I often find myself dreaming about fantasy worlds.
I get to imagine myself as anybody or anything, and I get to do whatever I want.
The world of Arknights, Terra, is the world I usually find myself in.
The characters and world are so intricately made, so beautiful, that I can't help but to imagine myself as a resident of Terra.
The lore of the world is extensive and fun to contemplate about. I have problems when it comes to sleeping, so imaging myself inside Terra until I fall asleep has slowly become my nightly routine.
...
And tonight is another one of those nights.
I'm lying in bed, listening to music through my decrepit headphones, and imagining myself in the world of Terra.
The image of a bar in Lungmen pops into my head, it's not too far away from the center of Lungmen, but still far enough away that it would be surprising to see somebody well-off walk in. That's why my next thought is to have Swire walk in drunk and immediately walk over to me.
The premise is set, I turn up my music and close my eyes, slowly transporting my mind into the scenario I just came up with.
...
Suddenly, I feel as if I had just teleported.
My posture changes, I'm sitting on a different material, even the air feels different.
I open my eyes immediately, and instead of the usual darkness of my room, I'm met with a poorly lit liquor shelf. I move around in my stool chair before getting a look at my surroundings. A burly man is working behind the counter, only about 5 people are present and a chill and cozy feeling permeates the room.
I pull out my wallet for confirmation, and I see nothing but LMD bills.
And where are LMD bills found? Lungmen.
...
I'm in Arknights, I'm in Terra. And I'm in my own dream scenario.
How? Why? Wait.
Doesn't that mean that-
*BOOM*
The door gets slammed open, in stumbles a red-cheeked Tiger.
"Bartender! Give me your best drink!" She says first thing with the largest grin I've ever seen. She stumbles a bit trying to walk before using a booth as support.
She takes a look around, stopping after she lands on me.
Taking comically large strides towards the counter, she finally anchors herself on my neighboring stool and takes a large turn towards me.
"Hey~ What's someone like you doing out so late in a place like this~" She says rubbing up to my shoulder.
...
What the fuck have I gotten myself caught up in.
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I stay stone-faced as the tiger, who is clearly Swire continues her drunken brigade towards me.
My mind isn't working at this point, but luckily the bartender gives Swire a drink, giving me a small break as she tries and fails to chug it.
I don't know what to do. I've never cared about romance, so how am I supposed to react to a drunk fictional character hitting on me?
... I sigh quietly
I take out my wallet and get a look at my ID.
Azrael Winters is the name listed, I have light gray hair and dark green eyes. I seem to be Aegir and I am 24 years old.
I seem to be who I had imagined myself as whenever I was dreaming about Terra.
Seeing that Swire is almost done with her drink, I quickly try to remember what my backstory is.
...
I'm able to remember my name, my apartment, the buildings of which I am a landlord of, my arts, my ability to play guitar, the fact that I smoke, and that I frequent the bar I find myself in right now.
Nothing concerning my backstory comes to mind.
Well... Seeing how I am now inside the body of the character I imagined myself as when I was dreaming of being in Terra, it wouldn't be a far assumption to assume that my backstory is made up of those dreams that I had.
...
Fuck, I'll try to piece together some of my backstory once I'm alone.
I should probably write down all the dreams I ha-
*POOF*
I'm interrupted from my thoughts with Swire slamming herself into me, even more drunk than when she originally barged in.
"So~ As I was saying" She grins and lays down in my lap. "What is a handsome guy like you doing in a place like this? I'll take you to a higher echelon place if you so desire me too~" She says, getting a dirty look from the bartender.
...
Screw it.
Knowing I can get away with it, I headpat her and start talking. "Lady, please don't insult the bar I frequent the most. And why are you talking as if you frequent this place? Whats some like you doing here, you look like you could buy this entire bar if you wanted." I rant to her.
"Mmmm~" Is all I get in response.
She seems to have melted into my hand from the headpat, the wonders of being drunk.
I stop headpatting her, "Lady" I stay sternly, are you even listening?
...
No response.
"Lady, if I can listen to music and still keep a conversation with you, you can at least try to listen to me, right?" I say trying to get her attention again.
...
It's no use, she's completely passed out. On my lap no less.
I give a what the fuck do I do look to the bartender and he simply passes me her bill with a small smile.
What a class act.
...
As expected when she asked for the "Best drink" he gave her the most expensive one.
And people say chivalry is dead.
300 LMD for a single glass, they must have gotten this bottle from the pits of Iber-hell, they must have gotten this bottle from the pits of hell.
Did my mind just naturally substitute hell with Iberia? That's probably important.
I debate taking money from Swire's wallet to pay for it, but I eventually decide to pay with my own money, being good doesn't hurt.
...
Well it hurts your wallet but at least you're doing something good.
I pass the money for both of our drinks over to the bartender before staring at Swire's asleep and drunken face trying to decide what to do.
I narrow it down to two options, either I anonymously call Ch'en or Hoshiguma from Swire's phone and have them pick her up. Or if I'm feeling suicidal, I could carry Swire all the way towards the LGD building and drop her off myself.
I'll go with my first choice.
I take a picture of Swire's drunk face in my lap, before getting her phone and opening it.
I'm met with a 6-digit lock.
...
Why am I so stupid.
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Never in my life would I have thought that I would be carrying a drunk Beatrix Schwire to the Lungmen Guard Department while listening to Frank Ocean through my half-broken headphones all while admiring the Lungmen skyline.
Life's confusing.
I take a deep sigh. When I breathe out I see my breath is frosted. I guess having ice arts will make you naturally more resistant to the cold, as I felt as if a nice autumn night breeze was blowing around me, and my jacket wasn't even zipped up.
Turning the corner I see a single snowflake fall in front of me, and a large, well-lit building with the famed logo of the LGD stamped right over the doors.
'I have reached my destination' I think while stopping to appreciate the beauty of light snow against the humongous Lungmen skylines.
I take a small look at Swire's sleeping face before continuing on my walk.
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Before coming in sight of the windows, I firstly thank the world for not having anybody question why I'm carrying a drunk girl late at night, and I secondly hope that nobody is present inside the building. Seeing your Superintendent passed out in the hands of a stranger would set off many alarms.
I get one more unnecessary look at the skyline before walking into the building.
...
The interior is about what you would expect, it feels like a regular office reception area, but it carries enough swagger and personality to disguise itself as something else.
Nobody is inside the building and I quietly smile to myself for it. I walk over to the nearest chair and gently put Swire down.
I begin to walk back outside, but I get interrupted by the sound of a door getting opened.
I speed myself up and reach the doors just in time to hear a tired and confused voice solemnly say, "Az?"
I don't respond as I fully cross over the doors into the Lungmen night.
...
'That voice was Chen' Is all I can think while getting as far away from the building as possible.
I was planning on watching through the windows outside to see when Swire would be discovered and be out of harm's way, making sure nobody malicious walks in the building to be met with the sight of a passed out, dead drunk girl, but I guess I no longer have to do that.
The confusing part is that I clearly heard Chen say "Az". I pretended to not hear her as I really don't feel like explaining why I'm carrying a passed-out drunk girl late at night, but I know that she called me Az.
I think back to all of the dreams I had that associated me with Chen, and one comes to mind.
The Victorian Royal Guard Academy. The school that Chen and Bagpipe went to, I had a dream where I was also attending that school, and where I was close friends with both Chen and Bagpipe.
It is the only dream I've had where Chen calls me Az.
...
Well, that's a little bit of my backstory revealed. I went to the Victorian Royal guard Academy, and I was close friends with both Chen and Bagpipe. Remembering more of the dream, it appears that I was also a tutor to them, helping them with regular school work as well as combat.
My mind catches something.
If I had tutored Chen and Bagpipe on combat, then I should be fairly powerful. I know that I have ice-related arts, and I haven't tested out their full capabilities yet, I'll do that when I get back to the apartment.
Also, if I had already been solid combat-wise before going to the guard academy, that means that I probably had gotten time and or training with my combat and arts ability before I had gone into school.
So I know that I had gone to the Victorian Royal Guard Academy and that I had gotten time to train and become proficient with my combat abilities before joining the school.
...
I sigh and take a deep look at the frost that comes from my breath.
'I'm too tired for this' I think while turning up my music, 'I'll figure the rest of this out after I reach my apartment.'
As I continue on my walk towards my apartment, my eyes find themselves stuck between the skyline and the snowflakes that are lightly falling down in front of me.
Just as I get hit with how unreal my situation is, I see a shooting star.
I don't make a wish, I just appreciate the look of it as it flies across the night sky.
...
Terra really is beautiful.
(So this is the story that will be essentially replacing Arknights: Connections. Being fully honest, I have no motivation for that story anymore. I was debating quitting writing until one night it was 3 am and I couldn't sleep, so I downloaded google docs on my phone and began writing. Out came this story. After a couple weeks of tinkering and planning, I think I can say that I truly have the motivation to continue this story. I'm very satisfied with this first chapter and I really want to make something good here. If you have any criticism or praise to give, please give it here. Anyways, Thanks for Reading :)
Uploaded on January 30th, 2022. 2053 words.