We made it home fine and the two adventurers promised to stop by tomorrow to escort me back to Ember's to get started on my outfit. I looked at my exp total and gave a mental sigh. Gonna have to use class exp, aren't I.

  The statement hurt a bit, but it was something I needed for whatever fancy events I wound up at. Which, based on Calmar's and Porter's comments the other day would be sooner than later.

  Grimoire and I went over my trip and I told him about the thug and mugger. He seemed grateful all that was missing was a pouch and asked me to show him how I gave the thug a concussion. He seemed impressed.

  Then I had dinner and went to my room. It was late so I rolled some of the sleep aid into a cigarette and lit it with a small lighter the staff used whenever they had to light something. I kept flicking it as I blew the smoke out the now open window, staring and the night sky above.

  I almost felt like we were in some giant cave.

  There was a knock at the door and I shouted over to it, “Come in.”

  Calmar walked in and leaned against the door frame. He looked at me flicking ash out the window and frowned. “Is that dizzy weed?” He asked.

  I looked at the half used cigarette and nodded, “It is.”

  He shook his head in disapproval. “You shouldn't be using that stuff.”

  I put the cigarette to my lips and inhaled before blowing smoke out the window. I coughed a little, but recovered fast enough. I'd been doing this for about a half hour, after all. “Herbalist sold it as a sleep aid. I probably won't get anymore, though.”

  Calmar frowned and shook his head, “I’d rather you throw the rest out.”

  “I want to see if the other ingredients work, first. I know the dizzy leaf is living up to its name.” I smiled at him. “Reason I'm leaning against the window.”

  He snorted and moved further inside my room, grabbing the chair from my desk and sitting in it. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his hands. “We haven't talked much yet, have we?”

  “Not about anything important, really.” I responded.

  Calmar shook his head. “I guess not. Anything you want to talk about?”

  I looked over at him and considered what I could ask. Do I ask about the slavery I suspected was part of the long list of quests I had? There were a couple hundred entries that all mostly said the same thing.

  Do I ask about the banks and their practices, how they may have been going against the system to get where they are? About how easy or hard it would be to take them down?

  Instead, I looked up at the ceiling in thought and said, “Tell me about my parents.”

  He looked away, “I… only really know your father. Your mother… wasn't around a lot, when I got here around,” He thought about it, “Maybe five or six years ago?”

  “I take it she died sometime around then too.” I said with the tact of a charging beast.

  He nodded, “Accident in the Flame Flower Fields. She went to the fourth floor to stop a build up with a group. No one survived.”

  I took another drag to give myself a moment to think. “Did she stop it?”

  Calmat nodded. “She was called a hero, but there are still build up. Your father has been going in personally, all the way to the sixth. He… has a grudge, I think.”

  I shook my head, “That's probably not healthy.”

  Calmar let out a puff of air from his nose in amusement, “I'd say it'll be the death of him, but he is… intimidating. I suspect he'd go farther if not for you.”

  “So, he's powerful enough to go in alone, all the way to the sixth floor? It certainly sounds impressive, though I don't have a frame of reference for it.” It did, and maybe if I ask he'd help me investigate…

  “Is that why you're training? To go there?” He asked, nervously.

  I thought about my answer. The honest one was a bit close to the truth, but anything less felt… wrong to tell him. I didn't trust that feeling, though.

  He sighed again, looking down at the ground, “I'd guessed as much.”

  “I'm not as subtle as I think I am, am I?” I said, a little embarrassed at being read that well.

  Calmar laughed, “No.” He sighed, “No, you are not.”

  I finished off the cigarette and flicked the last bit of ash over the window. After waving off the smoke, I closed the window. Then I leaned back against the window sill. “So, what are you avoiding asking me?”

  He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. Trying to get the words just right. “Are you… I mean did you… really survive that attack?”

  I blinked. Of all the things I could have expected, it wasn’t that. “According to a trait, no.”

  “A… trait?” He said, confused.

  I read it off to him.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Second Chance

  Congratulations! You died. However, unlike others, you got better. Since you defied death once, you should be able to do it again, right? Once per month, you can be fully healed from death at the greater cost of 1 Class level or the total amount of banked experience available. Try not to make it a habit.

  “That’s… wow…” He said, having trouble keeping the surprise from his face. “That… wasn’t on the sheet Toren gave us.” His surprise morphed to annoyance. “What else are you keeping from us?”

  A lot. I thought, “A few more things that I don’t want to share.”

  “Like the nightmare you had?” He said, accusing me. “The one you wouldn’t tell Geraldine about?”

  I glared at him, “Last time I talk to her. What kind of professional talks about clients?” I muttered the last bit, though I figured Calmar heard it.

  He groaned and rubbed at his brows, “I was listening at the door. Don’t take it out on her.”

  “What the fuck, Cal?!” I shouted at him, “Did you listen in when I was talking with Toren too?!”

  “No. Porter stopped me…” He said, defeated.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. In and then out. “I haven’t been open with you because I don’t know you. Or Porter. Or Grimoire. Or any of the staff here!”

  Calmar flinched when I referred to him and avoided looking at me, “You aren’t trying to.”

  I frowned at him, “What about that talk earlier today? That’s part of trying. I’m not going to interrupt you two for no reason. The only reason I talk with Grimoire so much is he’s training me.”

  “I’m not always busy.” He said defensively.

  “And I don’t know when you aren’t busy yet. It hasn’t even been a week.” I had been getting heated, but just… deflated by the end. It hasn’t even been a week.

  “It’s been like this for years!” He shouted back. “I… I just miss when we talked. And you’ve started talking with me now and I’m… scared.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. Instead, I just thought, I want to punch Danielle in the face. It felt like everything she touched turned to shit.

  “That’s the look you’d give me…” He said, suddenly going white.,

  Shit. I hadn’t realized my expression had changed. I changed it to what I’d hoped was a encouraging smile and got up to go and try to comfort him. Which was when the world seemed to start spinning. Oh right. I did drugs.

  He looked concerned and then panicked as he seemed to rotate ninety degrees. “Ow.” I groaned out.

  “Dani!” He rushed over to me. “Are you hurt?”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Just my pride…”

  He looked confused at that statement. “Uh… do you need help?”

  I struggled to get to get a hand on the ground and push, “Yes please.”

  He grabbed me under my armpit and helped lift me. We walked the short distance to my bed and he deposited me onto it. He walked, I stumbled.

  “Thanks.” I said, muffled as I lay face down on the mattress.

  Calmar seemed to take a moment to process that, “No problem?”

  “Can you turn the lights out when you leave, please?” I muffled out.

  He sighed, “Sure.” I heard him walking and then the lights went off. The door then opened and closed. Then I heard him walking away.

  Well… that was awkward.

  Calmar didn’t stop until he got to his own room. There he sat in a chair and poured himself a drink. “What the hell was that, Calmar?” He muttered before taking a long drink.

  “You always do this when her mother is mentioned. Idiot.” He berated himself.

  There was a knock on the door. Calmar didn’t answer right away.

  Another knock on the door, followed by a “Lord Calmar.”

  It was Grimoire. Sighing, he finished the drink before saying, “Come in!”

  Grimoire stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He walked towards Calmar before stopping just within reach. He looked at the bottle with remorse before looking to Calmar, “Was the replacement to your liking?”

  Calmar grabbed the glass between his fingers and lifted it off the desk. “It was fine.”

  “Very good, sir.” Grimoire said. Then he waited, patiently.

  Calmar didn’t like that about the butler at times. He’d just wait when he knew something was wrong until someone talked. This time, he didn’t know how to feel.

  After a few minutes of gathering his thoughts, Calmar said, “I think… I messed up.”

  Grimoire made a contemplative noise, “Shall I assume the topic of parents came up?”

  The words made Calmar wince.

  The butler nodded, “I figured as much. There was not a particularly long list of topics to talk about yet.”

  The little lord looked down at himself, “What do I do, Grimoire? How do I fix this?”

  “You assume there is something to fix, my lord.” The butler responded simply.

  Calmar looked up at him, “What do you mean?”

  There was a meaningful sigh let out of the elven man. “May I be blunt, sir?”

  “Always, Grimoire. You know I trust your judgement.” Calmar said almost immediately.

  After a brief moment of consideration, he responded. “That’s not Lady Danielle.”

  The idea seemed to knock the wind out of Calmar. Something he hadn’t even considered, “What, like some kind of disguise or-”

  “No, my lord.” Grimoire said, with only a hint of exasperation. “I mean you are trying to attribute the girl from before with the one now. She can’t know the troubles you’ve carried. She can’t be jealous of the attention her father gave to you. The one before that unfortunate incident is, in essence, dead.”

  “That’s more accurate than you know.” Calmar said, bitterly.

  “How so?” The butler asked in confusion.

  So, Calmar told Grimoire about his conversation with Danielle. The butler appeared thoughtful, but didn’t speak those thoughts aloud.

  They waited there, in silence. Calmar was waiting for an insightful comment from the butler he’d grown to trust over the years. Grimoire was contemplating what that meant and what it could mean for the family.

  Finally, Grimoire opened his mouth to speak. “Does that change anything?”

  Calmar waved his hand dismissively and turned back towards the liquor bottle and glass on the desk. He poured himself a generous amount before putting the bottle away. “No. I don’t think so, anyway.”

  “Then apologize later and keep an eye out for what you can do to form a new relationship, instead of trying to dig up the previous one.” The butler put a hand on Calmar’s shoulder, stopping him from drinking just yet, “Be a brother to her, and don’t try to be anything more.”

  A complicated look crossed Calmar’s face, but he eventually nodded slowly. “You’re… right. That’s part of what cause issues in the first place, wasn’t it.”

  Grimoire shook his head, “I’d never presume to speculate on that. Good night, young lord.” The butler headed for the door.

  Calmor didn’t notice, instead knocking back his drink.

  Grimoire stopped outside the door and took a moment to compose himself. “The Carnival will want to know of this. It can’t be ignored.”

  He headed for the front door.