Irium

"What are we to do here?" I ask.

"Well actually, only you have to do anything. The other two don"t really have anything to do here." He says.

Yeah, sounds legit. I"m the protagonist after all.

"And let me tell you in advance this is going to take time and effort and no matter what you say, I"m not going to help you." He says with an annoyed look.

"Well, I don"t have any-"

"SO," Danny ask with an amused face, "are you telling us that, in the time Irium will be giving him "time and effort", we will have nothing to do and can relax?"

…

"Yes, actually, I was wondering if I could show you around the palace." Trevor asks with a friendly smile.

"I"m all in, let"s go."

Yeah, sounds legit. I"m the protagonist after all.

"Irium, you better not be thinking this is because you are the protagonist or anything." Danny says with a smile.

"Oh! Then why is this happening to me?" I ask with a better (or worse) smile.

"It"s because you have personality flaws that can only be corrected by suffering like this. It"s a treatment every, or most, decently written character gets." Danny says with an even better (or even worse) smile.

"…"

Well, uh, that"s a … good point.

"Alright then, shall we go?" Trevor asks them, smiling very cheerfully.

"Wait! You are just gonna leave me without telling me why I am here?" I ask, spreading my arms, asking for justice.

"Well, yes."

"This is unjust." I yell.

"Doesn"t matter!" He casually says and humbly motions the other two to leave the place.

He sure is pretty nice to those two, isn"t he – the complete opposite of how it was with the two guards earlier.

"Alright, Irium, have fun!" Danny says and motions Roswaisa to leave with him.

"Danny!"

"What?"

"You better not try anything with Roswaisa while I am not there. Remember she is the PWM and I am the protag-"

s.h.i.t! I have to prove that first or he"ll just make fun of me again.

"Well, see ya, buddy." He waves at me with a grin as he starts walking out of the room. Before going out though, he stops and turns to me as he asks, "What"s PWM by the way?"

Do I have to spell everything out for you?

"Prime Waifu Material" I answer despite my annoyance.

"Oh G.o.d!" He sighs exasperatedly, "This guy is beyond help."

And he leaves. Roswaisa too follows suit. I just realized that she hasn"t said anything in a long while now. I wonder how deep my words cut her from the last time.

"Irium," well, of course, as soon as I monologue that, she says something, "I have something to talk to you about. So do your best out there and come back safe, alright?"

"…"

"Something wrong?" She just tilts her head to the side as she asks.

I say with a slight smile, "No, everything is fine."

It"s just that you are too nice and too cute and you say things that far too sweet to hear. You really are an Angel, aren"t you? It"s strange though. The Roswaisa I meant in 2020 was not such a sweet lady. She was still a good person, obviously, but she didn"t outright express it this much.

"Alright Roswaisa, I"ll do that. Now, if you would leave, I can get started with whatever it is that I have to do already." I say, as politely as I possibly can.

"Sure." She says with a smile, turns around and starts walking.

"And be careful, Roswaisa, don"t let l.u.s.tful men lay a hand on you." I warn her.

"Their intentions aren"t like that." She just plainly says and smiles while turning back.

Well, you being an Angel being able to feel these kinds of things to an extent kinda takes out the fun out of the whole deal, but whatever! I was just making a joke anyway, I already know Danny is not like that and Trevor is probably not either.

But anyway, with that, the three of them leave me in this room alone. To top it all off, Trevor closes the door. Come on! Did he have to do that? I mean, what if I want to give up and run away, how will I do that now?

Do I really have to go through this … character development phase, I guess?

"You look troubled." A voice comes from behind, causing me to immediately turn back and find the owner of it. And I do find the owner of it. That owner is - a girl.

"Well, I AM troubled. But first, who are you, miss?"

She looks younger than me, about 15 years old. She has blue eyes, brown hair, oval face, and is 5"3 tall and has a slim physique. The most striking thing about her, however, are the wings on her back. She looks pretty cute but I don"t think I feel any l.u.s.t towards her, not even the bit a person is bound to feel towards a stranger of opposite s.e.x ... unless she is not a stranger.

"Hmm … in the language that you like to use often, you can call me "Onee-san"." She says, "But for better understanding, my name is Priscina, and I was a demon once."

…

There are SO MANY things I want to say right now but,

"What do you mean "was a demon"?" –that is the thing I choose to ask.

"Well, I died a while ago." She answers.

"How are you still here then?"

"That"s the point. I"m only here." She says and lowers her hip as if to sit down on the ground. However, by the time she sits, the ground deforms and forms into a chair for her. "I am the persona that was the Demoness Priscina, built with the help of both – magic and science."

Oh, is that so?

"I guess I am somewhat like an Artificial Intelligence."

Hah! Well, that"s kinda twisted ... and kinda cool too.

*****