“The price of anything is how much life you exchange for it.”

Henry David Thoreau, American Author

“Dr… Dr. Taydon Cizen?”

Milly stuttered the name, oblivious to the cautious glare that Administrator Bestian now shot her way.

Cizen. The Mayan God of Death. The secret third designer of the Thirteenth God Contest. The god that corrupted Xavier in the Arena of Choice. It can’t be the same person. This must be a coincidence. It… it must be. It… no…

Milly took a deep breath to settle her mind. Her thoughts were spiraling, desperate to grasp hold of a reason – any reason – why the obvious explanation couldn’t be true. But she didn’t have the luxury of self-delusion. Not here. Not now. Not when the lives of her family were at stake.

Face what’s right before your eyes, Milly. Focus. Be curious. Figure this out…

“Yes. Dr. Cizen. My nephew,” answered Bestian. “The greatest infectious disease specialist in the history of the Archipelago Research Alliance. Probably the greatest in history.”

“He’s… he’s not a god, is he?” Milly asked cautiously. There was no way of asking that question without sounding like a crazy person, but she needed to know.

“A god? I have no idea what a god is, but he certainly isn’t one. He’s a research fellow at Core Station Academy. He’s on his way to Research Station Omega – a sabbatical with his new mate to study the mutagenic properties of our compound.”

He doesn’t know what a god is. Perhaps the Oriane’s don’t worship gods at all?

“His mate?” prompted Milly.

Bestian frowned impatiently, yet he answered her question. “Professor Syune. The woman you supposedly took Archipelago History from at the Academy, remember? They are new lovers – barely a month coupled – but I’ve never heard Taydon speak more passionately about anything. Even his beloved research took second place to – in his words – ‘a love that will last lifetimes’.”

Milly had heard the name Syune before – in the memory orb she’d received from Twotongue. Where she had first glimpsed the decayed form of the god of the dead. He’d been talking to Hephaestus, who recruited him as the third designer of the God Contest.

“The three of us… we were so close, Cizen, back in the before. We fought side-by-side, to the bitter end, and we earned our reward, if you could call it that. What happened in that final battle – it wasn’t Oracle’s fault. And it wasn’t yours, my dear friend. It was just the four of us left, and Syune… Syune just didn’t make it.

“Don’t you say her name, Hephaestus. She died many cycles ago, and I have moved on. The god of the dead doesn’t hold to such attachments.”

“Bullshit. She was your wife, Cizen. Such pain leaves unhealed scars on our souls. The kind that never fade.”

Milly abruptly stared up into the sky, at the stream of life energy that flowed from a place beyond her sight into the black orb. An orb which now funneled that life into Bestian and the others.

Cizen’s words echoed in her mind.

“It’s a dangerous thing to have the creation of all intelligent life be the purview of a single, poorly understood entity.”

Despite the heat of the volcano, Milly shivered.

The river of life in the sky. Cizen is siphoning away the life of the Nexus and using it to fuel the resurrection of these people. His wife. His uncle. The more than five hundred other Orianes, their memories stored within the black orb until it has accumulated enough energy. And I’m willing to bet it’s not just this island. Did he replicate the entire Archipelago Research Alliance and hide it within the God Contest?

There was now no doubt left in Milly’s mind that Cizen was the puppet master that Luna had been tasked to find. The one who had been manipulating the God Contests so humans would fail, and, though their failures, stretch the Nexus to its limits.

With the Nexus weakened, Cizen could slowly siphon away its power. The explanation seems plausible, but there must be more to it than that. The madness of the gods and the corruption in the game… were those simply side effects, or was it Cizen’s hammer blow?

Her realization created more questions than answers, yet it was a start. Only…

What happens if he succeeds? If every Oriane is resurrected when the life battery reaches one hundred percent - more than two years from now – then what? They are still stuck in the God Contest, just like the rest of us. And how does Cizen manage to get inside to be reunited with his loved ones? He must have a plan. I need to talk to Luna…

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Now, I’m not going to answer any more of your questions until you start answering mine,” Bestian said, cautious but firm. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

Bestian’s question interrupted Milly’s contemplations. She stared into Bestian’s topaz eyes, trying to glimpse Cizen’s influence within. There was life in those eyes – filled with complex emotion and thought, and a deep sense of bewilderment – but she could sense none of Cizen’s malice.

They don’t know. For them, today is just another day, only a stranger suddenly appeared in their midst. I need to keep this knowledge to myself until I learn out. And I need to find a way home.

“My name really is Milly… Milly Brown,” Milly began, coming clean. “I’m not a biochemist, and I’m not from the Archipelago Research Alliance. I didn’t come to this… this island of my own accord. I washed up on shore.”

Bestian considered her for a long time before he spoke again.

“Which faction are you from? The Hidden Laboratories? The Algorithmic Monopoly? Or are you from one of the unaffiliated islands – a spy come to steal our research?”

“What? No, nothing like that,” Milly denied with a vigorous shake of her head. “I’m not from any of those.”

“Then where are you from?” he asked simply.

“A place far from here. My friends and I… we were attacked by a dragon, and I managed to drive it off, but it carried me here. I don’t know where I am, or how to get home.”

Bestian gazed into Milly’s eyes, weighing her words. Eventually, his shoulders relaxed, and a small smile curled on his lips.

“A… dragon? I’ve never heard of such a beast,” Bestian said as he leaned back in the dirt and plucked a purple flower from a vine. “But I’ve also never seen an Oriane as… malformed as you, if you’ll pardon my bluntness. You and your friends… are you escaped research subjects from the Isles of Experimentation? It is acceptable if you are. The Archipelago Research Alliance has laws banning such experimentation. We abhor the practice. It would explain your unusual strength and… well, your face.”

What’s wrong with my face? Cally likes my face.

“No, we’re just from really far away,” Milly said, and Bestian nodded. “I need to get back to them. My girlfriend and my daughter.”

Enzel’s squeal of joy echoed from inside the research chamber, and Bestian gently laughed. “Daughters. They’re a handful, aren’t they?”

“I… I don’t really know,” Milly admitted. “She’s a tiny little kid, but feisty and curious, with a knack for healing. I still have so much to learn about her. She asked me to be her mother the day before the dragon attacked. And every second I’m away is another second I’m not there to protect her.”

Milly was unprepared for the look of sadness that cascaded over Bestian’s face.

“You can spend every day of your life with her and still have so much to learn,” Bestian said sympathetically. “Despite your earlier fabrication, I have decided to believe you, Milly. Though you hold many secrets, I can see a kind soul within you when you speak of your family. There is love reflected in your eyes, and those who have such love deserve my trust – until they prove otherwise.”

“I… thanks…,” Milly said gratefully. “Bestian, I need to get home. Can you help me?”

“Do you know where home is?” Bestian asked.

“No,” Milly answered. “I think it’s to the west, but I could have traveled a hundred or a thousand miles while on the dragon. I can set out across the ocean, but without a destination, I’m afraid my magic will run out before I find land again.”

Bestian was perplexed, though it wasn’t for the reason Milly expected.

“The ocean? What do you mean, across the ocean?” Bestian asked, and he started to laugh as if Milly had told a joke. “You can’t travel on the seas. The beasts below the waves will gobble you up before you get an hour away from shore. Do you…”

Bestian saw the confused look on Milly’s face, and his laugher stopped.

“You… you’re serious? Your people travel the seas? How… how is that possible?” Bestian asked excitedly, his academic curiosity instantly aroused. “You must tell me everything.”

This is my chance.

“Well, how to do you travel between your islands? The Waypoint Pillars?” Milly prompted hopefully.

“The… what?”

Milly’s heart sank.

“The obelisk. In the jungle…” Milly started, trying to mime the shape of it with her hands. Bestian only grew more perplexed. “You don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“I’m afraid not, Miss Brown. We travel the skies in hot air ballons. It’s a time-consuming method of transportation – subject to the whims of the wind – but it’s the only safe way to travel,” Bestian explained. “The ocean… we’ve only heard of traveling the oceans in old legends from before the Reckoning. This… magic… you mentioned. It’s… some kind of fuel?”

Milly was really hoping he wouldn’t have picked up on her slip of the tongue.

“In a way, I guess. I don’t really know how to describe it,” Milly said vaguely, hoping that would be enough.

It wasn’t.

“Well, Milly Brown,” Bestian concluded. “If you’re a spy from another faction, you’re terrible at it. In exchange for knowledge that any four-year-old knows, you have illuminated my curiosity with hints of ocean travel and this fuel called magic. I have a proposal for you.”

Milly grew hopeful.

“I’m afraid I don’t know myself how to get you home,” Bestian started apologetically. “But if you stay here for three days and share with me your knowledge, I shall provide you with one of our balloons and a map of the Archipelago to guide you. With these, you can make your way to Core Station – the heart of the Archipelago. If anyone knows how to find your home, you’ll find them at the heart.”

“Three days?” Milly asked. It was a lifeline, but three days was a long time in the God Contest.

“I assure you, it will take Apoi three days to prepare the balloon for your travels. They are finicky things, and you don’t want it failing in the middle of the ocean,” Bestian advised. He glimpsed over her shoulder, to the tear that ran across the back of her dress. “Besides, I think you could use the rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

Coco barked her agreement, nuzzling against Milly’s leg.

It’s the best hope I have. If Bestian doesn’t know about the Waypoint Pillar, my chances of activating it are sunk. Traveling by balloon… it’s better than trying to swim.

“I’d… appreciate that, Bestian,” Milly agreed. “As long as you understand there are some things I can’t tell you.”

“As long as you accept the same,” Bestian said, extending his hand. “You know, in case I’m wrong, and you actually are a spy. I’m not about to divulge any of our research breakthroughs to a stranger, after all.”

Milly laughed. “I doubt I’d understand it anyway. I didn’t even finish school.”

Bestian gave her a look of mock horror.

Three days gives me time to examine that black orb and learn what I can about it. And Bestian is right. I could use the rest.

Milly reached out and shook his hand. “Deal.”

“Well then, Milly Brown,” Bestian beamed. “Welcome to Research Station Omega.”