The Thulean now wore a tight one-piece bathing suit with a large circle opened over her stomach that showed a little underboob. It was more of a sexy wetsuit than it was a bathing suit, as her back was completely covered yet it exposed some of her ass.
Lady C., who was already resting on the blanket, stood, covering her chest with her hands.
She wore an orange two-piece bathing suit, the top of which barely covered her large breasts. She also wore Aya's hat, which was cocked a little to the side.
“I have got to go,” I told Iris. “I'll meet you in EverLife in a few hours.”
“Works for me.”
I made my way over to Aya and Lady C., and looked down at them.
“Are you going to stand there like a perv, or are you going to join us?” Lady C. asked me playfully, not looking up at me. “How about playing us a song, too?”
I laughed as I sat down next to her, my bass case now on the sand. “Hey, you're taking all the blanket.”
“Then get in the middle,” said Aya, a few drops of sweat glistening on her chest.
It wasn't even hot outside, which made this visual even stranger. Furthermore, I wasn't actually lying on a blanket. It was digital, which I quickly remembered as soon as I felt the sand crunch beneath my ass.
“Will you put some lotion on me?” Lady C. asked, rolling onto her belly.
“I thought you wanted me to play something?”
“Health before music.”
She scooped her brown hair over her shoulder, and unclipped her bikini top.
This is all make-believe, a voice hissed at the back of my head. Still, I ignored that voice as I squeezed the fake lotion and started massaging it into her back.
I moved to the small of her back, and then to the top of her ass.
“Good idea,” she said as she hiked her bikini bottom down just a bit.
I thought for a second how strange this must look, but there was no one around, so I went for it.
Her body glistening now, I told Lady C. she was good to go.
“Thanks,” she said as she clipped her bikini top back into place. She sat up on her elbows just as her copy of The History of Mortem and Chrono Magic appeared.
“Aren't you going to do me too?” Aya asked as she rolled onto her belly. Her bathing suit wasn't the same, so I just worked my way around it, and lifted it when I needed too, sticking my hand beneath the fabric.
I’d really never touched her skin before, and I realized while touching it just how much of a tactile sensation it was. No, it wasn't scaly like a lizard’s, but there was some texture to it, something slightly different than Lady C.’s soft skin.
It was interesting, but rather than say anything about it I just continued massaging more sunscreen lotion on her back.
“Lower,” Aya lifted herself up a bit with her elbows.
“That too?” I asked, looking down at her slightly green ass.
She looked left, her orange eyes settling on me. “I don't want to get sunburned,” she finally said.
“But I thought you didn’t burn.”
“Hurry, and play some music after.”
“All right, have it your way,” I told her as I began applying some lotion to her ass and thighs.
“Don’t get any funny ideas, Chase,” Lady C. said, not looking up from her book.
“Nope, no funny ideas here. Just trying to protect my Huntresses from UV rays.”
Once I was finished, I went for my bass and checked the tuning. Everything was in place, and as I watched the waves rolling in, I started playing something that I hoped matched their beauty.
Chapter Nine: The Steeple
Rather than waste money on a taxi, I ended up taking the train back to Bushwick.
With the Huntresses back in EverLife, it was a nice ride, and I was able to get just a little bit of rest as the train made its way back toward civilization. My eyes closed, I tried not to start up research on GoogleFace, or check any messages that I had, or look at ways to modify my Fender mini bass.
Of course, with the internet always available and at your fingertips, literally, it was hard not to find yourself randomly searching some data or going down some rabbit hole.
So, I shut iNet off entirely, and just enjoyed the sounds of the train – cha-chunk, cha-chunk – finding a nice little rhythm there. As it often did, homing in on some abstract or background noise created a musicscape in my mind.
Suddenly cha-chunk was a drum beat, and I was playing bass over it, and Iris was singing, no words, just oohs and aahs.
Damn, Iris and I needed to have a jam session soon.
Time passed, and I arrived at my stop, calling the Huntresses back to New York almost immediately.
“What happened to your bathing suits?” I joked.
“I always knew you were a perv.” Lady C. stepped in front of me, wearing some new armor she’d picked up. Of course, like any armor she wore, it was skimpy, showing more skin than necessary, especially in regards to her thighs.
“You really liked putting lotion on us, didn't you?” Aya said as she placed her hand on the hilt of her buster sword.
“I can send you back to EverLife, how about that?”
“No, no,” Aya said as we exited the station. “I want to see your man cave and this beastly roommate of yours.”
“I don't know if Alex will even be there,” I told her as a breeze moved past us. There was a man selling hot dogs not too far away, and I figured I should fuel up before diving.
I transferred a few dollars to the vendor and was given a hotdog bathed in relish, mustard, onions and ketchup.
“This is a hotdog?” Lady C. said as we turned away from the vendor. “Is this really something that someone should eat?” She eyed it curiously, cringing as I took the first bite.
“It looks like you are eating a fried horse penis,” came Aya's response. “I think the goblins in Jatla eat fried horse cock. But then again, they eat anything.”
“Fried horse cock, huh?” I asked as I chewed my first bite. “What’s Jatla, anyway?”
“It is the Goblin Riviera, another name for the filthiest city in Hyperborea. Ask Spew Gorge about it, he will tell you. He's probably from Jatla. Goblins are either from Jatla or Bluwid.”
“Cities in the Proxima world known as Tritania, am I right?”
“That’s right,” she said as we reached my place. “A great place to visit, but not Jatla.”
Alex wasn't home, so there was no one for the two Huntresses to comment on.
“Hello, exercise pipe,” Aya said as we entered my bedroom. She went upside down and started doing crunches.
I placed my bass case in the corner, leaning it against the wall. There was still some sand on the outer layer of the case, which I quickly dusted off.
“You know,” Aya said, her voice hardly wavering even though she was exercising, “you should do more crunches. Your belly is flat, there is no muscle.”
“I’ll get right on that.” I kicked off my shoes and lay on my bed, hearing Lady C.’s armor rattle as she moved in next to me. “Hey, let me get set up first.”
“She’s like a rabbit in heat,” Aya said as she continued working out.
“All right, both of you, be gone,” I said, laughing.
“Hey!” Lady C. raised her fist to slug me. “That’s no way to talk to us.”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The first thing I did after I logged in was immediately sell the vodyanoy and the bunyip. The two weren’t worth a lot, two thousand Proxima dollars, but it was better than nothing.
My bank account flashed as the transaction finished.
Proxima Dollars: $17,250
Spent: $76,500
Loan: 0
From there, I checked to see how many tokens I needed to move us to Level Four.
That would be the goal for tonight and tomorrow: get ten more tokens.
I turned to look at the mythcrea quarters, seeing a few lights blazing on the upper levels. The Proxima bor
ealis fluttered above the building, framing it nicely and reflecting off the glass walls.
Looking north, I saw the meadow, Yaksha in the distance, sitting in meditation. Joe Camel was there, as were Rose and Gobi. I started to walk toward them, and as I did, Aya and Lady C. joined me.
“How are your cabins?” I asked them.
“You know how Lady C.’s cabin is,” Aya said, a hint of humor in her voice. “You should come by my place someday though, I will entertain you with my wild stories of Tritania.”
“So, you're a storyteller now?”
“Her stories aren't too bad,” Lady C. said as she dropped her hand onto my arm and squeezed my elbow. “No romance, but there is a lot of action. Where are we going?”
“We’re waiting for Iris, and I just wanted to see Rose.”
Rose approached, and Gobi scurried past her. The bearadillo cub jumped and I caught it midair.
“Any bigger and you’ll knock me over,” I told the cute cub as it tried to lick my face. “Hey, Rose,” I called over to its mother.
Rose’s response formed in my head. How are things?
Things are good, I thought to her. Are you enjoying EverLife?
We haven't really explored much, because we have everything we need here. But the sky is nice, and the fighting party seems happy, but restless. Will there be another tournament soon?
I sure hope there will be.
“Chase!”
I turn to see Iris waving at us. She was in her typical Proxima world get up: her glasses, a sweater and a skirt, with Converse tennis shoes.
Typical Iris.
“So, where’s the new mythcrea?” she asked once we reached her.
“Aye!” The Thulean drew her blade as a blackened cloud of ink rose from the soil. She took a deep breath in, and resheathed it. “Ink shadow, careful.”
“The name’s Dalton,” the ink shadow said, extending a wispy hand toward Iris. There was a hint of something tangible within the cloud of ink standing before us, something that resembled a frail, older man.
“Nice to meet you,” Iris said, glancing from the ink shadow to me.
“And she's a musician too?” he asked me.
I nodded.
The ink shadow considered this for a moment. “We got time for a little music right now?”
“Actually,” Iris told him, “we were planning on going to the Steeple.”
“The Steeple?”
The ink shadow began snapping his fingers and began humming something. The tune solidified, and still snapping his fingers, he started singing.
The Steeple, the place, where all the people go.
Iris stepped forward and sang the line back to him.
The Steeple, the place, where all the people go.
“Yeah, that’s good,” he said, relaxing some. “Pretty voice. And you? What can you throw down on this ditty?”
I looked to Iris and I was pretty sure we thought the same thing at the same time: we need to get instruments.
“I'm a bass player, not much for singing, but I can do backups.”
“He can sing.” Iris turned to me. “You can sing; don’t undersell yourself.”
“Sure, but I’d prefer a bass.”
“We could definitely use some bass around here. This place is too quiet. And where am I supposed to stay, anyway?”
I was about to tell him to stay in the mythcrea quarters, but he quickly shut that down.
“And don't say that big building over there. Too modern, hoity toity. I need a kind of place that’s a little more lived in, a little homier. I usually just live above whatever bar I’m performing at. I like the hustle and bustle, the sound of music rattling my floorboards.”
“We don't have a club here.” Iris smiled up at the ink shadow, who had doubled in size.
He didn't hover over us in an intimidating way; it was almost as if just hearing a little bit of music had given him more power, forcing his shoulders to lift up, his arms to press back, his chest to expand. “There's always a club somewhere, and in EverLife? Kingdom Lume, right? I'm sure there's something downtown.”
Lady C. and I exchanged glances. “I believe there may be one place that you could play at,” she said. “The Midnight Library. We were there last night doing some research. It looked like they needed a singer. Don’t you think so, Chase?”
“Definitely.”
“The Midnight Library, huh? Sounds like my kind of joint.”
Dalton’s form wavered as he turned away from us. “That settles it. I'm going to get down to the Midnight Library and see what kind of gigs I can conjure up, ha, if you get my drift. I expect to see you two Alphas tonight for our inaugural performance.”
“A gig, tonight?” I asked.
I didn’t have to glance at Iris to know she was nodding with excitement.
“That’s right. Now get some instruments, get them tuned up, and come ready to play.” With that, Dalton took a few steps toward the north, his form sinking into the ground as he continued further.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I raised my fingers to my lips and whistled. Not thirty seconds later, lightning cracked across the sky and thunder rumbled, signaling that the horses had arrived.
“Who's coming with us?” I asked the three.
“Count me the fick in,” Spew Gorge said as he appeared out of nowhere. If he'd been here the entire time, I hadn't seen him. Then again, he was a shifty-ass goblin.
“I’ll get Altsoba.” Aya turned to the mythcrea quarters just as the lightning horses landed, electricity spritzing off their bodies as the lead horse approached Iris and me.
Fujin floated from the rooftop of the quarters down to us, his legs crossed and pressed into the top of a billowy cloud.
“You lead the way,” I told Iris, and soon, she was on the horse with her hands on the reins. I took my horse, Fujin and Lady C. took theirs, and eventually, Aya returned with Altsoba, both of whom mounted a lightning steed.
Up and away we went.
The horses ascended like they were galloping up a hill. It wasn't a completely vertical take-off – it was gradual, which meant that they needed a little room for clearance.
And similar to Santa's reindeer, or at least this was how I had always envisioned them, the horses quickly got into formation, two horses per line, as they curved their way to the main road.
We traveled along the main thoroughfare of Kingdom Lume; this time I noticed things I hadn't noticed on our other trips. Parks, small roadside vendors, elaborately decorated trees, huge entry gates to some of the bigger Dojos.
It really was a nice Kingdom, clean and safe, and seeing it made me want to go out and explore the other eleven kingdoms.
This was another thing that we hadn't done yet. But there’d be time for that, and as we reached the city center, I figured I'd tell Iris that it was something we should put on the agenda.
As soon as we dismounted, I moved over to Iris to suggest we do some kingdom exploring.
“There’s a tournament,” she said, interrupting me. “I was going to tell you about it back at the Dojo.”
“A tournament would be nice,” said Altsoba. Aya, who was next to her, nodded in agreement.
“Fick, I love me a good fight,” Spew Gorge added. The goblin stood near Iris, scratching the back of his head.
“It's a long tournament,” Iris said. “And we're lucky that we came to EverLife when we did, because if we had come a week or two later, we wouldn't be able to join. The tournament is one of the qualifying rounds for the famous Twelve Kingdoms Tournament. The qualifying rounds take place over six weeks or so. The kingdoms go against each other, similar to March Madness. I think that reference makes sense?”
I shrugged. I never was into sports, and I didn't know March Madness from April Showers.
“It’s a bracket thing,” she said, pressing her glasses up with her pointer finger. “So, the twelve kingdoms face off, and eventually, it’s just down to two kingdoms. And before you say anything abo
ut our levels, those are also taken into account. Similar to some of the other tournaments we’ve been in, we’d compete against people around our level.”
“And is there an entry fee?”
“It isn't cheap, twenty thousand Proxima dollars.”
“Yikes,” Aya commented. The Thulean stood next to her steed now, admiring its electrically-charged mane.
“We can get the money,” I said as I ran the numbers in my head. “When’s the last day we can enter?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I could also cash out some USD for PD.”
I couldn't believe I’d just suggested that; Chase from just a week ago would have never given real-world money for digital currency.
But the times had changed.
“How much do you think some instruments would cost?” I asked. “We told Dalton we’d get some and I’m not going to lie, I kind of want to see what the Proxima instruments are like.”
“I'm hoping they're not priced in a way that's equivalent to their price out there, in the real world.”
“I feel you there. Okay, so if I cashed out four hundred bucks, that would give us just under 5,000 Proxima dollars. That’s enough to push us over the line to get into the tournament, and give us a little extra for instruments. But I don't know what kind of instruments we’ll be able to get for around two thousand PD.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
While everyone stood around, I fiddled with the exchange, and eventually sold off $400 for 4,920 Proxima dollars. My on-screen bank account flashed:
Proxima Dollars: $22,170
Spent: $76,500
Loan: 0
“Send me the tournament link,” I told Iris; she instantly flicked it over to me.
I pressed my finger on a golden button that materialized in mid-air, and a prompt asked me if I was ready to pay the tournament fee. I accepted, and now we were now down 20,000 Proxima dollars, leaving us just over two thousand for instruments.
“We're going to have to be cheap, and we may need to make some deals. Let’s make it quick too. We really need to move on to the Steeple.”
“Now we're talkin’,” said Spew Gorge, rubbing his hands. “Goblins fickin’ love making deals. They love breaking deals to. You guys just let me make the fickin’ deals, just in case someone is trying to do you dirty. Trust me there.”
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