The mood was officially killed. No one ate, Forsythe was devastated. He even recooked the poisoned dish and offered it to them so they could all experience poisoning and temporary blindness. No one took him up on it. Everyone lightened up considerably when the Half began to leave. The King was looking defeated and he took his retinue with him when he left. Princess Victoria went after him, looking like she was determined to see to his well-being for the night at least. Idolia began to paint the beginning of her mural, after loudly announcing that despite the best efforts of a stupid Resident she wasn’t going to have a bad day.

The next two days were largely the same. The Half all steered clear, although Victoria did return once to assure everyone that they were all still allies. It was just a tough time. The King was inconsolable and the rest of the kingdom seemed to have officially gone into mourning over Adalia’s exile. No one really expected her to make it out there by herself.

Shadow Fall still laughed at jokes and went about their business making plans and comparing notes on the Half city. Surprisingly the ones that didn’t shake off that day seemed to be the people Amelia had thought to be the least likely to be affected. Amelia found Raven outside sitting on an abandoned table, legs dangling without boots as the picnic table cover flapped in the gentle breeze, kept in place solely by her weight.

“Not going exploring today?” Amelia asked. At least that’s what she thought Raven had been doing the past day.

“Nah. I’ve seen towns full of dead people before,” Raven said flatly, staring listlessly upward. “I think Aidan’s gonna get mad soon. It’s not usually an issue, but you and Victoria are breaking the rules. He kinda takes those rules super serious.”

“I’m breaking the rules?” Amelia asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I don’t want to talk about it. You’re probably gonna get super mad and I don’t want to be there when you guys have it out, ‘kay?” Raven looked over at her, hoping that would be the case. “It’d be like mom and dad fighting in front of me.”

“I’m not going to get mad.” Amelia said slowly, treading carefully since she didn’t recognize the despondent look in the usually indomitably cheerful girl.

“Yeah, you’re gonna be mad.” Raven replied after looking at her and thinking about it. “It’s how he gets in your head. Makes you mad. Cannonball to the brain and it bounces around in there until you want to scream at him. BOOM!” Raven made a fist near her temple and then made her sound-effect as she simulated an explosion.

“It was a rough few days. I’ll give you that. Is he going to be mad at me because I asked him to solve the problem earlier?” Amelia asked, trying to gain information. She was starting to get a little worried and didn’t like the idea of fighting with Aidan.

Instead of answering directly Raven saw Forsythe helping carry chairs out. She beckoned him over. “Hey, do you think Amelia’s breaking the rules?”

“Yes,” Forsythe said. He put the chair down. “I’m surprised Aidan hasn’t caught it.”

“Oh, he caught it,” Raven said. “You can’t sneak things no matter how sneaky.”

“True.” Forsythe agreed, and he turned to Amelia. “Just remember that we all get it from him now and again. He’ll make it up to you with dates probably.”

“Make what up to me?” Amelia was growing ever more baffled.

“I wonder.” Forsythe turned and left to go carry more chairs, and after failing to re-engage Raven in conversation Amelia decided to go find Aidan. If he was mad at her for something she thought it best to go find out about it directly. She really couldn’t imagine anything, and it was galling.

------------

“Can we talk?” Amelia asked.

Aidan was sitting near a wall, his eyes half-lidded as he watched Idolia mix paint. Amelia might have been jealous if she hadn’t recognized his faraway look. Idolia was in front of him and his eyes were tracking, but he was miles away. “Yeah.”

Amelia hesitated when she sat across from him. His lack of a reaction wasn’t what she had been expecting. She peered at him over the table, trying to discern his mood. He gave her a half-smile, encouraging her a little bit. Aidan always smiled at her nowadays, one of the perks.

“So Raven said something interesting to me, and I wanted your thoughts on it. Two things actually. One that I was breaking the rules and you were getting mad at me, and two when I asked her if she was exploring the city she kinda told me she hadn’t really ever looked around. She said she’d seen towns full of dead people before.”

Aidan straightened slightly, and he smiled a little wider. “That’s a really good way to put it.” Aidan didn’t expand further, and instead, started looking lost. She had never seen him hesitate like this before. Amelia honestly had no idea what was baffling Aidan to the point where he kept opening and closing his mouth like he couldn’t find the right words.

“Spill it.” Amelia finally commanded, tired of his fish act.

“I don’t want to fight.” Aidan finally shrugged his shoulders. “Not like I don’t care, I just don’t want to fight. I’m finding it really hard to try and phrase this in any way that doesn’t come off as me being a really big jerk.” He admitted at last.

“So you want to say mean things to me? You’re having trouble now for whatever reason?” Amelia frowned. “Just say it, this has never stopped you before. I don't really mind it any this point anyway,” she sorta lied.

Aidan sighed again, his shoulders slumping. “Hear me out.”

“Aidan, I’m really not mad. I came in here because you, Raven, and Forsythe all have something on your mind and you’re all terrified of telling me!” Amelia laughed. “Flattering I guess.”

Aidan smiled then, the first real smile since he’d sat at the table. “I guess it’s because we love you.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Amelia smiled. “You’re really doing a good job of avoiding a fight so far.”

“Alright!” Aidan dropped his feet from the bench and leaned toward her across the table. He put his hands out toward her and grinned. This was a pose she knew very well. Even though it sounded like he was going to scold her she couldn’t help but think he did look pretty handsome when he got all excited and serious. “You know when you got that Empress title, land, ownership, blah blah blah?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Amelia batted her eyelashes. “Did that happen?”

“Right you remember. You said at one point you wouldn’t rule a city of corpses, or a kingdom of corpses, or something. I was really touched. I mean I didn’t know you were a time-traveling lunatic…” Aidan expanded, ruining what was almost a moment. “But it was smart. The game really gave you a crap reward. I mean it was tying you down to a place with no population, no resources, and let’s face it… there were graves littering that place. You really were about to receive a kingdom of corpses. So when I pulled you aside and told you to cede land, I really meant to just one of the rulers. Let them have it, get away from it.”

“Just one? I remember it differently.” Amelia admitted.

“That’s because you filled in the blanks yourself. That speech about never missing out on the experience of the three races because they were all going to expand into a kingdom together? Brilliant.” Aidan continued.

“I am not feeling like fighting you,” Amelia said slowly wondering where this was going.

“Good. Then let me ask. What are we doing here, Amelia?” Aidan leaned in, opened his hands up and finally just looked around giving a helpless shrug.

“Saving the Half?” Amelia answered. She wasn’t getting to where he was trying to lead her yet.

“In this guild hall? I think, considering the last few days, we have made a grave tactical error. It compounds by every moment we all sit here.” Aidan sighed. “They were almost better off before we got here. For one thing, we do not know when Void will appear. We could literally terrorize these people concerning a villain that may not be slated to arrive for weeks. They could get angry and throw us out! The hero races haven’t arrived, the Queen is a Princess, and we haven’t made any traction against the information we KNOW the game has planned. There is no king in the story. No princess. Well, so far we have proven that now there certainly won’t be a Princess Adalia! We didn’t save her, or dissuade her, or even know she was a threat. We not only have made no progress, but we are actually impeding the story.”

“Impeding how?” Amelia argued, still not angry but growing a little intrigued. “We’re stuck waiting around until we get a breadcrumb.”

“See? I don’t think so. Either we missed it or it wasn’t our quest to start.” He leaned in again, looking concerned. “What if, since it’s a point in history, it isn’t our breadcrumb.”

“So we should be prodding Princess Victoria.” Amelia mused. “That makes sense.”

“No. You’re still not getting me.” Aidan sighed. “The rule you’re breaking is the one about reality.” He started fidgeting with his hands, and Amelia finally realized this was the part that he thought was going to cause her serious anger.

“This world is reality?” Amelia asked. “We know it’s important so if we’re not doing something I’m all ears.”

“No Amelia, you and Victoria even, are both breaking the rule.” Aidan shook his head. “You haven’t smiled since you got here. Not your true smile. Not the smile that looks around helplessly, intrigued and fascinated, and a bit alarming. Instead you, and some of the others,” Aidan admitted, “are looking around like you’re time-travelers, trying to soak in as much of the history as you can because you have already decided everything you see will be gone.”

“Isn’t that what we sort of are?” Amelia pressed. She wasn’t getting angry but she was starting to get a vague sense of where he was going finally. It was starting to nag at her brain. No, she realized, it had been nagging at her brain since she had arrived.

“No. You are Empress Amelia of Elysium! These are your subjects." He spread his arms wide, voice raising somewhat, making Idolia still from painting as she turned to start to pay attention. Others stilled their conversations too as he continued.

"Instead of thinking of ways to save them all or to do wildly fantastic things to get your way you are simply going at their pace and waiting for them to figure a way out of this mess on their own. That is a problem though! Victoria hasn’t shown any willingness to lead her people. She keeps asking us what they can be doing. They haven’t even declared a state of emergency!” Aidan slapped the table a bit angrily, and Amelia decided it wasn’t wise to point out that he was the angry one and she was the calm one. “They pushed us off to the side so they wouldn’t have to think about us. Mourning was raising an army from the entire population to fight Void. There are 20 of us, really, that can fight. The Halves can’t sit this out and none of the pieces are sliding into place.”

“ Princess Victoria is a problem.” He held up finger number one. “She is the Hero Queen Victoria, except not?”

“Everyone, all of the Half, dies at some point. That is a problem.” A second finger shot up. “They have to fight because history says they gave Void one hell of a fight, but we need them to live not just fight at some point.”

“The dragon is somewhere pretending to be dead. He fights with us at the final battle, yet the Halves think ‘good riddance’ and he is as yet off-scene. That is a problem.” A third finger shot up.

“The four races send a combined army against Void, but there are no four race armies. That is a problem.” Amelia answered. Aidan started to speak again but Amelia held up a hand to silence him.

“You’re angry.” He decided, eyes scanning her face with worry.

“No, I’m doing what you do when someone points out something that is important. I’m thinking. Now be silent for a moment.” Amelia muttered a little more tersely than she meant.

True the biggest cog that was at their disposal was sitting unused at the Half Castle. Aidan was right, forget King Johanis -- he should be removed to safety and put out of play. It was Hero Queen Victoria, brave and strong, who united the Halves and won the friendship of the other races. It was Victoria who, by herself, fought the last remnant of Void’s agents and gave her life on top of the mountain. Hero Queen Victoria who seemed perfectly content to be following her dad around and popping into their guildhall while she waited for them to do something. Aidan was right. Everyone was avoiding reality. Amelia wasn’t treating them like future friends with problems shared, she was treating them distantly like she would soon be done with them because they’d be dead.

Amelia stood up abruptly, face colored. She couldn’t help it, she was shouting. “Now I’m alarmed, but not angry!” She was angry but couldn’t quite admit it to herself yet. “I can’t believe I’ve been walking around a city full of dead people for even 2 days and I was actually happy about it!”

Silence descended on the hall. Aidan was the first to make any noise a moment later. At first, his face had looked shocked, and then little by little he colored. At last, he let out the laugh Amelia had expected from him during the banquet. “Hahahahahaha. It’s amazing. Months and you can still surprise me.”

Amelia was secretly pleased even though she felt none of her sudden worry subsiding. She turned on the guild channel. “Emergency Shadow Fall meeting. I am declaring a state of emergency.”

“What’s up?” Hunter asked confused.

“Under attack probably. God, I’m so glad. If I had to sit and watch these Halves play for another day I was going to think about quitting.” Gilduirn said, further confirming what Amelia already knew to be true. They all felt the wrongness of the situation.

“Then get ready. We’re not sitting around anymore. We’ve been going about this the wrong way.” Amelia said, and then she smiled down at Aidan even as her gaze swept to the front door where she could just see Raven’s feet swinging bare through the door from her seat atop the table outside.

“Hey, let's be bad guys.” She said, her face contorting horrifically for the first time during the expedition.

Idolia lifted her chin slightly and took a screenshot of that expression without mentioning it.