{-Llewel-}

He didn’t know why he left, really. It was a great offer; it would give them everything that they needed. But it wasn’t where they were supposed to stay, even if he didn’t know the right place yet.

After he’d left Fininri’s shop, he’d gone back to their home. It didn’t take long for Myr to come back too, and he gave her the same kind of reasoning that he’d given himself. She only tried to change his mind a little before they just decided to split the loaf Fininri gave them and eat.

Llewel was considering their next course of action afterward. By now there’d be too many players trying to get to the quest board, so even if there was something they could do they couldn’t see what it was. In a minute, though, he didn’t have to think about it.

The regrettably familiar voices made both of them jump up, but for different reasons.

“Can’t we try looking in an area that actually looks like someone might live here?”

“It was your idea to try to find them!”

“You’re the one who’s so insistent on getting it in the first place. There’s plenty of places in Nafrius that we haven’t checked yet.”

“Yeah, and this city is huge, we’re never going to be able to find him if [Quest Finder] doesn’t even show us exactly where he is.”

“Part of the quest is finding him, Zetai! There’s no challenge if it tells us exactly where he is.”

“Well, maybe, another part of the quest is finding these guys. I mean, why else would they know so many other people? They’ve got to be useful for something.”

“Okay, but can you at least remind me why we’re checking an abandoned alleyway?”

“I saw one of them come out of here earlier and the other come in. They have to do something here.”

“Or it’s just another empty alley that they use to get around. They’re thieves, aren’t they? They’re probably with the rest of them, which is definitely not here.”

They were getting closer. Llewel sighed. “I’ll try to get them to leave.”

“I’m coming too,” she decided.

He knew there was no fighting it. He still took the lead in approaching the players, however. “What do you want?”

“So long story short, we found this charm thing and we don’t know who it belongs to,” Zetai answered simply. “Also I want the thing that we get for returning it. Reynneak thought it would be a good idea to try to find you since a lot of people seemed to know and like you earlier.”

Reynneak took the initiative of actually trying to make them willing to help. “I know we don’t have that good of a first impression of each other but, trust me, once she gets set on something, she’s not letting it go. Do you think you can help a couple of players out?”

“On one condition,” Myr decided. All too late did Llewel realize why she came. “You’ve got to let us come with you when you eventually leave Nafrius.”

“Are we even allowed to do that..?” Reynneak mumbled. “I mean, you’re probably here for a reason. Why haven’t you been able to leave sooner, if you’re capable of it and willing to?”

“This guy doesn’t think we’re going to be able to make it on our own,” she said, nudging Llewel. “But if we’re with players, then it might be better for everyone. You’ll help us do what we’ve always wanted to do, and we’ll—well, Llewel—will keep you from doing the same thing you did when we first fought.”

“Are you going to keep bringing it up if I say yes?” Zetai asked cautiously. “I’d really rather not be reminded of that epic failure.”

“I won’t if you won’t,” Myr responded cheerily. “What do you think?”

“I think we’re going to end up breaking something,” Reynneak remarked. “I don’t know about any of the rest of you, but I’m not ready to ruin the entire game because we messed with some of the NPCs.”

“You don’t have to worry about that part,” Llewel assured him slowly, after a moment of thought. He hated to admit that, with the idea up in the air, this was what felt right—joining players on their quests around the world. “We’re not like everyone else here. We’d have long known by now if we were bound here by code. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think anything is binding us anywhere…”

Zetai smirked. “Well, I don’t see the harm in it. If you say it’s alright then I’ll trust you. If it ends up being trouble then we can just bring you back to Nafrius and pretend like none of this ever happened.”

By now, Myr must have known better than to get her hopes up too much. That didn’t mean the feeling was clear in her expression when she looked at her brother, though.

“If everyone else is fine with it, then so am I,” Llewel announced, surprisingly not as begrudging as he would’ve thought. “It feels like a better offer than Fininri’s, at least. I think it’s closer to who we’re supposed to be.”

She hugged him. “You’re the best big brother a girl could ask for!”

“What’s our party name?” Zetai asked. “We’ve got to have something to call ourselves if we’re going to be working together.”

“I would say we should actually get to know each other before setting anything in stone,” Reynneak pointed out. “Let’s do a couple of quests and see what we can do. We’ve got to make sure that this can work out instead of forcing ourselves into it.”

Llewel couldn’t help but have a small smile. “I don’t want to admit it, but I like the way you think.”

“One of us had to be the responsible one growing up, and Zetai definitely wasn’t changing,” Reynneak responded with a chuckle. He didn’t react at all to the punch she gave him. “But before we get too far, the quest we came for you for. Do you know who this belongs to?” He pulled a charm out of his Inventory and let the menu for it appear.

[Talmi-Amitael Pact (Trinket)

This looks important and seems to have belonged to a mercenary. Perhaps its owner is close to where you found it?]

“The description is a lie,” Zetai mumbled. “We talked to everyone in the area and most of them hadn’t even seen it before.”

“Do you know who the owner is?” Reynneak repeated.

Llewel nodded. “Kiah. I don’t know if she’s in Nafrius; she travels a lot nowadays, popping up wherever a couple of players could use an extra pair of hands.”

“We have to wait until she comes back?” Zetai moaned. “How long is that going to take?”

“I don’t think I’ve seen her in a couple of weeks,” Myr remarked casually. “But I think all the other players have just been giving the charms they find to a friend of hers. He’s not far from where the charm’s usually found either, but he’s inside so I don’t blame you for not noticing him.”

“You mean we can go inside buildings that aren’t the inn or shop..?” There was a mischievous grin that flashed across Zetai’s face before Reynneak nudged her. “What? I just want to try exploring!” She paused. “And maybe see what everyone else has and if they’ve got some powerful thing I’m technically not allowed to have for a couple more areas.”

“You know the company actually has records of coming into co-op and fixing things themselves, right?” Reynneak sighed. “You’re just going to get yourself in trouble if you keep trying to get things you’re obviously not supposed to touch.”

Mostly just to disrupt them, Llewel started walking and called, “We’ll show you where Kiah’s friend is.”

He’d hoped for some peace and quiet while they walked, but they quickly showed that it wasn’t going to be possible. Or, at least, with Myr and Zetai together it was going to be impossible; Reynneak didn’t seem to immediately join in their conversations unless they explicitly included him in them. Llewel resolved to say nothing until this quest was over—well, try as hard as he could to keep himself from getting involved in their conversations.

“You two grew up together?” Myr asked almost immediately. She didn’t like the silence just as much as he’d wished for it, it seems.

“From kindergarten to high school,” Zetai replied. “Then this nerd scored well enough to get into the college close to our hometown. The worst part is that he didn’t tell me he was back until my first day on campus.”

“How was I supposed to know you were still there?” Reynneak defended. “Last time we talked, it was all about the places your brother told you about. I figured you would’ve moved out as soon as you were out of high school… or at least go to college in a different state.”

“My boyfriend makes staying there worth it.” She shrugged. “Now a question for you. How long have you been trying to get out of Nafrius?”

“Pretty much as long as I can remember,” Myr said. “Unlike everyone else, we don’t remember our pasts. We just had each other, without really knowing who else we were supposed to be or what we were supposed to do. Leaving Nafrius and seeing the rest of Masylm is what always felt right, like how Fininri would describe what he felt like whenever he helped a player at his shop. We’ve just never been able to manage actually leaving. I’m excited to know that it’s finally happening!”