Beyond The System-Chapter 231: Cake

“No problem!” I said with almost too much excitement, and definitely a little too quickly.

Mei’s father blinked, surprised at my answer. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“I’m happy you would agree, but… It could be dangerous,” he said with caution. “Preparations should be made for an expedition, and you need to find—”

“I live there,” I said, cutting him off. “It was really mostly a joke, but I guess you could call me in charge in the islands. And, it’s the Shattered Expanse now, but from what I know—it’s the former Bridge of Caesia.”

“Oh.”

A breeze passed through the room from a window against the wall, cracked open from a peg that held it up.

“You should consider things more deeply,” Griffith advised. “This is certainly hardly an issue, but don’t make a habit of it.”

I cleared my throat, nodding in acknowledgement to him. Also, I was wondering what his reaction on the inside was to all the information we had just taken in. After all, a Guardian seemed like something of a god to him, and now there was a guy in front of him that had been with one.

“But the problem is, the main issue: How exactly is Mei supposed to come with me? I’m not familiar with the rules, but it doesn’t seem…”

I stopped myself. The rules were just too unknown. I could say that Champions may not be allowed across territories. That it could get Serith in trouble, or me. But that was just speculation. Truthfully, only Amei had said that she wouldn’t take Mei to us.

No one else.

“We’re back!” Mei shouted from another section of the home, voice travelling to us.

Sei stood, brushing off his robe. “Now’s a good time to stop. We can discuss this more tomorrow. For now, eat and rest. A guest will never grow hungry under my roof.”

Not that I got hungry, but this man had already taken a step up in position through my eyes. Feeding guests whenever they wanted? This was the kind of man one should aspire to. Aspire to be under anyway.

Ask him if he has blood! Luna demanded from within.

My body shuddered at the thought, but Luna was my friend, and companion. It wouldn’t be right to leave her outside the festivities.

“Excuse me?” I called out as he rummaged through some cabinets behind him, pulling out several small dishes and bowls.

“Hm?” Sei hummed without turning.

My body shifted awkwardly under the table, trying to find the right words to ask in a tactful way. Aaand, nope. There wasn’t anything that came to mind. Direct it is.

“You don’t by any chance… Have blood?”

“Don’t you?” the man responded, clearly amused with himself indicated by a couple small lifts of his shoulders.

I rolled my eyes, taking another crack at it, lifting my right arm. “The flower—Luna, she drinks blood. Using mine is an option, but…”

I trailed off, letting him finish for me, hopefully with a good answer. And thankfully he did.

“Eating the same thing over and over again would get tiring. I understand,” he replied, finally turning, and placing the eating ware on the table. “It’s fascinating though. We have a similar fruit tree here that thrives on blood. Though, I’ve never named one.”

I crooked my head, intrigued, and considering Luna’s shift in various colors, so was she.

So he does have some food? she pushed.

Guess she didn’t care much about potential cousins.

“We keep some in the garden,” he said just as the others walked in.

Mei was holding a small white box made of some sort of thin material. It was glossy, transparent, and the way that her fingers pressed into it—gelatinous. And inside, was an intoxicatingly appetizing cake.

“I got this one!” she said, holding it up as if it were some trophy.

The white frosting, pale, but smooth, surrounded the entire thing, tall enough to stand up to my hand length-wise. Small orange fruits like cherry tomatoes, glistening in the light, coated with some sort of clear crystal.

Probably Sugar.

Oh gods. SUGAR!

W—when was the last time?

What did I do to deserve these people?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

It had all been worth it. The whatever hound skewers. The dry rations of the arena. Gathered berries. Bear-clawed bunny rabbits. And everything after and in between. The struggles all meant something now.

I knew at this time that it all was meant for this moment. A position in fate destined for only those who lost something precious and gained it back again would know.

And only upon seeing it—smelling it, would the reality truly settle into you.

Into me.

“Peter?” Mei asked with worry. “What’s wrong?”

You cry a lot, you know that? Wyrem commented.

I wiped my eyes, preventing an actual escape from what I could feel wheeling up. Everything aside. It really was something special. And with a long blink, the scenes of the past hit me.

Memories of my old life, flashing by in just the briefest moments.

Walking home after a long stint at a job. Skipping school to save up a few extra credits. And honestly, to slack off occasionally. Mess around with Trevor and Marcus. But after a couple weeks there was a nice bakery on a corner near the formulaic homes that my family stayed at.

And I would always go after saving up just enough.

When I arrived home, I wouldn’t say anything. Just place every slice on the table, waiting for everyone to eventually come in. Either looking for a snack, or maybe wanting to welcome me home.

#

“Hey, Peter,” Lacy had said, trailing in behind her sister, eyes glued to her phone, thumb gliding across the screen with that half-bored grace only teenagers mastered. “Mar’s been busy, do you—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

Her gaze had landed on the box I’d placed on the table, and just like that, her whole posture shifted. She nudged her sister with a whisper, barely audible: “Macy.”

Macy looked up with the disinterest only a younger sibling of mine could perfect, but then she saw it too. The cake. Cream-frosted, stacked tall, crammed with strawberries like barnacles on a ship.

In an instant, they were both seated at the table, drawn by some invisible current, wide-eyed and wordless like they were afraid the treat might vanish if they looked away.

It had taken me weeks to afford that. High school jobs weren’t exactly abundant, but every few months, when I had saved enough—I’d bring something home.

“Eat it slow,” I had said, though I already knew it was useless advice. “Savor it.”

I picked up my own fork as they grabbed their battle-tested utensils, readying for a war against fleeting sweetness. I glanced toward the stairs.

“Where’s Tommy?”

A piece of cake was carved away, careful and reverent, topped with a single gleaming strawberry.

“Games,” they replied in eerie unison.

They always did that. Still freaked me out.

“Tommy! Get down here! I got pie!”

SLAM.

A door upstairs burst open, then the telltale patter of reckless footsteps on wood. He rounded the corner like a missile.

“Really?” he asked, eyes flicking from the cake to me.

“Thanks, Peter!”

I already had chocolate melting on my tongue, and half my slice was gone before I even realized. I never was good at following my own advice.

#

We would sit there in relative silence, eating. Our lives weren’t something you could describe as bad, but the government stipend didn’t allow for much leeway. It made me happy to watch them eat—to eat with them.

Lacy and Macy would, whenever no one was watching, whenever my own back was turned, offering a small hug before retreating back to their own rooms.

The only other than Tommy who would offer a direct thanks being Mar.

This world was my home now, but… If I could go back. To see them again—

“I got everything fried on the menu,” Rojin offered a bag, placed roughly on the table. “Figured no one would complain about that.”

Mei was still looking at me for that brief moment, but I shook my head, putting on a smile to show her I was fine.

“And I grabbed the rest of the food,” Synthia said, placing her own bag next to his. “Noodles, vegetables, and whatever else was there.”

Finally, Mei placed the gel-encapsulated pastry, dragging me down onto a soft cushion. The other two sat down, while Sei began to unpack various dishes enclosed in a similar material as the cake.

Before me, a feast for the eyes, and soon to be stomach, was revealed.

Noodles that shined with sauce, topped with strange orange leaves and thin cuts of meat. Starting to think leafy-green doesn’t really fit here.

Uneven bumpy spheres of fried food. Sauces en masse and a large torso of some beast with thick crisp skin on the top. Well… In essence, something like a pig. With an extra pair of legs. Though, I was only guessing due to the stumps.

And it was more like the size of a chicken than a large boar.

Either way, everything looked delicious.

The food was divided between us, Mei, her father, Rojin, and Serith taking turns serving each other using tongs, thin utensils—which Serith dropped several times, and occasionally their hands.

All while I sat there admiring the scene.

“So,” Sei said, while passing something that looked like a steaming, sliced potato to Rojin. “Peter, what’s it like where you came from?”

I picked up my own bowl—filled by Mei to the brim with grains of grey rice… not the most visually appetizing, but the taste was nice—thinking about the answer I should give.

“It was… peaceful.”

“Peaceful?” Synthia imitated with a mouth full. “The State? That place makes Voxter look like Paradise in my opinion.”

I shook my head. “Well, I never said that’s where I was from. This place is more similar to my home. Minus all the nature.”

“I’ve never heard of anywhere like that,” Mei mumbled, her cheeks puffing out with food.

“We have screens that can play recordings of anything,” I said, straightening to brag to her. “A satellite thrust into the heavens, showing the stars and sun.” I didn’t mention that the real thing simply overshadowed the artificial one in every way that mattered. “Devices to play games, using buttons to control heroes on great journeys. Living through their stories.”

The last two seemed to really peak Sei’s interest, who had put his food down, chewing silently but giving me his full attention.

So I continued.

“Education for any citizen. Varieties of food so abundant that you could never try them all. And the stories…” I paused, recalling the novels, comics, and tv shows. “You could spend a thousand lifetimes and still never consume it all.”

Sei rubbed his nose, eyes almost glittering. “A place where knowledge is used for pleasure? I’d like to go there myself one day.”

I smiled, but the response that came, the one that I couldn’t say, echoed in my mind. A numbing reminder of my pushed down rage. Of the calamity caused by a single choice.

It doesn’t exist anymore.