Mason led his brother into the chief’s hall, where they found Seul-ki waiting. She and Blake embraced and spoke a little while, and he promised to come to her later.

“Thank you for the boost, Seul-ki,” Mason said. “Outside the walls. That was incredibly brave. If maybe a little foolish.”

The Korean girl smiled and bowed a little, then walked towards her room.

“You haven’t been a complete and utter manwhore in my absence, have you?” Blake said when she was out of earshot, his tone perfectly light.

“No,” Mason hissed. “Jesus I wouldn’t…and you’d better not ever consider, or I swear to God…”

Blake laughed and put up his hands in surrender. Then the little orb over his shoulder started bloody talking.

“Master, this player has a shocking aura of player destruction. He also resisted identification, but not before I detected extreme danger. Please be very cautious.”

Mason quirked a brow, and Blake gave the orb a comforting pat.

“Navi, meet my brother Mason. Mason, this is Navi. She’s my familiar, really, but I guess you could call her my pet.”

“Oh that’s wonderful, Master!” the little thing twirled. Then it grew a face and smiled. “I was afraid he was going to murder us!”

“Never say never,” Mason said, then led Blake to a table. He was about to try and remember where the coffee machine was when Haley whisked inside with a pot and tray of finger food. She gave Blake a brief one-armed hug, then Mason a quick peck on the lips and walked out just as fast.

“I see nothing much has changed,” Blake said with a grin.

“You look good,” Mason said honestly. “Happy, even. ”

"Of course I’m happy. I’m alive, aren’t I?” Blake took a sip of his coffee, closed his eyes and groaned as if it had been awhile. Then he met Mason’s eyes without expression and talked over the steam. “Now I suppose we have to figure out how to divide up the peasants and soldiers."

Mason froze, knowing his poker face was certainly terrible.

"This isn't a joke."

"Oh dear. I'm aware, brother, but you're getting entirely too serious."

"We’re responsible for those people. For their lives. For their..."

"Yes, yes, calm yourself. I’m kidding. I don't want to be patron."

Mason blinked, annoyed his brother could throw him off so easily after so many years. Blake sighed before he spoke.

"You're doing a wonderful job, and that's obvious.” Blake pat his hand. “Look at this place! I'm rather tempted to move back."

"What does that mean? Move back from where?"

Blake winced and leaned back in his chair. "I've been…safe for a little while now. I'm living in a tower. With the orcs. They're actually quite friendly, in the right circumstances."

Mason was yet again temporarily struck speechless.

"You didn't think to...dreamwalk?” he said when he recovered. “We've been worrying about you. I've been worrying about you. For all I knew you were dead, or being tortured. Or..."

"You're right," Blake said, looking maybe even genuinely apologetic. "I’m sorry. I wasn't...ready. I'm still not, I think. But I need your help. Well, the orcs need our help, technically. We can make them allies, I'm sure of it."

Mason was beginning to realize he wasn't dealing with the exact same young man he'd grown up with. He leaned back and took a breath.

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"Alright. Let’s assume that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Tell me fucking everything."

So Blake did. He started with a 'rogue' system that had tried to kill him with an orc king, about getting stabbed, then talking to roboGod, an orc named Ilya, a new tower, portals to hell. Mind-breaking demons.

"Jesus," Mason said at the end, watching his brother's eyes. "You've been through it."

"I guess I have," Blake smiled a little, and Mason began to realize...maybe his brother was…growing up?

They sat in a meaningful but not uncomfortable silence a little while, Mason reflecting on his unpleasant experiences as he knew Blake did the same.

"So. They've asked for our help," Mason finally said, and Blake nodded. "And in return they offer…what? And what do they owe for trying to murder us all, especially the Sanctuary folks?"

Blake clearly hadn't expected this reaction, or possibly tone. He pulled his head slightly back as his mind worked, then he leaned forward and smiled.

"I think I like this version of you!"

When Mason just glared, Blake let out a loud, but genuine laugh.

"I'm afraid we didn't discuss reparations. But they strike me as the honorable sort who might understand the request. Though they’ll probably call it ‘blood price’ or something equally medieval. We'll have to bring it up. As for the offer, I've been instructed to negotiate a generous combination of supplies, tools, weapons, armor, and uh," Blake cleared his throat, "slaves."

Mason’s face apparently reacted as expected. Blake put up his hands.

"I told them we wouldn't want that, I'm just the messenger. They have a rather...rigid, hierarchical society."

"And you think we should make friends with them?"

Here Blake looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe even...offended?

"They have plenty of good qualities, too. And don't act like humans are some kind of angels. You might recall a certain chief who was trying to enslave us all. And he didn’t exactly invent the idea."

"I remember what happened to him, too.” Mason felt himself shift at the violent memories. “Frankly I don't care if they enslave each other. And I don't think I care about goods or supplies." Mason thought back to how hard it was to kill the heavy infantry and paused. "Well. Some of that armor might be nice. What I want is for them to fight for us if I ask. Would they do that?"

Blake pursed his lips. "They might. It's not easy for them to leave the towers. They have rules which I don't fully understand. I think only a certain number get a kind of 'quest' that lets them go. But I don't really care, you're thinking about this wrong. It's a special dungeon, Mason, and maybe multiple dungeons, certainly unavailable to anyone but us. Who knows what kind of rewards? We can level some of our players. Maybe find more prestige classes. An artifact or two would be nice."

Mason clenched his jaw, but knew Blake was probably right. On the other hand...

"We're not as trapped as we used to be," he said. "I've cleansed the last great tree. I haven't tried it yet but I should be able to teleport now, to who knows where. We still have no idea how big this world is. We need to figure that out, and fast."

Blake nodded. "I'm all for it. But this won't take long. A few days, maybe less if you can warp us to that nearby tree. In the grand scheme of things, nothing at all."

"Yeah. Just like our last quick and painless orc dungeon."

"Touche." Blake grinned. "But...I want to help them, Mason. These demons...they aren't like orcs, or goblins, or anything else we've seen. They're…evil. I saw a glimpse into one of their minds, if only briefly. All they want is to ruin…to destroy. Next to them, those orcs are choir boys."

Mason shook his head. His brother really had changed a little, and seemingly for the better. Mason decided he’d best not punish good behavior. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"This time we go together. We take whatever team I say. And first we need to sort out these goblins, which you're going to help with."

"As my lord wishes.” Blake bowed his head dramatically. “I am your humble servant, mighty king. This pitiful wretch lives to serve, please grace us with your…er, grace, and..."

"Enough, for God's sake." Mason stood and Blake continued with a dramatic bow. "You’re incredibly annoying," Mason said, losing a battle against his own smile.

"Yes. And you missed me terribly.” Blake took Mason’s hand as if he meant to kiss his ring finger. “Your highs might have been higher, your lows not quite so bad. Also I've learned humans and orcs are perfectly capable of…mating, so a manwhore like you might...re-consider that slave offer." He wiggled his eyebrows and Mason yanked him to his feet.

"I'm glad your back, and you know, breathing," he put a hand on his brother's cheek before giving him a good scuff. "Now go talk to Seul-ki. And probably Annie. And if you can do anything useful with your new powers, feel free to do that. But no mind powers. Don’t even turn one on. And don’t touch that chair of yours for awhile, it’s still in your part of the hall."

"Any other commands, my lord?"

"Sorry." Mason wiped his face with a hand and let out a breath. "These days I feel like I'm always telling people what to do."

Blake stopped smiling, and looked almost...serious.

"Whatever I can do to help, just ask. You're not alone."

Mason smiled, trying not to think about immortality and what it meant, how long this insane reality would last or if it would always be this way. He told himself to live in the moment. And in this moment he had Blake and Haley and Rebecca and Rosa and Streak, and lots of others.

"I know," he said. "Now go on. I'll be down at the wall. We'll spend the night here. Then tomorrow, we go remove another threat to Nassau."