by Mason Roth
“Janelle.” Piper breathed and headed towards the sound.
The RNG hadn’t been kind to Janelle and they found her facing off against a giant crocodile. It snapped at her as she half-heartedly swiped at it with her daggers.
“Janelle!” Piper screamed.
“Hi, Piper.” Janelle replied evenly. She dropped her daggers. “I’m going to go be with my brother now.”
“Janelle, no!” But it was too late and she charged at the crocodile unarmed. It closed its massive jaw around her ankle and made quick work of covering her body in deep, fatal bites. Despite the massive amount of pain, she smiled as light enveloped her body. She came to the forest to die and she got her wish. But with Janelle gone, Jeremy and Piper still had the crocodile to contend with.
Holding back her tears, Piper called up her UI
Giant Crocodile
VP: 85
Shit, this jungle wasn't playing around. She thought. The crocodile was massive and had spikes emerging from its back. It turned on her, its maw still wet with Janelle's blood.
Furious, Piper fired. Two bullets from each pistol, for a total of four shots. She was usually much more conservative with her ammo, but emotion had overtaken her and she wanted the crocodile dead. The crocodile staggered from the shots. And luckily, all four hit. If Piper's math was right, it should be dead from four shots from her leather-bound pistols, yet the beast still stood, just barely. She checked her UI again.
Giant Crocodile
VP: 2
Scales: Resistant to piercing damage.
Despite its resistances, Piper had almost taken it out single-handedly. Between the leveling up and the loot, she had gotten so much stronger than she was in the beginning.
Jeremy did the honor of finishing the job and swung his axe high to decapitate the crocodile. It took two heavy chops until finally its mouth hung open and its tongue flopped out. It was over.
Piper heard a sound from behind her. She whirled around pistols drawn thinking another enemy had sneaked up on them. But when she turned she found Janelle, slumped against a tree sobbing.
"Why won't you just let me die?" She wailed. Piper went to comfort her but she just pushed her aside. "Why did this have to happen? He's not coming back... Just let me die!"
Piper tried to reach out to her once more. "We can't do that... We need you, Janelle. We care about you."
Janelle pushed her away even more forcibly this time. "You should have thought of that before signing us up for a death sentence." She spat at Piper. "It's your fault he's gone." Pipers tears streamed down her cheeks and she turned away to sob. She was right. She made the call, and now Ethan was gone for good.
"That's not true." Jeremy said firmly. Both women turned to look at him. "Ethan should have never been in this study, Janelle. You know that."
"How could I have known it was going to turn out this way?" She wailed defensively.
"You didn't, and neither did Piper when she tried to save Violet." Jeremy took a deep breath but it did nothing to cushion the weight of his words.
"If you hadn't brought him to the institute, he'd still be alive. That decision is on you, not Piper."
"Jeremy, that's enough." Piper reached out and yanked him away from her.
"What the hell are you doing? She has no lives left and is already suicidal. Why would you say something like that to her?"
"I'm just telling her the truth." He grunted back.
Janelle screamed in anguish. "You're right." She sobbed. "I know you're right. That's why I deserve to die. Just let me die one more time and I can see my baby brother again." She slumped onto the ground and screamed again. Only this time, it was muffled by the earth. And Piper was thankful for that. It was the dead of night and they were in a dangerous, dark jungle. They had to get out of here before something worse than the crocodile spawned in their area.
Piper moved towards Janelle for a third time. Completely and utterly broken, she didn't fight when Piper wrapped her arms around her.
"I know it's not okay. And nothing I say will make it okay. But we have to go now."
Janelle nodded weakly and let Jeremy and Piper guide her out of the rainforest.
Though they didn't really have a need for sleep physically, they certainly did mentally. They laid Janelle back down on the chaise and Piper and Jeremy slumped in two chairs next to each other on the starboard side of the Gilded Animus’ cabin. They fell asleep holding hands.
The next morning, Piper awoke early, but could not hear anyone stirring in the cabin. Not wanting to wake Jeremy who still clutched her hand tightly, she spent the morning leveling up through the UI. The events from yesterday caused her to gain two levels and she had twenty points to allocate. She felt that it was getting a little excessive. At level four, they could already kill a giant crocodile in two actions. What would she be capable of at level six? Would that be enough to slay the Alpha and take the Verdante? Could it be enough to escape Rookstorm? She allocated her points evenly and double checked her numbers before closing the UI.
Level 6
EXP to next level: 3500
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 26
Intelligence: 20
Vitality: 20
Just then, she heard Janelle stirring from across the room. Piper pried herself free of Jeremy's grasp and made her way to Janelle.
"Hey." She said squatting down beside her. "Did you sleep okay?" She asked gently.
Janelle smiled at her sadly. "I did. For a while. Don't you think it's crazy that we can't feel hunger, thirst, or exhaustion but we can still feel pain?" Janelle asked, rubbing her temples.
"I'd say it's more cruel than crazy."
Janelle laughed joylessly before grabbing Piper's hand and looking her dead in the eyes. "I'm going to kill the bastards who did this to us." She said seriously. "When we get out of here I'm going to bury my brother and burn the Elysium Institute to the ground."
"I'll be right there with you." Piper promised. She was glad that Janelle seemed to have conquered her suicidal tendencies and was instead redirecting her pain into fearsome anger.
"Let's get through this dungeon quickly." Janelle said through gritted teeth. "I have an idea and a plan, but we can't execute it until we get back to town."
"Okay..." Piper said slowly, unsure if Janelle was in any mental state to be making plans.
"Trust me." She assured her. "It's going to work. Just don't tell Jeremy yet. I don't think he's going to like it." Piper nodded. She could keep the secret, for now.
Once everyone was up and prepared, they made their way into the rainforest. No one really knew what to say without accidentally bringing up Ethan, so little conversation passed between them as they beat back more crocodiles, goblins, and giant apes with ease.
Finally, they came to a clearing in the forest and a sparkling waterfall hung over a small lake. Jeremy squinted at it.
"Ladies, I think we've found our secret hideout." Jeremy pointed. "It's there, behind the waterfall. Can everyone swim?” He asked. They both nodded. "In that case, let's go."
As it turned out, they didn't even have to swim, as the lake was shallow. The party treaded water and until they passed beneath the waterfall. The hideout was one large, dark cavernous room. Luckily for the party, Piper had held onto the torch Cornelius had given her and it illuminated the cave. To Piper's surprise, they didn't see a single enemy: Just a large cage in the center of the room, with a crying girl inside.
Janelle rushed over to her. "It's going to be okay, sweetie." She cooed as she made quick work of the lock with one of her lock picks. Jeremy stood guard at the front of the cave in case any of the ruffians returned, and Piper paced the interior. It all seemed too easy.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a hulking figure stepped out of the shadows. It looked like a man, but had the head of a bull and it wore a long flowing cape, similar to Ethan's. Piper heard Janelle's breath hitch in her throat, but she got the little girl out and was holding her in he
r arms. Piper concluded that the Minotaur must have been a caster. It must have made itself invisible. Piper assumed its friends were close by, but hoped they wouldn't have to deal with them if they cut off the head.
"Janelle, run with the girl" She said calmly. "Get to safety." Janelle didn't have time to argue and used her high dexterity to quickly slip out of the cave with the child before the Minotaur had time to attack them. It was just two against one now, though Piper wasn't worried. Despite the loss of Ethan, lately she had been more or less invincible and was the only one in the party that had only suffered one in-game death. She pulled up the UI to see what they were dealing with.
Minotaur Caster
VP: 150
Definitely the strongest beast they had faced thus far. But Piper wasn't worried. She shot two shots at the beast. Both of the bullets hit the beast and it staggered backward. She had done sixty-eight points of damage in one action. Electricity crackled under the Minotaur's fingertips as it prepared to launch a spell at Jeremy. Right before the electricity spell left its hands, it turned and instead launched it at Piper. Not expecting the attack, she had no time to dodge and the spell hit her squarely in the chest. Piper hit the cold cave floor and writhed uncontrollably as the spell coursed through her body.
"Piper!" Jeremy called to her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She gasped. She didn't quite know if she was okay, but she did know she wasn't dead yet. She pulled up her UI again. Her own VP had been decreased to two in a single hit. She moved to open her rucksack, but remembered she drank the potion she was carrying when Janelle attacked her yesterday. She got up carefully just as Jeremy created a huge gash in the Minotaur's chest. It staggered back again but then bent down and made a rush for Piper, who was still on the ground. Piper raised a pistol shakily and pulled the trigger only to be met with a click. Fucking cool down time. She closed her eyes to accept her fate when she heard a sickening chop and the Minotaur's head fell to the floor with a heavy thud.
Jeremy stood over her, breathing hard, and offered her his hand. She accepted and let him pull her up. Once she was standing he didn't let her go as he pulled her in for a deep kiss.
"Everything okay in here?" Janelle asked, interrupting their moment. They broke apart instantly, but still, Piper could have sworn she saw. However, even if she did, she acted like she hadn't.
"Piper, come over here." She beckoned, holding the NPC child's hand. Piper followed her instructions and made her way across the room to her. Jeremy began to follow as well before Janelle swiftly threw a dagger that landed in the middle of his chest.
"Janelle! What the fuck are you doing?"
"I know you like him, Piper, but this is for your own good." She readied another dagger. Jeremy lurched forward, blood spilling out of his mouth. His veins grew blue and prominent as the poison worked through his system. Piper moved to go to him but Janelle had already readied another dagger and held it to her throat. "Don't move." She commanded. "Now," She said pointing the dagger towards Jeremy. "Are you going to tell her, or should I?"
"Tell her what?" He sputtered through the blood pouring out of his mouth. He was losing VP rapidly.
"Have it your way, then." She said nonchalantly before throwing another dagger at him. This one landed in his stomach and Jeremy fell, gold light encircling his body.
"What have you done?" Piper screamed at her. “He only had one life left!"
"He'll be just fine, won't you Jeremy?" She asked his corpse as his body began to fade. "Piper, sweetie, he's one of them." Suddenly the light surrounding Jeremy’s body stopped and his form became entirely opaque. He rose from the ground if being pulled by some sort of other worldly force.
He flashed her a sinister smile. “How long have you known?”
Chapter 15
"I have always been suspicious of you. You always knew too much and your white knight demeanor was fake as hell." She spat at the ground at his feet. "But what really tipped me off was what you said to me last night after... after Ethan. Only one of them would say something so cruel."
Piper watched in horror as the poison daggers popped right out of Jeremy's chest. And he doubled over laughing. It was unlike the laugh Piper had come to know. It was full bellied and maniacal. She opened her mouth to speak, but words refused to form on her lips. She had given Jeremy everything. Her trust, her respect, even her body, and the entire time, he was working to destroy them.
"Why?" She finally managed weakly.
"Why?" Jeremy laughed again. "God you're pathetic." Despite knowing what he was, the insult still stung. "Little girl with trust issues and a pathetic life. But you were dying to connect with someone! You were so starved for affection that you followed me around like a lost puppy. It was so EASY with you." He jeered, obviously making a reference to last night. Piper choked back tears.
"Not... Why me... Why were you pretending to be one of us?" She managed, unable to meet his eyes.
"Oh, that's easy." He began, examining his fingernails with a bored expression. "We needed someone on the ground to see how you were interacting, to make sure you kept going in times of hardship. This IS still an experiment, afterall.” "Who are you, really?" Piper asked with fire in her eyes. Janelle looked at her sadly as she worked through the betrayal.
"Oh sweetheart, I'm someone you know quite well." He snapped his fingers and suddenly took the form of Candace. Piper gasped and staggered backward. "Now I know this isn't what you prefer," She said sensually as she advanced on her, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Or is it?" She purred in her ear. "I've seen the way you look at that Violet girl." Piper's ears turned red and in one swift movement she took her dagger in her hands and stabbed her in the stomach.
"Cute." Candace said, lazily removing it. She spun the dagger around on Piper and made a long, slow gash across her throat. Piper gasped for air and staggered to the floor as blood poured out of her. Janelle hurriedly fished through her pockets to find her potion of healing but it was too late. The last thing Piper saw before everything went back was Candace disappearing in a burst of static.
Piper was back in the void. Warm light enveloping her. As the light beckoned her from above, she made no effort to swim toward it. She stayed in fetal position as if willing herself to sink further into death. The light advanced on her, regardless, and soon she was gasping for breath right outside the cave.
Janelle put an arm gently around her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Piper just looked at her and wept. She wept for Jeremy. She wept for Ethan, for Janelle. And she wept for herself. Janelle sat there with her, tears falling from her eyes as well. She had no love for Jeremy to be sure, but she was still in mourning. The child they had saved walked over to them and placed a small hand on Piper's shoulder. She said something in a language she couldn't understand before giving her a big hug and repeating the gesture for Janelle.
"Aww." Janelle sniffled and ruffled her hair. "Let's get you home, kiddo."
Once back in Jordana, they delivered the child, collected their prize of 1000 GP and headed straight for the inn. When Cornelius asked where Jeremy had gone, Piper said he had died, which to be fair, wasn't technically a lie. Cornelius wailed in despair. "First, young Ethan, and now this!" They left him crying with his hat pulled over his eyes. For someone who had started as their enemy, Cornelius had truly come to love the party.
Janelle threw open the doors of the inn to find Violet sitting at the bar in her customary spot.
"Spill." Janelle demanded. "Why are the raiders after you?"
"Wait hold on, where's the rest of your little crew?" Piper took a deep breath and filled Janelle in on what had happened. After she had finished her tale, Violet took a long drag of her long cigarette.
"Shit. You guys have been through the ringer. I can’t believe that shitheel in your party was really Candace.” She grasped Janelle's hand. "I'm so sorry for your loss." She said seriously.
"Thank you. But I don't want Ethan to have died for nothing. Tell us why they're after you."
&nb
sp; "It's simple really. It's because I've seen the Alpha. It's because my spawn point was Ogoloth Mountain."
Piper's mouth hung open but Janelle exclaimed, "I knew it. Those raiders weren't trying to kill you. They were trying to torture you for information."
"That's right." She answered, taking another drag. "I don't know why I'm doing this, she said putting out the cigarette. It doesn't satisfy that itch anymore. But I'll tell you exactly what I told them. The thing has no weak point. It killed me instantly. And Ogoloth is swarming with dragons. It's a suicide mission. It's meant to be a suicide mission. We're not supposed to escape Rookstorm." She concluded, defeated.
"Well not with that attitude we ain't." Janelle said matter-of-factly.
Piper had been watching the two go back and forth like a tennis match but finally spoke up.
