By the time the party broke up, Maya was happy but thoroughly exhausted. She’d enjoyed socializing with the other mages, but at a certain point it became wearying and she’d eventually retreated to sit by Rion. He was absorbed in his notebook and didn’t even seem to notice her presence, which suited her just fine.

It was something of a relief when Yinon dismissed the last few holdouts and turned down the music. Kitchen workers began clearing away the remaining food, and Yinon joined the two of them at the table. Rion still didn’t react.

“So, what did you think?” Yinon asked.

“About what?”

“My party! I made a promise, and I want to be sure you don’t think I skimped on fulfilling it.”

“Um. What?” Maya tried to remember Yinon promising anything, or ever mentioning a party, and came up blank.

“You mean this isn’t why you helped me?”

“No? I don’t know what you’re talking about, honestly.”

Yinon laughed, startling Rion who glared at him briefly before returning to his notebook.

“Well, then, I guess I didn’t need to go quite so all out, did I?” He thumped Maya’s shoulder with his fist, grinning. “I’ve been promising everyone that I’d throw them the party of the century if they helped me get Yinon back ever since I lost him. But, as you’ve seen, they’re a pretty passive bunch on the whole. Not that it stopped them all dropping everything to come celebrate.”

“Ah, right. Nope, I didn’t know anything about it. But thank you. It was fun.” She paused, then regarded Yinon contemplatively.

“How dedicated are you to playing on this world?” Maya asked.

Yinon laughed, clearly startled. “Quite a lot? I mean, you don’t get to tier five without some major dedication.”

“Out of everyone here, you were the one person who wasn’t willing to just stand by while Domitius dominated everything.”

“Well, yeah. I wasn’t going to let him keep Yinon locked down. If I’d known what he was doing, I’d have bailed long before he got that far. Stupid curiosity.”

Maya placed the Diviner’s Orb on the table between them. “Do you know what this is?” she asked.

“No. I’m guessing you’re not going to say it’s a table decoration?”

“Not decoration, no. This is a deity orb, enabling communication between the in-game deities and the players. This particular one is connected to the Oracle, a seeker of truth and protector of order. Due to … various complicating factors I’d rather not get into, I am unqualified to be her champion. But she currently has no one, unlike other deities who have one or more players dedicated to them, and thus her power to impact the world is severely limited.”

Yinon reached for the orb, but hesitated. “May I?”

“Go ahead.”

Yinon picked it up and turned it over in his hands. “It looks so cheap and shoddy. Are you sure it works?”

“Positive. I was able to transit to her Seer’s Glade myself, where we had a long discussion. In which we determined that I’m not qualified to act as champion, but I promised to search out someone who could.”

“How do you use it?”

“Ask it a question. I’m actually surprised it hasn’t latched onto one of yours already.”

Yinon considered only a moment before asking, “Am I a worthy champion? Do you want to choose me?”

Maya waited, curious to see what it would look like for him to vanish. But he remained firmly in place.

“Interesting,” he said instead. “It says I need to undertake a trial to prove myself. Is that a good sign, or a bad sign?”

“Probably good. It never offered me that option. Are you interested, or should I keep looking for someone else?”

“Oh, I’m interested. Are you kidding? This is the closest thing to an actual storyline I’ve ever heard of. A chance to do something that isn’t the same quests and dungeons repeated over and over? Anyone you offered this to would be all over it.”

Maya smiled, thinking of Venix. “Not everyone. But, good. I’m glad you’re getting along.”

“Can I try it?” Rion asked.

Maya had entirely forgotten he was present.

Yinon passed over the orb, and Rion held it gently in both hands. “Can you have two champions?” he whispered, so faintly Maya could barely make it out.

But no one could miss his smile. He passed the orb back to Yinon, grinning. “Looks like we’re going questing together.”

“But, you never leave the academy.”

Rion stood up and his notebook disappeared into his inventory. “Some things are worth searching for. Are you ready? Let’s go.”

“Right now?” Maya asked, a bit surprised.

“No point in waiting,” Rion said.

“Oh, right. I guess. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You got me Yinon back,” Yinon said. “And you set us on our quest. That is enough.”

“But if we think of anything more, we’ll let you know,” Rion added, then switched attention to Yinon. “I need to grab my combat gear from my room. Meet you out front in three minutes.”

“I’ll be there,” Yinon promised.

Maya couldn’t help the whisper of anxiety that she felt. What if she’d chosen wrong? What if the trial was too hard and they gave up, and forgot about the quest entirely, and no one ever found the orb again?

No, no. Not her job to babysit the Oracle’s new champions. Would-be champions at this point, but at least they seemed eager.

Maya took a long slow deep breath and tried to convince herself to let it go. Not her responsibility any longer. She had done what she’d been trying to do for so long, passed it along. But she still regretted, just a little, that it couldn’t have been her. Maybe she could have contrived to have it passed to Mayon, and use him as the Oracle’s champion.

No. Stop. Time to move on. Let events play out. She didn’t have to try to control everything.

So what was next? Rescue the prisoners, help the Oracle, escape Domitius - well, that one was reliant on step 2, which she’d assumed would be quicker. But apparently it wasn’t as easy as just handing the orb over and problem solved.

If only she’d started sooner! But, no. The more she thought about it, the less likely she would have made even close to the same decision. She probably would have given it to the first person who seemed nice, even if they turned out to be unreliable in the end. Like Desi.

Desi’s refusal to help her still stung, however much she tried not to feel bitter about it. It made her feel weird and uncomfortable to realize Desi had so quickly dropped from one the people Maya trusted most, to someone who evoked such a conflicting storm of emotion that she didn’t even want to think about her existing.

If carrying out her rescue plan was enough for everyone else, why wasn’t it enough for Desi? If even James had come down and acknowledged her, albeit obliquely, why couldn’t Desi do the same?

And where did Trixy stand in all this? She was the first player Maya had met, and that made her special. But would she side with Maya? Or would she agree with Desi and shut her out?

That question, at least, could only be answered once Trixy came online again.

Maya sighed and stared out at the dining room, cleared of the party detritus and returned to its normal state, empty but for herself.

No use in sitting around brooding. She had made enough progress for one day. She was going to bed.

She’d forgotten that her permissions had been revoked until after she reached her door, but it opened at her touch.

It made her feel a bit more kindly toward James, that he’d gone to the trouble of learning which room was hers so he could restore access properly, rather than just assigning her a new one. Not everyone would think of something like that.

She smiled as she stepped inside. Everything from the curtains and bed hangings to the wallpaper and carvings on the wardrobe felt so comfortable and familiar. She knew she’d made the right choice.

She could worry about the future in the morning. Or afternoon. For now, she lay down and let herself fully relax for the first time in too long.

Even the quiet nagging concern about Domitius’s soulbinding was quieter. She wished she could rush Yinon and Rion on their quest, hurry the Oracle into power so she could be utterly free of the background worry, but she had done as much as she possibly could for the moment.

It was out of her hands. And honestly that didn’t bother her at all.

It was about time she didn’t have to feel like the center of everything.