by David Petrie
Chapter Eight
“Yeah, who the hell are you?” Max drew a pistol and raised it to the low-level Venom mage that had just appeared in the theater box along with the rest of his house.
“I’m Seven.”
“That’s a number, not a name.” He let his anger drip into his voice, filling it with a menacing quality. “How did you force my house to shift you in here?”
“Hey hey hey!” Kegan jumped in front of the woman, holding his hands up. “Seven is her name. She works for the Silver Tongues. We just ran into her below deck.”
“Hello, guys, what happened?” Farn’s voice came across the house line. “Why did I shift out?”
Kegan raised his house ring to his mouth. “Sorry, Farn, something came up, we’re sorting it out now. Hang tight.” He returned his attention to Max. “Sorry about shifting without warning. We found Echo so we thought it was okay to bring her back up here and we took Seven with us to be nice.”
“That’s what you think.” Max kept his gun aimed at the woman despite Kegan blocking his shot. “She’s playing you.”
“He’s right.” Ginger added from beside him. “She was with Nix down in the theater when we arrived.”
“Nix is here?” Kegan spun back to look at the player he’d shifted in with him, clearly just as surprised as Max that she might be involved with their enemy.
The woman, Seven, finally stomped forward, her eyes burning with indignation. “I have no idea who Nix is and want nothing to do with her. She just walked up to me and started talking when I arrived. I am only here for a job, and the sooner I can leave the better.”
“Then why were you protecting her?” Max tightened his grip on his gun.
Seven let out a mirthless laugh. “I didn’t have a choice. You just opened fire without so much as a warning. Nix used me as a human shield.” She lowered her head. “After that, I ran away to hide below deck until the auction started. I found Echo in the engine room and crossed paths with the rest of your house shortly after.”
“That true?” Max glanced to Echo on instinct, forgetting what the avatar was for an instant. The fairy shrugged, the system pulling her responses from either him or Farn, reminding him that she only fed back what they already knew. He redirected his question to the others. “Is it?”
“It’s true.” Corvin stepped forward.
“Yeah, so put the gun down.” Piper pushed the Blade aside. “Seven saved our lives down there.”
“Really?” Max let his gun fall a little.
“Yes, she did.” Kegan lowered his hands as if the confrontation was over. “We ran into a party of stowaways down below. Not sure what they were here for, and they weren’t interested in talking. They tried to kill us without asking questions. Seven got caught in the crossfire and ended up saving us when things went south.”
“How?” Max raised an eyebrow at the Venom. “You’re, what? Level one from the looks of your gear?”
Seven scoffed. “I’m level seven, actually.”
“She hit a high-level player with pulse spells until he fell off the ship.” Kegan added. “She made six levels off him.”
Max shook his head, picturing a level one mage taking on a high-level alone. It was technically possible. Finally, he lowered his gun and let out sigh. “Alright, that makes sense. And it is kind of badass.”
Everyone in the room relaxed as he holstered his gun. Especially Seven, who let herself fall back against the wall to rest.
“Aren’t you going to apologize for shooting at me in the theater?”
“I don’t know why I would.” Max let his hands rest on his belt. “I missed on purpose. You were never in any danger.”
“Why would you miss on purpose? Aren’t you after Nix?” Seven stared him straight in the face.
“I am, but I don’t want her dead. That would only send her back to spawn.” Max growled his last few words. “I want her where I can find her.”
“Christ, what is wrong with everyone? This is just a game.” Seven shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You people take things way too seriously.”
Her words sent a surge of anger through Max’s vision. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What could one player have done to incur such wrath?” Seven raised her head, her nostrils flaring. “Nix didn’t even seem dangerous. Honestly, she was kind of dumb.”
Max couldn’t help but be reminded of himself, back when he had thought the same thing. Back before he knew better. “She–”
“She stole something from us.” Ginger stepped forward, cutting him off before he said something he might regret. “Something important to everyone in our house.”
Max looked to Ginger, getting a kind smile in return. He was glad she was there to step in. “Yeah, and we want it back.”
Seven pushed off the wall and motioned toward the door. “Well, good luck with that. Just leave me out of it. I need this job and I don’t want whatever blood feud you have going on putting my livelihood in jeopardy.”
“That’s understandable.” Ginger offered the low-level Venom her hand. “You helped our people down below, so consider yourself a friend of our house.”
Seven hesitated before taking her hand and shaking it. “What the…” She pulled her hand away and glanced at her stat-sleeve as a message appeared along her forearm.
“That’s a friend request.” Ginger nodded to her. “You can accept it or not. It’s up to you.”
“Sure, sure.” Seven stepped away clearly intending to decline the invitation as soon as she exited the room.
“Hey.” Max looked away from her. “Sorry I shot at you. I was trying to scare Nix, not someone trying to make a living.”
“It’s… it’s okay.” She let out a sigh as her posture relaxed. “I get it, Nix is an enemy.”
“She is.” Max gave her a sad smile. “If you see her coming, walk the other way.”
“I will.” Seven nodded before disappearing into the hall.
Kegan, Piper and Corvin immediately leaped forward.
“Why the hell is Nix here?” they asked in unison.
“To get contracts I guess?” Max shrugged before changing the subject. “Where did you shift Farn to by the way?”
Kegan’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah. She’s somewhere on the deck.” He turned to Piper. “Do you mind swapping back out? Now that we’re inside.”
“Fine, kick me out, not like I pull my weight on these missions or anything.” She groaned and leveled a deadly stare at Corvin. “I didn’t want to hang out here anyway.” She touched her bracelet without saying goodbye and Farn appeared in her place holding a mug. Apparently she had stopped at a bar while on the deck.
“Woah.” The Shield stumbled backward from the sudden shift. “A little warning would have been nice.”
“Sorry.” Kegan bowed his head. “At least you got yourself a drink, and we found Echo for you.” Farn deflated a little as soon as Echo bounced over to her and tried to drink from her mug.
“Oh, thanks.” She pulled the cup away from the little avatar. “No, this is my cider. And you’re a lightweight.” Echo pouted but settled in at her side regardless.
Max ignored the pair, his mind drifting back to Seven. The idea of sending a level-one into the Auction of Souls was insane.
“You’re wondering about that Venom mage too?” Ginger let her shoulder rest against his.
“Yeah, she doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on.” He stared back at the door that Seven had left through. “Just what are the Silver Tongues thinking?”
Chapter Nine
“What else could go wrong?”
Seven broke into a sprint as soon as she left Lockheart’s theater box. She’d been trying her best to keep to herself since she’d arrived on the Night Queen. Now though, she’d somehow befriended the most dangerous house in Noctem and killed the First Knight of her own in under an hour.
Also, she’d lost Ruby.
It was probably wise that I d
idn’t mention to anyone in Lockheart that I knew the other stowaways. That could have been hard to explain. I expect they’d have killed me on the spot.
She slowed to a stop as soon as she thought she’d put in enough distance. It wasn’t like she had anywhere to run to anyway. Seven cursed her bad luck, then ground her palms into her eyes in frustration.
“How did I get into this?”
Of course that was when Leftwitch’s voice filled her ears.
“You’ve been busy.”
Seven jumped a foot in the air at the sudden intrusion, then spun in search of the source. The hall was empty.
“Hello?” she asked quietly.
Leftwitch’s voice answered back. “I am going to assume from your silence that you don’t know how to use your house ring.”
“My silence?” Seven glanced down at the silver band that hugged her finger. She thought back to when Kegan had spoked to someone using his a few minutes ago. He had held it close to his mouth.
“Just hold it close–” Leftwitch began to explain.
Seven jerked her hand up to her mouth. “I understand, sorry.”
“Ah, good.” Leftwitch paused. “I set up a private chat just between us within the house line so you can talk freely. Our house is a little too big to have you on an open channel.”
“Thank you.” Seven wasn’t sure how to bring up the fact that she had killed Cassius. All she knew was she couldn’t hide it. The man would respawn any second and tell on her, if he hadn’t already. She reluctantly opened her mouth, “I may have killed–”
“I should mention Cassius just respawned?” Leftwitch interrupted.
Seven’s breath froze in her chest. “I am so sorry about that. I didn’t know it was him under the helmet. I only realized it when I saw his spear after he dropped it.”
“Yes, I’m afraid you’re going to have to answer for that.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Seven clutched her chest. “I’ll make up for it any way–” Leftwitch cut her off with a snort followed by a fit of laughter.
“Wow.” Leftwitch took a few audible breaths. “Sorry, I was just playing. You’re not in trouble.”
“What?”
“It’s fine. I didn’t want to send you in alone, so I sent in Cassius and his team as back up, just in case. I figured it would be easier for you to act natural if you didn’t know about it, and I didn’t want them traced back to me if they got caught. Hence the helmet. Cass is too easily recognized as my Knight. Ultimately, you did what anyone would do when facing an unknown group of players. I can’t fault you for that.”
“Oh, thank god.” Seven released the heaviest sigh of her life. “I thought I was fired.”
“No way.” Leftwitch chuckled. “If anything, you’ve impressed everyone back here in Lucem. All the other assistants are amazed that you took out Cassius at level one. You should have seen his face when he respawned. He just kept repeating that ‘the noob pushed him.’”
Seven cringed at the word noob. “I didn’t know what else to do. I just got caught between Cassius and Lockheart’s stowaways–”
“Lockheart?” Leftwitch sounded surprised. “The people Cass was chasing were from Lockheart?”
“Yeah. Kegan, Corvin, and Piper.”
“Hmm. I haven’t heard of Piper, but Kegan and Corvin have reputations.” Leftwitch went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “And you saved their lives?”
“Ah, yes, I suppose,” Seven admitted sheepishly.
“Would you say that put you on friendly terms with them?”
“I guess so. Lady Ginger sent me a friend request, but I wasn’t sure if I should accept it.”
“Yes, absolutely accept it!” An excited tone entered Leftwitch’s voice. “Actually, let me add a new objective to your mission tonight.”
Seven winced as if waiting for an oncoming truck to slam into her as she responded with a reluctant, “Yes?”
“I want you to get close to the members of Lockheart. All of them. I want you to gain their trust. I’ve been trying to get information on them for the last six months, everybody has. Unfortunately, they have proven to be one of Noctem’s most elusive houses. Any information you can get about them would be a godsend for my show.”
Seven sunk her body against the wall. She no longer had a choice in the matter. “But I don’t really know what’s going on, or how to do that.”
“That’s perfect. It’ll just make you seem extra harmless. They may let their guard down.”
“How do you suggest I get close to them?”
“Just go back to them and tell them that you’re looking for protection since you’re there alone and can’t defend yourself. Offer a truce and ask if there’s anything you can do in return for protection.”
The thought of deceiving anyone made Seven’s skin crawl. Especially anyone as dangerous as Lockheart’s team of miscreants. Seven was an accountant, not a spy.
Then again, a job was a job, and she needed to make rent.
“Okay,” Seven opened her player journal and opened it to her friend requests, staring at the accept option. “I’ll do my best.”
“Excellent, that’s all I ask.”
“Oh, I should also mention that I lost Ruby with everything going on.”
“That’s fine, it was bound to happen. Pets get stuck sometimes and need to be resummoned. It happens. I just needed him with you to get you into the auction, so you don’t really need him at this point. Although, I’m sending Cassius back out there on another transport ship to watch your back. I can resummon Ruby and send him out on the same shuttle.”
“That’s not necessary.” Seven hoped to keep the oversized bird away from her for the rest of the night.
“Nonsense, it’s no trouble.” Leftwitch assured her. “It will take a while for the transport to get out there though, so you’ll be on your own until then. Just stick close to Lockheart and everything will work out.”
“If that’s what you think is best.” Seven pulled the small pen from the spine of her journal and drew a check mark over the accept option of Ginger’s friend request.
“Perfect, report anything you find out.” Leftwitch sounded hopeful.
“I will.” Seven turned back in the direction she’d run from just a few minutes ago.
“Good luck. You’re doing great.” Leftwitch paused. “I mean it, I believe in you.”
The line fell silent, letting her faith in Seven hang over her head.
At least that makes one of us.
Seven started walking back toward her new friends.
Chapter Ten
“Time to head back down.” Ginger held out the wooden tile that showed the auction’s countdown clock burned into its surface.
“Okay, let’s get this over with.” Max shoved his hands into his pockets and headed for the door.
“Wish me luck, okay?” Ginger reached out for his arm.
“Ah, okay, good luck.” Max’s vision shifted around, avoiding eye contact.
“Not what I meant, Max.” Ginger rolled her eyes and pushed up on her toes to bring her lips to his, placing her hand on his chest. He froze for a moment, almost stepping away. Then his body relaxed and his hands found her hips.
Her heart ached as she pulled away.
She wanted to hold him there and forget about everything, but that would be selfish. Instead, she glanced up, catching a glimpse of the warmth behind his cold eyes that had been focused on Nix for months.
The man she wanted was still in there, even if nothing had happened between them since that night back in Reliqua. Back before everything had gone wrong. With everything happening, the timing hadn’t been right since. Losing Kira had been too hard on Max. Ginger could understand that, and she wasn’t about to try to force something to happen between them if he wasn’t ready.
After all, she’d never been needy, so she could give him the time he needed to be ready for something more. Even if she did want to move forward.
Oh well,
at least the kids tend to sleep in. I can get a little time to myself in the morning.
“So like, do we all just pretend that they didn’t just kiss?” Kegan held his hand over Corvin’s good eye. “‘Cause now it’s awkward.”
“Yeah, that was surprisingly passionate.” Farn agreed, covering Echo’s eyes.
Ginger groaned at Kegan and Corvin. “You two stay here in case we need you. Farn, keep close to Echo so she doesn’t run off.”
The Leaf saluted in an exaggerated manner while Farn tossed Echo’s cloak over her head and adjusted it to deter others from interacting with the mindless avatar. Ginger gave Max’s hand one last squeeze before letting go. Afterward, she passed through the door only to stop short, finding someone waiting in the hall.
“Hey, ah, hi.” Seven, the low-level mage from the Silver Tongues stood there fidgeting with her player journal.
“Oh, Seven.” Ginger eyed the woman. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“Yes, sorry. I was thinking about my situation and I was wondering if I could remain with your party throughout the auction.” She dropped her eyes to the floor before raising them back up to Ginger’s. “I’m alone here, and I don’t have any way to defend myself, so…” She trailed off.
“So you want to stay near us so that no one messes with you?” Ginger finished her request as she continued to walk, gesturing for the low-level Venom to follow.
“Yes.” Seven fell in line beside her.
“Well, you did save three of our people, one of which was my daughter, so I think that we can do that much.” Ginger gave her a smile, trying to be friendly. It couldn’t hurt to be on good terms with a member of a powerful house.
“Thank you so much.” The Venom mage let out a relieved sigh. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
Max stepped in, causing the woman to tense back up. “Actually, there is something you could do.”
“What?”
“Don’t bid on anything against us. The less competition we have, the better.” He gave her a friendly smile, clearly trying to put her at ease after pointing a gun at her twice in one night.