Adventures in Askr (Ft. Erandia and Friends)

"Hey Sparrow, want to come with us in a Mixer?"

The brunette turned around before smiling apologetically and refusing for the nth time. "Really? Don't you wanna meet a special someone there?"

"Sorry, I don't really want to."

"Ohhh I get it." One of the guys winked at her before continuing, "You're one of those with 'Husbandos' am I right? You're never gonna score a real deal if you keep imagining yourself married to fictional--"

At that point, Sparrow had enough and walked away, visibly distressed and in the verge of tears. Sometimes she sits down and wonders if the entirety of her trip to Askr was just her overactive imagination. If, whether or not was she really regaled a hero and if any of her accomplishments were truly real. When it becomes too much, she curls up and relishes the only piece of evidence she held onto as proof--her wedding ring. One that matches her wife.

There were times Sparrow deliberately tries to fall asleep everywhere just to try and see if she can get a glimpse of her kind and beautiful wife. She hopes that one day, Gunnthra may visit her in the realm of the sleep once more and they'll finally be reunited. Suddenly, a hollow ache permeated her heart, as she finally arrives to her empty and silent apartment. Sparrow thinks, she'd rather have a technologically backwards world that she can truly call home rather than this lonely and dreary apartment.

"I'm back."

She doesn't even know why she expects a response and why she keeps getting disappointed after not hearing one.

---

"--And then, you know what she did? She literally plays Never Gonna Give You Up!" The other two occupants of the table laughed at their friend's misfortune, as Gold drinks up her Dr. Pepper before slamming the drink down.

"Well, she once showed me a poster of Naruto but the characters were replaced with Kaze and Saizo." Yuki recalled, still remembering her indignant squawk after the red-head summoner nearly fell down from laughing.

"She made Nino read out the Bee Movie script saying it was urgent news!" Sparrow huffed, the other two now almost rolling on the floor with laughter. Of course it would be Stella's style to send them really dumb jokes and memes. After a round of hearty laughter and sodas were finished, the sad reality almost hit the three ex-summoners.

After the war, nearly every summoner who had been called to Askr had decided to go home. Some friends decided to look for each other back on Earth, a sort of get together for ex-summoners and veterans. Three summoners excitedly exchanged whatever info they could remember as a former Earthling before heading back to their Zeniths to finish the process. Sparrow noticed, however, that one particularly loud summoner wasn't making any form of joke or ruckus. She finds Erandia (or it should be Stella now) simply browsing (or staring?) at her Breidablik, eyes not moving and face devoid of her usual lazy smile.

"Hey, do you wanna meet up after--"

"... no."

Sparrow was hurt, thinking that maybe Stella didn't really like her as a friend but the way she finds her friend tensing up and her eyes seemingly like they're about to cry, the summoner knew something was not right.

"... Stella?"

"I'm..." The red head starts off before sighing in resignation. She brings up her Breidablik showing Sparrow a small article about a house burning down and a sole survivor in a brain-dead coma--

"Oh..."

It took three nights before Sparrow, Yuki, and Gold stopped crying for their friend.

Shaking off her sad thoughts, Sparrow ordered one Coke bottle. She opens it and leaves it to an empty space beside her. A bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots lay untouched at the seat reserved especially for their missing friend. Next to the flowers lays a note, handwritten in a messy script.

"Hey Sparrow, Yuki, Goldy. Turns out, I'm actually dead. No really, I'm legally dead, not the meme-kind. So, yeah. If you ever manage to get back to Earth, maybe look me up? Oh and add some flowers to my grave if you can. Forget-Me-Nots are my favorite, okay? -Stella"

"I really wish Stella was here with us..."

None of them knew who said it, not with the whisper-near-crying quality the voice had. It took seconds before the dam broke and no one left without red eyes and tear stains afterwards.