After cooking and distributing broth to everyone in their house, Grace fell asleep in her room, exhausted from the events of the last few days.

As she lay down, her fears of what she believed she was turning into haunted her dreams.

Opening her eyes, Grace saw a red screen begging for her attention.

***

Quest Completed: Find a Cure - Cure found and distributed within the required time frame. Bonus granted.

Reward:

Choose one Ability. Ability effect will be more powerful:

* Empower

* Command

* Armor Mastery

***

Grace stared at the screen and the three choices offered to her. A thread of guilt and remorse flowed through her at what was required to get the bonus part of that quest.

I’m not a monster… I’m not!

Dismissing the red screen, Grace got up and found a small cup of cold broth waiting for her on a wobbly stool. Smiling, she picked it up and drank it in one go, not concerned with the temperature. The flavor wasn’t the best, but there was a hint of the few vegetables she had acquired.

Fixing her clothes, Grace put on her armor, knowing that life would require her to dress like this for some time to come.

Only a few people were outside her room in the hallway. Most had made it back into their rooms, and those who couldn’t were sleeping along the walls.

Creeping through the halls, Grace saw inside a few of the rooms, watching as people quietly scrubbing the floors in their rooms. The whole place stank like vomit and blood, but knowing she had managed to save so many lessened the impact of the stench.

The massive door that led outside was open, and the breeze that flowed through the hallway helped to relieve the oppressive nature of it all.

“Look who is awake.”

Two arms wrapped around her legs before Grace could get down the steps. Levi had been sitting with Max and a few other guards for their gang. As soon as she came through the door, her brother was racing up them and doing his best to tackle her.

“How are you feeling, sister? You were snoring!”

The others chuckled a bit, and Grace rolled her eyes as she bent down and lifted her brother up, hugging him tight.

“I’m good. Glad to see that you are ok,” she replied, looking at his face and smiling as he grinned. “Tell me that Max and these other men aren’t teaching you bad words!”

Shaking his head rapidly, Levi giggled and started to laugh as she tickled him for a moment.

Setting him down, Grace gave each of the men a nod with her head to acknowledge them.

“Thank you again, Grace,” Stretch said. "According to Max, we wouldn’t be here without you.”

Grace eyed Max, and he shrugged. “Sorry. They won’t tell no one.”

Stretch laughed and nodded his head. “We won’t, but I don’t think it will matter. The rumor mill at the well was already going full swing. You can’t help but get more famous!”

Levi cocked his head up at his sister and crossed his arms. “What exactly did you do?” he asked. “They won’t tell me!”

Bending down, Grace looked him in the eyes and smiled. “I went and got some medicine. You saw it. The cost was… more than I wanted to pay, but if I hadn’t, people would have died.”

Levi tried to read her expression but stopped after a moment, his mind able to only know she had saved everyone. “Well, I’m glad everyone is better. Max says we need to stay here for a while instead of going to the well and getting to play. Why?”

Taking a deep breath, Grace let it out slowly and frowned. “Levi… a lot of people still died. It’s going to be hard on everyone for a bit. In time, we can get back to playing, but for now, you need to stay here and help, okay?”

Groaning, Levi nodded before asking, “How many?”

“How many what?”

“How many died?”

Grace’s lips quivered slightly, and her breath caught in her chest. It broke her heart to hear Levi ask that question and know he understood how easily death came. “I’m not sure, but at least fifty… maybe more.”

Levi’s eyes went wide, and a tear started to form in both of them.

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She reached out and hugged him, drawing him close.

Tears started to run down her eyes as her brother began to cry. He sobbed for a few moments, and no one said a word, tears coming from all the men in response to Levi's reaction.

Grace let herself cry again, comforting her brother as he held her back.

When he finally stopped, they both wiped each other's tears. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for saving the rest. Mom and Dad would be proud of you for what you did.”

Forcing a smile on her lips, Grace hugged Levi again, fighting against an avalanche of pain and hurt. She wasn’t sure her parents would have been proud of what she had done to save him or the others, but Grace knew they would have done the same. Max had been right; there was a cost to pay to protect others, and Levi would always be worth the cost if the dream she had could come true.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, fighting back the convulsions her chest threatened to succumb to.

He kissed her again and nodded, breaking their embrace and moving back to where he had been sitting near Stretch.

Grace looked up at the man, who was almost as tall as Max but was skinny. He rubbed Levi’s head and smiled at her.

“Max mentioned you might need to run some tasks with him to check on the others. We’ll keep your brother safe and have him helping us here.”

She nodded, wiping the last tear away, and stood up. Fixing her gaze upon Max, she motioned with her head, " Are you going to be able to make it?”

He nodded and rose, a lot steadier on his feet right now.

Neither had spoken while they walked a few blocks, heading toward one of the other gangs' territories. Finally, Max stopped and motioned toward a burnt-out house.

Getting to it, he leaned against it and took a few deep breaths.

“You ok?”

Max nodded and took a few more breaths before letting them out. “I’m worn out more than I realized. I know I need to move a little, but I’m not sure I can do more than one or two places before I’m completely spent. Besides, if you carry me on your shoulders or back anywhere, it will bring questions we aren’t ready to deal with.”

Grace chuckled, imagining how that might look with Max tossed over her shoulder or held above her head.

“So now what? Going to keep that promise you made me?”

Sighing, Max nodded and, using his hands, slid down the side of the house, plopping his rear on the ground. “I guess it’s time. Do you want to sit or stand?”

Biting her lip, Grace glanced around the streets, then moved to where he was and sat down beside him.

“Good choice,” he quipped before leaning against the wall and staring at the sky. So I promised you to share something I haven’t talked about in so long. Just wait till I finish before you ask questions, okay?”

Grace nodded and focused her attention on Max, seeing his expression change. A small smile appeared on the corner of his lips as he started to speak.

“Fifteen years ago, I had a friend who was an emissary like you. I told you a little bit about his power and quests. We had been friends for a long time, and when it happened, he actually sought me out and told me about it.”

Max laughed, shaking his head but never taking his eyes off the sky.

“I didn’t believe him until he showed me his first ability. I asked him how I could be like him, and he teased me so many times. He continued to grow stronger, having so many different abilities and powers. I was like your brother in some ways, doting over him and in awe of everything he did. The problem was the quests that came.”

Max paused, frowning as he took a few breaths and said nothing momentarily.

“The quests he was asked to do got harder and required more killing. I could see the change in him. I thought I was helping as I always told him that he was doing what he had to. The quests provided great gains, but the cost of his humanity was… sometimes too great to pay.”

Max turned and looked at Grace. She could see the pain he was reliving as he stared at her.

“One quest was too much. He said he wouldn’t do it. The god was not kind for his disobedience. He believed he could save his family even though the quest had told him the consequences of failing.”

Massive tears began to form and then rolled down Max’s chubby cheeks. He shook a little, and even though he cried, Grace noticed the way he clenched his fist and blinked his eyes.

Anger came out in a display as Max slammed his fist on the side away from Grace into the building he was leaning against.

A few cracks and some dust came from it, and Max did it two more times.

“He wouldn’t listen to me, and it cost him his family. Once they were gone, he was broken. The man I knew as my friend was no more. In his place was a creature of evil with more power than I had ever imagined.”

Max wiped away his tears without realizing it and turned back to look at the sky. He leaned his head against the wall again and banged it gently a few times against his headrest.

“One day, I tried to stop him, get him to listen, but he wouldn’t. We fought, and I thought for a moment he was going to kill me. The man I knew was gone.”

Max closed his eyes.

“My friend was no more. He left for a fight. I never saw him again.”

Opening his eyes, Max turned and shifted his weight until he was almost facing Grace, his massive leg pulled up under him.

“When I say you have to complete these quests as they come, trust me; do not fail too many of them.”

He poked her gently in her shoulder with his massive finger.

“If a quest tells you people will die or if Levi will die, believe it. Do not ever not complete that quest!” Max was shouting, and Grace was confident he didn’t realize it. “There is no choice if you want them to live.”

Shifting till he could lean against the wall again, Max sighed.

“You want to know the worst part?” he asked, his eyes focused on the sky again.

Grace sat there momentarily and then realized he was waiting for her response.

“Tell me.”

Max bobbed his head a few times. “You’re carrying a weight no one should ever carry, but I believe you can. I see who you are and how you care about everyone. You could have picked and chosen who to save, but you were fair. Each gang got the same help. Even though it required you to kill those guards, you did it because if you hadn’t, you knew more would die. You might not like this term, but soon enough, I’m afraid you’ll get the title, and when you do, things will change.”

Grace looked at Max, seeing him start to smile. “What title?”

Laughing for a moment, Max turned his head, and Grace saw that his eyes were filled with something different. There was a light inside of them.

Hope…

The thought struck her as odd after the last few nights, but when Max spoke, her mind froze.

“Soon enough, you’ll be called a few different things depending on which side of the coin people are on. For those who know you, you’ll be called a Hero or a Champion.”

Grace snorted and shook her head. “Please, I’m not one of those! Why would people call me that?”

Max smiled, his teeth starting to show as he chuckled. “In time, it will be obvious. Now, help me up. We still have stuff to do.”