The first thing Milly and Calista saw when they stepped out of the elevator was the mess in their living room.

Piles of mismatched shirts, shoes, jeans, skirts, hats, and men and women’s underwear were tossed haphazardly across their couch and coffee table. Next to the table was a box full of assorted trinkets, from glass balls to salt and pepper shakers to a simple, fist-sized rock.

The collection resembled an impulse buyer’s trip to the neighborhood garage sale.

The air was filled with the scent of brewing potions emanating from the northern wall on the opposite side of the floor.

“Rain?” Milly called curiously.

“Over here,” Rain called, as the sound of clinking glass cut across their floor.

Half a dozen cauldrons bubbled on three separate alchemy tables placed against the northern window. Each cauldron contained a brew that Rain had been working on all afternoon. Her Beginner’s Guide to Alchemy was cracked open on a splintered wooden lectern, its color faded with age, the first of its once-blank pages now filled with sketches and modifications to the potion knowledge in Rain’s mind. On a fourth side table, two dozen bottled potions of various sizes and colors were cooling - future stock for Rain On My Parade.

“Here, this one is for you, Mils,” Rain said as she handed Milly a small vial of yellow-brown liquid.

“What is it?” Milly asked as she raised it to the light. It sparkled.

“It’s for your depression,” Rain explained. “This potion does, more or less, the same thing as your antidepressant medication back home.”

“But I’ve been fine. I mean, mostly,” protested Milly. “I was weaning myself off my medication anyways.”

“You’ve been running on adrenaline and fighting for your life since you got here, Mils. Now, I’m a barista, not a doctor, but I don’t think you can decide that you’ve been fine with all that's happened to us. You definitely aren’t in a state to know if you are recovered from your depression.” Rain advised. “I needed to brew a batch of this anyways. You aren’t the only one that was on antidepressants back home. I had four others approach me before we left about brewing something for them.”

“Rain…”

“Mils, my brother was on antidepressants for years. When the doctor finally began to ween him off his medication, it took months. A small reduction each time, so his body could get used to it and to minimize the chance his depression would return. Even then, it was hard for him,” Rain lectured her. “Unlike him, you’ve been forced to go cold turkey. That’s not healthy, especially in our circumstances. I can’t force you to take it, but I think you should.”

“I… thanks Rain. I’ll… I’ll think about it,” Milly said as she added the vial to her inventory.

“It’s a half teaspoon once per day,” Rain instructed, speaking now to both Milly and Calista. “And every second morning when you want to ween yourself off it.”

Rain hobbled over to the side table on her crutch and snatched a few more vials. “Now, for something more fun,” Rain beamed. She handed them each three vials – one bright red, another forest green, and a third shimmering blue. Milly recognized the latter as a magic replenishment potion.

“The red is a weak healing potion,” said Rain. “It’s nothing compared to Healer’s Touch, but it’s useful in a pinch for low level players. I made it to sell at Rain On My Parade but take one for yourselves. Never know when it will come in handy.”

“Sell?” asked Calista. “You expanding your business, Rain?”

“Teas, Coffee, and Potions,” Rain chuckled excitedly. “In that order. I don’t care what world we are in or what challenges we face. I’m not going to let this contest rob me of my dream. I am a barista first, player second. Besides, I need to get people their morning caffeine, or we’re going to have a lot of grumpy players. And what better way to earn people’s trust?”

Rain held up the green potion. “This counters simple poisons, like the one I use in my dagger. And the blue is magic recovery, like I gave you at the battle. I made one for each of us. I’ll make these potions available in the shop for a price, but I’ll keep medications like Gabriel’s heart and Susan’s anxiety meds free of charge. I don’t think I could live with myself if they couldn’t afford it.”

“The potions are great, Rain,” Calista said, remembering their living room. “But what’s with the exploded wardrobe?”

“Practice,” replied Rain excitedly, leaving the potions behind and leading them into the living room. “I’ve been thinking on how my creation talent works while you have been away. I have some of the basics figured out. The combination of Hephaestus’ Protégé and Creativity of Hephaestus from my necklace lets me craft in two ways. First, I can enchant an existing item using talents that one of the three of us possess. The stronger the talent, the more magic it costs. The same is true if I want to imbue more than one talent on a single item. The more talents I add, the higher the cost, and that cost is exponential.”

“So you could, say…” Calista said as she walked over to the coffee table and held up a lime green T-shirt embroidered with the Statue of Liberty. She made a disgusted face at its hidiousness. “Enchant this… thing… with Milly’s fire magic and make it fireproof?”

“Well, at my level, more likely just a bit fire resistant,” Rain answered after careful consideration. “But when I get strong enough, then yes, that’s possible.”

“Well, that’s cool, but you shouldn’t do that, at least to this shirt,” clarified Calista. “I don’t support any action that would prevent this abomination from being burned in a fire.”

Milly laughed. “What’s the second way, Rain?”

“The second way you’ve already seen. I can take raw materials, like iron ore or leather, and make custom items of any design, such as I did with Calista’s dress or my tailcoat. The rarer the materials, the better the item and the easier it is to imbue it with higher-level enchantments. The downside is it consumes a lot of magic and resources. Even with the class boost to my magic attribute, I’ll need a great deal more to create truly powerful items. Especially if I use Blank Canvas to break the normal crafting rules.”

“Okay, but why the… rather eclectic wardrobe?” Calista asked cautiously. “Why not just buy a dozen identical black hoodies for Milly?”

“Cally, that’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said,” cooed Milly.

Calista winked at her playfully.

Rain shrugged. “It’s more fun this way. Plus, Tutoria’s collection wasn’t exactly inclined to normality. Well, do you want to get started?”

Milly’s stomach growled. “Can it wait until after supper? I think my appetite just came back.”

“Oh, speaking of losing your appetite,” Calista said, opening her inventory and lobbing Rain’s share of Gorath’s fingers and the Fairy Killer Roast over to her. “Here. Eat up.”

“Thanks Calista,” Rain said, popping Gorath’s finger into her mouth without a second thought.

Milly lost her appetite again as Rain spit the bones into her palm and added them to her inventory for future crafting.

* * *

After picking Passiflora up from the medical clinic, the child chattering excitedly about her day, their unconventional family headed down to Billy’s Barbecue for supper. They snagged one of the tables beside the grill before the crowd of players descended on the restaurant. By the time Billy served them the usual boar and mushroom fare, every table was occupied, and it was standing room only. A line of hungry players stretched forty deep along the beach, exhausted from their work at the Castle of Glass or from exploring the wilds.

It was the first supper they had spent around other players since they had returned to the Castle of Glass. Gossip and whispers reverberated amongst the CEO-aligned players, targeted at the girls and the fairy child they had brought into their midst. It continued until Billy finally shouted that anyone who didn’t like it would be banned from his restaurant, and they could fix their own damned supper from now on.

The whispers instantly stopped, and the pleasant rumble of regular conversation soon replaced it.

“Everyone is a critic until their food is on the line,” Calista derided.

“Yah, and thankfully Billy knows it,” commented Milly, as she rubbed Passiflora’s back. The child had tried to shove three mushrooms in her mouth all at once and nearly choked. “Slow down, Passi. Your food isn’t going anywhere.”

“So hungry,” Passiflora responded as she struggled to chew the mouthful. “Ying is a worse taskmaster than grandpa was. I haven’t eaten all day.”

It was the first time Milly had heard Passiflora mention a member of her family.

Maybe she is starting to heal, if only a little bit.

“I hear that, Passiflora,” said Billy. “You should see what’s she’s like at home. A real ball buster.”

“Billy!” Milly scolded, covering Passiflora’s ears with her hands. “Language.”

“Oh, right,” Billy said. “Not used to having kids around.”

Passiflora waved Milly’s hands away with a child’s impatience. She looked Billy square in the eyes. “What’s a ball buster?”

Billy’s moved his mouth like a fish, but no words came out. Milly nearly choked on her roasted boar as she suppressed her laughter.

“Hey Billy, got a surprise for you,” Calista called, saving their chef from having to stammer out an answer.

“What’s that, Cal… oh my god!” Billy said in surprise as Calista retrieved one of the truck-sized geese from her inventory. It crashed into the sand with a meaty thump next to the grill that caused every table in the small restaurant to rattle.

“A little variety for our diets!” Calista declared, as much to the crowd as to Billy. “We’ve got eleven more where that came from. You’ve never had true cuisine until you’ve tried roasted goose.”

Murmurs of excitement quickly spread through the crowd from both ally and CEO-aligned players. A few cheers rose up from the back of the restaurant to celebrate this new addition to their rather limited culinary options.

Milly’s eyes scanned the crowd and tried to memorize the faces of those who cheered.

Potential allies? Or maybe just people willing to trust their own eyes instead of taking the CEOs at their word.

She’d counted half a dozen supporters before her gaze fell on Cosmo Shufflebottom, the CEO of EnergyWave. Milly hadn’t seen him arrive, and her hands grew clammy with nervousness. He stood beside his newly constructed performance stage, calmly chatting with his band, The Radicals, as they prepared for evening’s performance.

The CEO, still dressed in his jester costume, met Milly’s gaze. Milly’s heart began to beat wildly. Her left hand fell on Passiflora’s arm, ready to grab the child and run if Shufflebottom attacked, while she ignited a flame in the palm of her right hand, its light hidden beneath the picnic table.

Shufflebottom just tipped his jester hat in her direction. His eyes flickered briefly to Passiflora before he returned to his band.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Milly let her flame fade away, though her heart would not calm so easily.

“He’s a strange man,” Billy said, following her gaze. “I’m not sure I will ever trust him, but he does keep the crowd happy. His band gets better every day.”

“He hasn’t been attending the faction meetings with Stone and Brass,” Calista whispered as they huddled together. “Remember the negotiations on the beach when we first got back? The only thing he was interested in was Lightpaw. He spent the rest of the time staring into space.”

“Was he involved in what Stone and Brass did at the Battle of Tower Beach?” Milly asked. She didn’t recall seeing the CEO in the lobby on that horrible day.

“I don’t think so,” Calista responded. They’d spent so much time focused on Stone and Brass, that the strange behavior of the third CEO had slipped their minds.

Diwata, a Freelancer from EnergyWave, leaned over from the table next to them.

“He’s always been weird,” Diwata said. “He’d play his guitar in his office in the middle of the day. He implemented Wacky Hat Wednesdays. Once he just left in the middle of an all-staff meeting. And I don’t mean he snuck out the back. He was literally in the middle of his speech when he got bored, grabbed a donut, and left. We all sat there for an hour before we realized he wasn’t coming back.”

“He’s a loon,” Calista said. “Alison said he’s unpredictable and dangerous.”

“She could be right,” Diwata agreed. “People say all the lawsuits against his company broke his brain. He was set to lose everything before this contest sucked us all here. But despite all that – or maybe because of it – most of our employees liked him. He always made sure we got paid, even when the banks were closing in on his own fortune.”

Milly considered Diwata’s words.

It’s been Stone and Brass making all the aggressive moves. Is Shufflebottom part of their game, or is he just along for the ride?

Then a disturbing thought came to her.

Or is he playing a game of his own?

“Well, if he wasn’t broken before, he sure was after they defeated that Arena,” Billy added. “Comes back to the Castle in a jester costume, starts a band, and spends every minute he can either on stage, wandering the wilds, or just staring blankly at the sky. Did you know half the casualties from that Arena were from EnergyWave?”

Milly finished her boar and used her magic to wash their plates before handing them back to Billy.

Shufflebottom is still a CEO, and until I learn otherwise, I’m going to treat him as such. He may still stab us in the back with a song on his lips.

“Thanks for supper, Billy,” Milly said as they rose from the table. “Goose tomorrow?”

“For the Witch of the Castle of Glass, the Huntress, and the Alchemist?” Billy smiled. “Anything you want, Milly.”

* * *

They spent the remainder of the evening seated cross-legged in their living room as Rain began to enchant the mismatched clothes she had purchased from the Emporia.

Rain’s crafting talent was limited by her magic attribute. Adding a second enchantment or trying to add an advanced enchantment wasn’t possible at her current magic level, so she decided to experiment with lower level single enchantments instead.

“Mils, let’s enchant new shoes for both of us. We can’t keep wearing what we have on,” Rain announced as she grabbed a pair of work boots from the pile. Comprised of tough, brown hide, and with a steel toe, the boots could have owned by any construction worker, yet somehow, they also fit with Rain’s overall aesthetic. They blended with her tailcoat perfectly.

“These’ll last me a while,” Rain said, pleased with her choice. “Your turn to pick.”

“Can’t you just enchant the shoes I have now?” Milly inquired. She’d found her simple black sneakers in a thrift store three years ago and Milly had grown comfortable with them.

Calista laughed and retrieved one of Milly’s shoes from the wall next to the elevator. It was covered in sand and muck and was heavily stained with gore as a result of their battles. The sole had come half-unglued and flopped about as Calista held it up for Milly to see.

“Milly, I’m so old,” Calista said, flapping the shoe so the sole resembled a mouth. “Why won’t you just let me die.”

“Shut up,” Milly chuckled, embarrassed. “I guess… are there any other black sneakers?”

“Oh, I know just the ones,” Calista said excitedly, abandoning Milly’s shoe in the middle of their circle. She tore through the pile until she lifted out a pair of black, thigh-high gothic platform boots. A dozen silver buckles stretched up the length of the boot, and twin silver chains danged down its tongue. The elevated soles added an extra four inches to Milly’s height, making her nearly as tall as Calista. “You’d look so badass in these.”

“… Okay,” Milly responded with only a moment’s hesitation.

“You’ve got to try them on, beautiful, before you say no. It’ll fit so well with your witch aesthetic and… wait, did you say okay?” Calista asked, stunned. “You never just say okay. Did you… Oh. My. God. You’ve worn something like this before, haven’t you?”

Milly blushed fiercely and reached for the boots. “I found a pair when I was fourteen, in the trash next to my foster home. They were already pretty old, but they were my favorite thing. I had them for four years, and they… um… may have started my goth phase.”

“Mils, weren’t you wearing a black pentagram hoodie when we first met?” Rain asked slyly.

“Well, maybe it was more than a phase,” admitted Milly. “Though, really, it was just me wearing black all he time. Being a real goth is expensive. But they helped me get through some hard times, especially when I had no home and nothing to call my own. They finally gave out when I was eighteen, though I tried everything to keep them together. They just… fell apart one day. I couldn’t afford to get new ones. Just my five-dollar thrift store sneakers.”

“Then goth boots it is,” Rain said sweetly, as she plucked the boots from Milly’s hands and set them on the ground in front of her. “Which enchantment would you like?”

Milly remembered the mountains in the north, and the maze of passageways that had led her nowhere.

“Cally’s improved perception talent,” Milly answered. “The further we get from the Castle, the stranger this world is becoming. Remember the memory orb? Cizen, that decaying god, was responsible for the contest’s deepest secrets. Think about that – an entire God dedicated to nothing but secrets. I don’t want to risk missing one that could be critically important.”

“Milly, that’s a really clever idea. I wonder if I should try the same, though my Only the Original penalty may limit what I can do,” Rain said after a moment’s thought. “But let’s give this a shot.”

Rain placed a hand across the toes of the gothic boots and held onto Calista’s arm with the other hand. Her body began to glow with a faint metallic hue, and then a bright flash erupted over the boots, flooding their living room with light. Passiflora, who had been playing with one of the trinkets in the box, shrieked in surprise and nearly fell off the couch.

Rain felt her magic reserves drop, and the light faded away.

“Done,” Rain declared, a faint line of sweat beading her forehead. “Check them out.”

Milly held up her new platform boots.

Milly’s Gothic Boots

Fabulous fashion for the witch on the go!

Benefit: Grants the Improved Perception (beginner) talent to the wearer.

“They are wonderful, Rain. Thank you,” Milly whispered. She felt like a long, lost piece of herself had been returned. She slipped them on and twirled around their living room playfully. She found herself laughing with delight, until she grew dizzy and stumbled. Calista caught her.

“Careful there, honey,” Calista said as she stared at her happy girlfriend as they stood eye-to-eye. “Gods, you’re beautiful.”

“You’re blind,” Milly said, as she leaned in and gave Calista a gentle kiss. She didn’t feel self-conscious about Calista’s compliment. Deep inside, behind all the self-doubt, a little piece of her had started to believe that Calista may actually find her beautiful.

By the time Passiflora had fallen asleep on the couch, they had enchanted a handful of new items to help them in their journey.

Rain had tried to enchant improved perception on her own work boots, but her Only the Original restriction had prevented her from doing so as the enchantment on Milly’s Gothic Boots was at beginner level and there was nowhere below that to go.

Instead, Rain channeled Calista’s Defensive Tactics into her boots, but narrowed the talent to a defensive skill that only involved her feet. The result was a talent called Fancy Footwork, which increased the speed and responsiveness of her footwork while in combat.

“This way, I can branch Calista’s Defensive Tactics talent into a number of other, lesser talents without worrying about duplication,” Rain surmised, feeling proud of herself. “It's not as powerful, but I can be more versatile this way."

Rain’s next experiment was to enchant two trinkets with the same talent that could grow weaker to observe how her Only the Original restriction worked.

The first trinket was a small reddish brown clay pot. Rain imbued it with Milly’s Healer’s Aura. The finished object projected the aura across a one-hundred-foot radius and increased the efficiency and power of healing spells within the aura by thirty percent, which was only slightly weaker than Milly’s aura, though Milly's would grow more powerful as she leveled up whereas the trinket would remain static. It could be turned off by flicking the side of the pot with a finger and had a one-hour charge. After that, it required six hours to recharge.

“Not bad, Rain,” Milly praised. “We should give it to Ying for the medical clinic.”

Rain nodded. “That’s what I had in mind. I owe her for taking care of me this past week, and I hate being in someone’s debt. Now, let’s try the next one.”

Rain enchanted the second trinket, a sandstone carving of a bison, with the same Healer’s Aura talent. Unlike her attempt to enchant the work boots with improved perception, this time the enchantment worked, though it had a fifty percent reduced efficacy. It only projected out in a fifty-foot radius and increased healing spells by fifteen percent. It had a thirty-minute charge and required twelve hours to recharge.

“We’ll give this one to Whitewing,” Rain decided. Drenched in sweat, she had started to realize the physical toll that consecutive enchantment took. She would need to increase her toughness attribute, alongside magic and agility, as she leveled up.

“So, if my math is correct, if I enchant a third item with Healer’s Aura, it would only increase healing by about seven percent, last for fifteen minutes, and require a day to recharge.”

“Hardly worth it,” Calista concluded, and Rain nodded her agreement.

Next, Rain grabbed a small black collar from the pile and enchanted it with an altered version of Milly’s telekinesis called Invisible Hand. The talent allowed the wearer to move objects less than one pound in weight a distance no greater than ten feet away.

Rain called to Anchovy, who was napping on Passiflora’s lap as the child slept. He lazily opened one eye and glared at Rain with displeasure for waking him from his seventh catnap of the day.

“Come on, you silly goose. You’ll like this,” Rain promised as she held out the collar.

Anchovy gave an exaggerated yawn, his annoyed eyes never leaving his master. He got up deliberately slowly, careful not to wake Passiflora, and hopped down from the couch. It was another minute before he finally arrived at Milly’s side, having taken his time to sniff every object along the way.

Rain, a beacon of patience, slipped the collar around his neck when he arrived. The cat scratched at it, displeased.

“You’ll get used to it, Anchovy,” Rain promised. “You’ll be able to help me mind Rain On My Parade with this now. You can grab potions from the shelves, brew tea, and take a customer’s gold. Everything that comes with running the shop.”

Anchovy cocked his head. Helping run Rain On My Parade interested him, though, as a proud feline, he couldn’t let her know that. He activated the Invisible Hand, used it to grab a soft penguin plushy from the trinket box, and threw it at Rain. The plushy struck her in the forehead with a high-pitched squeak and fell to the floor.

Milly and Calista burst out laughing as Anchovy hopped back onto the couch and curled up on Passiflora’s lap, no longer scratching his collar.

“Let’s call it a night,” Rain said, her magic and body nearly exhausted.

“You are amazing, Rain,” praised Calista. “With all these new inventions, you’re like our own personal Q.”

“Q?” asked Milly, confused.

“From James Bond. The guy who makes all of Bond’s gadgets.”

Milly shrugged.

“Gods, honey. Let’s hope this contest has a TV for a reward. We’ve got so many movies to watch together.”

Milly headed to the couch and lifted Passiflora into her arms over Anchovy’s protests.

“Mountains tomorrow?” she asked as Rain scooped up the grumpy Anchovy and placed him on her shoulders.

“I’m going to open Rain On My Parade tomorrow. I’m worried about Gabriel, Susan, and the others,” Rain replied. “After tomorrow, I think my leg will be strong enough to walk without the crutch. Just in time for the hearing.”

Milly felt the happiness that had built over the course of the evening seep away at the mention of the hearing. For a wonderful few hours, she had let herself forget about that quickly approaching mess.

“Let’s plan for the mountains, my love,” Calista said as she watched the anxiety settle into Milly. “Alison and Elmer should know more details about the hearing tomorrow. Until then, no sense worrying about it.”

They said good night to Rain and tucked Passiflora into their bed as they had the night before. Before long, Calista drifted off to sleep and her snores filled the room.

But Milly couldn’t sleep. She spent the next few hours staring at the ceiling, her mind filled with thoughts of what was to come. Her anxiousness felt all-encompassing, and she climbed out of bed so she wouldn’t disturb Calista and Passiflora.

She sat at the kitchen table and stared forlornly across the moonlit waters of the eastern ocean. From their fourteenth-floor window, she could see the edge of the first island out there, just at the edge of the horizon.

How many more islands lay beyond our sight, nestled in thousands of miles of ocean? How long are we going to be here? How long do I need to endure Stone and Brass as they cast me as someone I am not? I know Rain is right – we need to be subtle as we fight back – but I feel like I’m caught in someone’s grip, and they are starting to squeeze.

It wasn’t just Stone and Brass that haunted her darkened thoughts.

The corruptions in the game are an even bigger threat than the CEOs, or so Luna says. I haven’t come across any bugs since the Arena of Protection, but I know they are out there, and Luna is counting on me to fix them. Every player is counting on me, even if they don’t know it. If Luna and I don’t deal with those bugs, none of us stand a chance.

Milly opened her inventory and pulled out the small antidepressant potion Rain had made her. It felt heavy in her hand.

I thought I was doing well. These three weeks have been so crazy that I haven’t had time to think about my depression. It was always there in my previous life, and I had through I had left it behind. But did I? I… I want to believe Rain is wrong. That I don’t need this. I really want to believe.

Milly stared at the vial for a long time, trying to convince herself of that. Her life had changed so much that it was hard to compare herself now to what they had once been. Yet she knew, deep beneath it all, lay the dark river that could carry her away as it once had before.

It’s not weakness, Milly. You had the same thoughts when you first got your medication. You didn’t take it at all that first month because it felt like you would be admitting failure - a weak girl, unable to fix her own mind. Remember where that got you – you went to a dark place. You have Cally now. And Passiflora and Rain. You can’t afford to do that to yourself again. You owe it to them to be healthy.

Before her resolve disappeared, Milly popped the cork on the vial and swallowed a half teaspoon of the liquid. It tasted faintly of decomposed leaves and Milly clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“Yuck. I hope Rain’s flavors improve as she gets better at alchemy,” Milly said. She placed the vial back in her inventory and returned to their bed.

Her head hit her pillow, and she was asleep moments later.