Kathleen laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Then she turned her head.
"Katie? Darling?" The previous staccato knocking was replaced by her mother's treacly voice.
Kathleen reflected that that was the perfect word for the overly sweet tone of her mother's current voice, so unlike the usual tone that it briefly attracted her attention.
"Yes?" Kathleen finally called back.
"Katie, Baby Girl, why is the credit card $8239?" There it was, the briefest hint of aggravation. Her mother wasn't authorized to actually look at the bill, just call for the balance.
"I dunno," Kathleen called back, the lie easily falling from her lips. "Don't worry. I'll pay it off."
Kathleen wondered just what her mother had tried to buy. It wasn't as if she didn't have more than she needed.
"Okay, Sweetie Pie." There was a pause. "That's the only one you have, right?"
"Of course," Kathleen agreed.
She listened to the footsteps trot away. Then she turned her head in the opposite direction. Piles of unopened shipping boxes, shopping bags and shoe boxes littered the path to her bathroom.
On the bed by her head was a stick figure made of credit cards. Its legs were blue, its arms different colors and they were connected by a torso. The head was a diamond, the top covered by an ersatz hat. Two little keyring discount cards completed the brim.
The sight of it made her smile. Then her phone rang.
"Bobby, answer," Kathleen called.
"Answering," came an impersonal voice as a screen descended from the ceiling.
It flicked on to reveal Nate Delacroix. Kathleen sighed as she sat up, disrupting her little credit effigy.
"And to what do I owe this?" Kathleen asked, absently scooping up the cards into a solid block. She flicked the keyring cards under her pillow.
"Can't I call? Why wouldn't I want to talk to such a primo hottie," Nate protested.
"Uh-huh," Kathleen grunted as she pushed a flower on her headboard. A small compartment popped open. "I've known you since forever. Cut the crap. Just what do you want?"
Kathleen looked up from shuffling her cards into their proper order to see Nate studying the pile of items visible to him. She glanced to the side, trying to gauge the screen's probable view and sighed.
"Is it really that bad?" Nate asked, the humor fading from his face.
Kathleen sighed. From the corner of her eye, she caught Nate's expression changing briefly. Her lips quirked and smoothed out as she turned back towards him.
"You know, purchases are non-refundable in the game," Nate said. His smile was back and a bit brighter than before.
"Really?" Kathleen asked, arching one eyebrow. She wasn't sure that that was what she'd been expecting him to say. Though the thought did intrigue her a bit.
"Some places might," Nate mused. His expression blanked in a way she was far too familiar with. "I know I heard a rumor…"
"Are the capsules expensive?" Kathleen butted in, trying to keep her expression questioning.
The last time Nate had had that look, he was off hiking somewhere in Asia, looking for hidden temples or somesuch. He hadn't even bothered to tell anyone beyond a few texts and a quick email to Cora, his cousin and erstwhile financial manager to stop her from investigating.
To be fair, one of his little 'jaunts' had been instigated by his parents who'd happily spent his money until he'd reemerged from the rain forest, battered and unhappy. Cora was the one they'd had to talk down at the time, Kathleen remembered. Cora had been all for finding someone to have a 'talk' with Nate's parents.
There was times Kathleen found Cora to be very understandable.
"The capsules aren't too bad," Nate absently replied. There were the faint sounds of tapping from his side of the video call.
A few seconds later, Kathleen ended the call with a roll of her eyes. Nate was obviously heading off into Explorer Land again. At least this time it was virtual and therefore not dangerous.
*****
Andrea jumped back from the whistling sword slash. It seemed much more lethal than the previous ones. The bandit boss' face was darker and less sane than it had been at the start of the fight. The change seemed to have come suddenly.
"Tell your boy to give up the book," the bandit boss hissed at her.
Their swords crossed and clashed. Andrea winced as her knuckle got nicked. She watched as a tiny bit of metal was cleaved from her specially forged sword.
She frowned. His strength seemed to have climbed as well.
"Andi! Behind!" Missy called.
Andrea ducked. Missy's spear dove through the space her head had occupied. The spear bit dead center into the bandit boss' heart. His eyes widened as he let out a shocked scream.
"We will be victorious," the bandit boss sighed as he slumped to the floor. Andrea watched as his sword clattered a little bit away. It seemed a bit different from the beginning of their battle.
"What was with him?" Kali asked, cautiously approaching. Then she paused, eyes widening. "Did you get that?"
Andrea activated her status screen. She had it set to automatically open to the quest tab, something she'd picked up from the game forums. Why her Lorenz always wanted to do things from scratch had always baffled her. It worked. Why wonder how they found out that it did?
Right now, she had a new quest marker appear.
[Defenders of the Dark
*Storyline* Difficulty: varied (G-SSS)
The reemergence of myth is a tricksy thing. Leave your team's mark on history!
Current: Defeat the Crossroads Bandit King (done!)
Release the captives (now)
Rewards (current): 500 G, 2 lb. rare gems, random reputation boost, custody of Arwen Woods]
"Who, or what, is Arwen Woods?" Missy asked, arching one blond eyebrow.
"A captive, maybe?" Lori said, emerging from the shadows, dragging a dead bandit with her.
She tossed it effortlessly towards the bandit king's corpse. The disconnect between her strength and her petite size was jarring.
"Why did we suddenly get a quest? And such a giant one at that?" Lori rolled her shoulders, looking uncomfortable.
"I don't know," Kali said. She massaged the bridge of her nose. "The fight was going, and then all of a sudden he changed and started shouting nonsense."
"Nonsense about a book," Missy interjected.
They all turned towards Andi.
"My boy's just interested in mage stuff. Who's to say he's the one with the book?" Andrea protested.
"Mages own libraries. Some mages own gigantic libraries they run as businesses to finance their studies," Lori said. She wagged her head, causing her neck to crack. "Maybe he got some special book from one of the libraries?"
They all looked at her.
"What? It's true that mages run libraries. I do check the game forums sometimes." Lori's hazel eyes narrowed. "What? Do you think that I don't read?"
The other three exchanged looks.
"I read!" Lori protested, outraged. "I read a lot! I will have you know that I'm a professor!"
"Of course, you are," soothed Kali. "You're the best professor anyone's ever had."
"I am!" Lori howled.
Andrea and Missy exchanged doubtful looks. They'd personally watched Lori stare at a spider web for an entire hour while squeezing juice with her bare hands. She'd said that the spider web had inspired her to make juice.
It still didn't make any sense to them.
"Well, they were probably talking about Lo—, Lo—," Missy paused, frowning. "What's his name, again?"
"Lorenz." Andrea blew a lock of hair out of her face as she approached the bandit boss' body. Then she paused. "Kali, come see."
Kali walked towards the body and stopped. The body was slowly turning black and flaking away. Wherever the flakes landed, little puddles of black would form. Kali grabbed Andrea's arm and tugged her back away from the body.
"Don't touch it. That's not normal," Kali said.
"What about my spear?" Missy asked, eyeing the body. Her spear was slowly weaving from side to side as if trying to work itself free.
"Considering what the little flakes are doing, I think we'll just buy you a new one," Lori said. She squinted at the body. "Is it just me or did the spearhead turn black just now?"
"Nope, it's black," Andrea agreed.
"Loot," Kali suddenly said, hand reaching towards the dead bodies.
There was a flash, and three items flew towards Kali. Kali took a step back, letting them land on the ground. Then she peered at them cautiously.
Of the three items, one of them, a dagger, was stained with streaks of black. The other two, a money pouch and a keyring, looked normal.
Kali used her sword to drag the other two towards her. The rest of her team watched her in doubtful silence.
"Whatever that stuff is, I'm not getting it on me. Let's go see these captives we're rescuing." Kali said, sheathing her sword and picking up their spoils. "At least we're getting paid this time."
"The last time wasn't my fault!" Missy protested. She wound a long lock of blonde hair around her finger. "Absolutely not!"
She pouted, even tossing a bit of a frown into the pot. The others looked unimpressed.
"Of course, dear. And Lori's a professor," Andrea said, patting Missy on the shoulder before following after Kali.
"I feel that I should protest more because I am a professor!" Lori called after them before hurrying after.
Missy huffed and stomped one foot. With a final longing look at the darkening spear, she turned and walked away.