Time Elapsed: 00:11:38

Severance rested on his fur-covered bed in the Veiled House, one leg resting on a propped-up knee. He idly bounced his foot while swiping through different System windows.

He'd already messaged Kiah and Valentin about not doing dungeons today, a fact that he wasn't exactly thrilled about. Still, it was nice to have a day off. He'd even messaged Awesome Dude to see what the Shade was up to.

He browsed through the World Chat to see if anything new was happening, but only saw the usual general chatter. It was weird; he'd expected to see more people talking about the Gifts or other weird effects of the game. Yet there was none of that.

Instead, there was someone complaining about the Poseideous Raid in Tomorrow's Edge, while another whined about getting lost in the Ironback mines, and a discussion was currently unfolding about why the quests in Ascendance were so stupid.

Severance snorted. There were some really strange Elionans in Ascendance. That's why the quests were weird.

Wait a minute. He scanned over the chat. It was all very innocent and fresh, a lot like in the first few days when he started in Eliona.

These all had to be new players. Odd. Most of the player base had long since shifted to Tomorrow's Edge or Two Bridges, depending which clans they had joined. New players were few and far in between. So what hidden cracks had all these people crawled out from?

He found it hard to believe that new 'keys' were suddenly easily available. Had it been possible to make new ones? Or was it their doing, the same shady people who ended Reminsong?

Severance sat up abruptly, prompting Vast to raise his head and look at him. The great beast lay on the foot of the bed like a cat, his long tail flicking lazily side to side.

Ignoring him, Severance opened up his Inbox and sent another message to Valentin and Kiah.

"Hey, I want to check Ascendance out. Do you want to come?"

After a moment's thought, he sent a similar message to Chad. He didn't know if the big guy was online since they got back from Sweden fairly late in the day, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

While he waited for a reply, he got up and pulled on the long leather coat that Mouna had made him. It wasn't often he got to wear it since he didn't want to destroy it. Again. It buckled snugly around his torso, its hem swaying gently around his calves.

Severance smiled. It was times like these that he wanted to invent mirrors in Eliona. Surely, he looked a little bit cool, no? He tied his hair back into a tiny tail, as it hung in his face. One of these days he was either going to cut it himself or remember to ask someone to do it for him. Since he often was busy trying to survive in unpleasant places, the state of his hair ended up being a very low priority.

Before he left his room, he stored a skill with Precaution. It was one of the first things he did every day, since a free self Revive was invaluable in a dungeon. But since he wasn't in a dungeon... Severance paused, considering. He decided to go with a different skill. There could be trouble in Ascendance, and it wouldn't hurt to have a little surprise stored away.

That done, he went downstairs to the main floor, Vast plodding along behind him like a silver shadow.

He found Chaaya in the laundry room, packing up the laundry into woven baskets. The older woman hummed softly as she worked, her long braid swaying gently against her back. With her was Tayci, the chipper little girl who was one of the only two children present in the clan.

Soon to be three, if Bian's pregnancy was successful.

Severance smiled as he stepped inside. He blocked the doorway with his body so Vast couldn't enter; the room was cramped enough with three people inside.

"Working hard?" he asked Tayci.

The little girl was passing Chaaya the folded clothing from the shelves, one article at a time. Tayci looked up at him and grinned, revealing a set of tiny teeth.

"Hi, Sev!"

"Severance," Chaaya greeted him warmly. She took the folded pants that Tayci offered her and laid them neatly in the basket. "What did you need?"

"Just a few more sets," he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry for making so much work for you."

He'd already lost count of how many clothes he'd ruined over the past few weeks.

"Nonsense." She waved aside his apology. "It's no trouble. Here." She plucked five pairs of pants and shirts and passed them over to him.

"Take these too!" Tayci scooped up a pair of soft shoes held them up. One slipped free from her grasp and fell onto her foot. She giggled.

"Thanks." Severance accepted them from her. They were the wrong size, but the little girl beamed so brightly, he couldn't bring himself to tell her. He'd just switch them out later.

You have received a message from Valentin, the System informed him. Would you like to Open Message?

"Are you heading out soon?" Chaaya asked.

"Yes," he answered. He took in the bare shelves in the laundry room, and noticed the barrels that had once held clean water were now gone as well. Weird.

"Well, be careful," Chaaya told him. "There's some extra activity going on in the forest. More people poking about than usual."

"People? Like Outsiders?"

It could be that the players were just exploring. That forest was right next to Ascendance, the town where all new players began.

Chaaya finished clearing the shelves, and bent to tie the baskets shut. They had a woven flap with leather cords that could be tied. "I'm not sure. I'm sure you'll be fine, though."

Tayci craned her head back, peering up at Severance. She tugged on his coat to get his attention.

"Can I come?"

Severance frowned. She wanted to go with him to Ascendance? Ascendance, which was probably infested with all kinds of sketchy people?

"Well..." How did one tell a little girl 'no freaking way?'

"Tayci, you promised to help me," Chaaya interjected. She tugged gently on Tayci's little ponytail.

"But I can help Sev, too," Tayci pointed out.

"Severance has Vast. I have no one." Though her expression showed a hint of amusement, Chaaya's voice sounded heavy and disappointed. "But if you want, go ahead. I'll have to carry these heavy baskets all by myself. Ah, my poor back."

With a grimace, Chaaya pressed a hand to her back, looking suddenly ten years older and much feebler than she did a second ago.

Severance coughed lightly, looking away. What an act. There was no way that was going to-

"No! Chaaya, I'll help you. I'll help!" Tayci turned back to Chaaya, her little hands going to support the older woman's elbow.

"Oh sweetie, thank you." Chaaya beamed, her eyes twinkling. She winked at Severance, who just scratched his jaw and pretended he saw nothing.

He took the opportunity to get out of there while Tayci was distracted. Once he was safely outside in the courtyard, he opened Valentin's message.

"Sure," was the knightglaive easy response. "Meet at the same place?"

"Yes," Severance returned, half distracted by the stillness of the air. There hadn't been a lot of the Veiled around lately, but he'd always figured they were busy with some nefarious task or another. Today, however, the House felt extra quiet.

A few minutes later, after he'd teleported to a deserted platform outside Two Bridges, the System chimed again.

You have received a message from Kiah. Do you want to Open Message?

"Yes, Open Message."

Her voice rang out clearly. "Sorry, Severance. I promised a friend I'd help her out with some of the low-level dungeons today. But I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

As he listened, he frowned a little. Low level dungeons? He wondered about her friend. Who were they? Then he dismissed it. He was just getting paranoid now. Kiah would be fine.

"Okay, sounds good," he replied. "If you have a minute later, message me. There's something important I have to tell you."

With that settled, he made his way to the usual meeting place with Vast. It was a safe distance away from Two Bridges, but also not too far away from the Ironback Mountains. The terrain was full of rolling hills and big boulders dotting the landscape, providing lots of places for cover. Severance climbed to the peak of one hill and leaned against one of the boulders there. It provided him a good vantage of the surrounding area, though he didn't worry too much about paying close attention.

That's what Vast was for. The beast would sense any approaching person long before Severance could ever hope to see them.

"You're such a good boy," he told the vastlhidan. Vast sat beside him, making it very easy for Severance to rub between the two soft ears. He did just that, earning a pleased grumble.

A message came through from Chad, who agreed to join the fun. Severance told him to meet in Ascendance. There still was no response from Awesome Dude, but Severance assumed the Shade was offline.

Before long, Vast rumbled warningly and stood up, his gaze fixating on a tall figure in the distance. Severance squinted, then patted Vast's head.

"That's Valentin. Come on, boy. Let's go meet him."

Vast flicked his tail against Severance's legs before leading the way down the hill at a steady trot. Severance followed. When they caught up with Valentin, the player greeted them with a quiet nod.

"Hey Valentin," Severance said.

They stood in an awkward silence, looking at each other. It was like each of them was waiting for the other person to make the first move.

Eventually, Severance shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. "I guess we'll head out, then? To Ascendance."

Eerie red eyes watched him. "Sure."

"Teleport?" Severance asked.

The knightglaive nodded once.

"Great." Fingering the teleport ring his on his hand, Severance hesitated. "Hey, have you heard what happened to Remington? They're the company behind this game."

"No."

"Right. I guess most people wouldn't have." Severance glanced at the other player, thinking. Should he? Or shouldn't he? It was like teetering on a knife's edge. Then he decided to go for it. There'd probably be no better opportunity. "Well, they're all dead. Some kind of group moved in and took out everyone. Made it look like a bunch of accidents."

"Hm," Valentin said. He didn't appear to be all that surprised. Or interested, really.

Severance hesitated, a little taken aback by the lackluster response. "There's some really sketchy stuff going on, you know. So be careful. On Earth, I mean. Well, I guess here too. Probably wouldn't hurt."

More silence. Maybe the knightglaive had forgotten to put in his hearing aids today.

"Anyway," Severance went on, feeling increasingly awkward, "there's also a lot of new players lately, which is kind of suspicious. So I wanted to take a look and see if there's anything weird going on in Ascendance. Have you been there lately?"

"No."

"Oh. Me neither."

Severance felt like he was talking to a cloud. His words went in and disappeared without making even a ripple. It was very unsatisfying. Did Valentin just have that good of a poker face or did he just really not care?

It grew quiet around them again. It gnawed at Severance. He hated the silence. It always gave him the overpowering urge to fill it.

"Hey," he said, before he could think better of it, "you do know Elionia is real, right?"

Those unsettling red eyes regarded him with an infuriating lack of reaction.

"This world, I mean. And the people in it. They're real," Severance pressed on. "Elionia is dying, and we were brought here to try and help save it."

Valentin rolled his shoulders back. "I guessed."

"I mean it! It sounds crazy, but—hold on. Wait. You guessed? When? How? Are you serious?"

One side of Valentin's mouth twitched upwards. "Yes. After you told me it was worth it. I guessed then."

Severance felt deflated, like all the air had been sucked out of him. "Oh."

"Why else would you fight so hard?" Valentin looked away, out over the rolling hills. The once clear sky was growing cloudy, while the wind began to pick up. A storm was blowing in. "It made me want to fight, too."

"Oh," Severance said again. He felt embarrassed now. "I... huh. That's cool."

"Mm. Teleport?" Valentin asked. Clearly, he'd already moved on.

Severance laughed, making a half-relieved, half-in disbelief sound. This was the worst conversation he'd ever had in his life, and yet, it was also the easiest. Go figure.

"Yeah, sorry. Hold on."

Vast's ears pricked and he shifted closer, leaning up against Severance's leg. He grumbled, one watchful silver-blue eye on Valentin as the knightglaive reached out to touch Severance's arm.

In an instant, they vanished.

And in the next, they reappeared on the round stone platform in the midst of Ascendance.