by R J Triveri
He laughed a bit and smiled at the woman. “When I see something that has to be done, I do it, miss.”
The woman offered him her hand as she gave him a slight smile. “Please, call me Trina.”
Taking the hand, Walter did the same. “Walter Queen, at your service.”
“And what service might that be?”
“Farming mostly. I’m a proud Rank 15 Supplier.”
At that, Trina’s face said it all as her voice rose. “Are you an idiot!”
Walter grinned a bit more as he spoke. “I have been called that, yes.”
Hobbling over, Athos put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “He might be an idiot, but his heart is in the right place.”
Time kept ticking as what was left of the guard began to reassemble. Dawn was still a ways away, their leader was missing, but for as far as they were concerned, the battle still wasn’t over. Whether they were Inciperians or human, it didn’t really matter. They had a job to do. For every three there had been, there was a single soldier left. He was sure they had directions, and with what he had done, Athos wasn’t interesting in sticking around to see what they’d do about it.
Looking from Walter to Trina to the rest, the alchemical arm sighed. “I really don’t want to deal with them anymore.”
Torrent nodded seeing the limited resources that they now had and thought out loud for the moment. “We can’t just leave them like this.”
Moving away from Walter and looking at the smaller group, Trina’s hand clenched and unclenched as she thought and weighed the options at hand until came to her decision. “It’s better if we stay on duty. We’ve only got a little more than an hour till reset anyways. Then we need to find you a doctor, Athos.” From the look on his face, she must have known he wasn’t giving them the entire story. “We don’t have to go near them, just keep on watch in case they aren’t done for the night.”
Touching his leg, he shook his head free of the dark thoughts only to find a few darker ones. “What about Diz and Avalon?”
Her screen opened for a moment then closed just as quickly before she spoke again. “We’ll find them, but for right now knowing she’s alive is enough. Consider this the last night that the Moon’s Aura works with Auxilium’s Guardians. That bitch has gone too far this time.”
Whether or not he understood the depths of meaning that Trina had spoken, a lingering fear crept into the back of Athos’s mind making the hair on his neck stand on end. It was a feeling he couldn’t quite shake and knew all too well. Reaching around his back, he rubbed the hairs back down and cautiously spoke his words. “What’s your plan?”
A message flashed in green across his screen in a new, neon green a few moments later.
(Guild - Announcement) Trina Rorna: Moon’s Aura, report to the business district two hours after sunrise. We’re going after the world boss.
Afterward, she looked at her mixed crew and smiled, but to Athos, it seemed as though that smile hid the darkness behind it. “We’re going to kill three birds with one stone.”
Walter seemed to feel like Athos and grunted a bit to speak his piece. “You’re not going to do something you’ll regret, are you?”
She smiled that same smile all the while, walking past him and putting a hand on his shoulder for only a moment before she spoke. “The battlefield is no place for a supplier, Walter. This is guild business.”
Her eyes locked on him for a few moments more before relented and turned away. “Just look out for the kid.”
“He can look after himself. Right, Athos?”
He knew what he should have said to Walter as the man’s eyes studied him. “I can do my best.”
Torrent may not have known Walter, but that didn’t stop him from leaning on him like he was a friend all the same. “See Walter? He’ll be fine. He’s got us after all.”
Athos nodded at that. He did have them. Trina might be a little unstable, but Torrent seemed to be every bit the warrior that the alchemical arm wasn’t. Add in Allen’s healing, whatever Silent Ran was, Trina’s martial arts, and not to mention all the members he hadn’t met, he had grown a small circle around him that he could trust. “I’ll take care of myself, Walter, and I won’t do anything stupid. I promise.”
“Stupid is a matter of opinion, Athos,” the man added but sighed. “I can’t stop you, but I owe you this one.”
At that, he nodded, materialized his screen, and pulled a small crystal disk from his inventory.
Walter Queen => Athos Aramis: Just don’t make her cry, Athos, and don’t make me regret forgiving you.
Athos Aramis => Walter Queen: I’ll do my best not to.
Walter Queen => Athos Aramis: If you do, you’ll answer to me, Athos. You promised to go to the festival with her. I’d hate to see her cry again.
Athos did his best to hide his surprise that she ever cried but nodded out of reflex to the confusion of those around him.
Athos Aramis => Walter Queen: I will. You can trust me, Walter.
Walter Queen => Athos Aramis: I know I can, Athos. For what it’s worth, I really am sorry for the things I said to you.
Friend Request Received: Walter Queen - Rank 15 Supplier
As the new message flashed across his screen, Athos didn’t have time to say a proper goodbye to his friend who has ported out only a moment sooner than the message had arrived. All he could do was accept it with a humble smile.
Trina turned to him and noticed the smile on his face. With a nod, she turned from him to Torrent and Allen. “Alright, let’s survive this hour then get some rest.”
The Calm
Thor’s Hammer seemed to have had a profound effect on the battlefield for the rest of the night. Whether the memory of it was scarred into the nearly-feral Wild Ones or that the dungeon had reached some kind of spawn cap, nothing came for the next hour or the hour after. The world and the soldiers that patrolled outside of the market boarders made less noise than the wind that blew the ashes of the earth around. Across the guild chat, a simple message flashed with the rising of the sun and the regeneration of the lush, green earth in the distance.
(Guild) Trina Rorna: The rules have been reset for the morning. Go get your rest, guild mates. Set your alarms and be ready in two hours.
Athos turned to her and nodded before he began his trek back to the center of the city with Torrent in tow. Allen and Trina stayed back and spoke in hushed tones as the pair walked away. More and more, Athos felt a strange combination of being home and of never being quite the same fit as the others were. For that moment, the brace was forgotten as the pair continued their walk.
“So, what did you do to that guy to make him risk his life for you?” Torrent asked, giving him a slight shove in the shoulder as he smiled knowingly.
Whatever had been running through his head, Athos doubted he expected the answer. “I cost his daughter her arm.”
The confusion on his face confirmed exactly what Athos thought and made the alchemical arm smile a bit. “You know, normally a guy just asks for a hand.”
He rubbed the back of his head and looked away. It was still a sore subject, but the water seemed to be passing under the bridge. “It was the first night the Suits changed the spawn rates and disabled the safe areas. We were gathering supplies and things just went south. The house was going to collapse if I didn’t do something. Walter didn’t know what was going on until it was too late and blamed me as the timer ticked down and her arm fragmented.” Athos took his eyes away from the walk and stopped a moment. “It’s something I can’t fix, but he still forgave me for it.”
Torrent’s hand rested itself on Athos’s shoulder, urging him forward as they crossed the bridge. “It wasn’t your fault, Athos.”
“Maybe not directly, but still, it’s hard not to blame yourself, you know?”
“Well, you know what to do then, right?”
Athos turned to the elemental blade and smiled a bit. “Learn to live with my mistakes and fight my personal demons?”
Athos wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not, but he started laughing all the same. At first, it was a bit of a soft chuckle, but as Torrent continued to grin, waiting for the alchemical arm’s answer, the laugh grew. People that rushed past to repair the night’s damage couldn’t help but stop and look at him as he held is sides and tears came down his cheeks. It was as if that simple phrase had taken the burden of the mistakes in his new life from him for a few minutes.
“Athos, are you okay?”
It took a moment more before he could answer as the tears stopped. “Sorry. Sorry.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I just really needed a good laugh I guess.” Torrent nodded as his inventory window opened and his armor switched seamlessly in a flash of white back into his normal shirt and long pants. His sword kept itself even on his side as if the shift had done nothing, but what impressed Athos was how easy he made the change seem. “Am I the only person that has no other clothing?”
He shook his head. “It’s pretty common for newcomers to have limited resources. You’re still more concerned with survival than with fashion. Hell, I put all my bytes into a channel capable weapon before I bought armor. I didn’t have a change of clothes till then. Still don’t really.”
Athos smiled as the building continued to pass the pair slowly. Little by little, The Sunset’s Rest grew on the horizon still untouched by the chaos of the outer city. The alchemical arm soon realized how the world was not really phasing him anymore. He didn’t even think of how strange walking felt, how odd it was never having to breath, the amount of free time he had without having to eat. He was growing more and more accustomed to what his world had become.
“When did you start to feel at home here. Really like it was home, Torrent.”
His friend thought for a moment as his hands went up behind his head, supporting it almost like a pillow as he spoke. “I think it was about three or four weeks after I was downloaded. I arrived in Lole near Cirbur almost three years ago now. Picked up my sword and started over thinking everything before I realized it was just life now. I didn’t have to fight, but the allure of it was just too much.”
“Sounds like you’ve got things figured out now though.”
Torrent nodded. “It’s not that I’ve figured it out. I still don’t know how a lot of things work here. I just accepted it and kept going.”
“Still sounds like you’ve got it figured out,” Athos said as they reached the inn’s door. “You wanna come up for a drink or something?”
The elemental blade shook his head as he pointed off into the distance. “Thanks, but no thanks. I need to go relax a bit. I took some damage, and if we’re going after the world boss, I’m going to need all that back.”
Athos sighed as Torrent did exactly as he hoped. He wasn’t really in the mood to be a host, but some company would have been nice. “Then when we’re all done. Drinks are on me.”
“And you’ll have to introduce me to your girl.”
He shook his head. “She’s not my girl.”
“Tell her that if her dad had to come here to stop her from doing it.” Athos couldn’t even be mad as that stupid grin continued to paint his face. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Athos didn’t even want to debate that. “Either way, it would be nice to have someone to go with to the event. Lyra has been asking when she can start to meet some of my friends.”
Athos smirked. “Your girl?”
Torrent’s face contorted in surprise at the alchemical arm’s questioning words. “Of course! You think a pretty face like this wouldn’t be taken already?”
“Now that you mention it, I didn’t.”
The elemental blade grinned, punched his friend's shoulder, then turned to go. “See you in two hours. Don’t forget to set your alarm if you’re going to sleep.”
“I never learned how to set the alarm on sleep,” Athos admitted with a slight embarrassment.
“Just go to your character window, click on the bed icon, and mark it for about an hour and a half. Your sleep will automatically end after that.” With those words, Torrent began walking back to the guild house. “See you soon!”
Athos nodded, they had already wasted enough time walking instead of running. “Two hours.”
“Two hours!” Torrent called back as he walked off.
Athos watched as Torrent turned the corner and let loose a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he wanted to do stupid things. Really, if Athos had a choice, he would go back to the room, lay down, and sleep. As he opened his character panel, he looked carefully at his status, his integrity, and his equipment before he sighed again. How had he gotten himself into this?
Opening the door, he walked into the Sunset’s Rest and up to Sammi, whose surprise painted her face like makeup painted a canvas.
“What the Hell do you think you’re doing here?!” Sammi almost yelled at him despite the other two customers, who quickly made their exit.
The door closed behind him before he even had a chance to turn around. “I… live here?”
Opening her screen, Sammi tossed him a few bottles of what he recognized as healing salve. “You need to leave, now. Five minutes ago now, Athos.”
Confusion welled from every pixel of his being as he used two of the four bottles. “I’m paid up, aren’t I?”
Integrity Restored - 100% integrity remaining
For a moment, Athos even forgot about the brace that Walter had put on his leg. The device masked the hobbled status, but he wasn’t sure for how much longer as the girl moved to the side of the inn and locked the door to the private rooms.
“The Suits have rented out an entire wing upstairs. Didn’t you check your mail?” In all honesty, he hadn’t even noticed the icon. It must have come when he was nauseated by Thor’s Hammer. Usually, Nekka told him about messages. “You need to go.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere but here, Athos,” Sammi said looking him over and seeing the brace. “What happened?”
He sighed a bit. “Avalon’s men shot me with some bow skill, and Allen can’t heal it.”
“Because it’s medical…” Her words were interrupted by a banging on the door followed quickly by three more as Sammi’s eyes drifted. Her mind seemed distracted as she brought her attention back to him. “Use your jump disk and get out.”
Her eyes drifted again as Athos quickly materialized his screen, took the item from his inventory and tapped it. In a familiar action, he felt his body snap like a rubber band and the world around him stretched as he popped from one place to another much to the surprise of Silent Ran who was sitting at the table playing solitaire.
Upon Athos’s unexpected arrival, the older man scattered the cards in surprise, but his middle finger said it all as it raised in annoyance. With an audible sigh, he bent over, collected his scattered cards, and left Athos alone. Though he knew the guild house well enough, Athos couldn’t help but wonder if he should even sleep now. His integrity was fine with a few salves to spare, and he wasn’t even tired. Taking a seat, Athos took out the puzzle box from before and began to fiddle with it as he sent off a private message.
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: Morning, Sunshine.
His fingers arranged a few pieces of the box before a reply came.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: Morning, Pointy Ears.
A smile crossed his face as another piece fell into place as he tried to relax. The picture was starting to look familiar as he checked in on
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: Did your dad make it back in one piece?
The more he fiddled with it, the more the picture began to take shape. Each side seemed to have a unique picture along the running edge. Tapping one spot sent the piece to wherever he tapped next. One by one, the pictures began to take form as he waited.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: H
e did. He didn’t seem very happy about what you were going to do. Said I sure knew how to pick ‘em.
Athos could help but smile at that.
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: It takes one to know one. I promise I’m not going to do anything stupid.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: Fighting a world boss with an Exceed user in your party is stupid, Athos.
After knowing what one was, he really couldn’t argue with that. They seemed stupidly dangerous.
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: They seem really odd for a world where your main supply of power is your own life.
Piece after piece fell into place as he toyed around with it. One side was complete now. It showed the patterns of a fishermen on the water complete with a boat and his pole in what looked like an ocean.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: You’re not wrong, but they’ve been around since the beginning of time. Most people think that they’re relics from the old games that Ellaunum used to build the worlds.
The use of the new name was enough to snap his attention from the puzzle box for a moment.
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: Ellaunum? As in the AI that first contacted Axis?
His focus tried to stay split as another picture was completed a moment later, but it wasn’t easy.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: Do you know any other omnipotent being?
Athos Aramis => Sally Queen: Point taken.
Sally Queen => Athos Aramis: I get what you’re saying though, Athos. None of us know why it did what it did, but Ellaunum does as it wills. I’m sure there’s a reason for it. Maybe you can ask it when we go to the Starlight Festival at the end of the month. Well, Unum at least.
Sounded like a god to him as he finished the final two pictures. In what could best be described as a shower of fountain fireworks in his hands, the box dissolved and a message appeared on his screen.
You’ve solved a level two puzzle box, congratulations!
200 bytes were added to your inventory.
1x ring of protection was added to your inventory.
That all sounded well and good as he smiled at his rewards. A slight nervousness checked him as he thought about what Torrent had said before. Combined with what he had thought, Athos sent off another message.
