The next morning, Matt’s group headed out from Murl’s castle, dandelions at their feet and sunshine at their backs. The mountains stretched up on all sides. Matt guessed they’d reach the farm by noon—or the closest thing to it in the weird 20-hour day. Sharkie and Manuele appeared to be just south of it, their position represented on the map by a darker version of the Earth Aspect gem that showed his own location.

Matt hoped they’d stay close enough that meeting up wouldn’t take much time. There was a long day of hiking ahead. It would take two days to get back near the Megacastle either way, so Fallyn had proposed staying overnight at the abbey. As much as Matt hated the possibility of getting ganked in that area, they had to tell people what they’d learned.

The alternative was to stop in the desert but that was only a single tent. They had to get the word out, or at least try. After that, they’d head north of The Parthenon. Sharkie had spotted quests there that neither of them had completed.

Val hummed the theme to Inspector Gadget as they walked through the grass. Wiggles dragged a branch. Matt wondered if they’d see any changes yet, now that they’d ‘righted the realm’ or whatever. Murl’s light show with the orbs had certainly been fancy enough.

If Matt was honest, curiosity was also a factor nudging him towards the abbey. There had been gravemist everywhere on the surrounding hills. Maybe if it was gone there’d be no portal and then the ganking would stop. A man can dream, Matt thought.

Wind gusted extra-strong through the mountain pass today. Matt cursed his trashcan cuirass under his breath. It was acting like a sail. He was happy when they reached the narrow northern path, almost invisible from this side. They’d missed it entirely the first time when they’d headed into the marsh with those damn kappas.

Even thinking about it for a split second, Matt could feel the hot breath enveloping his neck, the sharp pressure. He rubbed along both sides of his neck, then casually laced his fingers behind his head. It was nice to walk somewhere without monsters for a while.

That particular luxury ended an hour later when they exited the rocky path. Matt pulled out his sword and shield, preparing to deal with the hairy spiders. They were low-level, 5 through 7, but would still do enough damage if they piled on, so they couldn’t be ignored. Freaking things slowed their pace annoyingly, but it couldn’t be helped.

The clock on Matt’s interface read ‘10.1’ when they strode up to the farmhouse, white and wood with a wrap-around porch. Judging by the sun high above, his noon estimate had been right. The cowboy hat wearing quest-giver saluted them from its brim. And then Sharkie and Manuele jumped out from the rows of corn.

“Surprise!” Sharkie yelled with a grin.

“They knew where we were,” Manuele said.

“Live a little,” Sharkie chided.

“I liked it,” Val said. “Wiggles too.” She held up his little hand.

“Hee?” He stared at the limb and then at Sharkie.

“Good job, little guy.” Sharkie mussed the top of the beaver’s head.

“Get some quests done?” Fallyn asked casually.

“Yeah,” Sharkie said. “Here, actually. Grab the first one from this guy. It’s quick. The next one took forever. But do the first.”

Matt picked up the quest from the cowboy hat NPC and then Sharkie led them into the field. They had to repair five scarecrows, which involved putting hats on heads and pushing back in eyes. Val approved of the googly eyes. Twenty minutes flat and they were done.

“So, bitchy disembodied voice the other day…” Sharkie broached when they were well on their way to the abbey.

Matt breathed out loudly, then grunted out an “Uh huh.”

He’d known they’d have to talk about it eventually, but a little part of him was holding out hope that there was a proximity element to the broadcast. They’d gone a whole hour without mentioning it.

“You guys heard it too right?” Manuele asked.

Kurtis nodded. “That was me asking questions. Making her respond. Well, that she was responding to.” He grimaced.

“We figured it was something like that,” Sharkie said, “when she refused to pass the tin can.”

“The last one was nicer,” Val called back. She was skipping ahead with Wiggles, who was trailing his biggest stick yet.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Yeah…” said Sharkie, “seemed like she had a bit of a stick problem.”

“Hee?” Wiggles paused, standing up on his hind legs.

“Yeah, Wiggles,” Sharkie said. “She coulda used your skillset.”

“Wu.” The beaver dropped back to all fours and continued walking.

“So, I guess you heard what she said,” Matt ventured.

“That you guys got some poor Operator fired, yeah.” Sharkie smirked.

Matt shook his head. “About party size and the Megabowl?”

“Yeah, that too.”

“There has to be some way around it,” Fallyn said.

“Yeah!” Val cheered.

“I’m not so sure,” Kurtis said. “In any games I’ve played, instance limits are… They just are what they are, okay?” There was a sharpness to his voice that Matt wasn’t used to.

Matt frowned. He was their resident expert and the Operator had been pretty matter-of-fact about it. “So, what now?”

Kurtis made big eyes and spread his arms.

“Not to be too negative,” Fallyn said gently, “but it’s moot until we all reach seventeen.”

Matt eyed his XP bar: 36% left. Sharkie and Manuele had little 15s on their portraits in his party interface. “How close to Level 16 are you?”

“Nowhere near it.” Sharkie pressed her lips together.

“Let’s pick up the pace,” Matt said.

###

It was late afternoon when the abbey snuck up on the horizon. Matt couldn’t decide whether it looked better or worse without its blanket of green smog. He hadn’t noticed the bones before. They crunched underfoot with the dead plant matter. It looked as he imagined the aftermath of a fire or explosion, fragile and overly still.

“Inviting isn’t it.” Sharkie flicked her daggers to the scenery.

“Yeah,” Manuele agreed with a wave of his swords.

As much as those two fought and argued, they were two peas in a pod. Matt supposed if he’d been through half of what they’d told him with another person, he might be the same. Sharkie had glossed over so much of the cottage and her class quest. And they were still being cagey about having to privately ‘take care of’ something related to Manuele’s eyes each day. If the man wasn’t yammering about Maria so much Matt would’ve guessed they were sneaking off to make out or something.

Manuele’s latest had been, “Maybe she’ll be at the abbey. You’re all going to love her!”

No one dared reiterate the story from the day Brett got punched.

Matt just listened in silence. Let the man have hope. Who is it hurting, anyways?

As they got closer to the building, Matt could see that the bubble was gone. The talisman no longer shone above. They hiked around to the south side of the building, to the huge exterior doors which had been sealed shut on their last visit. Now, these doors were propped open, welcoming visitors from the desolate landscape.

Matt jogged up the broad marble steps and with a “Wu-wu-wu” Wiggles rushed past him. Val laughed. It was nice to hear laughter, even if he couldn’t muster it himself. His weapons disappeared from his hands, once he stepped inside.

After a quick check for them in his inventory, Matt took a deep breath and said, “Let’s see who we can find.”

The abbey’s sanctum felt far more grand, once again an almost empty room. Matt’s party entered through huge lacquered doors that the ancient nun had used with her procession. The stained glass cascaded images on the pale stone floor and the clicks of Matt’s boots felt all too loud. They echoed through the vaulted ceiling.

“Stylin,’” Sharkie said, pointedly looking down at Matt’s feet. He couldn’t tell whether she was serious. He couldn’t tell a lot of things about her.

“Thanks.” He shrugged.

Three figures rushed in from the side entrance on their right. The strangers stopped and stared when they saw Matt’s group.

“Hi!” called Val with a little wave.

Wiggles dropped his stick and stared up at them.

“Um, hi?” the man on the left said.

“Told ya I heard people!” came the man on the right. He pointed for emphasis, loose sleeves of a green terry bathrobe flapping.

“Yep, we’re people,” Sharkie said.

The man in the middle narrowed his ice-blue eyes. He had buzzed black hair and an outfit that was almost a wet suit.

Matt didn’t know what to call the first speaker’s clothes. He wore a ring of flowers on his head, zip-away cargo pants with more pockets than he’d ever seen, and a stiff shirt made of pink transparent plastic.

Here goes nothing, Matt thought, psyching himself up to explain what they’d learned. This was why they’d chosen the abbey instead of the desert. He could do this.

“Why are you a cat?” bathrobe said. Then he turned to his companions. “Why is he a cat?”

“Are the ears part of the hat?” flower-crown asked.

Kurtis swished his tail and held it in his hand.

“Woah,” the man with the frigid stare said. “Sucks to be you.”

“Ha! Could you imagine him on a date!” the flower man continued.

“Hey,” Matt broke in, “uh, he can’t help it, okay. Listen, we’ve learned something about the, the whole situation.”

“Oh! Oh! And the little kitten-babies!” flower-crown continued as if Kurtis—or even Matt’s entire group—wasn’t there.

“It’s like real-life anime!” the ice-eyed man said. “Say something Japanese!” He stared at Kurtis. “Say something. Come on!”

Matt cleared his throat. “As I was saying, you need to know—”

“That this dude can’t speak?” bathrobe chuckled.

“Maybe that happens when you get turned into a cat,” flower-crown said.

“I can speak,” Kurtis grated.

“A cat that speaks!” the ice-eyed man exclaimed.

“Leave him alone!” said Val.

“Oh yeah?” the robed man said with a grin. “Gonna make me?”

“Maybe she can say something Japanese for us.” The ice-eyed man crossed his arms.

“I’m Chinese!”

“Look,” Matt tried again, “we think FRC is setting us all up. You need to know. If you’ve been killing other people, you need to stop.”

“Uh huh,” said the ice-eyed man, raising his dark eyebrows. “Sounds like something you’d say if you can’t hold your own.”

“You should listen to him!” Manuele jumped in.

“You should listen to him,” the robed man mocked Manuele’s accent.

“We’ll be seeing you outside tomorrow,” the ice-eyed man said in a tone as cool as his stare. Then he turned on his heels and exited the same way he’d entered. His two friends followed, snickering.

Kurtis stared at the empty doorway, muscles tense, tail in hand. The orange hairs were pricked up slightly on his shoulders.

“Well, that went well,” Sharkie said.

Yeah, Matt thought, really fucking well.