I ran to Pri, kneeling over her passed out form. She looked deathly pale in the moonlight that lit the alleyway. Her eyes were closed. I put the back of my hand to her forehead to check her temperature and withdrew it immediately. She was scalding hot. I initially thought it was a fever until I recalled that she’d set herself on fire just moments ago.

Duh-doi.

“HELP! What should I do? Is she okay? Do something you bastard!” I called out loud to the interface.

Hey there traveller! I cannot tell you what to do, but I can help explain any of the interactions you may wish to have here in Valinor. Is there something specific you’d like me to explain?

“Listen you smug piece of shit, Pri is dying here you’d better tell me how to fix it.” I could here my voice echoing off the stone walls of the alley. I knew in some part of the back of my mind that I should be keeping quiet, but I couldn’t help myself. I was angry. I was tired. Everything seemed to be collapsing around me.

There was a long pause before HELP responded. I swore at that moment that if HELP had a physical form I’d have strangled it to death. Lucky for both of us, it did not.

This NPC is currently not a part of your party, nor in combat with you. So you may not see their Status. You may, however, interact with them as you would in the normal world.

I shook my head angrily. I looked up from Pri’s prone form to see if there was any help to be had elsewhere. The alleyway was empty save for the bodies of the two thieves. Dark had set upon the streets of the city and the night’s chill was in the air. So there was nothing I could no about Pri beyond what I could deduce on my own. I cursed myself for not trying to invite her to a “party” before our encounter and I cursed HELP for being so cold and insensitive.

What kind of world, what kind of evil cruel simulation was this? I tried to hold back the anger of my thoughts and remain calm but found it difficult. I knew that this was a divine game, that there was a purpose beyond me. But everything here was beginning to seem just as arbitrary as things back on Earth. I wanted to run, run far away. But I could not. I was here. In this alleyway that stank of death, with a beautiful maiden… whom I could not save.

No. You can do this.

I blinked. The voice had come from within me. I couldn’t be certain if it was me, or someone else, something beyond.I felt a strength surge through me. Yes, I can do this. I will do this. I won’t let this stupid game beat me. And I won’t let it make me cruel. I looked over at the bodies and felt a wave of nausea creep over me. I gagged and raised a hand to my mouth. I did that. I had no time too reflect on it now. I forced those thoughts down.

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Now I had to think, how to save Pri?

Even if I couldn’t use my interface to see her Status, I could use my spells and items to interact with her or the world around us. That much had been shown to be true in our previous encounters. I opened my inventory to find that I had one item. That was right! In the last quest I had gained a Health Potion! But would it work?

It will be worth it even just to try.

I mentally selected the item and it appeared in my hands. It was a large glass bottle with a clear exterior showcasing the viscous red liquid inside. Its top had a large cork stopper. It was heavy. I was glad that my inventory seemed to exist in a non-spatial void of some kind. One good thing about the simulation. I unstoppered the potion and reached down.

How to get her to drink?

I tried whispering her name. Then yelling it. “Pri… PRI!” But she did not wake nor budge. I took a deep breath, grabbed her chin and squeezed her lips open. It felt crude and vulgar but it worked. As her mouth opened I poured in the liquid, a little at first… then as I noticed her swallowing I poured and poured until she had drank every last drop. Slowly her eyelids fluttered open and her bright blue eyes regarded me standing above her. She convulsed for a moment and I winced, startled. She brought her hands up to her mouth.

“Are you okay Pri!?”

Pri looked at me, her eyes wide, covering her mouth still… and then… she let out the loudest “BUUUUUUUUuuuuuURRRRP” I had ever heard. I stared in shock and awe for a moment, then burst into laughter. Relief washed over me in a pleasant wave.

“You are alive!” I leaned over to give her a hug and she swatted me away annoyed. “You! What is this vile liquid you assaulted me with? It tastes like Goblin farts.”

I chuckled, “Well someone has her spirit back.”

Pri smiled weakly, “Thank you Joseph.”

I nodded. Pri was surprising me more and more with every minute I spent with her. Far from the prim and proper maiden I had met in the woods, she was revealing herself to be a fighter, a warrior… and perhaps most surprisingly, a joker. What else might she show me in the days to come?

I felt a stabbing pain in my side and my gaze flickered down to see Pri’s slender finger poking me. “Ow! What did you do that for?”

“You didn’t hide the bodies? You realize we are about to be in big trouble if the guards find us?”

“I was a little busy saving you. And… well… would we really be in trouble? They attacked us! They started this!”

“And we finished it,” Pri said somberly. A silence settled over us both as we looked at the bloody results of the battle.

Was this the journey of a hero? Filled with darkness? I wasn’t sure I was ready for such a reality. Where death was around every corner.

“Help me up,” Pri said. A coldness in her voice. A tone that brooked no disagreement. “We will loot them, hide them and then find a place to lay low. Quickly”

As always with my Elf maiden, I did as bidden.

However dark the journey became, I was happy to have her. She brought light even here, in the dark of city streets. Where the cobblestones ran red with blood.