“Okay, I might have pushed her a bit too much,” the god replied to his pet’s unspoken criticism.
Fluffy stamped a hoof and let out a soft snort.
“Fine, I pushed her way too far, but you have to admit that the results were spectacular! There is just something special about that girl,” he murmured. On this at least, Fluffy agreed, the sheep nodding his head grudgingly as he turned his attention back to Eliza.
Without warning, the air beside the pair rippled and stretched, and the game world stuttered slightly. A moment later, an old man stood nearby. He wore a plain brown robe, his face obscured in shadow, and he held a rough-hewn wooden staff in one hand.
“Ahh, you made it!” the Hippie said, grinning at the Old Man. “I was worried you were going to stand me up. That would have been rather rude, you know.”
“You requested my presence, and so here I am,” the dark god replied sourly, nodding at Fluffy in greeting. The sheep kneeled slightly in response, his forelegs buckling. “Now, what do you want?”
“Ahh, can’t I just want to chat? Maybe I just missed my grumpy old brother, huh?”
The Old Man just stared at him for a long moment in reply.
“I can see that your sense of humor is still firmly dead and buried,” the Hippie remarked with a growing grin. “Ha, get it? Because of the undead?”
When he saw that he was getting no reaction from the dark god, the Hippie sighed. “Anyway, to answer your question, I wanted to talk about the girl,” he continued, gesturing at Eliza as she quickly retreated down the street.
The Hippie glanced sideways at the dark god. “Did you enjoy the show?”
“It was… fascinating,” the Old Man admitted grudgingly. “Although, I noticed you were forced to intervene.”
With a shrug, the Hippie replied, “A little bit of hand-holding is permitted, especially in these early stages. Or do you expect me to believe that your boy has made it as far as he has solely on his own steam? He just so happened to find the only reclusive necromancer near Lux? And I’m sure you had no hand in the events leading up to that unfortunate massacre.”
“You have made your point,” the Old Man replied curtly. “Still, you toed the line of violating the covenants. If our other siblings…”
The Hippie waved off his concern. “The others are too busy with their own problems to focus on little ol’ me. Besides, they have never taken me seriously.”
“And you are suggesting that I should?” the Old Man asked, skepticism lacing his voice. “What exactly do you want?”
“Hey, I’m the dark horse in this competition – the tortoise to everyone else’s hare. I’m wily,” the Hippie replied, waggling his eyebrows. Then a sly grin curled his lips. “But to get to the point, I would like to propose a partnership. I think my girl and your boy would make a great team.”
“The last time I checked, I was already firmly in the lead,” the dark god replied evenly, sparing a glance in the Hippie’s direction.
“Ahh, that’s true,” the Hippie replied, the colorful strips of cloth that made up his tunic flapping as he raised a single finger. “But, misfortune is always waiting just around the corner, and the others have been moving quickly in the background. The Lady is hot on your heels, and the Gypsy isn’t far behind…” he trailed off, watching the dark god closely.
The Old Man appeared to be weighing his words, but he hadn’t refused the Hippie’s offer. This point hadn’t gone unnoticed by the clownish god. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared and reappeared beside the Old Man, placing his arm around the dark god’s shoulders. “Besides, wouldn’t it be fun to team up again? Remember the fun times we used to have? Two brothers against the world?”
“I seem to recall that you dropped the ball, or should I say the orb,” the Old Man replied grimly.
The Hippie grimaced slightly. “A small oversight, but my point still stands. A partnership would be to our mutual benefit. Plus, you’ve seen what the girl is capable of…”
A long, tense moment passed as the Old Man said nothing. Then he finally nodded curtly. “Fine. A partnership it is.” His head turned to look at the Hippie and Fluffy each in turn. “But if you think to double cross me…”
An offended look flashed across the Hippie’s face. “Me? I would never even consider such a thing.” He raised two fingers. “Scouts honor!”
The Old Man snorted. “We will see. Just remember who you’re dealing with. I am not one of your playthings,” the Dark God growled. With that final statement, he abruptly disappeared – the air rippling slightly where he had stood only a moment before.
The Hippie turned his attention back to Eliza, watching as she turned a bend in the road and vanished from sight. A small smile graced the Hippie’s lips, and his eyes flashed a brilliant sapphire. Meanwhile, the black sheep glanced at him nervously.
“Don’t worry, Fluffy,” the Hippie murmured. “Our plan has already been set in motion...”
The End
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the story! This started as a little short story to help me flesh out Eliza for book three, but I couldn’t help but turn it into a full-fledged book. I briefly considered releasing this story before AO3 (since it’s sort of a prequel), but it seemed like it would contain too many spoilers.
In any event, I’m thinking of writing more from Eliza’s perspective at some point – I certainly left enough plot points open! Just let me know in the reviews if you would like to hear more from our shy water mage. In the meantime, I’m going to get my ass moving on book four!
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Acknowledgements
I’d also like to give a shout-out to everyone who helped me write Awaken Online: Apathy. Like most great things, it takes a village to write a book. Or at least one that makes sense and is (relatively) error-free. Thank you all for your help and support!
Ashley Anderson (Editor)
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David Stifel (Narrator)
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Kyle Smith
Christopher Brink
Jonathan Decker
Michael Vincent
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Duncan Vandecarr
Evan Moore
Stephen Lowe
All of my Patrons. You guys are awesome!
Awaken Online (Book 3.5): Apathy Page 28
