Chapter Forty-Two

'Do you guys remember why we can't go anywhere but to training?,' Cierra asked in the dream realms group chat the next day. She remembered that Goldie mentioned these places were isolated but struggled to recall anything else.

She hated it, but she figured at least Nora would know.

A few minutes later she got her response: 'G said the training realms are isolated and that the beings there might not know about our current era.' Nora, of course.

Cierra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. No doubt Nora had committed everything Goldie said to memory from that day. She took a deep breath, setting her annoyance aside. At least now she had the information she needed.

'Thanks, was just trying to remember.'

Immediately two new chats popped up. She wasn't surprised to see that Nora had messaged her, she had half-expected that Nora would have questions. The other message on the other hand, was not something she could have predicted.

Blinking on the screen was a little red '1' next to the name Hans. What could Hans possibly want, Cierra wondered, her heart kicking up a beat.

'What r u doing 2day?' He asked. Cierra thought for a second about how best to respond. She was planning on going to the gym and then maybe working on the last few calculus problems leftover from class a few days back. Nowhere in her plans had she thought that a guy might ask her what she was doing.

'Nothing much,' she lied, 'wbu?'

Nora's message was forgotten. Nothing could distract Cierra from what she thought might be happening here, with Hans.

No guy had ever shown interest in Cierra, or if they had it had been in a "Asians are so exotic' context. She hoped that wasn't what this was. Her hands shook nervously. She took a deep breath.

'Do I even like him?' She asked herself, already knowing the answer.

Cierra waited what felt like hours for him to reply, but was only a few minutes.

'Im going to my moms place today. Its near u, wanna meet for lunch?' Cierra read the message a few times. By his mom's place, he must mean near her grandparents, she figured. That wasn't super close to where she lived, but close enough.

They quickly agreed for 2pm.

Cierra got up and stretched while Cid wrapped between her calves. Excitement coursed through her veins and for some reason she couldn't stop smiling.

"What have you been up to at night?" She asked, kneeling down to give him a scratch, "Nothing too horrible, I hope."

He meowed back at her before sauntering off into the hallway.

'Where are you going?,' She wondered. Following him down the stairs, she found herself with his food bowl.

"Did I forget to feed you? I'm sorry." Having filled his bowl, she went back upstairs to get ready for the gym.

No matter what her plans for the afternoon, she still had to build her strength.

It was hours later, while she was scrolling on her phone between leg press sets, that she remembered Nora's message.

The message carried the question, 'Why do you ask?'

Cierra's thumbs stalled. She could easily tell Nora the truth, but part of her wanted this secret. She could almost picture it. She would tell Nora what Fer Benn had said and Nora would try to give her some sort of pseudo-advice which would actually be some sort of 'I'm the leader listen to me' command.

She huffed to herself and put the phone down to finish her set.

Cierra knew the problem was herself, not Nora. Nora was the leader, no matter how much Cierra would have preferred to have the title.

Bringing her knees to her chest to rest, she picked her phone back up. They needed to work together.

'My trainer says Goldie is going to let me go treasure hunting for weapons. I thought we couldn't leave their space until we were ready to fight, but it's been approved for whenever I finish sword training. Fer Benn isn't joining, claims to be too weak, but it looks like we can leave our areas and come back.'

A few seconds passed and dots like Nora was typing appeared, disappeared, and appeared again.

'Hmmm, maybe Goldie told us that to keep us safe? Either way, don't mention anything to the others yet.'

Perfect timing.

Cierra sighed; hopefully Hans didn't ask anything, and she wouldn't need to lie.

She got up to take a quick shower and change into the red and white sundress she had bought as a spur of the moment purchase with Dawn a few months back. For some reason it had called to her in Forever21 while Dawn was trying on different tops.

Having tried it on, Dawn had forced her to buy it, claiming that Cierra didn't own enough 'girly' clothing. Looking at herself in the locker room mirror, she was glad she made the purchase. The top did a modest 'v' into where her chest would have been if she had one worth looking at, and the skirt fell to her mid-thigh, showing off her long legs.

'I should look into getting a padded bra,' she casually thought, and then catching herself, shook her head as if embarrassed by the thought.

Grabbing her bag and phone, she shot off a message to Hans.

'I'm on the way.'

Pulling into the Applebee's parking lot, she was surprised to find Hans already outside, waiting for her. He looked just like he did in the dream realms, braided hair pulled out of his face. Getting out of her Vibe, she blushed. They had accidentally matched. He was wearing a tight white shirt with fitted red pants. They couldn't have coordinated it better if they tried.

She waved at him, catching his attention.

"Hey!," He bounded over and gave her a tight hug, "It's only been a few days, but it feels like a while since I've seen anyone familiar from the realms."

He stood back, giving her a good look for the first time. "Oh, we—," He pointed at his outfit and hers, "We match? What a coincidence."

Cierra looked down, embarrassed. "I have my gym clothes," She started, pointing back at the truck, "I could change if you feel uncomfortable?"

"Nono," Hans said quickly, "It's just funny."

Awkwardly, they walked inside.