Rising Shards

For all our wandering, we hadn't found another imp running this dimension. If there was another that we beat, we could presumably go home. Corinani assured us we were safe with her along, but she kept yelping and hiding at the first sign of trouble. After enough time walking through the hallways, Oka and I had to find some way to entertain ourselves.

"Heh, check this out," I said, pointing to a poster of two kids playing video games, and two more kids with books behind them pointing and laughing, their word bubbles mocking the gamers. "This is like...super weird, right? Like I love reading, but having two kids call them idiot-losers for not reading is a bit much, isn't it? Weird void stuff, heh."

"How is that any different from posters at Rising Shards?" Anastasia said.

"I...don't know," I said. "Just trying to make conversation, I guess."

"You don't need to talk, just look for a way out," Anastasia said.

I took that as a challenge to talk even more. We were still stuck in the void and couldn't call for help, so annoying Anastasia felt like a mandatory step to distract myself from how scary this was. Corinani wouldn't let her wander off, and Anastasia was actually obeying the request.

"Isn't it weird that when you had that dating show one, Thadley was there?" I asked. "This is the kind of place you'd think Thadley would be at, not a dating show."

"It is strange," Lillia said.

I had heard about the dating show from Lillia after she went through it. I didn't get a lot of details, but I did hear about Thadley.

"I never want to hear that name again," Anastasia scoffed. "If I have to think about him one more—"

Almost too perfectly, the nearest locker to me suddenly opened, and of course, Thadley popped out. Or "a" Thadley, maybe?

"Did someone say Thadl—" He started before Anastasia kicked him back into the locker, slamming the door shut on him.

"Just keep moving," Anastasia said.

"We should tell if that's a void creation or not, yeah?" Oka said.

"I don't care," Anastasia said.

Corinani yelped as her wristband actually worked, sending a wave of energy out. "All good, just a copy. You probably summoned him yourself when you were daydreaming about him!"

"I would never," Anastasia said.

"The real deal probably wouldn't show his face round these parts, or real deals if you buy that rumor that there are a bunch of identical Thadleys out there," Corinani said.

"Is that a thing?" Oka asked.

"Apparently," Sai said.

"That's a thing if you believe conspiracy theories, which I don't generally speaking, but I found the Thadley Island one interesting," Tay said. "Apparently that clone arc on Teensly Street was a sly reference to those rumors."

"Is Thadley...popular enough to be referenced on a show like that?" Oka asked.

"Who can say?" Tay said.

Iris' stomach grumbled. "I'm so hungry...this is so boring..."

Anastasia grumbled as most of us wouldn't shut up. We hadn't faced any threat in a few minutes and it got us all chatty and silly, and she clearly couldn't stand that.

"You could lighten up a bit, maybe," I suggested.

"Tch," Ana scoffed. "Why would I? Most of you are buffoons that are incapable of shutting up. The only one I have any respect for here outside of Sai is Lillia, because she at least can stop talking sometimes."

"I appreciate the respect, but I also agree with Zeta that you could stand to relax a touch while we're stuck here," Lillia said.

Ana whipped her head to Sai, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Sai shrugged. "If Lillia says so, it's probably worth listening to."

"I'd rather be in Teensly Street than this," Anastasia said.

"I wouldn't," I said.

I didn't like how Ana grinned at my reaction. I hated Teensly Street; even before dating Oka I thought it was a dumb show. Then Oka tried watching it and got to an arc that was basically two characters that were like us except they immediately cheated on each other when they just started dating and died horribly shortly after, which had her in an anxious state for a bit.

"That idiotic show upsets you?" Anastasia asked.

"Yeah, it honestly freaks me and Oka out," I said.

"Pfft, what? It's so absurd though." Anastasia said.

"We maybe get too worked up when we see drama like that," I said.

"I'll have to remember that," Anastasia said, laughing heartily at probably all of the ways she could torment me with this info. "Which arcs are your least favorite? Asking for no reason, just—eep!?"

Anastasia promptly tripped and fell forward. I didn't realize for a few seconds that vines were wrapped around her ankles, already dissipating as Oka waved her fingers slightly.

"Oops," Oka said. "Totally didn't mean to do that. And no, you don't need to remember that Zeta and I hate Teensly Street."

Anastasia got up, dusting herself off like that didn't just happen. I was glad she didn't try to fight Oka, but that was more for her sake than Oka's, I was fairly certain Oka could win if they really fought.

As I tried to imagine how that would go, the others stopped to investigate the walls. I blinked, wondering if I was just seeing things as the space between me and the others seemed to warp just enough, like someone blew a big bubble, the shifting colors only slightly visible. I sensed someone beside us, but I could only turn slowly, like I was in a dream.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!