“Daneera!”

The young forest mage jumped in her seat as the teacher yelled her name. She looked up at the front of the room. “Yes, Ms. Xeria?”

Ms. Xeria was a new teacher at the school and was primarily there to teach art, although owing to her experience with sculpture, she also taught a section of woodshop. Usually, Mr. Clade taught all the woodworking stuff, but he took the afternoons off teaching because he was the school’s “Storm Preparedness Coordinator,” whatever that meant. Right now, she was looking over at Daneera with a disapproving stare.

“If you wouldn’t mind paying attention when I am lecturing?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Xeria, but I’m trying to get this wooden chest open. I think there’s…”

“That chest is an example piece I made. We will deal with it later in the semester. We are not nearly up to that level.”

“I understand that, but…”

“I am not interested in your ‘but,’ young lady,” Xeria admonished.

Daneera looked around, anticipating a snicker or comment from Tryst regarding the teacher’s unfortunate choice of words, but the devilkin was not there. Then Daneera remembered that she had been transferred out of the class after her first project was deemed ‘inexcusably inappropriate’ by Ms. Xeria and into shop class. According to Sharaka, Tryst got a bit more subtle there. A bit more.

“Anyway, if everyone is settled down now, I will continue,” the teacher said.

Daneera sighed. This was going to be a long day. She had taken woodshop because she had always liked working with her hands, and woodcraft seemed like a natural fit with her love of the woods themselves. But Xeria ran her class much less “hands on” than Daneera would have liked. It was typically three or four days of lecture on style, technique, and who knew what else, and then one day of actual work, with a few scant minutes of actual woodwork sprinkled in with the lecture days.

Today, for instance, Xeria was lecturing on the importance of precision, particularly before cutting a board. Daneera felt it was a few too many steps backward, considering they had already made a piece for the semester, but Xeria’s meticulous side seemed to give way to her artistic flightiness when it came to class planning. She often lectured on things after the students had already had to use them. For example, Daneera had made a doghouse for her first project, and therefore had already cut several boards, and yet here was Xeria, lecturing on how to do so.

Of course, maybe those two things were not as unrelated as she would like to think. Daneera risked a quick look to the back of the room, where their projects were sitting on a low table. All except Tryst’s, of course. Looking at her own doghouse, though, Daneera had to concede that maybe her board cutting was not as precise as it might have been. The boards that made up the walls were of varying lengths, and several gaps existed between them. Daneera had tried to argue that they were designed ventilation apparatuses, but Xeria had, unsurprisingly, not bought it.

Although her doghouse was not exactly the pinnacle of craftsmanship, she thought it was a little unfair to set her project next to Oleetaka’s. She did not know Oleetaka very well, though she got along with him. He didn’t seem like much of a show-off when they spoke, but his project was, Daneera admitted, a bit better than hers. Actually, if she were being totally honest with herself, his project blew hers out of the water, along with everyone else in class. It was a beautifully and intricately carved dresser with a flowing design, polished surfaces, and smooth and complex drawer mechanisms also carved out of wood. Ms. Xeria had told him that a piece like that would sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Daneera’s doghouse couldn’t even fetch as much as her pet dog could. And Daneera didn’t have a pet dog.

“Alright, everyone,” Ms. Xeria finished up, “go ahead and pair off and each group take a board and a scratch awl. I want you to mark your cuts precisely today, and tomorrow we will cut them and see how you did.”

Daneera looked around for Antine. He was the person she usually paired up with, just because they had been friends the longest, and frankly, he needed someone to keep him out of trouble. But Antine was apparently not there today, so she turned to Oleetaka instead.

“Hey, wanna be my partner?”

“Sure,” Oleetaka said. He leaned in closer, then risked a look toward Ms. Xeria to make sure she wasn’t paying attention. “Honestly, I don’t really see a point to this step.”

Daneera shrugged. “Not everyone can just shape the wood into whatever they want.”

“Fair point,” Oleetaka said with a slight nod. “So, do you want to make the line, or should I?”

“I will,” Daneera said. “Like you said, you don’t really need the practice.”

“Okay, I’ll hold the board in place.”

“Thanks.” Daneera took the awl and placed it against the board. She pressed it into the wood, softly at first and then with more force, and she was just about to move the metal across when a loud thump nearby caused her to jump, scratching a decidedly uneven line as she did.

“Well, that won’t be easy to cut,” Oleetaka observed as he looked at the jagged line.

“That was not my fault. That thump distracted me.”

“Yeah, what was that, anyway?” Oleetaka asked.

“It sounded like it came from…” Daneera trailed off as she looked over at the wooden chest on the floor next to her. Realization crept in, and she just shook her head. She reached over toward the latch.

“Didn’t Ms. Xeria tell you not to mess with that?” Oleetaka asked in a quick whisper.

“Yeah,” Daneera said. “But this happens all the time. Hold on.”

She reached down and opened the chest before the teacher could see what she was doing. Inside, curled up in a little ball, was Antine. He looked up at Daneera and whimpered.

“Antine, how the hell did you get locked in there?” Daneera asked him.

“I don’t know! I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, I-”

“Antine!” Ms. Xeria yelled as the fox was standing up. “What are you doing! For the rest of the semester, you are not to come anywhere near my chest, do you understand?”

Antine whimpered, and for just a second, Daneera wished that Tryst were still in woodshop.

“Daneera!”

The powerful voice of Kahr-ret-Taris carried through the high school’s hall. Daneera, who was digging through her locker looking for her history homework, resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She considered Kahr one of her closest friends, especially after everything that had gone down with the two of them, Antine, Denner, Morgezka, and Lukas a couple summers ago, so it wasn’t that she was unhappy to see him. But seriously, she thought, why does everyone feel the need to yell my name?

She turned away from her locker and gave Kahr a little upward head nod to acknowledge him, then went back to her search. After a few seconds of pushing through the crowded hallway, Kahr finally made it to Daneera and clapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey, just the person I was looking for.”

“Hey, Kahr. How’s it going?”

“Good. Look, I have something for you.”

Daneera looked over – and up – at her taller friend, her eyebrows rising at his words. “For me? Is it by birthday or something?”

Kahr laughed. “No, but I do have a present for you. So, I bought some tickets for next weekend, but it turns out I’m going to be out of town, so I can’t use them. I figured you might be interested.”

“Tickets?” Daneera asked. “Like, for a concert? I appreciate the thought, but I’m not all that into music. Maybe Gale would-”

“They’re not for a concert,” Kahr interrupted, then held up four tickets in his right hand.

Daneera looked over at the tickets and read them. She prided herself on maintaining control, on never letting herself be surprised. But as she read what the tickets were for, her eyes bulged and her mouth hung open.

“So,” Kahr said with an amused smile. “Do you want them?”

Sharaka and Orida were down in the school’s gaming room. Orida had been in a foul mood all day, so Sharaka had suggested they play co-op instead of upsetting the Kithkin even further, and therefore they were running through the co-op story mode of A:CoW, which, not really being the point of the game, was not exactly challenging. Sharaka, consequently, was beginning to get bored, although Orida seemed to have calmed down a bit. Still, neither one was particularly prepared for Daneera to come bursting through the door, let alone for her to stand directly in front of the TV.

“Hey, what the ****?” Orida said with her usual eloquence. “You’re in our ****ing way!”

Daneera didn’t move.

Sharaka was about to say something when she caught a whiff from Daneera, a sense of almost giddy excitement that she did not associate with her forest-loving friend. In fact, Daneera was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. Sharaka had rarely, if ever, seen Daneera like this.

“Daneera,” Sharaka said, almost cautiously. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

Daneera looked into Sharaka’s eyes, and then to Orida’s, and then back to Sharaka’s. “Guys, seriously. What are you two doing next week Saturday? And more importantly, how easy would it be for you to get out of it?”

“I don’t ****ing know!” Orida said. “I know what I’m doing right now, and it’s waiting for you to move your ass out of the way!”

“This is more important,” Daneera said with a dismissive wave.

Orida was about to say something undoubtedly charming, but Sharaka broke in first. “Alright, look, I’m not really in a guessing mood. What’s gotten you so worked up?”

Daneera grinned, and held up the four tickets Kahr had given her. “Four tickets. Next week Saturday. To a ‘Danger Room.’ You guys in?”

Orida nodded approvingly. “**** yeah! I’ve been itching to get in some Clapper action!”

“Phrasing,” Sharaka said with a smirk, before refocusing on Daneera. “I mean, you know I’m always down for a good ‘Danger Room,’ but what’s the big deal? We did one, what, a month and a half ago? You weren’t nearly this worked up.”

The other girl nodded excitedly. “Yeah, ‘cause last time we were at that Queen of Minds place. I mean, it’s not bad, and at least it’s affordable, but it’s not exactly Lucien’s Crystal Maze, now is it?”

Orida rolled her jet-black eyes. “Yeah, and what place is the Crystal ****ing Maze?”

Daneera looked at her, smiled, and then gently shook the tickets in her hand.

“No ****ing way…” Orida said in a voice that was barely more than an exhalation of breath.

“You better not be messing with us,” Sharaka said, but she could already smell the truth. She stood up, the controller forgotten on the game room’s couch, and walked over to examine the tickets. “How the hell did you get these? Wait, a four-hour session!?! Daneera, these things have got to be a thousand bucks or more! Maybe a piece…”

“Kahr gave them to me,” Daneera said. “It’s not like I could ever afford them myself. But the important thing is, I have them, and the three of us have plans for next Saturday, right?”

“Damn right!” Orida said.

“If I didn’t before, I do now,” Sharaka said. “But you’ve got four tickets. It’s usually just the three of us. Who’s going to be our fourth? You inviting Gale?”

Daneera shrugged. “I thought about it. But this isn’t really Gale’s thing. Don’t get me wrong, Gale can mix it up with the best of them, and in a real fight, I’d much rather have her on my side than not. But she doesn’t really like the whole ‘fighting illusions’ thing in Danger Rooms.”

“I don’t think Tryst would be into it, either,” Sharaka said. “How about Pendulum?”

Orida shook her head. “No, he’s basically a pacifist,” then she looked around at the other two. “Not that I ****ing care,” she added quickly.

“How about Kerik?” Sharaka volunteered. “Will they let him leave campus for something like that?”

“No, he’s stuck there,” Daneera said unhappily. “Besides, I’ve been thinking about this. I think we really need some range.”

“Oh, **** that,” Orida spat. “What’s the fun in long-distance fighting?” She made a motion of smashing something with a hammer or, in her case, a bat, and then repeated the motion numerous times. “Smashing the enemies is so much more fun!”

“Yeah, well, it’s always the ranged attacks that hurt us,” Daneera said. “You remember last time, with those javelineers, don’t you?”

Sharaka laughed, and Orida stopped her pantomimed smashing actions and glared up at the others. “Hey! **** off! Alright, look, I admit rushing them was not my best decision-”

“It was pretty funny for us,” Sharaka said.

Orida flipped her off. “Alright, point ****ing taken. So who do we ask?”

Beryl’s good eye was wider than Daneera had ever seen it. Daneera had asked her to join Sharaka, Orida, and herself, and Beryl had just stared at her, wide-eyed and stunned. The resulting silence between the two had been hanging for an awkward amount of time. Finally, Daneera felt she needed to continue, or perhaps more accurately to try again.

“It’s not dangerous,” she assured Beryl. “There are all kinds of safety measures in place. It’s all illusions, you know. It’s just that the Crystal Maze is, you know, the best of the best, so it’ll look perfectly real.”

Beryl kept staring at her friend and did not say anything.

Daneera hesitated. “Uh, and they have healers and clerics on staff, you know, in the highly unlikely event that someone, you know, twists an ankle or something.”

Beryl kept staring.

“Um, I looked up the reviews, and nothing bad has ever happened there. No complaints, no injuries, no fatalities, no-”

Beryl made a small noise that was more akin to one of Antine’s whimpers than a human voice at the mention of ‘fatalities.’

“And, even our magic is sort of funneled through the safety bracers,” Daneera continued. “so there’s basically no way anyone could get hurt. So, you in?”

Beryl said nothing, but just kept staring. Finally, Daneera sighed.

“Okay, well, if you change your mind, let me know, okay?”

Daneera started to walk away, but just as she was getting to a corner, she heard Beryl’s soft voice call out from behind her.

“Wait.”

Daneera turned around and saw Beryl looking down at the ground. The young forest-mage walked back to her friend and waited. Finally, Beryl looked up at her. “Look, thanks for the offer, but I really don’t think I could. I’m not…comfortable…using my, you know, magic.”

“Oh,” Daneera said. She hated to admit that that possibility hadn’t occurred to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Beryl.”

The other girl shrugged. “It’s fine. But, I was thinking. If you need a fourth person, I might know someone, and it would kind of be a favor to me, too.”

Daneera considered Beryl carefully. “Okay. I’m listening.”

She took a deep breath and adjusted her backpack. She looked – for the fourth time – at the slip of paper in her hand, and compared the number written on it to the one she saw on the side of the house. Both read “4208.” This was the right place. She knew it. She had known it when she walked up. But still, here she was, nearly five minutes later, trying to work up the courage to ring the doorbell. She closed her eyes, counted to ten, and tried to think about a conversation she had had yesterday afternoon…and yesterday night…and again this morning.

Finally, she decided that she had come all this way, and it wouldn’t be for nothing. She opened her eyes and, before she could think about it too much, rang the bell. In the few seconds that passed thereafter, she almost decided to bolt, but just before she did, she heard the lock from the other side of the door, and watched as it swung open. On the other side was Daneera. She didn’t know Daneera too well, but Beryl had introduced them at school a couple weeks earlier, and Daneera had invited her to the ‘Danger Room’ today. She was nervous, and the ‘Danger Room’ itself had little to do with it.

“Hey, Scarlet,” Daneera said casually. “We were just going over strategy. Come on in. We’ll head over to the Crystal Maze in a bit.”

“Oh, okay,” Scar said. “You can call me…” She started this last bit quietly, and Daneera had already walked back into the house. The older girl turned back to Scar after the latter had trailed off.

“What was that?” Daneera asked. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Oh, nothing,” Scar said. “I was just saying thanks.”

Daneera nodded, and led Scar into the dining room. The room was dominated by an oval dining table, and currently, the table was dominated by large sheets of grid paper. Two other girls from school were at the table, one seated and the other standing. Scar did not know either of them personally, although she knew of both. Seated in a chair that was a bit too big for her was Orida Vise, a kithkin girl who had a reputation for profanity, which Scar could appreciate. The other was Sharaka Kozuti. She didn’t know a lot about Sharaka, but the talk among the underclassman was clear: don’t piss her off. Beryl had assured her that Sharaka was perfectly nice, but Scar was sure that getting on the Viashino’s bad side was a very poor idea.

As Daneera and Scar approached the table, Sharaka and Orida were engaged in a spirited discussion on tactics. Scar, entering half-way into the conversation, had a hard time following it, particularly with the frequency of swear words from the kithkin girl. Orida seemed to be advocating for a direct approach, charging directly into the enemy. Sharaka seemed content to point out past instances where Orida’s tactics had catastrophically failed, which of course led to more colorful language from the kithkin. Daneera circled around to the far side of the table, leaving a space open for Scar, who stayed three or four steps back.

“This is Scarlet,” Daneera said, gesturing to the young centaur. “She’s the one Beryl was telling us about. Scarlet, this is Sharaka and Orida.”

“Hey,” Sharaka said, looking Scarlet up and down.

“About ****ing time you got here,” Orida grumbled.

“She’s kidding,” Daneera said, then looked at the Kithkin thoughtfully. “Well, not kidding, exactly, but don’t take her too seriously.”

“Whatever,” Orida said with a handwave.

“Hi,” Scar said meekly.

“We were just discussing our general approach to this,” Daneera explained. “Now, obviously, we don’t know exactly what we’ll be facing. None of us have ever been to the Crystal Maze before, so we don’t know what scenarios they have. But, if their reputation is even half-deserved, they probably have just about anything.”

“So obviously,” Sharaka added, “we won’t know our best plan until we get in there. But we should have our basic strategy in mind before we start.”

“We were looking for someone to cover the ranged aspect of the fight,” Daneera said. “That’s why I asked Beryl, initially. She can throw fireballs and the like. She said she thought you could manage range. That true?”

Scarlet was a bit overwhelmed, but Jackie had been teaching her how to shoot, and she had gotten pretty good with a revolver in her time living with the multi-year senior. Jackie had also introduced her to Sage, a centaur Jackie had known in her younger days, who had been teaching Scar to shoot with a rifle. Between the two types of guns, she felt she could manage, and so she nodded. “I can do that, yeah.”

“Sweet,” Orida said. “So what’s your thing? Lightening? Ice? Do you shoot like, little death needles out of your hands or something?” Orida held up her hands and made little “pew pew” sounds.

“Huh?” Scar said, her eyes widening. “You mean, like, magic? I don’t know any magic…”

Orida stopped her pantomime. “Seriously?” She turned to face their hostess. “What the ****, Daneera! I thought you said you had this covered? She doesn’t even know magic, for ****’s sake!”

Scarlet felt her cheeks start to turn the color of her name, but Sharaka spoke before she could. “Yeah, and just what magic do you bring to the table, Tack?”

The smaller girl narrowed her black eyes at her friend. “I’m going to be smashing on the front lines. I don’t need ****ing magic for that. But she’s the range! How’s she supposed to do that without magic?”

“Slings,” Sharaka said.

“Bows,” Daneera added.

“Throwing axes,” Sharaka continued.

“Throwing knives,” Daneera said.

“Javelins,” Sharaka mentioned.

“Crossbows,” Daneera stated.

“Blowguns,” Sharaka added.

“Darts,” Daneera contributed.

“Shurikens,” Sharaka deadpanned.

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Orida yelled in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. There was a long silence between the four for a while before Scar spoke.

“Guns,” she said.

Orida turned on her. “I said I ****ing get it!”

Scar took another step back and held out her hands. “No, I mean, that’s what I’m good with. Guns.”

Sharaka shot her a look. “You from Jakkard?”

Scarlet nodded. “I’m best with revolvers and rifles, but I can handle a boomstick if I need to.”

The Viashino nodded. “So can Daneera.”

“Huh?” Daneera asked.

Sharaka grinned. “Oh, isn’t that what you call Kerik’s co-”

“Sharaka!” Daneera yelled. Sharaka and Orida laughed, and eventually Daneera joined in. Finally, Daneera glanced at the clock. “We’d better get going if we’re going to be there on time.”

“**** yeah,” Orida said. “We get four hours at this place. I don’t wanna miss one ghostdamned second of it.”

They were just about to leave when Sharaka pulled Scar to the side. “Hey, so, let me guess. You’re new to this whole ‘Danger Room’ thing, right?”

“Uhh, I mean, yeah, I guess. How’d you know?”

“I can smell your nervousness. Have you ever done one before?”

Scar just shook her head.

Sharaka nodded in what Scar suspected – or hoped – was sympathy. “Okay, well, just remember two rules, okay? First rule?” The Viashino’s face hardened. “No. Friendly. Fire. Take your time to line up shots or fan the hammer, I don't care. Just don't shoot me in the back, okay? I really don't like that.” Scarlet gulped. “The other rule?” Sharaka’s hard face softened and her mouth curled into a big grin. Then, surprisingly, she clapped Scar on the arm. “****, girl, have fun with it!"

Sharaka walked off in the direction Daneera and Orida had gone, leaving Scar there thinking about everything. She forced herself to slow her breathing, count to ten, and then follow the other girls out.

Orida’s black eyes widened as she ducked under the claws of a particularly aggressive gnoll. She had, not surprisingly, charged into the fray despite the advice – and pleas – of Daneera, Sharaka, and Scarlet, and now she seemed to be quite surrounded, and was thus cursing herself very loudly as she swung upward at the illusionary foe. The equally illusionary simulacrum of her Clapper bat connected with the gnoll’s jaw and, as per her request before the scenario began, activated the Clapper’s ability, which caused the gnoll to burst into a cloud of fur and blood.

As the next one leapt at her, though, she was out of position, and could not bring up her weapon in time. She was already swearing at being eliminated so early when the sound of a gunshot rang out through the illusionary valley, and this new gnoll jerked to its right, a bullet through its head. ****, Orida thought. I’m not going to live this down.

That thought was quickly replaced by I’m not going to live as four more enemies rushed her head-on. Before they reached her, though, the large, powerful form of Sharaka erupted onto the scene, and sliced into them. Orida ran forward to take care of at least a couple of them, to save face, but Sharaka was too fast. The Viashino impaled the first one with a spear, and with the same momentum tackled the next, slashing it across the face and throat. The next turned to advance on her, but she tripped it with her tail, then launched herself on the fourth, biting into its neck. Orida tried to close on the third, who was prone, but Sharaka reeled around and broke its back before she could.

“Damn it, Scales! They were mine!”

“Yeah?” Sharaka said with a wide grin. “It was hard to tell with the way you were cowering like that. You want the next wave, maybe?”

“**** yeah, I do!” Orida said, gripping her Clapper tight.

Sharaka winked and waved her arm behind her. “Be my guest.”

Orida looked where her friend was indicating and saw a small horde of gnolls advancing on them. There were at least two dozen of them, and they were advancing as one. “Umm, Scales? Remember when I said we could handle ‘hard’ difficulty with no trouble?”

“I do,” Sharaka said, backing up to Orida and flexing her muscles in preparation. “If I recall, Daneera said something like ‘Maybe we should start on normal to see how it goes,’ and you called her something like a-”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll ****ing apologize to her later, okay? But I think we’re completely ****ed right now…”

Sharaka looked over at the advancing horde, and around at their location. With a small, almost primal growl, she nodded. “Yeah. We’re ****ed.”

The horde reached the two girls quickly, and they fought back as hard as they could. Just before they were overwhelmed, a flash of green struck into the horde from behind. Half of the remaining horde turned to this new threat, and Sharaka seized the opportunity. She grabbed Orida, palming her head like a basketball, and set her so that they were back to back.

“Daneera will drive them this way,” Sharaka said. “Fight defensively, and don’t leave my back.”

“You got it, Scales. Just don’t take all of them.”

“I’m taking any of them I can reach,” Sharaka growled.

With the horde split, the numbers were a bit more manageable, and Sharaka and Orida were able to hold their own. Daneera moved almost faster than the other two could follow, but there were still too many for her to handle herself. The gnoll numbers were shrinking, but Daneera seemed to be slowing down. Fortunately, there were only a few gnolls left at Orida and Sharaka’s position. Thinking quickly, Sharaka yelled back to her Kithkin friend.

“When I yell ‘go,’ rush to Daneera’s position. We’ll hit her gnolls from behind!”

“But what about the ones trying to ****ing kill us?” Orida said as she smashed another illusion.

“Just move fast,” Sharaka said.

“But, my legs are a lot shorter than-”

“Go!” Sharaka yelled, and took off running at the gnolls now advancing the other direction toward Daneera, whose speed aura seemed to have worn off. Orida followed a second or two later, cursing with every step. They hammered into the back of the gnoll line, and Daneera got the message, pushing back toward them. The gnolls did not know how to handle the two-front attack, and the girls finished off the horde quickly, then turned around to finish off the stragglers that had been trying to surround Orida and Sharaka.

For a few seconds, the three of them stood there, breathing heavily, before looking around at the piles of illusions bodies around them. After a long moment, Daneera nodded. “That was intense.”

“That was ****ing awesome!” Orida said, then looked around again. “A lot of ****ing good that Scarlet girl did, though.”

“What are you talking about?” Sharaka asked. “I saw her save your ass just before I got here. She took out at least three of mine before I came to your rescue.”

“Took out several of mine, too,” Daneera said, “and those gnoll archers at the beginning.”

Sharaka nodded. “Yeah, those ***holes would have cut us to shreds before we even got to the high ground if not for her.”

Orida thought for a second. “Well, sure, if you want to use facts…”

“Speaking of Scarlet,” Daneera said, an edge of concern entering into her voice. “I haven’t heard a gunshot in a while now.”

“Oh, ****,” Sharaka said. “I thought you were covering her flank, Daneera.”

“I was, but I needed to come help you two.”

Then they all heard the cackling of gnolls from back in the direction of the position Scarlet had taken up, and their eyes widened. “Daneera, can you get back there fast?”

“My speed aura just dropped,” she said. “It takes a little while before I can use it again!”

“****!” Sharaka said. “I’m on it! Catch up when you can!”

The Viashino took off, leaving the other two exhausted girls to jog behind. Scarlet had positioned herself on a high rock outcropping to give herself the best vantage point to help out the others. Sharaka rushed up the spiraling path that led to Scarlet’s position, still hearing gnolls above her. As she ran, she spared just a moment to relish how great the Crystal Maze Danger Room was, as she could actually smell the gnoll illusions that had themselves already taken this path. Part of her was thrilled that she had the chance to do one. Another part was sad that no other danger room would ever live up.

As Sharaka rounded the final corner, her instincts made her drop to the ground, just in time to avoid a gnoll that had jumped at her. Or at least, Sharaka initially thought it had jumped at her. As she looked up, she saw Scarlet with her centaur hind legs up, crashing back down to the rock. Sharaka spared a quick look at the gnoll she had ducked and saw that it was dead, and had rather been kicked in that direction.

There were still three gnolls surrounding Scarlet, but Sharaka suddenly caught a whiff of something from the other girl that she had not smelled from her yet. It was a mix of exhilaration and confidence. Sharaka got back to her feet, and forced herself to resist her instinct to rush in and help. Instead, she watched as Scarlet cracked one of the gnolls with her rifle, using it like a club. She dropped the rifle and drew a revolver and shot the second, but it seemed to be her last shot, as she then dropped the gun.

The last gnoll was directly in front of her and laughing, and as its victim dropped the last of her weapons, it leapt at her. Sharaka tensed, thinking Scarlet was going to fall, but the freshman surprised her. She brought back her right arm in preparation, and as the gnoll reached her, she threw a haymaker punch that landed square across the gnoll’s jaw, dropping it to the ground. It was not quite out yet, and so Scarlet reared up, which was when Sharaka realized, with a note of appreciation, just how big the centaur was. Then Scarlet brought her front hoofs down on the gnoll, ending it.

“Nice work,” Sharaka said, folding her arms. “And here I thought I was going to have to save you.”

Scarlet looked back at the Viashino and, for the first time since she had been around these people, smiled. “That,” she said, with a bit of a pause, “was fun.”

About this time, Daneera and Orida showed up, as well. “Everything alright?” Daneera asked, still concerned.

“Just fine,” Sharaka said. “Scarlet here’s a ringer, apparently. She’s a natural.”

Scarlet blushed slightly. “Sorry I had to stop covering you guys,” she said. “I had a few visitors.” The other three girls looked around at the ground around Scarlet. There were at least a dozen gnoll bodies around her. Some had been shot, others had been stamped, and a few had apparently been punched. The other three nodded in appreciation.

“So,” Scarlet said. “What happens now?”

“That’s a good question,” Daneera said. “It’s only been about half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes. We should still have at least three hours left, but it seems like we won this one. I guess-”

Before Daneera could finish her sentence, there was a clap of thunder in the sky, and the four girls looked up. In the sky, the clouds were moving to form the words “You Win!” After a few moments, the entire world seemed to melt away, and they found themselves back in the large, crystal room they had originally been led into. A large screen appeared in front of them that read, “Please choose your next scenario.”

The girls looked around at one another and smiled. Scarlet looked at the others – at her new friends – and said, “Let’s do an expert one.”

The second scenario they picked brought them through labyrinthine crystal warrens full of dragons of every size and color, each with its own wild ability. Fighting in closed spaces wasn't ideal for Scarlet, but she dealt with it - the warrens also had several wider caverns where her guns proved useful to pin down nimble enemies; Orida was very vocal about their foes' widespread ability to fly, while Sharaka just kept grinning viciously as she slaughtered dragon after dragon with grim delight. They stuck together in all but the biggest caverns this time, Daneera falling naturally into a leadership position to keep the group together so they couldn't be singled out and surrounded, to the point she once tackled a red dragon out of the air for trying to breath a wall of fire to separate them. The scenario proved challenging, but they fought well together and Scar was enjoying the close-quarters shooting a lot by the end - she didn't even graze the other girls, still very mindful of Sharaka's first rule.

They still all risked dying a bunch of times. Sharaka managed to slay the final boss - a blue dragon with a nasty lightning breath - just before it could make a meal of Orida; the unfazed kithkin just cheerfully kicked its dissolving jaw and spat a scathing line of insults. Both Daneera and Sharaka spent some time afterwards to adjust the group's tactics around Scarlet's weapons, but the spirits were high thanks to the two victories in a row, with no casualties in completely unknown scenarios - which was why, after much insistence from Orida, they allowed her to pick a Nightmare-difficulty stage next. "Let's see this **** dollhouse's worst," she had said, "survival is easy **** - we just need to whack stuff for one hour and **** change."

The Crystal Maze's worst they did see.

Easy, however? That it was not.

Eyes straining under a dying sun, ears filled with a nightmarish cacophony and blood-curdling screams, hindquarters against the wall of a city overrun by eldritch monsters, Scarlet quickly regretted all her life choices. Some kind of oozing, gnarled hydra-panther got her three minutes in. The other girls didn't last much longer than that.

The crystal room was very silent after that; hyper-realism was a double-edged sword when it come to life-and-death scenarios. The customary wave of rejuvenating magic did nothing to raise morale.

Daneera stood up without a word after a minute. "Expert menu," she called out, and began poring over the options. Nobody stood up to help her choose, Sharaka absorbed in some kind of meditation and Orida just staring at her Clapper with a haunted expression. Scarlet... she felt the urge of apologizing for dying first, but she got the feeling it wouldn't have been received well, so she just stood to the side, fidgeting.

When the fourth scenario of the day loaded up, a meadow sporting clear signs of battle, both Sharaka and Orida sprang to their feet, weapons ready and a murderous vibe about them. Scar felt almost sorry for the first wave of black-clad soldiers that tried to rush them. Sharaka then met Daneera's eyes in a wordless request; the latter just pointed at an ominous building on the top of a nearby hill, and the viashino charged.

Sharaka showed none of the bravado she had against the gnolls, or the dark glee she showed against the dragons. She just moved, glanced at threats and removed them, killing and maiming with chilling efficiency and ignoring anything that didn't cross her path. She was completely silent aside from the odd grunt of effort; the one time Scarlet met her gaze, Sharaka's eyes was hard and distant, as if she was seeing a series of targets instead of friends and foes. Scarlet couldn't fully suppress a shiver.

Daneera led the rest of the group, this time so they could keep up with Sharaka's pace; Orida kept swearing at the viashino to get her to slow down, but it was clear the kithkin didn't expect Sharaka to listen. Scar got a chance of taking in the scenery as the fought their way up a hill toward the ominous cathedral: the sunlight was fading, but it was because of dark clouds instead of the very sun rotting out of the sky; the grass and the few trees along their path were green and healthy, the only damage from the odd weapon strike. Not even the soldiers' ranks being reinforced by ever-increasing numbers of animated skeletons managed to dampen their spirits; if anything, the abundance of clumsy targets made Orida grin evilly as she swung her weapon through multiple skeletons at once.

The Crystal Maze's last-ten-minutes warning siren went off as they were crushing the mob of skeletons before the cathedral doors and Scarlet wondered, not for the first time, why Daneera had chosen a scenario with an average clear more twenty minutes longer than their remaining time.

Still, they made it into the cathedral proper in short order. The interior was even gloomier than the now overcast afternoon outside, grimy stained windows coloring the swarming skeletons in a dark kaleidoscope of hues. An animated suit of sleek black armor stood in front of the altar with its arms wide open, a greatsword strapped to its back. It didn't seem to notice them, the pulsating purple light from inside its breastplate flowing into the massive rose window of the cathedral.

"Keep away the mooks," Sharaka snarled, her first words since the last scenario, "the boss is ours." Daneera met Scarlet's gaze and nodded before chasing after Sharaka, who was cutting a path through the swarming skeletons with fire and spear.

"Come the **** on, newbie," Orida grumbled, maneuvering around the burning pews, "at least we got **** torches."

Scar followed her - the burning furniture did help with the lighting - kicking and firing on pure instinct until they got near the dais where the true boss fight was happening. Luckily, the skeletons just kept going for the closest targets instead of rushing the other two girls, so Scar didn't need to -

"**** archers, newbie!" Orida growled, rolling in the middle of the skeleton wave for cover.

Scarlet swore under her breath and knocked one last skeleton's head off its neck with the butt of her revolver before looking up. Three skeletal archers were readying their next arrows, two on a near balcony and one in a distant gallery, the latter barely visible between two of the cathedral's darker stained windows. Scar headshot the first two skeletons with her revolvers, emptied out her guns on the undead standing over Orida then put away the guns to grab the shoulder-strapped rifle and take down the last archer. She cleared the last nearby skeletons still surrounding her with her hooves and the stock of her rifle before backing away from the undead swarm. "Reloading!" She called out, as Daneera had told her to.

Orida swore, but she lowered her stance and began trimming the skeleton swarm with measured jabs to their legs as she slowly backed away to protect Scarlet, clearly frustrated by Sharaka's previous instructions but following them with pointed precision.

As Scar reloaded her guns - something she had been training to do with her eyes closed on Jackie's "encouragement" - she allowed herself a quick peek at where Daneera and Sharaka were fighting the final boss, only to see Sharaka wearily backing off the wraith's relentless obsidian greatsword - no human in sight. "Where's Daneera?" Scarlet asked, alarmed.

Orida didn't even twitch to glance at the boss fight. "Don't **** worry about them, newbie," she snapped as she exploded another skeleton. "You quite **** finished?"

Scar sent two skeletons flying with well-aimed kicks and snapped the reloaded cylinders of her guns back into place. "Ready," she replied, and landed two clean shots to prove it.

"About **** time," Orida growled, returning to her wild swings to mow down the undead army three at a time. "There's no **** end to this ****," she spat. "Like those **** videogame battles - **** mooks don't stop coming until the big **** is dead."

"Seems like it," Scarlet agreed absently, even if she didn't really know. She gave up on conversation and mumbled some vague assent at Orida's commentary as she focused on her aim.

The skeletons suddenly glowed purple. Scar shot one's skull clean off its neck, but it just made him a bit slower. She reared and kicked his ribcage in, and to her relief the scattered bones didn't try to move - at least that still worked. She tried a few waist shots - snapping the spine in half also hindered the empowered skeletons quite a bit.

"It's **** buffing the mooks, Sharaka!" Orida growled, pummeling skeletons that were still crawling after the first Clapper hit - an unsettling sight for multiple reasons. "**** stun it or something!"

Scar flung the last skeleton near her away with a hind kick, then whipped around as her eye caught some movement on the balcony. Her arm shot up to line up her gun with the glowing archer's head, but she tweaked her aim and shot its shoulder off its socket instead, effectively disarming him. She did the same to the other four archers and turned toward the boss.

The wraith-armor was holding its arms wide open, greatsword still held fast in its right gauntlet, while the purple light pulsated strongly out of it and toward the skeletons. A dozen paces from it, Sharaka was propping herself up with her spear, eyes still sharp but breath ragged and legs shaky. Scar was about to distract the wraith with her last bullets - Orida was too busy to get Scarlet another reload - when Sharaka tensed up with a feral snarl and lunged, blindly flinging her spear high above her head.

The viashino slammed into the armor and grabbed both its gauntlets at the wrists, twisting them out of the casting position. The wraith let out a ground-shaking bellow, the fortifying purple aura now wound tightly around itself, and started to push Sharaka back. The viashino bit into his helmet, black metal groaning, and whipped her head to the side with a speed that would have probably snapped any mortal's neck. The wraith only got angrier, redoubling his efforts to shake an exhausted Sharaka off itself as purple light flooded out of the neck hole of his breastplate -

Daneera fell like a green-lit meteor, plunging Sharaka's spear in the opening of the breastplate's neck, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air as all stained windows imploded at once.

The black armor exploded in a blinding flash of purple light, the knight's last scream of pure hatred shaking the cathedral as the dark clouds blotting out the sun dissolved.

"There you **** go," Orida cackled, pulverizing the already crumbling skeletons with dark glee. "I told you not to doubt those two, Scars."

Scar put her dissolving illusion-guns in her holsters out of reflex, looking up to the crisp sunlight filling the dilapidated cathedral as the sound of wind and chirping birds slowly filled the air. Some anxiety bled out of her as she smelled flowers and rain-wind, and she breathed deeply. This time a soft, ethereal voice called out the scenario's outcome, reverberating through the very earth.

"You Won, my heroes," the heavenly voice intoned warmly. It was a mere illusion, but Scar felt the voice's tranquility in her very bones. That was quite the impressive bit of magic. "Now rest, and enjoy your well-earned peace."

"Let us **** decide that," Orida spat back, unimpressed.

"We've got only two minutes left," Daneera pointed out, looking at the now-visible glowing clock as the scenario faded out.

"It'd be a shame to waste them," Sharaka drawled with a satisfied grin - sounding sincere even as she laid breathless and spread-eagled on the ground. The wave of rejuvenating magic washed over them a fourth time, taking away most of their aches and weariness, and Sharaka finally accepted Daneera's hand up.

The four headed to the lockers, recounting to each others their favorite moments from their victory.

The same incredibly neat but nondescript counter guy in the lobby hailed the girls as they entered the lobby. "We hope you had a great time at Lucien's Crystal Maze!"

"Bet you ten **** bucks he's an illusion too," Orida grumbled. To her credit, Scar couldn't begin to say whether he was a programmed illusion or an extremely well-trained person.

The girls walked to the counter and set down their security bracers; the counter guy fished a small pad from a pocket and tapped it a few times; the bracers lifted from the counter and floated to the small rack behind him. "I'm happy to say you have achieved a top score in the Knightfall Expert scenario, brave Heroes! would you like to submit a name for your party so it can be added to the chart?"

Daneera just stared at the guy. "Why should we?"

The counter guy just stared back at Daneera, noncomprehending. Orida leaned toward Sharaka. "Well?"

Sharaka frowned in concentration and sniffed deeply. "I can't tell," she whispered back, confused.

"Why would we want to be added to the chart?" Daneera tried again, crossing her arms.

The counter guy beamed at that. "For bragging rights, of course!" He tapped his pad again, and on the big screen to their side appeared the top ten scores for the Knightfall scenario. The empty eight row pulsed with inviting golden light. "Compare your scores with your friends, and challenge yourselves to new heights!"

"Daneera," Orida beckoned. "Look who's **** ninth place."

Daneera did. "Kahr-ret-Taris and His Guards," she read aloud.

Sharaka's grin became wide and vicious. "Oh, we can't just **** not."

"Ghostdamn right," Orida smirked.

"Isn't the guy who gifted you the tickets?" Scarlet asks.

"He is," Daneera nodded.

"Why not show him we put them to good use?" Sharaka chuckled.

Scarlet crossed her arms as a rather Jackie idea came to her. "...isn't he, like, a filthy rich guy with a big ego and some honor code?"

"**** yeah," Orida replied.

"You could say that," Daneera conceded. "Why?"

"Because our new friend has something in mind," Sharaka grinned expectantly.

Scarlet tried not to let her euphoria at Sharaka's phrasing show. "If we beat him at his game," Scarlet thought aloud, "he will want to beat us back, to prove he's the best."

"Probably," Daneera shrugged.

"But then it would only be fair to give us the chance to challenge him again," Scarlet replied. "After all, what honorable victory would it be, without giving your challenger a chance for rebuttal? We only played here once, after all."

Sharaka grinned excitedly at Daneera. "Meaning another round of free tickets." She licked her lips.

"Let's **** do it," Orida spat.

"Excellent!" The counter guy nodded. "Please submit a name for your party."

Orida opened her mouth -

"You pick, Daneera," Sharaka said.

"Why me?" Daneera shook her head. "I don't even care about the chart."

"Well, you put the team together," Sharaka observed.

"I kicked the most ass, so I deserve to **** choose," Orida objected.

"Why not let Scarlet pick?" Daneera replied, staring right back at Orida. "She's our guest, and she kicked just as much ass as every one of us."

Sharaka stood on the very top of her feet to whisper to Scarlet from the corner of her mouth: "And she looked pretty damn good while at it." The viashino glanced at the centaur's face and smirked. "Ooo, we've got another blusher," she chuckled softly.

Daneera looked up from Orida's wild tangent against ranged combat. "What was that?" She asked Sharaka, eyeing Scarlet with a hint of... worry?

"Just saying how nice you look in those pants, Danee," Sharaka replied with a ****-eating grin, and Scarlet's brain short-circuited. She sputtered something unintelligible as she startle-shuffled aside for some air, trying her best not to look at Daneera's toned legs. Sharaka neatly side-stepped away from her hooves, unfazed.

"Thanks," Daneera deadpanned, clearly not buying it. "Instead of squabbling for the right of picking the name, why not brainstorm one?"

"Daneera's pack," Sharaka replied without hesitation. A dozen emotions flickered on Daneera's face.

"I'm alright with anything," Scarlet shrugged demurely from the distance, "I'm just filling out the team this once, after all."

"Like hells you're not," Sharaka rounded on her immediately, eyebrow raising, and pointed at the chart with her thumb. "With these results? You won't get rid of us that easy, girl. Ping her whenever we team up next, Daneera, alright?"

Daneera crossed her arms and shot the viashino a warning glance. "I'll let you know when we plan for the next Danger Room, Scarlet, buy don't feel pressured to come, alright?"

Scarlet just nodded, still trying to school her limbs into a semblance of control.

Sharaka shrugged nonchalantly and winked at Scarlet, maybe guessing - correctly - the centaur would have gladly teamed up with them again; she very purposefully didn't think about any other possible meaning. She would, in fact, have gone for another round right that moment. Her trigger fingers twitched in exhaustion. Well, maybe tomorrow. Sharaka leaned toward her, this time conspiratorial rather than teasing. "By the way, if money is an issue lemme know, we'll figure out something."

Scarlet nodded gratefully - that "figure out something" wouldn't have sounded out of place from Jackie's smirking lips, which was a testament of trustworthiness... in a roundabout way.

"-picked a **** name alright," Orida was whispering to the counter guy, "it's-"

Sharaka lunged to wrap a large hand around Orida's face. "Daneera's pack," she said with a big grin, spelling the name as the kithkin kicked her shin furiously.

"Excellent!" The counter guy beamed, typing the name on his pad, and soon the eighth row of the chart filled in. "Your valiant victory has been recorded! May your skill be remembered forever in the Crystal Maze," he declared, then got out the next sentence in a mild monotone. "You can find the details to download or stream the recording of your accomplishment on our website." Uncanny.

"**** creepy-ass ****," Orida grumbled under her breath.

"Yyyup," Sharaka whispered back. "Pizza back at your place, Daneera?"

"Wait. Before we go, show me the **** top scores for that **** Taramir Doom ****," Orida drawled. "No way anyone got past ten **** minutes." Scarlet fought back a shiver at the reminder. Nightmare scenarios, in her limited experience, more than lived up to their name.

The counter guy tapped on his pad and a list of names appeared on the screen. "These are the top ten scores."

"That can't **** be," Orida muttered, eyebrows rising past the edge of her beanie. "No **** chance in hell."

"Five hours sounds like a lot," Scarlet tentatively agreed, eyeing the best time, but the kithkin shook her head.

"That run ended because of a session time out," the counter guy offered, meaning the top scorers hadn't even died.

"He can't be the same **** Jack," Orida said, flabbergasted. "No **** way."

Scarlet looked at the other girls, confused. Jack was a pretty common name, after all. "Who are you talking about?"

Sharaka leaned into the counter, ignoring her question. "If he's around this much you must have seen him: about six feet tall, serious as an avalanche, always head to toe in full plate armor? That Jack?"

Daneera frowned, looking as confused as Scarlet felt. "Isn't that the game shop guy?"

Sharaka glanced back at her. "Yeah, the same guy that lives in a magical suit of armor. That Jack."

"Your description fits the player recorded under the Jack tag," the counter guy nodded, and Orida seemed to just... shut down, wordlessly opening and closing her mouth.

"If you don't mind me asking... why four top scores?" Scarlet asked, smelling some favoritism. "Do you allow for multiple entries per group?"

"Per player," Daneera corrected, with a distant tone of voice. Scarlet looked quizzically at her, and Daneera pointed at the screen. "Under group size."

"Solo," Scarlet read, the same word in all four entries, and her eyes went wide. Five hours alone in that hell? How?

The counter guy cheerfully replied: "To answer your question, Miss Scarlet, we allow for multiple entries in Survival scenarios when a party gets an overall record time under a handicap that warrants a spot in its separate top score list. Do you want a list of the relevant handicaps?"

"No, thank you," Scarlet muttered, staring at the series of ominous-looking badges near each entry.

"What the ****," Orida finally managed.

Scarlet glanced at Sharaka. Instead of stunned like the kithkin or disconcerted like Daneera, the viashino looked thoughtful. "What other games has he got top scores at?"

The counter guy tapped happily at his pad, oblivious to the atmosphere in the lobby. "Jack has a top ten score in each Nightmare scenario."

Daneera thanked the counter guy and led the group out of the lobby in very thoughtful silence.

"What the ****," Orida tried again after a while.

"What are you thinking?" Daneera asked, eyeing Sharaka.

"Have you heard about that scammer selling items with fake auras?" Sharaka said, distractedly tapping on the spikes framing her jaw. "I thought the armor was enchanted to feel like angel-grade, combat-ready armor. You know, an imitation, with maybe a couple real combat enchantments thrown in."

Scarlet's hair on the nape of her neck stood at end. Any Jakk knew enough about angels to be wary at the mere word, and they weren't the only ones - she had seen Kyewdz react just as strongly. "Angel-wrought?" She asked, barely above a whisper.

Sharaka shrugged. "Hells if I know - I just got close enough to a flight during a Monday of the Angel parade to get a whiff of their armor's magic. Jack's smells at least as powerful."

"At least," Scarlet repeated very slowly. Sharaka met her gaze and nodded, dead serious.

"What the ****," Orida concluded.

Scarlet mentally backpedaled - she had been channeling a bit too much Jackie there.

Scarlet's thumbs hovered over her phone. She didn't want to get in too much detail, but Beryl knew the girls better than, say, Jackie, and she wanted some... context for that line. Also, she wasn't going to Jackie with this kind of thing.

It had been pretty nice, to be honest, exploding heartbeat aside, but while Scarlet liked Beryl, she... they weren't at that level of confidence, so to speak.

Scarlet wasn't one for smilies, but she figured Beryl could use one.

Beryl's personalized now-typing animated gif - a flaming kitten slapping its paws on a keyboard - went on and off for a long time, then there was nothing for a long moment.

Sharaka crumpled to her knees as the dark cathedral faded out, her eyes unfocused and her breath ragged.

"The wraith-knight's footwork is predictable," Jack pointed out, hand hovering over the scenario menu. "Pay attention and look for an opening. Get up."

The healing wave washed over the viashino, who found the strength to look up at Jack's featureless visor. "Why don't you give me a **** break instead?"

"Because you don't need one," Jack simply replied. "The enchantments of this facility are cutting edge, rivaling military-grade simulators. They don't leave residual fatigue or soreness past the mild levels they're engineered to ignore to give users a sense of hard-earned victory."

"At least change the **** scenario," Sharaka shook her head, "it's boring as hell and I almost completed it this time."

Jack tilted his head ever so slightly, his equivalent of a raised eyebrow. "There's a reason why "almost" and "enough" are different words."

Sharaka rolled her eyes. "Tell me again, why am I doing this for you?"

"For me?" Jack shook his head. "If you're doing this for me, you better go home and forget all about this. I have better uses for my time. You tell me - why are you doing this?"

Answering wasn't hard - the hard part was doing so without spitting in his visor. "To have my **** arm back," Sharaka snarled.

Jack nodded, the ****. "Correct. You remembered my hint about a "radical solution" - a lapse of judgment on my part - and connected it with my known skillset. You deduced - correctly - I would be able to build you an arm, which is the main reason I'm even entertaining the idea. Doing so, however, would cost me time and resources, neither of which come cheap."

"Speaking of which," Sharaka drawled, "how can you afford five-hours solo sessions 'round here?"

"I don't pay for them," Jack just said.

Sharaka shot back an unimpressed look. "That explains nothing."

"Good," Jack replied, crossing his arms, "because you're not owed an explanation. You owe me evidence that my intervention will do something other than helping you kill yourself faster."

"Helping me..." Sharaka actually blinked in stupor, as confused as she was outraged. "The **** are you talking about?"

The slight head-tilt again. "Can you guarantee me you're not just going to run off with a new arm and get killed by that Rulus scum? You've seen what they're able to get away with."

Sharaka bristled. "Yeah I can **** guarantee-"

"No," Jack interrupted with casual finality. "You can say you're sure it will end differently. But you cannot guarantee me a single thing, because I do not trust your judgment - a misplaced sense of invincibility on your enemies' part is the only reason you're still alive. There are two ways you can keep your judgment from killing you next time." Jack's stance shifted ever so slightly, and Sharaka suddenly felt in mortal danger. How the ****- "One, get smart - enough not to make stupid decisions - or two, get better - enough to survive your stupid decisions." He stood back, and the insane pressure was gone just as suddenly. "Ideally you should do both, but I'll take one."

Sharaka scoffed, regarding Jack with pointed disinterest. "And how should I prove my judgment to you?"

"You can't," was the flat reply. "Because, again, I don't trust your judgment, so any argument you can offer is moot. I can't look into your mind and I'm not going to put you into real danger to gauge your progress. Despite the instinctive reactions, you know these are illusions - they can't be used for a real evaluation."

"Good with those, are you?" Sharaka sneered. "Evaluating people?"

"Not my field," Jack admitted without hesitation. "I'm gauging you as I would a construct."

Sharaka bristled, teeth bared. "A construct?!"

"Why not?" Jack tilted his head, arms crossed. "You suffered critical damage. Is a full repair worth it? Will it perform better in the future, or will it run into the same issues?" A minute shake of his head. "As of now, you're running worse than you did before, which is not encouraging."

"**** you," Sharaka spat. "The one time I beat Knightfall I had a team and my left arm."

The **** head-tilt again. "And where was the former when you lost the latter?"

Sharaka bared her teeth again and let out a low warning growl.

Jack ignored her reaction. "Self-reliance is a vital lesson if you mean to keep taking matters into your own hands." There was no judgment nor sympathy in his words, just cold analysis. "Outside help must be a windfall, not a crutch. If you depend on others as you look for trouble, you put your life in their hands because of your choices - you force them to save you again and again, and there will be a time when they will be unable or unwilling to do so." Jack leaned forward. "Not mentioning that their intervention could endanger them, putting them in the line of fire - so are you that eager to bet all those lives before you're the best you can be?"

Sharaka wanted nothing more than obliterate that flat, dismissive tone out of his voice, but... she had nothing. "No," she spat, furious and ashamed.

"Good." Jack nodded, the faintest hint of approval in his voice. "Remember - predictable footwork. Keep your eyes open and your head level."

Jack pressed the Reload Scenario button.

Alessa lied idly on the theater's catwalk, legs dangling, as the figure approached the stage in the dark. Their stride was leisurely, as if taking in the unlit scenery. They climbed on the stage but remained on its edge, as if hesitant to take the center.

"I didn't expect you," Alessa huffed. Nasperge had finally got bored of his broody stances on the empty stage, then?

Elphimas turned their face up to her, eyes closed and default mild smile on. "That was... part of the point." A weird hesitation from the weird teacher, who then "looked" down at their hands. Alessa couldn't be sure, but she glimpsed a tremor run down their fingers.

"That I'd be more willing to talk to a complete stranger?" She scoffed.

"No..." Elphimas flexed their hands and slowly clasped them behind their back. "You would not meet a teacher you hardly know. But you may have been curious enough to scry the possibility."

Alessa's eyebrows raised. "You..."

"...am aware to be a mere possibility that will never come to pass."

Alessa blinked, unfocusing to glance at a few time branches. Nobody could know where she was, and none of the branches cut to black. Throwing stuff at Elphimas - both a shoe and a wrench lying nearby - caused them to hurt appropriately. They didn't even try to dodge, though, just braced themselves then... wordlessly stared at her with an eerie acceptance. Weird. Remembering some fun scenes that almost happened didn't get a reaction, so either they weren't using telepathy or they had a ridiculous poker face. And... she still felt her present self. She was well within her own sight, so... "How."

Elphimas opened their eyes and looked up at Alessa, azure light washing over the catwalk. "My eyes have... some unique perks, which are not always pleasant to have."

"So... you ambushed me in my own head for a corny "we are alike" spiel, teach? That's it?"

Elphimas' smile saddened. "I am a mere echo of your teacher, Miss Rehn. You can return to your present whenever you want, I believe, and terminate this possibility. This is but an... irregularity generated by the interaction of our peculiar magics."

Alessa bristled at the "Miss Rehn." "So you're saying I could end you with a thought," she commented darkly.

A minute nod. "Correct."

Alessa hesitated. "You sound awfully casual about it."

"I am not going to beg for an existence that was never meant to last beyond your whim," Elphimas replied thoughtfully, "and I must confess I am quite used to that specific dread."

"A maths teacher with a fixation for mortality." Alessa rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for not swooning in admiration."

"I was not born a teacher, Miss Rehn," Elphimas pointed out. "There was a time when I put my talents in the service of what I thought was a greater good."

Alessa rolled her eyes. "Research?"

"Military intelligence."

That startled a laughter out of Alessa. "You? A spy?"

"Hard to believe, yes," Elphimas conceded, suddenly sitting on the far end of the catwalk. "Not that I was anything like the typical larger-than-life blockbuster super-spy."

Alessa jumped to her feet on pure reflex, wrench in hand. It had been too fast and seamless to be any spell she knew about.

"Theoretical research was also among my areas of interest," Elphimas continued, "until I developed a... peculiar spell. The one, I suspect, that reacted to your magic, Miss Rehn."

"It's Alessa," she spat back. "Life's too short for Misses." The mousy teacher, a veteran secret agent. Sure, what the hell. "What's the big reveal, then? Mass mind control?" A bitter smirk. "A mega-nuke?"

"Nothing that dramatic, I'm afraid," Elphimas shook their head minutely, staring down like a living blue spotlight. "I can only say it was a spell that could do... many things... if one didn't mind the cost. And one day I paid too much."

Alessa remembered all the times Elphimas stopped in mid-sentence during lessons, looking lost for a long moment before returning to their line of thought. The focus with which they took the roll each lesson. All the awkward pauses, the winces - not quite startled jumps - at strong noises and lights. "It fried your brain," she said with a softness she failed to hide.

Elphimas nodded. "The spell eroded my mind. Now I keep my eyes closed because without the filter of my eyelids the brightness of existence makes my head swim. I keep a diary because otherwise I would not remember any of you students. I can only hope to wake up each day remembering enough to be myself. There are times where I look in my partner's eyes and I..." Their breath hitched. "...I do not know him."

"...might be nice, to just let things go." Alessa sighed.

Elphimas let out a pained sigh. "I might have agreed with you at some point during my service. Forgetting the senseless horror, the breath-taking sorrow and, worst of all, the ubiquitous grubby pettiness. Except that when it happened I was back at square one. All the years of training myself out of other people's souls and secrets, gone. Sporadically forgetting what I see nowadays when my control slips is a meager compensation."

"...Yikes." What else could you say to that?

"Yikes indeed," Elphimas said, the word awkward in their mouth.

A long silence followed those words.

Elphimas made a thoughtful noise, as if Alessa had offered some insight. "A wise person once said something very dear to me. You cannot just make someone see the bright side. But you can always sit with them in the dark."

Alessa slowly sat down, legs dangling on the opposite side from Elphimas'. "...who said that?"

Elphimas closed their eyes and took a deep, trembling breath. "I cannot remember."

She choked a laughter halfway out, and immediately felt like a bitch. "****, sorry, I didn't mean-"

Elphimas huffed, a sad ghost of a chuckle. "No, I understand. I cannot bring myself to laugh about it, but the irony is unmissable."

Alessa looked in the darkness below. "Yeah, well... It was still a **** up thing to do."

"Was it?" Elphimas replied. "Because I did not feel mocked. Many veterans survive thanks to their ability to laugh at the abyss."

"You don't seem the laughing type," Alessa pointed out.

"I am not," Elphimas agreed. "Maybe that is the reason why I get that... vertigo. I strive to do good by my partner and my students, to keep everything I have earned, to get better in any way I can - and it does get better. But sometimes there's this siren song, that dreadful part of me that reminds me of how easy would it be to just..."

"...let go," Alessa breathed.

Elphimas nodded somberly. "Thankfully, I don't think I need to explain further."

Alessa found herself staring at them. "...How come you're never like this at school?"

Elphimas' lips twitched in a lopsided smile. "How many people you think ever come to me in the dark?"

Alessa raised a knee and crossed her arms over it. She could stop this whenever she wanted. End the unlikely story of a bad copy of an awkward teacher on a whim.

She leaned her face into her arms. Whenever she wanted. Just...

A little bit more.