I was returned to my cabin on the ship after a flash of light. My request had been granted. It was a very large reward that I had received. I sat in silence on my beg with my book opened to my skills page. There it was, waiting to be purchased with nearly all of my remaining points. It wasn’t hesitation that stilled my hand. Disbelief gave me pause. The afterlife was about to become more fully a game to me, something I could understand and view with familiarity.

“Yes!” I shouted in triumph and purchased the skill.

I jumped from the bed and dashed to the mirror. Nothing looked different. No health bar floating in my vision, no numbers above my head. All I saw was my ram horned self. It occurred to me that I didn’t ask how to level up the skill, how to activate it, or what it would look like.

Shit.

This was a disappointment to say the least. I did not have time to deal with it now, however, I needed to get with my team. We had to wrap up the chapter of Liam’s terror in our afterlife.

I flipped open my guide book and turned to our party page. I wrote: It is done. Let’s meet in the inn.

I waited for a few moments, but there was no response. Clint and Jun must be busy doing what they were supposed to do, no surprises there. A groan escaped me as I stood and left my room. Every muscle I had ached, possibly from the sudden transportation and the stress. I was about to just walk back to town and hope it would work out the pain when I remembered that I could mumble a spell and make it disappear.

Green. I saw green as I healed myself. Before, healing just happened and the only indicator would be wounds closing or someone saying they felt better. I actually saw the spell. At this first level, I could at least see my own spells.

Jun’s spell previously was hard to see. Generally, I could see a disturbance in the air and the results of that bullet of wind hitting the target. I wondered if I could see as clearly as one would see in anime lines of wind and colors of magic. This was so exciting.

My hooves nearly dug into the wood as I raced off towards the inn. I had to see Jun’s magic in the works. Observing magic would probably increase my skill as well. If I had to, I would spam my own magic and watch it work just to get my skill up. I was not above grinding in the silliest of ways, especially for this.

When I started down the steps toward the center of town, I noticed on the far edge of the marbled island, near the docks, a tower of grey stone stood. This must be the new jail or guard tower. It would be a good placement once people began to buy their own ships. It looked like a building that had weathered many sea storms and tilted slightly. While the Nothing didn’t have everything well planned, it did have an artistic eye.

The inn had very few people in it, which was lovely to see. The town was free to explore the floors as intended, well most of the town. I found Jun sitting in a chair next to the stairs, her arms were crossed and her face held the deepest scowl I had ever seen on her face.

“Hard to sneak up on people when you are practically guarding the stairs.” I joked as I joined her.

“Bastard already figured me out. If he isn’t letting someone leave, I am not letting him leave either.” She grumbled. “How did your request go?”

“So much better than I thought it would. We have rules, a guard, a jail, and the Nothing will handle those who prevent others from pursuing the floors. You don’t have to guard this guy anymore. We need to report them.” I explained.

“We don’t know their names, though. How can we report them?” Jun asked as she stood and stretched. “We know Liam’s name, but none of the others. How will they be rounded up if we can’t file a proper report?”

“Well, the Nothing is a god of sorts. I figure it knows who is dealing with whom. I hope. It wouldn’t be a fair reporting system if you had to get names of people. People doing wrong would just never let their name be known and get away with everything.” I reasoned. Mostly, I hoped that was how it worked. The Nothing did mess up big time before, but surely this problem was fixed.

Jun shrugged and looked back up the stairs. “If you think so. Let’s go turn the creeps in and save the girl.”

“So you found out that it is a girl being held captive?” I questioned.

“No, I never was able to get up the stairs after them. I even chased him once but ended up on an empty floor since I don’t have a room here anymore. There were no doors on the hall.” Jun gave me the run down of her surveillance. There were two different men that she remembered from the pit sticking around the inn and going up and down the stairs often. Something seemed to have tipped them off that they were being watched. They stuck to the stairs and made note of who was in the inn when they came down. Jun had kept unnoticed until she tried to sneak up. She believed the recognized her then and that was the end of the two coming down stairs.

“I wonder if we can report that we think someone is being held against their will.” I chewed on my thumbnail in thought as I spoke through my thoughts. “I mean, in life we could report that to police and they would do an investigation if it seemed plausible, right? The Nothing seems to create things off of our experiences while alive.”

“Probably. It would be the right way to do it so people don’t, like, become private investigators and making things worse. I would set it up that way.” She said. “Though, if I was an all knowing god, I would just grab them once they did the deed rather than wait for it to be reported.”

“No kidding. This was the best I could do. This is how it decided to design the system.” I complained, ushering her to the door. “The only way we’ll know for certain is to go try to make the report.”

As we walked up the long staircase towards the new tower, I couldn’t help but wonder how this town will look once it is filled out with shops, guildhalls, different inns and taverns. There was such a long way to go both in terms of building the town and reaching the bottom of the dungeon. It seemed like it would take longer than one lifetime to reach. How long would I be in New Beginnings? Would this place shape who I am more than my life did?

I hoped so.

The tower was larger than it appeared from the merchant ship. There was an expansive two story building built from old wood beams and white plaster, very tudor-esque. The thatch roof rustled now and then in the light breeze that blew off the water. The windows held no glass and were made from cross sectioned wood. On either side of the windows were thick shutters held on by thick, black metal braces. The door was heavy, made of some solid wood and held together by more of the thick black metal.

I had to press my shoulder and shove with all my might to get it to open. Inside, there was a long desk that separated the room. On one side, the side we could access from the door we opened, there were a few rows of benches, a fireplace, and small table that held some papers. On the other side of the desk, there were seven faceless NPCs that I took to be town guardsmen. They were all the same height, build, and were dressed the same. Each had on black leather pants, a white tunic, and a silver breastplate that was fastened with tawny leather straps.

The breastplates had a golden emblem that I guessed was supposed to look like the town with the black spire coming out the center. It looked like a penis. The guards had penis armor.Jun and I stared in a mixture of shock, horror, and amusement. She smacked my arm repeatedly.

“I see it, I see it.” I whispered harshly to her. I was afraid to speak louder than that as I could hardly keep in a laugh as it was.

“You’ve got to be kidding. Holy shit. I just…” Jun lost it and laughter filled the building. “It’s perfect. I love it.”

Can we help you, m’lady. One of the NPCs stepped up to the long desk.

“It said ‘m’lady!’” Jun gasped out between bursts of laughter.

I, however, regained control over myself. I will admit that my eyes did water from holding back my own chuckles. My feet clopped on the cobblestoned floor as I stepped up to the desk. Standing before an authority figure completely changed my mood. I felt my chest tighten, my knees weaken, and the small part of my brain that likes to be very loud about my flaws spoke up.

“I would like to report two incidents of rule breaking. Do I need names? I do not have the names of all those involved, but I can provide some information.” I spoke clearly, though anxiety was threatening to close my throat. My hands started to twist my fingers in my dress.

You will need to fill out paperwork with your memory of the incidents. He motioned over to the table with papers on it, explaining the process. Hold the paper in both hands and remember what happened. It will be recorded for the guard and we will take action after review.

Jun stepped over to the table and passed me a piece of paper. It was actual paper, not like the parchment the scroll had been made out of. I ran my fingers over it, admiring the texture. Paper was something I had been obsessed with in my life. There were many kinds of paper, but I loved paper that was not too smooth, not too rough. The kind that ink would stick to perfectly without smudging or bleeding and changing shape was so hard to find. This was that kind of paper.

I held the sheet in both hands and closed my eyes. First, I had to report what happened to me. I knew who it was from direct experience. I knew what happened, I was there. After I thought about the events of the pit, I opened my eyes. On the page, a form had appeared. It had names, dates, times, and a detailed description of the offence. The rule broken was listed as “soul kidnapping.”

The NPC took the page as I offered it to him. The eyeless face moved as if it were reading what was on the page. Silently, it motioned at two of the other NPCs. They walked to the wall in the far back that was made entirely from stone, the same stone as the tower. Hanging on the wall were a few racks of weapons. The NPCs armed themselves and then disappeared.

Jun had filled out the other sheet. She and I had similar information, only she had seen who was in the inn actively keeping the reported woman captive. I was going to suggest she do it and was glad that she had figured out the same. Jun handed over the page before I could have a chance at looking at it. I had wanted to see the names that popped up on the page for the victim and the ones currently holding her hostage, if they had appeared.

The NPC looked over the page again, but this time an iron door I was fairly certain wasn’t set in the wall a moment before opened and out trotted five guardsmen. They gathered weapons and disappeared. Jun and I exchanged nervous looks.

Thank you for your reports. We are investigating and will handle the issues according to the new town rules, was all the information the NPC would give us. Both Jun and I peppered him with questions, but all the faceless thing would do is repeat himself.

“Do you think they will be teleported back in or paraded through town?” Jun asked as we exited the building.

“I hope they get dragged back here kicking and screaming so we can have the satisfaction of seeing it.” I dreamed aloud. “It would be a bit much. The Nothing probably will just be efficient in this, but let's go to the inn and see if anything happens.”

Jun and I took off in a jog. This was the best part of the afterlife I had been given, moving around didn’t hurt and was so easy. I could jog and run all day. It was so much fun. By time we returned to the inn, Jun and I were laughing and speculating how much fun it would be to publicly shame the guilty with rotten fruit and similar. We were in a medieval-like game, after all.

There were two guards at the entrance to the inn. They were standing at attention and allowed the two of us to pass. The tavern of the inn was thrashed. Several pieces of chairs littered the floor. Broken plates and remnants of food were everywhere. There was a chicken wing hanging from one of the chandeliers. There were three players talking to a guard NPC by the fireplace. They seemed very animated. One was waving his hands around in a cutting motion and pointing to a table that had been broken in half.

“Damn. Like, how did this happen?” Jun marveled.

“I guess they aren’t going about it in an efficient way.” I mused as I stepped over a cracked tankard.

“You don’t say.” She replied sarcastically.

A man came tumbling down the stairs, heels over head. He landed hard at the bottom and groaned. Stomping behind him was one of the town guards. The poor soul looked up at it with a kind of horror that is usually reserved to the worst of nightmares. He did his best to stand. Arms and legs flailed uselessly as he just couldn’t find purchase before the faceless NPC reached him. It grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him as if he weighed nothing and carried him outside.

“That was one of them.” Jun whispered as we watched.

Next down the stairs was another guard. This one had his captive tied up and draped over his shoulder. It was a member of Liam’s party that I recognized from when he held me captive in the boss room. The man was gagged, but was doing his best to try to scream for help around the cloth in his mouth. When he saw me, his eyes grew dark and his tone changed. I couldn’t make out any words but it sounded like things went from “help help help” to a string of curse words or death threats. Whatever it was that he was saying, it was easy to tell it was not polite by the tone.

“Feisty. That was the other one.” My party mate informed me.

“I recognize him from the boss fight. I thought most of them weren’t so bad and only doing things because they were afraid of Liam.” I whispered back to her.

“Guess you aren’t the perfect judge of character.” She patted me on the back as she spoke. “I think you try to see the good in people a little too much.”

“I thought I assumed the worst.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“And, like, at the same time you think ‘oh, they aren’t so bad.’” She mimicked my slightly higher voice. “That’s why Clint and I have to watch out for you.”

“Gee, thanks.” I said sarcastically.

Last down the stairs was a girl. She had the most beautiful blue hair that sparkled even in the dim light of the inn. Her eyes were coral colored and scanned the room in worry. On the sides of her head, where ears should be, she had two large, spiky, webbed appendages with fish-like scales in gorgeous shades of teal. A blanket was wrapped around her and a guard followed close behind. I would have guessed her age to be just barely 13. She was young and clearly frightened. This had to be the one they were keeping hostage.

The girl turned to speak to the guard, shaking her head. The npc pointed towards us. Coral eyes met mine and looked me up and down, appraisingly. She spoke to the guard again and then walked to us, looking at the floor as she went.

“They said that you were the ones who reported I was kidnapped.” She spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”

“No prob.” Jun said with a smile. “All in a day’s work for Town Heroes.”

“That is the name of our party.” I explained. “Are you alright? Did they harm you?”

Her azure curls bounced as she shook her head. “Not really. I was just tied to a chair most of the time.”

“Why did they keep you in that room? It’s not like you would be a threat to them.” Jun said tactlessly. I elbowed her ribs roughly. “Oof, hey, it is true.”

“It was for my brother.” As she spoke, she held the blanket tightly around her. “They were supposed to be watching me so he could fight without worrying. But then they wouldn’t let me out and wouldn’t let him see me.”

Tears formed in her eyes. As they fell down her cheeks, her skin changed to scales wherever they touched. She dabbed at them with the blanket. Once her face was dry, the skin was back to skin.

“So your brother is part of Liam’s team? They are about to be in a world of trouble.” Jun sighed and motioned to me. “They kidnapped her, too. We rescued her before there was a town guard.”

Jun ushered the young girl to one of the tables that weren’t broken and recanted our party’s story. I went to the innkeep NPC and bought a meal for the girl and a tankard of milk. The nervousness seemed to be easing in her as she listened and ate. I watched her and was baffled by the situation. All us souls were selected to alpha test this new afterlife. Out of billions of people, a pair of siblings were brought in at the same time. What was the reasoning for that? Was it chance? If it was just pure luck, those were crazy odds.

“Nessa!” A familiar voice shouted as the inn door was thrown open. Allen stood in the door way, his lion’s tail flicking back and forth wildly.

“Allen!” Our freed captive shouted back and jumped from the chair she was in. The blanket was abandoned and she ran to Allen, wrapping around his chest in a hug. He embraced her and I turned away to give them a moment of privacy.

I was so startled when Clint placed his hand on my shoulder that I jumped and squeaked a little. He smiled down at me before sitting at our table. His hands fumbled with his bag and pulled out his tankard.

“I see yah did it. The guard came callin’ for Allen right when I found him on the second floor. He was bein’ chased by some elves.” Clint laughed softly and took a drink from his tankard. “I had to make a deal with the guard after hearing Allen’s story. I hope it is ok.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. What was the deal?” I asked as I passed him an apple.

“To keep Liam from being transferred to another dungeon, we gotta take him in as a party member and watch ‘im.” Clint mumbled behind his tankard, hiding behind those circus bears.

“Wait, what?!” Jun exclaimed. I don’t think she had been paying much attention to Clint until that moment. Her attention had been on trying to eavesdrop on a conversation between some other players and the guards. “You can’t be serious.”

Clint sheepishly shrugged and sipped on his magic ale. Jun looked from Clint to me and back again. Her face was starting to get red with anger.

“The guy who held Alice captive when his own sister was held captive? You want to trust him to be in our team? You promised we would babysit a guy who handed his little sister over to the likes of Liam?” She seethed with anger, hissing out her words.

Clint only nodded. I sighed and brushed some of my curls from my face. This was a tough situation. I did not trust Allen, but I didn’t want his sister to be separated from him again. It was a tough call and I could see why Clint would make it, if he had heard that he needed to stay for a kid sister.

“It sucks.” I finally said. “I don’t like it, but I would like it even less if that little girl was completely alone here. I think it was the right call.”

Jun scoffed and huffed. She rocked in her chair for a moment before standing abruptly. “I need to take a walk.”

“Meet you in the morning for adventuring?” I asked.

“Fine.” She agreed and stormed out of the inn.

It was late evening when we were settling into our home. I had added both Allen and Vanessa to the party. They moved into the two crew cabins. We had a full ship and I kind of liked it, though I didn’t like all of the company.

Clint approached me as I was rearranging some of the flowers on my herbalist station. He seemed really nervous and kept silent for several minutes as I worked.

“Is something wrong?” I finally said, drumming up the courage to ask him why he was standing there. Of course, my mind went directly to the worst reasons he might need to talk. He was leaving us. He was upset with the choices I made for the ship, though he had told me about fifty times that he was happy with them. He changed his mind about living on the same boat. All these crazy thoughts made my palms sweaty, but I pushed them down. They weren’t true, just fears.

“No. Well, yes.” He mumbled, shifting from side to side.

I ushered him to one of the two arm chairs that sat before a set of windows looking out across the docks and ocean. The feeling of sinking into the plush green fabric was blissful and eased some of my anxiety about what Clint was going to bring up. Clint didn’t sit, he stood beside the chair.

“Are yah angry with me?” He finally said, looking into my eyes.

“No. I think I would have made the same choice.” I said evenly, flattening out my dress in my lap. His nervousness made me uncomfortable. He was usually so collected, so calm.

He heaved a sigh of relief at my answer and finally sat down. I was amazed how he could move about in our boat with his large horns and frame. While he looked out the window, I watched him. It occurred to me then that Clint put the clam attitude up as a facade, hiding his worries and fears from the rest of us. I sometimes did the same, I couldn’t blame him for doing that. Not really.

“Allen might not be as bad as he seems. He was doing those things because they had his sister. He might be a great addition to the team.” I reasoned.

“It isn’t just that. Jun and I forced you to be the party leader and I’ve gone an’ mucked it up already, undermindin’ your authority.” He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he spoke, but couldn’t find the right location on a face he was still getting used to. “And I did it over a guy that did you so wrong that he should be locked away in jail. I feel s’ awful about it.”

“You did make me the party leader. I am not happy about it, but as party leader, I choose to run a party where my member’s choices are valid. It is ok. We’ll deal with Allen step by step as we have been dealing with everything else. We’ll also deal with your desire to save everyone along the way. It’s a bad habit.” I teased, knowing full well that I have the same flaw. “You saved a little girl’s big brother. Be proud of that.”

“Yer right.” He conceded.

“Jun will come along eventually. She doesn’t do well with surprises, I guess. I’m sure she will spin it as some heroic deed we did.” I laughed softly, looking out as the sun sank down and kissed the horizon.

“We are Town Heroes, after all.” He said, relaxing some and enjoying the view.

“That we are. And we have a lot of heroic deeds left to do.”