I would have been impressed with our speed, had it worked.

Honestly, I was taken aback with the speed in which Kappa drew her bow and nocked an arrow, the agility that Killian showed as he flipped his axe off of his back and readied himself; I would’ve been blown away. Hell, even I had the Alder Arrow ready and aimed at Millicent’s head in less than a second… but I did say would have been impressed, didn’t I? I say would’ve been because unlike Drew, Millicent hadn’t used his time-lapse spell within the last 24 hours and before any of us could fire everyone but me was frozen.

Am I being unfair? I little bit right? Ya okay, I’m sorry. I was impressed anyway; who cares if they were suspended in animation for almost five times as long as Drew’s spell? Who cares if he cast black binding on me (the black smoke spell Drew had used on Hestle) and I was stuck to the spot… who cares if Millicent had obviously reached his max level? NOT ME (he said unconvincingly). I suppose all of this has taught me to be more kind to myself and others though and for that reason alone - you bet your bottom dollar that I was impressed. We are an impressive group… errr were an impressive group.

THAT BEING SAID it didn’t really amount to a hill of beans because we were all stuck in position as Millicent casually walked down the stone steps that led from the floor above towards the courtyard. As I mentioned, a powerful enough spell could keep them suspended for almost fifteen minutes and the black binding was as long as he held his concentration so if he was cleverly using a few high powered abilities back to back, we were completely stuck. That’s okay though, I didn’t expect us to live that long as Millicent touched down onto the stone of our level. As he walked into the dark of the court he cast a dancing light spell which filled the entire area with soft blue orbs that bathed the entire scene in a dream-like hue. With a menace that felt almost surreal he entered the blue light of the yard and as his visage came into view, I realized we were about to die.

I had created Millicent as the games antagonist, the ultimate rival in a world of my creation. For that reason he wasn’t just the villain of the game but one made for me; my nemesis. I remembered not being sure of what to make him or her at first. I had drafted many versions; an Orc general, a powerful witch, the king of giants - all of which seemed fitting but none fit so well as Principal Miller. His look, his stats, they were as close as I could guess and as real as I saw him. For lack of a better word I imported his entire personality into the game. I had used my real life bully as a model for the nemesis that stood before us and in that dim light of the courtyard; it was exactly what I had made. Mr. Miller stood there before us.

My mouth ran dry and my stomach tensed as if my body prepared for a blow. He stood draped in violet robes with a blank expression on his face and studied us. He looked at each of our faces as if trying to understand and after he a long look, landed on mine. He cleared his throat and said,

“Lester what on earth did you do?”

His voice was simple, unassuming and he said it with a bizarre inflection, almost as if annoyed but with a tinge of humor. It was almost as if he were impressed. I could only watch him and after a minute he added, “Well?”

I arched an eyebrow through the wispy black tendrils of his spell that held my arms and legs in place and said, “I came to rescue my parents and to end you.” It was said in the most intimidating voice I could manage but unfortunately I had put points into Charisma and persuade… not Intimidation. Millicent laughed in a way that brought me back to Gym class. He shook his head in a dismissive way as if mocking me and I could feel the tears in my eyes welling.

“End me?” he said with a laugh, “Lester it’s me, Miller.” He said with a sincerity that felt out of place. “Your parents are upstairs. They’re completely fine and I’ve been looking for you and Marcus since all of this started.” He gestured widely to the courtyard as if to say whatever this is. I shook my head no, denying his words, knowing that Millicent could be clever and… and I didn’t want it to be true.

“Then release us.” I dared him, the emotion causing my voice to crack slightly and with a snap he did,

“No fighting though, okay?” he said as everyone, including me was suddenly freed. I drew back on my bow with the Alder Arrow and aimed it at him.

“Lester this is not okay,” he said sternly and to my surprise, I heard the others object as well.

Jessica put a hand on my arm and said, “Hey, it’s Miller, we had him for gym. Can you put the bow down,” but I couldn’t focus on her through the tears in my eyes. I drew taut on the bow as Millicent put his hands up and the others waited nervously,

“Lester, put it down please,” Drew said, I could hear the tone in his voice; sympathetic and concerned but I didn’t waiver as It was a tone I knew well. One of faux compassion and I felt the anger rise within me. As I stood there, my arrow pointing at Miller, all I could see was his office. All I could feel was the way he would talk down to me, the way he tried to “help” me and for a moment I almost though I would let the arrow loose. Then I felt Kappa’s hand on my shoulder. I didn’t move and knowing everything she did about me and Miller, she stepped in front of me and in front of my bow.

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“Hey,” she said as if it were just the two of us sitting by the lake outside the cave we had first explored together, the one with the Stone Breaker quest. There was calmness to her voice that washed over me as my eyes darted between her and Miller behind. I made a pained expression but she continued, “It’s me, Kappa.” She said with a smile, my eyes still bouncing between the two. I could hear the pluck of my tears on the leather of my arm and finally I met only her eyes.

“Okay.” I said through gritted teeth as my arms began to shake with the tension,

“I know how you are feeling; I understand that seeing him here is hurting you. I understand.” She said, “But look around you.” I quickly glanced around at Jessica, Killian, Silas, Drew and yes, even Sarah and then back to Kap who said, “These are your friends, they care about you. They trust you and they love you.” I could feel tears running hotly down my cheeks, “they don’t want you to do this.”

“He’s…”

“I know,” she said softly, “I know he feels like a villain in your mind; not just in the game.”

“He is…” I stuttered,

“…but we don’t want this,” she said and gestured to the others, “please, trust your friends.”

I turned to them to see Jessica and Drew nodding yes, Killian was looking at his feet and even Silas had his hands clasp as if in a plead. I turned back to Kappa and slowly lowered my bow. We all stood in quiet for a moment and then Millicent said, “Upstairs there are a number of rooms, plenty of food and your parents,” he said at me and Silas spoke up.

“Mom and Dad?” with a confused look Miller nodded and then said,

“Why don’t you all head upstairs, I think I need to have a heart to heart with Lester.”

As they filed upstairs Drew, Jessica, Kappa and even Killian all gave me a hug. When we were alone, Miller walked over to the stone archway that led to the garden and brought the dancing lights with him. The garden was filled with gorgeous vegetables and fruits and after a short walk he stopped by a stone slab and sat down. I could tell he wanted to ask me questions but instead he said,

“This place is beautiful.” He looked up to the star filled night sky and sighed, “You know, I didn’t grow up in town. I actually grew up in the country. My dad had a hard childhood; harder than either of us could imagine. He grew up in a time where people treated those with our skin colour like animals. Justice, fairness, they were things that weren’t just unattainable, they were an impossible dream. Anyway, he didn’t want that life for me, or at least not the kind of life in the city that he had, so he bought my mom and I a farm.” He said as if remembering it fondly, “I remember the tall grass of the fields, the way they’d dance in the wind. I remember the barren tree line in the winter that bordered the property. It was the only place I’ve ever been that felt at home.” He looked down to the garden before him, “Until this place.” He turned up to look at me and met my face for a long time. His expression was one that told a singular story of respect.

Though it was dark, I watched him wipe his eyes and after a moment stood. He took a few paces towards the garden and continued his story, “My mom had a garden like this one and I remember playing in it as a boy, digging up weeds for ten cents a pop,” he chuckled softly to himself, “but my dad, he was the one that shaped me. He taught me how to be strong, how to make friends, how to build things with my hands…” he looked down at his open hands.

I walked past him and sat on the stone bench behind him. He walked through the garden and stopped leaving a few rows of crops between us. In the distance an owl hooted and the wind picked up above us stirring the leaves in the courtyard behind us.

“When my dad died, my mom and I had to sell the place and move to town. When I got older I wanted to help kids the way my dad helped me, so I became a teacher.” He looked at me, “I know you and I have never seen eye to eye but I never thought I was a villain to you, Les.” He said and I could feel the sadness in his voice, “I saw you…” he stumbled a bit on his words and I could hear the emotion in his voice, “I don’t think I’ll ever have a kid…”

“I know.” I said and his face shot up towards me.

It’s crazy how much an event or action can change your life or even your perspective. Maybe it was just age but I think Dunn caused me to make some harsh realizations about the way I was and the way I wanted to be. What can I say? I’m human.

“I blamed you for something that I shouldn’t have.” Miller’s face watched me carefully through the dim lights, “I think part of me wanted to think of you as a villain because it meant I could blame my problems on you. The truth is that… I realize that the things you put in my path, the things you said that hurt me and the suggestions you made, they weren’t meant to be cruel…”

“Things I said? Things I did?” he asked with genuine curiosity,

“Making me do pushups in front of the entire class, telling them that I was crying, showing them how weak I am…”

“That stuff doesn’t make you weak,” he said dismissively,

“I know,” I shot back, “but it felt weak.” He took a second and I could see the reaction to defend washed over him but instead he paused and thought. After a long moment, he nodded.

“I’m sorry, Les.”

He was and I knew it. I’d known for a long time that Miller wasn’t the villain I had wanted him to be but it was easier to be angry than it was to realize that he was human; just like me. If Jessica had taught me anything it was that people make mistakes and their actions don’t always define them. The people had a chance to change.

“I’m sorry too,” I said and we stood up and shook hands, “nice robes by the way,” we laughed and after a beat he said,

“This place makes me feel like a kid again, Lester. What you did here, what you’ve done, it’s truly remarkable,” He said looking around then back at me, “but why am I here?”

Though the reasoning was thin, the closest I could figure was that the code must have thought his character was a save state, just like ours. The similarities between the Millicent I wrote and the Miller I based him on must have been so similar that the game thought they were the same person. I was happy that he was the only person based on someone I knew in real life. I explained as much as I could as we headed upstairs to meet the others and as we walked and talked I suddenly realized… we we’re going home.