Sora vs. Aegis: The Guardian’s Shadow
Sora ran without caring about anything else. His lungs were starting to burn, but that pain was nothing compared to what he had felt minutes earlier.
Finally he accepted what he had always known.
Sora finally stopped in a small grassy area bathed in the orange light of the sunset. Panting heavily, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.
"I knew it…" he whispered to himself with a broken voice. "I always knew it."
Sora sat down on a nearby wooden bench, hiding his face in his hands.
All this time he had told himself many times that he wanted to be an NPC. An ordinary person who stood out in no way. He always thought that if he lowered his stats to minimum, he would become invisible.
But today, seeing Mochi and Shiori smile alongside Ren, he understood that what he most desired did not make him happy.
NPCs can only watch as heroes take the girls away, unable to do anything.
"I guess Ren is even better with words," he said out loud, and the truth hurt more than any punishment.
"How pathetic."
Sora froze upon hearing those words. The air around him began to feel heavy and dense. He looked up, expecting an annoyed passerby or his friends.
Instead, a few meters away, under the shadow of a large oak tree, stood a figure that should not exist.
It was a man barely a little taller than him, clad in silver and blue armor that contrasted with the sunset. He carried a large, massive shield in his left hand, and a sword that matched his armor.
His face was young, but his eyes were an intense amber color, a color that showed determination, a feeling Sora had forgotten how to feel.
Sora took a few seconds to process what he was seeing, or rather, who he was seeing.
"Who... are you?" Sora asked with a look of astonishment, refusing to recognize that figure.
"Have you really forgotten me so soon?" That figure's voice was the same as his, but without hesitation, without fear. "The man who promised to protect them, the wall that never falls. I am the one you decided to kill in order to become... that."
Sora's eyes widened.
"You... Aegis..." Sora whispered fearfully.
"Don't call me by my name," Aegis exclaimed, approaching Sora until he stood face to face. "Just look at yourself… Is this the guild leader we cared for and admired so much? Is this the man the girls admired so much?" Aegis declared, his voice laden with anger and disappointment.
“Do you remember when you promised never to leave them alone? Because I do. I fought dragons to protect Mochi and spent countless nights helping Shiori so she wouldn’t feel lonely. And now… you’re scared of some guy just because he has more money than you?”
Aegis let out an emotionless laugh.
"It's not that easy!" Sora shouted, jumping to his feet. "This isn't a game! There are no potions, no resets, no anything… I'm just a guy who can barely pay the rent and feed them… But Ren can give everything I don't have."
Aegis let out a mocking laugh.
"If you keep this up, it won't be Ren who actually takes them away," Aegis declared, striking his shield against the ground. "It will be your own decisions that end up pushing people away with that attitude. You'll be no good as a friend, nor as a guild leader… You'll only be pitiful."
Sora lowered his head in silence. Aegis was right. He had tried to act normal to avoid getting hurt again, but in the end, he only pushed away the people who mattered most to him.
"I'm sorry…" Sora began to cry, clenching his fists. "I'm so sorry… I'm a complete mess…"
Aegis did not disappear. He just stood there, reminding him of everything he was not.
"So? Are you going to stay sitting there?" Aegis's voice echoed again, this time softer, like a whisper from his own conscience.
"Look at them again, Sora. Since you met her, she never looked for a diamond; she always sought your approval. Shiori wasn't looking for a perfect algorithm; she wanted your attention. And yet you haven't given them anything valuable. They work hard for you, but you don't work hard for them."
At that moment, the noise of the city seemed to fade away. The wind blew gently, rustling the leaves, and for a second, Sora felt time stop. He was alone with his failure, waiting for darkness to finish erasing him, truly wishing to become that invisible NPC who feels nothing.
"If only I could log out…" he thought, squeezing his eyes shut.
But reality does not have a logout button.
It was then, through the haze of his tears and the weight of his despair, that the crunch of dry leaves broke the void. It wasn't the heavy step of armor; it was something light, almost imperceptible. Sora didn't look up; he thought it was Aegis approaching to deliver the final blow, or maybe some other person who would look at him with pity.
Instead, he felt the air change around him. Desperation began to be replaced by a feeling that felt familiar, something that reminded him of home, of morning coffee, and of the softness of a memory that refused to die.
A shadow positioned itself over him, blocking the faint light of the streetlamps that had just turned on in the park. Sora felt a sudden warmth on his shoulder, a gentle pressure that made him tremble. It wasn't the metal of Aegis's armor. It was a human hand, small and warm, that seemed to want to gather up all the broken pieces of his soul.
"Sora…" a familiar voice was heard, a voice that seemed to shatter that wall of loneliness.