Countless people filled the market of Lifehome, even right after dinner. They clustered around buildings, a dozen of them in the cavern with several built up right against the cave wall. Bright white lights illuminated all of it, and signs offered services that ranged from the mundane - computer building and repair - to exotic options such as magical reagents. The various people of Lifehome swarmed each of them, but Karah guided them through toward the squat building with a sign over the top that read: ‘Exchange’.
The building’s heavy garage-style door creaked open to reveal a warehouse, albeit smaller in scale. Perhaps akin to one of those storage places she sometimes saw on the side of the road. Dozens of lockers and trunks filled almost the entire building, each with labels upon them; many were too far to read, but she could see titles of various crafting materials from the other side of the counter. A sharp smell filled it, akin to garlic mixed with other cooking spices. The bench they sat on was plastic, as hard and unyielding as concrete..
They weren't the only ones inside, either. The proprietor, a large man whose frizzly hair had gone past gray and straight to snow white, conducted business with a group of five men and women who were around her mom’s age, each with a weapon on their hips. The group behind that one consisted of a couple who might have been in their fifties alongside a woman who was still older than any of her, Karah or Cray. They chatted back and forth about the day’s Find and how to handle Spine Strikers better.
"Remember how I mentioned earlier that certain material just will be useful for us?" At Louise's nod, Karah motioned toward the metal lockers. “Here, we trade the materials we don't need for some that’ll actually help us, although we won't get the same amount that we give.” She made a face. “Still, easier than trying to figure out trades for everything.”
That made sense. In lieu of bringing everything in wheelbarrows, Karah filled every slot in her inventory and Cray's inventory combined with crafting materials. Dozens of different varieties, but they needed only a small fraction of them.
Eventually, the first two groups finished their exchange, and the proprietor waved them forward. “Karah and Cray." He clapped his hands together. "It’s been a while since the both of you came here… And I see you have a new member!" He offered a friendly smile and waved. “Hello there, I’m Astor. Good to meet you! First time since your Welcoming Group?”
Louise shook her head. "I wanted Karah and Cray to teach me."
"Ahh… Everyone has their ways of getting started. Whatever method you choose, though, different perspectives do help." Astor turned to Kara and Cray. “So, what have we got today? It's been what…? Three days?”
“Yes. Here’s what we gathered…” Karah emptied her inventory piece by piece, putting each item atop a scale before she set the crafting material into a pouch that she labeled before dropping it into the bin. Each time, the proprietor scribbled something on a sheet of writing paper. It took some time, but eventually, all the items were set down and cataloged.
Still, the man frowned down at the piece of paper. "Seems a bit lower than usual. Unless my memory’s shot, don’t you usually have a bit more?"
Louise turned away to hide a grimace. Lower than usual… Even now, she held them back. The air within the exchange brushed frigidly against her neck and she wrapped her arms about herself to keep warm.
Karah ignored his question. "How much will we get?"
"Right." Astor fiddled about, and muttered about carrying the one, then the two. When he was done, he looked back up at them. “You can pick up some Agile Feathers, or perhaps Power Ore or some Astra’s Breath.”
Both things that they needed, especially for Cray in the case of feathers. Karah and Cray conferred with one another over which to take, before Karah came back with, “We’ll take some Power Ore - I’m needing to upgrade soon.”
Astor set a pouch about as big as Louise’s head upon the counter. After Karah added it to her inventory, he turned to Louise with a friendly smile. "How do you feel about your experience so far?"
She wished she could get home, but that wouldn’t happen any time soon. Still, Louise forced a smile to match his. “I’m trying to help them, and I’m getting stronger, too.”
"That's excellent. Just be careful to stay safe out there. Nothing's worth risking your death. Far better to live a long healthy life, like me!" He chuckled to himself.
When they got back to the house, Cray stayed outside. “We might better, but it’d help if I got us some extra crafting materials.”
“Deliveries, huh? How about Louise goes with you?” Karah turned to her. “It’s long and boring, but it gets us more to craft with, and without risking our lives.” She paused. “Might be worth considering for you, too.”
A little too obvious on the hint there, but it made sense and could help... "I'm in."
/-/
The door before her opened with the creek, and on the other side stood a dilapidated hovel that Louise had never seen the likes of in her life. Dirt covered the walls - at least, she hoped it was dirt - and the reek of rotten food assaulted her nostrils. It was all she could do not to gag.
There was movement in the shadows, but before Louise could react, a woman with curly green hair stepped forward and offered them both a tired nod. “Hey there, what will it be today, Cray?”
How Cray smiled despite the stench was quite beyond Louise, but he set ten sharpening stones upon the table. "It's been almost 2 weeks, so you’re due for your next set."
"Ooh, you're right. I must have forgotten. Sit down and I’ll get your payment ready." She motioned Cray past her, toward something that could’ve been a table or a rat’s nest, maybe both. The chairs behind it were so covered with packages that there wasn’t the slightest place to sit, although she supposed that might be a blessing.
But when they went inside, the woman’s notice fell upon Louise. She smiled at her in that ‘humor the kid’ sort way and clapped her hands together. "Ooh, and who are you supposed to be?"
Louise did a little curtsy. "Hello there, ma’am. I'm helping Cray with deliveries to get an idea of what he does." And if the rest of the people were like this woman, she wouldn’t be doing this again. Ever. “Nice to meet you.”
Cray cleared his throat. "Louise joined our Finding group."
"Oh." The woman looked Louise up and down with mild surprise. "Well, if you have any trouble with that, know that the rest of us are happy to help. It’s not just a couple of us. We’re all here to help one another.”
“Thank you…” Clean your house. Seriously, that’s all the help I need.
When they were outside again, Cray cleared his throat. “Dynese is not that bad. She just… gets busy enough to forget things… like cleaning… and hygiene.”
“Uh-huh…”
Luckily, the next few houses weren’t nearly as bad, dirty at worst, rather than disgusting to behold. Each of the owners was polite, even kind, and more than willing to offer Louise help if she ever needed it.
The fifth house, though…
“Are you sure you’ve gotten everything?” Said the man, heavyset, albeit at least partly from muscles. “Remember, there should be 27 sets of potions. Not 26.”
"It’s everything," Cray said, although his smile grew strained. "Did you need anything else?"
"No, I'll be fine." He glanced at Louise, frowned, then turned back to Cray. “Have you ever trained somebody new before?” At Cray’s shake of the head, he said, “Well, the village is here to help, and, of course, the Welcoming Groups are always happy to assist."
"Don't worry, I know about the Welcoming Groups," Louise said with a smile. "Karah and Cray saved my life, and I would trust them with it all over again."
The man shifted uncomfortably. "Well… Just keep an open mind. I assume you know what you're doing, of course."
With a grunt, Cray set the last package down beside a table submerged beneath different wands and staffs. “That good?”
The man nodded, then turned back to Louise. "This sort of thing is good for you, especially early on. Let’s you get extra crafting materials. The world is very dangerous outside. Don’t go pushing too fast or you might not make it."
Louise nodded and promised to be careful, much to the man’s relief.
It was another four more houses before they called it quits. Cray hinted that if she was interested, he would be more than happy to have her join him. Interested… that was a strong word. The work was simple, and Cray was there, which was nice, but the monotony of it left much to be desired.
They made their way through the various tunnels of Lifehome - she would like to say they were familiar to her, but it had only been two days since she'd arrived, two days that seemed like a lifetime. Still, she was pretty sure that Cray and Karah’s home wasn’t on the third level of the cave system, and Cray led her past stalagmites, stalactites and sinkholes she couldn’t recall it having either. The air was especially cold here, like breathing in an ice cube, and her breath misted before her; Cray’s too, but he didn’t stop until they reached a section of cavern festooned with targets of various sorts: from sand bags to wooden stick men and everything in between, all surrounded by a low fence with a trunk set beside it. When Cray opened it, her mouth dropped. Weapons, so many weapons: Swords and daggers, crossbows, longbows, guns of all shapes and sizes, and so much more.
Cray grinned down at her. “We’re going to teach you how to use a weapon.”
/-/
Louise stared back, daunted at all the weapons. “But… don’t I cast spells?”
“Those are great as long as you can cast them, but you’ve got your cooldowns to deal with.” At the look of confusion on her face, Cray cleared his throat. "Okay, well, you can activate most spells or abilities only every so often. Like my ability, ‘Burst Mode’. It lets me do more damage in a short time, but I can’t use it too frequently or that many times per day, so I have to ration it for when it’s needed.“
“Oh! So that’s why I couldn’t cast Arcane Blast half the time.”
"Exactly. If you cast it too soon, you can't summon the magic. So you need to pick your shots. And that's where one of these comes in." He motioned at the trunk full of weapons. "When you can't cast a spell, you can now break out your backup weapon. Now, which one would you like to try first?"
Now, the advice he got on teaching someone new said that he should give her the chance to try out a bunch of options, and pick out the one she liked best. It might involve a lot of back and forth, but it would work in the end. However, that… didn’t happen.
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Instead, Louise looked at each, one after the other, but rather than excitement, she grew more bewildered by the moment, no matter how he explained the pluses of swords, the minuses of handguns, and whatnot. "Which would I like? I haven’t used these before in my life! I wouldn't have the slightest idea about how to use these in battle. Look, just tell me what I should take."
Cray frowned. A choice in backup weapon was a very personal one, but the look upon her face… “Well, it’s up to you, but if it were me… You aren't exactly the strongest, so any weapons that rely upon strength are are probably a waste. Probably not close range period - you’re pretty fragile if the monsters can get to you. A ranged weapon maybe?” He peered into the trunk. The main options were guns, thrown weapons like javelins, and bows or crossbows. He dismissed thrown weapons and bows, as those relied on strength. Guns were obvious, and if she were part of a different group, he’d recommend that, but all the good ones would go to him first, which would just leave her with the rejected ones. “Let’s try this.” He hefted a crossbow. “Easy to use - just point and fire.”
Louise shrugged and took it in hand. It was small enough she could hold and fire it in one hand. She cocked it at the target dummy twenty yards away, pulled the trigger, and the bolt shot out… and ricocheted off a stalagmite. She reloaded with a fresh bolt, took a deep breath, adjusted her aim, then fired again. This time, the bolt disappeared long into the distance, same with the third one but the fourth one rewarded her with a meaty thunk.
“See?” He gave her a smile. “You’re getting the hang of it.”
The flat look on her face said she knew full well that was a lie, but she got better. With each shot, her movements grew more sure and, before long, she was hitting about half the time, a definite improvement. She got into the rhythm of it and, soon enough, each load and fire turned into a single, smooth motion. Thunk. Whoosh. Thunk.
Still, it wasn’t exactly the most interesting thing to observe and his mind soon wandered. Okay, so with a backup weapon, she’ll be able to do better in combat. And if she ends up joining me for deli-
"Why does everyone dislike you and Karah training me?"
Cray winced, so he wasn’t the only one who had noticed. Thunk. He let Louise’s shots give him time to think. "It's not that they dislike it exactly." Huh, so her expression CAN get flatter. "Well, you know how me and Karah are really careful, right?" At Louise's nod, he continued, "Well, they are really careful too, even more than we are, and just want to make sure that you are safe, like we do."
"I'm sensing a ‘but’ here," Louise paused her shooting and narrowed her eyes. “Do they think you're dangerous or something?"
The tone of absolute offense warmed his heart. "It's not that they think we are dangerous, exactly. It's that we have different goals." Cray considered, then said, "They want to get strong enough to handle the easiest areas possible, then never push past it. It's kind of like when you learn to read. You start with easy books, ‘the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’ and stuff like that, but then you move on to more complicated books, right?" At her nod, he continued, "Well, they don't want to do that. They want to stay with picture books forever, so it’s always easy while Karah and I, although we’ll be careful, wish to move on. It’ll be dangerous and hard, but we want to grow stronger and progress forward.”
"I see," Louise said after a moment, then to his surprise, she let out a relieved sigh. Another shot slammed into the sandbag. “Good for me too. How can I go home if I just stay here forever?”
Cray’s throat constricted. “R-Right…”
“But the real question is: why would you want to push? I mean, you and Karah risking your lives every day. What’s so important to you it’s worth that?”
That… was a complicated question to answer, but to start out with… “A thousand lights fill the sky but five light the way. Through battle and blood, with cleverness and daring, they will walk the broken path and find Elysium.” Louise didn’t speak, mouth hung in confusion. Cray fought the urge to chuckle, no matter how comical her expression. “Finders look for food, equipment, materials and such, but most of all, we search for Elysium. It’s… It’s a place where there’s peace and plenty, no monsters, no fear. It’s paradise.”
“That sounds incredible… How do you get there?”
“I don’t know, but one day, I’m going to find out.”
Louise opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, her eyes went wide. “Wait… I just leveled up my skill? It says I have Crossbow Skill Rank two!”
Cray grinned. He’d hoped that would happen. “Yes. You get abilities from your class and level, but that’s not all. There are skills too. You can become stronger, faster and more accurate, also hit harder, with practice. Now that you’re level two, try shooting some more.”
She did as bidden and wonder overcame her. “It… it’s easy now. Boosting my skill does this… and from just shooting the sandbag a few times?”
“Sort of. It’s more complicated than that…” He explained how each skill level was harder than the last, although they would come easier when she leveled up. A few tries at the target range might be enough to hit skill level 2. Skill level 3 might take a few days. 4 would require actual combat.
She ate up every word, eager to use all the knowledge he imparted upon her in her quest to return home… a quest he knew full well would never happen.
/-/
“Alright,” Cray leaned back in his chair, "it's been four Finds. How are we looking?"
It was late in the evening, long after Louise had gone to bed, tired after an afternoon spent training. It was cold, of course—it was always cold—and on top of his pajamas, Cray wore a full-on sweater, and topped that with a thick blanket for warmth. How Karah could stand it in her light jacket, he didn’t know, but he sat in his normal chair and Karah paced back and forth between details of how the Day’s Find had gone. Every so often, she’d pull out her little notebook and jab to a page for him to read.
She didn't look at it herself, of course. She never needed to. “Well, we had a bit of trouble toward the end and had to retreat early, but the rest of it we handled okay. A little behind the average, but better than facing a Mana Devourer. About as much in terms of loot as we normally get, but with the three of us, we can carry it all. That’s good.”
She wasn’t wrong. Sure, the extra loot might not be as of high quality, but every bit helped them a little more. "And Louise got her third item." It was a nice one, too, a wand that gave her a boost to magic power as well as gave her a small damage shield when she cast a spell - not enough to sit there and take hits, but she could keep going longer. For her fourth Find, it was pretty good.
"Of course," Karah said, "but don’t forget, there’s one more of us now, so we’ll need enough loot to craft for three."
"I asked her if she wants to join me in deliveries, but she doesn’t seem too interested.”
"Not a problem," Karah said. “We just have to make sure that she has options to choose between. She’ll probably want to get more loot and faster so she can push. Like us.”
Cray frowned. Karah was right, but for the wrong reason. He and Karah might want to find Elysium, and progress the furthest they could reach, but Louise… She still thought... “When do we tell her?” At Karah’s confused look, he elaborated. “She wants to help us progress… so she can go back home.”
“Which is impossible.”
“I know. Do we tell her?” Cray asked.
Karah drew back at his question. “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not. Now, at least Louise is doing well on her equipment. Give her a few weeks and –"
"Why can't we?" Cray interrupted.
Karah's lips were thin, like a single shard of glass. "And how would that help her? The only result would be that she’d know and be miserable." She massaged her forehead, then jabbed a finger down the hall to where Louise slept in her room—they would have to find another room for him at some point, but that day wasn’t today. "Right now, she has focus and motivation. You tell her the truth and she loses all of that. How much you want to bet that she'll just shut down?"
"So what, we just keep lying to her?"
"And what’s the alternative?"
Cray tapped his finger upon the table, the sound one of comfort right then. And there was the issue. Karah was right—there were people who, when they found out, just gave up and died shortly thereafter, hope shattered along with their bodies. At least if Louise didn't know, she would still have hope. "I don't know. But every time I smile and laugh while she tells me about how much she's looking forward to going home, the guilt eats me alive. Maybe we should just… Help her understand it."
"Is it about her, or is it about you?" At his blinking, Karah said, "How does knowing actually help her?"
That was the thing. Cray still didn't have an answer, nor did his sister. It wasn't really fair, not for Louise and not for them.
"Even if it won't help her get home," Karah said, “we can help her progress and perhaps reach Elysium like us. She will be happier, healthier, and the most of all, have hope.”
The logic was sound, but Cray still wasn’t sure. "Maybe with this, she will have something, right?"
Karah patted him on the shoulder at his plea. "Exactly. Trust me, it’s best for everyone." She changed the subject. "Now, let’s change the subject. Our crafting materials stockpile has gone up, and given a few more weeks, we can craft another powerful piece of equipment. We -“
“No, let’s stay on this subject.” It was Louise, footsteps echoing behind him, rage bursting from every pore. “I want to hear all about why you’re lying. Now.”
/-/
Louise’s face might have been calm, but anger roiled hot beneath her skin, to the point it was a surprise steam didn’t pour from her face. She took a long, hissing breath. "Well? I thought that I'd be able to help you and go home, but apparently, you’ve been lying to me all along!"
Cray's gaze flickered, but toward Karah.
"Stop trying to hide it from me!" she roared, and despite Cray and Karah being older than she was, both flinched. "I thought I could trust you. But–" She growled and fought tears of rage.
"You can,” Cray said, and he actually sounded hurt. "We didn't hide it to make you miserable or anything like that, but to protect you."
"How does that–?"
Karah broke in. "Because he wanted to make sure you wouldn't get yourself killed once you found out."
Get herself killed? Louise wanted to laugh, but the look on Karah’s face was frank, honest. "Whatever it is, I can handle it.”
"Many say they can, but give up and die." Karah's words were soft, sad. "We'll tell you, given time. Just give us–"
"Give you what? Time to come up with a better lie? No. Tell me now."
Karah massaged her forehead, a tired look upon her face, then glanced at Cray, who shrugged. Finally, she sighed. “Alright, then. Let’s do this the hard way.” She met Louise’s eyes, and her voice was sharp. “You aren’t the first one, you know.”
“Huh?”
“You aren’t the first one to arrive in this world. Nor are you the first one to have memories of friends, family, or a better world. Everyone has them. Every. Single. One. Everyone wants to go home. They struggled, they fought, they got stronger, and you know what happened to them? None of them ever found a way out, ever.” She growled. “Some tried their entire lives, nobody found it, not since Lifehome or any of the other towns existed. But most of them? They just died, the Outside World taking them.”
“And how do you know I wouldn't be the first?”
Karah’s glare intensified. “Again, what do you think they all thought? They dreamed of being the first ones to find a way out, to get home to their world. Then they failed and died, just like everyone else has.”
“And how is that different from trying to find Elysium? If nobody has ever found it?”
Karah opened her mouth, but Cray beat her to it. "Are you absolutely sure you want to know this? I know you're angry, but I don't ask this lightly."
"Tell me."
His gaze searched hers, and apparently he found what he was looking for this time, as he nodded. "Very well." He drew in a deep breath. “Let me tell your my story. When I was younger, before I arrived here, I was a gunslinger. I learned the ways of the gun at a young age and worked together with my sister to fight demons and protect the people of our city. We achieved great triumphs, and on the verge of total victory, we arrived here."
"All right, that’s good, but I don't see–"
“When I was younger," Karah said, voice soft, "the martial arts fascinated me, and I did everything I could to improve. I went on adventures, learned ways to enhance my body, and use the chi within it to empower my blows and devastate my opponents. I fought powerful enemies, and just after I was victorious, I arrived in the Overgrown Complex with my brother beside me.”
"So it sounds like you had an interesting childhood," Louise said. "But that doesn’t answer my question."
Cray cleared his throat. “Karah was my sister… but she never became a martial artist. She was pretty good with a submachine gun though and helped me overcome the demons I fought.” He paused. “She was a bit of a crybaby, though.”
Karah glared at him. “Cray had just graduated high school when we started facing my enemies: a gang of martial arts criminals.” She let that sink in a moment. “He never used any weapons, although he learned a few tricks as a martial artist by observing me. He was more focused on passing classes than the enemies we fought."
Louise frowned. “But wait, you said there were mobsters, but he fought demons?”
"It doesn't make sense, does it?" Cray said. "We were both in each other's pasts, and we looked about the same, acted similarly in some ways, but the stories don’t fit. There is no way that both of them could have happened."
“And we aren't the only ones," Karah said. "In Cray's world, there was an elderly woman who he protected once from the demons and would stop over at her house after each adventure for tea. She goes by Tela.”
"But she didn’t know me here. Our meeting here was the first for her - and she wasn’t the only one either. Ektorn repaired cars in my world. He actually remembers me… as someone who he taught the basics of rune crafting.”
Louise didn’t have to ask to know that Karah had similar stories that didn’t make sense. At least my story - a face flashed through her memory.
"You see what we mean, don't you?" Karah asked softly. "Who did you recognize?"
"Aimee, from the town council. I thought… I thought she might be—you know, just one of those faces—but if what you're telling me is true…"
"She doesn't remember you, does she?"
No, there had been no spark of recognition in the other woman’s eyes. To her, Louise was someone she’d met just then. Which meant… “So what does it all mean?”
Karah shrugged. "We don't know if any of it is true. None of it makes sense, but we remember it. People call it 'backstory'.”
Understanding hit and overwhelmed. Not real, if theirs weren’t real, then her - her family! Her parents, her brothers and sisters. They were real, weren’t they? She went to the movies with them, played board games, remembered her little brother’s basketball games.
But so had Cray and Karah. She ran.
Cray made to follow, but Karah grabbed him by the arm. “She needs time to handle-“ Whatever else she was about to say was cut off by the door slamming shut.
There, Louise huddled in the room.
She couldn’t deal with this, not now.