The family meeting lasted for a while longer, nearly an hour all told, talking about my parents’ plan to start a patisserie and checking on what, if any, short-, medium-, and long-term plans we teens had.
I was half-convinced that my father’s character, Blanchefleur, was likely to be the first member of the church, once I got it established. After all, as a dryad, she was basically a nature spirit and practically in the domain of Sirae already. But that was an issue for another time.
“Susie says, sorry, I mean Ette says that the group can get together tomorrow and that, yes, Ace is most definitely welcome to join us,” Jazmyn relayed, once Blanchefleur and Sage had ended the meeting and started in on their own plans. “She’s found a way to get started on mining, and wants my help, of all people. Noa and Mikachu are doing some town quests, so we’re kind of split apart for the day. Will you two be alright on your own together?”
“Mining sounds boring,” Ace said. “You can go help with that if you want.”
I just shrugged. “Unless Ace wants to challenge a Matriarch, and I know better now, I can keep them alive through any low-level fights. But I think we can look for a library first.” I fluttered down closer to my little sister’s character and faced them. “That was your big goal, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be today, but we can do something, yes,” Ace said, and waved Jazmyn off. “Go on, go on, I can keep the little fairy out of trouble.”
“Hey! That’s my line,” I said, but both my sisters just laughed, and Jazmyn headed off down the street. Then, Ace and I were alone.
“Thanks, Rie.”
“Hmm? For what?” I asked.
“For … well, for using the right pronoun,” Ace said.
“Oh. Well, you didn’t say anything so I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but between that name -- you’re not an archer -- and the way you reacted to being called ‘Mademoiselle,’ I could put two and two together. I think I got five, though, since neither Ace nor Arrow necessitate Enby. I don’t think Mom and Dad know the slang, though.”
Ace just shrugged. “It’s probably a bad name. I didn’t think about meeting family in the game when I chose it. I don’t want to cause a problem with Mom and Dad.”
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
I didn’t quite know what to say, but I tried anyway. “Well, to be honest, I didn’t think we’d be meeting them, either, and I was a little worried about how they’d react to my character when they saw what the Path of Fate got me, but … I also wasn’t expecting that they’d choose to do what I got by random.” I shrugged. “And, you see, they didn’t seem to have any problems with it.”
“We’ll see at breakfast tomorrow,” Ace predicted.
“Perhaps. So, Ace, I should ask. Would you prefer me to use the same pronouns at breakfast tomorrow? This seems a choice a bit deeper than just a roleplay preference.”
Ace nodded and surreptitiously wiped their eyes. Well, it would have been much more successful as a covert maneuver if we hadn’t been talking basically face-to-face. “Thank you. Yes. If you weren’t so tiny, I’d hug you. But I’d be afraid to hurt your wings, too.”
The only proper response to that was for me to hug them. Well, as best as a doll-sized fairy can hug a taller-than-average unicorn-elf whatever-race-Ace-was. Which was basically my arms around one of their shoulders.
* * *
“So, just what is your race, then? Also, you said at breakfast that the guide helped you get a good race and class?” I asked.
The first was just nice-to-know information. The second, well, that had been bothering me a little all day. Just how many people had Fate tipped the balance for? And why? This was the sort of thing that, in the stories, led to a “chosen one, destined to overthrow the evil regime and bring peace to the land” epic questline that had nothing to do with developer- or AI-generated quests. It was the plot of amateur books and B-grade movies, and nothing I wanted any part of … and even less wanted my family involved in.
“Let me look.” Ace paused a moment, presumably viewing their character sheet. “I’m an Amalthean. It’s a Legendary race. And I have a quest to find out more about my race.”
I arched an eyebrow and asked, “Really?”
Ace nodded. “It’s related to the guide, I guess. She told me she could guarantee me a character I liked, but I couldn’t back out and would have to have a quest to do if I accepted.”
The other eyebrow went up. “This guide, was she a cheery, androgynous young girl, by any chance? Floating around in the mists and asking you to step off the path for your race? Went by ‘Desi’?”
Ace’s eyes got wide. “You met her, too?”
I wonder how many people did. Mika and Susie both took the Path of Fate, but neither spoke of a guide offering them a deal, though Desi had said that the guides were offering a guaranteed USR to the first ten people, so presumably both Mika and Susie had met Desi, or someone like her. I’d have to ask … later.
“Yes,” I said and recounted the story of my character creation, being offered a guaranteed random USR and then the offer to tip the scales of fate to guarantee a healer class in exchange for the geases.