{-Tinath-}

Her morning started out fairly normal. Wake up early, sneak upstairs to get some breakfast without running into her dad, laugh at the dumb texts her friends had sent her about one of her exes, start her morning workout—the usual. It was only after she’d finished and gotten in the shower, nearly ready to head on to the game, that she was given a reason to question that.

Rachel came downstairs, though she didn’t say anything at first.

“Do you need something, Mom? I didn’t think Sam had a game anywhere, but I can take her if you need me to.”

“No, it’s… not exactly that. How’ve things been?”

“Mom, we talked about that over dinner last night. Nothing exciting is going to happen overnight. I’d ask if someone died but I think you’d be a little more upset about that.”

“Oh, no, everyone’s fine…”

“Then why’d you come down here? You’ve got to go to work soon, right? I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be late.”

“I just… wanted to ask something. Have you talked with the twins recently..? You… might want to. You should know how important it is to embrace these little moments before they’re all gone.”

…

“Then Mom left, I texted the two of you, and here we are,” Tinath said. She’d pulled over Zetai and Reynneak to give them the full story as soon as she saw them, just now finishing.

“You work out every morning?” was, of course, the first and perhaps most unimportant question Zetai asked. “I thought you were a basement dweller.”

“So did you really think I spent two years doing literally nothing?”

“I mean, yeah, kind of…”

Reynneak casually pointed out, “I don’t think that’s the takeaway we’re supposed to be reaching here.” Directly to Tinath, he questioned, “You’re sure Mrs. Rogers was talking about Llewel and Myr..?”

She nodded. “I don’t know any other twins. At least not any that I’ve talked to since high school—and Mom would know that.”

“Now that we’re all caught up…” Zetai looked around the inn. “I don’t think I see them or Casrane waiting for us. Even if I missed them, Myr probably would’ve waved us over by now. I know it’s still not that late in the morning but usually at least Llewel is up by now…”

All three of them observed the inn, just to confirm that she was right. Vamir glanced right at them and subtly gestured towards himself.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Maybe… we should talk to Vamir?” Zetai tried, though she was far from certain about it. “Maybe he knows something?”

“All of the innkeepers are aware of what Nankohm does,” Reynneak said with a nod. “He might know something we don’t.”

“Yeah.” Tinath led the way, mostly because all this was doing was making her more nervous. She knew what kind of look someone made when they didn’t want someone to panic, or stumble into something they weren’t supposed to.

And Vamir didn’t exactly make it subtle.

When the three of them walked over, he politely said goodbye to the player he was talking to. He was completely casual as he started to collect some things in the corner of the desk and asked, “So, are the three of you here for a quest?”

“Better be a pretty good one,” Zetai remarked.

“I already checked and you’ve met all of the prerequisites—you’re all ready to know. If you’d like to go to that table over there, I’ll be with you shortly to discuss it. There’s quite a bit of history behind it, you see. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go anywhere. Just pick a spot and settle down.”

“Just, uh, one question.” Reynneak looked like he didn’t know if he wanted the answer, but still asked, “Is this a… bad quest?”

Vamir considered it for a moment. “I believe it’s a bit of a… different one. Though, yes, I could see how it could be considered ‘bad.’ There’s a lot of nuanced opinions involved.” He gave a quick glance to the other players that were waiting for him. “But I’m a bit busy right now. Just have a seat, gather your bearings, and be ready to hear what I have to say when I come.”

They all nodded, though none of them were really sure about what was going on. Tinath knew better than to move from their spot and try to check on the twins anyway; Zetai, especially, didn’t seem to like the waiting. Reynneak talked to her, though, pointing out how they’d only know what to do once Vamir talked with them.

After that, they waited in silence for Vamir’s return. It took him a couple of minutes but, just as he promised, he was walking to them as soon as he took care of all of the other players.

“Now, I don’t want any of you to panic—”

“I think we’re already slightly panicked,” Reynneak interjected.

Vamir didn’t seem to mind too much, perhaps pocketing away the information, and continuing, “But Nankohm is very likely trying to rewrite the codes of Llewel, Myr, and Casrane.”

He didn’t give them too much time to think about that part. “That’s about the extent of it I should say here, though—we never know who’s listening and don’t want to worry anyone else. Casrane figured this might happen, so she made sure to leave me instructions when and if it did. Then, so long as you follow them, everything should be alright—or, at least, as alright as any of us are able to do on our own.”

“Is… this why she was acting weird, then..?” Tinath mumbled, mostly just to herself. She hated every bit about the idea. “Because she knew that something was going to happen?”

Vamir, though a bit cautiously, shrugged. “I suppose it’s always an option.”

Zetai got right to the point, though, asking in a dead serious tone, “What do we have to do?”

“Luckily, it’s nothing too complicated,” he began. “All you’ll have to do is head to Nafrius and get Duuzlo. He can explain the extent of the situation to you and he knows what he can do to help. Casrane said that the sooner the better, though, so I’d suggest going as soon as possible. I… don’t know how long they’ve been like that, honestly. I just checked on them this morning and realized that was what happened.”

Reynneak stood up and nodded. “So, then, let’s get going. We don’t have time to lose.”