As the woods became increasingly cloaked in an inky blackness, the group found a spot just off the path and set up camp. Thanks to a casual snap of Zorrobar's fingers, a fire crackled to life in the middle of the clearing, sending up sparks like miniature fireworks. Each member of the group gravitated towards the edge of its warmth, wrapping themselves in the comfort of their cloaks and, in one case, around each other. Chrissy and Steffan eventually vanished a little further back, presumably engaging in the sort of extracurricular activities that Chrissy’s Skill set was rather well-suited for. Whatever they were doing, it likely involved more than just exchanging pleasantries and discussing the finer points of necromancy.
Lorelei had offered to stand guard for the night. She wasn’t entirely sure why—perhaps it was a nagging sense of responsibility, or perhaps it was because she knew sleep would elude her anyway. Her Guide had a way of keeping her mind buzzing with a mix of anxiety and existential dread and she might as well put that to good use. She sat cross-legged near the fire, idly poking at the flames with a stick, watching as they danced and flickered, casting shifting shadows around the camp.
The day had been long and filled with its share of surprises, not the least of which was Kris managing to contribute something useful to the fight. Granted, the usefulness had been somewhat accidental and somewhat desperate, but it was a start. Nevertheless, the Terrakin had been a relatively straightforward opponent, which only served to heighten Lorelei’s suspicions. The System was like a cat playing with a particularly slow mouse—it was only a matter of time before it decided to stop toying with them and go in for the kill. She sighed, letting the crackle of the fire fill the silence in her head, a silence that was more ominous than comforting.
Her thoughts drifted to her own value to the team. If she was honest with herself, she couldn’t blame her Guide for withholding her share of the Terrakin XP—she’d literally just stood there, watching the others fight while she kept a wary eye on her debuff. It was hard to feel like a hero when you were more concerned with avoiding adding friendly fire than actually participating in the battle. Lorelei summoned her stat sheet with a thought, her gaze flicking over the numbers and the grim reminder of the
Yeah, she wouldn’t risk casting anything until the timer ran down. At this point, she was more likely to turn herself into a toad than actually help anyone. She was a liability at the best of times, and with the debuff running, she was a walking disaster waiting to happen.
***Help Message***
Sigh. And you used to be such fun!
Lorelei rolled her eyes and dismissed the message with a flick of her wrist. Her Guide was like that one annoying friend who never knew when to stop poking fun, even when you were clearly in the mood for some serious brooding.
Pete, who had taken it upon himself to gather firewood to feed the blaze, settled down beside her with a grunt, his armour giving a loud clank as it hit the log. The sound was oddly comforting in its familiarity—Pete, despite his evident power, reminded Lorelei of her own grandfather, the kind of man who would insist on wearing his Sunday best to dig in the garden. Somehow, though, she couldn’t quite imagine Gramps Norton headbutting a troll.
Pete noticed her looking and raised an eyebrow, a gesture that managed to be both inquisitive and faintly amused. “Summat on yer mind, pet?”
Lorelei hesitated, then shrugged, trying to shake off her malaise. “Just thinking. You know, about the way things turned out. The integration seems to have had some fun with us, hasn’t it?”
“Aye,” Pete agreed, scratching the inside of his metal boot with a stick, sighing in pleasure as he did so. “It’s a right mess, this whole business. Ne’er thought I’d be spendin’ me golden years clankin’ about in metal and bashin’ giant tree monsters. Expected summat more like a quiet cottage, a garden, maybe a bit o’ fishin’ now an’ then.”
“Hardly seems fair, does it? You should be enjoying your retirement, not holding the line in a shitshow you didn’t ask for.”
Pete chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound that seemed to rise from the depths of his boots. “Aye, well, life’s not exactly famous for bein’ fair, is it? Not that it matters now. What’s done is done. Jus’ gotta roll with it, like.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few moments, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and the distant hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees. Lorelei had always found comfort in the quiet of the night, but tonight it felt different—more like the calm before a storm. She felt the weight of the past two days pressing down on her, a pressure that made her long for the days when her biggest concern was a missed deadline or an awkward office party.
“Can I ask you something, Pete?” Lorelei asked softly, needing to break up the quiet before it swallowed her whole.
***Help Message***
Fuck me, you’re getting maudlin. Where did the go-getter dropping chandeliers on the heads of Kobold Champions go? I might need to dial up the emotional dampening a touch.
Ignoring the message, Lorelei pressed on. “How did you end up out here, alone? After the integration, I mean.”
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Pete’s face grew thoughtful, the firelight casting deep shadows on his weathered features. He did not speak for a long moment, as if considering how much of his story he was willing to share. “Ah, well, that’s a story, lass."
The sound of giggling from the forest behind them caught his attention for a moment, but then he turned back to her. "But I’ll tell ye, seein’ as we’re all in this together now.” He shifted slightly, the metal of his armour creaking in protest as he did so. Lorelei suspected it wasn’t just the weight of the metal he was trying to redistribute.
“When it all wen' ta shit, I were at home, sittin’ in me armchair, havin’ a cuppa. It were just another day, normal as ye like. Then, bang—suddenly, everything’s upside doon. The wife... she were out shoppin’ . . ." He paused, his expression darkening as he stared into the fire. “I didn’t know what were goin’ on at first. All I knew were that I had to get out there to find her. But when I got there...” He trailed off, as if the flames held the answers to questions he didn’t want to ask. Lorelei waited, unsure of what to say, wishing she’d found a different way to prolong the conversation.
“There were nowt left,” Pete continued, his voice rough, as if each word were being dragged out of him. “Shops were gone, street were gone, all of it. Like it’d never been there at all. An’ there I were, standin’ in fuckin' armour, wi’ this bloody big shield on me arm, wonderin’ what the hell had happened. Tried to look for her, tried to find anyone who knew what were goin’ on, but it were chaos everywhere. People runnin’, fightin’, dyin’... Monsters.” He shook his head, his grip tightening on the stick he was holding as if it were the only thing tethering him to the present. “She were the only thing that kept me goin’, ye know? We were married fifty years. Fifty years! Then, in the blink of an eye, she were gone. And there were nowt I could do about it.”
Lorelei felt a lump form in her throat, and she had to swallow hard to push it down. “I’m so sorry, Pete,” she whispered, knowing that her words were inadequate but unable to find anything better to say.
Pete shrugged, though the motion seemed more an attempt to shake off the pain than a dismissal of her sympathy. “Aye, well. Life’s a bastard sometimes. I know she’d have given me a right bollockin’ for sittin’ around mopin’, so I jus’ kept on goin’. Tried to help where I could, protect who I could. But I ended up on me own, wandering through the streets, lookin’ for summat—dunno what—until I ran into this lot at the Botanical Gardens. And then you turned up!” He chuckled again, though there was little humour in it. “Funny thing is, this tank role... it’s not that different from how I were before all this. Spent me whole life lookin’ after other folks, makin’ sure they were safe, takin’ the hits so they didn’t have to. Union, ya get me? Guess this System saw that an’ thought I’d be a good fit.”
“Sounds like you’ve always been a bit of a hero, Pete.”
“Hero?” Pete shook his head. “Nah, love. Jus’ an old man tryin’ to do the right thing. Not much more to it than that.”
They sat in silence for a while, the fire crackling softly between them, the darkness of the woods pressing in around them like an uninvited guest at a party. Lorelei could feel the weight of Pete’s loss settling over her. The thought of him wandering the streets of Birmingham alone, searching for someone he could never find, made her heart ache in a way she hadn’t expected.
“You know,” Lorelei said quietly, her voice barely rising above the crackle of the fire, “I must have lost my parents when the integration happened. I was coming home from work. But I didn't even go looking for them. I don't know what happened to them.”
Pete looked at her, his eyes softening with a deep, almost paternal understanding. “Lots goin’ on, lass. But not knowin’ leaves a hole that nowt can fill.”
Lorelei nodded, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to let them fall. It was easier to push it all down, to focus on the task at hand, than to let herself dwell on what might have been. She had always prided herself on being tough, on keeping it together when things got difficult, but lately, that tough exterior felt more like brittle glass than steel. “I keep telling myself they’re gone. It’s easier that way. But part of me still hopes...”
***Help Message***
Fucking hell, butternut squash. Did you forget to take your happy pills this morning? Where's all this coming from?
Lorelei ignored the snarky message, her attention fully on Pete, who was watching her with quiet patience. “Of course it does,” he said gently, his voice as steady as a rock. “That’s what keeps us goin’, isn’t it? That hope. Even when it’s daft, even when it hurts. It’s what makes us human. This fucking System can’t take this from us, pet.”
Lorelei swallowed hard, nodding again. She hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about her parents since the integration. It was easier to focus on the fighting, on survival, on the next quest the System threw at her. But now, sitting here with Pete, she couldn’t push it down anymore. The grief, the uncertainty, the fear—it all bubbled up to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her. This kind of emotional turmoil wasn’t something she could hope her luck would let her dodge.
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackle of the fire. “It’s just... too much.”
Pete reached over and placed a hand on her knee, his grip firm and reassuring. “Ye can, Lorelei. Ye’re stronger than ye think. An’ ye’re not alone, not anymore. We’re all in this together, aye?”
Lorelei looked at him, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, the strength that had carried him through so much loss. She managed a small smile, though it wavered at the edges. “Yeah. Together.”
They sat there for a while longer, the silence between them no longer heavy, but rather a shared moment of understanding. Pete eventually stood, stretching with a groan as his joints creaked in protest. “I’ll take first watch. Ye get some rest, lass. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Lorelei nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She watched as Pete moved to the edge of the clearing. He was an old man in a young man’s role, a protector in a world that had taken everything from him. But he kept going, kept standing between the dangers of this new world and those who couldn’t protect themselves.
She lay down on her bedroll, pulling her cloak around her for warmth. As she closed her eyes, she thought of her mum and dad, of the life they’d had before all of this. She remembered her dad’s laugh, her mum’s hugs, the way their house had always smelled of fresh bread and flowers from the garden. The memories were a comfort, but they also made the emptiness in her chest ache even more. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about them in so long, and now that she had, it was like opening a wound that had never truly healed.
***System Note***
Houston. We may have a problem