Chapter 136: Book 2 Chapter 43 - We Meet Again, but Never the Same

The river bent around a little hill, flowing deep, slow, and wide. Zoe sat under a weeping willow, leaves flickering in the slight breeze, almost silver, not quite green in the omnipresent light.

Last time they were in the Green Room, they had no time at all. Now… she wasn’t sure. There was no timer merely a system message.

[Standby for Magnifying Glass Episode 3: Round 2, part 2]

At first, she felt on edge, especially as the adrenal numbness of losing her hands and feet had slipped away under the crashing surf of reality. Rage beat in her heart.

She hated how Rue could toy with her so mercilessly. She hated how she fell for his games, for his smiles, even the offer of treasure. It reminded her too much of her relationship with Ben. She was sick of being a mouse surrounded by cats.

She wanted claws.

Her fingers stretched at this thought, and she spread them through the grass at her side. The bark of the tree felt smooth through her repaired black dress. The wood was polished, more like an art piece than something from nature. The grass tickled her silvery palm. Was it her moving the chains of her new fingers? Or was it the Black Star system?

Yes!

She smiled as the Black Star’s voice rose and fell within her mind. A little sigh escaped her hitched breathing, and she focused on calming herself, on letting a sliver of peace enter her soul.

Claws would come. Revenge would come. Until then…

She sat in a region of rolling flower-speckled meadows, beside clear water, under soft sunlight. A table of food was laid out under the tree, but she would wait for her friends. She would enjoy this moment with them.

They would come. Doubt tried and failed to worm its way into that conviction. Her friends would come.

And while she waited…

She pulled out her prizes. The lump of amber and the witch’s shard. Her other prize pulsed within her mind — the knowledge of where the Title [Fools Rush In] was located. Her fingers itched to cut it open and explore its mysteries, but she forced herself to wait.

There would be time to explore time.

This conviction, though empowered by her Willpower, could not quite resist the creeping roots of doubt.

Something came, something big and dark and terrible on the horizon — an invisible hurricane rushing ever closer — and she could feel its intangible winds brushing upon her soul.

She shivered as the river sparkled and the meadow persisted in its perfect state of pastoral joy.

###

Anton was the first to find her, which only made sense. His silver eyes dashed over the grass and flitted through the leaves. One of them floated down before her.

“You made it safe and sound?”

She raised a hand and waggled the silver fingers.

“Mostly… there’s some bad news.”

“I’ve found Bella and Oriz,” he said through his technique. “Tell us in person, yeah?”

Zoe sagged against the tree and wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes.

“Should I come to you?” she asked.

“From what I see, you have the food. So, we’ll be coming — hey — Bella!”

“Zoe!” Bella shouted through the silver eye. “Zoe is that you?”

“It’s me!” Zoe said with a laugh.

Inside the silver ball, Zoe saw the faint reflection of Bella peering, and over her shoulder, very close over her shoulder, Oriz leaned.

“How are you?” Bella asked with worry. “Your hands look different. Wait until we tell you about hell. It… it sucked, mate, can’t even describe…”

Bella’s smile faded, and her eyes grew distant until Oriz slipped a hand around her waist.

“Yeah, shocking I know,” Bella rolled her eyes. “Turns out hell is hell. Anyway, we’ll see you soon!”

Zoe’s smile almost hurt. Such a weight had lifted from her, and as Anton’s eyes darted away, she found her fingers drumming her knee with impatience. So she stood and strode beside the table of roasted meats, golden pastries, and fresh-cut fruits all spread on silver platters upon the white tablecloth. There was enough to feed fifty, let alone their small group.

Anton’s eye bobbed along beside her.

“I received a quest from the polyp,” he said. “Something about being a noble and looking after the less fortunate.”

“Noblesse oblige,” Zoe said.

“You received the same quest?”

“It’s an old concept. What did the quest entail?”

“Jack and I weren’t sure, but it led us to a shaft underneath the polyp. It seems the people who were in charge before us were up to no good. There’s a chamber sealed by a guardian of some sort.”

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

“What’s in the chamber?”

“I don’t know.”

“How strong is the guardian?”

“Level 23.’

“We could kill it then.”

“That was my thought. Jack and I have new offensive techniques. Combined with your might and Bella’s sword. It threatened to drop the floor out beneath us.”

Zoe paused halfway reaching toward a juicy blueberry danish. She should wait, but the hunger itched through her fingertips like a phantom rattling chains.

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“The shaft leads to the bottom of the island.”

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“I wonder what they’re up to down there.”

“We’ll find out. Oh, I found Jack, leading him closer.”

“Sounds like you two get along now.”

“...”

“Anton?”

“We get along.”

Zoe didn’t have long to wait before they were all reunited.

Bella wrapped her up in a hug, and Zoe returned the favor. Oriz looked on happily, while Jack and Anton kept back. Soon they all sat at the table eating and laughing.

Zoe couldn’t help but notice the way Oriz and Bella sat beside each other. She wasn’t stupid, and their new closeness made her happy, but… something unpleasant threaded through that happiness. Before they had gone to the Gambler’s hell — which sounded like an unending nightmare — they had both been closer to her. One was her friend, the other was her master. Things were more complicated than that, but she had been the central point in their relationship. Now, they were lovers, and Zoe sat outside.

Selfish thoughts. It couldn’t always, and shouldn’t always, be about her. Still, the feeling bubbled up in her heart.

Jack laughed the loudest, sharing ridiculous tall tales from his time as the frontman for various punk bands. She wasn’t sure if she believed any of it, but it was entertaining. Still, despite the smile on her face, she retreated from the moment.

Lost inside her head, she touched upon her technique.

[Our Hearts Toll as One]

Only Oriz noticed, the alien woman’s yellow eyes darting to Zoe briefly, before returning to Bella. Zoe had only been checking, and each of her friends remained inside her party.

But it felt hollow. Her scarred smile slipped. What was wrong with her?

Anton sat at her side, and he poured her a tall glass of cider.

“It’s pear and elderberry,” he said. “Pretty good.”

“You like drinking, huh?”

“No,” he said as he took a sip. “I like drinks. Intoxication is for oafs, I appreciate the craft.”

Was he her closest friend now? His face remained impassive as she glanced at him, but with his silver eyes floating about he probably didn’t feel a need to return eye contact. Even after he removed his mask outside the gas station, he still felt like an enigma to her.

Was there anything more to the curiosity? Could they have something like Bella and Oriz? She felt a need for companionship but with Anton?

No.

Hell no.

Her feelings in that direction were as cool as the poker face he always wore.

Laughter roared as Jack finished a story about the time someone put fireworks in the drum kit. The laughter died, and in the natural pause that followed, Zoe stood.

Everyone turned to look at her, and she dismissed the negative thoughts swirling in her mind. These were her friends. They had fought for each other. Even died for each other in various forgotten timelines. She wouldn’t doubt them.

“It’s so good to see you all,” she said, and she took a deep breath. “But I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

All eyes turned to her, and she decided not to drag it out.

“Rue, and members of his cohort, will take part in the game with us.”

The others looked taken aback, but only Oriz seemed to grasp the horror of the situation. Her already pale grey skin paled even further until it was a delicate shade of lavender almost white. She tried to speak, struggled, and only continued when Bella placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Is he competing with us or…?”

The question dangled, and Zoe wished she had a different answer.

“He’ll be competing against us,” she hurried on as her technique detected their skyrocketing pulses. “But it’s not all bad news.”

“What could be good about this?” Bella asked.

“Who’s Rue again?” Jack asked with a frown.

“The dude who kick started the apocalypse,” Anton said. “He kinda has a crush on Zoe.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Zoe said.

“Right, right, I’m thinking of the Gambler.”

“No, he’s obsessed with Bella.”

Bella scowled.

“Don’t talk about that.”

Anton raised his hands in surrender.

“Just trying to help the last horse cross the finish line. What’s the good news, boss?”

“The good news is that he’s scared. He fears the Gambler. So scared he tried to cripple me. These silver hands are a testament to his fear. I don’t have even a fraction of the power needed to defeat Rue, but maybe, through the Gambler’s game, we can make him suffer like he’s made us suffer. Like he’s made Earth suffer.”

There was a moment of silence before Anton raised his glass of cider.

“Hell, you don’t have to ask us twice, boss. We’re in.”

The others raised their glasses, and through her technique, through the beating in her chest, she felt the conviction of their friendship as solid as steel.

###

The meal died down and Bella went off to swim and incorporate in the depths of the river. Likewise, Anton meditated as his eyes scanned the sky and pondered on the decision of his body path.

This left Jack, Oriz, and Zoe alone at the table. Sensing the mood, Jack excused himself with a handful of cookies and a glass of milk.

As his footsteps faded, Zoe looked over at her master.

“How is your recovery?” she asked.

Oriz smiled and extended her palm. A sliver of grass sprouted from the lines in her skin. It quivered and burst apart, but there was no expression of pain and no rainbow radiance.

“It is weak, as though I were in my early levels once more, but I am feeling stronger each day. Bella has been an immense help. So much of recovery is mental, and so much of the mind is the heart.”

Zoe dipped her head in acknowledgment of the statement. In the distance, the river seethed and frothed as Bella incorporated its essence. Zoe was loath to turn the conversation toward herself, but she had little time.

“I wanted to ask your opinion on something.”

“Please, go ahead. Though I have been a poor master, I wish to instruct you. It is rare for someone with such potential for power, and surviving power emerges.”

A silence extended. Zoe didn’t feel lucky, or blessed, or touched by fate.

She felt tired, and the choice that had been weighing her down since her fight with the mantis ambassador was just one more thing dragging at her energy. But she was alive, and she would never not be grateful for that.

At least, at this moment, she felt grateful and felt that she always would be.

She pressed on.

“I have to upgrade my body path,” and she felt the slightest guilty pleasure at the way Oriz stiffened.

“What are the options? Remember how you shared them with Trinch and —”

“I remember.”

Zoe focused on her connection to the system and sent them forward to Oriz.

[The Bell At The Center Of The World]

[Rank 3 upgrades]

* Sympathetic Resonance: Link two points in space and time by striking them with the same resonance.

* Echo Queen: Cast your senses into the vibrations of the land and learn all that strike upon the bell of the world.

* Counter Harmony: Negate violence with harmony by creating an equal and opposite force to any strike.

Oriz studied the choices.

“If I understand correctly, the most significant use of your body path has been the interaction with incursions.”

“That was the point, right?”

Zoe instantly felt petty, but fortunately, Oriz let the jab sail past.

“What I’m getting at, is that you’ve used your path a little in combat, and I have noticed you trying to work the Grasping Vine into a rhythm. [Echo Queen] has obvious immediate benefits that would assist your daily life. And [Counter Harmony] would be a brilliant choice if you wanted to counter others rather than impact them yourself, but I don’t think you do.”

“What do you think I want to do?”

“I’m sorry if I’m being too forward…”

“No, please, I asked.”

Oriz nodded, and some of the awkwardness slipped away like desert sand through her fingers.

“I think you became a surgeon because you like to cut things and see how they work. You fix them afterward, of course, you do, but it’s that first act of breaking, of cleanly breaking, that most appeals to your soul. With that motivation in mind, I suggest you choose [Sympathetic Resonance].”

“I don’t understand your logic?”

“Because if I understand it correctly, it will enable you to create incursions of your own.”

“You mean?”

“Yes, you’ll be able to cut reality itself… and make it bleed.”

Zoe blinked as the words sank into her. She knew what choice to make, and without another word, she accessed the system and continued her path.