“Nice,” I said, as the samsquanch dematerialized. “That was a good catch.”
“A warm-up.” Aya flicked blood off her blade.
“Yeah,” Lady C. said, her large chest moving up and down as she took a few deep breaths. “A warm-up.”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
“The samsquanch was worth five tokens,” I told them as we turned back to the main walkway. “Which means we have five more to go before we get another level.”
“But we’ll have to keep that thing, right?” Aya said, skepticism apparent on her face.
“We will, but it's not too bad. It could be a powerhouse, sort of like Rose. And that was kind of a quick fight; we really don't know what it's capable of.”
“If you say so. Those creatures live on the Tritanian continent of Polynya, in the Sabors. I've never met someone who could actually befriend one, then again, I never associated with people from Polynya. Sell it. We need money anyway.”
As if on cue, I received a message from Keegan, who was already at Central Park waiting for us.
This put me in a tough spot: should we sell the samsquanch, or keep it for its tokens? After all, if we had money, we could place an instant bet before the debt auto-drafted.
“The little girl, right?” Lady C. asked Aya. “I want to win as well, but it would be nice to see her win, she deserves it.”
“Don't speak of such a thing,” Aya chastised her. “The day you see yourself in your enemy is the day you are no longer worthy of the title Huntress.”
“A Huntress can have compassion.”
“Yes, after a battle, and after we’ve captured the mythcrea, sure. But not before.”
“I’m going to sell it.”
The Monster Hunt app expanded across my pane of vision. I mentally selected mythcrea, went to the samsquanch, and found that it was worth four thousand Proxima dollars.
If only we had more time to hunt... I thought as I sold the samsquanch and immediately placed all the money on a bet against Keegan.
It was only a mile walk to Central Park, so rather than take a taxi or the train, we did it the old-fashioned way. It was a nice enough day outside, a little warmer than the previous day, but I'd already been warned that a cold front would be coming through soon.
As we walked, Lady C. checked out the buildings, stopping every now and then to crane her head back and look up to the tops of them. Aya wasn't so interested in the architecture, focusing more on graffiti and odd-looking people.
It was hard not to laugh at the people she pointed at or the things she said. One guy approached me with a flyer for an upcoming event and she nearly cut his head off.
“Don't worry about people,” I told her as soon as the guy passed.
“That paper could have been poisonous.”
“Poisonous by me touching it?”
"No, eating it, it could have been poisonous if you had eaten it.”
“Why would I have eaten the paper?”
“Because you are a musician, and musicians do weird things.” With that, she brushed past, her head held high.
We reached Central Park, and moved deeper into the wooded area. The meeting point was agreed upon, and it didn't take me long to find Keegan standing there with her two Hunters.
The young alpha had leveled up. She was now at Level Five; her two Hunters, a cyclops and a fairy, had also gained two levels.
“How do you keep getting out of school to come to brawls?” I asked the girl, who I had pegged as eleven but may have been thirteen or fourteen.
No telling. I was bad at guessing ages.
Keegan, who wore an oversized sweater with stripes on it and combat boots, rolled her eyes. “I go to school in the Proxima Galaxy. It's fall break right now.”
“There's a fall break? I never got that.”
“Yep.”
Aya sized up the cyclops, rolling her head on her neck and giving him a look that let him know that she meant business.
Keegan’s fairy actually said hi to Lady C., who said hi back and told her just how cute she was.
“I go to a Montessori school,” Keegan said, looking at me defiantly. “So we have one month off and two months on all year round. In the month I have off, I usually have a large assignment to complete, which I've already completed. But anyway, are you ready?”
“We doing mythcrea this time or what?”
Keegan looked from her cyclops to her fairy. “Hunters only.”
“Got it. Let's get into our places,” I told the two Huntresses.
Once we were in position, Keegan and I nodded at each other, a nonverbal agreement.
Predictably, Aya went straight for the cyclops, whirling her big-ass sword as she launched into the air with her ghost limbs. She came down hard, but the cyclops sidestepped her attack, shifting his way to his other foot and throwing his fist at her.
I winced as the fist smashed into her side armor.
I couldn't believe that she'd been caught off guard.
On the other side of the fight, the fairy had grown to Lady C.'s size. Magic filtering out of her eyes, she blasted off the ground with an oval ring of energy around her feet.
“Switch!” I shouted, realizing that if anyone could get the fairy, it would be Aya with her ghost limbs and throwing knives.
Disgruntled, but still obeying my instructions, Aya cartwheeled to the side while Lady C. time skipped over to the cyclops.
She appeared directly behind the cyclops, her flaming swords lashing into his back.
He roared in pain, but rather than go down for the count, he swiveled around, the flesh on his back still steaming.
The cyclops finally drew his weapon, a morningstar, and swung it at Lady C.
She parried, blocked the next hit by crossing her swords, and kicked him in the stomach, temporarily knocking the wind out of the cyclops, evident in the way he was wheezing.
“Get down here!” Aya said as she hurled a throwing knife at the fairy.
The fairy dodged it, and returned fire with more oval rings of energy, which Aya jumped to avoid. She was doing a lot of that, jumping and rolling, which seemed hard with her sword, but she was pulling it off.
“Aye!” she cried as she pulled herself up to a tree using her ghost limbs and launched herself at the fairy, her sword suddenly on her back so she didn't have to hold on to it any longer.
The Thulean warrior goddess slammed into the fairy, and brought her straight to the ground, adding insult to injury. She came up with her fist, punching the fairy in the face repeatedly.
Keegan screamed as Aya brought a knife out and slit the fairy’s throat.
“Keegan, chill out, police!” I hissed as I saw a gunned-up Homeland Security police officer turn in our direction.
She nodded quickly, coughed, and waved meekly at the officer to let him know she was fine.
Finish this now, I thought to the two Huntresses, knowing all too well that they couldn't read my mind.
The cyclops kicked Lady C.'s feet out from under her, and threw his morningstar at Aya, striking her in the head and killing her immediately.
I opened my mouth to shout, and covered it with both my hands.
Aya was done.
But Lady C. was already on the offensive, bringing both blades through the cyclops’ body, skewering him. She twisted her blades, the flames licking off their ends as his body ignited.
The battle was over, and a prompt let me know that I’d doubled my money.
I let out a deep sigh, and as I did so, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see a different police officer looking at me funny.
“What you doing over here?” he asked.
“I'm a musician, and I'm trying to get in touch with nature,” I said with a nervous grin. “Trying to you know, feel vibrations.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, check my UBI record. I’m really a musician.”
“Are you on pollutes?”
“No sir, officer. I don’t like them.”
>
The police officer cocked his head a bit to the right as Keegan approached. “What about her?”
“He's friends with my older brother,” Keegan said, her voice pitching up a bit, so she sounded sweeter than before. “My older brother had to work today and I go to school in the Proxima Galaxy, so he's responsible for watching me. Yeah, it sucks, but my family can't afford a babysitter. And besides, I am fourteen, I don't need a babysitter. But I wanted to come to the park, and if I come to the park, he has to come with me.”
The officer, who was a middle-aged man, fit, but also with dark circles under his eyes, relaxed his shoulders a bit. “Okay, that's fine, but don't scream things out in public, the both of youse. Makes me think maybe you were doing something you weren't supposed to be doing, like playing Monster Hunt or any of those other augmented reality apps.”
“Augmented reality apps?” I shook my head. “I've never been into that kind of stuff. I prefer music, it's real.”
“It's real, huh? I see, well, you two take care of yourselves, and don't do anything crazy in Central Park.”
Chapter Twelve: Subway Safari
We ran into a low level Tikbalang on our way out of Central Park, a werehorse, which was fairly easy to catch. It wasn’t worth keeping, so I sold it for two thousand, bringing the bank account up to 10,170 Proxima dollars.
Rather than have an eternal debate with myself about whether I should pay the balance, or trying to convince myself that if I paid half back now, then I could definitely pay half back later and just keep the bank account artificially inflated for a moment, I went ahead and paid the balance in full.
Paying any balance in full always gave me some form of satisfaction mixed with sadness, glad to see the debt paid, but sad to see the money go.
It was definitely bittersweet.
My Proxima bank account flashed across my pane of vision, showing me the hit I’d taken.
Proxima Dollars: $1,170
Spent: $107,500
Loan: 0
“We're going in a taxi, right?” Aya said as we stepped out of the park.
“Yeah, let's just do that. Actually, it’ll be cheaper to ride the subway.”
“You know how we feel about the subway, Chase,” said the Thulean, narrowing her orange eyes at me.
Lady C. looped her arm through mine. “I'm ready to try the subway with you,” she said, steeling herself with a deep breath.
“It would be more economical...”
“You are a cheap man, Chase,” Aya said. “If you were more like a Thulean man, strong, not cheap, then perhaps I would like you.”
“He’s a good man,” Lady C. argued. “He’s nice to us, to all the creatures he meets, and to Iris.”
I laughed. “And besides, Aya, what if I didn't like you? I mean, what if I were all those things you want, but I didn’t like you?”
Her smile faded away, replaced by a look of utter sadness. She tried to hide this by turning, but I could tell by her posture that what I had said had actually offended her.
“I'm just playing,” I started to say.
“No, you are right, even if you were strong, didn't have glasses, and you spent your money wisely, you still may not like someone like me. You prefer someone like her, or Iris.”
“What do you mean someone like me?” Lady C. asked. “And do you prefer Iris, Chase?”
“Okay, both of you need to go back to the Proxima Galaxy.”
“Don't you dare,” Aya said, drawing her sword. “Be honest with us, now.”
“About what?” I asked, as Lady C. ripped her hand away from my arm.
“Would you like me if you were Thulean?” Aya asked, her wolfish grin returning to her face.
She baited me, I thought as I looked to Lady C.
“Sure,” I told her, seconds away from just sending them back to the Dojo to give me a moment to figure out how to answer these questions correctly. Because I knew what was coming next, and it came almost immediately.
“And are you attracted to Iris?” Lady C. asked.
“Trust me, you are both unique in your own ways,” I said, avoiding the question. “And I adore you both. That's it, I adore you both.”
Aya snorted and turned back toward the street, her little scheme fully realized. On one hand, I had to tip my hat to someone who could fake hurt well enough to put me in a trap; on the other, I really wished that she wouldn't get involved with internal affairs.
Ha, that’s a way to frame it, I thought as I changed the subject, internal affairs.
“Fine, I’ll get a taxi. How about something big, like an aeroSUV? We haven't used that type before.”
“What’s SUV?” Lady C. asked.
“It means sport utility vehicle, and trust me, it's a lot more luxurious.”
The Thulean tsked. “You have been holding out on us. Why have we been riding in cramped little taxis when we could be riding in luxurious SUVs?”
Rather than engage with the contrarian Thulean, I ordered an UberLyft Black, which would cost me forty bucks to go to Clinton Hill. It was a total waste of money, I knew that, but I wanted to at least make something of it.
I messaged Iris, letting her know that I would pick her up from her university as well.
Perhaps I was digging myself a hole that I wouldn't be able to get out of, both financially and through my relationships.
I looked to Lady C., who had focused her attention on some stickers posted to a streetlamp. Her hair was in a ponytail, the wind running through its tips. She was everything anyone could ever want in a woman, her beauty matching her sweetness, matching her intellect, matching her empathy, hell, matching her battle prowess.
She was in her armor now, the same armor that she had worn in Sagelock’s Tournament, golden scaled fletching, pink skirt, knee high warrior boots.
“She’s definitely something to look at, isn't she?” Aya said as she sidled up next to me.
“You know, you get me in more trouble than you're worth sometimes.”
She laughed as she lightly slapped my cheek with her ghost limb. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
The SUV landed, and the doors opened, suicide wing style. We filed into the back, Lady C. commenting on its spaciousness and the soft leather seats.
The seats faced each other, so I sat with my back to the hood of the SUV, figuring that it would be more conducive to the Huntresses’ stomachs to travel facing forward.
Aya was also impressed by the vehicle, and for the first time since I’d met the two Huntresses, she cozied up next to Lady C. and laid her head on her shoulder, coyly looking over at me.
“See? We can be friends,” Aya said.
If Lady C. was bothered by the way Aya was leaning against her, her face didn't show it. In fact, she took Aya's hat off and placed it on her own head, asking if she looked cute in it.
“Sure, you look great. Both of you.” I swallowed hard. “In the hat, I mean.”
“Such an amateur,” Aya mumbled as we lifted into the appropriate skylane. It didn't take us long to reach Iris' university, and as we touched down to the curb, the best ukulele player I’d ever met ran out of the building to greet us.
She wore her Iris best, an oversized sweater with an emoji stitched on the front, tight black jeans, black Converse, her trademark glasses.
“What's the occasion?” She into the back seat next to me, so that we were now both across from Lady C. and Aya.
"What do you mean?”
“For the vehicle.”
I heard the engine start up as the aeroSUV lifted into the air. A group of students exiting the main building saw us, and I could tell at least a handful were wondering who was behind the darkly tinted windows.
“They’ve never ridden in an SUV before, and I paid off our debt. I figured we’d celebrate and take a nicer ride this time.”
“He’s finally treating us like ladies,” Aya said, a flicker of laughter behind her orange eyes as she looked me over.
“Cool,” Iris
said. “Also, I ordered food, and it should be at my apartment in the next fifteen minutes. You’re hungry, right?”
“I’m starving.”
“He had a hotdog in the park, with green relish that looked like snot,” said Lady C. “I’m counting what he eats now. We don’t want him getting fat!”
“Chase? Get fat?” Iris laughed. “He barely has an ounce of fat on his body. I swear I've seen this guy eat his weight in catered food and not gain a pound. He’ll be fine.”
Aya sighed. “It's too bad, he really could benefit from gaining some muscle mass.”
We arrived at Iris’ apartment a few minutes later.
The food came a few minutes later, a pair of southwestern wraps with kale and walnut salad.
The wraps were good, the salad crunchy, and Iris poured me a glass of soda to wash it down, some local stuff that was sourced from ginger and non-GMO sugar cane. It had a powerful bite to it, that was for sure.
I felt a yawn coming on and I let it happen, Iris laughing as she watched me yawn again.
“Does somebody need a nap?”
“A quick nap sounds about right,” I said. “Who’s down?”
Iris laughed. “I have work to do, but you can nap on my futon. I’ll be quiet about it.”
“We’ll nap with you,” Lady C. volunteered.
“Thuleans do not nap,” Aya reminded her. “We are too proud for that.”
“There’s no one here to turn you in to the Thulean authorities,” Iris reminded her, “so feel free to nap.”
“I will nap sitting up then, as I don’t want Chase to try to cuddle with me.”
I waved her comment away and moved to the futon to lie down. Lady C. plopped down next to me, and I suddenly felt awkward about the whole situation: how was I supposed to take a nap cuddling up next to Lady C. while Iris was right here?
“We have to train after this,” I told the two Huntresses.
“You mean you have to train, right?”
“Exactly, the qualifying rounds are tomorrow night. Iris and I both need you two to train us, so I’m going to send you back to the Dojo now to prepare for that; we’ll be there in an hour or so.”
Luckily for me, this announcement didn’t go over as poorly as I thought it might.
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