by Skyler Grant
"Because you broke my heart, you mean?"
Yeah. That was exactly what I meant. Not that I ever knew for certain I had. I guess this confirmed it. I nodded.
Maria squeezed my hand, a reassuring gesture curiously at odds with her next words. "I've not decided. Were it not for my sibling who shall call you father, I'd hurt you, I'd enjoy hurting you a great deal. I'd enjoy hurting my mother the same way."
"You're not a particularly nice person, are you?" I asked. It seemed a stupid thing to say, but the words just came out.
"No, I'm not. I'm still learning what a nice person is. I'm short of role models."
I guess she was at that.
"I think Lea and Riggs are the closest you're going to get," I said.
Maria considered that. "Perhaps. I think I may be a monster."
What a strangely earnest conversation. They usually were with her. "I have the same fear sometimes."
"It's not a fear, Liam. Nothing will trouble me about that being so. It is not a goal I seek or something I fear, I simply seek to understand myself."
I looked into her eyes. There was something broken inside of her. There had been since the first moment I'd met her. I'd wondered back then if she'd be my doom, and I still did.
"Maria. You are one of the least selfish people I know. You are devoted to the wellbeing of your subjects. You are true to your word and honest to a fault," I said. I was choosing my words carefully. "I think you just might be one of the good guys."
"My alignment would disagree," Maria said flatly.
"Fuck it," I said. I was sick of being put in boxes. "We're more than our numbers on a sheet. I don't know who is making those rules or why, but screw them. You aren't going to let anyone define you."
Maria stared at me. "That was smart, and true. I make the rules, I don't adhere to them."
We spent the rest of the time looking over the museum. With only a week of history to go over, it wasn't very large.
The date was a great success. 1 affection star gained.
I was getting good at this dating thing. I was glad it was almost done with. This was no way to live life, it was absolutely exhausting.
Date with Cobalt
Options
1. Hot Springs
2. Beach Cove
3. Hotel
Well, that was an unexpected assortment of options. This was meant to be a placeholder date just to fill the time without any risk of anything more intimate happening. I had the date with Yvera next.
These weren't very first date oriented options. Practice, it had to be practice. Each time I went I'd been gathering a half-star with her and they must have been adding up.
We weren't at four stars, fortunately, but if the guide to past dates was any indicator this would be firmly into make-out territory.
The hotel option seemed well past that and so I skipped it. That left just the beach or hot springs. Neither was great for not wanting anything to happen and so I picked the first.
The springs were well hidden in the forest, a large pool of steaming water. I found myself in swim trunks, Cobalt was wearing a good bit less.
I took in the view and with an effort tore my gaze away. I said, "I didn't think it would let you get this undressed at our current affection rating."
"I make my own rules, Liam. You know that. I'm mostly playing by the rules of this little bubble reality, but this was too nice not to get properly comfortable," Cobalt said, leaning back.
"It's going to expect us to make-out, but I'm seeing Yvera next..."
Cobalt cracked an eyelid at me and gave a wry snort. "I think I can manage to leave you unmolested before the big date. You two are finally going to get it on?"
"That's the plan. We can't exactly do it back there because of the flames."
Cobalt waved off any further explanation. "You don't have to give me the full speech. I get it. You appear in enough of these little sub-realities, you learn to never miss the opportunity. Sleep with your best friend's evil double and get out all those things you'd never explore otherwise."
I settled into the water. It was nice and soothing. I needed this. "So, this sort of thing happens a lot?"
"You take up reality jumping, you'll be forever finding yourself faced with strange situations. I once had a foursome with myself, seriously."
That was a confusing visual. "That sounds like some sort of masterclass in masturbation."
"Oh, a lot more fun than that. If you think I'm good in bed, you should try three of me."
If the option ever came along I'd do just that. It seemed safer to change the subject though.
"Are we on track to get back home tomorrow?"
"We should be able to get you back to Galea," Cobalt said. "The shift drive was never broken, it's the rest of the ship that needed work."
"I really am sorry about that."
"Not the first time the Vainglory has gotten the worst of it in a fight. I find my way into a lot of them."
Given her nature, I imagined that she did. Being a King exhausted me. I wondered if it was the same for Cobalt and fighting.
"Does it bother you? Always being at war?"
Cobalt clasped her hands behind her head as she stretched out beneath the steaming water. "I love fighting and I always have. Some shy away from a fight, but I never have. The only thing I hate is that those I care about aren't immune to them. Whatever this world throws at me I'm going to survive, the same isn't true for those around me."
"Riggs and Lea seem to be having a good run."
Cobalt laughed. "Riggs is a god, however minor a one. They can keep up. Lea is something special too, despite that she'll tell you otherwise."
I wondered if I was tough enough to stand beside her.
"You're wondering how you stack up," Cobalt said, easily reading my mind. "You don't, not yet. Get your Goddess in control of her own pantheon like I've told you and maybe you'll live long enough to meet your daughter."
"I've done okay so far."
"Keep your eye on the prize," Cobalt said, sharply. "I don't want you to be a corpse, Liam. Get strong or we'll have to leave you behind. Now shut up and let me relax."
That was straightforward enough. The rest of the date passed quietly. I didn't get a star, or even a prompt. I guess Cobalt did set her own rules when she decided to do so.
It was time for the big date. Getting this right mattered to me a hell of a lot more than the big game.
Date with Yvera
Options
1. Hotel
2. Dorm Room
3. Abandoned Mansion
The first option was the most obvious, but this wasn't a bad thing, at least we'd have some place clean and a made bed. The dorm would be somewhere familiar, but my room was a total mess. The third option was intriguing as hell, but it also sounded the start to bad things. I was sure a lot of horror movies started with a couple getting it on in an abandoned mansion.
I went for the hotel.
Reality blurred. It looked to be a corner room with the windows showing a majestic view of a city and mountains in the distance. I barely had eyes for it. Yvera was wearing something red and lacey that concealed nothing and everything all at the same time.
"Beautiful," I said.
"Like I'd ever be anything but," Yvera said. "I aced my exams, I aced the extra credit and you are so about to make this whole thing even better."
"It seems we should talk or something," I said.
"I've been a voice in your head long enough. Get over here."
Since entering the game world I'd slept with power curses and ancient evils, and even an altogether different Goddess. They were otherworldly encounters. There was nothing otherworldly about Yvera now.
We were just two people. There was the awkward bumping of elbows and laughter, and two pieces that didn't quite fit coming together, then learning to fit perfectly. I loved this woman and she loved me. We spent the night proving to each other how much. Who knew when we'd have the opportunity agai
n?
When I awoke the next morning, our bodies were a tangle of limbs and it was daylight outside.
The city seemed to be on fire.
I nudged Yvera awake. It didn't work. I nudged harder and she shot me a bleary sort of glare.
"The city seems to be burning down around us."
Yvera turned her attention to the windows and stared for a moment. Yawning, she slipped out of bed. "We should find our clothes then. I think your game is probably canceled."
It felt strange to have technology again at my disposal after having spent so much time in a world with magic. I got on the phone as Yvera dressed. I figured anyone involved with the Vainglory was busy, but I might be able to get a hold of one of the others.
Ashley answered her phone right away, "Hello?"
"Ashley, it's Liam."
"Where the fuck are you. We've been calling."
"In a hotel room with Yvera. What is happening?"
"What do you think is happening? The Elves found us."
"But we jumped out of their reality. What do you mean, they found us?"
"Elves," Yvera said, with an expression of distaste. "They never know their place or respect boundaries."
I was starting to share her dislike. I was glad they hadn't attacked last night.
"Fuck, Liam. I don't know. They're smart and magical and really pissed off at us."
"We'll get there as soon as we can."
I heard Ashley talking back and forth in the background although I couldn't make out the conversation.
Then she said, "Get out onto the roof. We'll come to you. Things are coming apart fast."
That was a plan. I hung up and fumbled for my pants.
The windows exploded, shards of glass flying inward. I and Yvera were both thrown to the ground. I had a nasty splinter dug into my chest that I had to tear out, Yvera had several cuts to her arms.
This wasn't the same game and we weren't healing quickly from our wounds.
Yvera choked back a sob as she got to her feet. She was covered in blood.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"No, I think that nicked a few things that shouldn't have been nicked. I'm pretty sure I'm dying and I really hate feeling pain."
I was with her on that one. Sheets made for a quick tourniquet. I hoped they wouldn't need to do a longer job. If we could get out of this reality and back into the other world, our wounds wouldn't be an issue.
Yvera leaned against me as we made our way out of the room. The elevators were shut down in the crisis and it was ten exhausting floors up to the roof.
When we arrived, the Vainglory was already circling overhead with a ladder extended. We had a view of the city tearing itself apart. Buildings were collapsing into ruins and the sky was alight with brilliant traces of sorcery.
I tried to grab for the ladder and missed. I didn't have the strength left in me. Yvera was doing even worse, her skin pale.
Cobalt leapt down from the ship with her usual grace.
"Sorry about this," Cobalt said, as she grabbed each of us under one arm. A grunt of effort and she leapt back up to the ship bypassing the ladder entirely. It was an inhuman display of strength. I would have been more impressed if I wasn't busy dying at just that moment.
Cobalt called out, "We're all aboard. Punch it."
Air rippled around us and once again reality tore itself apart.
CHAPTER TEN
There was a massive blast of energy and the skies above shifted from multicolored chaos to a more sedate blue. I also got hit by a sudden rush of delicious euphoria. My passives were back and my nearly dead self was getting a rush. Yvera was sprawled on the deck nearby and her bloody wounds began to sprout flames, the tourniquet and clothes from the other world burning off as her aura of flames once again surrounded her.
Yvera gave me a brief look of regret as she rose to her feet. The blood hadn't evaporated, it beaded and rolled along her flesh like water on a hot griddle. It was like a thing alive. I remembered how her blood had forged my sword, how Atlantia's and Mela's blood had helped to make their Chosen. Blood was part of a deity’s power and she was covered in it.
We were in the sky and the Vainglory was not alone. Near us were two Elvish airships. Our appearance must have taken them by surprise and they were quickly coming about.
"Riggs, on guns. Lea, get me some targets. I'll be on the bridge," Cobalt said, as she hurried away.
"I'm in the mood to give you a bit of help," Yvera said, and the blood sizzling on her flesh shot upwards leaving fiery streaks in its wake. The very skies trembled and the day at once seemed to be sunset, the air shot through with reds and yellows that backlit the clouds. Rain began to fall, fiery droplets that burned and sizzled. The Vainglory was untouched, and magical barriers surrounding the Elven ships flared into life in a blue haze.
Below us the forests had no protection and trees began to burn.
Lea was already starting to move. Fluid motions brought the runes on her flesh flaring to life as portals opened before her.
"I don't think she's wiping them out, but she's sure got them distracted," Lea said.
"I'm not done," Yvera said. The flames around her so were intense I could barely make out her form. She was blinding to look at and the deck beneath her bare feet was charred and blackened.
The wind picked up and one of the airships began to spin slowly as the air itself caught fire around it. A tornado of flame was being born before our eyes. The shields on the ship flickered desperately.
Through one of Lea's portals I could see the shield mages on the deck working desperately to maintain things. They were panicked, desperate. Crystals were drawn from robes, perhaps spell enhancements or mana storage. Whatever they were, it wasn't enough. The shields tore apart and fiery rain began to pelt the deck of the Elvish vessel.
Figures wreathed in fire screamed and tried to escape, but there was no getting away. There was nowhere to go, there was nothing to do but die. The ship began to come apart in the sky, burning bodies mingled with planks of wood in a maelstrom of fiery destruction.
I was really hot for Yvera right about now.
The other airship was already turning away as the Vainglory pelted it with a rain of cannon fire. The shields flared but held as it began to make a retreat.
"You going to let them get away?" I asked Yvera.
"One miracle of destruction not enough for you?" Yvera asked. The flames around her were fading and coalesced to form a dress.
"It was pretty badass," Ashley said, grudgingly impressed.
"I had some power to burn with the wounds, but I'm not wasting any more. I need to keep my batteries topped up for the fight ahead," Yvera said.
That was okay. Cobalt seemed to be rather bloody-minded herself as the Vainglory was giving chase. To my surprise the Elvish ship was keeping ahead of us.
"Didn't we get the engines fixed?" I asked Lea.
"The boss was actually looking forward to the baseball game," Lea said. "She's pissed. It wasn't a group of ship-based battle mages that tore apart a pocket reality. Those ships had help."
"She's letting them run on purpose," I said in sudden understanding.
"They just saw one ship taken down with divine fury and they have us close on their tail. They'll be running to safe harbor."
Ashley asked, "Won't that just be the nearest military base?"
Lea shrugged. "If their army wasn't all busy invading Genea, probably. But since they are, instead they're running towards the closest and strongest thing they know. Maybe it won't be any mages, but whatever it is, it will be something for Cobalt to kill."
"Good. You won't be needing me then. I'm going to go check and see that nothing has fallen apart in the heavens while we've been away," Yvera said, before she vanished in a swirl of flame.
"So, you two finally got it on?" Ashley asked.
"Now you want to know about my love life?" I asked.
Ashley gestured at the airship in the distance. "What else have w
e got to do right now? They're busy running away and I don't have anybody to kill. So, how was it?"
Well, it wasn't like Yvera was exactly shy. I couldn't see where talking about it would offend anyone. "It was good. Really good."
"And no important bits of the anatomy burst into flame or anything?"
"There was a distant lack of sex organs being roasted," I said. "She was human there. I was human there. We were just people, it was really nice."
"And now you two can't do it again? Because she is all eternally on fire?"
"Yeah. The eternal aura of flames is kind of a deal-breaker for getting all close again."
"So, did you like it? There?"
"I did at first," I said. Below us we were leaving the burning forests behind, a thick plume of smoke rising. "But then it got weird. Pretty much everything I did had to be a date. It was fun, but things got weird quick. I liked getting time to talk to everyone though."
"Everyone wanted to get with me for my money," Ashley said with a grin. "It was pretty cool."
I'd tried for that very reason. "Is that why you're always looting corpses?"
"Nah. That's because I want to be strong," Ashley said, leaning against the mast. "I had fun though. It was nice to take a break from all the killing."
"Don't suppose that you're free from all the crazy murder thoughts now?"
"If I say I want to ride you until I break you in half, are you still getting turned on?" Ashley asked.
I couldn't help the visual from slipping into my head. Yep, totally excited and totally dwelling on it.
"Yeah, I see what you mean. I may kind of still be a lust-crazed idiot," I said.
"And I still really want to stab something," Ashley said, toying with one of the daggers at her waist. "At least one of us has some relief coming. Those elves are going to be begging to be stabbed a lot more than they're begging to be bedded."
That was likely the case. So far, any of the elves we'd met had been quite spectacularly uninterested in sleeping with me. I wondered if Yvera had the same problems with them. It might explain a lot of the animosity.
In the distance a tower of white stone was rising out of the forest, ornate arches and pillars visible. The Elvish airship was heading right towards it.