Pancakes

"Arghhh! I give up!" Sera groaned in frustration as she threw the cards in her hands.

"Me too! Brother Zen is a meanie!" Nana pouted as she also threw her cards, imitating Sera.

They had tried all kinds of pastimes such as Tic Tac Toe, Rock Paper Scissors, Poker and other varieties of games.

However, the outcome would always be the same. Sera would lose first, then Nana, making Zen the winner of everything they played so far.

Zen had a cheeky smile on his face as he looked at the two of them. Then, with a proud expression, he pretentiously said, "Heh, that's what you get for going against me!"

Sera rolled her eyes while Nana imitated her. However, she could only move her eyes up and down, she kept trying hard which made Zen and Sera chuckle.

As they bonded, their relationships were also becoming closer. Nana started to become more open with them and would even be the one to initiate the conversation at times.

In their conversation, the sibling discovered that she doesn't seem to know her true age. They didn't mind it as it was not a big deal for them.

Instead, they discovered that Nana seemed to be more mature than what she really shows on the outside. However, the siblings just had the feeling but weren't too sure.

The siblings didn't probe and deliberately strayed from the topic of parents, as they didn't want to spoil the joyful atmosphere.

Through their conversation, they discovered many things about each other. This made Nana warm up even more to Zen and Sera.

They talked about random things from their hobbies, favorite shows, genres and even lessons in school. From this, the siblings discovered that Nana was being homeschooled by Margareth and the people in the building.

If someone were to see them, they would mistake the three of them for being siblings with close relationships.

While they were having fun, Sera's gaze landed on the wall clock and called out, "Brother."

When Zen looked at her, Sera pointed at the direction of the wall clock with her lips.

Zen saw the time and immediately facepalmed.

It was already 6pm and they hadn't entered the game yet. Clearly, they were distracted and were carried away when playing with Nana.

Nana saw the interaction between the siblings and was confused.

Zen thought that it would be better to have a quick meal before entering the game since it was already 6pm. So he stood up and said, "Wait here, I'll cook something for us."

Nana had a spark in her eyes as she asked, "Brother Zen, you know how to cook?"

"Of course! I'll let you taste the most delicious pancakes of your life!" Zen replied with grandiose gestures.

"Really? Pancakes for dinner?" Sera chimed in and asked in disdain.

Zen looked at her and said with a passionate voice, "I noticed that all the food earlier was fancy. Although they were delicious, the feeling of eating comfort foods like pancakes is different!"

At this moment, Nana spoke up, "What are pancakes? Are they delicious?"

This made the siblings freeze as they looked at Nana in silence.

Then, Zen said once again with grandiose gestures, "Oh, I pity you, who only eat steaks, lobsters and other fancy foods. Don't worry, I'll let you experience the taste of pancakes!"

Nana giggled while Sera rolled her eyes at her brother's antics.

Afterwards, the siblings quickly got to work. Sera carried Nana as they watched Zen cook pancakes from scratch.

The unit provided to them by Margareth had everything they needed. It was simply furnished, making it look like a cozy home despite its size. Even the refrigerator had the necessary ingredients to make simple meals.

"Delicious!" Nana felt as if a whole new world opened up for her. In the past, everything she ate were all fancy foods cooked by chefs. So tasting pancakes could be said to be an eye-opener for her.

Looking at her joyfully eating the pancakes, Zen and Sera smiled. Then, they shared their meal while having a conversation.

***

A few minutes after they finished eating…

"Woah, what is this?" Nana's big eyes shone with curiosity as she stared at the glossy black helmet in front of her.

"This is the gaming device needed to enter the Free World." Sera said gently.

Seeing Nana's big eyes that shone with intense curiosity, she giggled and explained, "Free World is another world that you can enter. There, things like magic and powers really exist!"

Nana's eyes sparkled as she said, "Really!?"

Zen nodded and added on, "Yes. However, if you feel uncomfortable you must shout "log off", okay?"

Nana nodded cutely as she stared at the gaming device, clearly excited to enter the game.

One of the things that the siblings discovered about her earlier was the fact that she loved fairy tales and stories with magic in it.

After telling Nana the necessary information about the game, they helped her equip the gaming helmet.

The gaming device has some sort of mechanism that makes it adjustable for different sizes despite looking metallic.

Then, the siblings looked like proud parents as they watched Nana.

Nana giggled at the sight of them before saying excitedly, "Dive in!"

A small area in the helmet lit up, indicating that the person using the helmet has already entered the game.

At this moment, Zen looked at Sera and asked, "Make sure to log off immediately if you notice something amiss, okay?"

Sera nodded as she equipped the helmet.

They both decided to stay with Nana while playing the game to make sure that she's safe.

To ensure that nothing would happen, they decided that one of them would log in the game to check if there's anything amiss in the Free World while the other would check if there were any abnormalities with Nana in the real world.

Seeing the two of them immersed in the game, Zen silently sat at the side and watched the two of them while being on full alert.

Although it looked like he was idle, if someone were to look inside his body, they would see two hearts on both sides of his chest.

On his right chest was a black heart which looked evil, while on the left side of his chest was a red human heart with a fire sword embedded in it.

Strands of ominous purple energy were flowing out of the black heart before turning into a thousand blue threads which gathered in his human heart.