by Rick Scott
Angela looks up at me, stunned. “What?”
I grab her hand and pull her up beside me. “The job was always yours, Angela. And I can’t think of a more capable leader. Besides… you know we can’t stay.”
“This is highly irregular,” High Council Najur says. “To become a High King, one cannot simply be granted the—”
“It’s done,” I tell him. “Now name Queen Angela as my successor.” I then give him a glare. “Or do I need to demonstrate my martial dominance again? Starting with you…”
Your Barter increases by 0.8!
Najur swallows visibly and then bows. “Very well, your grace. As the final decree of High King Reece, I now proclaim Queen Angela of House Young Lords, as High Queen of all New London. All hail the High Queen!”
If the lower houses were celebrating before, they all but lose it now. They stand to their feet and stomp the floor, ecstatic at having one of their own finally in charge. From the Major Houses on the other side of the bleachers the mood is far more somber and quiet, seething almost.
“Thank you, Reece,” Angela says, squeezing my hand. “You have no idea what you’ve done here. And far better than the way I had planned it.”
“Lexi always said you had a good heart.” I smile back at her. “And she was right.” I then look to the brooding Major House crowd and give a frown. “Doesn’t look like it’ll be an easy transition though, but I think you’ve got the stones to bring them all together.”
Angela chuckles. “Well, I suppose there’s no time like the present to get started.” She turns to addresses the crowd with her augmented voice. “People of New London, hear me now as your High Queen!”
She waits for the entire assembly to grow silent before she continues to speak.
“We have much healing to do as a people, my recent actions notwithstanding.” She casts her head down as she pauses. “I’m not proud of what I did. I presumed too much…and listened too little. But if there is one thing that I’ve learned from it, it is that we must be able to let go of our transgressions and pardon our transgressors.” She then looks to Rembrandt. “Which is why, as my first official decree as High Queen, I now pardon Lord Rembrandt for his crimes against the Major Houses.”
The crowd lets loose with a roil of uneasy murmurs but there are cheers mixed in there as well. The High Council looks ill at ease at the proclamation, as well as at the corresponding disparity within the crowd. But eventually he nods with assent and looks to Rembrandt. “By order of the High Queen: Lord Rembrandt, True Ronin of the House of Lords, you are hereby pardoned of your crimes. You and your companions are now free to go.”
The blue shield lifts and the crowds from the minor houses rush towards the arena, cheering for their new High Queen. Rembrandt looks to Angela as she’s flocked with well-wishers and shakes his head at her with a smile. “You know I don’t deserve this, love.”
She smiles back at him.
“Like you said…” And then she looks to me with a nod of thanks. “None of us do.”
Chapter 56: Goodbyes
“Come on, Gilly, we need to go.”
“Just one more minute!” Gilly says, tapping away at the holographic terminal in front of her. We’re in the Grand Archives, which to me resembles what a museum or library must be like. All around us, two-story-high shelves full of books dominate a hall-sized room, complete with desks and tables, each equipped with a terminal like the one Gilly is now accessing. The books are mostly for show or atmosphere I think, because with the terminals there’s no need to actually open one up.
“Ah! Here it is,” Gilly says with a smile. “I came across it last week when I was searching for Citadel. This is what Rembrandt was kind of talking about, right?”
Gilly shares the file with me and the title appears on my HUD.
[The Quantum Cosmonaut Theory by Dr. Matthew Savage]
“What is this?”
“It’s like a textbook, full of all kinds of crazy math and stuff. I’m sure even my dad would be confused by it, but basically it’s about space exploration using quantum technology instead of building rockets.”
I furrow my brow at that. “Huh?”
“Like being able to travel to someplace else without even moving your body.”
“Ah,” I say. “Like how we’re here but our bodies are still in Citadel?”
“Exactly!” she beams.
I peruse the book and it’s just like Gilly says: pages and pages of small text, diagrams, and huge equations. “You understand this stuff?”
She shrugs. “Kinda. I’m going to give it to Rembrandt to see what he thinks.”
I nod. “I’m sure he’d probably appreciate it.” I then chuckle. “Keep forgetting how smart you are.”
She grins at that. “This might be our best chance to discover that place you saw in the orb. If the Labyrinth and everything beyond that really is in actual space, then maybe this could be the key to how we can access it.”
I think back to how Rembrandt was describing the time lag and the huge distances we could be away from the Earth. It was still just a theory in his mind, but perhaps this book can prove it one way or the other. And if so, maybe we can indeed find a way to reach that place the Ozoku showed me, just like Gilly says.
“I tried researching your new powers too,” Gilly says. “But I couldn’t find a record of Zenkai or Kono-Zemsu anywhere.”
Just the mention of Zenkai causes me to check my HUD and I see the ability has finally reset now, which means I can’t use the cooldown timer as an excuse to not show it off anymore. I’ve became a celebrity of sorts of late, people constantly bombarding me with queries on what they saw me do in the tournament. I try to keep it low-key, though. To be honest, I’d rather not have people focus on it. I still don’t even understand its origins, myself, other than I was able to access it while in the deepest part of that orb.
One thing is for certain though, my father is a Kono-Zemsu just like me…and he’s still trapped in there somehow. “I suppose I’ll just need to discover it as I go along.” I ponder a moment. “I still wonder how Kurgan knew about it though…”
Gilly shrugs. “Rembrandt said he liked to solo bosses. Maybe he died and nearly went to the Hell Planet like we did. Or maybe he found a clue somewhere else, like in the wild, or beneath it.”
I think back to that ancient city frozen in time, just below the desert surface and consider what kind of secrets could still be hiding there. “…maybe.”
“Speaking of which,” Gilly says and she pulls up a map on the holographic screen. “I’ve got our route to Citadel all planned out. The coordinates I got placed it a good forty or so miles from the mines back in Brookrun, but it’s still the closet point of access we know of. Besides, with our vehicles now, staying ahead of those monsters shouldn’t be a problem.”
I nod. Gilly’s already told me this before though and I get the sense that she’s actually stalling for time now. I ease a hand on her back and say softly, “Come on, Gilly. The ceremony’s starting soon. And I’m dying to see what you’ve been working on.”
She huffs out a nervous sigh. “Okay, okay….”
“Are you feeling all right?”
She nods. “Yeah…just. You know…”
It’s been nearly a week since I defeated Kurgan and named Angela as High Queen, which mean it’s been just a little more than that since Gilly lost her best friend. Although we’ve been searching for a way to bring Lexi back, for me, I know it’s something of a long shot, something we might not ever achieve—at least not right away. But for Gilly, it’s still what’s been keeping her going.
Which is also probably why she’s stalling right now.
“Saying goodbye doesn’t mean we’re giving up, Gilly,” I tell her. “But Lexi had other friends who want to honor her as well.”
“Yeah…” she says slowly. “I know…”
She inhales sharply and then shudders as she releases a sudden cry. “I miss her so much, Reece…”
I squeeze her in
an embrace, my arms wrapping around her shoulders as they shake with her tears. “It’s okay, Gilly… just let it out.”
It feels good to see her cry. Over the last week she’s consumed herself with staying busy—researching and planning our trip back to Brookrun as well as this special project she’s refused to let me see. It’s the same as she did when Rembrandt and I was in the labyrinth, I guess—keeping her mind preoccupied by throwing herself into work. But now she’s truly tapping into her emotions and her grief. I’ve heard her crying in the early hours of the morning after waking abruptly from her sleep, but this is the first time I’ve seen her truly give in and let it all out.
I hold her for what seems like an hour as she trembles in my arms. Eventually she sniffs back her tears and wipes her nose. “Thanks, Reece…I guess I needed that.”
I nod and help her to her feet as she logs off the terminal.
“You ready?”
She gives a nod and takes a deep breath, finally giving me a smile. “Ready…”
* * *
We materialize into the center of the Thunder Ball Rally Circuit, whisked away by Gilly’s Teleportation spell. When I open my eyes, they grow even wider as I see just how much the place has changed. Gone are the dilapidated buildings, replaced by newly formed construction sites, erecting new high-rises and shopping centers. But where we’re standing however, looks even more amazing.
The entrance to a huge park looms before us, so big that it has to take up an entire city block. Lush grass and well-manicured trees lie within, cut through by cobblestone walkways which remind me of the skytop restaurant I took Gilly to for our date. Above us a wrought-iron archway displays a name in large golden letters: Grand Lexi Park.
I look to Gilly with my mouth still open. “You did all this?”
Gilly shrugs. “The design and construction, yeah. Queen Angela helped with the funding though. She’s done an amazing job with the whole area, really.”
I marvel at both the park and the area around it. She really has. I knew about the area redevelopment, but not the park. “This is amazing, Gilly!”
“Yeah, getting the factions to work together to redevelop this area was a great idea.”
I have to agree.
Not only did it give the whole community a common goal to forget their differences for a while, but it gave them an outlet for all the new resources coming into the city from the leveling spree. Since restoring the 99 level cap, everyone in the city has been going gonzo with PVE, trying to level up. I’ve only managed to reach level 87 myself, unlocking my Shuriken Ability, but others I’ve seen are nearing level 90 already.
“Come on,” she says. “They’re probably all waiting.”
She takes me by the hand and together we make our way to the center of the park where the pathways all converge in a cobblestone circle at the crest of a small rise. The entire Young Lords faction along with the rest of our friends are gathered there already, spread around a large hole dug in the center of the grassy patch in the middle circle.
Queen Angela is at the center with Lance and Rembrandt at either side. She greets us with a smile and waits for us to join the group before speaking aloud.
“We’re gathered here to bid farewell to one of our own,” she says. “A true Young Lord who did her part for the guild and her friends…right up to the very end.” She pauses then and I painfully relive the moment of Lexi jumping in front of that gun. “Lexi will be missed for her bright spirit, her wit and her charm, but most of all her love and compassion…”
Angela then goes on to describe Lexi in ways that we all knew her: a great racer who was rarely bested on the track, a risk taker who would venture across the wild and bring back resources from other game worlds, a person who would do anything to help both her friends and strangers alike. She even tells a few stories that have us all laughing, Gilly included, remembering how great a sense of humor she had.
“To officially commemorate the dedication of this park to our dearly beloved sister,” Angela says as she concludes her speech, “I’d like to invite its designer to come forward and plant the central tree…Gilly?”
I squeeze Gilly’s hand as she glances up at me with a nervous smile.
“Want me to come with you?” I ask.
She finally shakes her head. “I’m okay. I think Lexi would probably want me to tough it out alone.”
I chuckle and give her a quick hug.
She releases a nervous breath as she takes a spot next to Angela.
“Lexi was a friend to all of us,” she begins, “but to me she became a lot more than that. She was the sister I never had growing up. The friend I never knew I was missing all my life. I didn’t know her for very long, and in a way, that makes this all the more sad… because we had so much to still experience together. I wanted to show her my village in Nasgar, my home back in Citadel.” Gilly then pauses as her eyes glisten with tears. “She gave her life for me…something I don’t know how I’ll ever repay. I can only pray that someday, somehow, I’ll get to see her again. And say thank you. Thank you, Lexi, for all you’ve done for me. I miss you and I’ll be your friend…forever.”
My heart warms at hearing her words and my throat tightens as a tear forms at the corner of my eye. Angela nods as Gilly steps back and then the android gestures to Val Helena. “Val.”
The giantess steps forward holding one of the mana trees by the bottom of its roots, now bundled within a canvas bag. She kneels and rests it gently in the freshly dug hole and then hands Gilly a shovel. She takes it with a smile and scoops up a mound of fresh earth. She sprinkles it lovingly over the roots and then passes the shovel to Queen Angela who goes next, followed by Lance and then the rest of the faction.
“Nice ceremony…”
I stiffen at the unfamiliar voice and look over my shoulder to see a black man with close-cut hair, wearing a pair of dark shades and dressed in a pinstripe suit.
My eyes widen as the voice and face connect within my mind. “Lenno—?”
“Shhs…” He raises his index finger to his lips.
I look around and wonder if I’m the only one that can even see him. No one else seems to be reacting to him at all, although we are sort of at the back of the crowd.
“Thought I’d see you off and give you my thanks personally,” Lennox says. “Sorry about your loss, by the way…”
“Yeah…ah…thanks.” I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation. I’m totally unprepared. “And thank you, too. We found the location of Citadel that we were looking for.”
“Aye,” he says. “I saw your lady friend snooping good and proper through all my files.”
I chuckle. “So are all your memories restored now?”
“About 90%, I’d say. Still can’t communicate with my mother or my sisters, but I at least know who they are now…thanks to you.”
I smile as Lennox gives me a handshake of gratitude. I’ve got a million questions to ask him, but there’s one at the top of my list. “Hey, do you know of a place called Sheol and how we can get to it?”
He grins. “You’ve got to remember the rules, mate. If it’s not within my domain then I have no knowledge of it. And you’ve already had full access to all my knowledge for over a week.”
I suppose that answers my question. If he knew, Gilly would have found it by now.
“The Gun Queen sends her regards by the way,” Lennox says. “She’s got her memories back too. New upgrades as well. You might want to give her a spin with those new abilities of yours. Where the hell did they come from, anyway? I was sweating bullets when I was transcribing them.”
I open my mouth to speak, but as with my conversation with Gilly, I’m not really sure myself.
“Nevermind,” he says quickly. “Probably best I not know. I’m already too bloody busy balancing these new levels to be worried about how to scale to whatever the hell you can do now.”
“What?”
“The mobs,” Lennox says. “You think you all have a h
ard time leveling up? Try doing it for a million plus.”
I chuckle.
“By the way, here you go. I didn’t make a deal for this, but I think you’ve earned it anyway.”
You receive a CEOIOU.
Whoa…
“Don’t go spending it all in one place, yeah?”
I look back to Gilly as she continues to plant the tree.
“And before you even ask,” Lennox says. “No can do on that one, mate. Lexi’s no longer within my domain, but I can do something else for her, I think.”
Lennox snaps his fingers and the mana tree begins to shines with a brilliant white light. I stare in awe as it begins to grow right before my eyes like a time-lapse video spanning a hundred years. Gilly and Angela step back, shocked, as the trunk thickens to the full width of the circle, ten feet across. The branches elongate to form a huge canopy fifty feet wide and a hundred feet high. Then with another burst of light, the tree blooms in a flash, showering the air with cherry blossom-like petals that explode like confetti.
You have acquired an Aura!
Aura: Lexi’s Gift
Duration: 48 hours
+5 to all stats
+500 Magic Affinity
“There…” Lennox says. “Now you won’t have to go lugging around those bloody trees all the time.”
I laugh and turn about to thank him, but there’s no one standing there.
* * *
The rest of the faction disperses slowly, still marveling at the miracle that just occurred. Eventually just Queen Angela and Lance remain, along with the rest of our party. Gilly is stuck marveling at the tree as well. While everyone else has long since chalked it up to some kind of divine intervention, I know for Gilly, it perhaps means far more than that.
She smiles at me, crushing my hand as she gazes up at the falling petals.
“This is a good sign,” she says. “A message from Lexi, I think. She’s telling us not to give up hope.”