Melody and Harmony Trailer

Melody and Harmony. The last of the mega cities, where music flourishes as religion, dance clubs are churches. The mainstream genres rule the inner city where the wealthy and powerful are covered by an environmental shield. Beyond the shield the fringes of the city are the territory of the subgenres and their fiercely loyal street congregations. Beyond the outer walls of the city, nomads roam the desert riding on ancient junked busses and piecemeal motorbikes bringing primal drumming to the wasteland shanty towns to sing the faith of the old gods to the forgotten and the waste landers worship them for it.

When several DJ’s from the most popular sub genres declare a temporary peace in the city of Melody the news of a unified concert to be held in the desert spreads quickly. All of the genre faithful left the safety of their territories in the heart of summer to venture out past the relative safety of the outer city walls and made their way to the festival grounds.

For Daniel and the rest of a rag tag band of unassociated believers the journey to the festival would not only be the highlight of their summer, it would change their lives and the twin cities, forever.

Beginning September 7^th experience a dystopian coming of age narrative unlike any other.

Melody and Harmony.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 27

Foster was sitting alone in the intro to energy room. He had been sitting in the same spot, eyes closed,  counting the same beats, breathing in and out, feeling nothing but pressure.

One, two, three, Breathe out

One, two, three, breathe in

One, two, three, almost killed your friend

One, two, three, who are you?

One, two, three, what are you becoming?

One, two, three, four, five, breathe out

One, two, three, four, five, breathe in

One, two, three, four, five, breathe out

One, two, three, four, five, six, Breathe in

As he pulled air into his lungs papers on the wall pulled slightly toward him. When he let the air out of his lungs the papers pressed against the wall. He opened his eyes to see Cynthia standing in the doorway of the classroom.

She stepped into the room completely. “That was nice.” She said sitting in front of him.

Foster relaxed his legs. “Hey Cynthia.”

She smiled. “For someone who just passed intro to energy you don’t seem very excited.” She pointed out.

Foster shrugged. “I’m not sure I deserve to pass the class.” He admitted.

Cynthia cocked her head in confusion. “Why?” she asked.

Foster laid on his back. “Because I tried to kill Thompson, I was so afraid of failing that I turned to something in me that I am now desperately afraid of. I made a lot of mistakes this semester.” He was almost shouting at the ceiling.

Cynthia moves to lay down close to him but at an odd angle. “Look I know the college industry has everyone believing that’s what this is all about, attaining enough “success” to earn and alphabetical pat on the head. But that’s not what learning is Foster. What did you LEARN this semester?” She asked him.

Foster and Cynthia laid on the floor of the dark room while he thought the question over. Finally he spoke. “A good friend will go so far as to beat the crap out of you to keep you from making a life altering mistake. A good teacher will help you learn form the ones they cannot stop you from making. Control is more important than strength. Understanding is more important than control.” He stopped there.

Cynthia nodded as he spoke. “And would you have learned any of that if you had never gone through this semester the way you did?” She asked. He shook his head. “You didn’t fail Foster.” She continued. “You walked a hard road and didn’t quit. Make no mistake, no one who’s ever changed the world, did It because the world did it because it was the easy way out.” She concluded.

Foster rolled his head to the side to look at Cynthia. “ So why don’t I feel like I accomplished anything?” he asked.

Cynthia shrugged. “You are young, and this is just one moment in your life. You passed intro to energy, take that for what it is.”  She advised.

Silence in the room as he thought about what she was saying. “Ok then, what is it?” he asked her.

She sat up and folded herself in half, stretching out her back. “The first step in the long walk of your adult life.” She offered.

Foster sat up and scratched the back of his head. “So, is every class going to be like this?” he asked.

Cynthia got to her feet. “Nope” She decreed. “Only the really good ones.” Foster smiled and got to his feet as well.

She headed for the door and he followed her. “Modest much?” He asked as they left the room. 

Shades of Justice: Chapter 30

Techarious was rampaging through Tokyo, smashing his giant fists into buildings, knocking one sky scraper into another. Then suddenly an electric blue teleport beam flashed and Blinding Light was standing several blocks away. Technarious and Blinding light squared off and ran at each other. They smashed into each other and entangled their arms.

In the command center of blinding light Gordon pressed the command for the chest beam which hit Technarious full force in the chest. He lost the grapple and fell backwards, decimating the street below. Sonya pulled up the status read out of Technarious.

Dante looked over at the readout. “Ok boss, what’s the plan?” He asked as Warren stepped on Technarious’ prone body.

Sonya zoomed in on the damage they had caused to the chest. “Compter, where are Technarious’ power systems located?” She asked. A series of components inside Technarious on the status readout lit up with an orange outline. Can you get to that area from the crack in his chest?” She asked. In response a bright orange line led from the crack to the power system. “Transfer that pathway to my helmet.” She said as she stood up.

Dante and Kelly stood up as well. “Are you out of your mind?” Kelly shouted.

Sonya shook her head. “No, Warren can command the other leg from his station. We need to disable Technarious without killing him, and I’ll give everyone three seconds to come up with a better plan.” The other shades looked at each other. “Computer teleport.” She said, instantly disappearing.

Kelly and Dante looked at each other. “Should have seen that one coming.” Dante said as they sat back at their stations.

Sonya appeared in the crack of Technarious’ chest and dropped down into the inside of his body, carefully making her way around damaged cords and sparking machinery. She came to a small fire that was on her side of a gap that was easily eight feet wide. “Fire extinguisher!” she commanded as white suppressant exploded from her right hand. As soon as the fire was out she closed her fist shutting off the suppressant spray. She then looked down the gap which looked like it went for twenty or more feet. “Great idea Sonya.” She chastised herself as she checked the nearest wall for hand and footholds to use to make it across. Suddenly there was an incredible amount of movement and Technarious was getting back to his feet. Sonya held on for dear life.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 53

Once they council had agreed to accept the evidence before them a sense of panic ran through the group, She would never tell anyone the amount of time they spent discussing leaving the rest of the colony behind and leaving that evening before anyone noticed.

Kepi stayed silent as the council worked through how they were going to gather everyone together, how they were going to make sure that everyone that wanted to leave was granted passage. By the end of the day they had worked out an uncharacteristic amount of details.

The senate leader rapped his gavel. “If there are no other points of order I recommend that we adjourn for the day.” He offered.

“I have a question.” A voice filled the hall. Kepi grimaced. An elderly senator stood with the aid of a cane and cleared his throat. “While I appreciate the situation, and applaud all the effort made thus far to save lives, I fear that I must ask. Once we leave the planet. Where exactly do we plan to go?” He questioned.

Murmurs from the other representatives filled the room. The senate leader rapped his gavel for silence. Kepi raised her voice. “We must use the transport ring. We have no other options.” She explained.

The elderly senator nodded. “That system is three hundred years old and has never been successfully tested. We could kill everyone we send through it.” He pointed out.

Kepi shook her head. “The ring was activated just two weeks ago, It’s the reason the Starseeds came here in the first place.” She explained,

Again murmurs filled the room. The senate leader rapped the gavel several times.

The old man shook his head. “I read the report of what those boys did. We have no way of knowing what happened to them once they left this area. For all we know they are long dead stranded in the middle of nowhere, a fate I would not wish on the rest of this colony.” He said

Kepi shook her head. “They could just as likely made it all the way back to Earth, senator.” She countered. “As you said, we don’t know.”

The old man nodded again. “Is ‘we don’t know’ enough of a guarantee to bet the entire future of this planet on?” He asked as she sat down.

The murmurs of the other senators broke out again and this time there was no gavel to silence them. Kepi looked up at the leadership and saw that they too were discussing this question amongst themselves.

Kepi’s shoulders tightened and made her final point, shouting it over the other conversations. “Given the choice between ‘I don’t know” and Certain Death, I’ll take ‘I don’t know’ every time. Senator.” She room went dead silent and stared at her. She found the rest of her confidence and her shoulders relaxed. “And that is the choice life has given us. It is not great, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy but it is where we are. So, I call for a vote. A nay vote means certain death for the colony, a Yay vote means we take our caravan through the gate and see what happens next.” She looked to the leadership table.

The leader reluctantly rapped the gavel. “Is there a second?” He asked.

Kepi looked around a room full of statues. “I second.” A voice rang out. Kepi couldn’t believe it. She looked to Fletcher’s seat where he had raised his giant hand and voiced his support. She had not expected this, and it made her uneasy.

The senate leader nodded. “The vote has been requested and seconded. Return with your choice in fifteen minutes. This chamber is dismissed.” With no further reason to whisper the room exploded into a uncountable full volume conversations. Kepi couldn’t handle the noise and made her way out into the hall. Where she ran into Fletcher. She stopped in her tracks. “Why support my vote?” she asked suddenly.

Fletcher smiled. “I’m a business man, I can work with ‘I don’t know”. There’s not enough wiggle room in “certain death” for my taste.” She said floating off down the hall.

Kepi breathed a sigh of relief. 

Lidarion: Chapter 25

“Well then,” Brooke started. “I only see one way forward.” Everyone looked at her. “You’ll sail under the Lidarion royal flag. Let’s find out what the estimated value of the boat is and we will bring it plus ten percent in gold.” She sounded like she was planning a boring reception.

Trent waved his hand. “Brooke that’s- “ He started.

She stood up. “The easiest solution to our most recent problem. There will be others and I was going already so don’t even start on that.” She smiled sweetly as she stared him down. “Those people are my friends and their families and short of giving away the kingdom to set them free I will do it. This isn’t just your burden, it never was.” She finished her thought and sat back down.

Trart nodded, agreeing with everything she had said. But he decided to finish his sentence anyway. “Going to take up a lot of weight on the boat.” He smiled at her.

Everyone waited silently took see how long Brooke could hold out until she smiled. She lasted less than five seconds. “I hate you.” She threw a cloth napkin at Trent.

Dean stood up. “I greatly appreciate the assistance, and would be more than glad to take you to Cela’an, so please allow me to make two corrections to your plan. First the Womamel is a ship, not a boat. And secondly and I’m going to guess that I’m the only one present who has ever even met an elf, take that ten percent and bring it in the form of Lidarion’s best wine.” He stood. “I am beyond glad to have met you all, the Womamel will be ready to sail in thirty six hours, and we’re coming to the end of the smooth sailing season and will be cutting it close on passing through the southern straits as it is, so I’d recommend leaving no later than three days from now.” He walked over to the door and held it open. “You know where to find me, you all have a good evening.” He said as he left the bar.

The XP: Chapter 25

The arena was a complete mad house. Trart and Volnado still hadn’t made their way through the crowds to get back to the rest of the group. The rest of the end of the world club had done some cool stuff, but nothing that had made them the envy of the entire player base. Bob, Blackout, and Stygian watched in awe as the arena cheered for their achievement.

Sezario and The Matriarch flew down to the arena floor from their box seats. Sezario walked up to Torcano. “Congratulations on your victory.” He said holding out his hand to shake.

Torcano looks down at his feet. “I don’t feel like a winner.” He admitted.

Zezario gave a knowing smile. “Why? What ever could you mean?” He asked almost sarcastically.

The Matriarch hit him in the shoulder. “Don’t be mean.” She scolded.

Torcano looked up cluing into the oddness of the situation. “Wait, how did you get onto the arena floor?” He asked.

Sezario shrugged. “I created the game, I can pretty much go where ever I like.” He answered nonchalantly.

Bob and Blackout both dropped their jaws. “SPIRITWALKER!!!” They shouted practically into his face.

He nodded. “Durring working hours, speaking of working.” He turned his attention back to Torcano. “You want your job back kid?” He asked.

Torcano gave a bittersweet smile. “I appreciate the offer, and I genuinely don’t want to be rude, but no, thank you.” He replied.

Sezario nodded. “No worries, game was meant to be played, you know?” He smiled. Everyone nodded at this.

Trart and Volnado join the group. For a moment there is a dense, uncomfortable silence. No one in the group knows where to begin. Frustrated, Trart finally steps forward and does and impersonation of Volnado. “look bro, I’m sorry I was such a dick all those years.” Trart steps next to Torcano and impersonates him. “I’m sorry too, I should have let you know how much it bothered me a long time ago, and I’m sorry I turned into such a douche.” Another step over and he takes on Bob’s stance and voice. “Awwwwe, I apologize for snapping at you all the time Torcano and I apologise to the group for constantly leaving this ‘love/hate’ thing we're doing, in the air for so long.” Another step and he ends up next to Stygian and does his best impersonation “I missed you guy’s soooo much! I don’t have anything to apologize for I just wanted to be a part of the moment!” Finally he ends up next to Blackout. “Believe it or not, I’m perfectly comfortable with who I am. None of this was my fault and I’ll never let any of you forget it.” He then stepped back to his empty space in the circle. “Whelp, now that that’s out of the way lets go run The Sea of Ever Burning Fury, YAAAAAAAAAAAY!” He broke into a full run for the arena gate. The rest of the group looked around the circle at each other. Volnado shrugged and then broke off to follow Trart.

He was quickly followed by the rest of the End of the World Club.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 25

Clay exited the building having finished his final. He had forgotten how sunny it was outside and used his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight. With the light out of his eyes he quickly spotted Faith waiting for him. They exchanged awkward glances. Clay walked up to her, she opened her mouth but he interrupted her. “I’m sorry” he spat.

It threw faith off and she was silent a moment longer. Finally finding her voice again. “Why, are you apologizing?” She asked.

“Because I lied to you.” Clay started. “I love being a thug studies major. I love stealing and drinking and breaking the law. This whole semester  I’ve been trying to “grow up” because I thought that’s what adults did. And when you left I turned back into the worst version of myself.” Clay explained.

Faith shook her head. “That’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I fed you all that crap about how I didn’t care about all the social rules in my sorority and when it came time to put my heart where was mouth was, I chickened out and betrayed us both.”

Clay couldn’t help but smile at her. “So we are both immature terrible people who can’t be trusted to do the right thing.” He concluded.

She laughed. “Way to make us sound awesome.” She held out her hand.

He held her hand. “I call it like I see it.”

They headed toward the quad together. “If it helps at all, you make me want to be a better person.” She offered.

Clay kissed her hand. “You are a better person dear.” He assured her.

She looked slightly surprised. “what about all that stuff you just said?” She asked.

Clay shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a hardened criminal, you can’t take anything I say at face value.” He admitted.

Faith nodded at this. “So, you forgive me?” She asked genuinely concerned.

Clay nodded. “I kinda have to. I’ma screw up eventually and I want to set a good example for you.” He gave her a kiss.

She separated from him. “Just give me flowers and chocolate and I think we’ll be all right.” She said.

He nodded. “Can I steal them or does that ruin the sentiment?” He asked.

She laughed. “You are who you are.” She replied. They sat under the big tree in the center of the quad where Thompson had been reading his book at the beginning of the year. “How was your final?” She asked him as they got situated against the tree.

Clay shrugged. “Other than the pervasive desire to vomit everywhere I think it went well.”

She laid her head on his shoulder as she replied. “Well, you got that going for you at least.” She wormed her hand into his and they sat in the shade together.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 29

The Shades had a 3D projection of the moon up in the middle of the command center. Sonya held up her hand and swiped left and right, there were no clearly present structures anywhere on it. “There has got to be something that we are missing, something we haven’t found!” She was barely keeping herself from yelling, and went back to pacing the middle of the command center.

Spark lit up the wall. “Luckily you guys can just take your mecha up to the moon and check it out. Gotta admit, kind of a dick move and all, kidnapping your mentors right there at the beginning. This Raptarus guy sounds like a class A douche.” The wall went dark again.

The Shades all glanced at the wall. Gordon raised an eyebrow. “Spark, have you been on the internet?” He asked.

The wall lit up again. “As a matter of fact, I have. You earthlings have quite the vocabulary. I can wish shame on all your mothers in almost a hundred languages now, wanna hear?” He asked.

Gordon shook his head. “Thanks but no.” He turned back to the moon.

The wall continued to flicker. “Your loss.” And went dark.

Sonya shook her head. “I highly doubt that.” She said looking at the 3D moon again. “But what if he’s right? Why don’t we just take Blinding light up there and scan the place until we find Raptarus’ hide out?” She asked.

Suddenly the Moon projection flickered and faded, then was replaced with Raptarus’ face. “Shaaaaaaaaades.” His gravelly voiced filled the command center. “I took your mentor and his pet five days ago and haven’t heard so much as a peep from you. I had a whole series of torments and tortures planned but I’ve gotten bored. So I reprogramed your little robot friend and set him loose in Tokyo.” Raptarus disappeared and the Shades were presented with news footage of a giant Technarious rampaging through Tokyo. “He’s not so little any more. I’ll make you a deal. Cure my boredom and I’ll give you a hint on where to find you little night light friend. But do it quick. I’d hate to see what happens if Technarious is still alive in an hour.” The news footage went away and the moon reappeared in the center of the room.

Dante. “How are we going to stop Technarious without killing him?” Kelly asked.

Sonya already had her glasses on. She looked at Kelly. “We have less than one hour to figure that out. At this point I’d settle for saving some of Tokyo but based on our track record lets shoot for living through the next sixty minutes.” She touched the ear piece of her glasses. “Grayscale, Step into shade!” She shifted and the others followed her lead.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 52

There was no doubting that the corporation was profit hungry and soulless. But the scientists and designers that worked for the corporation three hundred years ago were very good at what they did. The colony ship that was sent to what would become Mew’s home was designed to have almost every inch of material repurposed once it had landed on its colony world. Over the first decade the settlers had done just that. The ship that had been the home for two generations of settlers had been dismantled and built into countless homes, factories, community buildings and utility stations. And they had never seen a need for another large ship to replace it.

Kepi and the other representatives were now trying to solve an impossible problem. And most of the representatives loved nothing more than sitting in session going on at length about each and every impossibility. Luckily, Kepi had infinitely more patience for these sessions than Eamon. She was the kind of person who liked to stay silent until she had something of real value to add to the conversation, and she was not the kind of person who felt that merely hearing her own voice added anything to the conversation except time. This was a rare quality in the senate.

Cole Fletcher loved the sound of his own voice and was more than eager to launch into never ending speeches that often had no point or purpose other than to make sure that no one in senate had the opportunity to forget it. He was the representative for district seventy eight, many of the families that had held power as far back as the generations on the colony ship and possibly further lived in district seventy eight. Cole Fletcher served as a barking guard dog, protecting what passed for royalty on the colony, families that had never worked a day of any kind of labor in several generations. His girth was possibly the only thing that exceeded the size of his ego. He could not stand to speak and thus gave his blubbering oratories from the comfort of his giant hovering chair. “It is patently absurd to assume that anyone, let alone my constituents be asked to leave behind the only lives they have ever known! I find it incredibly suspect that we are taking the word of foreigners, interlopers, ALIENS, without even the barest shred of verifiable evidence. I cannot in good conscience consent to the destruction of everything this colony has worked for just because we might be in danger.” He leveled the last sentence directly at Kepi, who may as well have been the physical shield for Eamon. Fletcher had drastically altered the course of people’s with fewer words and he meant to scare Kepi out of the room with these.

She was less than moved. “Representative Fletcher. While I more than anyone understand your concerns we have all had the co-ordinates and the satellite access codes to witness the wave at any time over the last ten days.” She smiled sweetly as she spoke.

Fletcher slammed his fist into the armrest on his chair. “Are you asking the citizens of this colony to trust some piece of technology that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of?” He shouted.

She calmly picked up her tablet and input a few commands. “Funny you should question the quality and accuracy of our satellite system sir.” She sent the page she had pulled up on her tablet to the main screen and all the desk tablets of every representative. “Would you be so kind as to look at the third name on the board of directors and founding members of the company that makes the satellites in orbit around our planet?” She highlighted and enlarged his name COLE FLETCHER so that it was clearly visible, there was almost no where you could look in the room without seeing it. “Are you telling this assembly that your own company’s product is defective? How long have you known of these defects? How would you suggest we go about being compensated for defective equipment we bought and paid for based on the word of several generations of your family?” The sweet smile never left her face.

Cole on other hand had turned beet red in fury. His giant fists clenched in anger. “Of course Avionic Satellite Systems are of the highest quality.” He admitted slowly, through clenched teeth. “I merely wanted to remind the council that we are talking about the future of this entire colony.” He stared daggers at her.

She didn’t even flinch. “Why senator, I think you might be the last person in this room to realize that talking about the future of this entire colony is the only reason we were elected.” She cleared the page from everyone’s tablets and the main screen. Fletcher was gripping the arm rest of his chair so tightly that it might tear loose at any second. 

Lidarion: Chapter 24

It was several hours of stories and reconnection before anyone mentioned the reason they had reached out to Dean, by the time they got around to the business at hand the restaurant had been closed for hours. Dean moved his chair back from the table slightly. “So how can the crew of the Womamel be of service?” He asked.

Everyone looked down the table at Trent. “We’re bound for Cela’an.” He cut right to the chase.

Dean smiled uncomfortably. “Well that presents something in the way of a complication.” He offered.

Alex leaned forward, placing and elbow on the table. “What kind of complication?” She asked.

Dean cleared his throat. “Ah, well, you see, I won the Womamel in a card game, but the original owner stole it from the high elf ship yards the night before its maiden voyage.” He smiled sheepishly.

Lisa dropped her face into her hands. “So literally the last place on the planet you want to go is the only place on the planet we can get the answers you’re looking for.” She groaned.

The XP: Chapter 24

Volnado and Trart faded into the graveyard together. Volnado immediately exploded in rage, picking Trart up off his feet. Trart flailed his hands trying to break Volnado’s grip. “Woah, WOAH! Dude calm down! Your princess is in another castle man!”

The statement caught Volnado off guard, he blinked twice and lost sight of his blind rage, and set Trart down hard. “You are a very odd person.” He judged.

Trart shook his head. “Awesome, the word you were looking for is awesome.” He corrected.

Volnado shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.” He gave up.

Trart exploded with excitement. “WE GET BOATS?!” He shouted. Causing Volnado to lean back. Trart glanced over at him. “You ok?” He asked.

Volnado sat down and put his chin in his hands. “I don’t know anymore.”

Trart sat next to him. “Well the good news is, whatever’s ailing you can’t be fatal, this is just a game.” He offered.

Volnado looked over at him. “What are you going to do now?” He asked.

Trart thought about it for a second. “Like in five minutes or with the rest of my life?” He asked.

Volnado gestured to the virtual world around them. “In the game, what do you want to do next?” He asked.

Trart nodded. “I haven’t seen any of the end game, so I’d love to start playing through that. I wanna do the Sea of Ever Burning Fury at High Tide. I’d like to do the marathon of nightmares in less than half and hour, I actually have a huge list of stuff.” Trart admitted.

“And you are genuinely excited about that list?” Volnado asked.

Trart nodded. “Weren’t you when you first started playing?” He asked.

Volnado shook his head. “I don’t think so. I was always more interested in being the first to see or do something just so I could gloat or brag, it didn’t matter what it was.” He admitted.

Trart seemed confused. “If you don’t like the game, why play?” He asked.

Volnado looked at the computer generated sky. “I haven’t actually played any content since I became a Game Master.” He said.

Trart nodded. “Well you are supposed to be helping the players as a GM.” He replied.

Volnado shook his head. “I mean I haven’t done any game content at all in over two years. If I’m not logged in as a GM then I’m not logged in.” He clarified.

Trart lookd shocked. “You’ve done nothing but fix errors and punish players for over two years?” He asked. Volnado nodded. “All right then pick one.” Trart continued.

Volnado looked confused. “One what?” He asked.

Trart waved his hand at the game world. “An instance. It’s time to play the game for a change.” Trart said as he stood up.

Volnado shook his head. “But –“

Trart cut him off. “No but’s! Come on, we could run Oblivion Sanctuary, Caverns of Insanity, The Crystal Desert, Or the Twilight Mountains, And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.” Trart rambled.

Volnado stood up. “How can you have so much enthusiasm for the game?” He asked.

Trart shrugged his shoulders. “How can you not?” He asked in reply.

They made their way back to the tournament grounds. “You know Torcano is my brother right?” Volnado asked.

Trart shook his head. “Could not have guessed.” He replied.

Volnado rolled his eyes. “Smart ass.”

Trart smiled. “Beyond my cognitive powers to put that kind of thing together.” He continued.

Volnado put his hands in his pockets. “Not a big secret, I get it.” He replied.

Trart nodded. “That and he mentioned it.”

“You can stop now.” Volnado commanded.

“Several times.” Trart Continued.

“ANYWAY” Torcano forcefully continued. “We’ve shared everything for as far back as I can remember.” He explained.

Trart nodded. “You must have gotten your own tit at least.” He quipped.

Volnado tripped over the comment. “Excuse me?” He asked.

Trart shook his head. “Never mind, please continue.” Trart asked.

Volnado started moving through the crowd in the city. “I don’t even know why I applied for the job originally. I just wanted something of my own, I guess. Then Chad applied as well and I couldn’t think of anything else.” He explained.

Trart’s face lit up. “Torcano’s mundane name is Chad?” He asked with a huge smile on his face.

Volnado pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “worst confidant ever.” He grumbled.

Trart shook off his excitement. “Sorry I’m focused.” He swore.

Volnado continued. “Long story short, I was finally good at something Torcano –“

“Chad” Trart interrupted.

Volnado glared at him, “Wasn’t good at. And I swear if you tell him you know his real name he will kill us both.” Volnado warned.

Trart nodded. “Can I tell everyone BUT him?” He asked.

Volnado punched him in the shoulder. “I’m sorry I killed you.” He offered.

Trart shook his head. “All you did was fall into my clever trap. In truth, I killed you with my cunning ruse.” Trart corrected.

Volnado again rolled his eyes. “Dropping a thousand mines on the floor and waiting for someone to run over them is not a ‘ruse’ by any definition.” Volnado corrected.

Trart shrugged. “Agree to disagree.”

Volnado laughed. “I can see why they like having you around.” He complimented.

Trart nodded. “Like I said, the world you were looking for, was awesome.” He reiterated as they made their way through the crowd.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 24

Thompson and Cynthia had never been to Cafe Atebit. They were college students and it was one of the more expensive trendy restaurants in the area. The waiter led to them to their table where Professor Banister and William were waiting. They stood to greet them as they approached.

“Thank you for meeting with us.” William said as they all sat down after greeting each other.

Cynthia was all smiles even though the bruise was already starting to darken her jawline. “Our Pleasure, what’s to occasion?” She asked.

Banister was caught in the middle of drinking water, finished his sip and set his glass down. “I’m retiring from teaching for a start.” He said. “It seems like a good time to move on, and work on a new project.” He explained.

Thompson nodded. “Which is?” He asked.

William couldn’t hold back any longer. “We’re starting our own independent production company. We used to talk about making off the wall, original games, and we’re both finally in a place where we can actually do that.” He explained.

The four of them shared lunch, talking about the school, their favorite games, and the things they missed seeing in emerging and finished projects. Toward the end of Lunch Cynthia asked the question that had been on her mind the entire time. “We’re both still graduate students, there’s nothing bankable about us, and we’re completely green, are you really going to start off your company by hiring at best background fill in actors?” She asked with all seriousness.

Bannister shook his head. “No usually in these situations you lock down your staring talent. The people you want to work with to build a brand and an expected level of quality that people rarely ever see. We’re not interested in selling millions of copies, we’re interested in creating engaging, well balanced, narrative experiences, and we want the overall experience to be the star.”

William picked up the conversation. “We don’t want you to get the wrong idea, we want you because you’re both fresh and eager to work, you’re both perfectionists, and we hope that you are both ready to take this chance with us.” He explained.

Thompson and Cynthia looked at each other.  Thompson picked up his water glass nervously. “Well what do you think? He asked Cynthia.

She tapped her fingers on the table for a second. “I’m interested. Do we need to give you an answer right away?” She asked.

Banister shook his head. “Not at all. We haven’t even begun to put this thing together but when we saw you at the showcase we knew we had found people we wanted to work with from concept to completed project. Please take your time.”

The alarm on Cynthia’s phone went off letting her know she needed to administer her intro to energy final in fifteen minutes. “It was fantastic meeting both of you, I have a final to administer but I’m fairly certain we will be giving you a call back sooner rather than later.” She stood and the rest of them stood with her. They all shook hands before She and Thomson headed back to campus.

Shades Of Justice: Chapter 28

Sonya stepped forward. "We didn't lose him, our command center was attacked while we were fighting a giant squid in the ocean. When we got back the place was destroyed, Lumarion and Technarious were both gone." She explained.

Spark was chaotically moving around the wall. "You guys must be green, of course I don't just hitch a ride in a Shade, I hitch a ride in a baby Shade, fantastic." He said as he moved around the wall. "Technarious is easy, we just need to scan the area. And if Lumarion is anything like he used to be, yup here it is. We got Technarious' Chemical signature." The map of the solar system popped up and a perfect ring of light emanated from the center of the earth. It hit the moon and a bell sounded throughout the command center. "He's being held on the moon. Get yourselves prepped, you've got a rescue mission." The spark flickered in the wall.

As the others got excited Sonya pulled Dante aside. "Sonya, look I'm so-" 

she cut him off. "Yeah save it. We're a team, we don't pull solo stunts, we barely know what's going on or what to do about it and you could have died SO easily out there. So either get on board with the group dynamic or peace the hell out because I can't be worrying about when you'll come up with your next Dante's secret side mission." She was ranting as quietly as possible.

Dante let her get it all out before he replied. "You are absolutely right, I was wrong, it won't happen again." He admitted sincerely.

There was a moment of silence before Sonya spoke again. "I'm glad something came of it though, we owe you for finding Spark." She admitted.

Dante shook his head. "I didn't do anything, Spark found me. I'm legit lucky to be alive." He admitted.

Sonya nodded. With nothing more to say they joined the group in planning the moon assault.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 51

The rest of the day was hard. They talked for a good majority of the morning, everyone cried. They played almost every board game their father owned. Mew didn't win a single game.

The next morning Eamon was ready to make good on his promise to teach the Starseeds how to make books. He had one last breakfast with Mew and his father. A simpler affair, cereals, fruits, toast with jam. He and his father were basically addicted to Fruity Marshmallow Bombs. A completely un healthy kids cereal with an annoying cartoon mascot. They both had gigantic bowls as was tradition in their house, a tradition Mew broke with a modest bowl of some boring adult healthy wheat garbage. 

Eamon noticed her choice instantly. "Seriously?" He asked pointing to her bowl.

She nodded. "Yeah seriously, I'm having breakfast, you and dad are having early heart attacks." She said as she playfully swatted his pointing finger.

Eamon shook his head. "How can you call that breakfast?" He started. "It doesn't turn the Milk into a sugary rainbow slurry, it doesn't have an annoying mascot, and it's commercials are boooring!" He accused while he dumped almost two full cups of milk in his bowel. 

Mew shook her head. "Hey it's got a slogan!" She playfully protested. For the millionth time in their lives.

Her father sat at the table with his giant bowl. "A healthy way to start the day is not a catch phrase it's a eulogy for fun." Eamon and his father gave each other a high five. "Now what time are you and your  brother leaving?" He asked.

Mew shook her head. "I'm not leaving."

They both looked at her quizzically. "At least not yet. I'm not going back to the station, and I have nothing else to do, so I figured I'd spend some time with you dad before, well just before." She explained.

Eamon nodded. "Something tells me the Starseeds are going to want you around eventually." He guessed. 

Mew shook her head. "Why me? I've got nothing to offer them, I'm a low level admin for a now defunct orbital facility. They need me like I need another hole in my head." She offered.

Eamon shrugged. "You made first contact, something tells me that's important. But I could be wrong, we'll see." He said. 

They finished their breakfasts and Eamon got himself ready to go. They said their goodbyes and gave each other hugs after Eamon had loaded his stuff into the ship. "I'll be back in about a week." He assured them as he climbed aboard.

The door shut while Mew and her father retreated to the safety of the house. Once the ship had taken off and could no longer be seen her father looked down at her with a smile. "Well now what?" He asked.

She smiled. "Tell me the story of how you met mom." She asked as they went back inside the house.

Lidarion: Chapter 23

The Womamel didn’t often dock in Lidarion. It wasn’t really a safe port for the captain or his crew, and while each and every member of the crew would swear up and down on a case of rum that they were legitimate traders only interested in running cargo from one free port to another for a profitable price, being branded pirates had less to do with how the crew felt about themselves and more about how the world saw them.

Still, the war had made it harder to find, and much less take honest transport work along the southern coast and there were bills to pay, and if you had a skill there was no better place on the planet to use it in trade than Lidarion. The Womamel stood out like a sore thumb when it pulled into port. It had begun its life as an elven coastal strider. A battle ship that had the space and windows for an excessively silly number of cannons. It had defended the norther coast of the southern continent until it was stolen by a band of pirate raiders who had taken the ship as their prized possession. It changed hands either taking care of debts in trade, or coming to new owners at the end of poker games. That happened to be how Lisa’s brother came to possess the ship. Dean was uncommonly good at card games and bluffed his way into possession of the ship while still the second mate of his pervious ship…Leaving the pirate’s island with the ship was another ordeal entirely.

With the Womamel docked, Dean stopped by the dock master's office to check his messages and found the employment request waiting for him. He had never been to Alex’s bar but there were members of his crew who swore by the place. As rare as it was for him to bring the ship to Lidarion, It was rarer still for him to leaving the shipping district. Luckily he had woken the dock master long enough to get directions and the bar wasn’t very far into the commerce district.

Growing up in his family both he and his sister had decreed that neither of them would allow the other to follow in their father’s footsteps. There were so many other possibilities as children that sailing seemed mundane and beneath them. His sister kept that promise, she had the skill and talent of magic from their mother so she dedicated her life to becoming a healer. As hard as she cried when she left for school, Dean had cried harder. He felt betrayed, abandoned, and left behind. As the years passed he found that the seas suited him. He enjoyed waking up with the horizon in every direction. He was better than most at navigation and his father grew to trust him regularly at the helm, eventually men twice his age made no complaint of taking his orders. Still almost nightly he swore to himself that when his father retired he would free himself to explore the world, get off the ship and see the dryland world. And when his father retired he did just that. He lasted less than a month. When his father’s ship docked again he was waiting for it, and the crew welcomed him home to his rightful place. As a child he swore to his sister that taking on a ship of his own would be the worst mistake of his life, the year after his father died he found himself making that mistake gladly.

Dean didn’t usually think about his family much, and felt strange that he should be thinking of them today. With his mind distracted by thoughts of the past he nearly tripped over the Bar. He shook off clawing grasp of memory and opened the door to the bar, only to see his sister sitting at a table with a bunch of people he had never met. He should feel warmth and relief, excitement and happiness. But the first thought that crossed his mind was turning around and leaving the bar before she saw him. She had obviously left the note, remembering the name of the ship he jokingly chose as a child. What would she think now that it was not only not a joke but a point of great pride in his life. She had done what they promised each other and he had done the exact opposite. She had left him behind but now he felt like the one who betrayed her.

Dean had frozen at the front door. An older woman behind the bar noticed him standing there and warmly shouted for him to seat himself. Lisa and the others at her table turned to look out of curiosity and they saw each other. Dean smiled awkwardly. Lisa was on her feet before he could shrug and before he could move they were hugging. A full body hug that destroyed any worries he had, any hatred he harbored and any anger he had kept for either his sister or himself. They had taken different paths but in this moment he had without a single word reminded them that they were family, always had been, always would be.

The XP: Chapter 23

Volnado began to rage. “You’re insects! Playing your little greedy games, trying to manipulate the loot tables and player economies!. I was always the best of us!” He began to grow significantly larger until he was three times the size of a normal player character.

Stygian looked past Volnado to Torcano who was still stuck to the wall. He then looked back to Trart. “He’s not mad at you.” Stygian said out loud.

Trart looked back at Stygian. “What?”

Stygian Threw a knife that Volnado stuck his hand out to block, the knife embedded itself in his hand. And Volnado instantly moved a less than half his normal speed. Stygian used the time to talk to Tart. “Volnado doesn’t hate you, he hates his brother and us. We need him so mad he won’t be able to think straight.” Stygian explained.

Trart looked over at Torcano still trapped on the wall. “You want me to try and free Torcano?” He asked.

Stygian nodded. “Ten or less bombs should take care of the thing holding him to the wall, and you’ll both be resurrected pretty quickly.” He explained.

Trart nodded. “So we free Torcano, then what?” He asked.

The poison of Crippled Time wore off Volnado. He and Trart Charged each other, Volnado batted Tart of out of the way like he was swatting a fly. He made a bee line for Stygian, bearing down on him, Stygian threw up his shield to protect himself from Volnado’s now giant, pounding fists. Impacting like a car being dropped on him, suddenly his shield cracked, breaking in half on the next blow.

Stygian stood tall and tossed the wasted shield aside. No sword or shield. Just his old black and blue armor. Volnado Turned to gloat to the assembled spectators but came chest to barrels of both Torcano’s pistols, from the look on his face it was pretty much the last thing he expected. Torcano pulled both triggers and for the first time Volnado’s health dropped significantly. “How!” Volnado gasped.

Torcano cocked his guns. “It’s been a while since you played a gunslinger brother. They have an ability called soul fire. Takes my base damage and multiplies it by the number of times I’ve died in an area or dungeon.” Normally the death rules keep it limited to double damage.”  He unloaded the last five bullets from each of his pistols.  “Apparently, the insects figured out a way around that limitation.” He reloaded his guns as Volnado got back to his feet.

When was back on his feet, Torcano had his hand out. “Let’s end this fight. I’m a dick and I’m sorry. I need to learn to share and treat you with you re –“ Volnado crushed Torcano's head in his giant hand. Then dropped his lifeless body to the ground. The move so infuriated Bob that she stopped her song of mana regeneration and unleashed a thunderous wave of force that blew past Stygian and hit Volnado like a hundred trucks knocking him back against the far wall of the Arena.

Once Tart had freed Torcano from his prison, he had quickly begun placing stacks of five mines while Volnado was distracted by his brother and the others. In the few minutes of freedom that he had he had placed almost five thousand mines.  Not paying attention to anything but placing as quickly as possible he had pretty much painted himself into a corner.

Volnado landed right in the middle of the giant half circle of death Trart had been laying out. Both of them had a split second of realization before the mines went off. Volnado looked at Trart with resigned annoyance. “Really?” was all he was able to say before they were enveloped in the expanding fire of Trart’s rainbow of death. The Arena went nuts as the explosions continued for almost ninety seconds.

As the mines exploded line after line the arena announcement board and all the screens outside the Area Brightly exclaimed that The End of the World Club had won.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 23

Ten thirty am on the Wednesday of finals week. The Rho Sigma Gamma house has been throwing its nightly ‘end of finals’ week party since the Saturday. Lacey was frozen out in the front yard. She had seen the kind of girls that went to these parties, and heard what the guys said about them in the days after. She had promised herself she would NEVER step foot near the house, much less go inside voluntarily, and if she hadn’t made a promise to Faith she never would have. She walked up the front steps and covered her mouth and nose with her hand as she passed a pledge who was covered in vomit and asleep in a bush near the front door.

The inside of the house wasn’t much better. There were students and brothers passed out in what seemed like every corner of every room. Every piece of furniture seemed to have at least one person drunkenly passed out on it. She found clay passed out on the floor in one of the bedrooms the brothers had converted to a room for beer pong. His mouth was wide open and he was snoring around a ping pong ball. She carefully made her way around the room, avoiding trash and piles of empty beer cans to reach Clay.

The first time she lightly shook his shoulder and limited herself to a whispered. “Wake up Clay.”. Which got her nothing. She shook him more violently the second time.

He snored around the ball again in response. She slapped him lightly on the cheek. His eyes opened in a flash. He spit the ping pong ball out as he sat up, looking around the room, everything filtering through his hang over. “Wha?” He looked at Lacey in confusion and rubbed his eyes. ‘What are you doing here?” He asked her.

Lacy rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan. “ I’m checking up on your sorry butt.” She explained. She tried to get Clay up on his feet but he just folded himself over with his head between his knees.

“I think I’ma puke.” He warned.

Lacey rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Ok lets get you into the bathroom.” She said putting everything she had in getting Clay to his feet.

In the hallway they ran into Porter who was coming out of his own room. He saw Lacey and immediately dove under Clay’s free arm. “Here let me help you.” He offered as he took most of Clay’s weight.

Lacey struggled to give him a polite smile from under Clay’s other arm. “Thanks.” She offered. The pair of them dragged Clay to the bathroom and got him to the toilet. Lacey had just turned away from him before he started emptying his stomach into the toilet. She stepped out into the hall and Porter followed her, closing the bathroom door behind them. “He’s a mess.” She gestured to Clay.

Porter nodded. “A five day bender will do that.” He explained.

Lacey was shocked. “You let him stay drunk for a week!” She almost shouted.

Porter nodded and waved his hand in a motion for her to quiet down.  “I’m not his mother, I did what I could but he is hurting pretty bad right now. Personally I would rather have sloppy drunken Clay instead of angry smash things Clay.” He explained.

Lacey nodded at this explanation. Inside the bathroom Clay sat hard against the wall and sighed heavily. “I feel way better now.” They heard him say.

Lacey checked her watch and then looked at Porter. “Do you know if he has any finals today?” She asked.

Porter shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the bathroom door. “Clay buddy, you got any finals today?” He asked.

There was the sound of frantic movement from inside the bathroom. “Oh my god is it finals week?” They heard him say as he got up off the floor and stumbling out of the bathroom when he tripped over his own two feet, hit the opposite wall and then the floor. Lacy and Porter look down at him on the floor. “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Clay burst into laughter at his own joke.

Lacey checked her watch. “I’ll get us some coffee. You try and figure out when and where his finals might be.” She instructed. Porter nodded and watched her walk down the hall and into the kitchen.

Forty minutes later Porter had gotten Clay to a bench outside the building his psychology final was in. Clay looks worse for wear, he is more hung over than he has ever been in his life. Lacey walked up with a bottle of water and a tiny travel bottle of pain pills. She handed them to Clay. “Here, these should help. Your final starts in fifteen minutes.” She said pointing at the building behind the bench.

Clay looked up at her. “I don’t wanna be rude by why all the assistance today? I thought I was to be shunned?” he asked.

Lacey shook her head. “I‘m here because you haven’t answered your phone in a week, I’m here because Faith and I quit the sorority, but mostly I’m here because Faith was worried if she showed up you wouldn’t talk to her.” She wasn’t trying to make him feel bad but he did look worse than he had thirty seconds ago.

“Who’s got two thumbs and feels like an asshole?” he pointed his thumbs at himself. “This guy.” He gave a halfhearted laugh.

Lacey suppressed a smile. “You should go and get a good seat for your final.”

Clay nodded and headed toward the building. He stopped and turned back around.  “Lacey!” he called after her. She turned back toward the building. “Thanks, for everything.” He said. She nodded and turned back to the student union. Clay went inside to take his final.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 27

The elevator door opened and Dante carefully stepped over the two unconscious soldiers he had defeated earlier. He groped blindingly for the nearest wall and fond it The light poured through Dante’s closed eyes. it Lit up his eyelid, like cloth over a flashlight. He ran his hands along the wall of the hallway until he reached the end of the hallway. “Great, just great. Twenty five hundred years trapped in a shard of fractal darkness and when I finally find a way out I get trapped in some dumb human stuck inside some dirt hole outer rim mining market.” He clumsily felt along the wall looking for a door or a sign of any kind. He forgot to pay attention to his feet though, tripped over debris on the floor. He hit the ground hard. He sighed heavily. “I am an immortal being of pure light and energy, and I have been bested by legs…frickin’ fantastic.” The glasses in his block lit up and began to vibrate. He reached down and pulled them out and felt them in his hands. “Oooof course this kid is a shade, because that’s the kind of  luck I have.” He put the glasses on. “Hello?” He asked,

Sonya’s voice came through loud and clear. “What the hell is your problem Dante! We just got enough power back to find you, let alone bring you back and all because you got a wild hair up your butt to visit an asteroid out beyond Jupiter! ARE YOU INSANE!” She raged.

Dante shrugged his shoulders as he pulled himself up off the floor. “ I don’t maybe!” he replied putting the shades on.  Sonya growled form the other end of the call. The glasses lit up and Dante disappeared from the hallway.

Sonya and the other shades were waiting in this command center. Dante appeared as the teleport beam faded away. The light from his eyes was being almost completely held back by the shades, only a little light was escaping from either side of the glasses. Sonya charged up to him ready to tear him a new one when she noticed the light. She silently stumbled  over the words she was going to say as the question decided to come out first. “What’s going on with your eyes?” She asked.

Dantle turned away real quick. “Nothing, just uh, side effect of gas in the Asteroid market. I guess.” Dante explained, grimacing as he realized how stupid that sounded.

Sonya looked incredibly skeptical. “There was some sort of gas in the asteroid marketplace, that turned, your eyes, into flashlights?” She tried to repeat the guess without laughing or exploding.

Dante nodded still facing away from the others. “Yup, darn those crazy aliens!” His fake anger didn’t fool anyone.

Sonya got close to him. “Dante turn around we can figure this out together.” She started.

Dante turned around and took off the shades. “Ok look this is, awkward. I’m not actually Dante, I’m just hitching a ride in his body for a bit till I find a place I can safely stay.” He saw Lumarion’s busted light wall behind the others. “Like that wavelength chamber right there!” He said as he streamed out of Dante as a giant beam of light right into the light wall. Once he had transferred over completely Dante held his hands up to his eyes. “ahhhh That sucked!” He fell to his knees and Sonya knelt down next to him.

The light wall was lit up again but this time by the new intruder. Gordon and the others were more than a little pissed. “I don’t know what you are but you need to get the hell out of that wall.” He growled.

The wall flickered. “Would you relax? I just got here. I’ve been in prison for almost three centuries, I don’t know what your problem is yet but I’m almost positive I can help.” The light explained.

“Help yourself maybe, you didn’t even ask if I would carry you.” Dante accused as he got to his feet.

The light wall was twinkling but said nothing for a moment, then finally. “That was my bad, sorry. I had one shot to get free and I took it.” From the looks of things here you’re missing a Shimmeron. I think I can help you find it.” The light explained.

Sonya stepped forward. “You’re skipping a few steps, to even begin to trust anything you say or do, we need to know who you are, what you are,  where you came from, and why you possessed our friend.” She demanded.

The light flickered in silence for a moment again, and then dove right into answering questions. “I’m a Shimmeron, you can call me Spark. I needed a physical force to pull me the last little bit of the way out of the shard of fractal darkness I had been imprisoned in. Dante happened to show up at the right time.” Spark explained.

Dantle glared at the wall. “And by that, you mean you made a deal with the witness to lead me to you.” He accused.

The like wall showed brighter reds and purples clearly proud of itself. “Time and the universe are impossibly complicated systems, if you want them to work in your favor you need to finesse them a little bit.” Spark explained.

Dante stepped ahead of the others, putting himself between them and the light wall. “Don’t get to comfortable in there, you’re going to be looking for a new home once we bring Lumarion back.” He growled.

The light wall twinkled quickly “Lumarion! You lost Lumarion?!” Spark shouted. 

Blood and Profit: Chapter 50

The remnants of breakfast had long since gone cold on the dining room table. Mew had become too curious about the state of the game board and wandered over to assess the situation. It took her less than thirty seconds to realize that neither her father nor her brother had improved much. “You are both STILL terrible at this game.” She chided them as she finished the last of her toast.

Father and son shot up from the table to defend the interstellar gridlock they had maneuvered themselves into. “Hey! This is why we stopped playing against you!” Eamon protested.

Mew pulled a chair over and sat down. “Because I’m good at the game and you two are pretty spectacularly not?” She said with a smile.

Eamon stuck his tongue out. Mew returned the gestured. Their father sat on his side of the table. “I swear you two are going to be six until the day you die. I don’t understand how your mother put up with it.” He said with a warm smile.

Mew grabbed the box and started pulling out the pieces for her own faction. “If you remember, mom was always smart enough to encourage us to follow the paths we were both interested in.” She answered as she dug through the box.

Eamon nodded. “We didn’t exactly spend enough time around each other to get on each others nerves. What are you doing, We’re like fifteen turns into the game.” He protested.

Mew pointed to an area of unsettled planets. “I’m going to start on these three planets. You guys have had nearly one and a half games worth of buildup and I promise to take it easy on you so I’ll give you another seven turns before I try to win.” She smiled at him as she started placing her pieces.

Her father pointed at his side of the board. “Why not just take over my team?” He offered.

Mew shook her head. “It’s been forever since we played this game, I missed this. I know mom’s not here so its not exactly the same but we should have been making memories like this a long time ago.” She admitted. Eamon and their father nodded. The men went back to studying their board positions and resources. Mew rolled the traits and quirks dice. The red dice came up with a cartoon piece of meat on a bone, the trait showed a DNA strand. “See it’s going to be even easier for you guy to deal with me, my race is carnivorous and we’re genetic purists so I’m boned on alliances. You guys ready?” She asked.

Her father was looking at her with gaze that stared more into the past than at her, and his smile was sad. “Every now and then you remind me so much of your mother.” He admitted. Mew felt the urge to get up suddenly and hug her father. He held her tightly and they hugged for a long time. When the separated she could see that he had begun to cry.

Eamon spoke up as his father wiped the tears away from his face. “Dad you need to tell her.” He pushed.

Mew looked instantly concerned. “Tell me what?” She asked. Her father fidgeted with his cards for a moment. Mew’s mind was starting to run away with her. “Daddy tell me what?” She asked again.

Her father put his cards on the table. “Your brother caught me up on the situation last night after we put you to bed, I know what’s coming and as much as I want to go with you, I can’t bring myself to leave your mother. I’ve loved her every day for forty seven years and we swore we’d be right next to each other for eternity, I have every intention of keeping that promise.” He explained.

Lidarion: Chapter 22

There’s a special moment, happens when you’ve stayed up through a time you would normally sleep and witness either the rising or the setting of the sun. the world goes through a transitional period that most people don’t pay attention to, the energy of everything seems to change slightly.

Trent was no stranger to losing sleep. It was almost always because his mind overpowered the needs of his body and ground him down with responsibility or worry. As sun rose over the tops of the Lidarion skyline Trent realized that this was the first time he had ever been unable to sleep because he was too happy. Alex had found the married couple an inn and they had spent the last few days alone, catching each other up on everything that had only ever trusted each other with since the beginning. This last night however he found himself distracted, his mind was trying to follow the path of options it could put together to deal with the inevitable failure to find the sigils. But then the candle on the far side of the room flickered and drew his attention for a moment. He saw Brooke fast asleep in their bed and all the worry was banished from his mind. Before he realized it he had sat beside the bed the entire night, at times watching her sleep, and other times just being grateful that the path of his life had brought him to this moment.

His stomach reminded him that since he was awake it was time to eat and so he quietly snuck out of the room to make his way to Alex’s place. The streets were devoid of everyone except the lamp extinguishers, moving in pairs down the street putting out the lamps that had been lit only hours before.

Alex was waiting for things to boil so she could start preparing breakfasts, when she heard a knock at the door. One of her assistants came into the kitchen to let her know that Trent was out in the seating area waiting to speak with her. She passed off the cooking and went out to greet her friend. “And where have you been the last three days?” She asked.

Alex’s entrance caught Trent by surprise and he jumped at the sound of her voice. “I couldn’t sleep and figured that as long as I was awake I might as well get breakfast for Brooke.” He explained.

Alex nodded and walked behind the bar to get a package wrapped in green cloth. “That’s nice of you. And I’m glad you stopped by because I have a gift for you.” She said.

He smiled “Presents?” held out his hands “gimmie!” he said with a smile.

She walked over and gave him the green lump of cloth. He undid the knot in the fabric and revealed a plain looking door knob. “Um…thanks?” He said unimpressed.

Alex picked up the door knob. “Yeah just listen dummy, this door knob is enchanted. Touch it to any flat surface and it will create a doorway that opens to the backdoor of the restaurant.” She touched the doorknob to the nearest wall and a blue box appeared on the wall and she was able to open it like a door. He could hear the back door of the restaurant open and close as she closed the blue line door and pull the knob away from the wall. “Jesus Alex how much did that thing cost?” He asked.

Alex handed him the door knob. “Not as much as it would hurt to lose any one of you, so I bought you an escape route.” She said with all seriousness.