Golden light burst from the treasure chest. Valkyrie snatched her hand away, and the lid bounced noisily against its limit. Matt stepped back, raising one arm and squinting. He blinked. Then the light dimmed and altogether snuffed out.

The group cautiously re-approached the chest and leaned forward to look inside. The interior was plain, worn wood, and in the middle rested a single object: a common lemon, the same kind Matt would’ve purchased at the grocery store. It sat there, dull waxy yellow.

Kurtis was the first to reach inside. When he removed his hand, the lemon remained. Fallyn narrowed her eyes, then reached in too. Then Matt held his breath and did the same. No leprechauns jumped out to punch him. The chest didn’t explode. The lemon zipped away to his inventory.

‘Gather lemon: 1/1,’ appeared and floated away. Matt continued to scan their surroundings.

“Back to Septimus!” Val declared, spinning on her heel.

She was ten feet away before Matt had a chance to blink. He jogged to catch up.

They entered camp with late afternoon sun. Septimus Flower stood pink among the white tents, calling his messages on repeat. “Hello traveler, have you completed your quest?” “Hello traveler,…”

A strong wind rustled canvas as they walked by. The crowd around Septimus was the smallest yet. Matt could count the number of people in the field on his hands.

This was the last place we saw Anika, Matt thought. And so many others. He couldn’t help it. Shoving those thoughts down, he shouted, “I have completed the quest.”

Everything blurred as Septimus spoke. “Welcome traveler! I see you have indeed returned. And you have the ingredients! Give me a moment to whip up our feast.”

Septimus broke off and the field returned to normal. ‘708,200 XP’ floated up and away. Matt looked around; Fallyn, Kurtis, and Val all had that far-away stare. He waited. And waited.

Anika… The thoughts intruded again. I’m not going there.

“Hello? Septimus?” Matt tried. He needed a distraction.

The familiar blur returned and an excited Septimus exclaimed, “Ah! Les poisson, les poisson, he he he, ho ho ho! Here we go, little fishies are served!”

What the heck?

Septimus leaned in closer and spoke conspiratorially. “I have gotten more word,” he said. “The evil that’s spreading? It’s getting much worse. You must go see my sister to the east. She has been studying, working on something. I must stay here, so you must go. These little fishies will help you. Take them and go.”

Septimus gestured forward and an icon that looked like a fish on a plate appeared, then zoomed off into Matt’s inventory. Then the blur dropped and another ‘40,000 XP’ floated up and away.

Matt opened his inventory to take a closer look at the fish. It looked like there were five of them. The text beside it said, ‘Little Fishy,’ and then ‘+300 health and +300 health regen for 1h.’

I’ll take it, Matt thought. Then, he checked his map and found a new blue dot, up and to the right in a spot that was just nothing. It was significantly farther than they’d traveled before.

“So… keep going?” Val said.

Matt closed the map and met her eyes. There was determination there and a bit less of her usual spunk.

“We’re three-quarters of the way to Level 5,” Fallyn said. “I agree.”

“Sure,” Kurtis weighed in with a shrug. He looked ridiculous with the tiny green hat.

“Well, who am I to disagree?” Matt said. “Let’s head out.”

On their way out of camp, Matt spotted a few people in tents. They sat or lay on the mattresses. A woman hugged an orange tabby pillow and rocked back and forth. Matt averted his eyes.

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He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, minding the blades of short grass. Most of the tents were empty. There were so many of them, so many empty spaces. Wind rustled the canvases and blew in dark gray clouds. His arm hairs prickled and Matt rubbed them.

The east end of the field transitioned to meadow and Matt soon found himself following a stream. The north bank was gentle—sparse rocks and grasses, which were easily traversed. The mountains loomed left and right. They seemed to be getting a bit closer. Matt stared off at them and felt small. He felt homesick.

“What would you be doing right now?” Kurtis asked quietly, while he scratched behind one ear. He had fallen in step beside Matt; the girls were up ahead. “I mean, if we weren’t here?”

“Working I guess.” Matt adjusted his glasses and forced a smile.

“Oh, what do you do?” Kurtis inquired.

“Accountant.” Matt shrugged and then added, “It’s not that interesting.”

Kurtis raised his eyebrows.

“Okay, I hate it,” Matt admitted.

Kurtis smiled. “So, if I said TPS reports?”

“Then, I’d say, give me a printer. We’ve got a field right here and my mace will do fine.”

Kurtis’ smile widened. “And they make you work on the weekend?”

Matt hadn’t even realized. Was his sense of time thrown off that badly? “No,” Matt corrected. “Sorry. It’s not that bad.”

Kurtis looked over at him, expectantly.

“Um, around this time of year, I usually help my parents with yard work, I guess.” Matt paused, then explained, “I’m saving up to move out and Dad’s back isn’t great.”

“Nice,” Kurtis reflected. “Mine are divorced. Once I graduated college, Dad moved back to Japan. Mom’s still here though. I mean there. I mean…” He placed his hands on the back of his neck and paused. “I really hope they’re still there,” he added sadly.

“Me too,” Matt said, lowering his gaze to the water.

The stream narrowed to a span as wide as Matt was tall. It flowed dully under the gathering clouds.

“I did architecture,” Kurtis offered. “Work specializes in commercial spaces mostly. But today I wouldn’t be at work either. Maybe gaming with my friends, fending Ralph off the keyboard. He only tries to sit there when I’m using it.”

“I had a dog when I was growing up,” Matt said. “He was a scruffy little guy, a Cairn Terrier.”

“I think I know what a terrier is…” Kurtis responded. “But I’m more of a cat person.”

Matt stared back at him and smirked. “I’m sorry, dude.” Matt chuckled “That’s just too easy.”

Kurtis scowled.

As the hike continued, the small talk got easier, and it started to get noticeably late. The sky eventually settled on a medium shade of gray and the sun became a fuzzy orb behind the clouds. Matt checked his map, then leaned right to inspect the sunken stream bed. Hairs of grass spilled over the edge like a mustache in need of a trim. The water level was very low.

“Hey, think we should cross?” Matt called up to Fallyn and Val.

“Alright,” Fallyn said and started backtracking.

It really felt like they were up in the mountains. Matt could see tiny trees dotting their slopes and, in the distance, he thought he saw a few snow-capped peaks. Or are those clouds? he second-guessed himself.

“Should be another half an hour,” Fallyn said. “I’ve been timing it.” She slid down the bank to the water level. “Shall we?”

Matt thought about leaping across the top but then thought better of it.

Wait, she’s been timing it?

Matt slid down to join her. Roots protruded through the side of the bank, shedding dirt as he brushed against them.

“What do you mean, you’ve been timing it?” Matt said.

“With the clock and the timer?” Fallyn raised one eyebrow.

“You have those things?” Matt said.

“Yes?” Fallyn replied and Matt waited. “I tried some instructions,” she elaborated, “emulating what the Chatbot told us.”

I am an idiot, Matt thought.

Val skidded down beside him. “Hiya!”

Then Kurtis joined too and Matt was first to cross—or at least to make an attempt. Matt leaped and splashed down a foot from the shore and then started to fall backward, grabbing for spindly roots. He lurched, a splashy step, and then crashed forward to the bank. Water drained from the holes in his lime-green Crocks as he heaved himself up to the grass.

Kurtis was next. He made it look easy. Then Fallyn didn’t even give it a try. She trudged confidently, with heavy steps. Matt wondered if her Uggs were waterproof. The water flowed around them and soon she was hoisting herself up beside him.

Then Val yelled, “Catch me!” and flung herself towards the group. With a splash, she stuck a gymnastic landing, eyes closed and two-thirds of the way across. Valkyrie opened her eyes and then slogged the rest of the way, muttering,

“You didn’t see anything.”

Across the stream, the final half hour went quickly. The sky grew dark and the water faithfully led to their destination. A meadow opened up to the right and, at its center, on a bed of soft grass ringed by mountains, stood a small gray house.

Drawing closer, Matt could see that the gray was stone. It was more of a cottage, and shorter than a normal building; it was partially dug into the ground. A window let light in on each side of the teal wood door, and the roof spilled over in rough thatch. Familiar white fabric rose behind the building, and a woman sat in front of it all on a rocking chair.

“Welcome traveler,” she said, rising to greet them. “What brings you this far north?” She smoothed the front of her black skirt. It said ‘Sister Mary’ above her habit.

“Septimus Flower sent us,” Matt replied and then the cottage and meadow blurred.

“Well, hello then. I did send word. But it is dangerous here with me.” The nun motioned towards the white blur behind her. “Tonight, rest, but tomorrow we must make preparations.”

Sister Mary disengaged and eased back to her chair. Then a tingle began to spread. Sister Mary rocked back, then forward, back, then forward. The XP notification had already floated away. Matt was Level 5.