Chapter 15: Consequences (Patreon)

For a long moment, I said nothing.

This was the conversation I had been dreading since I’d activated the Class stone. It was a necessary one, though.

If I wanted to mend the breach in my relationship with Soren, I had to find a way to get him to come to terms with who I was now. Taking a deep breath, I ordered my thoughts. “What do you want to know?”

“Why enter the Game?” he began without preamble.

“To save you.”

“I get that, but becoming a player is not something you can take back. Your whole life will change now. There will be no going back to the way things were.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Do you recall what I told you about our parents?” Soren asked, his voice raw with hurt. “How the Game twisted their lives?”

Looking down, I shuffled uneasily. “I do. Mum and dad did not deserve their fate.” I paused, then added, “Nor how abruptly their lives ended.” Our parents hadn’t been players, but they had suffered at their hands.

“They weren’t the only victims,” he pointed out. “We were, too.”

He was right. I was only ten when our parents died, and he a mere teenager. “Still, I don’t regret my choice,” I replied, realizing, in that instant, I didn’t. “The Game gave me the power to save you. And that’s just the beginning. With this power, we can forge a better life for ourselves.”

My brother studied at me thoughtfully. “A better life? Is that what you want? We could have that without the Game, you know.”

“Could we?” I challenged. “Have you not seen the state of the city lately? Are you forgetting you and Alon were about to be drafted into the goddess’ army? You know ‘proles’ have no rights under Arinna. Tell me, will your fate and Alon’s be any different from mum and dad’s?”

Soren’s face tightened, but he didn’t refute my words.

“Things will be different now that I’m a player,” I finished.

“But perhaps not in the way you expect,” he murmured.

Before I could ask what he meant by that, Soren changed the subject. “How long have you been a player?”

I shrugged. “Only two days—ever since I realized it was the only way to save you.”

“But you must have known before that you could become one?” he persisted.

I nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me the Adjudicator was talking to you?”

I averted my gaze while I considered how to frame my response. I had kept my secret from my brother for a long time, and I knew the truth would hurt him.

“The Adjudicator has been speaking to me since I was eighteen,” I said finally. “I should’ve told you.”

“I thought we were closer than that,” he said, sounding aggrieved.

The words stung, as they should.

Seeing my expression, Soren did not belabor the point. “I have more questions. Do you want to go over them now?”

I nodded mutely.

Soren sat down on the floor, and I followed suit. “Tell me about your Class.”

I told him everything I knew or had guessed, what my abilities were, and about the Game itself.

“Where did you find the Class stone?”

“Dad gave it to me,” I replied.

“Dad?” he asked, looking startled. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, I am. That’s hardly something I’m ever likely to forget,” I said, wryly.

“Still… dad. That’s odd.” He shook his head. “But back to my questions: what was the lizard that attacked me?”

It had been the other way around, but I didn’t press the point. “Can we talk about her tomorrow? I am exhausted, and that will be an entire conversation on its own.”

Soren nodded, even though he looked a little disappointed. He rose to his feet. “I appreciate your honesty El, and I’ll support whatever decisions you make from here on out, but I want you to make me a promise.”

“Anything,” I said.

“Now that you have made the choice to become a player, it’s important that the path you take is the right one.”

I stared at him blankly. “What does that mean?”

Soren inhaled deeply. “There are many different ways you can play the Game. There are things you should do… and shouldn’t.”

Soren was being unusually cryptic. I had no idea what he was talking about or what promise he was trying to elicit from me. His words, though, hinted at hidden knowledge. “Since when do you know anything about the Game?”

“I’ve been in training with the goddess’ followers for months now,” he replied lightly. “I hear things.”

That, too, was suspiciously vague.

“You know more than you’re letting on,” I accused.

“Don’t big brothers always?” he joked, but his amusement did not last. “Just promise me you’ll speak to me before making any further decisions about your future Classes, El,” he implored. “That’s all I need right now.”

He was obviously not going to say anything more on the subject, and truly, I couldn’t see any harm in agreeing. I nodded stiffly. “Alright.”

Stepping forward, Soren wrapped me in a warm hug. “Go get some sleep. We can talk again in the morning.”

Too tired to do more than nod, I made my way to my mattress and fell fast asleep.

✵ ✵ ✵

I awoke the next morning to a message from the Adjudicator.

You and your companion’s stamina, mana, and psi have been fully replenished.

Ugh, I thought, not fond of the idea of waking to Game alerts. Still, the realization that sleep had restored my flagging reserves was a welcome one.

I sat up. I had a lot to do today, including sifting through the skillbooks and ability tomes we’d looted from the Devils’ lair.

I had promised Soren not to make any decisions about my Classes without him, but that didn’t encompass skill, attribute, and ability choices. Not to my mind, at least.

And there’s no way I’m going to run every one of my decisions through my brother first, I told myself firmly.

Extending my arms over my head, I worked out the kinks. There was surprisingly little soreness in my muscles, though. Despite the threadbare nature of the mattress, I’d slept well.

Rising to my feet, I saw that both Soren and Alon were awake as well, and from the looks of it, they’d been so for a while.

“Morning,” I greeted.

“Wow, look who is finally up,” Alon said with mock surprise. “We were beginning to think you’d sleep all day.”

I rolled my eyes. “You seem to be in better spirits. How long have you been awake?”

“I can’t remember,” Alon said, stroking his chin in pretended thought. “Has it been two hours? Or four?”

“Neither,” Soren replied mildly. “It’s been thirty minutes.”

Alon looked down his nose at him. “You know Sor, sometimes you’re just no fun.” Before Soren could respond, he stood up. “Anyway, I think I should go check the lay of the land, speak to some of my contacts, see what they’ve heard, and find out what the word on the street is. And so on and so on. Just so we have a better idea of what we’ll be facing when we finally move on from these lovely quarters.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Soren said. “I’ll join you in a bit.” He glanced at me. “El and I have a few things to discuss first.”

“I thought you might,” Alon said, gathering his things.

Chewing on one of the tasteless rations Soren had stocked his bolt hole with, I watched Alon curiously. He definitely looked and sounded more relaxed today. The animosity between him and Soren had also vanished. The pair had clearly spent the morning resolving their disagreements, which gladdened me to no end.

After Alon left, Soren turned to me. “You ready to talk?”

I nodded, a little taken aback by his eagerness to resume last night’s conversation. What drove it, I wondered.

“Good. Then let’s start by discussing the lizard… you called it ‘her’ last night. Does that mean she is your friend?—pet?—uhm… minion?”

I winced, suddenly glad Adalinda wasn’t awake. I doubted she’d be impressed by Soren’s choice of terms.

“Oh, I’m awake,” the celestial said sleepily. “And… ‘minion.’ Really? What does he think I am?”

“He doesn’t know, that’s the point,” I replied, praying Soren’s latest misstep didn’t make matters worse between the pair. They’d already gotten off on the wrong foot. “Soren is having a hard time accepting I’m a player, and I don’t think learning about you has helped. Can I ask that you, huh, hmm…”

“… not eat him?” she asked innocently.

I scowled, not that she could see it, but I was sure she sensed my irritation.

“Oh relax, El. I’m only teasing.” Adalinda chuckled. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Promise.”

Somehow her words didn’t inspire much confidence.

Soren tapped me on the side of the head. “Hello? Are you going to answer me or just stand there and glare?”

Shaking my head, I snapped back to the ‘real.’ “Sorry, I was talking to—” I paused—“my minion.”

“Hey!”

I smirked, earning another quizzical look from Soren. “And no,” I added, hastily before he actually began to think that was what she was, “Adalinda is not my minion. She is my companion.”

He stared at me. “Adalinda, that’s her name?”

“It is.”

“I know that look, El,” Soren said. “Adalinda is important to you. I can see it in your eyes.”

I nodded solemnly. “She is. As important as you and Alon.”

He leaned forward intently. “Then she is important to me, too. Tell me everything, please. Start at the beginning and leave nothing out.”

Taking a deep breath, I did just that.