Chapter 73
Skull-less Faces
By the time Stephen and I followed the other two into the writing nook, they’d already made themselves quite comfy, sitting, amazingly, at the familiar table where we all used to sit. But it was the one unchanged aspect about the place.
Along the left wall, stretching from the entrance all the way to the back side of the room, was an enormous fish tank. We’re talking, there was no wall, only tank. Filled to the brim with all kinds of wonderful fish–fresh and saltwater kinds all mixed together. It was extremely expensive to mix types and for one so large… I couldn’t even imagine the price of it.
Oh, and did I mention it was glowing with a pale pink light?
I turned around, Stephen had been watching me, bemused, but when I faced him he blushed.
“You like it?” he asked.
“I do. But… why?”
“No reason.” I punched him on the shoulder and he laughed. “You want the truth? It was a reminder for me. Of you. And a promise to myself that, one day, I would find a way to make things up to you and you could see it.”
“You make it sound like I dumped you or something and it’s been like five years since we talked,” I said, laughing.
“That’s how it felt sometimes.” He rushed to correct himself. “Minus the dumping part. I know it was me that screwed up.”
I nodded, satisfied that he would admit that. “So you thought you could bribe me here with fish, huh?”
He scratched his cheek. “Maybe? I thought I could suggest you could bring Percy–who I’ve still never met, by the way.”
That shook me to my core. “What the hell? You’re right. Man, no wonder you dumped me, you never would have if you knew what kind of amazing goldfish I have.”
We both shared a laugh at that. It felt… good. Like we’d just stepped out of the battle royale and none of the other stuff happened.
Stephen’s mind seemed to go there too.
“I missed this. This is how it should have been after we won. I really fucked up, Darcy. Can you ever forgive me?”
He looked at me, then away, repeating every second. Like he was scared of my answer but at the same time just had to know, like his whole life depended on it.
I held out my hand for a fist bump. “I was always going to forgive you, dude. You’re my friend. But it might take a little while to earn that ‘best’ in front of the title.”
Stephen smiled, visibly relieved. “Totally fair. I’ll earn it back.”
He hit my fist and we sealed the deal. Darcy and Stephen, the dynamic duo, back again.
“I’m confused,” Netta called from the table, where she and Dowser were watching our every move. “Was it the fish man you went to reunite with or the red headed twink?”
I died laughing as Stephen recoiled at the description.
“Hey, show some respect,” Dowser said. “That’s the Struggler King.”
“You know about him?” I asked. Damn, how famous had he gotten, exactly?
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“Yeah! He’s the guy who rallied the Users in his match to take down one of the eldritch horrors. You’re a badass, man!”
To my surprise, Stephen wasn’t eating up the praise. He looked sick, and shook his head.
“All that… it was a lie. That I got trapped in and instead of just bailing, I’ve been forced to ride the wave.” He looked at me. “No, not forced. I chose it. The truth is, I couldn’t have done anything if it wasn’t for Darcy.”
I smiled, not believing he’d actually said it, after all this time.
Dowser cocked his head to the side. “What, really? Damn, Darcy, do you make it a mission to save the bacon of all your buds?”
I walked over to the table and sat down beside Netta, who was on my side of the table. Stephen squeezed in beside Dowser, his big arms hitting against him whenever he moved his arms while he spoke.
“It was a group effort. Every time,” I said.
And for the first time I was able to see Netta and Dowser's faces. Netta was pale, like possibly could be a vampire levels of pale. Her face was how I imagined, looked like chiseled perfect stone, a walking talking vampire doll. The one thing that stood out on her face were her eyebrows, big, dark, and bushy. On anyone else they might have look mannish, but, somehow just added to her mystique.
Dowser's face was weirdly plump. He had little folds of fat under his chin, like he was a kid that still has his baby fat and just happened to spend every waking moment in the gym. His eyes were weirdly tiny and as I looked closer at them I couldn't find a pupil. Just an all black little round dots, like Pooh Bear. A weird body mod, for sure. But it made him appear kind, nothing like the ferociousness of what his mask looked like when he had showed such anger when we first met. I looked forward to seeing his next rage moment, unmasked.
“How did you guys meet? You had a life or death situation? I think I heard something about a ghost…?” Stephen asked. “All that stuff the masked dude was saying… it’s real?”
All three of us nodded. “Very real,” we said in unison.
We proceeded to share the tales of how we all met each other. Both stories, as you know, were pretty wild and crazy. But, even though I’d known them the shortest, what Netta and Dowser and I have been through was pretty intense and traumatizing. Stephen and I had our fair share but there was more of a build up but none of it had been with the possiblity of real legit death.
Stephen listened, horrified, of all that happened underneath the skull city. On the other hand, Netta and Dowser spent most their time laughing at all of Stephen and I’s antics. Hopefully there were more laughs ahead, for all of us now.
… but that didn’t seem likely.
As the catch up reached its end, and we briefly shared the drama that had driven Stephen and I apart, the mood seemed to darken as all our minds naturally went to the one thing we hadn’t talked about yet: our mad escape out of the mansion.
And what was expected of me next.
Dowser was the first to break the silence. “You’ve been so set on saying everything you’ve done was a team thing. Why would you agree to this solo mission?”
Everyone looked at me, awaiting my answer.
I just shrugged. “I’m a dumbass, I guess. One who wants to save a friend. A chance, however slim, is better than just leaving Sam trapped there.”
No one laughed at my self deprecating statement. Man, things really were dark.
“But this still will be a team effort,” I said, sort of just bullshitting my way into being positive, but as I gathered momentum I realized that there was a way they could help. “You guys are all strong, in your own ways. Help me train, please. I don’t know how long we have but, I think if we all work together, make a battle plan… then, maybe…”
Stephen sat forward in his chair. “You know I’m in. Just tell me what you need and how I can help and I’ll do anything.”
Netta patted my leg. “I’m also in, love. I still owe you.”
“I agree,” Dowser said. “I made a blunder that could have killed us all, but you clutched it for us. I’m with you with anything you need.”
I know I’d been through this before, we united 99 people together after all. But this was different. Netta and Dowser had seen some shit with me, some real life ending shit–and they weren’t running the other way screaming. It touched me. So much that I got a little teary eyed, as they looked at me, awaiting my response.
“Aw, you’re so stinking cute,” Netta said and pulled me into a hug. Dowser reached over and pat me on the head.
Stephen wasn’t sure about jumping into the group hug so he just watched, smiling. “We aren’t strangers to needing to train up before a big event. We did it before Darce, we can do it again!”
Netta and Dowser cheered their agreements. Then, a earth shattering roar cut through the writing nook, almost making me fall out of the booth.
“The fuck was that!?” Stephen asked, jumping to his feet, his eyes a blur as he went through the room settings, trying to find out if someone had broken in.
Dowser and I flew up as well, I filled my hands with intention and Dowser took out his big ax.
All of us prepared for something to rush through the door, a giant beast to slam through the wall, or a fish that had mutated into Jaws and was gunning for our flesh.
But the source was even more surprising than that, as it came from our very own ranks…