Element Oasis: Project Zero

Chapter 10

Truth

Zero woke up early on his first night in the castle. Every room was like the rooms at the inns. Nothing in these rooms made Zero feel at home. It felt lifeless and cold despite how warm he felt in the room. His bed was soft and welcoming, but he still felt like he didn't belong.

At that moment, he knew he needed to make his mark.

He showered, equipped his armor, and sent Ria a message using his watch.

Zero: "hey, wanna go on some quests? We should earn as much money as we can."

Ria: "you're up?"

Zero: "Of course, I'm up."

Ria: "I'm not surprised at all. Yeah, we can go on some quests. The city is huge so there must be plenty of quests out here for us to choose from. Maybe we'll get some rare weapons."

Zero: "I say we check out some of the quests that don't require fighting first."

Ria: "I'm fine with that. I want to talk to you about something."

Zero: "Sounds good. let's meet up somewhere. I don't want to speak about it in text."

Ria: "perfect. There's a park in front of the boss's mansion. Let's meet up there in 10 minutes."

Zero: "don't keep me waiting lol."

Ria looked at her watch and smiled as she read his message. Though Zero was incredibly mysterious, she found a great deal of happiness whenever she thought about him. Like everything would be ok in his hands though she didn't know why. She was on a higher level than him but still felt a bit safe whenever she was around him despite the feeling of uncertainty.

She looked at the mansion through the small window of her temporary room. Though she could have gotten her own room from the money she received after the dungeon was beaten, the boss was kind enough to offer her a place to sleep. Why spend money when you can get something free? She, unlike Zero, had slept in the servant home across from the mansion.

Time passed rather slowly once they began heading to the park. In what felt like no time at all they were both at the park earlier than agreed but they were happy they had rushed.

"Hey," he said with a smile on his face.

"Hey, are you ready to talk?" she asked.

Zero nodded his head but soon his eyes widened. "Wait before you say anything I have something I want to tell you."

"What is it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been keeping something from you. I wanted to wait a little longer before I told you because I didn't know if I could trust you or not but after how much you contributed towards the dungeon, I decided that I can trust you."

"I'm listening," she said with a skeptical look on her face. She didn't mind that he had been keeping something from her. They hadn't known each other that long so it's natural that there were things they didn't know about each other. Still, she felt good knowing that she was someone who could be trusted.

Zero took a deep breath and relaxed his nerves.

He looked into her hazel orbs that seemed to drag him into the depths of her soul. Her eyes, filled with curiosity and beauty, had caused his heart to skip a beat.

He took another deep breath to refocus.

"I don't know who I am." His words came out rushed and he cringed as the words left his lips.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I got amnesia or something. Days before you met me, I had woken up in a river. I can't remember what I was doing before that or even how I got into the river. The only thing I can remember is waking up and feeling cold."

Valeria narrowed her eyes at him. "You remembered your name, right?"

He shook his head from side to side with a saddened look on his face. "No. I got the name Zero because I literally remembered nothing. Kind of like a play on words."

Ria sat down on one of the park benches with a shocked look on her face, but it quickly turned to worry. She turned to him so quickly that she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Are you ok? It must be tough not knowing who you are or where you came from. What if you had a family? What if your family is looking for you?"

Zero looked down at the ground. "I've only thought about it a little but you're right. I could have a family out there looking for me, friends who could be worried sick about me, and maybe even a nice plot of land that is only for me. Right now, I have no way of knowing." His voice sounded somber, and his eyes were filled with a seriousness that Ria had never seen.

She continued to stare up at him.

"Do you want to know?"

Out of all the reactions Ria was expecting him to have, she didn't expect him to smile.

"Truthfully, no." His answer shocked her so much that her jaws nearly hit the floor. "I have something else on my plate that I find more interesting and less boring."

"Taking down the boss?"

He smiled again while looking at her. A small smile that was almost a smirk that lit a fire inside of her. "Precisely," he answered. "Regardless, what if the person I was before is nothing like the person I am now? What if he was some farmer who tripped and bumped his head near a lake which caused him to lose his memory? If I gain my memory back, what if I lose who I am now? What if I lose Zero?"

Valeria looked down at the ground, seemingly uncomfortable by the words that left Zero's mouth.

He noticed.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"There's a lot of ifs in those questions Zero. What if the person you were before was trying to say a life by running to Hollowfield? What if your family relied on you for money and now that you're gone there's no way for them to feed themselves? There are too many things that you don't know."

Zero clenched his jaws. "I understand that, but I have a mission."

"Is your mission more important than family and friends?"

He narrowed his eyes.

He could tell that her tone was getting increasingly more aggressive the more they seemed to be on uneven terms. Not wanting to provoke her further, he wanted to take a step back, but at the same time, he knew what he wanted. Finding out how he lost his memory didn't interest him as much as saving the homeless and he wasn't going to stop just because Valeria wanted him to.

"Fine, you got me," he said while putting his hands up in a surrendering motion. "If you're down to come with me, I know a way that we can figure out both."

Valeria raised an eyebrow.

"As we are doing quests to stop the boss, we can check every town and farm to see if someone knows me. We won't ask anyone directly because we're nearly famous now. Anyone could just recognize us from the videos so if someone calls me by a name other than Zero, that's who we'll question further."

Valeria nodded her head.

"Good. Now let's get going. We gotta stop her quickly."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"You'll see."