Can I borrow it then?" I ask.

I am curious to see if the main characters get together. Even if it is a bad book, it might help me eliminate Jack. I am not expecting miracles, but it could give me a way to get my parents to drop the marriage subject or give me an idea of how to make sure they don't pick Jack as my husband. Even if nothing comes from reading the book, I can talk to Luke again when I return it.

"Sure," He nods, and I quickly grab the book before he changes his mind. "You can borrow it for as long as you want."

"Thank you," I smile. Judging by the size of the book, it will take me about a week to read. "I will give it back as soon as I am finished."

"Hey, Elise, you shouldn't waste your time with a loser like him,"

Like he always does, Jack appears and ruins everything. I try not to glare. I don't want to scare Luke as I did with that girl. Why can he not leave me alone? He takes hold of my hand and drags me away, but I don't resist thinking Luke should not overhear the things am about to say to him. I give him a stern look once I am sure Luke cannot see my face.

"I can talk to…."

"What is that?"

"What is happening?"

"We need to get out of here!"

Before I can even yell at him, the ground starts to shake while the floor glows. Jack nearly knocks me over as the class rushes for the door, leaving me behind, but no one can open the doors. The doors refuse to budge even when Jack and the rest of the jocks pull on them. I walk back to Luke's side feeling more scared than I ever have in my life.

"The windows!"

Like a rush of water, the class is quickly at the windows doing everything to escape. They pull and push, throw chairs and whatever they can get hold of at the windows, but nothing happens. The glass should have broken. This cannot be happening. Before I know it, I am holding onto Luke's arm. This must be some kind of bad dream. I see Luke looking around and thinking, but it is too late. The next thing I know, I am blinded by a bright light and holding onto Luke for dear life.

<0>

I open my eyes and find Luke looking at me. When did we get so close? I jump back, realising I am still holding onto his arm. That was embarrassing. I can't believe I acted so weak around Luke when I usually protected him. I can't even look at him now and instead focus on the school's clean stone floor… I thought our classroom had wooden floors. I look up and finally see what everyone else has realised. We are not in the classroom anymore.

Someone enters before I can figure out where we are. Multiple robed priests holding golden staffs walk into the room, and I am unsure whether I should be happy or afraid to see them. Before I can decide how I fear, the leader of the priest steps forward and drops a bombshell on us. We are not in our world anymore, and to make things worse, we must fight someone known as the demon lord. I have no idea what those words mean. Whoever the demon lord is, they must be bad to have such a name.

I don't care if they make me a hero. I don't think I can fight a demon lord, but… looking to my side. If I don't fight, then Luke could be put in danger. Tightening my fists, I take a deep breath. I will defeat the demon lord to protect Luke if it comes down to it. I will deal with whoever the demon lord is, just like I deal with whoever bullied him.

As soon as I have found my strength, I hear the priests' leader ask us if anyone has any questions and seeing as no one is stepping up, I do. I ask the priests about the demon lord and how to return home. I hoped to send Luke back to safety, but he couldn't be sent back.

After we are done with the Q&A, the priests assess us with some kind of alter, and it turns out I really am a hero, but Luke is weak. Too weak to face a demon lord. I will have to work double-time to make sure he stays alive.

The priests then hand out weapons, giving me something called a holy sword and Luke a weak-looking knife. If the gods of this world brought Luke here to die, I would deal with them once I am done with the demon lord.

<0>

"How can you be so slow?"

It takes everything I have not to glare at the jerk. It is not Luke's fault he moves so slowly, but more people seem to forget that by the second. It does not matter if we are a few hours late if we all arrive safely together. I turn to the idiot, ready to say something to him, but someone else says something worse before I can even open my mouth.

"We should just leave him behind,"

How can they even suggest something like that? Leaving Luke behind when he is weak like this will be just as bad as killing him ourselves. But looking around, I was shocked by the number of classmates who seemed to agree with the idea. We cannot leave him behind to die.

"We can't leave Luke behind. He is part of our class too," I address everyone before looking at the fool who suggested leaving Luke behind. "If you are that upset about being slowed down, then maybe you should carry him."

"Not in a million years," The idiot smirks. "If it were a cute girl, I would be more than happy to carry them, but a weakling like that should be cut loose."

"How can you say something like that?! That is basically the same as killing him!" Am I the only one to realise what it would mean for Luke to be left alone?

"Then why don't you carry him?"

"M… me… I… couldn't… I… I mean I… I have been swearing…. I… I am not ready… for something like that…."

Me… carry him just like he carried me when I slipped and sprained my ankle. I don't know if Luke remembers it, but I tripped while we were playing when we were five. The other kids laughed while I cried, but Luke carried me back to my house. I can still remember the smell of the flowers in his hair. The other kids wouldn't let Luke play with them, so we spent the time putting flowers in each other's hair.

I do not want Luke to remember how bad I smelled. I must be smelly and sweaty after all the walking today. I can't let Luke remember that smell. Everyone is staring at me now. Looking around at my classmate, I wish someone else would step up and carry Luke in my place. Even Luke is staring at me, but I can't look at him, especially when I act this pathetically. I am sorry, Luke, I can't do it… please stop looking at me like that….

<0>

By the time the sun sets, things have gotten better. No one is happy that we must sleep in the forest, but at least everyone has dropped the idea of leaving Luke behind. I talked to everyone who suggested leaving Luke until they understood why we shouldn't leave him behind. But they still intend to punish Luke by not giving him anything to eat. Fortunately for him, the guy refusing to serve Luke was someone I had to talk to earlier today, and he was more than happy to give Luke his share when I asked him to.

We settle down and try to sleep after we eat, but it takes a while for people to fall asleep despite the walk. I find it a little easier than others after being forced to nap in my parent's office on days they worked late and couldn't find a sitter. However, I still stay awake longer than others. I keep an eye on Luke, smiling at his sleeping face, terrified someone might try something. I would later wish I had stayed awake all night after learning the truth about what happened that night.

<0>

"Why would Luke go on ahead?" I can't believe what I am hearing.

"He woke up early and said he wanted to get a head start so he does not slow us down," Jack tells me, but I still find it hard to believe. "I think everyone yelling at him yesterday made him realise how much of a burden he was."

"But why did he not tell me?"

"He probably didn't want to be a problem," Jack answers. "If we hurry, we will be able to catch up to him soon."

"Right," I nod. "Then we should get moving."

"Wait, we should eat first,"

"I'll eat later," I tell them as I move, but they keep following me.

Luke is too weak to be left alone. I need to catch up to him before something happens. What if those monsters that the priests warned lived in this forest get to him first?

<0>

"Hey, slow down. We can barely keep up with you," I can hear Jack calling out to me, but I do not care.

Luke is still out there, and we still have not found him even as the city wall appears. I don't stop. I don't even reply. He is one of the people that caused Luke to run off alone. He can find Luke and bring him back if he wants to slow down.

It doesn't take long before I step out of the forest, and I can see several armoured people standing guard by a large gate, and I feel relieved. If Luke made it this far, then he must be safe. We still haven't found Luke, so he must be here.

When we approach the gate, the armoured people are surprised to see us but happy to hear we are the heroes. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen Luke, so I asked them to look for him before boarding a carriage they had prepared for us.

There is not enough room for all of us, so half will have to wait, and it was decided I should go with the first group. I wished I had stayed behind. Especially when I later learned that Jack told the guards Luke was dead, and I hadn't come to terms with it. There was no need to look for him.

<0>

Several days have passed since we arrived in the city, and Luke still hasn't arrived. I wanted to go and search for him myself, but the people at the palace refused to let me leave. They keep telling us to train, ensuring I learn to use my magic and sword.

I picked up some valuable skills, such as dodge and parry, but I would much rather be out there looking for Luke. One day, I got my hopes up when I heard someone had tried to get into the palace claiming to be a hero like us. Unfortunately, they were just an ordinary person from this world trying to sneak in.

The next day when I finally reached level five, I was told I could take a break. Everyone was happy that I was the first in our class to reach level five, but I could not celebrate with Luke still missing. I also learned a new Holy Light spell to wipe out multiple low-level demons in seconds. I planned to use this day off to look for Luke, but unfortunately, the guards would not let me leave the city and said we must stick together for our safety.

Unfortunately, I could not convince the class to search the city for Luke and got dragged to the arena where a tournament was happening. I was uninterested in the event, so I started reading Luke's book. The last thing he gave me before all this crazy stuff happened. I still need to find him and return it. Luke was right, the book is terrible, but it was better than watching people kill each other.

"Did he really beat a land dragon?"

I wish Jack hadn't chosen to sit next to me, and I have made a point to ignore him, but I still couldn't help but look up when I heard him say that. I thought they were joking when they said a dragon was put in the arena, even when the fighting sounded intense, but there really is a dragon down there. It is dead, and the person who killed it is walking away, but it couldn't be who I was thinking of. It must be a coincidence that they have the same knife.

From then on, I observed the tournament and became increasingly convinced that the Wandering Stranger was Luke. They're the same size, use the same weapon, and the Wandering Stranger is as kind as Luke sparing his opponents, although the guards looked like they would have stepped in and stopped him if he tried to kill a few of them. Soon afterwards, I started cheering for him while everyone else booed and demanded his blood. Then during the final match, I know it is Luke in the arena.

"Please give up,"

That is his voice! After hearing the Wandering Stranger talk, I know he is Luke. One of the soldiers guarding us mentioned when we arrived that the arena uses magic to enhance sounds in the arena so even people at the back could hear. I smile now I know he is safe, and once he wins, we can… before I can even begin to cheer for him, his opponent turns the tables.

I get up, and if it were not for Jack grabbing hold of my hand, I would have stormed the arena to save him, but as it turns out, I was worried for nothing as Luke submitted and lost the match. The crowd boos, but I can't help but smile.

"I'm Fina," The girl Luke was fighting says, holding out an arm to her. "Captain of the first knight's squad."

"Luke," I knew it! He really is alive.

After the tournament, even the guard cannot stop me when I tell them he is a member of our class and a hero too. I do not think anyone in the class can ever complain about Luke returning after seeing him fight today. He has gotten so much stronger somehow that he is probably stronger than everyone else in our class combined.

"I want you to marry me."

Marry her… she wants Luke to marry her… I freeze when I hear those words. I watch Luke look as surprised as me, muttering, but the girl only gets closer to him. Luke starts to step back as the girl gets closer. I have to save him, but Jack still holds onto my hand when I try to leave.

"Let go," I tell him, trying to pull my hand.

"It is not him, Elise," Jack tells me, but I do not believe him. "The Luke we know is dead. He would have turned up by now if he were still alive."

"I said let go,"

I finally yank hard enough to free my hand, but I am not used to the increased strength my body has gained by levelling up as Jack hits his face on the back of the seat in front of him. I feel sorry about making the man in that seat jump, but I do not have any sympathy for Jack when I see his bloody nose. Before Jack can return to his feet, I run full speed towards Luke.

<O>

(This part is a bonus and will spoil part of the next chapter if you choose to read it)

Pacing back and forth in front of Jack and his friends, I don't care that they are shivering in fear, not after what they did to Luke. They tried to kill him. They almost did, and he was thrown from a cliff even after surviving. Luke was still forced to fight for his life because of these idiots. If not for these idiots, Luke would have stayed with us instead of going off with that woman. I feel no need to show them mercy, but this kingdom's people want them alive.

"You tried to kill him," I stop, and these tough guys don't even have the guts to look me in the eyes. "You know that is a crime even if you are heroes?"

I think I can hear one of them start to cry. I asked the king to let me oversee their punishment so it was just them and me.

"You do realise that actions have consciences. I will make sure you regret your actions and apologise to Luke when he returns to the city."

Rumours spread around the castle when I was done about there being ghosts haunting the halls with pain-filled moans, but I did not care. All that matters is that they are ready to apologise to Luke and help me convince him to return to us. I understandably got several new skills called punisher and inflect fear. Still, I wish I did not also get the skill and the title torturer.

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