The swooshing and splashing of water rang in Florence’s ear as her stomach twisted. Her scorched ankle and knees throbbed. She opened her eyes, massaging her aching forehead.

A blinding red light wiggled and shone through the trees above her.

She sat upright with her bottom on the plank bench, cupping her mouth. The bile rushed up her throat, but this burning, sluggish liquid fell back down. Her chin tapped her knees.

Her nerves shrieked, stinging and paralyzing half of her face.

In front of her, Yuze slept on Aisling’s shoulder while sailing in a canoe.

Florence glanced around. Next to her, Stella hid her puffy eyes behind her bangs as she patted Sam, purring on her lap.

At the rear of the watercraft, Basilisk had a metal rod stabbed through his stomach as he paddled along the river. His bald scalp glittered. He followed a trail of boats with skinny NPCs wrapped in bandages sitting next to crates fastened in chains.

Multiple clicks penetrated the air as Holland fidgeted the pistol at the vessel’s bow.

Aisling She squished her cheek with her electrical burnt knee. “So, you’re finally awake, Florence.”

“Where am I?” Florence asked.

Yuze snored, cuddling Aisling.

“Welcome to the Prince Underground Railway… Well, at least what’s left of it,” Aisling said.

Florence scratched the back of her head. “How is this an underground railway?”

Holland glared over her hunched shoulders, clenching her jaw.

Aisling buried her face between her legs.

Florence leaned against the side of the canoe, putting her palm behind her back. She inhaled and exhaled, slowing down her heart rate. “At least the good news is that whoever chased us… is, you know.”

Holland bleated. “I wish.”

“Yup,” Aisling said. “I know.”

“Pardon me, what did you mean by that? Medically speaking, it should be dead.” Florence raised her eyebrow. “Since… You know, it got shot in the head, and then its entire body exploded.”

“Believe me, I’ve no idea what you just said… literally,” Basilisk said.

Aisling lifted her head up. “The monster… By the way, Florence, you shouldn’t look behind you.”

Out of curiosity, Florence turned around.

Hundreds of pale faces, mouths open, bubbled below the waves. A void consumed their eye sockets. They banged their fists against the river’s surface without punching through it.

Florence jumped back.

The canoe wobbled.

“Hey, watch what you’re doing, Player,” Holland said.

“See,” Aisling said. “I told you so.”

Florence clutched her chest with her heart skipping a beat.

“The fact that we survived the encounter with that monster just feels like taking a bunch of Ls.” Holland stroked her horns. “Especially with all of you Players around.”

“Who is Ls?” Florence asked.

The paddles splashed in an eerie silence between them throughout the trip down this flooded tunnel.

Minutes passed. A light shone at the end.

Aisling coughed, breaking the silence. “So, Florence, why do you want to return to your sister?”

“My sister? Well… how should I say this,” Florence said. “She is certainly not going to survive on her own.”

“Why did I ask you that? All the things you said are kinda unclear. Just tell me later when you recover. And let me know your sister’s name, too.”

“This is easy. My sister’s name…”

Florence wrapped her brain. But her sister’s name… What was it again? She pressed and massaged her forehead.

“It’s fine.” Aisling smiled, chuckling. “It happens to the best of us.”

The canoe emerged from the flooded tunnel, ramping onto the shore with a thump. The bloodied clouds shadowed the uninjured NPCs unloading the crates onto the sand. They carried those wooden boxes up to a gravel hill. The chains clattered, but Jack waved his hands at the top of the peak at the NPCs.

Stella rustled her hair, burrowing her head into Sam.

Sam purred, holding his tail upright and curled.

“I really don’t want you to do this.” Holland leaped off the boat and landed on the beach. The waves rushed between and around her legs.

“Unfortunately, I still have to explain it to them,” Basilisk said.

Holland waved her hand without looking back. She stomped her feet across the sand and up the slope.

“What is it exactly?” Florence asked.

Basilisk sneezed, covering his nose. The canoe rocked. “Terrible… absolutely terrible.”

From crowds of injured NPCs limping and carrying the crates up the hill, Jack trekked down it. His feet shuffled through the gravel to the sand. He reached the shore, placing his palm on the bow of the boat that Florence was in.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“You were late,” Basilisk said. “Where have you been?”

“It ain’t much. Just some charity stuff with Feno,” Jack said.

Florence raised her hand up.

“No,” Jack and Basilisk said.

“We’re tactically being taken here as hostages.” Aisling crossed her legs. “So, that definitely kinda a no.”

“Pardon me, how about the other injured NPCs?” Florence asked. “Perhaps I could help to monitor them medically.”

Basilisk rolled out of the canoe, splashing into the waves.

Jack made a circular motion with his index finger pointing at his ears.

Florence raised her eyebrows. “Who is it exactly?”

Sam meowed. “Do you’ve catnip, pleb?”

“Which one? Because I ain’t sure who you’re talking about,” Jack said.

The waves washed Basilisk onto the beach. He stumbled onto his feet, gripping the metal rod that had stabbed through his stomach. Then he reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of catnip with white dots sprinkled on it as he leaned on Jack.

Sam wiggled his way out of Stella’s grasp, sneaking towards Basilisk.

Then Sam sniffed the catnip. He gagged, sticking his tongue out. “No wonder you smell so bad.”

“Good luck… I guess,” Basilisk said. Then he disappeared into the crowd of injured NPCs hauling those crates.

Aisling tilted her head. The boat creaked. She stretched, leaning her back against the side.

Florence jumped into the water. The face shrilled below the waves washing between her feet. Then she moved up the shore. The sands hissed beneath her with each step.

“Hey,” Aisling said. “Where are you going?”

Florence eyed the peak of the gravel hill.

“Don’t tell me that you want to go up there?” Aisling stuffed her hands into the pocket of her hooded shirt. She sighed, sliding off the canoe, carrying Yuze.

Sam chirped, clawing his way up to Stella’s shoulder. But Stella blinked, rubbing her puffy eyes.

“Stella?” Florence asked. “How are you feeling right now?”

Stella shook her head. “I’m fine. Just focus on yourself first,” she said. She got off the boat, shuffling her feet across the sand.

“Look, I am sorry about Mai’s… you know… her—”

“I said I’m fine.”

“But—”

“Could we focus on something else? Like I literally can’t hear you speak normally.”

Florence nodded. She followed Stella along with Aisling as they trekked up towards the hills.

The sand hissed beneath them. Even when their feet made contact with gravel. It shrilled at them with every step.

After reaching the peak, Florence slammed her palms on her thighs. She breathed heavily. In and out.

At the bottom of this hill, a crowd of bandaged NPCs with their skin to the bone gathered. A table sat on a gravel plain amidst the masses.

Florence, Aisling, and Stella descended the slope, dragging Yuze across it. They shoved through the injured group of NPCs with machine parts attached to their bodies.

Each of those NPCs glared at Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella. Some clicked their tongues, rolling their eyes.

Others shrieked, bouncing away from Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella.

Most NPCs crossed their arms, glaring at Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella as they passed.

Florence reached the table where four NPCs sat around it.

The closest one to her wore a stitched robe with an antenna sticking out of his neck. He stared down the squirrel covered in gray fur with a bushy tail standing upright.

“This expedition is a colossal failure,” the squirrel said in a feminine voice. Behind that squirrel, a hoard of mammals growled and squeaked, from cats to dogs to rabbits and deer. “What is wrong with all of you guys here?”

On the right, an NPC with frog-like eyes sat cross-legged. “It’s easy for you to say, my fella.”

The other NPCs with animalistic features cheered behind the NPC with frog-like eyes.

On the left, a gray queen chess piece stood near the table. She smashed a hole through the table, and splinters scattered over the gravel.

A gray king shivered and cowered behind her and the army of gray chess pieces.

The squirrel squeaked. “First of all, you set the entire District Nine on fire,” she said. “Secondly, half of my expedition force got wiped off the face of this planet.”

“Not yours,” the NPC with frog-like eyes said. “It’s ours.”

The gray queen squeezed her staff. “Pathetic, we didn’t start it.”

“Let’s all calm down. We didn’t start it.” The NPC with an antenna sticking out of his neck spread his arms out. “Only those who truly believe in our Mechtus, our true savior and machine god, will survive the day.”

The NPC with frog-like eyes pinched its nose. “My fella, here we go… again.”

Florence leaned closer to Aisling’s ears.

“Could you give me a minute?” Aisling scratched her chin. “And then I’ll answer what you want to ask me.”

Florence moved away from Aisling, giving her space.

A crate slammed onto the table, shaking its legs. Holland unfastened the chain around the box with a clatter. From it, canned meat, fruits, and vegetables, as well as the Natural EXP Crystal, flooded out.

“This is essentially what we got,” Holland said.

The gray queen stomped, waving her staff around. “That’s it? How am I supposed to feed my populous of the great Chess Empire?”

“First of all, this isn’t yours.” The squirrel rubbed her chest. “And I’m sure you know we made a deal with the other Systems.”

“This does not belong to the other Systems or even the Wellor System,” the NPC with frog-like eyes said. “My fella, this is rightfully ours and should be split evenly among us.”

“We got only a few hundred of these crates,” Holland said.

“This is exactly why it should be given to the great Chess Empire,” the gray queen said. “As I’ll make sure that we’ll reclaim the land that was taken from us all.”

The chess pieces erupted in cheers, pumping their guns into the air. But the gray king trembled, burying his face into the gravel.

“Never,” the NPC with an antenna sticking out of his neck said. “The Natural EXP Crystal should be buried with respect to the deceased. And most of the food source… must be given to the children of Mechtus.”

The squirrel thrashed her bushy tail, pulling a pistol out of it. “I didn’t ask you to hand the resources over to us. It’s an order.”

A click echoed.

The NPC with frog-like eyes grabbed a machine gun from beneath the table and slammed the tripod mount on top. “And I didn’t ask you to give the resource that is rightfully ours to the other Systems.”

“Do you want to fight? I’ll give you one if you don’t give the resources to the Great Chess Empire,” the gray queen said, rallying the other chess pieces.

Every NPC took out whatever weapons they could find, waving and aiming them at each other and throwing insults at each other.

Basilisk emerged from the mob of NPCs with machine parts, slamming his palms on the table.

But the shouts intensified between the groups of NPCs.

A shriek reverberated.

A breeze blew past Florence, rustling her blond, unkempt hair.

A claw mark appeared on the table with an ear-piercing scratch.

From the mob, a gray pawn floated up into the air. She flung her arms and legs around. A gust sliced her throat open. Her chin dipped as her arms and legs dropped dead.

The weapon clattered.

A wind smashed through the floating gray pawn chest. The stones turned to dust. The Natural EXP Crystal scattered.

An eerie silence fell between Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and all the other NPCs.

Someone tapped on Florence’s back.

Florence wheeled around.

“Who do you think it is?” Feno sniffed a lily in her hand. “Do you know it yet?”

Florence rubbed the back of her head as she glanced away from Feno.

“Sorry for asking… just forget about it. I didn’t mean to bother you at all,” Feno said.