“Shouldn’t it be me who has the cat?” asked Milly she watched Anchovy stalk around their new home, searching for errant mice. “Aren’t witches supposed to have cats?”
“Not always,” laughed Rain, as she leaned back on their leather couch and rested her foot on the coffee table. Calista frowned as Rain wiggled her bare toes against its surface, but didn’t have the heart to say anything to their injured friend. “Sometimes it’s a mouse or a rat. You could make an undead mouse for yourself, Mils, if Anchovy’s hunt is successful.”
Milly gave Rain a disgusted look. “Not a chance. I’m still trying to shake the last impressions of those exploding muskrats from my mind.”
“Suit yourself,” Rain laughed. “But I think it’d be cute.”
“And honey, we are not getting a cat,” Calista said firmly, her head resting on Milly’s lap. “I don’t want to wake up covered in cat hair or have to clean a litter box. Anchovy will be bad enough for that. Besides, I’m a dog person, so if you want a pet, go grab that puppy from Xavier. It’ll have a better life with us than if it gets raised by that maniac.”
“Don’t you dare,” Rain said protectively. “Out of all the choices Tutoria offered, Xavier picked that little guy. You know he’s got no one in his life. He needs something to care for, and something that cares about him. Maybe it will help him figure out a different path.”
“We’d never get it away from Xavier anyway,” Milly added. “It’s just a puppy, but it’s already so protective of him. It won’t leave his side.”
“Ying says it’ll be a while before Xavier wakes,” Rain said. “I still need to thank him for saving my life.”
Ying had transitioned Rain to Milly’s, but Xavier, although stable, needed hourly healing. Ying had handed Milly instructions on the type and duration of healing that Rain would need over the next three days, at which time she should be fully healed.
“But no big adventures until then, Ms. Desjarlais,” Ying had instructed. “I don’t want to see you back here tomorrow. I’ve got other patients that need my attention, and a new apprentice to teach.”
It had taken an hour before Passiflora had calmed down enough for Ying to begin her apprenticeship. While Milly helped Rain settle into their new home on the fourteenth floor, Passiflora distracted herself by following the healers around the clinic. Milly was worried about the effect of Xavier’s presence on the child but seeing him unconscious in his cot seemed to ease Passiflora’s mind. As if knowing he was helpless gave her strength.
She’s a resilient child. She’s had to be, with all the losses in her life. I know what that’s like. She needs to feel safe and surrounded by people who care for her. She needs what I never had.
That afternoon, Milly spoke with Twotongue, who agreed, over Tentongue’s protests, that Passiflora should remain in Freelancer Tower for the duration of her apprenticeship rather than travel between The Inlet of New Beginnings and the Castle of Glass. They didn’t know what the Carthage sisters – who were already fully healed – would do if they came across Passiflora alone. Stone had assured the Chief Elder it wouldn’t happen again and returned their latest shipment of food as restitution, and Lightpaw had little choice but to accept. The Fairies were in no position to protest what had happened to Passiflora.
Calista, laden with a couple thousand gold from Rain, had headed down to the Emporia and transformed the southwest corner office into a child’s bedroom. When she was done, it was a room any child – fairy or human – would love.
A hammock, broad enough to accommodate Passiflora’s shimmering wings, hung from the ceiling in the southeast corner of the office, which gave the child a beautiful view of the jungle and prairie terrains and the growing garden below. The hammock was filled with colorful pillows and a blue child-sized blanket patterned with various sea creatures.
She had her own dresser against the prairie wall, which, unlike their dresser, made sense to Milly since Passiflora did not have an inventory system. Milly had given her the goblin chest to use for her toys once she obtained some. She had nothing from her old life, and Milly could see the absence of the familiar weighed on her.
In the windowless corner, Milly had set up the tent they had used in the wilds and filled it with enough blankets and pillows that the small fairy could bury herself within and stay hidden. Her own private sanctuary.
As a child, the only place Milly could hide when she was scared was her closet, and it was cramped, uncomfortable, and, unfortunately, ineffective. Milly knew Passiflora would have nights when fear clutched at her heart, and she would need her safe space to find herself again. Though there would be nights where even that would not be enough to keep the terrors at bay.
Tonight – Passiflora’s first night in her new home – was one of those nights.
“No… don’t… please…” came Passiflora’s muffled cry from her bedroom. She was mumbling in her sleep, trapped in a nightmare.
Calista lifted her head off Milly’s lap.
“Poor girl,” Calista said tenderly. “Should I, or do you want to?”
“I’ll go,” Milly replied, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the forehead as she headed to Passiflora’s bedroom. Rain playfully gag at their show of affection, and Calista hurled one of their many throw pillows at her.
Passiflora was asleep in the tent, half buried beneath the pillows. She squirmed in her sleep, her forehead beaded with sweat, in the grip of the terrors that intruded on her dreams.
Despite her exhaustion after the day’s events, the fairy child had been ecstatic when she learned she’d be living with Milly during her apprenticeship. She’d spent the first hour in her new home showing off her improved healing magic to the adults. Rain even let her practice on her little toe, though Milly had to fix it when Passiflora wasn’t looking.
Milly reached into the tent and gently lifted Passiflora out, cradling her to her chest.
“Shhh… Passi, it’s okay. You’re safe now," whispered Milly as she carried Passiflora back to the couch. The child did not wake, and soon settled into a peaceful slumber in Milly’s arms.
“Poor thing,” Rain said as Milly settled down next to Calista on the couch.
“Those Carthage sisters are just awful, and Stone and Brass are worse,” Calista spat. She reached for the printout she had torn from the bulletin board outside Tower One.
NOTICE
Mildred Brown, Employee #4950 (aka The Witch) has returned to the Castle of Glass.
Today, she attacked three of our most trusted employees.
In response, a system of justice will be implemented at the Castle of Glass.
In three days, we shall hold a hearing on this matter.
Ms. Brown will answer for her crimes!
Do not interact with this individual.
She is unstable and dangerous.
- Judy Brass, Chief Judge of Castle Court -
At the bottom of the page was the photo from Milly’s employee ID. Her greasy hair, acne-covered face, and perpetual frown, all wrapped up in her dirty black hoodie, was anything but flattering. It looked like the goth mugshot of someone who was homeless, which, at the time, she had been.
“At the negotiations, they admitted that they demonized Milly so they could use people’s fear of her to control them. And here they are, doubling down on their lies!” Calista declared in outrage. “I can’t believe Alison agreed to their demands. Brass isn’t even pretending this will be a fair hearing.”
“Cally, inside voice,” Milly whispered. The child in her arms gave a tiny whimper and snuggled into Milly’s gown. “We’ll figure it out. At least they said I was dangerous – I did like that part.”
“Sometimes, I just think we should... you know,” Cally muttered as she made a stabbing motion in the air. “Before they do it to us.”
“I don’t know if I could do that… to a person,” Milly said uncertainly, though the child in her arms and the woman at her side made her question if she could cross that line if she needed to.
Salem’s Fury dulls my emotions. Could I do it under its influence? I want to say I wouldn’t. I want to believe the God Contest hasn’t changed me that much in three weeks. But… if it came down to it… I just don’t know.
“We could just drive them away from the Castle of Glass,” Calista suggested. “They have it coming to them.”
“Do they?” Rain chimed in with an inquisitive tone. She sat up straight and winced as the movement shot pain up her leg. “I don’t think our coworkers would agree with you.”
“Elmer and the other Freelancers…” Calista started, but Rain interrupted her.
“They are only a small fraction of the players in this contest,” Rain reminded them. “Stone, Brass, and Shufflebottom have nearly five hundred players. Players who are loyal to their CEOs.”
“They can’t be that loyal,” Milly doubted. “Stone and Brass are ruthless, and they’re only out for themselves.”
Rain thought for a long moment as she studied her friends.
“I believe eliminating the CEOs – especially Stone – would be the end of all of us,” Rain concluded. She raised her hand when Calista started to protest. “Let me explain, Calista.”
Rain turned to stare out the window as she collected her thoughts.
“Take yourselves out of the equation for a moment,” Rain began. “And put yourselves in the shoes of, say, your former manager, Mr. Fredrickson.”
“I’d rather not,” Milly mumbled. “He never even bothered to learn my name. He kept calling me Milby.”
“It’s important that you try, so you can understand all the dynamics at the Tower,” Rain lectured with a seriousness they had not seen from her before. “Mr. Fredrickson isn’t a member of Stone’s inner circle. He’s just another player. You’ve barely seen him since the God Contest started, but before we left for the wilds, I got to know him a little. Mr. Fredrickson – Frank – is just a guy in a dead-end marriage and drowning in debt. He’d been fired from his previous job and it was two years before another company would touch him. That company was Acicenter, and it gave Frank the chance he needed to pull himself out of his spiraling life.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I… I didn’t know that about him,” Milly admitted.
“How many of your coworkers were in similar circumstances? I mean, no offense you two, but none of you were at Acicentre because your lives were going in the direction you wanted them. It’s not the kind of company people work for when they have another choice. EnergyWave and Legal Eagles are like that too. Hell, the entire Castle of Glass is notorious for that. The last resort of desperate people.”
I was at Acicenter because it was the only place that would hire me – a high school dropout without a home. Xavier was completely socially inept, and Cally… well, Cally had her own issues. How many of us were there for reasons like that?
“So, there Frank is, finally given a second chance. He knows Stone is… unorthodox… and the company is more than a little shady. But he has a steady paycheck, and a secretary turned lover that makes him smile. It may not be the life he expected, but it was a decent life.”
“Then, without warning, his entire life – and the life of his lover – is thrown into absolute, bat-shit crazy chaos. Monsters. Starvation. Death. That first day he saw an ogre crush a man’s skull. His terror is unimaginable, and he has no idea what to do. But then Stone takes charge and says ‘Follow me. I will lead you through this chaos to safety.’ The man who gave him his second chance, and he grabs that lifeline and holds on for dear life. A lighthouse in a storm.”
Calista and Milly were silent, their minds whirling as Rain continued.
“That’s Franks frame of mind when he is evaluating the actions of the CEOs. Everyone who follows their lead has a story like that. The CEOs rallied frightened people around them with a promise to feed and protect them – to fix all their problems. When the Freelancers broke away, Frank was told they were troublesome employees who would get everyone killed. When the CEOs locked us out of the Castle of Glass during the Battle of Tower Beach, Frank was told it was to protect him and Priyanka, and that the goblin army would never have attacked if it hadn’t been for the Witch of the Castle of Glass and her Freelancer friends.”
“Good people died because of what Stone and Brass did,” Calista protested. “Mothers. Fathers. Friends. They were Mr. Fredrickson’s – Frank’s – employees too, and they would have lived if not for what they did.”
“Yes, that is true. Locking us out that day was the first – perhaps the only – misstep the CEOs have taken since we arrived. It was too aggressive, and it made people question their leadership. It caused a fracture in the loyalty they had been building. The Farmers broke off, and more people joined the Freelancers. It took them days to recover, and they were weakened because of it.
“But, despite that, most of our coworkers still stayed loyal to them,” Calista said, disgusted at their former colleagues.
“Yes, they did, but we shouldn’t blame them for staying. The CEOs are not idiots. They learned from their misstep and changed tactics. They took a more subtle approach. They reinforced a narrative that it was the Freelancer’s fault we were attacked, so their people would have someone to blame.”
“But… that’s a lie,” Milly protested.
“Repeat a lie often enough, and people will believe it is true,” Rain said with a touch of sorrow. “Especially if that lie has a nugget of truth within. It may not have been the Freelancers who did it, but it wasn’t the CEOs either. It was us. If we hadn’t completed the Arena of Choice, the God Contest wouldn’t have moved into the second phase and the Event Timer mechanic wouldn’t have been initiated. I don’t feel any guilt about that, and neither should you, because we didn’t know it would happen. But it did happen, and the CEOs are using that to their advantage.”
“Stone and Brass are out for themselves,” accused Calista. “I can’t believe our coworkers are dumb enough not to see that.”
“It’s not about intelligence, Calista. It’s about fear,” Rain explained. “The CEO’s approach is one that has been successful throughout history. Weaponizing a majority’s fear and turning it towards a small minority, who are blamed and villainized.”
“And we’re the minority,” concluded Milly, trying to keep her anger at bay so she didn’t wake Passiflora. She gently rubbed the child’s back as Passiflora muttered in her sleep. “He cast me as a villain the moment he saw me in the lobby. The socially isolated and awkward goth girl – an easy target.”
“Yes,” Rain said softly. “That’s exactly what he did and continues to do.”
“That’s ridiculous. We’d all have a better chance of survival if we just worked together,” Calista surmised.
“Maybe, but unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that. My dad’s hobby was history and politics,” Rain recalled softly. Milly could tell she missed her family terribly but had buried the feelings. “We’d get into these massive debates at Christmas, and by the end everyone was shouting at each other. Except for dad. He’d be laughing his ass off, having the time of his life.”
Rain stopped, and she gazed out the window with a forlorn look in her eye.
She mimicked her father’s deep rumble. “The belief that a scared populous, during times of crisis – even a perceived or manufactured crisis – will set aside their differences and work together is complete horseshit. Scared people want someone to solve their problems for them, and that’s where authoritarian regimes find their foothold.”
Rain laughed weekly. “Dad was a pessimist, but he wasn’t wrong. He would go on to list governments all throughout history that followed this pattern. Inevitably, those governments would cast a minority of the population as villains – people the majority should blame and fear. Nazi Germany was the classic example, but he could rattle off a dozen such governments. And it worked. The authoritarian would gain power, and the masses would love them for it. It still happens today. Dad always said to beware of any politician that told you to hate another person, as they were singing for an old, but very effective, songbook.”
“Well, if someone had just killed Hitler…” Calista said.
“People tried. Many people. Most of them died, and Hitler kept on going,” Rain answered. “And Hitler didn’t have a magical system that granted him extraordinary abilities. Even if killing Stone and Brass were advisable – and I don’t believe it is – it is a big risk. We can’t assume we’re the strongest players in this contest. The CEOs also defeated an arena, so they could be just as strong – or stronger – than we are. Stone, in particular, has equipment or talents that are meant to counter Milly’s magic, which gives them a big advantage.”
“That’s… true,” Calista said reluctantly.
I want to believe we would win. But Rain’s right. I don’t know that. I took down the Carthage twins easily enough, but Stone absorbed my fog within seconds. He must be over level twenty – but how much over? And what other tricks does he have up his sleeve?
“So let’s go back to Frank,” said Rain, at the end of her lecture. “Let’s say we did manage to kill the CEOs. Where does that leave poor Frank and the other five hundred employees? They will have lost their safety and security – their only real hope. They are left in a power vacuum. They won’t follow Elmer or Alison, because killing the CEOs doesn’t kill the narrative that us ‘rebels’ are to blame. In fact, if we killed the CEOs, it would reinforce that narrative and make it true.”
Milly sat in silence, the weight of Rain’s analysis pressing down upon her. Suddenly, their situation felt like a beartrap clamped around Milly’s ankle, without a way to free herself from its grip.
“Best case scenario, chaos returns to the Castle, and how many would die in that chaos? Worst case… they turn their anger on us, and we all tear ourselves apart. The Freelancers and the Farmers cannot hold off five hundred players, especially when the CEOs have been pushing them to level up in the wilds. Our Fairy friends would be killed too – the monsters that the murderers brought to their door. It would be the end of us all. The end of the God Contest.”
“So, that’s it then?” Calista said dejected. “Stone and Brass are untouchable, and all we can do is wait until they finally finish the job?”
“Not at all,” Rain said, with a small smile. “It’s still early days. The CEOs need their villains to keep order. They will scheme and vilify, but they won’t outright attack us until they’re convinced their positions are unassailable.”
“So, we play nice and wait until they are confident enough to stab us in the back?” Calista said, shifting awkwardly on the couch.
“That’s part of it,” Rain said. “Remember, our plan from the beginning was to help everyone survive. The more we help, the less effective the CEOs propaganda will be.”
“I don’t think being nice is going to stop them, Rain,” Calista said, doubtfully.
“No, not by itself it won’t. We will fight back against the CEOs, but we need to do it guerilla warfare style,” Rain said slyly. “Behind closed doors and out of sight, where they will struggle to counter it. We’ll chip away at the empire they build, piece-by-piece, because the more time they spend holding onto that power, the less time they’ll have to focus on building the power that really matters – the power of the God Contest. The power we need to win this contest.”
“Now that’s something I can get behind,” Calista said, her mind already scheming ways of undermining the CEOs. “And something I am good at. I may not be the nicest person in the world, but I know how to undermine a reputation. Many a bitch in high school learned that the hard way.”
“I don’t think we should simply be pushovers though,” Milly added. “I don’t regret taking down the Carthage sisters, even if it was a setup by Stone and Brass. They were bullying Passi, and I’m not going to let them treat anyone, especially the Fairies, like that. Ever.”
Milly held up the printed notice. “And I have no intention of showing up to this ‘hearing’ farce. I won’t just be a pawn in their schemes.”
“I don’t think Stone and Brass expect you to show up, Mils,” Rain said insightfully. “In fact, I bet they are counting on you not being there. Your absence reinforces their narrative that The Witch of the Castle of Glass refuses to be held accountable for her violence.”
“Well, that just makes me want to show up and shove their plans down their throats,” Milly said, irritated.
“That’s the spirit, Mils,” laughed Rain. “That’s the undermining I’m talking about.”
“We don’t even know what this ‘Court’ will look like,” Calista informed. “Elmer and Alison are in negotiations with the CEOs on this now. I can’t imagine they’ll agree to something that gives away all their power.”
“No, but Alison is a seasoned bureaucrat,” considered Rain. “She seems to be positioning the Farmers as a third party between the Freelancers and the CEOs. Neutral Switzerland, if you will. So we can’t rely on her. She won’t always side with Elmer, even if she and Elmer are having… secret relations.”
“You know, if world leaders were secretly plowing each other, I would have paid attention more in history class,” Calista laughed, and the tension lifted from the room.
“Thankfully, this hearing is three days away, which gives us time to decide on the approach we want to take,” Rain said, as Anchovy hopped into her lap, having grown tired of his hunt. “Tomorrow I’ll hobble down to the Emporia and buy what I need for an alchemy and crafting workshop I want to set up along the northern wall. I may not be able to level up in the wilds yet, but that just gives me more time to create what we need.”
Rain hesitated for a moment. “I… I also want to see Rain On My Parade. I miss it. I was finally starting to get some customers, though most came for my potions rather than my tea. Gabriel will need his heart medication, and Susan has her anxiety. If I can get it stocked up, Anchovy can mind the shop while I brew.”
“I bet you didn’t think your first employee would be a cat,” chuckled Milly.
“It’s not what I expected, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have dreams like that,” Rain laughed. “If you two are heading out to the wilds to level up, I’ll give you a list of materials I need. With my Protégé’s Bounty skill, I can mark their approximate locations on the map we bought from Tutoria.”
They spent the next hour discussing their plan for the wilds and the types of items Rain would craft over the next three days. Milly and Calista transferred everything that resembled a crafting or alchemy item to Rain’s inventory, including a ton of wolf fur, leather, teeth, and claws that had been added to their inventories without them noticing. Milly had piles of the same from the goblins she had defeated that morning as well.
It turned out the auto-loot system had been harvesting materials from the creatures they defeated, which did not get added to their notifications. This was preferrable to Milly. She really didn’t want to know when ‘Goblin toenails’ had been added to her inventory.
Eventually, Rain fell asleep on the couch, and Calista carried her to her bedroom in the northeast corner. Anchovy followed close behind and curled against Rain’s neck as Calista set her down on her bed. They were both snoring before Calista left the room.
When she returned, Milly was clutching Passiflora tightly. Her eyes indecisively darted between their bedroom and the fairy child’s room.
“She can sleep with us tonight, my love,” Calista said, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. “After what happened today, Passi shouldn’t wake up alone in a strange room. It’ll take her a while to get used to living here. And, I suppose, we can go one night without ravishing each other.”
“Cally!” Milly whispered, embarrassed. A blush rose in her cheeks. “That’s not… we haven’t… not every night…”
Milly thought back on the week since they returned to the Castle of Glass, and her blush grew brighter.
We have! Like rabbits! Oh my god…
“We’ll make it up later, I promise,” teased Calista, as she grabbed Passiflora’s blue fish blanket from her room. “Right now, this little one needs us. You know, this is definitely one of my stranger relationships. We went from coworkers to lovers to living together in two weeks, and a week after that we have a child in our home. I guess living in a death game tends to speed things up.”
“You mean this isn’t the strangest relationship you’ve had, despite all that has happened? Should I even ask how many other relationships you’ve been in?” Milly asked.
Why am I more anxious about her answer to that than everything involving Stone and Brass?
“Only if you can handle it, my love,” Calista laughed with a wink. “I wasn’t a nun before I met you. Or after I met you, though you’ve learned that first hand.”
Calista blew Milly a Hollywood-style kiss and headed for their bedroom, exaggerating the sway of her hips playfully.
I’ll… have her tell me later. In the wilds, when we have more time. I’m not avoiding the answer. I’ve got to get this little one to bed, right?
Milly carried Passiflora to their room and laid her in the middle of their bed. She tucked her in with her blue fish blanket, careful not to hurt her wings.
I wonder what its like to be tucked in like that? I missed out on so much. Passi, I won’t let all the horrible things that have happened to you ruin your childhood like mine was. I promise.
A few minutes later, their little, unconventional family was fast asleep.
Despite the fight with the Carthage sisters and the threats the CEOs posed, Milly did not feel scared about what lay ahead. She felt brave. Defiant. Strong.
Because she had a family worth fighting for.