I grin. “Yup! So glad I thought of it all by myself! Bye!”
Austin rolls his eyes, but I catch the hint of a smile on his face before Yami and I head out to the farm…and my overflowing mailbox.
Shame constricts around my chest as I shuffle through letters—invitations to girls’ days, scripted vegetable requests, a cooking class announcement, which I’m pretty sure is the basic introduction onhow to cookfrom Neptun.
Which is weird.
Because my farmhouse remains a dilapidated shack.
And this letter is scheduled to appear right after you upgrade to the farmhouse that includes a kitchen…
I guess, technically, I’ve had access to a kitchen for a little while now, though.
Who knew that staying in Samson’s house would trigger this event?
The world through reality’s lens is so weird it’s practically astigmatic…but I think I’m getting more used to seeing clearly in spite of it. No matter where I am, people are strange and more complicated than meets the eye. Sometimes even the rudest ones care about their sisters and are willing to brave a rabble on the behalf of someone they barely care about, just because.
Sometimes people leave you crying on an overdue stack of mail, thankful that—even though you didn’t realize it earlier—you’ve joined them: the strange, the complicated, thecommunity.
Sniffling, I push my glasses out of the way to dry my tears and murmur, “I’m gonna need to get some stationary…”
Preferably, some with lemons on it.
Chapter 32
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
The truth will set you free, or something like that.
“Diamond!” I shriek, practically lunging for the shining, clear stone as it drops from an iridescent mimic. My heart rate picks up. It can’t be. It could be? It must be. It is!
A perfect diamond.
It took the rest of Summer, but I am finally holding the last piece I need to upgrade my sword into Verity’s Edge. This moment is monumental.
I am finally going to own the blade of truth.
In the game, its description is:What a shiny new weapon. It’s almost like you can see who you really are in the reflection…
Unnecessarily dramatic? Sure.
When it wasjust a game.
Now, as someone who has crossed from one entire world to another, still unsure of who I am, I desperately want to know the truth.
What will I see in the blade’s edge? Will it cut me to my core? Or will it confirm that I finally belong somewhere?
“What do you do now?” Samson asks, sheathing his sword and making it to my side.
Find the confidence, mostly, then figure out how to affix all the gems I hoarded from the Sky Dungeon and this diamond to the Crystal Gem Blade’s hilt, probably. “I’m not completely sure…but I have faith I’ll figure it out.” Upon further inspection of my sword, I locate nothing. No missing pieces. No suspicious, gem-shaped indents. My sparkly sword is yellow and pink and sparkly, and giving me no hints at all.
“How did it work in the game?” Samson asks.
I squint at the fuller. “Once you get everything you need on you, there’s a dialogue box that appears, saying,You feel a mysterious power…Then there’s a little cutscene where your character lifts the sword and colored lights swirl around you as it transforms.”
Samson’s hand warmly circles mine, then—together—he lifts the blade toward the stalactites of the cave.
A frisson of heat.
