Lidarion: Chapter 20

It took Squints all of an hour and a half to gather every piece of writing that said anything about the Sigil’s of the Paragon’s because every piece of writing happened to be one paragraph in one book. Squints still took a few more hours to look through the catalog of each library searching of anything he could think of that might lead to information about the sigils. After two days of research he still had just the one book.

He dreaded returning to his friends with the book because all it said what that far to the south, beyond the Gnome’s island chain was the Elven continent. There they would find the city of scrolls, where five scrolls held the secrets of how to find, and procure the sigils of the Paragon’s. Two days of research and all he had found was a book that led him to another series of books on the other side of the planet.

His mind returned to the present to find that it was well past sun down and he had been standing outside Alex’s bar for some time. He sighed heavily gripped the book in his hands and charged toward the bar as if he were walking against the wind.

Alex had closed the bar less than an hour ago, she and Lisa were wrapped up in a conversation when Squints entered the nearly empty building with determination. He looked around the bar in confusion. “Where’s Trent?” He asked.

Lisa and Alex glanced In his direction. “He and Brooke are off enjoying their much delayed wedding night” Alex answered.

Lisa saw the book in Squints hands. “Is that our first clue?” She asked.

Squints walked over to the bar and hopped on up a chair. He placed the book on the bar. “This is our only clue.” He said with finality.

Lisa didn’t get it. “I’m sure once we go through the rest of the library district –“ She started.

“This is the only mention of the Sigil’s in the entire kingdom of Lidarion.” Squints interrupted.

Lisa paused and then shrugged her shoulders. “One book’s still a lot to go on.” She acquiesced.

Squints shook his head and opened the book to the relevant page. “It’s just one paragraph, on one page. Nothing more, thankfully nothing less.” He grumbled.

Alex and Lisa looked at the paragraph together. Lisa’s lips moved as she read the passage to herself. Then she looked up at Squints. “We’ll need a ship.” She pointed out. Squints nodded. “I’m pretty sure I can help with that.” She offered.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “How and what do you know about ships?” She asked in surprise.

Lisa smiled. “Everything my father could teach me without my mother finding out that he was grooming his daughter to be a sailor just like her old man.” She answered.

Alex smiled. “When you get a moment I would love to know how you went from being a second generation sailor to a healer.”

Some of the light disappeared from Lisa’s eyes. “Its not much of a story. The wind is always ready to catch your sail, you just have to want it bad enough. The same cannot be said for my mother.” Lisa shook off the sadness. “But that’s a story for another time. Tomorrow we get charter the first leg of our quest.” She said with a new smile.

The XP: Chapter 20

The town around the arena is filed with players, all of them watching screens that have been placed in nearly every available space. The arena itself is overfilled with spectators, all of whom are cheering for The End of the World Club. Bob, Blackout, Stygian, Torcano, and Trart. The last team standing, the winners of the Tournament.

Up in his private box Volnado expands his voice again. “Congratulations are in order! The End of the World Club has emerged victorious from the most intense competition this game has ever seen!” The crowd goes even wilder, their cheers backed by the spectators in the streets. Volnado looks down on the group. “But to be truly legendary, there is one more challenge they must defeat.” The Arena of spectators and the streets outside go silent as if someone turned their sound off. The End of the World Club look up at Volnado in disbelief.

“What’s the Challenge?” Stygian yelled.

Volnado hopped over the railing of his balcony and effortlessly landed on the ground in a superhero crouch. As he stood to his full height they could see that he was smiling. “You’re looking at it.” Volnado growled.

Torcano shook his head. “You’re a GM, that’s not a challenge that’s suicide.” He said.

Volnado had landed roughly twenty feet from the group. As he walked toward them He took his clothing off. Starting with his suit jacket, followed by his shirt, exposing skin that looks like cracked lava, black with bright red lines separating the plating. He tossed his GM weapons and violently shook his head until his hair disappeared and his face matched the skin of his body. The Arena goes mad. Everyone in the group takes a slight step back. Volnado holds his hands out as if proving that he hides no threat. “I am no longer a GM, I am Volnado, the god of destruction. In this form, it is entirely possible to kill me, you only have to figure out how. Would you not agree little brother that this is a more than fair concession on my part?” He looked down at Torcano with glowing red eyes.

Torcano shook his head. “Onlly you would consider agreeing to a fair fight a ‘concession’” He spat.

Volnado smiled. “What can I say?” He smiled. “I’m magnanimous like that.” He gave an exaggerated bow. And the crowd laughed.

Torcano shook his head. “Yeah, our parents would be sooo proud.” He spat back.

Volnado glared at his brother. “You have ten minutes to prepare yourselves. You may leave the arena but if you do not return you forfeit the competition. Is that understood?” The End of the World club all nodded, turning to leave. “There’s one more thing you should know.” Volnado said, stopping the group. “If you return, this fight is Eternal Death. If you are dead for more than 30 seconds, your character is deleted.” Volnado had a predatory smile on his face. “How good are you Blackout?”

Blackout turned and walked out of the arena, he threw his middle finger up in the air. “You’ll see for yourself ten minutes from now.” His voice echoed off the walls. The rest of the club followed behind him. 

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 20

The Intro to Energy classroom lights were off. Foster was sitting in the middle of the room, alone. Rigid in his meditation pose, his eyes closed in tight frustration. Arctic blue flames washed off him in erratic waves. He was still trying to force his way to some sense of even calm breathing pattern, the clockwork three second in and out cycle of breathing feeling and sounding as unnatural as ever. There is a knock on the door frame. Foster opens his eyes. Thompson was leaning in the doorway hands  in the pockets of his hoodie.

“So, this is why I haven’t seen or heard from you in over a month?” He asked as he stepped into the room and flipped the light switch. “I honestly don’t know why you’re here right now, if you couldn’t meditate before you certainly won’t be able to now, what you’ve chosen is the furthest away from peace of mind you’re ever going to get kid.” Thompson slowly paced the front of the room.

Foster choked his fire out completely and relaxed his posture.  “Don’t get mad at me for exploring an option you gave me.” He replied.

Thompson glared at Foster. “I was trying to warn you about how awful this option really is.” He growled.

Foster shot to his feet. “Oh sure,  right, a ‘warning’ that’s what that was. Warn the freshman away from limitless power, by telling him exactly how to reach out and take it, great plan Thompson.” Foster spat.

Thompson shook his head. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, In hoping you would learn from mine it appears I have done nothing more than make another.” He admitted sadly.

Foster stepped back, a smile on his face. “Mistake? How can you call this feeling, this power, a mistake?” he asked, blue flame building up his arms and legs.

Thompson held Fosters gaze without flinching. “Because I earned it , you haven’t. You’re just floating around in the shallow end right now. If you want to stay in the pool you have to dive in.” He explained.

“What makes you think I haven’t?” Foster asked as the blue flame brightened.

Thompson shook his head. “Because when you look into the darkness, it looks into you, and it’s not in you yet.” He said, dropping into his fighting stance.

Foster looked at him wearily. “I won’t hold back.” Foster said as he readied himself for what was coming.

Thompson was calmer than he expected to be. “Everything comes with a price Foster.  Daigo paid, I paid, so will you.” Thompson launched himself at Foster who had no way of conceiving what the fight was going to be like. Foster pushed himself to his absolute limits just to protect himself from the onslaught that Thompson was laying down.  He was five steps ahead of anything Foster tried, he blocked ever strike, side stepped ever trip, and replied with multiple blows to every attack Foster made. He was so rattled by Thompson’s ferocity that he was making strings of poor moves and bad mistakes. Thompson practically walked him into overextending himself, throwing him off balance finally and catching him in a choke phone. Thompson slowly lowered him to the ground as he gasped for air, his fire still burning brightly. “Let it die Foster, don’t force me to make this choice.”

Foster feebly scrambles to pull Thompson's arm away from his neck. “You, couldn’t!” Foster gasped, still fighting for air. “To, many, questions.” He grunted, his struggles were getting weaker.

Thompson smiled slightly. “I fought and murdered a professor in this room and stand before you a free man,  and students disappear far more often than professors.” There was the smallest flicker of flame in Thompsons eyes as Fosters fire began to wither and fade. Foster dug deep and gave one last push to escape the headlock. Thompson shut him down with ease. “You or the fire Foster, one dies in the next five seconds.”  The fire in Thompson’s eyes gets brighter. Foster is now struggling for his life, the fear has set in and Thompson holds steady like a professional bull rider. “Being an adult is all about making choices.” Fosters fire flickers erratically Foster vision starts to go dark around the edges. The flame gives a few final flicks of life and then is snuffed out completely, then smoke rises from Fosters body as if he were a doused campfire.  Thompson lets him go and he flops onto the floor of the classroom on his back, Taking huge gulps of air. Thompson stands up, the fire in his eyes is raging now, fighting to get loose. His hands are shaking a little bit. He turns away from Foster, counting to ten and then laid down on the floor close to Foster who was trying to get his breathing back under control. When Thompson opened his eyes the fire was gone.

“You were right.” Foster said between deep breaths.

Thompson nodded. “You should have listened to me in the first place, you don’t want this burden.” He said finally.

Foster shook his head. “No, I mean t you were right about the breathing. It’s a lot harder to control it when you’re beat to hell.” He laughed at himself which sent him into a tiny coughing fit.

Thompson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t breathe, can’t fight.” He said with a smile.

Foster nodded. “No kidding.” He said.

The pair laid in the room in silence for a moment. Foster had gotten his breathing back under control and it was clear that while he would be fine, his neck would be sore for a few days.

Foster stopped investigating his neck for a moment. “Hey Thompson?” He asked.

Thompson opened his eyes. “yeah?” He asked.

Foster put his hands on the floor again. “You know you have to help Cynthia in her showcase now right? I  was supposed it, as the student with the highest score but without the fire I’m not nearly good enough and she needs someone who can match her for her exhibition.” He explained. Thompson stared silently at the ceiling. Foster continued. “I mean I appreciate what you did for me, but now you need to help her.” He finished.

Thompson was staring a hole into the corner of a ceiling tile as he listened to Foster. “I don’t want to hurt her.” He replied.

Foster sighed heavily. “I don’t know if you noticed, she may bruise when you hit her, but she dies inside when you ignore her.” Foster offered.

Thompson closed his eyes. “So what happens if I lose control?” He asked.

Foster shrugged his shoulders. “So far you’ve fought an old man that was ready to die, and a complete unskilled freshman. You’re good but it’s entirely possible that she’s better.” Foster said.

“And what makes you think that?” Thompson asked.

Foster thought about it for a moment. “Because she loves brighter than you burn.” He said after sitting up.

Thompson looks over at Foster in mild surprised. “I know we just tried to kill each other, but Thomas Foster.” He said sitting up and holding out his hand.  “It has been an honor to be your friend.” 

They shook hands and Foster smiled which made him wince in pain. “Same here, just don’t, ever, try to ‘help’ me again.” He demanded.

Thompson laughed. “Deal.” He agreed.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 24

Dante glanced over both shoulders to make sure there was no one close enough to eavesdrop. He looked back at the purple bartender. “I’m looking for someone.” He said.

The bartender raised its eyebrow. “Doesn’t your command center have all kinds of equipment to help you find what or whoever you want? The cyclops asked.

Dante nodded. “Yeah, but we can’t get any of it to scan anything off planet.” He admitted quietly.

The cyclops blinked. “Why can’t Lidarion Jus- oh!, Ohhh.” The cyclops realized who Dante was looking for and set the glass it was cleaning on the counter top, then grab a pen and Dante’s wrist to write a series of characters. “There’s an elevator own the hall to the left. Two floors down is where you need to be to find this address. Knock on the door. Ask for The Witness.”

The cyclops finished writing the address  on Dante’s wrist and he pulled his hand back to inspect it himself. ‘Who’s the witness?” Dante asked.

The cyclops picked up another glass and got back to polishing. “If anyone or anything within a hundred light years  knows where you need to go or who you need to see, the witness knows.” The cyclops explained.

Dante got up off the bar stool before the Cyclops stopped him. “Just between you and me.” The cyclops  started quietly, leaning over the bar. “How  bad is it?” The Cyclops asked.

Dante tried to smile and shrug it off but he just looked sad. ‘ I’ve been a Justice less than a week, Lumarion and Technarious are gone and our command center has been trashed. How bad does that sound?” he asked.

The cyclops nodded and reached under the bar to grab something it tossed at Dante. Dante caught it and it appeared to be a switch to turn something on or off. “When you see him again, tell Technarious that Narlath’s debt is paid.” Narlath went back to cleaning glasses.

Dante nodded and investigated the switch. “Will do, but first what is this thing?” he asked.

Narlath smiled. “Intergalactic strobe, an emergency beacon that sends and S.O.S to the other Justice teams.”

Dante looked up from the beacon. “There are other teams?” He asked.

Narlath nodded. “It’s a big galaxy kid. There’s a lot out there worth protecting, so the Shimmeron made sure there were people training and geared to protect it. But that’s not important now, you need to get going.” Narlath finished.

Dante nodded. “Thanks.” He said before he pocketed the beacon and left the bar.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 47

Mew was exhausted. She had gone from sleeping like a baby cradled by artificial gravity, to sleeping in a hollowed out tree, followed by a restless night on the emergency bunk in Eamon's cruiser. She had not had a decent nights sleep in a week.

So when her brother asked if she wanted to go home and get a change of clothes, a shower and sleep in a real bed, she was on the ship before sundown, ready to go home.

Technically she had an apartment at the High Orbit Operations Base, which was just outside the capitol but considering the fact that she had spent the last year in space on the recycling satellite the apartment held no special interest to her. Instead she asked Eamon to take her to their parents home.

Their mother had passed away ten years ago and their father had rather stubbornly refused to leave the house for something smaller in the city. His attitude had frustrated her for years, but now she was glad that he had been so stubborn.

Eamon parked the shuttle in the driveway of the house. Their father came out to greet them and give hugs. He set her up in the guest room and she was out before her head hit the pillow.

While she slept she had dreams of Rootan and the Starseeds. Their tree ship and planets she had never been to. She began to notice how real everything felt, how aware she was of her surroundings and clear her mind was. She knew she was asleep but she was less and less sure that she was dreaming.

She and Rootan were floating in a giant pool of freshwater that was fed by more waterfalls than she could count. "Am I dreaming this or am I in your shared consciousness?" She asked Rootan.

Rootan floated closer to her. "Is there a difference?" He asked.

She waved her arms to avoid an outcropping of rocks. "What happens to my brain if we can't get your cloud to phase shift before the wave reaches the planet?" She asked.

Rootan floated into a lazy whirlpool and let the water slowly spin his body. "You don't even know if you'll remember this when you wake up, perhaps you might be, putting the cart before the horse?" He pointed out.

Mew thought about it for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. "Fair point." She admitted. They floated in silence watching hundreds of rainbows fill the sky. "Is this your favorite planet?" She asked.

"No" Rootan admitted moving his arms to slow himself down but staying in the whirlpool.

She looked over at him. "Show me your favorite one?" She asked.

He let the whirlpool speed him back up again for a few moments, then slowed himself back down again. "Ok." He agreed as they both disappeared from the water.

Lidarion: Chapter 19

Alex and Brooke had returned to Alex’s bar and Brooke was letting the normalcy of the afternoon wash over her, listening to the petty simplicity that made up the other customers lives. She had become immune to the eternity of the passage of time. It had taken a majority of that first year to stop spinning out into blind rages when she would think of Trent or her brother. Those first years she hated time more than she hated her brother. Eventually she realized that time was the prison warden she would never be able to defeat. The cold executioner that mercilessly made each day an eternity while simultaneously etching the perfection of each moment it was taking from her. Time was the enemy she could only tolerate, never defeat.  Every now and then Brooke would look at her left hand and sadly stare at the place where a wedding ring had never been. The lack of ring began to pull her towards facing the reality of how much time she had lost to her brother’s insane concept of what a leader needed to be.

She looked at her hands again. She had everything a person needed to kill someone with the ir bare hands. She knew that even with the guards in his room he would be able to end his life before they ended hers. She also knew this was the exact reason she had been spending less and less life at the castle. Her reaction over what had been taken from her was slowly getting less tolerant and more violent, and now that Trent had returned she knew she would never again step foot into the castle as even as a princess. Truthfully she had made her decision had been made the second she had been told the love of her life had not only been banished but forcibly given to the military. While she had been furious for thirteen years and becoming even more so with each passing day, there was a part of her soul that would never be able to physically harm her brother.

Alex was more than content to let Brooke quietly investigate her hands as she served her customers. She made she sure had drinks and checked on her from time to time until it was time to close the bar and Brooke was still lost in thought. She finished out her work day, clearing the last of the tables and finally walking the last customer out of the bar, closing and locking the door behind them. She turned back to Brooke who was still sitting at the far corner of the bar.

Brooke had lowered her hood now that the bar was closed and they had the freedom of privacy. “When they leave to find these sigils I’m going with them.” She said with complete seriousness.

Alex nodded as she headed back behind the bar. “Sounds fair, but what arguments are you going to use to convince the love of your life to let you join him in harm’s way?” She asked.

Brooke shrugged her shoulders. “I was thinking I’d start with. ‘if you think you can stop me feel free to try soldier boy, I promise not to scar you permanently.” She was still dead serious.

Alex shook her head. “You flirt weird.” She said with a tiny smirk.

Brooke smiled. “Alex I’m being serious. I’ve never been good at being royalty and I lost him for half a lifetime already so I’ll be damned and rather walk through fire barefoot for an eternity before I lose him again. Is he going to be super excited about letting me go along? No, but ring or no ring, I love him, I know he still loves me and from here on out, his trials are my trials. If he has to walk the earth begging God’s for mercy, then I will be right there with him, every step of the way.” The fragments of thoughts that had been bouncing around her mind all afternoon fell out of her mouth in a solidified chunk. She looked at her friend who was smiling from ear to ear. “What?” She asked. Alex pointed behind her and Brooke turned toward the back door of the bar where Trent was waiting on one knee. A cheaply forged, plain looking, unpolished band of metal offered in his fingers. Lisa was standing a few feet behind him trying not to cry. Brooke got up and moved forward. She could feel her mouth moving but couldn’t hear herself saying “yes” over and over again. She took the ring without looking at it and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand. And then they were kissing.

Even years later she didn’t know how long they kissed there in the bar, all she knew was that time had voluntarily switched tactics. There were no eternities any more, only fleeting seconds trying desperately to construct precious memories. And as much as she would cherish this moment forever, a part of her realized that time had not ended her sentence, it had merely changed the nature of her punishment. The life that would never end, could now never last long enough.

The XP: Chapter 19

The tournament started with two million nine hundred ninety four thousand six hundred and eight players making up five hundred twenty four thousand two hundred and eighty eight teams. With each team fighting a match a day the first week of fights saw the field reduced to thirty two thousand seven hundred sixty eight teams. Each member of each team got five thousand gold per victory.

So by Friday Trart had more money than he had ever seen in game, and he went a little nuts.

The rest of The Almost Entirely Awesome Adventures of the End of the World Club were at the closest bar to the area celebrating the return of Torcano. He had maxed out his Gunslinger and was going to take The Matriarch’s place in the rest of the matches.

The Matriarch raised her glass in a toast “To Torcano, for what has to be the slowest ‘quick’ grind of a toon I’ve ever seen.” She said with a smile as everyone else raised their glasses.

Torcano raised his glass as he answered. “What can I say, I was not prepared for the number of adoring fans I made while I was a GM that would be dedicated to finding and expressing their joy to me that I am now a regular player.” He explained.

Blackout pointed at Torcano, waving his finger sarcastically. “That’s code for laziness, pure and simple.” He accused with a smile on his face.

Torcano nodded swallowing another drink. “You got me. I had three squares a day, slept eight hours a night, and took long luxurious bubble baths every night. It was glorious.” He said unable to keep from laughing at himself.

Trart blew into the bar in a whirlwind, grabbed an empty seat from a different table and sat with the group at their table. “Hey Toracano, glad your back. What’s on my mind? Glad you asked, who wants to lend me six thousand gold? A thousand from each of you? That’s far to kind, I really appreciate this, you won’t regret it, in fact this is going to be one of the best things you or anyone else will ever see in game. I’ll take that money now.” He held out his hand and looked around the table. He got nothing but blank stares in response.

Bob was the first to reply out loud. “You have at least thirty five thousand in your own account, what could you possibly be buying that you need an extra six?” She asked in shock.

Trart couldn’t contain the smile on his face. “There’s a junk dealer that has four hundred full stacks of Winter Man Detector Bombs for sale for forty two thousand gold. I’m six short.” He was practically vibrating and the sentence came out less like normal speech and more like a single word.

There was silence around the table until Blackout shrugged. “Ok that is pretty cool. You owe me.” He replied transferring a thousand gold into Trart’s account.

The Matriarch did some quick math in her head. “What do you need a hundred thousand bombs for?” She asked.

Trart looked around the room and seeing no other players closed still leaned in. “Blackout did this thing at Christmas where he mined the front entrance to a dungeon with these bombs and then used the remote control car toy to pull agro on everything in the dungeon to effortlessly collect an entire dungeon worth of loot.” He explained

The matriarch shook her head. “Yeah but the car doesn’t pull agro anymore they fixed that the day after Christmas.” She said.

Trart nodded. “Right but the Hall of the Gods doesn’t fill with mobs until you activate the summoning stone. So we can mine the entire hall with just enough mines to do lethal damage to everything the second they get summoned in.” He countered.

Bob’s eyes lit up. “Jesus Trart a full clear of the Hall of the Gods would net easily five hundred thousand gold in loot.” She was sold now.

Trart nodded. “Yeah, I did the damage math. A hundred thousand bombs placed correctly is enough to complete FOUR full clears of the hall.” He sat back with a cocky smile on his face.

Everyone else scrambled to transfer the money into his account.