In China, a young teenager was currently at school, laughing with a few of his friends. But his mind was somewhere else.
He was thinking about New Eden, and all the new friends he had made there. He couldn't help but feel excited about his return to them, and the adventures they would have together.
His parents had cut him some slack ever since he brought some money home from New Eden, and his gaming schedule had been unrestrained ever since, as long as his school scores didn't drop.
But Ri-Chu was a very smart kid, and he barely had to study to keep up his scores. This allowed him much more time to enjoy New Eden with his new best friend Athena.
Thinking about her, his face flushed uncontrollably. All his nearby friends saw the change and immediately started teasing him.
"Who were you thinking of, this time, Xiao Ri-chu? Was it perhaps the stunning beauty, Jia Yang? Or maybe that foreign transfer student, Astrid Johansson, from Sweden?" one friend asked, making an obnoxious face.
"It had to be Astrid, the transfer student. Her forms are much more prominent, and her beautiful blonde hair is stunning!" another added.
"Stop it, you idiots!" Ri-Chu defended himself.
But some girls in the class had already heard the banter. Some of them frowned at the boys, calling them perverts from afar.
But one girl reacted differently. Astrid Johansson.
Her Chinese might not be the best, with her heavy Swedish accent, but her understanding of the language was top-notch. So, hearing her name, instantly piqued her attention.
She got up and walked over to the boys. In the most broken Chinese the world had ever heard, she knelt next to Ri-Chu and asked, "Wouldn't you love to learn to know me more?"
Ri-Chu was quite an attractive young Chinese male. He was taller than most of his peers, and his traits were more defined than most.
His mother ranted often that her great-great-grandmother had been impregnated by a white devil, and that luckily, the sanctity of their bloodline erased the traits from the child.
But she also thanked the blood of that white devil for remaining in the family, allowing them to have stronger physics and more defined traits than most Chinese, making them quite attractive.
So it wasn't much of a surprise to him that a girl would ask him out. But it still always made him nervous.
Ri-Chu was a very shy boy, and had never talked to girls much. And now, this stunning blonde girl, with eyes of deep blue, with curves in all the right places, so brazenly asked him such a question.
He immediately flustered, stuttering out his response.
"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry. I'm already interested in someone else!"
He bowed his head as he said that, almost smacking his forehead on his desk. But Astrid wasn't insulted.
She smiled, and turned away, swaying her hips as she left, trying to leave an impression on his mind.
Ri-Chu's friends were glued on the swaying buttocks of the girl, almost like cats following a laser pointer. He had to smack one of them behind his head to make them snap out of it.
But another problem arose. He had responded without thinking.
And now, all his friends wanted to know who the 'Someone else' was. They pestered him until the classes restarted and kept giving him the most stupidly suggestive looks even during class.
'Kill me now, oh Budha!' Ri-Chu begged in his mind.
Even he didn't know why he answered that.
'Who else do I have? I'm not particularly attracted to anyone…'
But as he thought that, his mind flashed with the image of a tall, slim, Elven archer. He blushed red again, mentally whooshing that image away.
His friends chuckled, seeing his beet-red face, and they were almost all sent out of class for being disruptive. But that didn't save them from having to clean the classroom once classes were done.
'I can't wait to be back inside New Eden. Is it because I want to see her?' he wondered, as he swept the floors of the classroom, once school had ended.
***
Back in Canada, in the private hospital Alexander was in, seated at Kary's side, he was thinking differently.
He had received the call from David, and was in a foul mood since. He had thought he could get a few days of rest, and be able to plan out their next moves in New Eden.
But now, this maniac wanted him to go along with him on a trip to go-knows-where. He only hoped Kary wouldn't be too mad about being left alone at his place for a while.
As he was lost in thought, a grunt snapped him back to reality.
"Hrm. God. I'm still here."
Kary had opened her eyes, and the white ceiling reminded her of her whereabouts. She couldn't wait to be out of this place.
Turning her head to the side, she found Alex, looking at her with worried eyes.
He walked up to her, taking her hand.
"Are you alright? Do the burns hurt?"
She smiled at him lovingly.
"I'm fine. I'm only groggy because I couldn't sleep well, so they dosed me. But the burns barely hurt anymore. What about you?"
"Fit as a fiddle," Alexander lied.
Kary had a feeling he was being untruthful, but let it slide anyway. She had more pressing questions.
"How come this happened to us out here? I looked in the mirror. These markings are identical to the ones on our bodies in New Eden."
Alexander had told her all he knew already, since David was withholding information, too. But he could surmise from these events.
"I think our bodies are being affected much more by New Eden than I originally thought. David is holding out on the total picture, but this is beyond a coincidence."
"You don't say," Kary responded.
But she laughed it off.
"I guess we'll know when we know. No use in fretting over it too much for now."
Alexander nodded his head. He would still worry, but at least, he didn't want her to worry too much.
Squeezing her hand tightly, Alex leaned in for a kiss. His back was screaming murder at him, from the burnt skin stretching, but he put up a tough front, for Kary.
But as he embraced her, some footsteps echoed into the room. Turning his head over to the door, the familiar assistant to Jack Boudreau stepped into the room.
"Mr. Leduc. If you don't mind following me, Mr. Boudreau wishes to speak with you."
Alex didn't want to go, but a tug on his hand made him look at Kary. She nodded yes, before letting go of his hand.
He sighed deeply, before looking back at the assistant.
"Lead the way."
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