The Ancients World

Chapter 299: The Festival IV

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I rustle under the sheets and run my fingers through my dark hair. Sally is resting beside me and using my free arm as a pillow. We really wore ourselves out this time. It was more passionate than the other times. I look up at the ceiling, and my mind and body are completely relaxed. The stress of planning and staying hidden is gone for the time being. Sally rustles more and moves closer. She presses her body against mine, and we share our warmth on this cold night. The fire went out a while ago, so this is the alternative. It calms me when she holds me like this. I don\'t know why.

The play the Festival is putting on tomorrow will be a first for me. While The Ancients World had in-game festivals in the past, I never went to one. I heard that plays are different at every Festival you go to. There\'s going to be a unique play at this Festival too. "Cera... I\'m cold..." Sally isn\'t affected by the cold, since her class is Winter\'s Wrath. She wants attention and more physical contact. I can do that. I reach my arm over and wrap her fully in my arms. She\'s not cold, but she snuggles into my body and wraps her legs around my waist.

I feel her plant a kiss on my chest and press her body against mine in a rhythmic way. "I thought you were too tired to keep going?" She hums into my chest and looks up at me with relaxed and tired eyes. She really does look tired, so she must want a snuggle buddy. "You know, we can actually sleep in tomorrow... In an actual bed too... When was the last time we did that?" I think the last time we got to sleep in was when we were visiting Amelia in Zenith. Sally hums in response, and I take that as we\'re going to sleep in for sure.

Sally lifts her face out of my chest and lets out a small sigh. "I\'d like that a lot, Cera... I\'m really tired from all the fun we had at the Festival and... Well... You know..." I do know, what we\'ve done in this bed has been more exhausting, in my opinion. "When do you think Hailey and her friend are arriving? I know it\'s only been a day since we got here, but shouldn\'t we be worried if they\'re taking too long?" I run my fingers through her hair and think about it. Hailey can take care of herself, and I know she\'ll be perfectly fine. She\'ll get here when she gets here.

I love how she\'s concerned about Hailey and Jasmine. It speaks to her character how much she\'s willing to care even though she hardly knows them. "I\'m sure they\'ll get here soon. It\'s not like we\'re really in a hurry... I like this downtime. We have to relax and have some actual fun for a change. Hailey and Jasmine can take longer. We won\'t have privacy like this for a while once they get here." Sally lays her ear against my chest, and I know she\'s listening to my heartbeat. I\'m getting pretty tired, so it\'s time to catch some z\'s.

While Cera and Sally sleep after today\'s events, Hailey and Jasmine are on a similar path. Jasmine has cried all her remaining energy out and is sleeping calmly. Hailey is still being kept up by her thoughts, mostly all the things Jasmine has said. Jasmine hasn\'t revealed everything about herself, and Hailey\'s learned some new information. It\'s hard to sleep when you find out something that affects someone you really care about. Jasmine is a special girl who\'s had a hard life and is trying to fix it. Hearing what Hailey heard can and will keep you up at night.

I try to force myself to sleep, but nothing is working. I just can\'t sleep. Jasmine has been through some serious shit, and I don\'t know how to help her. I don\'t think there is anything I can do to help her. I lean up, remove the sheets, walk over to the fireplace, stoke the fire, and put some more wood on. I sit down and on the cold floor and let the fire warm me. "I can\'t believe people can be so cruel..." The more I think about it, the angrier I get. They really have taken everything from her. I didn\'t even know they could do that with magic.

Jasmines has lost her ability to conceive a child. The James family used magic to make her permanently infertile. She\'ll never have a child of her own. When she does find that right person, she\'ll never be able to have a child with him. I lay on my side with the fire to my left, and an idea crosses my mind. I don\'t know if Cera can, but I wonder if he\'ll be able to heal or undo the damage done to Jasmine. If there is anyone that could, it\'s Cera. I don\'t know the full extent of his abilities, and I\'m not going to put the possibility of him not having a healing skill to rest.

Jasmine\'s revelations aren\'t the only thing keeping me up. I\'ve been thinking about everything that\'s happened since Cera started playing The Ancients World... Everything since we got stuck here... He knows far more than he\'s letting on. Normally I wouldn\'t question much about what my brother does, but I feel as though he\'s played some part in the way this has turned out. I don\'t know if he\'s done it intentionally, but I know my brother. He\'s hiding a lot, and the majority of the secrets are regarding what he knows about all that\'s happened.

If he knows anything about what\'s happened and hasn\'t told anyone... It indicates guilt. He\'s guilty about something, and it\'s probably something big. There is so much to support my theory too... He\'s the strongest player and has the best class. He did this on the first day. That\'s suspicious. He always seems to know what to do. Where to go and how to handle whatever challenges that come his way. It\'s like he has years of experience, and we\'ve only been playing this game for a few months. Only been trapped for a little bit of those few months.

While Hailey thinks about Jasmine and how to confront Cera on what he knows, the night slowly passes, and the next day is arriving with the sunrise. Cera and Sally have decided to sleep in and not focus on anything important. They\'re going to spend the day relaxing until the play at the Festival tonight. Sally and Cera are sleeping hard as the sunlight gently fills the room and warms it up. Causing the heat in the blankets to rise to an uncomfortable level. This forces both Cera and Sally to throw the sheets and blankets off in frustration.

Sally stirs beside me and angrily groans out at the uncomfortable heat in the blankets. I\'m uncomfortable too, and I proceed to remove them. Sally follows suit, and we\'re now both free. It\'s still early, and normally we\'d be up and already doing something towards a goal we have. Not today, though. It\'s break time, and I\'m not leaving this bed until I have to use the bathroom or Sally gets up herself. Speaking of Sally, I feel her scoot closer, and she lays her arm across my chest. She moves closer, and I feel her kiss my shoulder.

I melt back into the bed and fall into a peaceful lull. The time will go by fast and I don\'t want to miss out on everything there is to offer. Being with Sally during those moments is something that I can\'t imagine being without. "You need to use the bathroom? Cause I got to..." I have a sudden rush for the need to take a pee and I might as well be courteous and ask if she needs the bathroom first. She lifts her body up and walks towards the bathroom attached to our inn room. She stumbles and is groggy, but she makes it.

She doesn\'t bother to close the door behind her and I hear a stream of water hitting the toilet water. I\'m glad that she\'s comfortable enough to feel she doesn\'t need to close the door around me. "We getting up after all?" I hear her ask me a question from the bathroom, and I answer only if she wants to. "I\'m coming back to bed..." She tells me her decision as she walks out of the bathroom and back towards me. Looks like we\'re going to sleep in for a few more hours and not get up early. I\'m down with that.