Asteria.

A named character who was perhaps the third most important character in the entire novel. I knew Asteria's backstory, character arc, what she fought for, who she fell for, how she lived, and why she died. Her dyed ruby hair was representative of her warmth and desire to protect. She had the appearance of a valkyrie who'd smite her enemies while delivering her wards to heaven. Her mission never changed. Only her resolve. Running and leaving everyone behind on the surface would be the seed of self-destruction that ate at her until she withered into nothing.

Meeting Mctavish and saving fellow contestants was the only way for her to shine. Faults came with it, but it was inevitable. If Asteria didn't join Callum McTavish... We would all die.

But she was here. She was sitting in a tent with a minor villain.

"Staring is rude, you know."

I sighed heavily through my nose and let my head lean back into my makeshift pillow.

Of all the routes to take.

Asteria was now irrevocably connected to Zeke, a ruffian destined to die at the hands of the main character. While Zeke and Asteria's connection couldn't be erased, it could still be changed or broken.

It would be so much easier just to come out and tell her.

But Zeke needs to die.

"Are you feeling okay? It's only been 4 hours; I can ask Mei to come back?"

Fuck. I have to do this, don't I?

"I'm fine."

Steeling my resolve, I pulled myself up and leaned against the cave wall. We were alone except for Alice, who still slumbered peacefully.

"You look like you want to say something."

Asteria bowed her head. It seemed she'd been holding back a lot.

"I want to thank you. The others don't seem to realize what you've done, but I do. I heard how you saved them from the dwarves. It might have looked bad, but you still did it. And again, with the Celestial Parasite. How many points did you get, if you don't mind me asking?"

I checked my logs.

"4000."

"Really? It should be more, considering you did more than I did. What about a free perk?"

"Nope."

"I see."

She was quiet for a moment, seeming to wrestle with what to say next.

"I couldn't hide the fact that I wasn't the person you were searching for. Valorie, the girl wearing the unicorn onesie, saw her hide in that crevice. I assumed you wanted to hide the reason, so I let them infer how she died rather than tell them."

Her hazel eyes stared at me with an emotion I didn't like.

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"I overheard what you said."

Did she? That explains a lot. Not good.

"Can I ask who she was to you? You obviously cared for her."

"Not really. We just had sex."

I startled her. She didn't seem to expect me to be so blunt. Good.

"Oh. I mean. I didn't need to know that, but I think I understand."

She didn't; she was being nice. It felt odd to sit in front of a character I bled to create. I would have given anything back in my world to have this moment with her. Except, now that it was happening, I had to crush it.

"That's what my curiosity gets me. I won't pry any further-"

"It's not something I'm ashamed of. I gave her what she wanted. Man, I only met her the once, but I've never seen a bitch in heat like that before. She was all over me."

She seemed to be listening, albeit awkwardly and uncomfortably.

"Yeah... Killing her was supposed to be easy."

The temperature definitely changed after that.

"The points were less than I thought. I got 10 for killing the first guy, but only 14 for killing her. Seems like we get points, but maybe only half of what they have. Still, I didn't expect her to steal my liquor. Poisoning it turned out to be the right move."

Asteria was no longer looking at me with those bright eyes. I could see the war flickering in them. Before she saw through me, I switched topics and let that seed settle.

"But you said you were here to thank me?"

"Um, Yes? I mean. How'd you know blood would slow the Parasite?"

"Lucky coincidence. I figured I'd have enough time to get away while it was chewing on you."

"Why are you saying such things?"

"I'm joking. I'm joking! Anyway. What about my crystal?"

Her mind seemed to linger on the previous topic as she hesitantly pulled the Chaos Crystal out of her pocket. She did look somewhat abashed.

"I was holding on to it so it wouldn't be stolen. I've been trying to figure out what it does."

"Maybe it can be used to kill that thing?"

"No way. It can't be that easy."

"Yeah. Maybe. Whatever. I nearly died for it. So it should at least be that good."

She looked at the shimmering decahedron in her palm. The inside shone with black, white, and grey smoke. Images seemed to appear inside it before morphing into different ones.

I didn't lie. I was going to use it to take my *redacted* sponsor down a peg, but it could also be used to kill the Celestial Parasite in the right conditions. Asteria didn't believe it entirely, but the mention of a chance to kill that thing would be enough to keep her interest.

It was the perfect bait.

"Keep it."

"I couldn't."

She didn't look up, seemingly wanting to hold onto it more than I thought. When she did look up and saw that I was serious about giving it to her, she smiled. It was unavoidably infectious.

"Wow. Okay. I don't know what to say. I feel like my debt is growing."

"No need for a debt. You can pay me back right now."

Asteria scrutinized me, her chin tilting ever so slightly. Her flawless skin shone as if moisturized by cherubs. Her saturated hair fell neatly across her shoulder, recently dried and naturally glowing.

"I could use another go."

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, that other chick was decent, but her body was kind of flabby. Not like you. Your curves are in all the right places. If I wasn't injured, I'd pin you down right now."

"Hah. Okay."

"Oh, come on. I'm sure you know your way around."

"Alice is right there. Are you insane? Have you lost your mind?"

"That's your problem? Look, she's asleep. She won't hear us. If she wakes up, she can join us."

"..."

"The least you could do is show me your tits. I did save your life after-"

*SMACK*

My cheek burned, but somehow I felt my ears burn hotter. The stinging pain remained, and I didn't bother turning my head to watch Asteria storm out of the tent.

She took the Chaos Crystal.

I could hear her stomping and a small commotion outside. I let it all fade away. I got what I wanted. The connection between Zeke and Asteria was firmly broken, and all forms of debt were absolved.

I curled up, sliding down the wall. My eyes felt heavy even though I had recently slept.

Scrolling through my notifications, I returned to when I was tearing apart the dwarves.

[You've slain a dwarf. 18 points]

[You've slain a dwarf. 22 points]

[You've slain a dwarf. 20 points]

[You've slain a dwarf. 18 points]

[You've eliminated contestant Megan. 14 points.]

[You do not assume the appearance of a weaker contestant.]

...

The line hovered in front of my eyes accusingly.

"I'm sorry, Megan."

=

Alice remained still.

Absolutely. Completely. Utterly... still.