Leo was more than a little surprised when he came home to find a bunch of cars parked outside. Glancing at Crystal briefly who was also looking curious, he cautiously approached. However that caution quickly turned to one of surprise when a van opened up and two people climbed out.
He asked incredulously. Standing on his front lawn was the man he knew as Horo dressed in a suit minus the jacket and the girl he had come to know as Sonata. What surprised him further was that on her back, a large pair of pure white wings lay nestled against her back.
’So I am not the only one huh?’
Hearing her username being said out loud, Aria turned her head to see two people, one wearing a massive pink hoodie while the other was dressed in running gear not too far away staring at them with stunned looks on their faces.
She narrowed her eyes for a moment but they widened when she recognized the eyes of the man in pink.
"Leo?! What are you doing here?"
She asked, not hesitating to approach them, in fact eager to reunite with a friend after the whole ordeal at the Samael Family Corporate building. Leo shook his head with a wry smile and replied.
"That’s my question. What are you guys doing at my house?"
Aria stopped in her tracks, confusion flickering across her face.
She looked past him toward the front door
"As in you live here?"
Leo tilted his head with some amusement in his tone.
"Yeah this is where my Sis and I were born and raised. Childhood home and all that jazz."
Aria’s mouth opened and shut as she failed to find the words she wanted to say, instead it was Adam who stepped up to speak.
"It’s nice to see you Leo in reality walking around just fine."
He had a soft and gentle smile on his face, pleased that Leo had recovered from the near death state that he had last seen him in when they met in person before.
"Rachel was the one who arranged our ride here...and judging by your face, you had no idea..."
Adam started to explain why they were here but the puzzled look in Leo’s eyes made him realize that the young man had zero clue why or how Rachel had made these arrangements. Letting out a sigh, he decided it would be best to change the topic
"So...Who’s this lovely lady?"
He shifted his gaze to the unfamiliar lady next to Leo who had a frosty unsmiling expression. Leo sensed Adam’s intent and quietly agreed with him. Deciding it would be best to follow his lead on that, he turned his head and spoke.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet my childhood friend Crystal. Crystal, these are friends I made recently, Adam and Sonata."
Aria frowned as Leo introduced her by her username.
"Hey Leo! Did you forget my real name already?"
She pouted, causing Leo to smile sheepishly as that was indeed the case.
Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, she took a step forward and held her hand out to Crystal.
"Nice to meet you Crystal. My name is Aria. I am called Sonata in the game we all play though."
Crystal’s eyes didn’t show even a ripple of emotion as she held out her own hand to accept the handshake.
"I know who you are. Sonata, 2nd on the Mage Rankings. Part of the Top 10 Level Leaderboard."
Her emotionless eyes shifted to appraise Adam as she continued
"By extension, I can only assume that you are the Rogue known as Ouroboros?"
Adam felt goosebumps on the back of his neck being stared at like that. He subtly glanced at Leo as if to say: ’What the hell is her deal’
Leo laughed slightly as he remarked with a mischievous grin
"Sorry everyone. Crys has a tendency of shutting down her face and hides her emotions really well when she is nervous. She may look but deep down she is probably either fangirling or really nervous~"
Seeing him act so nonchalantly, Adam glanced between him and Crystal with a dubious look on his face. That was until he saw Crystal try to discreetly pinch Leo without Aria or him noticing. However her tactic failed as the hoodie was far too thick and she ended up just tugging on his shirt, making her look shy.
Adam had a faint smirk on his face as he watched this cute display in relative silence while Aria asked the first question that came to her mind.
"So I assume that you play the game yourself. What’s your username? Maybe we can hang out in the game some time."
Aria, having grown up pretty isolated, had found the joys of friendship and now that she had a taste, was always eager to make more friends. Crystal did not get the chance to respond as Leo was the one to cut in.
"Yeah she does. Apparently she is pretty high ranked too. Her username is Empress~"
The teasing lilt in his voice caused Crystal’s head to snap towards Leo, her eyes widening as faint murderous intent wafted from her body. Adam, having recognized that name remarked
"Yeah I have heard of that name. I saw it on the Leaderboards when I glanced at it before. Number 1 on the Beauty chart or something?"
Aria’s ears perked up at those words. She hadn’t really been bothered with the Leaderboards list herself but the idea of there being a Beauty List filled her with an unfamiliar sense of competitiveness with the girl in front of her.
Crystal averted her gaze as that was something she found a bit embarrassing but was mortified when Adam recalled one more detail.
"Oh yeah! I also remember that there is an official guild on the rankings called the Empress Fanclub or something. Seems your childhood friend is really popular Leo."
Crystal paled as she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
She cried in her heart, afraid of what Leo might say.