by Rick Scott
Thanus huffs. “So, we’ve got to get lucky?”
“Essentially,” Val Helena says. “But there is a way around it. You can gain a special key item that will allow the gate to send you to the right island.” She grins wickedly. “That’s how we’re going to beat the rest of the Shard here to get the claim.”
The guild lights up with enthusiasm at that.
“So, the key item is next on the hit list?” Zeke asks, flexing his new trident.
“Unfortunately, no,” Val Helena says. “It involves an event that only happens when the bosses spawn. But, on the plus side, it’s pretty painless to obtain. We’ve got a month to prep for that. For now, we just need to focus on getting everyone to 85, and then tackling more raid bosses so we can gel as a team and take stuff down a bit more smoothly.”
“Yeah, no crap,” Thanus says with a laugh. “That win was a train wreck!”
Everyone laughs goodnaturedly, but I can’t help but feel a bit responsible for the disaster. I give a weak smile. “Yeah, sorry about that, guys. I’ll try not to suck so much next time.”
To my surprise, that gets another round of laughs and a few pats on the back.
“Okay. That’s it for today,” Val Helena says. “Great job, everyone. We’ll all meet up later to celebrate, but for now, have some R&R. You’ve earned it!”
We break up, and Gilly takes hold of my arm. “That doesn’t apply to you, Reece. Come on. We need to go level!”
I laugh as she drags me along with her. As we depart, I notice Val Helena looking over the railing with her back to me. Something about the way she’s just standing there, alone, almost forlorn, strikes a chord within me, and I slow. “Hey, Gilly. You mind if I have a quick chat with Val Helena? I just wanted to thank her.”
Gilly’s countenance darkens with a scowl. “Seriously . . . you’re still chasing after that big hussy? After all I’ve done for you?”
“What? Gilly! It’s not even like—”
She bursts into laughter. “Man, you’re so easy to troll.”
I suck my teeth at her. “Not funny. I’m going to tell her you called her a hussy, too.”
“‘Big hussy,’” she corrects, and then laughs some more. “Go on, you duffus! Meet me in Swifttide when you’re done. And give her a hug from me, too.”
Gilly gives me a quick peck on the lips and waves as she fast-travels away.
I chuckle to myself. What a gal.
I approach Val Helena from behind and stand next to her as she surveys the sea of clouds. “Nice view.”
Val Helena looks down at me and smiles. “Not going to go level?”
“In a bit,” I say.
I almost have the urge to tell her that I’m on a new timetable now, and need to make two million credits in just a couple days. But she’s helped me with enough already. Plus, Gilly has it covered, I’m sure. She hasn’t let me down yet. “I just wanted to say thanks for today. For what you did for Gilly, too. It means a lot to me to see you guys getting along.”
She nods. “Well, I figured she’s pretty much in the family now. Didn’t want her to miss out on experiencing this place with the rest of the guild.”
I nod. “Hey . . . I think I actually remember this place now.”
She looks at me, surprised. “You do?”
“Well, not remember it like I’ve been here before. It’s where I saw you when I searched for you that night. When I sent you that PM to help me get my corpse.”
She nods. “Ah . . .”
I think back to that moment, caught up in the nostalgia. Though it’s only been a few days, it might as well have been years in terms of how far I’ve come. “I owe you a lot for that, Val Helena. For what you did for me that night. And everything since. I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without you.”
“Hey, you can thank yourself, too, you know?” she says. “You work hard and take risks most people wouldn’t.” She grins. “Those crazy reflexes of yours don’t hurt, either.”
I laugh at that. “I haven’t forgotten my promise to you, Val. When the world boss spawns . . . I’ll be there.”
“Thanks,” she says. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”
A pause settles between us as we look out at the sky.
“I guess you come here a lot, huh?”
Val Helena leans against the railing, which is chest height for me, but waist height for her. “Sometimes. It’s a nice place to get away and think.”
I study her face as her steel-gray eyes search the clouds, staring at something I can’t see. “Why is it that you need to kill the world boss, anyway? Is it the credits? It drops like 20 mil or something, right?”
“Forty,” she says. “Don’t worry. You’ll get enough to afford your mom’s treatment with your share.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that I’ll be paying for my mom’s treatment long before that.
“I’m dreading it,” she says suddenly. Her eyes glisten, and her lips begin to tremble. “Every moment I think about it, I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“What? Why?”
She straightens and wipes her eyes with her palms as she presses on a smile. “Yup. It’s going to be that tough of a fight, Reece. Think Uliligy-whatever times ten.”
She laughs, but it’s a hollow sound. Not like her usual laugh at all.
I laugh with her, anyway. For her sake.
“But hey, we’ve got a month to prepare, right?” She looks down at me and smiles.
I can only nod.
“That’s right,” she says, and looks back to the sky. “We should be more than ready by then. More than ready.”
I wait to see if she’ll say anything else. When she doesn’t, I take that as my cue to leave. “Well, I’ve got to go, Val. I’ll see you around.”
She looks back at me and smiles, but there’s a touch of sadness in her eyes that, for some reason, reminds me of my mother. “See you soon, Reece.”
We hug briefly, and then I fast-travel away, leaving Val Helena to stare out at the false sea, alone.
* * *
I materialize back at Swifttide, still a bit perplexed by what Val Helena said to me. I’m about to send Gilly a PM about it when I notice there’s a message from my mother that was sent about twenty minutes ago. Shoot. I must have missed it while I was fighting Ullithilli. I open it up.
From: Mom
Ryan, can you please log out? We need to have a talk. Mike’s coming home.
-Mom
My stomach does a little flip. Why would she mention Mike? And what does she mean “coming home”?
A thousand thoughts go through my mind. None of them good.
I send Gilly a message.
Me: Hey, I got to log off. My mom needs to talk to me.
Gilly: Okay! ( :
I contemplate telling her about the Mike part, but I don’t want to worry her prematurely if it’s nothing.
Me: I’ll talk to you in a bit.
Gilly: Come back soon. We got work to do! <3 ^_^/
For once, not even Gilly’s cute emojis can ease the tension building in my stomach. I log out of Crystal Shards, and then out of the system entirely, pulling off my rig.
When I do, I find Mike standing in my room. My heart jumps in my throat when I see what he has in his hands. Grasped tightly in his clenched fists are the straps of two large duffle bags.
“Hey,” he says. His voice is uncharacteristically low and calm. “Can you come into the kitchen? I got something I need to tell you and Mom.”
“Um . . . okay,” I say, but inwardly, my stomach’s swimming. It can’t be time already. It can’t be!
I grab Mutt and Jeff as Mike helps me up. We head to the kitchen, where Mom’s already waiting for us, standing in her robe with her arms folded across her chest. She gives me a weak smile as I hobble up next to her, and then she wraps an arm around my waist as Mike takes center stage in the middle of the kitchen, dropping his duffle bags to the floor.
“I’m going t
o be moving out for a while,” Mike says. “I found a new job down in the hub. The hours are pretty crazy, so I’ve found a place I can stay that’ll be close by. It’s short-term, but the work’s pretty intensive, so I probably won’t have much opportunity to make contact.”
My mom’s face is nonplussed. Like this is something she’s been expecting. Or perhaps dreading. “And you’re going tonight?”
Mike’s cheeks puff as he blows out a sigh. “Yup.”
“How long?” she asks. “You said, ‘for a while.’ How long will this go on for?”
He shrugs. “Could be about a month. I don’t know.”
This is it. He’s going to the surface.
I look at my finances and a cavern opens up inside me.
You have………. 1,657,230 Cr
Two million too short. I’ve failed. If I just had a bit more time . . .
“Do you really have to go right now?” I ask.
He looks at me and frowns. “Yeah.”
My world crumbles around me.
I’m too late . . .
Mom has a sadness in her eyes like I’ve never seen before. They actually start to well, and I see tears. Then it dawns on me. Does she know, as well? Does she know that Mike’s about to risk his life to try to save her somehow? Has she known the whole time?
“Mike,” I say. “We’re all doing stuff to afford Mom’s operation. And I know you’re doing your part, too, but I found a way to afford it.”
“Well, you just keep working at it, man,” he says. “I’ll see you in a month.”
He’s blowing me off? “Mike!”
“It’s okay, Ryan,” Mom says. “He needs to go.”
No . . . I can’t let this happen. “I will have the money, Mike. Three mil plus! Like, in a couple of days! I swear! I’ve got almost half of it already! I’m just short right now!”
“Yeah, right,” he scoffs, shaking his head. “Look, whatever you’re doing to make money, Ryan, just save it for you and Mom.”
I want to explode. I want to throw off the façade and prove to him that I can do it. “I’m serious, Mike! I got this! Over a million! You don’t have to do anything!”
From my yell, I can see that I have his attention now. Curiosity enters his eyes as he searches my face, and I wonder if I’ve revealed too much. But then the all too familiar smugness returns as he smirks. “It doesn’t matter. Like I told you before, you don’t know what money really is.”
Doesn’t matter? My anguish turns to anger, and suddenly, I don’t give a crap if he’s about to go kill himself on the surface. “Fine! Go, then! Do what you got to do!”
He grimaces at me and shakes his head. “Just take care of Mom.”
He hugs my mother for a really long time, and I see tears running down her cheeks.
“You’re going to be fine, Ma,” Mike says. “Ryan’s here to look after you. I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
I choke back the lump in my throat and wipe my eyes as Mike looks back to me.
“Love you, man,” he says.
His words tear a hole through my heart. My brother’s never said anything like that to me before. It can mean only one thing: he doesn’t think he’s coming back.
“Mike . . .” My voice cracks as tears stab at my eyes.
He collects his duffle bags from the floor, and I crash into him. “Please don’t go, Mike! Please!”
I drop Mutt and Jeff as I cling to him with a sob. I don’t even care if they know my secret. Not anymore. I sink to the floor anyway, no strength left in me to fight. Every plan I’ve had has failed. Every victory I’ve achieved has been a hollow precursor to defeat.
My knees hit the tile floor, and my brother looks down at me with more confusion than anything else. And then his expression changes. For the first time in forever, Mike gives me a genuine smile. “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand you, Ryan. But you’ve been a good brother. Thank you.”
That causes my heart to ache even more. I know for sure now that he’s never coming back.
And it’s all my fault.
I wasn’t fast enough.
This was one hit I just couldn’t dodge.
“Ryan . . . ?” My mother joins me on the floor and wraps her arms around me from behind. “What’s gotten into you? Are you okay?”
I don’t answer her as my sobs continue and my brother heads for the door.
He looks back at me one more time, and I can see tears glistening in his eyes.
Then he opens the hatch and leaves our lives forever.
* * *
I’m back in my room, numb. I spend over an hour just staring at the wall, my thoughts unable to move forward or back. Backward is an exercise in reliving my mistakes, and forward is to contemplate the unthinkable. In a few days, I’ll have the money I need. My mom will be cured. But my brother will already be gone.
“What’s the point of it all?” I say bitterly. “What’s the point of any of this?”
I hear a faint knock on my doorframe. “Can I come in, sweetie?”
“Sure, Mom,” I say. She pushes the shower curtain aside as she enters my room.
She looks more drained than usual, and I can tell she’s been crying, too. She sits on the floor so that we’re at eye level, and then she reaches over to take my hand. “You shouldn’t worry about your brother, okay? He’s a tough guy. He can take care of himself.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I guess . . .”
Maybe she’s right. Maybe Mike can go up against this Builder, or whatever it is, and come back alive. I try not to think about the fact that even he didn’t seem to think so.
“It’s you I’m worried about,” Mom says.
“Me?”
She smiles sadly. “All you do is worry about us, Ryan. But it’s not your job to save us. Do you understand?”
I’m not sure if I do. “Mom, you need to get your operation.”
“And I will,” she says. She shrugs and gives me a smile. “Or maybe I won’t.”
“What?” I can’t be hearing this. “Mom, how can you even say that?”
“Because it’s the truth. It’ll either happen, or it won’t. And I’m fine with that. What I’m not fine with is you wasting your life trying to protect us. Mike and I are adults. We can take care of ourselves.”
Ugh, not the adult card again! “Mom, look, you don’t understand . . . Mike’s going to—”
“To do what Mike needs to do,” she cuts me off. “Don’t worry. I’ve already given him this talk, as well. Ryan, you’ve been the best son a mother could wish for, and a wonderful brother. But there’s more to life than just being a son and brother. There are other people out there for you to live for.”
“Huh?”
“People like Gilly,” she says. “It would mean more to me for you to make a million friends than a million credits. You have so much to offer this world, Ryan. Don’t waste your life fighting for me and Mike. Live for your friends, as well.”
Her words leave me confused, perplexed.
A buzz from my rig draws both our attention. Someone’s left me a message.
My mom smiles. “I bet that’s her now. Why don’t you go log in and check?”
* * *
I hop on my rig after my mom leaves and see not one, but five messages from Gilly. Before I can check any of them, I get a chat request. I answer, and her character’s face appears.
“Hey!” Gilly shouts. “You gotta log in! Like right now!
She seems anxious and excited, but after what’s just happened, I can’t pretend like it even matters anymore. “It’s too late, Gilly.”
She must see the mournful look on my face, because her brow creases with concern. “What? What do you mean? What’s happened?”
“My brother,” I say, and then choke a little as I try to get the words out. “He’s gone, Gilly. Gone to do his crazy mission. I didn’t have the money in time to convince him. I just wasn’t fast enough.”
Gilly gasps. “He’s left already?”
> “Yeah.”
“Well, whatever he’s doing, you still got time. Just contact him and tell him to wait.”
“What?” I don’t understand what she’s talking about. “Gilly, I’m two million short. I can’t make—”
“You’ll make it, Reece,” she says. “Val Helena just messaged me. The world bosses are spawning!”
Chapter 34: Arena Race
I log in and materialize in Swifttide to see Gilly already waiting for me at the main spawn point.
“Quick, let’s go!” Gilly shoots me a party request, and I join.
“Where are we going?”
“Teleport to the Nexus,” she says, and then fades from existence.
I follow her and arrive in the same corridor full of portals that Val Helena took me through before. Gilly runs ahead and stops at one labeled World Arena.
“What is this place?” I ask.
Gilly shrugs. “I dunno. It’s where Val Helena said to come.”
I follow Gilly through the portal, and my senses explode when I emerge on the other side. I find myself in the stands of a massive stadium that must have over ten thousand players inside. The air is palpable, full with the roars and cheers of the crowd as two players go at it inside a fenced-off arena at the bottom of the stadium.
I see a message appear in the guild chat.
(RNG) Gilly: Val, we’re here!
We get invites from Val Helena, and the entire guild appears in my party list.
“Come find us on the mini-map,” Val Helena says through the party chat.
We make our way through the crowd, and I’m amazed by the variety of players I see. There must be gamers from every Shard in here. I see the typical fantasy classes from Nasgar that I’m well familiar with, but I also see people in cowboy attire from Wild West, as well as Vampires and Werewolves from Witch World. There’s even players from racing games, decked out in leathers and enjoying the show.
