Later that night, after the Legionnaires had long since left Vyxora territory, repair work had begun at the entrance of the highrise. A maintenance crew attempted to close the now partially open dent-riddled shutters. Most of the building had calmed, with its residents returning to their homes. In Reina’s basement room, Reina-cat sat upon the chair. Yuna bent low to the ground on her hands and knees without her helmet.
“My bad, Reina,” Yuna said.
“Have you calmed down?” Reina asked.
“Yes. I might’ve damaged the gate, though.”
“I saw you punching and kicking it, Yuna. You very much did.”
“Sorry.”
“Apologize to Val and the crew fixing it later, not me.”
“Okay.”
“Would you just get up already?” Reina-cat gestured a paw up. Yuna stood. “I know you weren’t lying about protecting Vyxora, sure, but you also saw an opportunity to vent on the Legion. The council still would’ve punished us, even if we weren’t the aggressors!”
“But—.”
“You have to remember why it’s a rule. If you created some huge, bloody mess - that can’t just be brushed under the rug easily. They banned such clashes because they were causing too much attention and collateral damage back then. It’s bad for business. That’s what they care about, always. The bottom line. It’s literally the main reason behind the duel system.”
“Well, yeah. I get that, but what else were we gonna do? That big dumbass was ready to raze us to the ground.”
“You’re right, too. I honestly don’t know.” Reina paused. “Without—.”
“Really though.” Yuna walked forward, picked up Reina-cat and hugged her, then lifted her into the air by the arms. “I sometimes worry you know the mind of a psycho like me far too well. It’s conflicting.” She smiled as she turned while still holding Reina aloft, then stopped at the sight of Dante. He sat in a corner of the room, on the ground, with his knees pulled to his chest while thumping his head against the wall and muttering. “What?” She looked into Reina-cat’s eyes.
“As I was about to say. I don’t know what we would’ve done without him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuna cradled Reina and walked over to Dante. “Hey dumbass, why didn’t you run away?” She kicked Dante. He gave no response.
“Quit it, Yuna!” Reina scampered to Yuna’s shoulder. “Leave him alone. He’s the reason they left.”
“What, really?” Yuna withheld another kick. “I guess I kinda remember seeing him. Why’s he still here, though? Could’ve gone with them. And why’s he like, whatever he’s doing?”
“That’s my fault,” Reina lamented. “I lied to him.”
“About?”
“That I had an ALTR.”
“Okay?”
“It was how I got him to help. Just a desperate gamble that somehow worked.”
“I’m lost.”
“From things he said, it seemed like ALTR was incredibly important to him. He must be one of those people who spend almost every waking moment in there.”
“People do that?”
“Yes. There’s constant debate about it being an epidemic.”
“Bah. RL’s so limited,” Dante said. “Old ass physies just don’t understand the unlimited potential of ALTR. It’s the future of humankind.”
“Dante! I sincerely apologize for lying to you.”
“Ehhh.” Dante returned to sulking.
“Hey.” Yuna pulled Dante to his feet by his collar with ease. “Reina’s talking to you.” She glared.
“Whatever.”
“You son of a—.” Yuna cocked her arm.
“Yuna, knock it off. Settle down, please.” Reina pawed at Yuna’s face. Yuna grumbled as her arm fell to her side.
“Typical dumbass physie, resorting to violence,” Dante mumbled.
“What was that?” Yuna pinched Dante out of Reina’s vision.
“Ow!” Dante rubbed his side. “Holy fuck, that hurt. Are you a gorilla?”
“A what?” Yuna leaned in. Dante grimaced as he met her gaze. Reina’s head darted about in confusion.
“Hey, uh. Your face…” Dante said. Yuna withdrew slightly while Reina looked at her. A moment passed. “Familiar? Nope, it’s gone. Thought I had something.” Reina breathed a sigh of relief.
“I really am sorry for lying to you,” Reina said.
Dante sighed. “I’ll get over it. Think I’m having withdrawals, though, to be honest. Definitely longest I’ve been away.”
“I’ve read about that. So you really do spend all your time in ALTR?”
“Yeah. I gotta give you credit, Ms. clever kitty. You figured out the one thing to persuade me to talk to rocks for brains.”
“I truly apologize.”
“I get it. Probably would’ve done the same in your position. Thinking back, I said some things, but I didn’t make it that obvious I was a devout Vir, maybe?”
“‘Vir’? I think I’ve seen that. Short for virtual, right? Because ALTR addicts spend all their time—?”
“—in a virtual world, yep. It’s a lame joke we use as if we’re part of a religion. You know, ‘ALTR’. Anyway, I’d rather not return to pre-Nero, if possible. Especially with Yuna, was it? Her glare says more pain’s on the way. I’d like to take the initiative here and say let’s have a sit-down to exchange information while clearing the air.”
The trio agreed with nods. Yuna returned Reina to her chair. Dante dragged a chair over and sat. Then, Yuna’s Aegis suit retracted from neck to toe into the back portion. She backed into a device on the nearby wall. It grabbed the suit while disconnecting ports at the base of her neck. She wore a light tank top and shorts. She stepped away as she stretched.
“Whoa. I’ve only seen muscles that well-defined in ALTR games,” Dante said. “You look straight out of one of my favs, Primeval—”
“—Hunters?” Reina asked.
“Hell Yeah! You know it?”
“I’ve played the non-ALTR version. Without even realizing it at first, my avatar actually looks like Yuna.” Reina giggled.
“Ha. She’d fit in! You’ve really got to try the ALTR version; it’s on a whole ‘nother level. Gets pretty intense when—.” Yuna kicked her chair before sitting, then glared at Dante. “Right. Another time. So, full disclosure, I don’t have much useful information. Ask away, though. Open book, honest, nothing to hide. Hell, don’t even have reason to hide anything.”
“Why’re you still here?” Yuna asked. “You could’ve escaped with your brother, no?”
“I wondered that too. Did you really stay just to see an ALTR setup?” Reina asked. “Still kinda hard to believe.”
“I did. Hmm. Remember how I said I was useless? I wasn’t blowing smoke. I’ve been exiled, you could say.”
“Exiled? From the Legionnaires?” Yuna asked.
“My house, technically. I’m not really part of them.”
“But your brother’s the Praetor?” Reina asked.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Was,” Yuna said.
“Yuna!”
“Ha. Don’t worry. Fuck that guy, too. Was so god damn obnoxious,” Dante said. “Order this, honor that. Blah blah blah. Anyway, my family certainly leads the Legion. However, I really only did tech stuff for them here and there. They left me alone in return.”
“You don’t care he’s dead?” Yuna asked.
“Not really. That’s how I got the boot, though. When my mother told me, I think I gave a nonchalant dismissal? I assume, at least. Don’t even remember what I said or did, had a raid to get to. She flipped out. Big time. Next thing I know, I’m pretending to be a detective in that smelly arena. Longish story short, if I don’t find out who killed the ‘Praetor’, I’m never getting back to my room; to my ALTR.”
“That’s…” Reina said.
“That’s seriously the reason you were there?” Yuna laughed.
“Yuna!”
“Nah, it’s alright. Even I can recognize the humor in it, as depressing as it is for me.”
“It’s just…” Reina failed to quell a giggle. “It’s so ridiculous that I wouldn’t believe you without your behavior up till now. I’ve already lost count how many times you’ve mentioned game stuff.” She let out a laugh for a moment until the sound ceased from the cat.
“What can I say? I could go into a philosophical diatribe but at the end of the day, I just wanna game. Alright, I have little else to share, unfortunately. But I resisted until now and it’s eating at me, and I gotta ask. Why’ve I been talking to a cat?”
“None of your fucking business.” Yuna threw a dagger, which stuck to the bit of visual chair between Dante’s legs. After a delayed moment, Dante reeled back from the edge, almost toppling over.
“Yuna!” Reina chastised. “Would you quit being so rude? Retract.” Yuna grumbled as, with a slight flick of her wrist, the dagger reeled back into her hand via a wire. Reina-cat turned to Dante with a slight bow of it’s head. “Apologies, Dante. If she hasn’t made it painfully obvious, Yuna’s openly hostile to new people.” She glared at Yuna. “No matter how many times it gets her into trouble.” She turned back. “Although, it begs the question, how don’t you already know? At least a guess? It was only last night that the fate of our families’ territories were on the line? It’s not exactly a secret of her many altercations.”
“Oh. Uh. Right,” Dante said. “I’m usually only called upon to research, er, how do I say this… bigger fish?”
“Does that mean you know nothing about Vyxora?”
“Nope. Never heard of ya, no offense.”
“What?” Yuna growled as she stood.
“I said no offense.” Dante pleaded with his hands.
“You fu—” Yuna kicked her chair aside.
“Rainbows!” Reina said. Yuna exchanged a glance with her. Then Yuna clicked her tongue as she turned and exited the room. Dante’s eyes widened at the sight of a plethora of scars on her body, revealed by the lighting as she left.
“Sorry, again.” Reina sighed.
“What, uh, just happened?”
“Yuna has a short fuse.”
“Understatement. She bipolar or something?”
“Shh. She has exceptional hearing. You should really think more before talking.”
Dante rubbed his neck. “You’ve got me there.”
“To her credit, though, she recognizes her fuse and trained herself to step away if I call out that phrase.”
“‘Rainbows’?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t help but think there’s a story there. Heh. That’s kinda neat. Is she always so, er?”
“Intense? No, actually. But, she’s on edge much, much more because of last night. You have no idea how much she was looking forward to it.” Reina paused. “Oh. I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I—”
“Because my brother’s dead? Seriously, you really don’t have to worry about stepping on my toes here. I’ma take a guess here that its hard for you to understand. Even in the short time I’ve been here, you two seem crazy close. But, I’m just not that attached to my family. Rest of ‘em could drop dead for all I care.” Then I could get my stuff back. As if I’d be so lucky.
“Anyway, not sure I follow?” Dante asked. “Shouldn’t you two be more relieved, if anything? She seems pretty tough, sure, but The Legion didn’t grow to such size by losing. Yet, Praetor’s dead. Threat averted.”
“You’re right. I can’t understand your… indifference,” Reina said. “To answer your question, it’s hard to explain quickly, but trust me that it was solely our decision to accept the duel. Your brother’s combat prowess was a significant ‘why’.”
“If I take your word for it, which I do, she likes fighting that much? Despite the risk?”
“To be honest, I have trouble comprehending it myself. ‘A warrior’s spirit’. That’s how our father puts it. Yuna has an unflinching drive to fight beyond protecting Vyxora. She seeks worthy opponents, like the Praetor seemed.”
“Huh? No kidding? In the modern era?”
“You know what I’m talking about?”
“Sure, I’ve played characters like that in games, so I’m pretty familiar with the concept. Those were historical games mostly, though. Can’t say I thought those types might still exist. At least when it came to The Legion, my brother seemed to always pick fights he’d win. Is Vyxora a lot bigger than I thought?”
“No, it’s little more than this building. We don’t expand.”
“Why?”
“Papa’s decision, it’s complicated.”
“Fair enough. So, I’ve got to bring it up again. You’d think I’d be used to talking to not-humans from all that I’ve played, but it’s still a little weird to experience IRL. Cat?”
“Oh, yes, we got off-topic, my apologies. I’ll spare you the details, but I have a rare affliction and am confined to my bed. Lots of machines. The only way I can interact with the outside world is this.” Reina-cat brought a paw to her chest.
“Well, damn, that sucks. What about physie maintenance?”
“What?”
“Eating, bathroom, that junk.”
“Uhm, the machines handle that.” Reina mumbled as she looked away.
“Kinda envy you.”
“‘Envy’?” Reina turned back, the cat’s ears perked up.
“Would be the perfect excuse to ALTR all day, every day. Also, physie maintenance fuckin’ blows. Constant pain in the ass. Hate it so much, if you can’t tell from my looks.” A brief silence ensued. “Would be pretty sweet.” Reina broke out in laughter, startling Dante.
“But ‘envy’?” Reina quelled her laughter. “I’ve never thought I could hear something like that said about me.”
“Hm. It occurs to me I probably sounded like a real asshole just now. Should’ve kept those thoughts to myself. Insensitive doesn’t even really cut it, here, does it?”
“It’s fine. Better than the pity I usually receive. So ridiculous. May I ask, are games really that important to you? I play occasionally to take my mind off things, but you?”
“Oh, yeah.” Dante’s face lit up with excitement. “I get to live out entire lifetimes on any given day. I’ve been countless professions, explored countless worlds and so, so much more. ALTR makes regular gaming a joke in comparison. Considering your situation, it’s a downright crime you haven’t experienced.” Dante rambled on enthusiastically about games for a short time until Yuna returned.
“I’ve calmed down.” Yuna sat in her chair.
“Welcome back,” Reina said. “Did you—?”
“No lame jokes.” Yuna glared. Reina-cat looked crestfallen. “I’m guessing I didn’t miss anything important? You shared nothing unnecessary, did you, Reina?”
“No.” Reina mumbled. Her gaze shied away.
“You.” Yuna pointed at Dante. “Reina has a tendency to share more than she should, especially if it’s in defense of me. So, did she?”
“Not that I recall.” Dante appeared unfazed by her glare. I wonder what complications there would be getting her set up. His gaze drifted to Reina-cat. A brief silence passed.
“Dante. How did you convince Nero to leave?” Reina said. He gave no response. “Dante?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll admit, I’m curious too, now,” Yuna said. “He didn’t flinch after my first strike. Maybe he would’ve put up a bit of a challenge?” Dante gave no response. Yuna stomped her foot once. “Hey.”
“Oh,” Dante said, snapping from thought. “I’m not real sure. Nero sparred with Vigo, a lot, I think? Maybe?”
“You don’t know?”
“Ehh, didn’t really keep apprised of such things.”
Yuna sighed. “Well, they seemed ready to raze Vyxora to the ground. What’d you say?”
Dante retold the encounter with Nero, albeit in a shoddy and succinct fashion, having forgotten parts. This resulted in a short back and forth between the three for clarifications.
“Okay uh, he wanted to leave only after killing Yuna, so.” Dante loosely recited what he had said about Yuna. He then felt an immense pressure emanate from her and, in haste, followed up. “Just made some stuff up, you know?”
“Yuna. You didn’t?” Reina faced Yuna.
“Hey, hey, no! Sure, those idiots tried to jump me again, so they’d totally deserve it. But, I only knocked them out! I swear.” Yuna glared at Dante. “Right?”
“Well, I couldn’t see, so I can’t swear to it. And they were quiet,” Dante said, feeling Yuna’s gaze. “But she said something about hands, so they probably weren’t dead. I just tweaked the story to convince Nero. I meant nothing I said.”
“Right, right. Good job. And I said they were lucky I don’t cut thieves’ hands off anymore.”
“Fine, I’ll trust you,” Reina said. “Kind of hard to believe that really worked on your brother, though.”
“I really can’t overstate how dumb he is,” Dante said.
“True. The fact he even thought he could do something like this without severe punishment from the council speaks volumes. Could the rest of your family all be at the meeting?”
“Probably.”
“So, who’s going to take over as Praetor, then?” Yuna asked. “Clearly not you.”
“If I had to guess, all three, maybe? Augustus is alright. Constance is legit awful but they’re both fairly intelligent. Constance takes after my mother and can manipulate the other two with ease. You could argue my mother’s the true Praetor in the first place, though.” Dante sighed. “In hindsight, I really should’ve stopped being lazy and just moved my stuff to a shack somewhere. Wouldn’t be in this mess then. Man, they suck.”
“Which one would handle a sanctioned duel?”
“Nero, maybe? Likely?”
“You were able to last a bit against me, despite—,” Yuna gestured at Dante, “that sad excuse for a body. The ox should be able to last awhile, right?”
“Sure?”
“No offense, it’s hard to imagine you lasting as long as Yuna said. Did you really?” Reina asked.
“I was a good little soldier early in life. Took a knee injury. Found ALTR. Rest is history.”
“Do you think pops will come back with a new duel date?” Yuna looked at Reina.
“Highly unlikely. Keep your expectations in check,” Reina said. Yuna grumbled.
“So, we kind of got off-topic, a lot. I’m guessing you have no more info on the actual assassin and junk than I do. Which is nothin’. Right?” Dante asked.
“Unfortunately, you’re correct. I’ve been scouring social media, message boards, news outlets and whatever else. Even darker places of the net are shockingly all baseless speculation with nothing tangible. None of my connections or contacts have given me anything yet. Somehow, as crazy as it seems, we’re all in the dark. I get that the big news outlets wouldn’t even acknowledge it, but for there to not even be credible threads underground? It’s unsettling. There’s so little information that the initial chaos has done a complete one-eighty and now the prevailing consensus is it didn’t even happen.”
“Where’s the Praetor’s corpse, anyway?” Yuna asked.
“Yuna!”
Dante shrugged. “Dono. Council took it, I think. Mother wasn’t happy, I’m told. Though it is how I was even allowed to check out the scene… not that I found anything.”
“Oh yeah, was wondering how you got past security.” Yuna yawned.
“My time was probably almost up when you nabbed me. They were gonna start tearing apart the place.”
“What’re you going to do now?” Reina asked.
“That… is a good question.”
“Yuna, could you please show him to the recovery room? Please don’t argue. He has nowhere to go, at least for tonight, and I’m tired.”
“Wh—” Yuna yawned. “Fine.” She yanked Dante to his feet, dragging him by the collar to a room adjacent to the maintenance room. She shoved him in as the light turned on.
“Thanks. Hadn’t even thought about sleeping arrangements,” Dante said.
“Reina’s too kind. I don’t have to—,” Yuna yawned, “to make any threats, right?”
“I’ve got an active imagination.”