Hei debriefed me on what he had learned from Doublerift about our upcoming fight.

"Our main goal is to stop Alice from reaching level 6," Hei explained. "She is a melee combatant. You and Doublerift are ranged, and I can be too. We'll focus-fire her as much as we can, before she levels up."

"What does Doublerift do?" I asked. "Besides opening the pocket dimensions."

"He mostly just shoots and teleports." Hei rummaged through the backpack he had brought with him, and took out a few sheets of paper to show me. Upon it were his diagrams and notes, with much of it being Doublerift's abilities – how much damage his skills did, their range and cooldowns, and his general habits of how he used them. We also had info on Alice's skills, though the details there were partial, with Doublerift's speculations filling in the gaps.

"You actually took notes," I remarked. I don't think he ever did that back in school.

Hei helped me review the pages until late at night, when he took his leave. I opted to stay at the armory and attempted to memorize the notes, until I studied myself to sleep.

In the morning, I received a call from Doublerift summoning me to his throne room.

It was the final day before our faceoff against Alice. In less than 24 hours, we'd confront the architect of this world, and the master of these games. Part of me felt uneasy about how little we knew about Alice still, beyond what Doublerift had told us.

When I arrived at Doublerift's underground throne, Hei was already there. We spent the day rehearsing for the fight ahead, checking our equipment, and reviewing our plans. The rest of the LCS had spread across the city, preparing to orchestrate its destruction in order to incur Alice's attention and arrival. We spent the day cramming in as much practice and planning as we could, and Doublerift dismissed us late at 8PM.

"Eat and rest," Doublerift ordered us. "Meet me at 11:30 outside the armory. Our operation will commence then."

"You want McDonald's?" Hei asked me as we left.

"Sure, why not."

He drove us to the nearest one. I got a Big Mac meal. Hei decided to get the same thing.

We sat down and began eating.

"I don't even remember if it tasted like this back home," Hei said.

I took a bite of the burger. The meat was a little dry, but it was nonetheless delicious. "Either way, it's still good."

I wolfed down my meal, and Hei finished soon after. We still had three or so hours before the operation.

"Now what?" Hei asked as we made our way back to his truck.

That was a good question. Lately, every day had been a rush. Now that we had time, I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do.

I sank back into the shotgun seat. "What's the most deserted place around here?"

He tapped a prosthetic finger on the steering wheel. "I don't think anyone lives in the ocean."

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

"Let's go there then," I said.

Without a reply, Hei started the engine. We drove through the dark and empty streets, through this hollow city, until we reached and passed its outskirts.

At the end of the road, the horizon opened up in front of us: The starry sky, the white and sandy shore, and the ocean that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

We parked the truck there and walked on to the beach. The ceaseless sound of waves rumbled not far away, blown to us upon the sea-scented wind.

We were alone here.

I walked forward, towards the water, until the sand beneath my feet grew damp and dense. Hei trailed a half step behind me.

Skyscrapers, distant and silent, painted a jagged skyline behind us.

I thought I'd have been able to spend more time with Hei. We never quite made up for all the time we had been apart. This wasn't like Silvercreek anymore, where we'd work eight hours a day, and have nights to ourselves, and have weekends to ourselves. Here in Platinum, we were always busy. Even while together, it felt like it was never about him, or me. It was always about tasks and objectives and missions.

Sophia and Hei at the beach. [https://i.imgur.com/OWRTLRw.png]

Not tonight. Not now. I wanted to end things without regret.

I sat down on the sand and watched the waves arrive and depart, and searched for stars among the clouds. Hei sat down at my side.

"When was the last time you paused and looked up at the sky?" I asked.

He did not reply, but he lifted his head up.

"It's very high," he said.

Soon, we'd leave this night sky behind, and this city too.

"It'll be like waking up from a dream," I said. "Will you remember everything that's happened?"

So that I wouldn't have to remember all of it alone.

He held up his mechanical, prosthetic hand, and opened and closed his fist. "Gonna be hard to forget with this."

"I imagine you'd get your hand back once you go to the real world?"

"That would be nice," he said.

I hated these death games and could not wish for it all to be over sooner. My struggle to Platinum had never been about the journey, only the destination. We had lost too much along the way for the journey to be cherished.

And yet, I had been happy too, hadn't I? I hated to admit it. As we clawed forward desperately to survive, we had fleeting days of happiness too, and fun adventures, in this secret and strange world that only we knew of. I wanted to watch Saber catch the first snowflakes one more time. I wanted to attend a tournament and watch Hei win one more time, then celebrate and drink myself tipsy and have him carry me home.

But Saber had left and carried on. And I supposed Hei would too, soon.

Without much forethought, I began to sing a song for Hei. It was a pretty song, I supposed, and easy on the lips. It just came to me, so I didn't think too much about the lyrics and the meaning, or those sorts of things.

Hei leaned in, close enough that I could feel his warmth.

My voice, alongside the rumbling waves and his soft breaths, was a lonely thing.

The rest of our night passed like a blur. I remembered napping on his shoulder at some point. I shed tears at some point. And some time before or after that, we had stepped into the water and swimmed. And I had written something about him in the sand.

When our time was over, we returned to the armory, where Doublerift stood waiting. We knew what we had to do.

Doublerift opened two portals, each leading into one of his pocket dimensions. Hei and I marched in, one into each. Then the portals closed behind us.

I didn't have much space in the pocket dimension. It felt like being trapped inside a sack woven from smoke. Beyond the smoke, I could see a blurred image of the outside world, as though looking past Doublerift's shoulders.

He held his phone to his ear.

"Commence the operation," I heard him say, in a muffled and filtered voice from the outside world.

A crimson flash lit up the sky to my left.

In a matter of seconds, that end of the city disappeared behind a curtain of flames.