“Is there more to this plan?” Vienne asked carefully. The expression on their face was grave, and the way they phrased it suggested that there had better be more.

“Yeah! Of course! Pssh. This is just the start of the plan. Raven has exactly 7 minutes--”

“6 Minutes until transfer to Experimental Wing!” B-3 chirped cheerfully.

“--6 minutes to compose and perform a great ballad. We’ll use that as your anchor so we can find our way home! Then we’ll zip through space back to Aspiria! Easy peasy!” Amelia was already opening another window and physically typing out on an invisible keyboard.

“I see,” Vienne turned slightly and looked at B-3. “In this scenario, is it your assumption that whatever creature this is does not chase us?”

“No, no, B-3 is definitely a giant piece of work. So I’m assuming it will be very not good.” Amelia conceded, “which is why, we’re going to work on making you a god in the moments directly after we leave this space.”

Vienne straightened up, a strange look crossing his face. “I have 6 minutes to turn myself into a god? That’s your plan?”

“5 minutes and 23 seconds,” B-3 added cheerfully.

“No! No, no, no,” Amelia shook her head, frowning heavily. “I have 5 minutes to try and convince the system that you are finishing my Zero Level quest. Once we’re out of here, the quest will be finished as I will be officially saved from this place, and once we’re riding through space together or however that works, during that time you’ll be reaching into godhood.” Amelia’s chuckle started to sound unhinged. “So, I guess you could say you’ll be attempting that after the five minutes are up.”

“What is a Zero Level quest and how does it pertain to us not dying horrifically after 5 minutes?” Vienne questioned. It suddenly seemed like a really relevant question. "Why can't you Transients speak plainly?"

“4 minutes and 40 seconds.” B-3 probably wasn’t purposefully trying to correct them every time she brought up the time, but it apparently made Vienne angry enough to take a few practice swats at them. This time they were serious enough that B-3 wasn’t able to dodge. The claymore came up and blocked the strike from three different angles before the construct jumped out of reach of Vienne.

“Nice! Makes me feel good that it actually had to block.” Amelia admitted. “When I came here, the Transients got a Zero Level quest to come save me. Everyone was off doing other things, can’t say that I blame them I guess, so it’s still up. Technically, since you’ll be rescuing me from the lab, you’ll have fulfilled the conditions of the quest. You should get all the experience and rewards for it, I’m certainly not doing anything but frantically trying not to die.”

“Who is providing these boons?” Vienne said after another moment. “I don’t understand? Am I to believe I shall be rewarded from saving you somehow?”

“Who knows?” Amelia laughed weakly. Then she hit enter on the message she was composing.

[System Help Ticket Open -- Question Category: Quest Conditions] -

Please Wait While The System Reviews Request.

If a special quest is fulfilled by a Resident, will that Resident receive a portion of the experience and reward? Specifically referencing:

Super Level Zero Quest Activated

Name: Save The Empress

Empress Amelia has been kidnapped!

Please Hold. Please Hold.

Reviewing Current Quest Condition and Objectives.

Objective: Gather Information -- Complete.

Objective Advancing: Escape the Laboratory -- In Progress!

Original Objective Flag Advanced by Resident: ID VIENNE.

Question Simplification: Reward ID Vienne? Y/N.

Determining Protocol.

Protocol Unclear for Super Level Zero Quest.

Escalation.

Please Hold. Please Hold…

…

…

…

Determination: Arbitration.

Arbitration scheduled.

Please Hold. Please Hold.

…

…

Arbitration in Progress. 2/2

Review of ID Vienne and Super Level Zero Quest in Progress

Arbitration Vote: 1-0

Arbitration Vote: 1-1

Arbitration Deadlocked

Escalation

Super Arbitration Scheduled

Review of ID Vienne and Super Level Zero Quest in Progress

Arbitration in Progress. 2/2

Arbitration Vote 0-0

Arbitration Vote 0-0

Arbitration Vote 0-0

Arbitration Vote 0-0

Arbitration Vote 1-0

Arbitration Vote 1-1

Arbitration Deadlocked

Escalation

Direct Attention Requested

Final Authority Requested

Final Authority Scheduled

Please Hold. Please Hold.

...

“1 minute and 30 seconds until Experimental Wing transfer. The Quester Race would like to thank you for your patience in this abnormal situation!”

Vienne and Amelia both ignored B-3 this time.

Amelia stared at the growing screen of system errors with both awe and horror. The system had never taken this long to answer a question submitted via help ticket before(one of the advantages of an entirely automated system). She had never seen an escalation before, in fact. She had heard that escalations had happened a few times when players were debating class skills and had queried the system to ask about mechanics to see who was right. Most of the time mechanics for skills were hidden at the base level and the system simply refused to render information. Occasionally there were questions that were deemed tricky enough to require escalation, a review of some higher up process.

“We’re out of time,” Vienne finally said. He reached out his hand to Amelia.

“Can you get us home?” Amelia asked hopefully. Raven had come through..?

“I will take us away from here and buy an extra moment,” Vienne said slowly. “If the anchor is set before this thing catches us, I will steer us toward it.”

“Ahh…” Amelia took his hand. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I feel bad about this.”

“You should,” Vienne said. The smile on his face suggested he didn’t actually mean it, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

“15…14…13…” B-3 was counting down nearby looking pleased as punch.

The two vanished.

“...12…11…canceling transfer. Subjects moving away. Pursuing.” B-3 disappeared.

Things were spiraling out of control.

Mordred stared grimly up at the sky where a ship was wreaking havoc on everyone waiting to get into the Square. They couldn’t all fit nearby, and the people resurrecting or coming late to the engagement because of work or timezone differences would all have to brave the deadly falling ice. On top of that, there was a giant floating lute. Mordred would bet that wasn’t good for them.

There was only one real move. Persist. Outlast.

…and kill Raven.

Mordred gave the order. Raven absolutely had to die before she dropped whatever nightmare that firework signal foreshadowed.

“Unsurprisingly it seems like Raven is at the statue, trying desperately to write and compose in the middle of battle,” Abhy was shifting nervously in her seat.

“The Rebels have shifted subtly. It appears they are all starting to push in toward the statue more aggressively.” Jenner pointed to the aerial view in the corner of the screen, showing the press of bodies had indeed pushed foward explosively with new purpose.

“Well, Shadow Fall won’t have that,” Idolia said. “It’ll just take Elisha probably half a second to, ahh, there you go.” Idolia pointed ot the same view.

In the beginning, all the entrances of the square had been blocked by Imperial forces making choke points. Now the Imperials had halved their presence in those areas and formed a tighter, more controlled, ring around the statue itself. The side-streets, with fewer Imperials, were already beginning to crush inward from having fewer defenders. The noose around the statue was starting to tighten.

“Not sure that’s a great idea,” Jenner said after a moment.

“It appears they’re betting it all on this song,” Abhy said.

“No,” Idolia smiled, gathering the attention of the two. “You guys just don’t know how scary Elisha is.”

“Meaning?” Abhy frowned.

“Well, Elisha is gambling on Raven, true, but if they lose the Square, that neato ship will just bomb the crap out of the area because there won’t be any Imperials left! Really, it’s a bad idea for the Rebels to push too hard. Tough break for them.”

Abhy and Jenner both stared at her with open mouths, shock displayed openly across their expressions. Okay, is she a flake or isn’t she?

“Didn’t you guys tell me that the ship couldn’t fly much longer anyway? Between the game being mad they're flying or that water flask running out, time's almost up. Elisha may even be hoping that the Imperials get wiped out so they can fly over the Square and bomb it.” Idolia shrugged, and then straightened up with an excited ‘ooh’.

She pointed at the screen.

Raven was standing on the base of the statue and was looking out. She completely ignored an arrow that slammed into her shoulder, brushing at it with a hand absentmindedly like it was a piece of lint instead of a stick that was jammed into her body.

Several members of Shadow Fall backed up toward the statue and raised shields, trying to at least cover the short woman from the waist down. Then War was there. Standing like a silent guard, looming beside her with an impossibly threatening presence. Raven turned and smiled at them and made a vague hand wave, then turned back to the chaos.

Raven started to hum… and then shook her head, apparently unhappy with the tone.

Three more false starts.

“C’mon girl,” Idolia muttered under her breath. Then she winced when she realized that her hot mic had picked that up.

Raven didn’t see the battle anymore. Her screens were full of words, notes, bars, sliders. War showed up briefly in her vision once, making her smile, but she lightly pushed in front of her as if she could clear them from her vision.

She needed to be clear.

Something strong.

There didn’t need to be any comedy.

Clear words, broken in strange ways?

But still compelling.

She tried to find a beat or a tone with humming for the words that were flying across her screen in an almost hard to follow speed. She shook her head several times with a grimace. There wasn’t enough time to find a melody in this particular madness. She canceled all the sound of the game, completely muting it. The absence of sound gave her a moment to calm down. If she were in the real world, it would be so quiet that the only thing she could hear would be her heart beat.

Heartbeat.

Raven pulled the slider for a simple drumbeat, increasing the bass and range until it felt like she was listening to her heart crushing wildly against her chest.

She started to sway.

This was it.

She pressed the transmit button and the sound of the drum, her heartbeat, crashed out across the Square like a wave.

BOOM…

Consistent and quick.

Looking out she saw two masses of people.

People desperately trying to kill her.

People desperately trying to save her.

Fans and Haters, Haters and Fans.

Raven smiled, and the words slipped out easily -- blanketing the entire area with confidence and volume.

“Empty inside, but satiation maxed.

Turn to the side, but it’s not your side -- red name

Say I’m alright, but I lie -- weighted and heavy

Try to turn away the night, but no light -- not too bright

Try to fight the fight, but it’s not right -- not right.”

A deep breath.

It was more beat poetry, than anything.

“Flicker, you know what to hope for --”

She spread her arms and smiled wide.

“--the clock burner, world restarting track turner, phenom and page learner.

Skipping beatings, dropping your moves back on you, but harder.

Big book, big stick, blue cloak, sick grin, quiet din.

Take you up the mountain just to watch, steal your time.

Save you anyway, dragon breath for a dime -- novel

still novel, and clever. However --

-- need you now more than ever.”

She took a breath, closed her eyes, and sang like she meant it. The kind of singing where you put aside shame and nervousness and hang your heart on your sleeve.

“Amelia come on down -- to this town.

We need you, there's some stuff that’s going down.

Shadow Fall cover the ground,

-- but, we’re drowning now.

Vienne fly on down, to this doomed town.

Evil to be fought and, hah, we have it found.

Thunder crashes with no sound,

No consequences without our crowns.

I like the way you word it,

All day, every day.

I like the way your sword hits,

In about every way.

Every word written for a play,

every stroke saves today.”

“I like the way your words hit.”

CLAP

“In the fields, in the streets.”

CLAP

“I like the way your sword sits.”

CLAP

“Drop bosses, nice and neat.”

CLAP

“I like the way your words fit.”

CLAP

“In the heart, under my breast.”

CLAP

“I like the way your sword splits.”

CLAP

“Hammer me in the chest.”

CLAP

“I like the way they both spit.”

CLAP.

“Knowing neither ever quit…”

Raven’s eyes were still closed, ignoring the danger around her. Hands raised over her head in the offbeat clap, nothing else existed. Magic descended on all those below and around, friend and foe.

Battle stalled despite the leaders of the Rebels frantically screaming across all the channels to keep pushing forward, keep fighting, stop Raven!

Mordred pressed as far as he could and cast a giant ribbon of fish as fast as he could. The Imperials surrounding Raven blocked with shield, countered with spell, or simply stepped in the way with confidence. The Imperial morale was skyrocketing.

Most of the Rebels? They had a different reaction.

This was why they came, wasn’t it? Why they rebelled?

To see something bigger. To be part of something bigger.

There would be time for fighting… later. Just, one more minute.

More than a few Rebels put away their weapons to join the Imperials in their support of the song, clapping to the beat that absolutely crushed them. Some simply stepped back into the lines and crossed their arms, obviouslly waiting for the song to be over.

The Imperials, already desperately overwhelmed, left the Rebels who had stopped fighting alone. The Rebels who pressed forward furiously grew angry, wondering why they were suddenly fewer. The Imperials no longer had trouble handling them.

That was it’s own magic.

CLAP

CLAP

CLAP

CLAP

The clapping and the beat could have carried on much longer but there was no time. Even this time seemed stolen and precious.

Raven started to make a frantic waving motion that she was about to carry on, and the clapping began to subside.

One metal and one flesh, her hands drew apart miming a flat line above her head and silence, save for angry clashes, fell.

“Amelia come on down…

To this poor town.

We need you around,

enrich each time you astound.

Don’t care who wins this round…”

[Area Distortion Detected]

Her eyes opened, feeling the energy change in the air. The rest of the words of the improvised song were unnecessary, it was already complete. Raven looked down murderously at the tamed crowd and addressed the red names directly for the first time. Her words came out with a thunder and bass only possible through bard magic.

“You want to KILL ME?”

As the sea of milling people looked at her they began shifting uneasily. The momentum from the moments before were lost, and now in the dying light, seeing the singer stare down at them from atop the dragon statue there was a certain power they were finding harder to ignore. This didn't seem like a great place to be.

Worse.

The Imperials were all staring hungrily without blinking, their silhouettes breaking up in the fading of the light and fog. Their stillness seemed unnatural, inhuman, and merciless. It didn’t feel to anyone like they were the one’s on the ropes even if they were surrounded and outnumbered in any direction.

Raven started to point, and even before she did there were already Shadow Fall Imperials loping forward, breaking away from the defensive ranks to attack the crowd of red names wildly. The front line of red names didn’t even have the heart for it, most of them trying to get out of the way or simply waiting to be cut down, not bothering to defend themselves. The veterans had sensed a shift and seized upon it immediately.

“Then let’s have--”

[Area Distortion Detected. Distortion Critical. Shockwave Imminent]

Whatever words that were going to come out of Raven’s mouth were completely lost as the air above the Dragon Square split like it was being torn by invisible hands. The fighting that had started to spill out chaotically once again came to a standstill.

A look of triumph flashed across Raven’s face and she spread her arms wide with her head thrown back. Even if no one could hear, they absolutely understood the ‘see what I can do?’ body language. She stepped to the side and bowed slightly to the open air, looking expectant.

[Ominous Energy Detected. Protective Shield in Place Around Blutonsi]

[Racial Leaders Call State of Emergency - Human, Silf, Half, Dwarf, Demon, Lizardfo…]

A man fell through the rift, tumbling wildly from a hundred yards up, not looking like he was doing that great. Most people don't look great when they're on fire and smoldering, so that made sense. Spinning madly at the last second he managed to find the ground with his feet, crouching low as an explosion of earth spread out. He quickly looked up, golden eyes scanning the sky, prompting those watching to do the same.

Amelia fell much more gracefully without the tumbling. She wasn’t on fire or smoking or anything either, which probably helped. The man on the ground moved slightly to the left, and then caught her easily in a princess carry. The flames that covered him made the scene as he looked down with apparent relief.

Raven’s eyes widened and she began furiously taking screenshots. She sent them as fast as she could to Aidan. This was the best day ever!

This was the worst day ever, Mordred thought.

“That’s Vienne, right?” Mavis said in their best captain obvious voice.

“It would seem to resemble,” Mordred agreed. “I can’t imagine that there are a lot of Residents with Vienne above their head.”

“Empress Amelia is going to drop a god on us,” Mavis nodded slightly and looked at Mordred. “We could have been world-hopping you know. Or doing any number of things that don’t include getting crapped on by a god of the world.”

Mordred smiled and straightened. He was big enough to admit he was wrong.

“We’ll definitely still win,” he was big enough to admit he was wrong, but he didn’t feel like it right now.

Mavis just laughed.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing, and even Mordred stood there waiting to hear what the great and powerful Empress Amelia would say.

"You're going to get scolded," Mavis said with no restraint.

Vienne looked at Amelia and took a deep breath. “I have to start immediately.”

Vienne sat down crosslegged and closed his eyes. His avatar immediately began morphing. It swelled to an increased size before turning to a blinding gold. The image of a woman began to appear. Vienne was taking the form she was most familiar with, getting ready for what was coming.

Amelia nodded, thoroughly disoriented. She whirled around, still off balance. Things to do.

She held up her hand and the power came. Thought and magic without words. Murmurs began to spread as she cast Aura on the Imperials in and around the statue. Maybe some of them already had her level of Aura on them but now wasn’t the time to be unbuffed. Before they could react to the sudden profound spellwork, Amelia turned and held an open palm to the Rebel lines.

It was a testament to how crazy things were going that one woman held out a hand toward thousands of people and most of them in the front reflexively took a step back.

The Aura hit them as well, flowing out to every side.

Silence and confusion continued.

“What are we doing?” Raven whispered behind her.

Amelia nodded, looking around wildly. She felt that there was no more time. The countdown was over and they had barely made it out of the star corridor with their lives.

There was only one thing to do.

Amelia took a deep breath.

Thousands, tens of thousands, waited for her words.

Millions of viewers waited to hear what the Empress of Elysium would say.

Aidan slid into view just in time to see Amelia scream at all of them.

“PROTECT US.”

Jenner had accidentally dropped his empty water bottle onto the stage, making a huge racket in the ensuing silence. No one cared.