Jamie's eyes were wide as she watched Heather utterly decimate the many monsters surrounding her, her blazing red eyes alight with glee. A rusty sword struck her while she was distracted, and the attacking ogre paused as the sword failed to split the skin of her upper arm. Snapping back to attention, she swiveled in place and struck the monster across the chest with her staff.

The ogre exploded violently, its guts splattering against its frightened companions. Blitzing through the pack, Jamie swung her staff rapidly around her form, the ogres crying out each time they were sent flying. Still, she kept glancing back at Heather whenever she could, her worry growing as she watched Heather continue to fight.

When she’d returned the other night from her shower, she’d found Heather shivering violently in the corner, her knees pulled tightly against her chest. Jamie had tried to comfort her, but Heather made her get some sleep instead. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep, constantly listening to Heather’s subdued sobbing.

By the time morning came, Heather had mostly returned to normal. Or… well, Jamie had thought that at first. Then she’d noticed Heather’s eyes—they burned crimson.

Heather hid it well, but Jamie knew her tells. She was fighting against BERSERKER, struggling to hold back her unceasing rage as her eyes continued blazing. They never once switched back to their normal electric blue, even after multiple days passed.

It was the little things, really. The way Heather flinched when someone got too close, the involuntary glares she’d shoot at people across the room. The random twitches, her gaze constantly flitting about. The dark bags that were forming under her eyes.

Jamie wasn’t an idiot, and even though Heather hadn’t said anything yet, something had changed. BERSERKER had never lasted this long before. And Heather didn’t seem able to turn it off, for once.

They’d talked about it, but Heather had been surprisingly tight-lipped. She said something about waiting until Paul logged back in and brushed the rest of Jamie’s concerns aside. She’d been forced to accept Heather’s wishes, continuing to stew on her concerns. It didn’t help that Paul was managing a project for his work and hadn’t been able to log in for a few days.

In the middle of this, that miserable announcer decided he needed more entertainment, so he created a group event that every team currently online needed to participate in. It was a 2-hour long mob rush, a free-for-all between parties as everyone fought in a bid to survive. The only major rule was that parties were only allowed to target monsters during their attacks, not each other.

Groaning, she dove left as a large stone club cracked the ground beneath her feet, threatening to crush her in the process. Repositioning, she triggered WIND near her feet, bouncing off air as she directed herself towards the golem’s face. She saw what looked like confusion in its eyes as she blew its head off with a clean swing of her staff.

It was disappointing that she and Heather couldn't use the communication technique they'd developed for situations like this. Things were too chaotic, and having an extra voice whispering in their ears really wasn't a good idea in these conditions.

Landing gently, she felt the air shift behind her and triggered a new EARTH ability she’d recently discovered. With a sickening squelch, she sunk through the bottom of the arena, successfully evading the large frostbitten club swung by the ice giant. Holding her breath and keeping her eyes closed, she took some time to center herself, letting her body rest for a moment.

Shatter the core as you tread through the mud. The third part of the EARTH riddle; it had taken her far too long to understand what it meant. She’d only figured out how to activate it consistently over the past couple of days. Now, she just needed to solve the last section of the EARTH riddle before she could finish developing her EARTH magic.

She felt a tremor from her left, and she grabbed the scattered pieces of energy within her chest, the ones that represented her EARTH affinity. Spinning them around, almost as though she were calibrating them, she nodded to herself before crushing the shards back into her core.

Her body shot forward like a bullet, coming to an abrupt stop before launching upwards. With a loud crack, the ground split as she shot out directly in front of a large lizard, her staff cocked under her armpit. In the next instant, half of the lizard had vanished, and her staff was now pointed above her head.

Flipping through the air, she twisted to avoid a spear thrown from another lizard, and the monster chittered angrily as it missed its target. Grabbing ahold of WIND, Jamie focused, feeling the displacement of air from the passing weapon. Shifting the currents around the spear, she forced it to arc around like a boomerang, leading it right back to its wielder.

The monster dove to the ground and covered its head, its eyes wide as the spear grazed the scales on its hands. Before it could move further, Jamie fell on it from the sky feet-first, having bounced off the air again using WIND. The monster was crushed to a pulp.

Another spear lanced past her cheek, forcing Jamie to tilt her head to the side to avoid the blow. It managed to graze her, drawing blood in a long gash along the side of her face. A freakishly tall woman in some, frankly, skimpy armor grinned viciously as she retracted the spear, its tip dripping with monster guts.

“Dun’ ge’ in ma wa’, ya heer?” The woman’s eyes gleamed as she adjusted her spear to strike down a cyclops. “Dun’ wanna cause us sum… acciden’ or sumfin.”

Jamie sighed, leaping over the woman’s head as she slammed her staff into the side of a small flying griffon. Players were only supposed to attack the monsters, but if another player was standing between them and the monster… well, it wasn’t hard to guess what would happen. It was the only way that players could attack each other during this event without suffering any consequences, and teams were taking full advantage of it.

Already, almost a quarter of the teams that had originally entered the COLOSSEUM had been eliminated, and half of those were just from this event. Jamie and her friends had encountered a few close calls, but overall, this first week hadn’t been too bad. That was more due to luck than anything else, though.

Glancing to the side, Jamie eyed a man in silver armor that waded through a sea of carnage. His glowing white blade flashed as it sliced through another enemy, the energy sword humming loudly. The ice giant from earlier brought its club down on the man’s head, and he vanished. A moment later, the monster split apart into finely diced pieces, the man appearing again behind it.

There were others, too: a woman wielding a rifle, what looked to be a teenager with a large riot shield sparking with electricity, a man dressed like a barbarian that was pummeling everything with his fists. They made Jamie nervous, her instincts screaming at her to avoid them at all costs.

While she was distracted, something slammed into her arm, dislocating her shoulder. Jamie winced, almost dropping her staff. Another ice giant raised its sword above her, its massive mouth splitting into a wide grin as the sword came down.

Jamie snarled as everything went purple, feeling DARK DRUID take control. She felt a note of disgust from her connection with the demon, DARK DRUID making her displeasure known about having to bail Jamie out. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of EARTH swept the giant off its feet, submerging it instantly. The sword still managed to hit Jamie’s dislocated arm, though, and she screamed as DARK DRUID receded.

“You couldn’t have tried to dodge, could ya? Aaargh!” Jamie dropped her staff as she clutched the stump where her left arm once was. DARK DRUID growled at Jamie in her mind before seeming to sulk in the corner.

Gritting her teeth, blood running down her side, Jamie picked her staff back up. She didn’t have time for this, and she needed to get moving.

Her hand was slick with blood, but she could work with it. An arrow pierced her thigh, and she roared as she ripped it out, stumbling through the chaos around her. She saw another ogre and whipped her staff around, the ogre exploding the moment her staff made contact.

Some of the enemies here were easy enough, but others had high enough STR to cut right through her VIT. She needed to find a more open area, one that allowed her to move more freely. They still had half an hour left before the event was over.

The runes on her staff glowed a sickly green as she shambled her way around the arena, and she felt the rate of her regeneration increase. The corners of her lips pulled upward as it became easier for her to walk. Apparently, this staff was more useful than she’d anticipated.

“Thanks,” she whispered as she felt her left arm start reforming. She’d probably be back at full capacity in two minutes or so, a new record.

A shriek blasted from behind her, and Jamie flinched. The air itself almost felt charged, the whole arena shaking from the sound. Her ears were ringing as she craned her neck and torso around, her legs refusing to respond to her commands.

Ah. Yeah, she should’ve expected that. This is just the kinda thing to get a raid boss, isn’t it?

With a violent crash, a griffon a quarter the size of the arena slammed into the ground, cracking it beneath its talons. Its feathers were a rich golden brown, glistening in the light of the sweltering sun. Wings twice the length of its body unfolded, arcing above the creature in an impressive show of intimidation.

Jamie gulped, beginning to turn away from the monster. Nope! I’m outta here! Someone else can take care of that!

The griffon screamed again, sweeping one of its wings down as one of Holden’s party members stared up at it, frozen in shock. The kid was crushed instantly, his avatar fading into motes of blue light that floated towards the horizon, sending the kid to revive at his last saved location.

Fear lanced through her. She assumed that everyone else in the COLOSSEUM had revives. If they died, they’d come back another day to challenge the boss again. But for her, and by extension Heather, things weren’t so simple. She needed to survive for the next half an hour, no matter the cost.

MOVE! Why, why why why won’t… Her magic wouldn’t activate. Her legs wouldn’t move. The griffon was gazing at her with its large beady eyes, full of malice and hatred and greed. It reared back its head, screeching, before charging straight for her.

Oh. A numbness filled her virtual veins as the situation clicked in her head. I have a fear debuff.

She chuckled softly, staring in the face of the griffon as it brought its talons around, poised to pierce her chest. What a way to go out, though. Heh… sorry sis…

There was a slightly tangy scent of ozone before the world around Jamie dissolved into red. She felt her good arm dislocate, and she screamed as it was almost torn right off, her muscles straining to keep her body together. Her ears popped violently, and her eyes were forced closed by the wind.

Everything jolted to a stop almost as soon as it began, and Jamie immediately hurled the contents of her breakfast all over the arena floor. A warm hand rested on her upper back, and she smiled past the bile in her throat.

“What’s the count now, H? Who’s saved each other more?”

“I gave up on that a long time ago, Jay.” Heather was grinning, her red eyes softer than they’d ever been. Her magic still crackled across her form, the ground smoking from Heather’s reckless charge. There were black marks leading to their location that were in the shape of footprints, seared into the dirt.

With a quick, deft movement, Heather wrenched Jamie’s arm back in place. White hot pain raced through her shoulder, but Jamie powered through. She still let out a pained whimper, and Heather sighed.

“Sorry, Jay. Better than leaving it be, though.”

“Yeah… doesn’t mean I li–”

The arena shook again as the griffin roared in rage, almost sending Jamie to the ground. Heather wasn’t as lucky, immediately face-planting in the dirt.

“Urgh…” Laughing, Jamie spun around and let her body topple over, sending up a cloud of dust as her back collided with the hard ground. She patted her friend’s back as Heather turned to glare at her, spitting out some dirt.

Turning her head, Jamie watched in fascination as the griffon’s eyes landed on her prone form. It reared its head back as its talons gouged the ground, the beast frantically lunging towards her.

But it was too little too late, and the other players whooped and hollered as they converged on the griffon. Some needed the LEVEL increase, some wanted the LOOT the boss would drop, and still others were doing this for the fun of it. Maybe they just wanted an adrenaline rush.

Either way, it gave her and Heather some breathing room, which she desperately needed. She could feel her arm slowly regenerating as she clutched her glowing staff close to her chest, her body trying to repair itself back into working order.

Heather was no better, rolling over with a groan as her legs poured blood from the holes in her leggings. Jamie winced when she caught a glimpse of the mangled flesh beneath Heather’s leggings, flesh that was already almost healed. She must’ve pushed herself hard to reach Jamie in time.

“That’s not even fair…”

“Heh, too bad,” Heather quipped. “I need something ta hold over ya, what with your stupid VIT and all. Besides–”

She cut herself off, and Jamie glanced over curiously. The sounds of the ensuing battle kept Jamie’s body tense, her senses on high alert.

That was how she noticed it. The way that Heather’s eyes were slightly wider than usual, the crimson orbs darting around frantically. Her friend’s hands were clutching the handles of her knives so hard that they had turned white.

“Heather…?” Her friend didn’t respond. Heather’s breathing accelerated, her body beginning to curl in on itself in what Jamie recognized as the beginnings of a panic attack. She placed her hand on Heather’s shoulder, which usually worked, but this time Heather flinched away from the touch.

Jamie’s brow furrowed as low mutterings began to reach her ears. Her friend’s mouth was moving frantically as she breathed, her eyes staring at something that Jamie couldn’t see.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up…” her friend muttered. Heather’s eyes darted around again before coming to rest on the giant griffon.

Her eyes narrowed, and Jamie flinched back at the smile that split her friend’s face. That… something wasn’t right.

“BiG BiRD,” Heather cooed. Her voice sounded layered, an agglomeration of multiple others underlaying her own. She reached out, almost as though to pet the griffin, before grabbing her own arm and wrenching it back.

“NO. nO biG Bird.” Jamie shivered as scenes of death and destruction flashed before her eyes, things that she’d previously attributed to DARK DRUID but now knew were the result of BERSERKER. Her friend stood shakily, swaying back and forth as she stumbled forward.

“No, no, H! What’re you doing? You need to–”

Cold metal rested against her chin, and Jamie froze as she felt one of Heather’s knives almost digging through her skin. She didn’t want to admit it, but right now, her friend was terrifying.

“BIG BIRD dIE.”

“Okay, okay! Got it… I got it… at least let me help…?” Heather’s eyes felt like they were boring into her soul, everything shifting to redredred blood on her hands blood in her mouth her hair her eyes–

Heather nodded and turned away, shambling forward again as Jamie let out a soft sigh, the trance broken. She didn’t know what was going on with her friend, but she’d help in any way that she could. Heather would do the same for her, so it was only fair.

Gripping her staff in her mostly regenerated hands, Jamie followed Heather as her friend dragged her feet towards the griffon. The beast was bleeding lightly from some gashes along its feathers, but it still seemed to be going strong. Most of the individuals that Jamie had been nervous about earlier were doing the most damage, the man with the white sword outpacing everyone else by a hefty margin.

“PLaN?” Jamie startled at the sudden query, turning to find Heather staring at her again. Heather’s face was slack, completely devoid of emotion, her voice seeming to have a staticky quality to it. It made Jamie’s skin crawl.

“Aren’t you usually the one who…”

“PPpppLLANNnN?”

“Fine! Yep! Cool, cool… I can do that! Yeah! So… uh…” Jamie trailed off, studying the griffon more thoroughly. Neither of them had a high enough damage output to cause the griffon any serious issues. It would just get angry at them. So maybe they could–

The beast turned towards them, noticing Jamie in the process. Its beady eyes burned with glee as it roared, sweeping its wings down as it lifted above the ground. There was some cheering from the crowd, and the announcer was screaming something like usual, but Jamie had more important things to focus on.

“Alright! Hit and run, H, hit and run! Go go go I don’t wanna die–” The ground cratered behind her as Jamie dove away, the griffon landing where she’d just been standing. It swiveled in place, swinging one of its wings towards her as it tried to turn her into a red splatter.

“STOP TARGETING ME!” She felt for EARTH and shattered the energy within her core, her body immediately sinking into the ground. For a moment, she thought that she might’ve solved her griffon problem, but then she felt the ground crack above her as the griffon started digging.

Hurry up! She spun her energy around randomly, not bothering to calibrate her position, force vector, or anything else relating to her underground movements. She just needed to get out of here as fast as possible.

Condensing her energy back into her core, she shot away just as a pair of talons raked down her lower back, making her release a startled shriek. Jamie burst out of the ground almost instantly, shooting up towards the sky. She bounced off air using WIND as the griffon’s beak chased her form, the monster trying to swallow her whole.

As the beak grew close enough to snap at some loose strands of her hair, Jamie caught a metallic scent drifting towards her on the wind. She smiled.

A red lightning bolt streaked by, and the monster squawked as its head was blasted to the side, its body tilting from the impact. It flapped its wings to adjust itself, staying on its feet as Heather blurred away from the center of the lightning bolt, her skin charred to a crisp. Her back skipped off the ground as she bounced back into an upright position.

The griffon turned its attention towards her, its eyes blazing with fury. Heather just smiled at it.

“YOU DON’T BELONG HERE.” The force of the words made Jamie stumble as she landed, one that was mirrored by the griffon. There was a weight to Heather’s voice that shouldn’t have existed, almost as though the world was speaking through her. The sounds of tortured screams filled the air. Heather’s eyes had turned a rich black.

The griffon recovered quickly, rearing back as it struck out with its talons. It screamed, though, as the man with the white energy sword cleaved its wings off. Heather’s form blurred away as the griffon tried to impale her, managing to dash away in time. She reappeared at Jamie’s side.

Heather suddenly slumped against Jamie, letting out a pained groan. One of her hands grasped her forehead, massaging it as the black bled away from her eyes. She started crying, her tears stained black as her eyes began flickering back to their usual red (but not blue anymore, Jamie noted).

Heather's gaze darted around frantically, seeing nothing and everything at the same time. Jamie had to use WIND to carry her away as the griffon barreled past, somehow managing to get them both to safety as the other players once again converged on the boss.

“H? Whatcha seeing?”

Heather’s eyes cleared somewhat, and she turned her vacant gaze towards Jamie.

“It’s too much, I can’t, I- I need to…”

She choked back sobs, pressing her face against Jamie’s chest while Jamie rubbed small circles in her back. There was a flash of white light that drew Jamie’s attention, and her heart lightened as she saw Paul materialize in front of them.

“Hey guys! How’re ya- what the flip is that.”

“Not the time, Paul,” she shot back, and he gulped, nodding. His gaze was still mostly focused on the massive griffon that was being forced into a stun lock by a couple of daring players. “Just keep us safe for a few minutes until this whole thing is over.”

“You got it.” He activated his energy shield and drew his hammer, standing guard in front of them. The griffon broke out of its stun lock for a moment, turning towards them again before another player tried to bash its head in, forcing it to refocus.

Jamie sighed, one hand stroking Heather’s hair while her friend clutched at her shirt. Really, she thought they’d be through with crying by now. They’d shed more than enough tears to last a lifetime over the past couple of years.

The rest of the fight passed quickly, the lady with the rifle managing to take out one of the griffon’s eyes while the teen with the riot shield made an indent in its head. At the last second, the boss managed to break free from the coordinated efforts of the other players and made one final, desperate attempt on Jamie’s life (why did it keep coming for her whywhywhy). Paul’s energy shield barely held it back, almost shattering before spear lady stabbed the griffon through the heart.

With a shudder, the griffon let out one last mournful squawk before slumping to the ground, finally defeated. A small slip of paper floated out of its beak before it began to dissolve into resources and LOOT, the paper floating on the wind until it landed at Jamie's feet.

Jamie stopped comforting Heather for a moment, unfolding the paper that shouldn’t have been able to pass through Paul’s energy shield. The message was short, just a few words long, but they only made Jamie more confused.

WHITE SENDS HER REGARDS.

…With a shrug, she stuffed the paper in one of her skirt pockets, feeling Heather shift against her chest. Her tears seemed to be slowing, which was good.

By the time their party had recovered completely, most of the other players had left the arena. Jamie and Paul helped Heather to her feet, the three of them quietly making their way to their alcove. Nobody followed them.

While they walked, Jamie gave Paul a quick rundown of everything that had happened over the past few days. By the time they were done, they were settled within the alcove and Paul was preparing them something from their rations.

Heather had been strangely subdued while they talked, keeping a firm grip on Jamie’s hand. That, along with how Heather kept startling at random times when nothing was happening, continued to tell Jamie that something was seriously off with her friend.

“Hey, H?” Heather turned her face towards Jamie, her cheeks stained with dried tears. Her red eyes were dull and empty.

“Yah?”

“What’s going on?” Heather shrunk away from Jamie, which was… worrying. Her friend didn’t normally act like this.

Heather’s gaze flicked over towards Paul for a moment, and then she sighed, her shoulders slumping.

“Ah… guess I did promise to say something once Paul was here, didn’t I?” Her chuckle sounded lifeless. “Figures…”

“…H?”

Heather sighed again. “Yeah, I’ll tell ya. I shouldn’t keep quiet about this.”

Paul and Jamie shared a glance, and Jamie could see the worry eating away at him. She was suddenly reminded that Paul didn’t know about the talk she and Heather had a few nights ago. The one about the Floor 10 boss. Maybe that has something to do with-

“Well… I guess I’ll be blunt. The system or whatever is making me hear the dead and forced a permanent insanity debuff on me, so... yay? Life kinda sucks right now.”

Jamie’s brain froze.

“Uh, what?”