“Wait!” a soft voice called. “Please, wait. Orion told us everything.”

Arika stopped mid-stride and slowly turned back to look at the speaker.

She—a young girl named Truth—was standing, looking at Arika with more conviction than someone of her stature had any right to possess.

“We know it wasn’t your fault, please…” Truth said, “take a seat. None of us hate you.”

“In fact…” a burly man named Angus said. “We owe you an apology.”

Arika laughed cruelly. “How could you owe me an apology? For what? I—”

“Because we all assumed the worst of you,” the calm, older woman named Rue said. “None of us stopped to think that you were being controlled, and so assumed the worst. We spoke ill of you—”

“A lot,” Angus interrupted.

Truth smacked him on the back of the head lightly.

Rue looked flatly at Angus before returning her gaze to Arika. “As I was saying, we said horrible things about you, mostly to each other. These five even planned to kill you, given the chance.”

“A lot,” Angus said.

Truth smacked him once more, a little harder this time.

“Please, take a seat,” a tall, mage-looking woman named Frida said, gesturing at the free seating. “If not for your peace of mind, then do it for ours.”

Hesitantly, Arika looked to Orion, who tried to smile reassuringly and nodded toward the table. She walked toward the long seat, Orion close behind her, and they sat down together.

“Well, now that everyone is here, I’ll take my leave,” Tash said. She stood, but Angus put a meaty hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.

“I seem to recall you joining in on one or two of our bitch-fests regarding this young lady, Tash. Maybe you should stay.”

“But I was never kill—I mean, I wasn’t hurt by Felsteg’s manipulation…”

“Nonetheless,” Angus responded, “you were there when harsh words were spoken, and you were kind enough to gather us all together to clear up our… misunderstanding.” He smiled at her softly. “We would still be planning our revenge, if not for your efforts.”

Tash sat back down and got comfortable in her chair, accepting her fate. “Alright then, I’ll stay… but you have to pay for my drinks.”

Angus barked a laugh. “Deal.”

A server came into the room, carrying a large tray of food, and another laden with drinks. He set them down on the table, spreading plates of food out evenly and placing a cup in front of everyone.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Frida said. “I took the liberty of choosing food and drink for you. Our shout, of course. If they’re not to your liking, we can buy something else…”

“No, this is fine,” Arika said. “Thank you.”

They all started picking at the food politely, except for Angus, who bit aggressively into the drumstick of a giant bird.

Before the silence could stretch too long, Frida spoke.

“We’ve heard your side of the story, so there’s no need to make you repeat it.” She took a big drink from her glass. “So, let me ask, would you like to hear ours?”

Arika nodded softly, not meeting the tall woman’s eyes.

“Before I continue, let me make something clear: we do not see ourselves as victims of you. We see ourselves as victims of Felsteg and his ilk. We know that you were tricked into doing what you did.” She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “That being said, the events that occurred still had an overwhelmingly negative impact on us. Most of us, after we died at your hands, were lost. For a time, anyway.”

“And by most of us,” a bow wielding, average-looking man named Archer said, “She means every one of us except for Rue.”

Orion did a double take as he looked at Archer and the long-bow slung over his back.

Accurate name…

“You weren’t… bothered?” Arika asked Rue.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I wasn’t bothered. I didn’t like you, but I never really intended on adventuring outside of town in the first place. That little prick Felsteg convinced me to leave town, saying I could earn new Cooking recipes. I probably would have just given my stuff if he had asked nicely. I got by just fine without it.”

“The rest of us aren’t as Zen as Rue.” Angus took a big swig of his drink then belched loudly. “We made a party—Monte Cristo’s Hand—just to find you, and the rest of Hand of God, and get revenge.”

“Okay, first of all, you’re gross,” Truth said, scowling at Angus. “Second of all, it wasn’t just to get revenge. We wanted to get stronger, and in a weird way, you blowing all of us up brought us together, Arika.”

“In mutual hate,” Angus said.

“Angus!” Truth glared her disapproval. “We’re here to move on, you big oaf!”

“What? I’m just telling the truth. You got mad at me for lying to that merchant about where I found that club, now you want me to lie to her?” Angus looked at Arika. “We don’t hate you anymore, but we certainly did, which is what we bonded over.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“So, you formed a party, and you’ve all been adventuring?” Arika asked. “With the intention of getting strong and killing me?”

“That about sums it up,” the last member named Cain said.

Orion looked at Cain warily, noting the jagged daggers at his waist and his dark leathers.

Definitely an assassin, that one… a strong one, judging by his appearance.

“But none of that matters anymore,” Frida said. “We all got together and advanced as a team—with more than just revenge to push us forward. We wanted to become strong enough that no one could suppress or hurt us ever again. We got pretty strong, too. I wager that we’d be able to take out Felsteg and his party if they tried jumping us at this point.”

Orion watched Arika become somber as Frida spoke, and he thought something said must have upset her.

“I know you say you forgive me, or don’t blame me, at least…” Arika took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “But I am really, really sorry for what I did. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make anyone feel that way, especially innocent people targeted by that asshole. I’m sorry for the part I played, and I hope I can make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up for, silly,” Truth said, beaming a smile that reminded Orion of Honeypot. “Who knows how things would have turned out if we didn’t all come together after our literal trial-by-fire.”

“How did you all meet each other?” Arika asked.

“There’s free housing provided for adventurers that can’t afford to rent a place,” Frida said.

“It’s actually quite nice!” Truth shot another glare at Angus after he released a lour burp. “The food is suuuuper yummy, especially when Rue used to help make desert!”

“Seeing as though we had no money, that’s where we all ended up, and well, it wasn’t too hard to find each other,” Frida said with a reminiscent smile.

“Yeah!” Angus said around a mouthful of food. “Turns out, having your ass exploded by a homicidal Fire Mage is a pretty notable thing, and when you overhear someone saying as much, you think to yourself, hey, I also had my ass sent to orbit by a homicidal young girl. I wonder if it’s the same one?”

“It was. I remember all of you.” Arika smiled sheepishly. “I wanted to find you all. I really did feel terrible—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Angus made a dismissive gesture. “We’ve already heard the full story from your boyfriend there. As I said, we don’t hate you anymore, so don’t stress about it, alright? Also, you gonna eat that?” Angus pointed at the fried meat sitting in front of Arika.

Blushing, she laughed awkwardly and slid the bowl over. “I’m full. It’s all yours.”

“On one hand,” Truth said, as she watched Angus wolf down the finger-sized morsels, “You’re our tank, and I want you to grow big and strong, well, bigger and stronger. On the other hand, I’m horrified that you are eating like a pig in front of our new friends.”

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” Angus leveled a meat stick at Truth. “We’re all friends here, and friends don’t have to impress one another.” Angus’ eyes roamed past Truth as something at the other end of the table grabbed his attention. “You, uh, you gonna drink that, Rue?”

They spoke for another couple of hours, exchanging stories of their adventures so far. Most of their new friends were captivated by their rundown of events, seeming especially jubilant as Orion detailed all the times they got the best of Felsteg.

Truth was particularly enamored.

“I have to meet this Honeypot,” she said. “Saving you, Arika, that was sweet… but marking the enemy’s position with sausages?” She looked awed. “That’s art. He’s a virtuoso. A sausage-slinging virtuoso.”

“Please, for the love of all that is holy, never tell him that,” Arika said.

“Ohhh, but I bet he would love it! He sounds like the type that gets it.”

“Gets what?” Frida asked.

“You know…” Truth waved her hands around vaguely. “It. It’s hard to put greatness into words. All I can say is that I am a fan.”

Orion laughed at Arika’s helpless expression.

The members of Monte Cristo’s Hand also detailed what they’d been up to. They also spent some time questing outside of the western gate. When Orion’s team had finished their quest and been sent to the Eclipse Forest, the quest they’d been following had ended.

They moved onto the northern gate, but found there was little they could do. Things had become overrun in that direction. While the sheer amount of enemies led to some fantastic leveling and loot for them, they had no hope of beating back the tide of monsters in time to finish the Critical Quest.

Most surprising of all to Orion was that they had actually faced one of the scorpion creatures in a dungeon they defeated, meaning that the quests were somewhat interconnected.

If we had been slower, it might have been these guys that got to face the Queen of the Forest.

Orion returned all the gold that had originally been taken from them by force. They tried to decline, stating that it wasn’t Arika’s fault, but after Tash informed them that Orion would soon be the sole owner of most of the town’s treasury, Angus graciously accepted the gold for them.

The entire time they spoke, Orion noted that the assassin, Cain, never said a word after his initial introduction, instead leaning back against the wall and listening to the conversations play out. Orion tried to push any suspicion of the man out of his thoughts, reminding himself that everyone had experienced some truly horrific things. He seemed happy to be around his friends, if a little introverted. He was probably just the quiet type.

Orion asked Rue if she had been involved in any of the cooking preparation for the siege, to which she simply looked confused. He sent a quick message to Shadow, who sent back the location of where he was working. Orion told Rue that if she was looking for somewhere to help, or she wanted to gather some powerful recipes, she should go find Shadow in the morning. She thanked Orion profusely, stating she would do just that.

Eventually, it was time to get some rest, and they all said their goodbyes. Tash escorted Arika and Orion outside as the other party joked while waiting for Angus to finish the remaining food.

“Thanks for doing that for us, Tash,” Orion said as they stepped out into the cool night air. “I’m really glad we could sort that out before it came to blows.”

“Yes, thank you, Tash,” Arika agreed. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my back, and I can breathe just a bit better.”

“My pleasure.” Tash smiled kindly. “Consider it payment for making an ass of myself earlier today.”

She bid them farewell, and Orion and Arika set off back to their abode.

“Oh, one last thing!” Tash yelled, hurrying back down the street toward them. “I forgot to mention, you’ll likely be seeing some more people coming to learn professions tomorrow! A lot of groups have been trickling back into the city and simply waiting for the invasion to start. We’ll make a big push tomorrow to find these adventurers and get them started on something productive.”

They thanked Tash, once more saying goodbye before setting off. They said nothing for a long time, walking in comfortable silence and enjoying the quiet. The streets were bathed in lamplight, and Orion once more noted how beautiful a sight it was.

He wasn’t sure if it was the cool breeze or the fun company they had enjoyed, but he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. He felt comfortable beside Arika, and the silence between them felt warm, rather than the icy silence that had been lingering lately.

“Thank you, Orion,” she said.

“You don’t need to thank me. It was honestly all Tash that put that together.”

“But you asked her to.” She looked up at the sky, taking in the stars. “You kept your promise. That means a lot to me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Orion’s heart threatened to leap from his chest as Arika lightly, hesitatingly, took his hand.

He grabbed hold just as lightly, trying to return the exact amount of pressure as her.

They walked on, a long but welcome silence stretching between them as they traveled the lamp-lit streets.

Then, something entirely unwelcome walked out in front of them.