“It was supposed to be temporary.” Marissa refilled her clay mug and gestured to Isa’s.

“Yeah.” Isa drained her mug and held it out. How many times had she sat across from Marissa? How many times had they shared food, drink, and laughter?

She sipped the thin beer. “I’m really mad at you, you know. You could have told me, warned me. When I got back to Portland… How come you didn’t know about that, hmm? Why didn’t Ysel tell you? Or did She?”

“I already told you that I had no idea. And Ysel—” Marissa’s eyes shifted away from Isa. “Ysel is young. Older than us, of course. Way, way older. But for a goddess,” Marissa leaned forward and said softly, “She’s really young. Her – what do you call it – Her dominion is pretty small.” Marissa took a drink. “Out of all my friends in Portland, I would have told you, but honestly, would you have believed me?”

“Last year? No. But three months ago, sure, of course.”

“Exactly my point.”

“Exactly my point. You should have known I’d been here. You’re a druid for fuck’s sake.”

Marissa closed her eyes. “Do you need to see my notebook again? I’m a level 4 druid. Level 4! You can sneeze and get to level 4. That’s how little XP it takes.”

“So you’re a shitty druid. But that means you’re a good spy, right?”

With a cocked head Marissa said, “I don’t follow.”

“I call bullshit. Sure, maybe you could have tried a little harder with your XP, but that wasn’t— isn’t your job. Your job— Well, what does a spy like you do?”

“A spy like me. Ha. I’m not James Bond, OK?”

Isa had been taking a drink, but she slammed her mug down. “All the cultural references, the movies and books, what is that? How did you learn it all? You’re really very good.”

“Honestly?” Marissa smiled. “It was punishment. Going to Portland, it was punishment. ‘Give it to Marissa,’ they said. ‘A few weeks and she’ll be ready to focus on her spell mastery.’”

“A few weeks? I have known you for years.”

“Yeah well, time moves differently in Portland, right? How much time passed there when you were here?”

“Not years. Not even close. And don’t try to sidetrack me.”

“I’m not tr— Look, here’s the deal.” Marissa leaned forward. “I like it in Portland. A lot. It beats the hell out of living in a shithole like this, right? You have electricity, heating, plumbing. Really, all this magic and no one’s figured out plumbing?” Marissa spread her hands on the table. “So maybe I embellished a little in my reports. Maybe I told the elders that Portland bears watching.”

“Watching for what?” Isa shook her head. “You’ve talked a lot and said little.”

Marissa gave her a smile. “No slack, huh? Well, it’s related to your quest at the Shimmer. We know that someone, some group has been using the veil between this plane and your plane and weakening it with each passage. I knew that people fell through, but why would I think you were one? My first indication was when you said the wizard in our game should be called – of all things – Vernal Fedru.”

“I forgot about that.”

“I didn’t. Almost spit my beer across the table. No way was that a coincidence.”

“Is that why you wanted to meet with Alice? You thought she’d know. That I would have told her.”

“Alice called me,” said Marissa. “She suggested coffee at The Roast.”

“But she was 80 blocks from there, at the park. She was bundled away by some of Ysel’s people. And I’d been thinking I was lucky enough to have seen it, but…”

“We’ll have to ask her,” said Marissa.

Isa nodded, thinking of how deftly it seemed that Alice had answered some questions and dodged others. Which, now that she considered, was exactly what Marissa was doing this very moment.

“What’s your real name? Can’t be Marissa? Maybe it’s Nimlawli, like in the game.”

“Marissa Mills doesn’t sound very elven, huh? Nimlawli is the name of my favorite aunt. I guess I was feeling homesick when I created my ranger.” She paused, and then said, “I’m doing it, aren’t I? Telling you a little bit instead of the whole. Force of habit, I assure you.” She held out her hand. “My name is Audrin.”

Isa lightly slapped the outstretched hand. “You could just tell me and not have it be a big production. That’s what normal people do: they tell other people things about their lives. It’s called sharing; it’s how friendships are supposed to work.” She blew hair from her eyes. “So what do I call you?”

Marissa – Audrin – shrugged. “I answer to both.”

“It’s been a long couple of days, truly it has, so don’t be an ass. What do I call you?” She knew her tone sounded harsh, and Isa almost apologized, but then she thought of all the years she’d known – thought she’d known – Marissa.

“Call me Marissa. And let me show you that you are stuck with me, anger or no.” She pulled out her notebook and turned to the quest log. The top listing said: Assist Isa Chamberlin on her quest to heal the Shimmer. Her success is your success. Reward: 10,000 experience points and 10,000 gold.

“Fine. So you have a quest. I don’t see any negatives if you don’t help, though. So you report to Ysel every day? With your spy information, I mean. Every day or maybe just once a week? Does She make a portal for you?”

Marissa drained her mug. “I hurt you. I know that. But give me a chance, will you? I wasn’t spying on you or Ally or any of the group. It was my job to scope out what Fedru and friends were up to.”

“And did you? Figure it out?”

“Your plane has some vestiges of magic. At some point, maybe even within human history, people from my plane traveled to your plane. And maybe they used magic and it flourished, like a rare plant that takes root in unexpected soil. All I know is we found magic where there shouldn’t be magic. And we weren’t the only ones.”

“Fedru.”

“Yeah. Who knows how he stumbled on it. But in your world, Fedru is creating strong magic. Scrolls and potions, and maybe even spells.” She picked up her mug, looked inside and set it down. “It’s a mess.”