The plain before them was empty. Completely empty and desolate with bits of ruins sticking up through the weedy grass. Flowers bloomed in patches here and there, waving in the slight breeze.
Lorenz felt his chest seize. The castle was gone. There was no evidence it had ever been there. Beside him Juniper was cursing in a low, angry voice.
"This isn't right! I brought help. Where's the castle," June asked him, looking at him with teary eyes.
Lorenz shook his head helplessly as he tried to process the scene. The plain was a serene space, completely out of place compared to the heavy tangle of forest that surrounded it. He took a tentative step forward and froze as his step crackled. He looked down, seeing a faint gleam under his foot.
Lorenz carefully knelt down. Brushing away the grass roots and dirt, he revealed a pane of broken glass, gleaming dully in the late morning sunshine. He tugged it free, revealing a piece of dull yellow glass. He remembered that glass. It had lined the secret hallway to the library Dahlia Crocus had led him down.
"I don't know what happened," Lorenz admitted.
He noticed that his status screen had a blinking purple dot. That was new. Lorenz reached out and tapped the status screen, opening it up. Beside him, June fell silent.
*****
Mission Quest: Flowers for Meghan – Special
Progress (4/5) – Deliver the flowers to Meghan.
Note: You've finished the special quest at 97%. Reminder: Meghan only needs the flowers.
*****
"It says that I finished a special quest," June said in bewilderment. "It wasn't a special quest. Everyone gets this quest if they want."
"Mine says that I just need to give Meghan the flowers." Lorenz pocketed the piece of glass. Maybe Meghan could answer some of his questions.
"Then we just give her the flowers," June said. She clutched the sack she'd been carrying on her back as if it was a giant teddy bear. "I don't understand this at all. I brought the reinforcements in time, right?"
"Let's just finish the quest and then come back. We can look for answers then," Lorenz decided. He turned back towards where his minimap said Meghan, and conversely the beginner town he'd started in, was located.
"Party up with me?" June asked, following him. "Just in case she doesn't want to take my flowers?"
"Sure," Lorenz agreed with a shrug.
They trudged along the path, back to the village.
***
Meghan was lurking in the same alley. She was wearing a new dress of the same style, making Lorenz feel that his first thought of it being some weird fashion statement was true. She was pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself while biting her thumb.
She straightened when Lorenz and June entered the alleyway. Meghan frowned a little when she saw June.
"Are you here for a quest?" Meghan asked June. "I'm sorry, but I can only have one request at a time."
"We're in a party," Lorenz said, glancing at June who was nervously fishing out flowers from her sack. "We have the flowers."
"Oh, were you able to find the…" Meghan looked at June and then back to Lorenz. "Um, the flowers I requested?"
"Yes," Lorenz said, pulling out five red datura flowers from his small carry pouch. He was determined to follow the reminder's advice precisely. "I no longer have the basket you lent me. I would be happy to replace it."
"What? That old thing?" Meghan took the flowers, her eyes glued to the darkly glowing red petals. "It's fine. This more than makes up for it." Meghan looked at June. "You brought me mottled daisies?" She asked, her expression cheering up.
"Yes, twenty, right?" June asked, presenting a variety of daisies to Meghan whose eyes widened at the sight.
"You found Light Mottled Daisies?" Meghan breathed, stowing the datura flowers and hurriedly accepting the bouquet of daisies. "Where did you find them?"
"I followed the directions you gave him," June said, nodding towards Lorenz who shrugged at Meghan's focused stare.
"There were flowers everywhere," Lorenz replied.
"Everywhere," Meghan breathed, her fingers clutching the daisy stems convulsing. She licked her lips. "Were there any more Light Daisies?"
"Those were the only ones," June said, stepping back and behind Lorenz.
"Ah, I knew it was too good to be true. Perhaps next year then," Meghan muttered as she stowed the flowers into a basket set against the alley wall. "You've finished the quest. May the Light shower you," she said, scooping up the basket. "Merry met."
"And merry part," Lorenz continued as she brushed past them towards the town square.
"And merry ever more," Meghan called back, disappearing into the evening gloom.
"My status says that I finished the quest," June said in a small voice. "There's something off here. It's only showing a 99% completion."
"Very off," Lorenz agreed. "Let's go back to the clearing. Maybe we can find a clue?"
"Fine by me. My family will be looking for me in-game soon. It'll be best if I'm not here," June said. She slung her sack back onto her back. "They're just so overprotective," she explained.
Lorenz smiled. He had grown up hearing the same complaints from Cora and Heidi about their respective families—Heidi's parents and grandparents and Cora's great-aunts.
*****
The clearing was still bare of a large glass castle when they returned. Swathes of flowers bloomed haphazardly across the clearing, the sheer variety astounding.
"I don't understand where we messed up," June said, walking towards the center of the clearing. She stopped and looked back at Lorenz. "The castle should be right here!"
"But it's not," Lorenz mildly retorted. He looked around. "Whatever happened after the battle, at least the flowers kept blooming. I guess," he added with a shrug.
Lorenz squatted down, examining a nearby patch of mottled daisies. There were blue, green, red and yellow versions mixed together. He frowned at that, pausing to call up the forums.
Quickly finding the previous post he'd been looking at, he then glanced at the patch of daisies. With a shake of his head, he stood up.
"I think that there are more varieties of flowers than there are officially," Lorenz said.
"That's impossible! The game's been out for almost a year. Nearly everything's been catalogued already," June answered. She looked around the clearing uncertainly. "At least all the flowers were, right?"
"I don't know. I just started playing recently." Lorenz closed the forums and reopened his quest tab. It was still showing a 99% completion of the quest along with a fast dwindling timer. "Do you have a timer on your quest tab for this?"
"A what? Timer?" June went quiet. "There is, but it's almost gone?"
They both froze as the bushes at the far end rustled. Under their surprised gazes, a troop of goblins came forward, most halting at the edge of the clearing while three continued forward for a few steps more. The trio halted, stopped by the one in the lead. That one looked more like a hobgoblin, clad in shining silvery armor. A blue sigil in the shape of a spray of berries decorated it.
"And you are?" The hobgoblin asked, one hand resting on the hilt of a sword strapped to his waist.
"June, and you're not Vauchon!" June accused, straightening up.
"June?" The hobgoblin blinked at the name. "That's impossible." He swept a glance over her and shook his head. "You're clearly an imposter!"
"How rude! I am not an imposter! I'm the only June I know!" June snapped back, slinging the bag on her back onto the ground.
The hobgoblin looked at the bag and then back at her. He shook his head again.
"You have to be an imposter. It's impossible that you're her." The hobgoblin retorted.
"Just who is June supposed to be impersonating?" Lorenz finally butted in and asked.
"June, the savior of Charlize's Greenhouse," the hobgoblin replied.
"But the castle is gone! Clearly, we failed the quest," June cried, tears in her eyes. "It's all gone." She slumped to the ground in an empty patch of ground.
"Impossible," the hobgoblin repeated, but this time there was awe in his voice.
"We had a quest that obviously didn't end the way we thought it would," Lorenz explained. He had a feeling that there was more to the game than people were letting on; he just couldn't figure out what. "When we came, there was a castle, and now there's not."
"My name is Vacheron, great-great-great grandson of Vauchon the Fierce," the hobgoblin said. He glanced back to his two subordinates who were carrying a heavy pedestal between them. "I came to offer thanks to my ancestors for continued wellbeing. It's been a ritual since Vauchon the Fierce's time."
Lorenz nodded. He studied the pedestal the two goblins were carrying. There was a brown and yellow sigil set into the pedestal. He bit back a smile when he recognized it. Clearly, the battle hadn't been in vain when it happened.
"If not for the timely assistance of a female rogue, Charlize's Greenhouse would have fallen into the scoundrel Skarane's hands." Vacheron gestured to his subordinates. They hurriedly came forward. "She brought the news that my grandfather needed in order to stage a proper battle. Her name and appearance was recorded in the court's records."
Vacheron studied June for a long moment before shaking his head.
"The mechanics of quests are truly formidable. Before I started out, I clearly remember that I was coming to pray for victory against Skarane's descendants, but now, it's like a misty dream. Now I remember that my ancestor conquered Skarane's kingdom." Vacheron shuddered. "I still need to pray for the wellbeing of my country."
"Wait," June said. She looked at Lorenz and then back to Vacheron. "If Vauchon and his army made it in time, what happened to Charlize's Greenhouse?"
"It wasn't a goblin war that destroyed the castle," Vacheron said. He watched as the two goblins carefully set the pedestal down in an area devoid of flowers. "It was the Crossroaders who did that."
"Who are the Crossroaders?" Lorenz asked.
"They believe in the Crossroads. Bunch of nonsense if you ask me," Vacheron scoffed. "Looking for mythical keys and such rot! T'was them who attacked the castle in the dead of an eclipse. Even when its allies rallied, it was too late. The whole place had been reduced to slag and scrap."
Vacheron lumbered to the altar and clumsily knelt in front of it. He pulled a battered metal rose out of his armor and laid it on the altar.
"Is that?" June asked.
"Yep, part of Lydia's crown," Lorenz replied. His mind was racing.
They waited for a few moments until Vacheron clambered back to his feet. The two goblins came forward and hoisted the pedestal back up, retreating back towards the rest of the goblins waiting at the edge of the clearing.
"If I wanted to find out information about Crossroaders, who do I ask?" Lorenz asked.
"No one, lad," Vacheron snapped back, startling them with his fierceness. "If you start asking questions, then they'll know that you're looking for them. Those people are nothing good. Crazed cultists who know no species lines," Vacheron continued.
"Then how do you know about them?" June asked.
"I'm the king of my kingdom. All the rulers need to know about them, just like marauding dragons and would-be bandit kings." Vacheron glanced back towards his goblins before taking a step towards Lorenz. "The ones who would know something would be mages, but getting one of them out of their Library is harder than creeping into a dragon's hoard."
"Which means it's possible or creeping into a dragon's hoard wouldn't be a thing," June replied.
"June," Lorenz said. "We're trying to get information here."
"You want answers, then you should do the research," Vacheron said, sizing Lorenz up before grinning. "Lad like you looks like someone who should be a mage."
"A mage?" Lorenz said, frowning. "There are mages?"
"No one wants to be a mage. The consensus is that you have to research spells or something," June said with a shrug.
"Research?" Lorenz contemplated for a second before looking up at Vacheron who gave a bark of a laugh before heading back to his troop.
"Whatever you do, be careful," Vacheron said with a careless wave. "Those crazies take fairy tales seriously, you know."
"A hobgoblin just said a story was a fairy tale," June muttered as they watched him disappear.
"Does your quest still say 99%?" Lorenz asked, bending down and plucking one of each of the mottled daisies at his feet. He stowed them into his basket.
"No, now it says 100%!" June froze. "I got a follow-up quest."
Lorenz opened up his status screen and quickly scanned the quest's details. According to it, he now possessed 10 MP and the ability to change his occupation to Mage. Another quest appeared below it.
*****
Mission Quest: The Search for Knowledge – Special
Details: You've discovered the roots of a great mystery! It's up to you to cultivate it into a new lead. Beware, the ones that work in the dark hate those who toil in the light.
Progress (0%) – Work harder, young man!
Note: Mages need knowledge. Libraries have knowledge. Having the books without a building does not a Library make…
*****
"Do you have to go to a library?" Lorenz asked.
June shook her head.
"It says that I should be on the lookout for some shady characters looking for some sort of old pottery?" June frowned. "I need to go ask my dad about some of this. I have no clue what a few of these things are."
"Then let's split up. We're friends, so we can chat if we find any information," Lorenz decided. "This is getting really interesting all of a sudden."
June laughed.
"You have a strange idea of interesting."