A jolted awakening sent me upright. My body was whole, and I was wearing my same clothes, sitting alone in a small, dim room. I took some time, testing my lungs and foot, distancing myself from the emotions which wracked me. I needed to think straight. Emotion, it... gets in the way. I didn't want to think about it.

That never works.

I put my head in my hands.

Please. Shut up.

After one long exhale, I called for Aku.

"Doran," Aku soothingly replied. "You're free to leave the room at any time."

There was a door. It had slipped my mind.

"Right. Thank you, Aku."

"My pleasure."

After exiting, I came upon hundreds of people intermingling in a dining hall. An open ballroom filled with tables seated players from both sides of the game, eating a meal of reconciliation. Along two of the walls were rows of doors, on multiple levels, which undoubtedly had private rooms behind them, as the one I'd emerged from. This was to be where everyone went, after the game to cool down and eat a meal.

I didn't feel like eating. I should find Kendall, but I didn't want to do that either.

Weaving between tables, I made eye contact with a few people. There were so many tables, and people standing, that searching the crowd yielded nothing.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Suddenly a hand reached out to grab my arm. I pulled it away before I recognized the person at the table. It was the Seer.

"Hey," she said. "You want to join us?"

"No, thank you, though. I've got to get back to my... master."

"Heh, kinky."

"No, I mean, I'm a summon."

"Oh! That's... I don't know what to think about that," she said.

The bow girl was at the table. "I wouldn't have guessed it. What's your name?...Well, you were cool Doran. Nice meeting you, working with you."

"The same to you both."

After that, I passed Hasami, and we nodded in acknowledgment of each other. The Beaulieu siblings were nowhere to be found.

I spotted them. Ash, Odessa, Anna, and Kendall at the table. They didn't see me until I was close. I patted Anna on the back, she looked generally ill, I'd seen and sat down at the end of the table.

They reserved a spot. Aw.

"Hey guys," I greeted them.

"What happened?" Kendall asked. He was on edge.

"After the trap, I teamed up with a small group. Ash took out the guy who took you lot out, and things unfolded from there. I kind of led my little group on a surprise attack and things went... weirdly," I said. "...We killed them."

"All of them?" Odessa said.

"Kind of?"

"Wow." Anna gave me a thumbs up. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.

Something's different. Changed, visually?

"Things should be wrapping up then?" Kendall kept up his line of questioning.

"Yes. Christopher showed up to kill me, ironically. Gozo was massacring the remainder, and he got away, last I saw." I lowered my forehead down onto the table. I had a killer headache.

"Gozo-" Kendall started and stopped. I knew why. He suspects. "You did well. Everyone did. But, they'll announce the winner soon, and there's not a lot of question about who it's gonna be."

Ash was quiet, I noticed. I peaked to see him with his back against the table, looking contemplative. I wondered what he could be thinking about.

"I understand," I told Kendall. "But things will turn out alright."

"Porter told us not to come back," was Kendall's response. "You believe that?"

Yes. "Yes." No.

The conditions were fixed. So was the outcome. As it will always be.

No one spoke after that. I closed my eyes and let time pass by.