MEMORIES OF AN OVERLORD
by Victar (vctr113062 [at] aol [dot] com)
Victar's Archive: https://www.vicfanfic.com
"I know why I'm here, what I'm supposed to talk about. I just don't see how it will do any good. It won't bring either of them back, that's for sure."
Chapter One
Memories of a Savior: Dream of a Savior
Several minutes before he was summoned to be Kreisia's most unlikely Savior, seventeen-year-old Yusis played a video game on his smartphone while lounging in his room.
The battery is almost completely out of power, he belatedly realized. I guess I was way more into the game than I thought. It has a better story than I expected from a smartphone RPG.
Yusis saved his progress in the role-playing game, moved to his room's desk, and connected his smartphone to a charging cable. Then he peered at a high school assignment resting upon the desk.
Dad insisted that I do my math homework today. Even though winter break just started.
Yusis sat in the chair before his desk and picked up the stapled papers filled with equations, graphs, and word problems. His posture sank into a slouch as he leafed through the assignment, eyeing it through his rectangular-lensed reading glasses.
Can I get this over and done with as fast as possible?
Yusis set the stapled papers on his desk. He reached for a mechanical pencil from a glass jar next to his charging smartphone, clicked the pencil, and touched its point below the first math problem.
After thirty seconds in this pose, Yusis still did not have the faintest idea of what to write.
Did I remember to ask my friends if I could borrow their notes to last week's classes?
Yusis had attended those classes, but he hadn't taken any notes. He had been too absorbed in browsing the internet on his smartphone.
I think I did ask them. One of them said 'I never take notes', and the other said 'I'm in the advanced class, remember? I'll check with a friend of mine who's in your class.'
Then she said, 'You need to stop being such a lazy slacker. You're going to flunk out of your senior year at this rate.'
Yusis willfully blocked the disturbing prospect of failing to graduate from high school out of his thoughts.
What am I ever going to use this stuff for, anyway? Who needs algebra or geometry for anything? Maybe scientists, but who else? Not Dad, that's for sure. If it's not a sales pitch, then he doesn't need it.
I don't want to do this. I want to go to the arcade.
"I've got all of winter break to do this homework. I don't have to do it now," Yusis declared, setting down his pencil. He removed his glasses, folding them in a single motion, and let them dangle on their attached cord around his neck.
If I hurry, maybe I can escape before Mom checks on my progress.
In his rush to get outside, Yusis decided not to take his smartphone, since it had barely started to recharge. He might have successfully evaded his mother, if she hadn't been watching the front door.
"Honey, have you finished your homework like your father told you to?" she inquired.
"Mom, I have all vacation to do it. Later, okay?" he rebuffed. "I'm going to the arcade. My friends are usually there around this time, and I have to get notes from them anyway."
"The arcade?"
Yusis flinched from the worried look on her face.
If only she were angry with him, or exasperated, or stern. He could tune out any of those emotions easily, like he often ignored his father's lectures. But that fearful look...
"Mom, not again. That was a year ago."
"Exactly one year ago," she sadly agreed.
"I hardly knew them! I'm not going to stop hanging out in my favorite places just because they used to go there. They weren't like my current friends, anyway."
"Yusis, I'm worried about you."
"Mom, I mean it, not again."
"Your grades have been slipping. Just like theirs were. You used to get C's, but now-"
"Mom!" Yusis briefly touched his forehead. "Look, I'm not going to flunk out of high school, all right?"
"Even if you do..."
"Mom, I swear-!"
"Even if you do, we'll find something for you to do with your life. Some job, some career, anything. You don't have to earn a lot of money if you don't want to. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you're independent and happy. You know that, right, honey?"
"As long as it's not marketing," Yusis grumbled.
"Your father loves you, and he works hard to put food on the table."
"Yeah, okay."
"Come back home to us," she entreated, anxiously.
"You could at least say 'in time for dinner', something to make that sound less weird," he sighed. "I'm not going to walk out that door and never come back."
Like how they never came back to their families.
Was I really their friend at all? I sure didn't act like I was.
They were asking me for help, and I just didn't hear it. I didn't say or do anything.
Yusis' mother embraced him. He kept his arms by his sides and looked away, awkwardly. Then she released her embrace and went upstairs.
Yusis stepped out the front door...
"...ugh... what?" Yusis blinked and raised his head, unable to comprehend how he had come to be sprawled face-down on the ground.
"Are you okay?" trilled a lilting, high-pitched voice behind him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Yusis slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "Not sure what made me fall down like that."
"I didn't expect you to collapse - oh! Your hair!" Shock and dismay strongly affected the otherwise beautiful voice.
"Huh?" Yusis nervously flicked a low-hanging trail of his disheveled, raggedly-cut brown hair away from his eyes.
"Um, are you really okay?"
"I don't think I hit my head or anything. Did I?"
"No, I mean... you don't... you don't see or hear anything strange, do you?"
Yusis' eyes darted back and forth. A grassy forest clearing encircled him, and a rough-hewn wooden cabin was nearby. His surroundings were markedly different from the front yard of his house.
"Well, this place is kind of unfamiliar," Yusis admitted. "I'm pretty sure I've never been here before."
"I guess you're acting like a normal person..."
"Uh, what makes you think I'm 'acting'?" he mumbled, uneasily.
"My summon spell worked," the voice whispered, oblivious to his question. "It really worked!"
"Wait, what?"
Yusis uncertainly shifted his position to face the speaker. He saw a kneeling teenaged girl in a humble, frilly dress. A feathered ornament accentuated her thick red hair. Her most eye-catching features were her bushy tail and her long, furry ears.
Is she dressed up for a live-action role-play? Is that why she thinks I'm 'acting'?
Of course, that has to be why. I shouldn't be so anxious. I need to calm down.
Yusis noticed that the girl was moderately attractive.
Yeah, I definitely don't want to freak out around a cute girl like her. Maybe I should try that stress-management trick Dad likes to use.
Yusis closed his eyes, put one hand on his chest, and breathed deeply, willing his agitation to settle down. When he let his hand fall and opened his eyes, he felt a little more self-composed.
"I summoned a Savior from another world," the girl continued, with rising wonder and astonishment. "I called someone to save us all. I really am the Priestess of Salvation!"
Yusis looked more closely at the girl's tail, and then her ears. Their reddish fur appeared sleek and luxurious.
"Is that a cosplay?" he asked, curiously. "It looks really well-done."
"Um, could you please stop staring at my ears?"
"Why? What's the point of putting so much work into a costume if you don't want to show it off? Hey, is that real fur?" He reached for a dangling ear.
She immediately slapped away his hand, hard enough to sting. "My ears are not a costume! Quit looking at them like that, and don't you dare touch them!"
"Uh, okay. Sorry? Didn't mean to get in your personal space," he apologized. "So, who are you? Where am I, anyway?"
"I'm Cynthia Klaus. I summoned you to our world of Kreisia because we need an off-worlder to be our Savior."
Wait, what? She needs me to be a 'Savior'? I've never 'saved' anyone.
She clasped his still-stinging hand in hers. Then she leaned forward and made a heartfelt appeal, laced with slight quivers of desperation. "Savior, all of Kreisia needs you. The Overlord Orzand is blighting our lands with miasma, and commanding undead monsters to slaughter our people. Only an off-worlder can wield the Holy Brand Aldea, and end the Overlord's reign of terror. Only you can bring us peace again. Please, please save us!"
Is she role-playing? She's the most 'in-character' role-player I've ever seen.
Something's wrong. I don't remember joining a live-action role-play. I don't even remember coming here. And this girl...
...she isn't role-playing, is she? I think she really means what she's saying. Even though everything she just described sounds so unreal.
Could all of this actually be...?
Yusis realized that the girl's reddish-brown eyes were puffy and bloodshot, with visible trails of moisture from their corners.
She's been crying, recently. Probably crying pretty hard.
"Okay, I'm in," he agreed.
"You'll be our Savior?"
"Sure, why not? Sounds fun. I'm Yusis, by the way."
"Thank you so much!" She showed a bright, sunny smile. Then she turned away and partially covered her eyes, apparently trying to dry her tear-trails.
Looks like she's feeling a little better. Good. She has a sweet smile; it looks way better on her than tears. Yusis flashed a broad smile of his own, tilted his head, and closed his eyes.
This is the most amazing dream I've ever had. There's a cute girl who needs me to cheer her up; there's an evil Overlord commanding undead monsters; there's a holy sword to wield; and there's a world to save. It's just like the beginning of a video game!
Nothing to do but enjoy the ride while it lasts, I guess.
I wonder if this dream will go on long enough to reach the end of the story? I don't like leaving a good video game unfinished, even if it's only in my head.
End of Chapter One: Dream of a Savior