It was early evening, and Evelyn was braiding Moonsparkle’s hair. Her ten-year-old self would be freaking out. Her almost sixteen-year-old self was still freaking out. It was a tradition now. Go to therapy in the evening, go for a quick run to find Clarissa and Moonsparkle, then have another chat with them.

“Moonsparkle won’t let me talk about her with the others, will she?” Evelyn took the golden mane in her hand reverently and started another braid.

“No. She likes her privacy. Especially from men,” Clarissa said. Moonsparkle turned her head, seeing the cut on Evelyn’s leg before resting her mane on it.

“Does… she know she can’t heal my leg? We can’t have the two worlds mixing,” Evelyn said.

Clarissa glanced up from brushing Moonsparkle. The unicorn blew out some air, and Clarissa smiled, shaking her head. “She says ‘too late.’”

Evelyn frowned, then pulled out her leg, seeing it perfectly healed. She winced. “Well, at least it wasn’t too deep.”

Clarissa smiled, then went back to brushing Moonsparkle with a body brush she made herself. Evelyn went back to braiding. “Do you…” Evelyn started before the idea formed in her mind. Getting it into words was hard. Evelyn sighed in defeat, focusing on Moonsparkle’s mane.

“What is it, Evelyn?” Clarissa asked.

She shook her head. “Am I… broken? Because I don’t…” Clarissa raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. “Because I don’t want to date anyone right now?”

Clarissa seemed to take this in. “Do you want to date anyone?”

“I mean…” Evelyn shrugged. “It’d be nice. But when I think of actually applying the advice, there’s not any guy here I want to date.”

Clarissa kept brushing Moonsparkle’s fur, a slight smile on her face. “You’re asking me this? Someone who’s spent a century in her parents’ home before ever leaving?”

Evelyn smiled, grabbing the three braids she made and braided those. “And yet you’re married now.”

“I am. Because Ezekiel is….” She trailed off, though her smile grew.

“See? That.” Evelyn gestured at Clarissa’s smile. “That concept, where you’re ridiculously happy with a guy? I wouldn’t mind that. I’d love that, actually.” Her gaze went back to her triple braid. “But I… don’t know if it could happen to me.”

Clarissa kept her smile. “You are not yet sixteen years old. And in a high school full of teenagers simply figuring themselves out as they go through crazy changes in their lives.”

“But shouldn’t I at least give men a chance? Isn’t the normal thing to experiment? Isn’t it weird that I’ve… never had a boyfriend?” Evelyn didn’t know why she was saying this. Part of her knew, deep down, this was her insecurities talking. “It’s like…” The finished braid dropped from her hand before she took her own hair out of its ponytail. “I see everyone else pairing up. Rafael and Hazel. Nick and Alejandra for a bit. Tyler going on dates. Even Derek and Emma, though that was rather… odd.” Moonsparkle snorted. Evelyn let herself smile. “I see it all, and I’m… content. Content not to do it. Even though I wouldn’t mind if it happened, but…” Evelyn sighed. “But there’s all this pressure, almost. To go on dates. To have a boyfriend or girlfriend. And… I want it, but…”

“Evelyn,” Clarissa said. She glanced at her druid princess, who was listening with a smile on her face. “You strike me as someone who knows what she wants in a relationship.”

Evelyn bit her lip as her fingers traced through the golden mane. “Do I? Or am I just… broken? Because of what happened?”

Clarissa shook her head. “You’re not broken.” It surprised her how certain her druid sounded.

“Aren’t I?” There was warmth settling in her eyes. The kind she knew would turn into tears.

Clarissa shook her head again. “No. You placed standards in what you want, and at the moment, no one is meeting them. You keep showing grace to those around you, but will not settle for those who don’t meet them. You have too much respect for yourself and the other person to know it’s better to be single. Single, rather than miserable in a relationship neither one of you wants.” Clarissa glanced up at her. “Don’t you agree?”

Evelyn had both eyebrows raised. “Yeah. You’re totally right.”

Clarissa nodded. “What I just described is not someone who’s broken. I described… me.”

Evelyn smiled. “A princess.”

“Correct.” Clarissa’s fingers brushed over her tiara. Moonsparkle nickered, nudging Evelyn with her nose. She smiled, placing her arms around the unicorn, resting her head against her neck.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“So, what qualities are you looking for? What standard have you created?” Clarissa asked.

Evelyn sighed, going with the basics that always felt right. “Someone kind. Mature. Loves kids and animals. Will treat me with respect and love. Wouldn’t mind him looking hot.”

“Man, then?” Clarissa asked.

“Yeah, man.” Evelyn ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve never had a stronger recognition of my straightness than when Ezekiel walked into the kitchen shirtless.”

Clarissa laughed, returning to brushing Moonsparkle. “Ezekiel is…” Her smile twitched in a more devious way before her eyes closed.

“He meets your standards?” Evelyn couldn’t help but ask.

Clarissa let out her breath. “Often surpasses them.”

Evelyn couldn’t help it and laughed. Something in her changed. It was like she had bricked off something inside her. Keeping thoughts and insecurities trapped inside. She thought she was broken. That something was wrong with her. But as she laughed at the rare times Clarissa had a blushing face, that laughter broke down the wall in her mind. The insecurities of feeling like she was incomplete, that something was wrong with her, flew away into the night and didn’t come back.

***

Alejandra was half asleep when she heard something. Then heard it again. When the dregs of sleep dissolved enough, she realized it was her phone. She yawned, then reached for it, unplugging it. She placed her glasses on her nose and saw it was from Hazel.

“Morning?” Alejandra said.

“Alejandra?” Distinct panic in Hazel’s voice made the rest of the sleepiness disappear.

“Hey, what’s up?” Alejandra asked, her voice still exhausted, even though she tried to wake up the rest of the way.

“I’ve crashed!” she said, sounding panicked. “There’s some sort of creature on top of my car, trying to get in. Someone’s going to call the police to help, but I… I don’t want to get out of the car! I’ve tried calling Rafael, but he isn’t answering! He’s usually working out, and he doesn’t have his phone with him.”

Alejandra threw the covers off her bed. She understood, on a personal level, the desire to stay in a car when a creature is escaping. “Do you have any idea what kind of creature?”

“I… don’t. I’m sorry, I don’t. Its skin is grey. At first, I thought it was a zombie, but it’s way too fast for one. Unless CCNC has fast zombies.”

“No, they don’t. Keep trying Rafael. Maybe he’ll hear it. Is there just one creature? Is your AC working?”

“Yes, just one. And yes, my air is still running.”

“Good. Don’t get out of the car. Lock yourself in if you have to. Text me and Rafael where you are. I’ll make sure the others know. We’ll get there as fast as we can.” They said their quick goodbyes before she started texting the group chat, making sure it was the one without Nick in it.

Hazel’s in trouble. Some creature is trying to attack her. More information soon. She can’t contact Rafael. Everyone blow up his phone.

Alejandra sent that, then threw on some clothes. This was such an odd start to a Friday, but Hazel was in trouble. And if the mythical creatures of the Shrouded Domain were interacting with the real world, Hazel needed to stay in the car. She didn’t have a half-orc fighter to protect her.

***

Nick woke up with a sense of drudgery, yet antsy. He felt like he was going insane, knowing so many things were happening with Derek and Milo, and yet feeling helpless. He grabbed his bowl of cereal, not even bothering to sit down to eat it. Walt was out of the door without a suggestion about how Nick could be better, so the day started out nice.

Evelyn walked out of the bathroom, shoving her phone into Nick’s hand. Nick placed his bowl to one side before looking at the messages as she finished her final… whatever thing she sprayed on her face. He made sure she wasn’t anywhere near his cereal bowl before reading the messages. Nick frowned, his stomach dropping the more he read. Some sort of creature, trying to attack Hazel. Police were coming. Police here. Hazel locking every door and ignoring the police. No one could get a hold of Rafael.

The last bit was two pictures, one of the street signs where Hazel was, not too far from the school. The other was the creature trying to break into her car with the police oblivious to the grey creature beside them.

That’s a low-level ghoul, Derek texted.

Tyler and Derek took turns giving information about the ghoul, how it was like a zombie, but quicker, more intelligent. Capable of paralyzing creatures.

I’m going after her. It was from Alejandra, the last text in the group, and Nick’s stomach dropped.

“Like hell she is.” Nick pushed the phone back to Evelyn.

“Nick?”

“We’re practically ready to go, right?” Nick asked.

Evelyn glanced at her phone, frowning. “We’re nowhere near South Gentry Street. Alejandra really is closer. Especially for such a low-level creature.”

“I don’t care.” Nick opened the back door. “Grizzizzik, we—”

Nick stopped short, taking in the sight of Grizzizzik. His rogue was sitting in a chair, reading. But not just any book. It was the player’s handbook for Choice, Chance, and Consequence. Nick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as Grizzizzik shut the book, meeting his gaze, daring him to comment on it.

Nick dared. “What are you doing?”

“Reading.”

“But…” Nick trailed off, raising a finger. “That’s…” Again, Grizzizzik remained silent, waiting for Nick to be done. If this wasn’t such a dire case, he would have remained on this. Instead, he pointed at Grizzizzik. “Be ready for anything. There’s a ghoul trying to attack an innocent girl right now, and I might need to portal you.”

“Okay,” Grizzizzik said as though Nick commented about the weather. Nick waited for him to say anything else, but he kept that book in his hand, waiting. Nick furrowed his brow, then backed away, closing the door. Grizzizzik returned to the book, and Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about this.

“Oh, hey Ezekiel,” Evelyn said, sounding surprised.

Nick turned to see Ezekiel hiding in a corner. No, not hiding. He had a huge blanket over his entire body with plenty of blanket for the hood. His face was in shadow, and he was curled as small as possible, reading a book. The cleric glanced up, exhausted. “Oh, hello.”

Evelyn and Nick exchanged glances before she took a step forward. “Hey, so you know, if we get in contact with Rafael, you might be teleported to fight a ghoul.”

The bags under Ezekiel’s eyes were heavy, but his smile reminded them of who he always was. “Right. I’ll be ready.”

Once again, Nick and Evelyn exchanged glances. Nick tore his gaze to look at Grizzizzik out the back window, who was reading the player’s handbook. He was stuck in this plane of not sure what he should think about either of these scenarios, but he knew Hazel needed to be saved.