We emerged at one of our save-points in the Untold Deeps a little over an hour later. It wasn't like we had a total monopoly over stuff down here, but we had definitely explored it the most so far, thus giving us an edge on knowing where certain things are. Specifically, Depths Ore and Luminous Magistones. The common or basic versions of these are in demand, and their higher quality versions are pricey at least. They're key components for certain magic items in crafting, and from what Lizzy has told me the weapons made from them are on par with Draigod ones.

As we made our way to one of the more plentiful deposits, I looked over the current rankings for the competition.

First place: Guardians of the Eternal Citadel.

Second place: Gears and Wheels.

Third Place: Horselords of Heorot.

Fourth place: Northern Warriors.

Fifth place: Mountain Tigers.

Sixth place: The Lightbrook Brigade.

Seventh place: Valiant Maidens.

Eighth place: King-Priests of the Demon Sands.

Ninth place: Silvernight Queens.

Tenth place: Heavenly Dragons.

Eleventh place: Dreamers Fables.

Twelfth place: Venomheart.

Thirteenth place: Jade Lotus.

Fourteenth place: Night Wolves.

Fifteenth place: †SOVEREIGN†.

Sixteenth place: The Tea Cupboard.

Seventeenth place: Flamehearts.

Eighteenth place: The Farmer's Market.

Nineteenth place: Shamrock's Luck.

Twentieth place: Words and Sorcery.

“There's a lot we know in the top twenty, huh?” Ariana remarked as she read with me.

“And this is just the Harmonia side,” I noted. “I wonder how the Onyxus side is doing.”

Looks like Joanna hasn't been able to keep her guild in the top ten after all, though top twenty is still good, I mused to myself.

“We could check their rankings at Harmonia City sometime,” Lysandra told me. “Other than that, the only way to do so would be to look online outside the game.”

“Hmm.”

“True!” Ari and I said in reply.

“As we thought, most of the top guilds right now have a sheer size advantage over quality economics, except perhaps the top five.” Healina observed.

“I'm a little hurt we're eleventh while you're ninth, but we'll close the gap later.” Derwydd grinned. He had come with us to help out as usual, and so had Myanihia.

“I'm surprised †SOVEREIGN† is lower than Mountain Tigers; no offense to Wildeye at all, it's just that, even with Garth gone, they're one of the top Aldholt guilds.” Heali remarked.

“Wildeye is more proactive and Humphrey is more laid-back. He likely wants to keep distancing himself from anything Garthish, including being the 'top' at anything.” I said. “His being in the new alliance is probably more of a continued apology as opposed to actually wanting to get a high score, though I don't doubt they're doing their best,” I said with a soft smile.

“Hm, hm.” Lizzy nodded. “I bet you're exactly right about that. Same with Angela too, I'd say. Though what's surprising to me is that Flamehearts are behind those two. Angelfire seems more proactive than either Humphrey or Wildeye if you ask me.”

“Oh for sure.” I had to agree. “She'll probably start pulling away soon by doing the opposite of Gears and Wheels, though.”

“You mean instead of selling supplies and stuff she'll start wrecking caravans and so forth.” Maryn said with a half-smirk.

“She was probably waiting to see what kind of mischief everyone else was getting up to first,” Ariana said with a laugh.

“That does sound like Angelfire,” Lizzy agreed.

“We're here.” Myanihia then said, and we came to a halt.

“All right, anyone who can mine, mine away; the rest of you keep a lookout, especially for that one kind of critter,” I said.

“Here we go!” Lizzy said.

“Got it!” Heali nodded. She was the only one who could properly deal with the critter in question -- well, at least in the way that I wanted it to be dealt with, as in taming it. Derwydd had some taming skills as well, but he hadn't gotten to Heali's proficiency level yet.

What's that? Oh, it's a small, lizard-type creature that sniffs out gem deposits. It looks like a newt, a coal-black newt with diamond-white eyes; they fit in your hand almost perfectly, and we've been inadvertently led to all sorts of bountiful gem deposits because of them. We'd even successfully tested them in other places as well before releasing them to wander back here.

After five hours in-game, we had a sizable cart full of ore and gems, and Healina had tamed six of our little friends. We put them in a special carrier, and headed back to the wayport to pay a visit to the guilds we now sent an olive branch towards: Heavenly Dragons and Jade Lotus.

***

We agreed to meet at an outdoor tavern in Zan; Qi Lin and Rainsong represented their guild, and Hua Ling, leader of Jade Lotus, arrived with her second, Li Zha Feng. I took Anhe along this time, while Ariana, Maryn, and Healina were at another table behind us with the items in question. With Anhe's help in some places, I outlined what I wanted to do and my offer for them, adding that if they preferred to remain neutral after the raid I had in mind had been concluded I would not be offended. Qi Lin showed interest, whereas Hua Ling's expression was placid and indeterminable. She began conferring with her second, and Qi Lin talked it over with Rainsong. Their conversations carried for a few moments; Anhe touched my shoulder as she began telling me what she heard.

“Qi Lin is definitely open to the idea, the moreso because he has worked with us before and because he wants to advance his standing,” Anhe softly told me. “Hua Ling is less certain; she wants to go along with this but is considering testing our sincerity.” she continued in a hushed tone. I could understand some of this, but having her confirm it was a real boon.

I stood up slowly then, getting their attention. Then, I bowed deeply. Anhe, suddenly picking up on my intentions, did the same, as did the other girls behind us.

“Qi Lin, Hua Ling; I understand there are certain concerns with this, not the least of which is the reprisal you may experience from the Guardians of the Eternal Citadel. If there is some further token of sincerity and trust on our part I can offer, I will do my utmost to provide it,” I said, and Anhe repeated my words to them in Mandarin. I might have been able to do so myself, but I refrained out of concern that I might say something wrong.

“Lana-san, we Heavenly Dragons already know your integrity. You have no need to give anything further than this; we will gladly accept our share of the ore, crystals, and the ore-newts.” Qi Lin said to me. “Hua Ling, you are probably the one with doubts about this, yes?”

“This is so.” she said in an even tone, yet not without a hint of emotion. “Lady Lana, I am willing to accept this and go along with this plan, if only to spite Fènghuáng, that spiteful woman, in this competition.” she continued, and Li Zha beside her let out a giggle. “I understand you will provide insignias to get us aboard these warships; this is also very acceptable considering the risk. Yet I would also ask; there is something I specifically want retrieved from the Guardians. It is being held in one of their fortresses in the Phoenix Domain. A casket of alchemical tomes.”

“I understand. Can you tell me which fortress?” I asked her.

“We think they change its location every three days in-game.” she shook her head.

Ugh. Find an orb, find a tome, steal some uniforms, commandeer ships, beat a demon... this to-do list is getting long and overrated, I sighed inwardly.

“We'll figure it out somehow.” I replied out loud.

“Then I will accept our share of what you have brought as a down-payment.” she nodded.

“I am grateful for your words. I look forward to gaining your cooperation in the future,” I replied, this time in Mandarin, and she smiled approvingly.

“You are improving; I look forward to the day when you can speak with confidence.” she replied in the same, and I bowed again. We then divvied out the bribe we had brought along for them, and with that our initial transaction was concluded.

“Lana-san,” Qi Lin said a few moments after the members of Jade Lotus departed, “We keep an eye on the Phoenix Domain. I am mostly positive we know of three forts that Guardians frequently sends a small caravan around to on that very time schedule. Please consider it a bonus to our participation!” he said with a bow, and I bowed back.

“That's very helpful, thank you!” I replied.

“Here!” he then said, materializing a marked map of the area in question. “Ahh, and, please mind the guardians. Not the guild, the monsters.” he added with a grin before departing.

“Typical,” I remarked with a bemused grin after they had gone.

“We got a promise and a bonus. No complaining.” Anhe softly elbowed me.

“Hahh... can't we get flowers instead?” I sighed. The younger girl looked at me with surprise.

“L-Lana, you are being more girly tonight!”

“Hyeck!? Ah--I, I d-d-d-didn't mean it like th-th-th-that!” I stammered out hastily, but she giggled.

“Ari! Lana wants flowers!” she snickered as she called over to my partner.

“Oh?” Ariana said with a cheerful and merciless grin. “La-na, what kind of flowers?”

“If it's Lana, then maybe some violet and white ones to go with her black outfits,” Maryn innocently mused as my expression became more exasperated.

“No no, I was thinking green and yellow,” Healina joined in.

“Oh! Nice idea!” the older girl smiled.

“Ugghh! Anheee, what've you gotten me into!?” I groaned, and the girls began cackling.

“It's nice, isn't it?” Ariana said later as the two of us relaxed in a quiet field. She had gotten me into a black áo dài with white and pink floral print on it, and had been weaving a crown of white, green, and pink flowers for me. She had just now set it on my head, pulling out a looking-glass for me to see.

“Hrrmm...” I squirmed uneasily. I could see my cheeks turning red in the reflection.

“It's fine in-game for a while.” she patted my leg.

“I guess so...” I agreed, a faint smile on my face.

“You really just don't think about this sort of thing, do you?” she giggled.

“N-not on me, no,” I blushed, taking her hand. She was wearing a pink and blue áo dài with gold floral patterns, and her hair had a silver circlet with flower-shaped turquoise stones set into it.

“I know.” she replied softly, squeezing my hand.

If she wore something like this in real life she'd melt the whole city with her radiance, I thought to myself at that moment. My face relaxed from its tenseness as I became more enraptured by the girl before me. A smile crept across her face, and then she closed her eyes, parting her lips; I reached over, pressing my own lips upon hers for a kiss that seemed to last for the rest of that whole night. But time, sadly, passed; and in the morning, it was back to reality and back to school.

***

“Yo, Dans, you awake?” Ty said to me as we got close to school.

“Hm? Oh,” I blinked, suddenly realizing this. “Never mind; how'd you get ahead of us last night anyway?” I then asked, suddenly recalling my belated befuddlement from before.

“Huh? Oh that,” he replied. “Wild got an urgent message after we left y'all, so we used an emergency teleport crystal to get there. Put the boat on auto-pilot. Don't worry, it got back safe.” he told me.

“Huh. I guess considering it had one of those what's-its on board it could do that,” I said.

“Magimotor, boy.” Ty said as he lightly flicked me. “'Aight, we're here; let's get this day over with!” he added as the bus came to a halt, and we got out of the bus to head inside for school.

I found Rachel waiting with a smile at the lockers, as was now usual for me, and I smiled back. I felt my cheeks burning for a moment as I remembered last night, then hurriedly opened my locker to put it aside for now.

“Something up?” she asked me as I got squirrelly.

“N-nothing, just, memories...” I returned unconvincingly.

“Hm? Ahh,” she smiled back. A soft giggle came from her lips, and she nudged me with her foot. “You'll be fine.”

“Tell that to the me a couple hours from now,” I said, referring to the inevitability of mathematics.

“You'll still be fine.” she softly winked back as I finished with my books and we headed in for class. “More importantly, we have a special set of rehearsals tonight,” Rachel said with a sigh as we sat down.

“Hmm? Ahh--!” I returned as it dawned on me. “It's gonna be late when we get home, isn't it...”

“Mm.” she nodded back. “And then we have in-game 'homework' to get to!” she said with a wry grin.

“Ah-heh,” I returned as the same expression came to my own face.

“All right, people!” our homeroom teacher clapped his hands. “The bell isn't working today, so let's get started on the dot!”

Lunch break could not come swiftly enough that day for some reason. As soon as we had gotten ourselves sorted for the afternoon we all but flew to our club-room, where we found the others ahead of us. We settled into our usual spot, and instead of chattering as we usually did there was a quiet agreement to get lunch out of the way first. When our meals had been eaten, we sat in silence for a moment, and then Andrea sat up.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh, Chrissy and Mandy won't be on tonight until late.” she told us.

“Hrrmm...” I sighed, thinking about all the things we had agreed to do in-game.

“That fortress situation in the Phoenix Domain sounds like more of a pain than the dungeon.” Mary said as she sipped on what was left of her tea.

“Still, we can do that with fewer people.” I replied.

“Agree.” Rachel nodded. “Part of me thinks that it's a bluff, too. That the casket's location is actually static.”

“Which would mean we'd have to work out if it's actually at one of the three castles they built or if it's at another location entirely.” Andrea said. “And even if we can't get that done tonight, we can at least get the disguises.”

“Oh, true,” I agreed.

“More importantly, you guys are getting fed tonight at rehearsals, right?” our club leader said to us with a concerned look.

“We are, don't worry.” Thomas assured her. “It'll be like that for the last two weeks before the performances, too.”

“I cannot wait to see our little dork Robin-Hooding it up on stage.” Ellie said as she grinned like a cat, and Mary nearly spat out her drink as she laughed.

“Speaking as a witness by happenstance, I have to say he's getting quite good at it.” Thomas remarked. “And Rachel also!” he added with a grin.

“Isn't the newspaper club gonna be there during those last two weeks as well?” Mary wondered.

“I think they're around already, or was that the yearbook association?” Rachel replied, looking over to direct her question at me.

“Don't ask me; they all have imagers, after all.” I shrugged, and she giggled.

“It's both.” Thomas said. “Bob's been on the association for two years now, and Jane's been a part of the newspaper club here since middle school.”

“Ohh, right, Jane; she's gotten really good at it,” Ellie said as the name rang a bell for her.

“She'll be a news-anchor before college at this rate, if she even decides to go.” Andrea nodded back to them.

“Oh, Jane Weiss,” Mary said. “I agree. She'll definitely get an apprenticeship at least.”

“Right?” Ellie replied.

“We've got five minutes left,” Andrea then said.

“Time flew by!” Anhe said in amazement as she looked at the clock.

“It sure did,” I agreed.

“I will go early; I will see you two at language class and then rehearsals!” Anhe smiled as she got up to get her things in order before heading out. We all decided to do the same, and after we had cleaned up we made our way to our respective classes for the afternoon.

As soon as our last class let out, Rachel, Anhe, and myself were on our way to the auditorium. We met Thomas and Joanna on the way down, and the cat-like girl gave us a smile as she caught sight of us.

“Hey-ho, lovey-dovies,” she cheekily smiled.

“Hey,” Rachel smiled back.

“We're gonna nail that duel scene today, kiddo, and then we're gonna keep nailing it for the next eight weeks!” Joanna said as she pointed at me.

“Y-you got it,” I said with a hesitant laugh.

“Don't scare him off now,” Thomas lightly chided her.

“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy,” Joanna tisked at him.

“Sean!”

“Hiya, buddy!” Herby and Matt exclaimed as they arrived along with with several of the others.

“Ray-chel! Let's get that one scene down, huh?” Allie smiled as she came up with Malcolm.

“Oh definitely, provided we don't trip over our tongues again,” my girlfriend grinned.

“Like really!” Allie said with a light frustration. “Whoever wrote that piece of alliteration was a sadist!”

“Right??” Rachel agreed as the two of them headed off.

“We've gotta run our lines with the other outlaws, too,” Matt said as he gently thumped my shoulder. “D'ya bring a helmet today, pal?” he grinned.

“Aw, shut up, Matt!” Herby quipped, lightly punching his shoulder.

“We need to make that a shirt: 'Shut up, Matt!'” I commented, reflecting on the fact that I heard Herby say this at least once a rehearsal. Those around us busted out laughing, including Matthew himself, who laughed the loudest.

“All right, kids! Let's get this show on the road!” our teacher then called out with a clap of her hands. I could see her grinning as we headed in, giving a direct smile to me in particular.

“Looks like our little star here finally got into our groove!” Matt beamed proudly as we emerged onto the stage.

“Yeah, buddy!” Herby cheered.

“Ah-heh,” I returned with a faint grin.

“Right then! What was that scene?”

“Act One, Scene... something...” Joey scratched his head.

“Biiig help, doofus.” Leslie sighed as she thwacked him with her script.

“Seven! Scene seven!” he quickly amended.

“Bingo!” Maggie clapped.

“Yeesh! Finally on time! Mostly...” Henry said as he scrambled in.

“Oh, Henry!” Matt said as he looked over, “You are just a bit late... Miss Andrews said it was time to get this show on the road; did you perchance decide instead to get this show on a detour?” he asked cheekily. I looked around at the others, and we nodded to each other.

“Shut up, Matt!” we chorused, and laughter broke out yet again.

***

After nearly two-and-a-half hours of going over various scenes that we definitely needed to continue working on in the weeks to come, we took a brief respite for a meal that was being provided to us by the school for the evening. Rachel and I sat outside with Allie, Malcolm, Herby, and Matt, with Joanna sitting nearby. The girl playing Gisbourne stared idly towards the sky, her eyes seeming to not see the towering skyscrapers that dominated the view for kilometers around the massive city.

“What's up, sis?” Malcolm said after a few moments.

“This skyline is so...” his sister remarked distastefully, trailing off before resuming her attention to a turkey-wrap she had selected.

“Missing your game, huh?” her older brother said with a chuckle.

“Not yet. I still have this fantasy world to play in, once we finish eating.” Joanna shrugged back.

“Hmm.” the other nodded in reply.

“You have gotten obsessed a bit lately,” Allie remarked. “It's that competition thing I read about online, right?”

“Yeah, that thing. My guild's participating in a low-key way that keeps us ahead of most of the others; but we have to step up our game a bit, though... our ranking's down.” the other girl sighed. Rachel gave me a subtle and almost imperceptible smile at those words. I quietly winked back at her.

“That reminds me!” Matt perked up. “I was reading 'Gamers Unite!' at lunch today; there was this massive battle in that Panarena world between two of the big guilds there -- were you on the periphery of that?” he asked Joanna.

“Ohh, is that already news on the 'net?” she replied in a tone that somehow managed to convey both interest and boredom. But our irrepressible friend continued on unperturbed.

“Wow! I can barely manage to break the high scores at the Retro Arcade; playing in that kind of battle has got to be wicked!” he grinned.

“That's true,” she smiled back. “Yeah, Guardians, this massive guild there, tried to stomp down their competition last night and ended up getting more competition with another big guild taking up for the little guys.” Joanna shrugged as she continued eating.

“Nice of them. But not so nice for you, I bet.” Allie said with a half-grin.

“Of course not. Guardians are one of our employers.”

“Figures!”

“This competition is supposed to last until the end of spring, but things are already headed out of control. Especially with that one small guild running amok.” Joanna sighed in frustration. “Not that mine is any bigger than theirs, but those girls are bonkers.”

“Dude!” Herby joined in. “You're facing off those--ahh, whaddaya call 'em? Matt, help me out!”

“What's that, Herbs? Oh yeah! Those crazy chicks that make the headlines every four days,” his friend returned. Rachel and I exchanged a bemused grin; no one noticed it, however.

“Oh? You know about the Silvernight Queens there?” Joanna asked them curiously.

“That was them!” Herby nodded.

“Ha-ha, yup!” Matt grinned.

“There's a rumor they all go to school together from what I've heard,” Leslie said as she and the other “outlaws” came over to join us.

“Even you know about them, huh?” Joanna smiled.

“That game dominates the entertainment news, after all.” Leslie shrugged back.

“That's true,” Malcolm said with a laugh.

“Come to think of it... the principal's daughter made that one club here right before PFO's first real event, didn't she?” Maggie remarked.

“Oh, that's true... those two are in it, right?” Joey said, nodding towards Rachel and myself.

“Hmm...?” Maggie returned, gazing at us questioningly.

“Ahh...” I started uncertainly.

“We're in it, yes,” Rachel gently laughed back. Joanna's eyes narrowed, but she refrained from saying anything just then.

“Cool! So what's the club about?” Leslie asked her. “Maybe we'll join it next year!”

“Ah-hem!” Rachel cleared in a dignified way as she began, “Our club's purpose is to relate entertainment and media in a meaningful way to identifying careers or career goals, and to supplement those objectives with related activities such as workplace visitations.” she told them.

“Hmm... so any game or entertainment medium qualifies? Is it like Film Club or the Chess Team?” Matt asked her.

“I'd say those are somewhat related, yes,” Rachel nodded back.

“Cool!” our resident joker grinned in reply.

“Now I definitely want to check it out for next year,” Herby remarked.

“Please, please do.” I said to him at once.

“Why so eager?” Maggie laughed back.

“He's probably fidgety about all the harem rumors that still linger around him.” Allie grinned, and the rest of them laughed, even Joanna.

“Of course, getting Valentine's from two other girls aside from your girlfriend probably didn't help that any,” Joanna winked mischievously.

“Gyeck!?”

“Jo.” Malcolm called her name, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Ahh... sorry, that was uncalled for!” she hesitantly giggled.

“No no, I'm curious. Rachel, do you mind if I ask?” Maggie asked her.

“About who he'd be with if I hadn't been at this school?” Rachel sighed back.

“Ahh...”

“Hey, c'mon, Mags, that's unfair,” Herby said in a disappointed tone.

“For real!” Matt nodded vigorously.

“Ehh, you're right.” she agreed resignedly.

“I think it would've been Mary for certain.” Rachel remarked unexpectedly. Everyone nearly dropped their sandwich wrap at the words, and I looked over at her in surprise, not daring to say anything. She smiled, laying her head on my shoulder. “But it's a moot point. He's mine.” she said softly but proudly, and I felt tension going out of me like air from a punctured bicycle tire.

“For sure!” Allie grinned back, recovering magnificently from the jolt of shock moments before. I saw Matt and Herby exchanging relieved looks with each other, and Maggie furiously blushing for having brought up the subject at all. Leslie was patting her on the shoulder, a wry half-smile on her face.

Joanna got up slowly, picking up the paper-plate she had used and her empty drink so she could recycle them in a nearby bin, then headed back inside without a word. Allie watched her sadly, but Malcolm said nothing, though a quiet sigh came from his lips moments later as a sad smile arrived on his face.

“You did it to yourself, Jo.” he murmured.

Later that evening, Joanna and I were rehearsing the choreography of our fight scene again. Wordlessly, she performed every step, every thrust, every lunge and parry with perfect precision. And, wordlessly, I did much the same, only faltering once or twice, but managing to get the last few moves of our “sword dance” perfect every time. That is, the part where I tumble down the last few steps and then recover myself to strike a final blow on my opponent while they try to do the same. When we had finished, Miss Andrews and Holly clapped at our progress, and summoned Matthew and Herby to come on stage for the quarterstaff scenes. Joanna came over to me before she left the stage, placing her head on my shoulder.

“Why you? Why you, and not me?” she whispered softly. I didn't know how to answer her, and an inaudible sigh left me. Seeming to find some answer in that, she lifted her head, gave me an apologetic but hurt look, and then dashed off the stage.

“Jo? Jo!” our teacher called. “Holly, take over,” she said to her aide, heading after Joanna as the other woman nodded.

“All right, Miss Liang! Do you think you've got our wild card's kill-shots toned down?” she asked Anhe.

“I think so!” Anhe replied, and behind her Herby adopted a bemused grin. “Herby, do your best!”

“I-I'll try!” he said to her anxiously as I exchanged my mock sword for a staff, and our next round of fight choreography began.

True to her word, Anhe had managed to amend Herby's kill-shot finisher for our fight scene. To be more accurate, it seemed that she had told him to pause slightly before striking the final blow instead of just plain out thwacking me, allowing him to focus on holding back his strength for that particular blow. We rehearsed it several times over, and at the end of his turn we applauded him loudly while I mouthed a silent thank-you to Anhe, who beamed back.

Then it was Matt's turn; fortunately, his finisher was tripping me off of the “log” and into the “water”, so it was decidedly less dangerous to my health to begin with. Of course, as I've probably mentioned before, he definitely liked to have fun with it. After we had run through that scene a few times, we returned to going over our lines for the rest of the evening until it was time to go.

Thomas had gone early for work, so Rachel and I sat around waiting for my dad to come and get us this time. As we sat together on one of the benches outside, Joanna came up to us, looking embarrassed.

“H-hey, Sean... about earlier...” she began, her cheeks red.

“Ahh... hey... I'm, not mad, or anything like that, you know...” I told her honestly.

“W-well, I'm sorry anyway... things are just, frustrating, you know?” she said with a forced laugh. Rachel looked at her with concern.

“Joanna?” she asked softly.

“Between trying to keep up with the guild competition, keeping up with my grades, and keeping up with my fencing so I can get an early try-out for this one school I want to go to next year so I don't have to fall back on my mother's 'plan' for my life...”

“That sounds rough,” I said apologetically.

“You have no idea.” she shook her head. “Ugh, if I could just get that one guild out of the picture or if I could just breeze through my morning classes or if I could just get my instructor to finally say something complimentary without also putting me down...!” Joanna quietly fumed. Rachel and I exchanged a worried glance with each other.

She's really got it rough.

I dunno if we can help her, though.

We can at least make the play enjoyable for her.

Yeah, I hope so, our eyes seemed to say to each other.

“You're doing really well with the musical, though!” Rachel then said, adopting a smile. Joanna cracked a grin, looking away shyly.

“I guess so.” she agreed, and then gave Rachel a more cunning look. “You're one of them, aren't you? One of the Silvernight Queens.” Joanna said confidently.

“Ah... well, that's true,” Rachel smiled back bashfully.

“Tell your leader if she drops out, I'll drop out also.” the older girl declared with a more somber expression on her face. Rachel met her gaze with her own determination, and then shook her head.

“I don't think Lana will do that.” my girlfriend returned solemnly. Joanna eyed her with scrutiny, and then shrugged, walking away.

“That so? Too bad,” Joanna remarked, then paused, turning to look back. “You're gonna regret it, you know.” she added, and then Rachel affected a more competitive smile.

“I don't like getting feisty against other players in-game, but threats like that really do get me going. I won't let you win.” she retorted calmly.

“Then, let's make a bet.” Joanna returned, turning to face us directly. “If you guys win against my guild at the end, I'll dissolve it.” she declared.

That's heavy. I doubt her comrades would go along with that anymore than my friends would have accepted me losing to Lysandra back in the Tournament, I mused inwardly.

“And if you win instead?” Rachel asked her.

“Let's see... if we win instead, I want Lana. I want her in my guild, and I want her as my girl.”

Gu'hyeck?!?! I nearly jumped, though I was sure a flabbergasted expression had sprung to my face at that declaration. I looked over at Rachel. For the first (and I hoped to God only) time in my life, I saw a smoldering, explosive anger on her face. Her eyes almost glowed with rage. She took three steps forward, and pointed towards Joanna.

“I'll never let you take her.” she declared adamantly. “You're on.”

“Hmph.” Joanna smiled, as if she had gleaned all the information she needed from that exchange. “See you in game... sweetie.” she said as she turned once more, heading off to where Malcolm and Allie were waiting for her. What she didn't notice was that I gleaned just a bit more from her reaction. When she was gone, Rachel sat down in a huff, letting out a frustrated sigh that sounded like a train whistle blowing.

“You try to be nice to someone and they just--!!” she vented furiously, and I cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder. “What?” she barked.

“Ahh... Rey... listen... I think she's got the wrong idea,” I told her calmly, and she relaxed, suddenly curious as to what I was on about.

“Hmm?” she wondered, blinking.

“Well... from what I just heard... I think she believes you're Lana.” I told her.

“Huh?!” Rachel looked at me incredulously, and then thought about it for a moment. “Hmm...” she exhaled thoughtfully, “You... could be right... could, anyway.” she admitted. “Come to think of it she always talks to me about Panarena,” Rachel realized. “None of the others, even you, ever come up.”

“And you do have a commanding aspect to you,” I remarked appreciatively.

“Is that a dig?” she asked me with a sly grin.

“N-no way! It's a compliment, a compliment!” I quickly said, and she giggled.

“Kidding.” she said, laying her head on my shoulder again. “Sorry I lost it there for a moment,” she then whispered.

“It's okay. I'm... well, it's kinda nice to be protected, for a change.” I said with a grin, and we both laughed.

“I'll always protect you, here or there.” Rachel said to me.

“Same. Any time, anywhere.” I replied as our hands clasped together. My dad pulled up at that moment, and we were soon on our way home.