West Osiris
8:15 P.M.
Rachel sat in a hotel lobby with Elias, Volta, Cadmium, and three other Revenants who she had recently met. She had been trying to maintain her composure over the past few hours, but it had been difficult. The group had spent some time talking about the dead, and it angered Rachel that no one had said much of anything about Enzo. Tears were shed over Dendrite, but it seemed that no one shared the same kind of emotional connection with Enzo. Rachel understood that Elias, Volta, and Cadmium had known Dendrite outside of the game, but it seemed callous when they spoke positively of Dendrite and not Enzo. She considered speaking positively of Enzo during the conversation outside of the restaurant, but she would feel foolish giving a eulogy of a man she had just met a few hours previously. Rachel wondered if they would have been so flippant if she had died.
The hotel’s lobby was lit by dim, flickering gas lights. Electric lights were built into the ceiling, but none of them were on. Instead, the light in the lobby was provided by a dozen metallic devices hanging from the ceiling or placed atop a table. As a result, it was much darker than a normal hotel lobby. Much of the furniture in the lobby was antiquated from the perspective of the Revenants. Velvet and lace festooned the various couches and sofas that decorated the lobby. The sense of ambience in the lobby was undeniable. For a moment after entering the lobby, Rachel felt as if she had been transported to the 1920s.
Rachel and Volta were sitting on a long sofa off to one side of the lobby, and Cadmium was laying down on a nearby sofa with the stump of his missing leg propped up on an armrest. Elias was standing with his back against a nearby wall. His arms were crossed, and an eyepatch now covered the socket of his recently destroyed eye.
One of the women who Cadmium had met in the bunker - Eska was her name - approached the area where Rachel, Cadmium, and Volta were sitting. “Kuro convinced the manager to rent us the sixth floor for a thousand Ren a night,” Eska said. “I’m pretty sure that means we have twelve rooms.”
“Must be hard to negotiate when you can’t read the local language,” Cadmium laughed. He had laid his head on a pile of three throw-pillows. “My compliments to Kuro.”
Soon after, the remaining two Revenants returned to Rachel’s group. Kuro and Glitter sat down heavily on a velvet sofa.
“How goes the negotiations?” Eska asked.
“Perfectly fine, everything’s cool,” Kuro said with an easy smile. “The manager said he needs to talk to the hotel’s legal team. He said he doesn’t know if an ‘indecipherable’ signature is legally binding.”
“You know,” Cadmium began, “either we’re going to have to learn their alphabet, or they’re going to have to learn ours.”
“We’ll see,” Volta said. “By the way, Kuro? Did the manager tell you what the hotel’s name is?”
“Oh, yeah!” Kuro said. “He said this is the Hotel Acheron.”
“Cool name,” Volta said, “sounds Greek.”
Cadmium sat up straight from his prone position. He had an expression like he wanted to say something but could not find the words. After a long moment of silence, Cadmium opened his mouth and spoke.
“So… I don’t really know how to put this, so I’m just gonna say it,” Cadmium said. “You guys don’t need to keep fighting. Melkior and Dendrite are already dead, and it’s only been a single day. Redgrave played Ninth Oasis professionally, and he very nearly died. I don’t want to be the first guy to recommend we run away, but you’re not obligated to give your life to protect some people you don’t know. These guys,” Cadmium gestured to Kuro, Eska, and Glitter, “have a plan to succeed in Osiris without having to risk their lives. Leave the fighting to the psychopaths like Tantalus and Ashcroft.”
Elias laughed as Cadmium finished. Cadmium’s expression turned to one of confusion as Elias began to speak, “Psychopath? You’ve got that right. Tantalus, Ashcroft, all the S-ranks: they’re all crazy. When I saw Tantalus fight, one thing was clear: he was enjoying himself. It was like… a work of art. Seeing Tantalus fight made me want to reach that level of skill. Believe me, I can’t stand the guy, but I have to admit that he’s a great fighter."
“Ultimately,” Elias continued, “that’s why I’m going to keep fighting. I know it’s not a satisfying answer, Cad. I’ve always been selfish. You mentioned that Tantaus and Ashcroft are psychopaths. To tell you the truth, I am the same as them. I enjoyed the feeling of popping a Goblin’s head like a grape; I enjoyed the feeling of stabbing an Orc to death; Hell, I even enjoyed the feeling of catharsis I felt after healing the damage to my eye. I enjoy combat, and I want to get really good at it.”
Once Elias finished speaking, everyone looked at him for a long moment. A look of concern passed over all of their faces. Kuro quietly muttered, “Intense, man,” to himself.
Rachel began to speak, though her beginning was much less intense than Elias’s. “I agree with Elias, though for a different reason. Somebody needs to defend the Gates, so it might as well be me. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with not fighting. I totally understand if you don’t want to fight. There’s plenty of good you can do without pulling a trigger.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Okay,” Cadmium sighed, “I understand that you two have your own reasons for fighting. But…” Cadmium paused, “certainly you don’t need to be on the front line, Volta. When you described the fighting at the West Gate, you said you were terrified the whole time.”
Volta did not speak for a long time. Eventually, she opened her mouth and said, “In my old life, I was terrified of everything. I don’t want to feel that way anymore. I want to learn how to fight, so I don’t have to feel afraid. Also, I need to get revenge for Dendrite. The Deluvians, GM, those NPCs in the military who forced us on the front line; they’ll all pay.”
“Well,” Cadmium smiled sadly, “I’m glad all of you guys are committed to what you’re doing. Far be it from me to tell you what to do. All I can do is support you guys from the back… way back preferably.”
Everyone except for Rachel laughed at Cadmium’s joke. The heavy atmosphere caused by Elias’s and Volta’s intense answers was quickly dispelled. Kuro began to speak. “But seriously… if you guys need any logistical help, give us a call. As soon as we figure out how to form a corporation, we’re gonna call ourselves Prometheus, Inc. And you guys should tell Tantalus about us next time you see him. We plan to sell and transport goods within the City.”
Elias looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by Volta subtly kicking him in the shin. “I’m sure Tantalus will be glad to get all the logistical help you can give. Once an economy gets going, we’ll figure out how to compensate you.”
Soon after, the hotel manager returned to the lobby with a man in a business suit. The manager shook hands with Kuro, money was exchanged, and the Revenants began to head for the sixth floor. Kuro informed the rest of them that the sixth floor had twelve rooms. He also said that he would cover the first day, and the payment for the hotel floor would rotate every day. The next day, Cadmium would pay to rent the sixth floor. With the money given to the seven of them, they would be able to afford rent for up to seventy days.
“Hopefully, a new opportunity will present itself before then,” Kuro said to the other Revenants.
Rachel took room 612 and retired for the night. The room had two nicely made twin beds and a balcony that looked out at the city streets below. There was a comfy velvet couch near the slidable glass door to the balcony. A medium-sized flatscreen TV was placed on a table where those on the bed or couch could see it. An open door to Rachel’s right led to a bathroom. In that brief moment of calm, Rachel decided to check her Menu.
Character Sheet
Name Concerto622 Level 4 Blood Points 100/100 Magic Points 27/27 Race Revenant Fortitude 10 Strength 8 Agility 9 Wisdom 12
Walking into the door and locking the door behind her, Rachel placed her satchel on the nearest bed and walked into the bedroom. She looked into the mirror, and for the first time, she saw her reflection. Rachel was struck by a surreal feeling as the face in the mirror was not her own, it was Concerto’s. The face in the mirror was an uncanny approximation of her own. During character creation, Rachel made the model look like herself, but with some of the imperfections sanded off. Many of the things Rachel was insecure about had been removed. Rachel was suddenly filled with fear and revulsion. She had to stifle a scream as soon as she saw the too-perfect homunculus in the mirror.
Getting herself under control, Rachel forced herself to look around the bathroom. Various bottles covered the sink, and a shelf in the shower contained a few bottles of shampoo. There was a toilet in the corner with a lot of indecipherable buttons.
Rachel leaned her rifle against the wall and placed her pistol on top of the sink countertop. She removed her belt, which was heavy with magazines for her pistol and clips for her rifle. She removed her clothes until she stood there in only her underwear. Rachel noticed that her body was in relatively good shape but was not particularly athletic. Most notable, however, was the large bloodstain on her chest where she had been hit by a Goblin’s bullet. Half of her white bra had been dyed red with blood. Thinking back to the defense of the West Gate, Rachel was filled with a strange feeling of pride. She had been dropped in a difficult situation, and she had done well. Rachel had risked her life and lived to tell the tale, unlike many others.
Rachel’s thoughts turned to Enzo. He had tried to help people, and he died for it. What would have happened to Elias, Volta, and Cadmium if not for him? Would Tantalus have reached them in time if not for Enzo’s earlier intervention? He was a good man. Looking in the mirror, Rachel began to cry. Thinking about Enzo’s death, the callousness of the Revenants he saved, and the cruelty of the world she had been trapped in, Rachel wept. She felt stupid and cheap crying over a man she had just met, but the tears came all the same.
Just then, a quick three-beat knock came from the door of Room 612. A man’s voice said, “Oy, Rachel.” The voice belonged to Elias. “Pixie, Volta, Redgrave, and me were thinking of hittin’ the town. You want in?”
Quickly wiping her tears and trying her hardest to keep the tremor out of her voice, Rachel said, “Sorry. I’m just… really tired. Long day, you know?”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Elias. Based on his tone of voice, it was clear that Elias could tell that Rachel had been crying. “See ya tomorrow.”
Rachel could hear Elias’s footsteps as he walked away. She grabbed her face, and she tried to wrestle back control of her emotions. Rachel got in the shower and let the soothing water wash the blood and sweat off her body.
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A few minutes later, Rachel walked back into her room wearing only the white bathrobe that had come with the room. She fell into bed, feeling clean for the first time in a few hours. Suddenly, an intense feeling of lethargy washed over Rachel. All of the day’s stress caught up to her at once. Looking up at the ceiling, with the light still on and the bathroom door still open, Rachel closed her eyes and fell asleep.