Crystalfire Keep

by J. A. Cipriano

  The Ocean Mother’s eldest daughter nodded gravely. “We must, or I fear all of this strife will be for naught.”

  “But do not let that burden you now, good champions,” Crystain added, his deep voice reverberating through the room as Copperholt left the platform. “Your battle must have been exhausting, for I know firsthand the power of the War Golems stationed at our borders. Rest and regroup while you can and know that Sir Copperholt will see to it that your way will be clear through the courtyard. Return to us later this day and we shall give you your next orders.”

  “Oh,” the princess added, “if you recovered any unusual artifacts from the Keep, speak with me after this. They might be of help in deciphering the Elohjin weapon and I will be happy to provide a proper reward in exchange for them.”

  Raid quest ‘A Courtyard of Flames’ concluded!

  Quest successful!

  25% Experience awarded!

  Crystalfire Keep Courtyard Checkpoint unlocked!

  Congratulations! You have gained a level and are now a level 46 Warlord!

  Strength increases by 1 to 194!

  Agility increases by 1 to 65!

  Power increases by 1 to 44!

  Infusion increase by 2 to 370!

  Vitality increases by 2 to 379!

  Health Points increase by 20 to 4040!

  Elemental Power increases by 20 to 3020!

  I wasn’t the only one who leveled. Bursts of the four elemental forces erupted around Kayla’s feet as well as Burndall’s, Vindril’s, and Nahma’s before wrapping into the golden beacons that signaled a level up. As the NPC interaction faded, a barrage of shouts came from the crowd around us, a series of oohs and aahs mixed with the congratulations.

  After all, there was only one reason anyone should be leveling from speaking to the king and that was for completing a leg of the raid. I shivered from the endorphin rush that accompanied each and every level up, shaking my head to clear it as I dropped into raid chat.

  Shale: Okay, folks! Call it a hunch but I don’t think we’ll be able to continue to the next third of the raid until our next play period. Everybody, give yourself a pat on the back and until this afternoon, you’re free to do whatever.

  Burndall: Don’t forget to turn in gear tokens if you got ‘em! We want to be as kick buffalo as possible for the next leg of things.

  Predictably, Merina, Vindril, and Nahma immediately turned towards the Nix princess to start browsing the selection of raid gear on hand. I would have been tempted to browse myself, just to plan ahead in case there was a token drop that would be smart to take myself like a shield (even my Solar Guardian’s Shield was a pale comparison to Vanni’s Winged Aegis), but Kayla was already dragging me away.

  As much as I loved the smell of new loot, I loved Kayla more.

  Even as we stepped away to find a quiet corner to have our private celebration, I couldn’t help but noticed Vanni and Crysta doing the same. Deep down, I couldn’t full suppress an irrational fear that when we returned from our mid-morning break, Vanni wouldn’t return with us. I couldn’t be sure that her miraculous appearance, still shrouded in questions, would repeat without knowing what caused it.

  19

  One advantage of having a girlfriend who can teleport the both of you across the world is that it isn’t hard to find a private spot. Considering it had been a cozy, out-of-the-way spot before, we wound up in the tiny inn of Whitepeak once again, seated around a barrel table and drinking in the warmth of the crackling fire.

  “I know I said we’d be celebrating but after what Vanni said back there,” Kayla said softly, her blue eyes glittering in the firelight, “I want to talk instead.” She looked up at me. “I guess I realize the truth about what you said, that no matter how much we might not want to lose track of each other that it could happen. All it would take would be some accident before we gain enough Trust to meet each other up there and …” Her voice trailed off with a faint sigh.

  I reached out a hand across the table, open and palm up, something she took up eagerly. “Well, from what I’ve seen, you’re used to being able to get what you set your sights on, regardless of what other people tell you. The idea that you could lose something out of your control isn’t exactly in your thought process, is it?”

  “Not usually, no. There are some things … some people … that make me doubt that sometimes.” She shook her head and laughed a little. “But please, don’t let me start a pity party. Anything I’ve dealt with is nothing compared to what you have on your shoulders.”

  “Is it?” Squeezing her hand, I smiled. “Not to say I’ve had it easy but that doesn’t make your problems lesser in comparison. I mean, I’ve seen what your father says to you. I couldn’t imagine my parents would ever have said anything like that to me or my sister.”

  Kayla stiffened as her breath hitched. “You know about my father …?” She relaxed almost as quickly but there was a worry that lingered in her eyes. “Of course, the Vale. That’s what you were going to tell me before, weren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” I didn’t try to stop the scowl forming on my face. “I didn’t see it all, I have no doubt of that, but from everything I’ve heard and everything you’ve told me, I’m not looking forward to meeting him in person. He seems like a complete rabbit-eared backgammon, no offense.”

  She stared at me for a long moment before thankfully breaking down into giggles. “Oh, geez, thank you for once, you stupid Filter.” We squeezed one another’s hands as she got the entire giggle fit out of her, wiping a tear from her eye once she had settled down. “I needed that.”

  I grinned even as my face grew serious. “Do you want to try to talk about it? Maybe the Filter will let you say enough that at least you can vent a little? Besides, I probably need to know about him for the future.”

  “Well, I can try.” Her fingers ran through her floating blue hair, but she refused to let go of my hand. “I don’t like to talk about it but … maybe I need to. Maybe it’ll convince the stupid AI to bump up this process.”

  She took a deep breath before beginning. “Father, well, you could say he’s invested a lot of money into preparing me for my career. I can’t say he’s spent a lot of time, not in the sense of being a real parent. Maybe it was Mother’s death that did it to him, but I don’t think so. He’s always been more focused on his business than us.”

  “So, what does that have to do with the present day? You’re employed somewhere in the vague classification of legal work and you’ve implied that my family’s financial issues wouldn’t be a problem for you, so money isn’t an issue, not really.” I frowned. “You’d think he’d be proud of a daughter who did that and is something of a minor celebrity, even if it’s just in a video game.”

  Kayla started to laugh. “Oh boy, that has no bearing on Father. You should have heard his rant when I mentioned I’d be taking extra time in the dive for the contest this weekend. He was livid!” She blew out a sigh. “Not that he has that kind of control over me anymore but as they say, the most crushing thing a parent can tell you is that they are disappointed. It’s like he can’t process how important this is,” – she waved around the room – “both the game in general and the contest in specific. It’s not ‘normal work’, so it’s all a waste in his eyes.”

  Dr. Fontaine came to the forefront of my mind and memories of our past confrontations made me realize how much I knew what Kayla was feeling. I nodded in sympathy. “Oh boy, do I know people who say that same thing.” I took her one hand in both of mine now, kissing her knuckles. “All I have to say, Mina, is that I know how to set people like that straight. You just let Crysta and I tackle him.” I cracked a smile. “And I just realized that when we beat this system and get together, you can meet Crysta too. Hopefully, Vanni too if she, well, if she recovers the rest of the way.”

  She folded her free hand around my clasped grip and added a kiss of her own. “That’ll be awesome.” She quirked an eyebrow. “That freaked me out earlier, you know! I had no ide
a what was going on and … well … for a moment I was awfully jealous. I wondered if you were going around behind my back, but then I remembered that Crysta is so not into men it’s not funny. Still, the whole thing is weird and, honestly, I’m still a little jealous.”

  “I swear to everything I hold dear that I’m not fooling around with anyone behind your back.” I squeezed her hands to emphasize the point. “But why are you jealous now?”

  Our gazes locked, and I could see the longing in her eyes. “Because she knows the real you already and it feels like we have so far to go yet.”

  You have gained Trust with your Promised! Your Trust is now at 33 points!

  We both smiled at the UI message and I nodded to her. “We’re getting there and that’s what’s important.”

  She nodded as we both stood and leaned over the table for a real kiss.

  The rest of our limited time was spent in the comfortable, social chatter that I was only recently refamiliarizing myself with after my nearly decade-long hermiting. Between Wynona and Mina, I would be a fully functioning social creature again within a year at that rate. Though we talked idly about the Vanni situation, neither one of us delved too deeply into it. We didn’t have to; we both had the same fears and it wouldn’t do a lick of good to dwell on them.

  There was something I could do though, just not there.

  Roxanne was there to meet me the moment I came up through the deep dive and into my own head. Before I could get a word in, she was wiping the sweat away from my brow and face, shaking her head in that ‘you’re-taking-this-too-far-but-I’m-proud-of-you-anyway’ look that I didn’t even know I could recognize until I saw it now.

  “So, champ,” she said as she took my pulse, “you’ve pulled yourself out for another day.” She glanced back toward my face. “How is the big contest going?”

  I laughed a little as I brought my wheelchair up to a sitting position. “Well, we beat the first part. I can’t say if we’re winning or not, the results are being kept confidential until the contest period is up, but I’m confident.”

  “Good.” Smiling, she let go of my wrist and stood, stretching. “Your vitals are still doing okay even if your heart rate spiked a few times. As for the rest, well, if you’re confident, I’m confident.”

  I smiled and nodded, touching my controls to guide the chair to my desk. “I don’t have too long before the next session so if you could get me something to eat and drink, I’d be grateful.” My fingers flew to the desktop power switch. “I’ve got something to take care of and I need to do it before I dive again.”

  Roxanne arched an eyebrow as she walked to the autodoor. “Should I be a little worried, normal worried, or super worried?”

  “Somewhere between a little and normal, I’d wager,” I quipped as the monitor hummed to life. “Honestly, though, it should be fine. I just need to ask someone a question.”

  She wasn’t entirely convinced as she nodded and popped into the main room. I didn’t blame her. I am a terrible liar after all.

  UniMessage was open as soon as the screen had come to full brightness and a moment later, the contact number for Dr. Rosemary Fontaine was beeping. I’m not sure if I was shocked or not that she picked up almost immediately.

  “Maximillian,” she said plainly as she nodded. From the scrubs and serious look, I could tell she had just recently been with a patient.

  “Doc,” I nodded in reply. “We need to talk about – “

  She cut me off with a raised finger. “Let me simplify this and make this a three-way call.” Before I could say a word, her fingers tapped at whatever device she was using to communicate with me and the screen split, Dr. Fontaine to the right and, to no real shock of mine, Wynona, eyes still a little red from all the tears I know she had shed that day, to the left.

  “Max,” Wynona said softly, “I totally should have known you would want to know what happened too.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “there’s no way I was going to let this slide without finding out the truth.”

  Rosemary cleared her throat. “You both act as if there is something nefarious afoot. I would have thought you would both be overjoyed with the current situation.” When my gaze narrowed along with Wynona’s, the doctor smiled faintly. “I will admit perhaps that I should have forewarned the both of you about the specifics of Ms. Alvarez’s therapy, but to be fair, I wasn’t entirely sure it would develop to the necessary level until today.”

  “Does that mean” – Wynona had to take a deep breath to keep her composure – “she’ll be back later? That I’ll keep seeing her in the game?”

  “Indeed, Ms. Sinclair, and perhaps more.” The Doc looked smug, which was pretty common for her. “Your fiancée seems to be reacting positively to the therapy sessions. Her conscious brain activity is increasing drastically while within the deep dive and the overall increase is leading to new neural pathways being formed to compensate for the brain damage inflicted. I could go on about the technical aspects, but I don’t think they would interest you.”

  “Why?” I meant it as an armor-piercing question, to drive right to the center of it all. While Dr. Fontaine was a doctor, hence one who wanted to see people healed, she was as much a pioneer, one who focused all their attention to the horizon instead of the needs of the little people. “Why did you do this here and now?”

  “Ah.” Rosemary clicked her tongue. “While I have many cases with which I could have continued this experiment on, Ms. Alvarez presented not only a research opportunity but a way for me to make the playing field even.”

  Wynona’s gaze was now on me. “What’s she talking about, Max?”

  My little white lie was now biting me in the butt and I felt more foolish for saying it. If I should have learned anything from the Rings of Promise by then, it was that lying never paid off. “I should have told you earlier but – ”

  “Maximillian and I have a little wager, Ms. Sinclair,” Dr. Fontaine said, cutting me off dead. “You see, if you and your friends complete this contest you are engaged in within the top one hundred teams, I will be sufficiently convinced of the point you had impressed upon me before, leading me to double my charitable efforts around the country. If you don’t …”

  “I didn’t want you to worry, Wynona, not with everything else over your head right now.” It was a lame excuse, even if it was the truth. “I’m sorry, I really am.”

  Wynona closed her eyes for a moment before letting out a faint sigh. “Like, you still should have told me. Maria’s as much at risk as you and Chrissy.” Her eyes opened slowly. “But … it’s okay. I forgive you, Max. It’s for the best, I guess, because I can see her again.”

  Dr. Fontaine’s face was utterly impassive as we had our back and forth. “So, as I said, I wished the contest to be fair. I knew the connection between the two of you, Ms. Alvarez, and your contest, so I felt it only right to give you all the tools to succeed.” There was the faintest twitch of a smile. “I want you to win, I truly do. Now, you can.”

  Her eyes flicked to one side as if someone was trying to get her attention. “Well, Ms. Sinclair, Max, if you would excuse me, I have a patient to attend to. After all, her next therapy session is only a few hours.”

  Without waiting for either of us to respond, Rosemary’s feed blipped out, the screen reverting fully to Wynona’s side of things.

  I let out a deep sigh, disappointed in myself still for lying, especially after I had learned about the need for trust and honesty with my friends. “I just want to say I’m sorry again. I – “

  “Dude,” she said and to my surprise, topped it off with a giggle, a little weak but there all the same. “Stop it already. You apologized, I forgave you, and I get to see the woman I love again in, like, a couple of hours. It’s all good.”

  I mulled that over for a moment. “Yeah.” Smiling, I said it again, “Yeah. Things are good. They’d only be better if Maria were to wake up and I could get enough Trust points to see Kayla.”

  “How many do you g
uys have?” Wynona sipped on a mug of what I thought was real coffee.

  “Only thirty-three so far. The Filter AI is stingy as heck.”

  When Wynona began to laugh, I was a bit flustered. Was she making fun of us for some reason? “Max, like, do you want to know how much Trust Maria and I had when we first hooked up out of the game?”

  I tried not to be upset or defensive when I muttered, “No, I obviously don’t know the answer to that, Wynona.”

  “Forty-two.”

  My eyes widened. “Wait, that’s not even a breakpoint above where we’re at!”

  “It’s totally about the questions you ask,” she said. “Don’t feel bad, though, it took us a while before we bumbled into something that worked ourselves. Heck, I can’t even really give you any more hints because I don’t know what all you and Kayla have in common. Just remember that you both almost certainly live in this same arcology or near enough.”

  I raised my good hand, disbelief plain in my voice. “So, let me get this straight. If we try hard enough, we can use the fact we’re living in the same gigantic tower-city to somehow meet up?”

  “Look, Max, don’t totally stress over this!” she chirped. “Let’s beat the Keep and then you two lovebirds can figure it out.”

  She was right, even if I knew a part of me was going to be fighting with it the entire time until I figured it out. “Right, okay.” With a sigh, I glanced towards the front room. “I better go. I need to eat before the next dive.”

  “Me too.” Wynona smiled and winked. “See you then!”

  “You too, Wynona. Take care.”

  The connection dropped, and I settled back in my wheelchair. Before I settled into a deep brood about Wynona’s little enigmatic hint, I roused myself, turning towards the front room and the fuel it would provide for the next challenge.