I spent a long week just writing songs while in my room, not really leaving to do much other than eat and see the sun every once in awhile. Even then I only saw the daylight in the mornings since I was up all night making lyrics and melodies, which my Littles understood up to a certain point. Lucine was just happy for the extra time to talk to people and not deal with me, Sootina didn’t mind at all due to her maturity, but Max and Gloss? Less happy. Less happy by a good margin. It wasn’t something was concerned with when I came up with Miss You or No Way, which I’ll write down for you. I know you’ve already seen (And heard me play) Miss You, but No Way is my favorite out of the new songs and really means a lot to me. We’ll get to that when it comes up because I actually did perform it for Max, Gloss, Sooty and the gals of the Guild.

During the week I wallowed in seclusion song-crafting my ass off and back on again to double the thiccness, my style evolved more than I could have ever hoped. I’d been a good mimic for most of the covers I did, and the undlegar translated well enough into guitar notes, even if it did have a more echoey, wailing tone to it. My overall sound went from being reminiscent of pretty much any generic amateur guitarist’s flair to having a certain Je ne sais quoi to it that made my heart flutter when I hit my stride. It's not that the music was terribly good in the beginning so much as it just sounded like me. It was a little melancholy with the register I generally defaulted to, and my vocal octaves started to wane from a low tenor to a solid, middling baritone that was nice and throaty for some of Pearl Jams songs. I basically taught myself how to put my emotions into my songs rather than just jamming out with the whammy out and it was super nice to see myself in my music. ‘Oh, don’t you mean hear yourself?’. No, I wrote my music down in my own little language, so yeah, there’s that.

When I came out of seclusion, my hair was finally down to my shoulders and I now had a beard since I’d neglected to shave for the past few weeks prior. Over the last few days, it had really started to come in and it showed in the thickness of the short hairs. The first person I saw when I went downstairs was Granny Gunhilder in all her loving, sweet, crazy glory. Her real name was literally Gunhilder mind you, which meant [Firearm Maniac] in Thesuvian, which was what she and Max were. There was something to be said about the Thesuvians I knew, but there was also something to be said about Centurns and Septurns in general being weird. As for myself, I was completely normal and there was no one who could convince me otherwise for any reason, which is a complete and utter lie. I was depressed, for one. And had basically been on a liquid diet for the better part of a fortnight at that point, for two. I’d shed a good couple of pounds over the past few months from my diet and exercise in general, which had also strengthened me a bit. I was sure that keeping up with my push-ups and sit-ups had helped, but that also meant I was a little delirious when I came out of my self-induced hermit-ness. Granny Gunhilder was not the right person for me to be talking to at the moment with her shifting-patterns and holographic pants. She hurt my eyes to look at, but she gave me a hug and complimented my smell, so that was nice.

I meandered my way to the kitchen for some ice cream that was sweeter than Earth ice cream and a few cups of water to help settle my stomach. It was a good meal that accomplished what I wanted it to do, but someone evidently alerted my Littles to the fact that I was out and about because I was tackled from behind while talking to Popol, a Gauss-style specialist. Gloss barely even made me stumble for some odd reason, which was weird because we usually went to the floor whenever she did that since she was little but got some inertia behind her for her charges. The hug she gave me was sweet, so I turned around so she could bury her face in my chest and Popol laughed at us since Gloss’ antics were well known around the Guild. Apparently, it had become common knowledge that I was in charge when it came to Gloss rather than Max, which was amusing in its own right. Then there was the added fact that it had been exposed that Max was sharing Gloss with me, which was awkward when Popol brought it up. Gloss giggled it away and grabbed my sausage, so I gave her a little spank because I could and told her to stop being bad. It was well-received by the audience, which is exactly how I thought of the situation. It struck me as odd that I’d just disassociated myself with people I’d come to know pretty well over the past month or two, but I really wasn’t worried about it.

I let Gloss take me to Luce because I was in the mood to do some talking, but Lucine was high off of soma and could barely keep a train of thought together, so I took Gloss out on the town for a bit. I showed her the love that I really wanted to rekindle in my heart and she appreciated the time I spent with her like no other, or at least it seemed like it. I bought her a new dress and some shoes because she’d seen them in the shop window and hadn’t brought her purse along, which eventually led to me paying for lunch and some midway-style games in an arcade. It was a fun time that I enjoyed, but then Gloss told me that Max was actually out on a pretty important mission and I almost got worried. Almost. I knew Max could take care of himself and then some, but I couldn’t help wondering if his mission had anything not do with the Rhubarb Ranch and the trouble I’d caused with them. Gloss didn’t know anything about the situation since she didn’t really care that much, so we resolved to head back to the Guild so I could get caught up.

As it turned out, Sootina was looking for me to talk about that particular topic and it was helpful that she was so forthcoming with information. As it went, we’d released Jacki and Mortimer to the Rhubarb Ranch in exchange for a ceasefire and a moratorium on any actions that involved me. Basically, we’d bought me time and that was about it. Sooty broke it to me as gently as she could, but the effect was the same as if she’d said it bluntly. My time at the Hooversdum Guildhouse was coming to a close, and the curtain was falling pretty quickly. Sootina gave me a conciliatory hug that I pretended to need, but I honestly just put on a show. I was ready to leave Hooversdum and go further into the world and I needed Luce to sober up before I could. I also had to make sure that Max wasn’t coming with me anyway. Gloss still wanted to be a band, but Max had actual responsibilities to take care of so his answer needed to be heard in person. Otherwise, Gloss packed up and Luce got his shit together after a few hours, meaning that the only one left to get their shit together happened to be yours truly. I packed slowly and methodically after I washed my clothes and prepped my gear for travel as best I could. We’d have a wagon to carry our equipment, but if we’d had more time, we could have managed to convert the wagon into a temporary stage as well for any of our concerts It was a bummer to be sure, but we still had transportation other than our own feet, and the giant goat-like creature that was pulling the wagon apparently fed on tree bark, so that was cool. It was a low cost beast for sure, but it was also pretty quick. It was also ugly and smelly, which Avalesch people cared about a lot, apparently making the species as a whole cheap and marketable to working class people.

It took a couple days for Max to come back, specifically earlier today. It was yesterday that I played No Way for the Guild’s female population and the song was taken pretty damn badly if the tears were anything to go by. Damn near everyone was crying other than me, so I had no clue what to do about that until people started clapping. A few men that had decided to sit in were nodding along solemnly, but I should probably write the song down before I go any further into the reception it got.

No Way

By Gatian Gauner

No way, No way

No way that I can dream without you

No way, No way

No way that I can breathe without you

No way, No wa~ay

Don’t you see what you’re doing to me?

You permeate the air that I bre~athe

How do I escape this feeling?

Your touch was always so appealing

No way, No way

No way that I can walk without you

No way, No way

No way that I can talk without you

No way, No wa~ay

I know I used to lay beside you

Do you still feel the warmth as I do?

No way for you to hear me calling

Will I ever freeze the falling?

No way, No way

No way that I can stay without you

No way, No way,

No way that I can love without you

No way, No wa~ay

A final word just to peek through

I wrote a note but it never saw you

Will I ever find the whole truth?

No way, No wa~ay

Needless to say, it wasn’t necessarily about Rachel, and it wasn’t completely about Stellara, rather a woman I created in my mind that was a combination of the two. I felt like it fit for either of them with how I felt, but I still didn’t see why anyone was crying until I actually paid attention to the lyrics. It inspired me to sing the second favorite of my crafted songs, Time Runs Out. You wanna see that one, Booksy? No? Alright, maybe another time. Anyway., I broke some hearts with my song and mended them by cracking some jokes, but that brings me back to Max’s homecoming. It was honestly the last interesting thing that happened before the event, so that’s all I’ll say on the matter. I will say, however, that when Max came home his spirits were low and he was looking pissed as all Hell until I gave him a hug. He was glad to see that I was out of my room but mad that he missed so much time with me and that he’d have to stay at the Guild instead of coming with me. That also meant that he was basically going to hand Gloss and the care of her over to me until I returned, which wasn’t something that I was necessarily looking forward to. The girl had a habit of getting herself into trouble, even if it was generally pretty minor and only needed a quick explanation to clear up most of the time. Having to look after Gloss for fear of pissing off Max was annoying, but she was a part of the band nonetheless, even if she did tend to act more like a groupie than a roadie.

When he broke the news to us, I had to pretend to be sad, but Gloss actually was. She cried and made a fuss about how she was going to miss him even more than usual until he put an actual collar on her. It had a heart-shaped lock on it to keep it on and Gloss didn’t actually look too happy about it. She liked it, but when Max said that the collar would protect her from anyone she didn’t like, she kinda deflated and took it to heart. Apparently, she was hoping for some less than consensual sex, or at least that what I got from it. I was hoping that she wasn’t quite so kinky, though there was also the sneaking suspicion that she was exactly as sketchy as I thought she might be. Other than that, Max was ready to hand over his fucking fiance lie she was an extra knife or something, but at least I’d have someone to dip my dick in if I ever felt like it. I still hadn't slept with Gloss and I knew that frustrated her, but I also wasn’t sure if I should’ve been boning her. Then Max told me that if I didn’t, she’d find someone else to do it for her and I’d have to track her down. It was better to satisfy her once or twice on my own and then let her do as she pleased according to the man who was supposed to know her best.

That leads me to tonight and the happenings so far. From Max’s arrival to the knowledge that he’d be letting me go do my own thing, things were pretty quiet other than the clapping of his cheeks. That was pretty loud and so was he, though having him do Gloss while I did him was fantastic. It was just kinky enough for me to get off even harder than usual, though seeing him eat his own cum out of her was less sexy and more disturbing than I cared to let on. That was enough to make me hump him some more to make him regret doing it, but that just turned him on and Gloss wanted in on the action, so he ate her out again. Have I ever mentioned that my life is weird, Booksy? Because it is and I feel like that needs to be stated more often than not because it’s bone-jarringly true.

That closes it for now, Booksy. Until tomorrow, that is.

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Alright, so traveling is boring. It really is. It’s the second night of our journey and the only thing that’s really happened was that Gloss had to give back to the earth and didn’t want to do it outside, despite the fact that we were stocked up on toilet paper. She eventually did it, but the second day is where things picked up. It started simply enough with Luce waking me up for my watch since I had the last one, but then things got weird. The red and blue moons of Septural seemed brighter than they’d ever had before, but I didn’t think it was worthy of my time to mention it. While it was still dark out, I noticed that the persistent wind had started to die down, evidenced by the fact that my campfire was burning more steadily at the moment. IT was something that made me curious, but again, I thought nothing of it.

That is, until I felt someone sit down next to me in the grass. It was a face I’d never seen before, but the person was familiar all the same. The fellow seemed a little on the jacked side to be sitting next to me so casually, but his face was… Eerie, in a sense. Like he was definitely an otherworldly being and my life was little more than his plaything. The feeling surrounding The Brit was there in all it’s tea-sipping glory while he relaxed, marshmallow on a stick and everything. It caught fire and he let it burn for a moment before blowing it out and having it on some graham crackers. I looked at him for a while and decided to play a song while we sat, not really acknowledging him beyond a nod when he took the time to look at me. He didn’t speak until I finished the song, and even then he only said that it was nice.

“So what’s up, my man? Am I fucking something up?”

He chuckled at that and speared another marshmallow on his stick. “No, nothing quite like that, mate. I’ve just been listening to your songs.”

“Yeah, cool. You like any of them?”

“Yeah, most of them. You’re pretty good at what you do, yeah?”

“Yeah. Little too good…”

“That’s what you get for being general as fuck with that art, Gatian. ‘I wanna be good at making music!’,” he scoffed. “Do you know how much time that paperwork took me? ‘Making Music’ can be anything!”

“Speaking of your gifts-”

“I can’t take the Silvertongue back, nor the Devil’s Tounge. You asked for a power-”

“No, motherfucker, you said you were going to give me one. You didn’t let me pick.” I said bitterly.

“It would have bitten you in the ass in another way, Gatian. These things aren’t free.”

“You think I don’t know that? Didn’t I ask you what the catch was?”

“... Okay, so I screwed you a little, but can you honestly-”

“Man, I’m still fucked up over that, though.”

“Fair point. Not really making the second life worth it at the moment, are we?”

“The rockstar thing is cool.”

“You really don’t think so.” He sighed.

“I know, but at least I tried, right?”

“Yeah… Man, this sucks. You moon-moon wankers are so… “

“Depressive?”

“Depressing, mate. You guys never make it long.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Guess I’ll just have to live a little longer than most.”

“You already have, but it’s not really a win in my book until you come all the way.”

“All the way to what?”

The Brit shrugged. “Well, it depends on where you get sent to, but the dream for most people on Septural is to marry, find a nice place to spend their lives, and do basically nothing else until they have to rise to an occasion or something. Most people get by with just doing their jobs, but then you have the people that go above and beyond, just like Earth. You’re a Beyonder, so your end goal is different. My main thing for you right now is to get you to be happy because that’s what you want, right?”

“Well, yeah, but you’re honestly overthinking it. You’ve already given me a lot, Brit. IT’s enough.” I reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

He looked at me, his silver eyes glowing in the moonlight. “... You don’t want more? I mean, I can make this even easier for you-”

“Brit.”

“... It’s enough.” He cracked a small grin. “You don’t need more because you already have too much.”

“Yeah.”

The Brit snorted. “You know, you’re the first person that’s ever said that.”

“I ought to be. I mean, how many people wouldn’t just take what they could get and run with it?”

“So you see where I’m coming from?”

“Yeah, I do. Are we going to do anything, or are we just here to talk?”

“Are you not enjoying the conversation?” He asked mockingly.

“:You’re not half bad to talk to, but if you’re here, then I can’t help but imagine why.”

“I thought you’d already put it together. I’m here to either upgrade things or end them, if you want.”

“... Can I get a flask of alcohol that doesn’t run out?”

“Is that it?” He asked incredulously.

“Can I pick the type of alcohol it pours?”

“... That’s… Come on, mate, you’ve gotta have something you want more than that.”

I shrugged. “Why ask for money and power when you’ve already given me the power to practically make people do whatever I want them to. I mean, I could take over the world if I stayed angry enough, but I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want power. I don’t even want fame anymore, Brit. It’s all… It all feels so pointless without her…”

“Co-dependency is so unattractive.”

“Thanks.”

“Just sayin’, my guy. As for what you want,” He passed me a flask, “there it is. Anything you want at your fingertips. Just pour and it’ll flow, but you can’t drink straight from the flask. I’d really recommend against trying, but if you want a mouthful of liquor to hit the back of your throat all at once....”

I shook it. “I’ll take your word for it. Are we good?”

“You mean other than the fact that you’re a hair’s breadth from killing yourself?”

“Yeah, other than that.”

“We’re fine, just don’t… You know…”

“Brit, it’s not easy, but I don’t want to die again. What if I have a third life that I can’t make better?”

“Good way to think of it, I guess.” He chuckled. “Gatian? Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What’s it like to be alive?”

“You’re not?”

“No heartbeat, no nothing.”

“Ah. It’s warm, I guess. It gets hot and cold... Feelings suck. There isn’t much to being alive, you kinda just do it.”

“Right… Do you think you’ll ever come to love life?”

“Life sucks, Brit. I’d trade you places if I could, but I’m pretty sure you don’t get an afterlife.”

“Oh no, I was alive a long time ago, I just died. My afterlife was boring enough to make me give it up, so there’s always that.”

I smiled. “So I have a nice, peaceful existence to look forward to if I can make it through this one, right?”

“Yup.”

“And if I don’t make it through?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really deal with that sort of thing.”

I shrugged and so did he. “Es lo que es.”

“It is what it is, yeah.” He offered a friendly fist.

I bumped it with my own. “To the things we can’t change.”

“To the inevitable and the path that takes us there.” He produced a Guinness, which I’d never had before. It wasn’t half bad as far as beer goes, but I’d had better on Septural.

After we were done drinking, I looked at the moons and saw that they were growing dimmer and dimmer until they’d returned to their normal states, the wind picking back to lick at my fire. It was odd, to say the least, but I assumed that it was because of the Brit. The supernatural things were becoming more common as the days had gone by with some of the Guildies giving me a few extra arca to practice and use for my own gain, but the changing weather? Weird. I chalked it up to the new life as I had countless other things and eventually gave myself a couple of shots out of my flask to steady my nerves and to take the edge off of the loneliness. Yeah, I had two trusted companions by my side most of the time. Yeah, I was getting to be pretty good at what I was doing. Yeah, Gatian Gauner was a lot better than Gage ever was, but he was also just about as happy as the other guy and that made me sadder. I just didn’t like thinking of what I’d done, the amount of sex I’d had, or the fact that anyone who learned too much about me left at the drop of a hat. Luce, Gloss, Max, and Sootina were all different, but even then I didn’t feel half as close to them as I did with Stella and Felix. I missed and still do miss my old crew, but…

I guess it’s just not meant to be, Booksy. I mean, I’m ready to get back on the road and all, but things are so different from what they were on Earth. Even from the moment I woke up on that riverbank, everything’s been so different from what I’m used to that I think I just gave up on being who I was and changed… Me. Gatian is so different from Gage that it’s… I don’t know how to say it, Booksy. I’m not a musician, not popular, or even that well-liked. But Gatian is all of those things. Gatian pulls people to him, Gatian is Mr. People Person. That’s just not me, but I feel like who I continues to change and I don’t like the feeling. It’s scary… It’s honestly scary, Booksy. I don’t know who I am or what I even really want to do anymore, and that just makes me feel so… Lost. That gives me an idea as to what I should do, but I don’t know how to find myself when I’m already living free and clear, and it’s not like I owe anyone other than Raphtal anything in all honesty, it’s just… I don’t know, Booksy. What do you think…?

Oh right. You’re a book.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now. I’m sad, you’re a book, and we’re together. Let’s be books together, yes? No? Okay.

I didn’t wake up since there was no way for me to awaken due to my current state of consciousness, so that meant I got to wake everyone else up. Hornmun, the goat-ram thing was already chewing up some grass and wandering away from the campsite in the early morning light, but I ended up giving him some bark as an extra snack because he wasn’t supposed to last long on just grass alone. I actually had to wake Luce up to get him untethered from the cart so we could go and have at a tree or two, but after a solid meal, she was considerably better off than she’d been previously. Gloss wasn’t waking up for anything, not even a little finger action, so I let her sleep it off or whatever. Not being concerned about either of my sluggish party members was natural, and I ended up getting things moving all on my own, as I had the night before. The journey was already starting to look long, and the hours passed without nary a word given between me or Luce, but the silence was nice. After living in the Guild for so long and hearing practically every little thing while being up and around, and then being in a town as large as Hooversdum meant that I was ripe and ready for a little companionable silence, and Luce provided just that. Gloss eventually woke up when we stopped to let Hornmun have some water at the edge of a creek that ran near the road. I’d heard the water and got us to stop for the sake of our load-bearer, though Luce assured me that he/she/it could keep going until we actually got to Ponydale and past the border of said country. We didn’t know where our first stop would actually be rather than a pitstop/refueling point for Hornmun, but we figured that the bigger the town, the better the chances of finding work.

Gloss convinced us to try looking in some of the smaller towns while we were at it, just to get the rural communities too, but Lucine made a good argument in that every hour we spent in a small town with a small population, the less we were actually spreading my songs. It was a conundrum that gave me an idea for a song, but then Gloss countered with the fact that we were making music for my purposes, and so far I’d shown little hesitation in sharing my sounds with anyone who would listen. It brought up a certain duality pertaining to my psyche and how I looked at things. I was basically a hardcore drug dealer with my music. I’d noticed that a lot of people wanted another song like I wanted another drink in days past, and that… Well, I’d like to say it scared me, but it was the part of the music scene that I actually liked. Having people hooked on my verses, waiting for the next melody to rear its beautiful head? It was addicting in its own way, which inspired me to translate Vicarious by Tool through the undlegar and then the plublass for Luce’s enjoyment. Gloss wasn’t fond of the song because I couldn’t remember the drumline for it and the song didn’t seem to need a terribly outstanding one to go with it until the bass solo.

I taught them the song piece by piece and then had me a good ol’ thinkin’ ‘bout the way I remembered music. The Brit had basically told me that I was going to be good at whatever I wanted to do as long as it involved making air vibrate pleasantly to the ear. That and that alone made me write the new song that I’m recording in Three… Two…

Lost by Gatian Gauner

First Verse

Travelled ‘cross the land; saw some new sights

Never been so happy seein’ city lights

Took- seven days and- six nights

One big horse and three mismatched knights

Stole away from the forest’s blights

Gettin’ back to town feels mighty nice!

Chorus 1

Oh can you say you ever been so lost?

Don’t know who ya are; how much did it cost?

Can you really say that you got your way?

Fuck it lil’ boy; take them toys and play!

Second Verse

Sometimes things just don’t work out

Throw around ya weight but you got no clout

You can’t pull it back no matter how hard you try

So don’t you sit there and ask yourself why!

Get the fuck over yourself lil’ boy!

You got more to do than be a decoy!

Chorus 2

Oh can you say you ever been so lost?

Don’t know who ya are, how much did it cost?

Can you really say that you got your way?

Fuck it lil’ boy, take them toys and play!

Final Verse

On the road again with a brand new crew

Couple hundred miles away, baby what can you do?

Will we meet again? That I can’t know

But I know I gotta get on with the show

Never made a song without thinking of you

So with this last one, let’s hope it’s through

Goodbye sorrow, hello hope

Being super social or a misanthrope

Don't know who it is, am I talking to you?

Maybe I am, do you know what to do?

Lucine really liked the edgier sound and the gritty bass lines I wrote for the song, and the fact that it played on the lowest octave I could get the undlegar on (At least, while sounding decent.) just added to the melancholy mood of the rhythm. I made sure that there was an interesting, syncopated drumline to go along with the bass. The overall feeling of the song was heavy, and I mean that I could feel every note in my bones. Gloss was less receptive for the most part, and her reason was ‘It makes me vibrate and I only like doing that when I want to.’, which was honestly weird. With her projected persona, I would have assumed that she was down for a free orgasm or at least a session with nature’s vibrator, but then again, she was a wildcard anyway.

After I made the song I just wrote down, we actually happened upon a small hamlet. It didn’t seem like too bad of a place from a distance, but there was also the fact that it was pretty much a two stop town. There were only a handful of roads visible from where we were on the road. Not very promising, but as we got closer we heard the fucking screams. All hell was breaking loose in whatever town we were nearing, and none of my party wanted to tango with whatever it was. We agreed to go The fuck. Around. Luce was the only one who wanted to even go on one of the roads, but as we cut off the main path and headed away from the hamlet, we noticed people running from the town, cloaked in what appeared to be purple flames. Luce made us stop and we almost turned around, but I convinced him to make a lateral move rather than a U-turn. It didn’t work out, which is why I’m currently writing in a tree with only my essential’s. I might have to explain that later as my ramgoat is currently being eaten by what appears to be flaming zombies.

Maybe I’ll sing myself a little song. A little song to sing along with. It’ll probably be Miss You------

Holy shit. Lemme get back to you.

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

Well, Luce just got eaten alive by flaming zombies a few hours ago now. He came down from his hiding spot, guns blazing and never once thought to aim for the head. He only took two of the twelve out, and I can still hear Gloss’s muffled cries from her spot. The… I don’t… I don’t know what to call them. The zombies or what the fuck ever left after Luce lead them away, which was probably when Gloss and I should have left. The thing is that we can’t really go on without a pack animal, our wagon, or our instruments. Gloss isn’t really a combatant, and we’re a good few days from any other settlement… anywhere. I have a map-tablet that tells me where we are, but there’s no way in hell we’ll be able to carry enough food to make it to our next place on foot. We’re fucked, in layman’s terms. Fettersfield was the last resting place for four days nonstop travel north, east or west. Our only choice was to head south toward the stream of flaming dead that was still visible in the night sky, which was a bad idea. It was a great time to have my survival skills kick in, but things were looking dire for Ponydale anyway.

It’s been awhile longer so let me fill you in. I got Gloss, gathered about a week’s worth of dried meat, hard tack, and jelly, got our weapons and my armor, then made a point of getting the fuck up a tree again to scout for more predators. It was a good idea because they came back briefly, some of them going over our supplies. Nothing caught fire, but when we inspected them again, a thin film of something nasty was covering the plublass and Luce’s extra pistol. A few other things were covered, but we had what we needed and that was enough for us to keep going. For once I was glad that Gloss’ synthination-device (SDi) only had fifteen notes and wasn’t hard to carry, otherwise it would have been much harder to get the fuck out the forest and start following the map to our next destination, which was right the fuck back the way we came. We needed to warn Hooversdum about the impending threat, and we needed to get there fast. With my undlegar in hand, I made sure we had something to listen to during the journey since it honestly helped keeped Gloss awake and gave me a reason to keep going. It also gave me a reason to learn how to play with a pick when my fingers got raw, which I couldn’t really consider a plus.

Gloss and I were both shellshocked after seeing and hearing Lucine, my teacher and

friend, die such a gruesome death. It was hard on both of us and neither of us wanted to talk about it, but I did sing a ballad for him that I came up with during the second night of our long walk. Gloss said she liked it and asked if I’d make up a song for the town that got ransacked, but we were in a tree and it was hard to balance, rest, and play at the same time. There wasn’t time to think of it between relaxing and balancing on my branch, so I said I’d play it for her another time. The night passed smoothly into a new day, but Gloss was shaken after a nightmare and was hard to get moving. We only had two more days to our destination and I was ready to get there by any means necessary, ready and willing to take the main road for once. It was the only way to get Gloss moving again, and it was the most dangerous way to go.

We knew we were too late to warn anyone before the town even came into sight. There were broken bones with bits of gore left behind on the roads from Hooversdum, along with teeth, clumpos of hair, shit, and vomit all in spades. The road was soaked in every manner of besoilment imaginable, so we stayed off of it and waited until we came as close as we wanted to get to use my viewfinder to get a closer look. The town was dead as far as I could tell. The once colorful walls were now coated in splashes and prints of blood from the massacre that had happened, and there was precious little anyone probably could have done about it. More glore and remnants of the citizens of the once happy town were visible in just about every corner I looked, but Raphtal, surprisingly enough, still had a flag flying. I suspected that no one had been left alive to take it down, but Gloss was too excited by the sight to listen to reason. She took off once I told her about the oddity and I had to follow as quickly as I could, my quarterstaff helping me poke her after getting close enough to do so.

We’d made it deeper into town and closer to the Guild, but nothing was as it had been. Things were strewn about, ripped clothing eveyrwhere, and there was next to no noise in the settlement. Gloss didn’t take off again and walked close to me as we made our way to the Guildhouse and what was left of it. We arrived at our final destination together and I let us in, the door having been locked from the inside out I unlocked the door with the Arca that Max had taught me what seemed like years ago now and we saw what had become of Raphtal. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but there wasn’t any blood away from the entrance of the guild. The further we went inside, the less bullet holes and pieces of zombie we found, which was a good sign. We got to the staircase to the second floor and met a barricade, so we started calling out for anyone that might have been left behind. Soon enough we got word from someone upstairs to meet us outside, so we left and came around the side of the building to see Algmund climbing down a rope made of sheets.

When he landed, I asked, “Al, what the fuck happened? Where is everyone?”

He shook his head and panted a little as he was a heavy set guy. “Everyone took off with the survivors a day or two ago. I’ve been laid up here trying to send some help to the capital, but you guys are the first to show your faces.”

“Did we lose anyone?”

“Falkru and Doff, but neither of them have been with the Guild long. You know we can take care of ourselves with the ammo stacked high.” Algmund wiped some sweat off of his brow.

“Can you tell us anything about what attacked? What happened?”

“Dreadnots. Flaming fuckin’ Dreadnots. A city’s worth.” He shook his head again. “There were so many of ‘em… Shit went sideways right after they were spotted outside town, and when they hit, we sent a detail to go round up survivors and to help out however we could, but we don’t know the exact losses. The town’s done for in anycase.”

“Yeah, I gathered that.” I sighed. “We have to pick up, though. Where was the horde headed?”

“That’s just the thing. They hit the town and turned tail, like they were just making sure that the border was fucked to all Pomnett.”

Pomnett was the Septurn analog to Hell, so I was a little unhappy to hear that it had turned out so bad. I wasn’t exactly expecting hash and wieners for lunch when we came through, but I was also expecting Raphtal to have held out. To know that we lost people weighed heavily on me as did Lucine’s murder, but there was little to nothing I could do about it at the moment. Algmund said that he was going to stay behind, but I had to get Gloss to her family as soon as I could so that I could travel as lightly as possible. She didn’t want to stay with me and wait to die, and Algmund didn’t want us traveling alone, so he offered to look after Gloss on their way through to Thesuvia while I took my happy arse to Chorell. It wasn’t my first destination by a long shot, but I figured that skirting Toddton and heading down would be my best bet. The thing was that we didn’t know where the plague was coming from and it could have very well come from even further south in Denosia/Mothica or Chorell itself.

With my destination logged into my maplet, Algmund bid me farewell and Gloss thanked me for saving her life. It wasn't something that I took pride in, so I told her to be safe and wait for Max to come find her. If it wasn’t him, then I wanted her to send me a message and i would come to take care of her. I had responsibilities to take care of, even if I didn’t want them. Either way, whether Gloss called me or not, I had a funny feeling that would be meeting again under dire circumstances. She and her chaperone left me at the Raphtal Guild house so I could stock up and say goodbye on my own. It was my home for a little while, but I held little in regard for it. However, it gave me the time I needed to finally break down and just… Process. Seeing someone die wasn’t exactly new since I’d seen a few people get beheaded in Serbia (Long story, Mafiya was involved), but it was something else entirely to see a close friend be devoured alive while trying to save my skin and that of my Little. Lucine earned himself a full bottle of soma to be poured our and a glass of the finest liquor I could think of. Ace of Spades was my drink of choice for the night, and by the time I drank enough to make myself finally sleep, I was two sheets to the wind and flying high enough to miss a visitor in the night. I woke up this morning to find a note next to my chosen bed. It read thusly:

There’s a place for you with us, River Man. The Mundane will become Terruc. The Terruc will become Mundane. You shall know your true power with us. This is an invitation; not a summons. You may join us or you may fall as the chaff from the wheat. Welcome to Septural, Gatian Gauner. We of [Something I Can’t Read] await your reply.

It’s a worrying note to say the least, but I don’t know what to do about it. The invitation was ominous to say the least, and the only clue I have about where the damn thing comes from is the seal that was on it. It looked official other than the one that was on the note itself, but I don't have a way to interpret or identify it. I guess I’ll have someone look at the thing when I get to the next town, but… After breaking down and building myself back up last night I don’t know how far I’ll actually get. Without someone to watch my back, I had a funny feeling that I was going to get myself mixed up in something I wanted no part of. I shrugged off the feeling and started following my map, making sure my pistol was ready for action at a moment’s notice. Without further interruption I started on the path of promise, as in the one for Stellara Inova. I was glad to have a direction again, and I currently have a melody in my head… Now I just need my freedom anthem. I think I’ll call it ‘Lucine’s Ire’

Rest in peace, Teach. Luce. Old Bastard. It was a good ride… I’m…

I’m sorry I got you killed.