“You can’t cross the sea by merely standing and staring at the water.”

  Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet

  “Are you certain you want to bring her, Cally?” Sapphire asked as they sat on the dock, waiting for Samson’s newly constructed ship to sail into view. Beside her, the fairy child dangled her legs into the water and giggled as tiny fish nibbled her toes. In addition to her green dress and twin daggers, Passi now sported a new bearskin bracelet on the left wrist and a bear claw earring dangling from her newly pierced right ear. “I know she’s your daughter, but this Arena is going to be very dangerous.”

  “I’m sure,” Calista replied, smiling at Passi’s giggles. “It’ll give her some one-on-one time to train with Ying.”

  It was a convenient excuse, one Calista had made up on the fly when she learned Billy and Ying, and a number of other players would be joining them. Of course she was nervous – what mother wouldn’t be – but she swallowed her fear, remembering what was at stake.

  The three of them had trained hard over the past week, taking on stronger and stronger enemies and exploring more dangerous places. In that time, they’d learned to fight as a well-oiled team.

  Calista had only gained two levels – each level above thirty growing harder to earn – but Rain had earned four levels, and Passi had earned a whopping nine. Both Rain, at level twenty-nine, and Passi, at level nineteen, were on the cusp of their next major player advancements.

  When Calista reached level thirty-two, she’d upgraded, at Rain’s insistence, her Enhanced Scrounging talent. This led to a significant increase in both gold and rare materials they received as rewards.

  With this newfound bounty, Rain had set to work experimenting with a class benefit she had yet to tap into in any depth – upgrading existing equipment. Within a few days, Rain had doubled the attribute bonuses of her Dagger of Lugh Samildànach and her tailcoat, as well as Calista’s Spear of Pinga. More importantly, she was able to triple the bonuses of every piece of equipment that she had made for Passi – daggers, sandals, and her favorite dress.

  Rain had taken advanced fire magic and beginner wood magic with her class talent points and, once she had the wood magic, had fashioned the two bear claws they’d received from The Valley Champion into twin earrings – one for her, and one for Passi.

  The earring Rain had made for herself added six to her magic attribute and granted her the wood magic (beginner) talent, which immediately combined with her new wood magic to make it into the advanced version. In theory, Rain could do this with any of her newly acquired talents to evolve it into the advanced version.

  With her combination of levels and equipment, Rain was once again one of the strongest players in the game.

  Yet it was Passi who had grown the most over the past week, both in power and willingness to fight. With her powerful mother and aunt at her side, and the bonuses from her enhanced equipment, Passi had been able to level up faster than they ever thought possible.

  Calista had made Passi take Regeneration as her talent when the child had hit level fifteen which, when combined with her ring, granted her the advanced version. Passi had complained about it – wanting a flashier talent – until Rain explained that it would mean less downtime between fights.

  In addition to her enhanced equipment, Passi also had two new items. The first was her bear claw earring. Like Rain, it added six to her magic, but Rain had enchanted it with metal magic (beginner) instead of wood magic. Passi had been thrilled, and she’d spent that night in the meadow hurling her daggers and manipulating their flight with her new magic.

  Passi’s second item was their share of the dismantled Winter Coat of the Champion. The resulting bearskin bracelet didn’t grant her access to any new talents, but it did add a massive fifteen points to her strength. Rain had wanted Calista to use it because, as Xavier would say, it ‘would work best with her build’, but Calista had insisted it go to her daughter.

  As a result of these combined efforts, Passi could stand toe-to-toe with most of the players at the Castle of Glass, despite not having a class.

  Which is good, because I don’t know how much longer we can keep her player status a secret. We’ve had some close calls, and there will soon come a point when the three of us won’t be enough to take on the greater challenges in this game. That’s why I want to take her to this Arena. If her secret is going to be revealed, let it be on our terms.

  “Hey, when’s this sweet new ride getting here?”

  Calista was jarred from her thoughts by Billy’s shout, and she turned to see Billy and Ying strolling arm-in-arm onto the floating dock. Billy yawned dramatically and stretched his arms above his head. “And who’s bright idea was it to leave here at sunrise. This is not Billy’s prime time.”

  “You’d best get used to it,” Sapphire called back with a chuckle. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

  Ying beamed at Sapphire, and Billy ruffled Passi’s hair as they passed by her. Passi swatted his hand away without looking up from the ocean, causing Billy to laugh.

  “I hope my daughter is as spirited as you are, Passi,” Ying complimented. “She’ll need to be in this world.”

  “Daughter?” Calista asked curiously.

  Ying shrugged. “Another advantage of scanning magic.”

  “She won’t need to be strong. She’ll have her super strong dad there to protect her,” Billy boasted with an exaggerated strongman pose.

  Calista laughed at the ridiculous soon-to-be dad. Behind him, she saw more people heading down to the dock from the Castle of Glass. Lucy and Minerva – the latter now decked out in blood red samurai armor – were at the head of the pack. Elmer and Alison followed behind them, holding hands, as they finally gave up their charade of being just colleagues and embraced being a couple.

  Rain came next, and Anchovy reluctantly – very reluctantly – plodded along behind her. Calista smiled when she saw her friend, until she saw who Rain was with.

  What the everlasting fuck is Xavier doing here?

  Xavier Holloway strolled beside Rain, Cerberus scampering at his heels. The black blade hung at his waist, and the two seemed to be deep into some debate, both enjoying the mental sparring match.

  Calista sat down protectively next to Passi and drew her daughter’s attention to the approaching man. She felt Passi stiffen at his appearance.

  “I’ll get rid of him,” Calista advised, readying herself for a fight.

  “No, mom,” Passi insisted, clutching her mother’s arm. “Let him come with us.”

  “Pumpkin, why would you…,” Calista started, and went into a low whisper. “Passi… please tell me you aren’t going to try to kill him again.”

  Passi gave a noncommittal shrug. “It’s a dangerous trip. Things happen.”

  “Passi…,” Calista whispered disapprovingly.

  “I won’t try to kill him, mom,” Passi whispered back angrily. “And he’s not going to try to harm me with you and Auntie Sapphire and Aunt Rain and Ying and everyone else around us. So let him come. Either he’ll help us, or he’ll get himself killed. Both are fine.”

  The scars that Xavier had left on the child would never heal, but they couldn’t avoid Xavier forever. So Calista acceded to her daughter’s wishes, though it didn’t stop her from sending a nasty scowl in Xavier’s direction as he stepped onto the dock.

  “Seriously, Rain?” Calista whispered harshly as Rain sat down next to them. “You told him about this?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Rain said, dipping her toes into the water beside Passi. “He heard it from Samson and came into the shop for supplies. I don’t know why you’re surprised. He’s one of the strongest players in the game. Maybe the strongest. Just be thankful that Jacob and the Carthage sisters aren’t coming.”

  The thought of being stuck on a boat with all four of them made Calista gag.

  “I know you and Passi won’t forgive him – nor will I ask you to – but he didn’t know that the fairies were real when he… when he did that to Passi’s clan,” Rain reminded her. “He’s changed, Calista.”

  Calista couldn’t deny the change they’d seen in Xavier. While the nerdy, awkward Xavier was still there, it was as if the man’s rough edges had been polished. Between that and Xavier’s apparent memory gap regarding Passi, the whole thing set Calista on edge.

  “It’s too much change, Rain,” Calista whispered, staring towards Xavier, who was laughing with Billy and Ying. “That’s not the Xavier I know.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Rain nodded her agreement. “I agree with you, Cally. It worries me too. But what better place to figure out what happened to him than being stuck on a boat, surrounded by our closest friends for protection.”

  Calista looked back at her friend in surprise. She was right – this was the perfect opportunity. “Rain, you’re a little too smart for your own good.”

  Rain started to respond, but a cheer rose up from those gathered on the docks as their new ship rounded the entrance to the bay.

  “That’s… not what I expected at all,” Rain laughed excitedly.

  The ship was a smaller version of an ancient Greek galley – sixty feet long and narrow, with a row of oars down each side. Two sails – one large, one smaller – were attached to masts near the back of the galley. The sails were made of bed linens purchased from the Emporium and sewed together, though Calista suspected there was some magic in them as well. The vessel was made from light-colored wood and had both an upper deck and lower storage and sleeping area.

  Cosmo Shufflebottom beamed from the bow of the ship as they approached, guitar in hand and singing a little sea chanty. Samson was at the stern, controlling the rudders on either side to steer them towards the dock.

  As they grew close, Samson furled the sail and guided the ship flush against the dock – his water magic making the finer motions of such a feat seem like child’s play. The ship’s bow came to rest right in front of Calista, Passi and Rain.

  “The Retribution,” Calista said, reading the ship’s name painted in red beneath the crudely carved battering ram on the point of the bow. “Is that supposed to be a… dragon head?”

  “Do you like it?” Cosmo called down, stowing his guitar in his inventory. He leapt off the bow and landed next to them, the dock protesting his sudden impact. “The dragon head was my idea. The name – well, that was all Sapphire. A little fuck you to the game and the gods.”

  In the morning sun, beside the Greek-style galley, Cosmo’s outfit looked more ridiculous than it ever had. Combined with his dramatic entrance and boisterous declaration, Calista couldn’t help herself. She laughed, and soon Passi and Rain joined her, draining away the tension that had been building between them.

  “That’s the spirit,” Cosmo beamed. “Well, then, my friends. This Arena isn’t going to defeat itself. Hop on board everyone!”

  Samson lowered a rope ladder for Sapphire, though the players simply leapt off the dock and landed on the deck of the ship, ten feet above them, as if it were hardly any trouble at all.

  “I wonder if we’ll ever get used to seeing that,” Rain smiled as she watched her friends vault straight into the air like grasshoppers. “I hope not. For all its horrors, the magic in this world gives it such wonder, and I’d hate for that to become routine.”

  Cerberus ran up to Rain, and Rain scratched him beneath the chin. The wolf pup rolled onto his back for belly scratched, and Rain obliged.

  “Are you taking Anchovy with you?” Xavier asked, strolling in their direction.

  Rain glanced over at her familiar, who hadn’t come within thirty feet of the water. He meowed pitifully, as if the water would cause him to melt.

  “I… think Anchovy would prefer to stay here and mind Rain on my Parade,” Rain chuckled. “Why?”

  Xavier knelt and scratched the wolf. “Cerberus is too young to come with us. He’ll just get in my way. Can Anchovy watch him?”

  Cerberus barked excitedly and ran at full speed towards the cat. Anchovy hissed and swiped at the wolf when he got too close, so Cerberus began to run in circles around him. Anchovy gave Rain a pleading look from the beach.

  “Sure, he’d be delighted,” Rain agreed chipperly.

  Anchovy rolled his eyes, and used his Invisible Hand to palm the wolf’s face so he couldn’t get any closer.

  “Thanks,” Xavier said appreciatively.

  “Come on your four,” called Sapphire from the deck. “We’ll leave without you if you don’t hurry up.”

  Rain waved in acknowledgement and leapt up onto the deck, landing with a meaty thunk.

  “Go ahead, Passi,” Calista said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Passi glared at Xavier before withdrawing her toes from the water, donning her sandals, and flying up to the deck.

  Now just the two of us, Calista quickly closed the distance with Xavier until they were toe-to-toe. Calista stood straight as an arrow and used her superior height to her full advantage, as she had in the hallways of their high school when she used to bully him.

  Back when she had made his life hell.

  “What is your game, Xavier?” Calista spat, her words meant only for the two of them.

  Xavier threw up his palms in an expression of innocence. “I just want to help. We’re all in this together, right?”

  That was not a Xavier answer. That’s the kind of answer Stone would give – a manipulator trying for false peace.

  “Bullshit,” she hissed. “You haven’t done a single thing to help another person in all your life.”

  Xavier’s expression suddenly changed, cycling through confusion, alarm, and back to confidence in a fraction of an instant. It was so fast that most people would never have picked up on it. But Calista was not most people. Not anymore.

  “Look, I just realized that I’d gone as far as I could in the game without help,” Xavier explained, changing his explanation. He took a tentative step back, but Calista closed the gap quickly, not allowing him to get comfortable. “I did some terrible things. I know that. But I’ve changed. I just want to survive, like everyone else. Isn’t that enough?”

  Her skin prickled. It made sense. It would have been enough for anyone else. Yet her instincts screamed at her to press further. It was still not a Xavier Holloway answer.

  “You’re lying,” Calista accused, grasping his wrist and yanking him forward, as she used to do in high school when she wanted him to fall to his knees.

  This time, he didn’t fall, but his eyes abruptly flashed with red hot anger.

  “Maybe I just don’t want you stealing all that experience and loot,” Xavier raged, yanking his hand out of her grasp. “Did you ever think about that, you fucking bitch!”

  Xavier shoved her back hard and, before she could recover, leapt onto the galley.

  Calista grinned.

  Now that was the Xavier I knew. He’s in there, but it’s like his personality has been buried beneath all this nice guy bullshit. Most people might be grateful for the change. But I don’t trust it. I don’t trust it one bit. I need to find out what’s going on.

  Calista joined the others on the galley, and they sailed away from the dock.

  Passi was seated on the dragon ram at the bow of the ship, laughing into the wind as they picked up speed. Calista joined her daughter, and together with their friends, they set sail for the Arena.

  * * *

  The Seed re-engaged its influence over Xavier’s personality, quelling the man’s red-hot anger for his childhood bully. That anger had, for a moment, blocked all of The Seed’s control over the player.

  That was not supposed to happen.

  It would need to keep Xavier’s anger repressed, so this didn’t happen again.

  The Seed stared through Xavier’s eyes at the mother smiling at her daughter riding the dragon head ram.

  And it would need to watch out for her as well.

  The Non-Canonical Aftermath: