Element Oasis: Project Zero

Chapter 5

Trip

As Zero left the Inn early in the morning, he was stopped by Arza who had an angry look on her face. She was becoming more and more motherly to him and he was beginning to hate it a lot more than he should. He could tell that she was beginning to care about him to the point where she would have either her or her sister, tag along with him to make sure he was safe.

Fortunately for him, he was traveling too far for Arza to feel comfortable allowing her little sister to tag along with him. She also seemed to be doing something on her own so she decided she wouldn't go either. Jage never wanted to go on any quests with Zero so no one bothered to ask him to go on one that was so far.

"What you're doing is dangerous," Arza said softly as she sipped her cup of coffee in the dining part of the Inn. Zero noticed how she was always the first to be at the bar and the last one to leave it. He wanted to question what was going on, but he had a lot on his plate and didn't think she would answer his question anyway. She'd just tell him not to worry about it even though she secretly wanted to tell him everything. She wanted him to know why she couldn't leave the shadow region or the town, but she didn't want to put Zero through it. Not after he told her that he had no memories of who he was.

"I know," Zero said while looking into her eyes. "Worried?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Does it matter? You're going to go regardless of how dangerous it is but you have no idea how deep this truly goes."

Zero narrowed his eyes.

"Trust me Arza," he said while stretching. "I'll be ok no matter what happens. I promise."

"Well, I don't trust you!" Arza yelled which caused Zero to jump a bit. As he looked at her with a shocked expression on his face, he noticed a single tear climbing down Arza's cheek. "I had someone tell me that and I never saw him again! Why do you want to get yourself killed so badly? You have no idea who you are but you're so willing to get yourself killed for some homeless people and I just want to know why. Why go through all of this for people you don't know?" She couldn't control the tears that were starting to escape her eyes but she didn't care anymore. She wanted him to see just how much his decision to travel to another region was hurting her.

Zero walked past her without sparing her a glance until he opened the door and turned to look at her. "You have a deep-rooted pain that I'll be happy to help you with when I get back. Take care of yourself while I'm gone, Arza."

With that, Zero left the Inn and headed towards the coffee shop at the edge of town. The sun was beginning to rise and there was still enough cool night air left to cause him to shiver a bit. He took a deep breath of fresh air and admired how clean it felt. Again, he noticed all the homeless people sitting around outside with no hope left in their eyes. It angered him but for some reason, his anger felt different. He was no longer angry at the situation they were put in, he was angry that they weren't trying their hardest to get out of the situation. All they needed was a little something to help them get started and they'd be set for a better path. He'd tested it out with Till already. Just a single weapon allowed Till to get a haircut, new clothes, and more money so that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

It restarted his life.

When the teen arrived at the coffee shop, he noticed that someone was standing in front of it. She had on regular striker gear which consisted of a metal chest plate, a long sleeve shirt, a pair of metal boots, and tights that had metal plates on the thighs and shins to allow for better movement. Zero took his eyes off her clothes and noted how beautiful she was. He nearly thought he was dreaming until he felt himself stumble a bit.

She had a bronze skin tone, dark-brown long curly hair, and hazel eyes. In Zero's eyes, she had the perfect figure. Perfect for fighting and using quickness to both attack and defend. In Zero's opinion, she looked way too beautiful to fall prey to someone like Six.