Someone woke me up.
I didn't realize I was sleeping and quickly hoisted my head off my arms and the table. I blinked a couple times and glanced at the spot where I rested my head. There were small pinpricks of spit on the table surface as well as drool coming down my lips. I hurriedly wiped it away with the sleeve of my maroon sweater.
I looked back at the person who woke me, only to cross eyes with Manami who gave me a bizarre look. She then broke down into laughter and used a mop she was holding to keep herself up.
"After spending the entire time acting dark and mysterious in the corner and solemnly looking out the window, have you started drooling now? Wow, you just lost all the cool points you gathered for the past four hours." She slowly clapped for me but her chest trembled holding back another fit of laughter.
I sighed, slipping myself off the barstool. I looked down at her, "Alright, shortstack."
"Shortstack?!" She started laughing again, "Are you meant to be some bully in a teenage drama?"
My face started getting hot with embarrassment. Why was I always getting picked on by everyone I met?
Once she stopped laughing, I looked around the restaurant. The place looked like it belonged in a post-apocalyptic movie. Decorations were ripped off, stands flat on the floor and ripped, plastic utensils scattered on the floor with a few bits of food and glasses. Half finished food on plates and drinks on the table.
Combined with the dimmed lights and the darkness from the night, the place looked downright nasty. I almost couldn't believe that the party had an 'island resort' theme when it started with the murder scene I was gazing at.
I turned my head sideways at Manami, "Party's over?"
She rolled her eyes, "Since half an hour ago, but I let you sleep for a bit since it looked like you needed it. But when I finished washing the dishes, I realized I didn't have the patience for the rest." She stamped her mop on the floor, she glanced worriedly at the messy scene in front of her.
"Cleaning dishes…? Wait, what happened to the employees?" I vaguely remember the party, but I actually never noticed a single employee there.
"I used to work here before I became a sleeper." She sighed and placed her chin on the mop's blunt end. "There aren't many places that allow newly awakened people to have a private venue, but this place told me I could do it if I cleaned up after we were done. They trusted me because of my aspect."
She lazily rose on hand and all the water in the drink glasses scattered around gathered in the air. She moved her fingers and the water droplets merged into one basketball size water sphere. She flicked her wrist and the water sphere fell to the ground and soaked up the food and dirt on the restaurant floor.
She kept on waving her hand side to side, the water sphere gleefully obeying her commands as it wiped up the floor. When she turned to look at me, she was met with an unhinged expression on my face.
Manami flinched as I thought the spell was unfair the way it handed out aspect abilities. Manami received an all-purpose and powerful water controlling aspect while I became a human bomb waiting to blow up.
"What did you do in a past life to get such luck with your aspect?"
"I don't know, but it better not have been cleaning dishes in the back of a restaurant I used to work at." She glared at the kitchen which was visible from the dining area through an open doorway.
I let out a deep groan while Manami raised an eyebrow. She shook her head, "Anyway, since I let you snooze for the party, you better move your ass and help me out here. Gather up the plates into one stack one hand and stacked cups in another hand. Move, move, move."
And so I did, following Manami's every instruction and spiel as she chided me about the way I cleaned. The girl had quite a serious stance about the art of deep cleaning a place, but it was also quite fun hearing stories from when she worked at our current venue. There were equal parts arguments and laughs, but never any boredom.
I understood quickly why this girl's mood was so infectious, you couldn't help but move along with her flow. The title, "Goddess of Parties," wasn't an exaggeration after all.
Soon enough, we were done and I sunk into a seat at a four-person table. While I was awakened, cleaning still took a lot out of me.
I looked from the corner of my eye to watch Manami bring over two plates filled with assorted seafood. "We had food leftover?"
"Yeah." She slid a plate on the table towards me. I put my finger on the plate edge to stop it and studied the contents on my own for a while.
I opened my mouth but Manami cut me off, "Eat." She said in the middle of chewing.
"...I'm not hungry, I promise you."
"Alright, then give me the plate. I'll finish it."
…
I clenched my jaw, "Let's get this over with. What do you want to tell me?"
"Already? Wow, you didn't really let me create an atmosphere or anything." She finished the food on her plate and pushed it to the side.
"What's going on?"
I felt crippled under her honest gaze. I could tell she knew something was off, but didn't try to push it until now. I took a small breath, "...Nothing much. I'm just thinking about what happened in the dream realm."
"Something happened?"
I shrugged, "Just the usual. Fighting nightmare creatures, surviving the elements, eating raw food." I laid back on my seat and fixed Manami with an easy-going smile. "I'm just shocked, you know?
Manami nodded. "They'll be alright."
"Huh?" I was confused, who was 'they?'
"Lorelei, Ford, Eternity…even a little bit of Itri too. " She smiled. "Three of them are very strong, and Eternity is very resourceful and we both know that girl has more grit than all of us combined. They'll be fine."
…
So this was ignorance.
"I've lost fights to all of them, if I survived the dream realm- so can they. They're probably chilling at some beach or something, having an actual island resort party unlike the dollar store version we had today."
How could she be so confidently wrong? They weren't fine. Ford was pummeled to bits, Lorelei was covered in cuts, and last I saw of Eternity–she was knocked out by Blair.
Itri was swallowed by Dusk, the wolf-wyvern echo that Lorelei owned.
"So…don't worry! They're strong!" She smiled–
"Shut up."