Private - For The Good Of The Gang

Madison sat on the front porch of her little shack on the shore, the evening breeze lightly tossing her messy black hair. Her gaze drifted towards the horizon, where she watched the sun set in the cloudless sky. The UI softly glowed cerulean in the palm of her right hand as it dangled in her lap.

Godsdamn, she hated doing this.

Why the hell was she the one apologizing to the Death Knight in the first place? Ezra was the one who tried to strike first! Madison was merely defending herself! She went out of her way to get the yield, not the kill! But it was the other woman who decided to sic her pet raptor on the witch!

Ezra should be the one apologizing.

And yet, here was Madison, plinking away at the keyboard in her palm menu, constructing a facsimile of an apology letter and extending the olive branch.

Even though I did abso-fuckin'-lutely nothing wrong here.

It was for Lucia's sake, she surmised. Madison was still the baby of the group, having been the latest addition to Lucia's little kingdom and its protectors. Deep down, she knew that the only way they'd all get along is if she were the one who groveled for forgiveness. Even if something like that was beneath her--and especially if this whole mess wasn't her fault in the first place.

Madison sighed deeply and read the message over for the tenth time.

Madison Freebird

Hey.

I know during our first encounter, we got off on the wrong foot. I get why you attacked me. I'll admit I'm not the best at communicating, either. So, yeah. That sucked.

But after we all got into that battle against the Dissonance-infected beasts, I feel like... I dunno. Like we might have a chance to patch things up a bit? Y'know, get to know each other a bit better, try and put all our differences aside and whatnot.

I think you know where I'm going with this.

I'd just... if I'm working for Lucia, if I'm going to be of any worth to her, I don't want there to be bad blood between me and the rest of you. I've kinda' worked things through with Luna; and I'd like at least be on friendly terms with you too, @Ezra.

We should talk sometime. I have a place in Dunnstads. You can catch a ferry from Stokbon to a little port town called Bryrwich, which is a few miles south of my little cottage. We could do a bonfire on the beach, drink some wine or whatever, trade stories--it'll be great!

Or I can fly over to your place. Whichever. I assume you live in Lucia's domain?

I hope to hear back from you soon.

Madison had "Awkwardly yours," written as a way to close out the message, but she quickly deleted it. What she wrote will have to do for now, she supposed. The witch didn't really like her chances of Ezra actually responding to the message. During their battle together in The Fade, Ezra never really responded to any effort Maddy made to break the ice and lighten the mood. But, getting your eyes clawed out by corrupted eldritch harpies has its way of distracting you.

Giving the PM one final proofread, Madison held her breath and hit the glowing little Send button.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered to herself before she turned her attention back to the evening sky and the half-empty glass of whiskey between her ankles.

 

Ezra lifted a hand and rubbed at the back of her neck, her silver eyes glancing up to the little fire she had built to roast her and Dispater’s dinner. Madison’s message still blinked in her palm and she nibbled on her bottom lip, trying to decide if the Waste Witch even deserved a reply. She felt petty and even a little vindictive, which was unlike her, but the sting of sublimation still twisted through her stomach like a knife through butter.

A quiet click from her raptor had the woman glancing up again. Longer now, heavier as well, Ezra was comfortable in the thought that Dispater was probably an adolescent dinosaur instead of a baby. Not that he had technically been a baby when the duo had met Madison and her plant summon thing, but the Death Knight felt much more capable in his abilities. Plus, she had been doing some research. There was a certain…thing she wanted to attempt to give her Raptor that might give him a leg up on the competition.

Yeah, yeah, but it’s better for you if I cook it first.

The velociraptor rolled his yellow eyes, his massive talons digging into the dead ground beneath them. Ezra snorted in reply before giving a shrug and waving her free hand in the air, indicating the dead buck not three feet from her. Another trill, this one high pitched with two notes, sounded from her “son” before he bound over to the carcass, placed one foot on the beast, and began to tear large strips of flesh from it, swallowing them whole.

Ezra would just consume whatever as left over. She’d rather he had his fill, anyway.

Ezra

Here’s the coordinates to my place. Yes, it’s in Lucia’s domain.

She sighed, hesitated a moment, and then clicked send. Lucia would be proud, she thought with a small shake of her head. Everything was for the glory of the Dark Lady, after all…​

 

Madison didn't bother replying to the message. Instead, she put the coordinates into her automap, stuffed a couple changes of clothes in her inventory, grabbed another few special items, finished her whiskey, locked the door as if there were any other people around for miles who might break into the weird little shack crafted from brambles and driftwood by the shore, and slipped into something more comfortable for the long trip to Lucia's domain.

With the wind at her back, Madison closed her eyes and took to the skies as a falcon. Not her first choice for Druid Form; but a bear isn't going to hoof it that kind of distance at the speed she needed to travel to make it to Ezra's in a timely fashion. Also, birds are less likely to be shooed, speared, stabbed, slashed, shot at, shocked, or sundered than bears if they're spotted in populated areas.

The trip took a couple days, but she made good time. A quick stop in the forests outside Stokbon, some food, and a nap gave her the strength to finish the flight. Madison landed about half a mile away from Ezra's coordinates and slid out of her feathery disguise. Quickly double-checking that she had everything with her--including her deck of corrupted playing cards should things go south in a hurry--the woman made the rest of the journey on foot.

Ezra's tent popped into view pretty quickly as Madison covered the ground. Her steps slowed the closer she drew to it. A wave of uneasiness began to wash over her.

I could leave, right now.

Just log out, and never come back.

Why was this bothering her so much? She was never the one who apologized; especially in situations like this! What was she afraid of?

Lucia's disapproval, of course.

Madison swallowed the lump in her throat as well as her pride as she stopped feet from the canvas tent. She pulled a small pocket mirror out of her pocket and made sure everything was in place. Then, she dug through her inventory before producing a nice chilled bottle of wine she had been brewing back at her cabin in Dunnstads. A nice tangy drink with a citrusy kick to it that left a numbing wave of warmth as it trickled down your throat; a recipe she'd found in a book somewhere in Brisshal.

Breath in.

Find your center.

Don't fuck this up.

Breath out.

Madison opened her eyes, pursed her lips, and went for broke. "Ezra?" she called out. "Are you home?"

 

Ezra believed she had nothing to say. She also believed that Madison had nothing to say that she wanted to hear. To be frank, she wasn’t entirely sure why she agreed to their meeting in the first place, other than it seemed like poor taste to tell her to fuck off via a message instead of face to face. And now, Madison was here, standing on Ezra’s…porch, so to speak, a bottle of something in hand. The Death Knight heard her words and sighed because of it them.

Did she really want to do this?

No.

Was she going to do this, go through with whatever…this was?

…Yes.

Not home, per se, the Death Knight murmured, stepping toward Madison. All the talk of people putting down rebel nobles made me nervous so I was patrolling. She had no need to tell the Plague Witch why she wasn’t inside the tent, but better that she say those words than leave them up to interpretation. False interpretation at that.

The words from Maddy’s private message still ran circled through Ezra’s head. The Witch had said that she was working for Lucia, but Ezra has aid the same before, as had Luna, and she hadn’t been entirely sure on Vivian’s story, but she could guess it ran along the same lines. There was something about the Necromancer that blurred the lines between work and play, so that one easily melted into the other and before you knew it, you were looking forward to logging in each day on the off chance you’d get to spend time with Lucia.

Maybe this time would be different. Maybe their relationship would merely be a business one.

Her silver eyes roved slowly up and down the other woman before Ezra crossed her arms over her chest, her right hip popping out as she settled her weight.

Yeah, right.

Well? she asked, about two to three feet away from the woman. In the distance, she could hear the chirping calls of her raptor either looking for her or playing with his brother.

You said you wanted to talk. I’m all ears.​

 

Madison stood before the Death Knight, the bottle of wine in her hand suddenly feeling ten times heavier. The woman was exactly as she remembered her from their first meeting; strong, defiant, filled with a sort of fanatical determination that constantly pushed against Madison, threatening to suffocate her where she stood.

Regret started to poison the dark druid's thoughts. I should have stayed home. Never should've sent that stupid PM. Should've just... logged out, and waited for Lucia to contact me again before returning to this blasted landscape.

Ezra's sharp command brought her back to reality. Time to put on a strong face, Freebird. You've already proven you can best this silver-eyed bitch in one-on-one combat; you have nothing to fear.

"Right, yeah, so anyway--"

The witch's fingers gripped the neck of the bottle tighter as she sloshed the wine around in the air between the two women. "I'm not good at this sort of thing, so let's just cut to the chase. Can we have a couple glasses of this stuff and work out a truce?"

The shapely tin can's face tightened momentarily at the suggestion, disbelief clearly etched across her stony features.

Madison simply pursed her lips and pulled up her big girl britches. "I've already worked things out with Luna. We're on... uh, I guess you can say speaking terms now? At least when she sees me, she isn't trying to blast a hole in my chest anymore."

Which was just about all she could ask from anyone she came across.

"And I'd like for things to be the same way between us," she continued. "At the very least."

And then, the words stuck in her mouth. It was like a wad of cotton covered in molasses sitting in a clump of sand. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she wanted to just stuff them back down her throat, box them up in her mind and chain them shut and light the damn thing on fire, she knew she'd have to say them.

Deep breath, Madison. It'll be okay. You can always cheat her out of some money in poker later and get your pride back.

Madison proceeded to do the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life--apologize.

"I'd like to start by apologizing for calling you a summon."

 

Ezra’s face was stony as she looked from the bottle clutched in Madison’s grasp to the face of the woman who, only a few days ago, spit acid in her face. The area around Ezra’s silver eyes was still tender to the touch and being out all day in the sunlight, working or sparring or whatever, always caused the flesh there to sting in irritation. The arch of an eyebrow was the only response the Death Knight could—would—convey.

Besides, who knew how much poison was waiting for her in that bottle. Sure, logically, Madison didn’t have a real reason to poison the Knight, but Ezra wasn’t thinking logically. Her emotions were in turmoil as they ripped through her, spinning her back to that day in the wastes, bent over on hands and knees, at the feet of the slender Witch that now stood here asking for a truce. It took all her self-control to not manifest her weapon in her hand and go charging at the Druid.

The tight lines that made up Ezra’s judgmental features slackened a bit when Luna’s name appeared in their conversation. She was a little surprised to hear that they were getting along, but she tried to mask it as best she could. Ezra was the one whom had the problem with Madison, not Luna, so in that regard, it made sense. In the emotional corner, the Death Knight wanted her Aracanamancer to scowl at the pretty Plague Witch, to hiss every time Madison drew breath, and cheer the moment she got knocked down a peg.

Ezra exhaled a long, slow breath. She was being unreasonable, and a part of her knew that. It was childish, it was petty, and it wasn’t befitting someone of her station. Lucia deserved better and as her Death Knight, Ezra strove to be better, to ascend to the highest point because Lucia believed she could do it. It was the one thing that ultimately locked them all in together: their love for the Necromancer.

…I work with Lucia’s summons, Ezra said slowly while taking a step forward. Her shoulders were still tight and her arms hadn’t uncrossed from her chest, but her eyes had lost the stormy glare that had held them a moment prior. Sylvanas is—was—my teacher. When they need to be close to Lucia or she needs them for something, I patrol. It’s needed now more than ever…

Her words petered off into nothing. Madison was a smart girl, she could put two and two together. Nobles were losing their lands, their servants staging their own uprisings for months and months of neglect, overwork, and more. Bandits were sweeping into villages and towns, making off with what they could while most of the Crown’s Guard dealt with any minor—or major—rebellions in Vinterguard.

She took another step forward, the dead earth crunch under the weight of her war boot. She jutted her chin at the bottle, an inquisitive glance roving from it to Madison’s face and back again.

Assuming it isn’t poisoned, I’ll share a glass or two with you. We can sit out here, I can make a small fire, or we can use my tent. It’s up to you. ​

 

Madison ran her gloved fingers through her hair as the death knight mentioned her patrols. "Yeah, I can imagine... Astor's whole play at democracy thing, all the nobility getting their land and titles revoked... I can imagine that nobody's really happy about it. I've heard some of them are planning to put up a fight to keep their land--got a ping a few days ago from one of them who sent out a mass cry for help. Wants a bunch of players to come in and help him keep his precious land."

The witch shrugged her shoulders, the wine quietly sloshing around in the bottle she held. "Some people get waaaay too into this game, I swear. His precious virtual land and virtual titles," she added mockingly. "We should find where he actually lives and pour Mountain Dew on his VR headset. Then he'll lose everything."

A cruel smile flashed across Maddy's face, but was quickly suppressed. "Sorry," she apologized. "I don't mean to be so bitter. It just comes to me a bit easier than anything else. Anyway, let's hang out out here. Weather's nice enough." For a dead land, anyway.

That last thought was why she wasn't terribly worried about King President Astor trying to rip Lucia's land from the necromancer's grasp. What the fuck was he going to do with it, anyway? Nothing useful could grow here, nothing reasonable would live here. It was a complete write-off for the crown. A veritable badlands that could only hold sadness and despair for them if they tried to take it and make it livable.

As Ezra began to build the fire, Madison dipped into her inventory and produced a couple of wine glasses she packed for the trip. Setting them down, she uncorked the bottle and poured a pair of drinks. The fruity concoction wafted into the air, filling her nostrils with the scent of citrus. Her mouth began to immediately water--she tried out the batch before leaving Dunnstads, and had been craving another sip ever since.

"Given the state of Astorea, I can understand why you'd be out patrolling." Madison set the bottle aside and handed a glass to Ezra. "But do you think it's absolutely necessary in the first place? I mean, what could they even do with the land?"

Madison ran her fingers through the dried-up grass, the mere touch of death stinging her fingers. "I've mastered Nature Magic, and every time I try and tap into it here the world actively fights back against me. I can feel the death that infects this place. It's corrupted, it's hurting... desperately sucking at whatever natural fonts of mana remain here to try and sustain itself."

She glanced back up at Ezra. "Perfect for Lucia and her aspirations; but an utter nightmare for anyone else who might come knocking on her doorstep."

 

It’s idiotic, Ezra replied, her voice having dropped to a low growl. Anger made the muscles in her jaws tight and she curled her fingers into fists at her sides. Those people deserve to live a life they want to live, not beholden to some jackass nobility, working their lands for shit pay, only to be mistreated in the long run. She scoffed and shook her head, further emphasizing her point.

Yeah, I heard about that. I got that ping as well, but there was another group who said they were gonna go strip him of his lands and hang him out to dry. If I wasn’t vowed to Lucia, perhaps I’d be right alongside them, taking prisoners and shit. She gave a jerk of her shoulder, the harsh up-down movement meant to be a shrug but lacking the grace of one. Her eyes held grey storm clouds and the muscles of her thighs still seemed tight beneath her armor. It was obvious that she still had her guard up, even if the two women had found some common ground to talk on.

Maddy’s mention about getting too involved gave Ezra paused. She was already there, already in over her head. She couldn’t live without this game. Every day she came home from her shitty job, grab something to eat from the fridge, plugged in her VR headset and logged in. Going a day without seeing Lucia’s land or doing some mundane quest or just sitting at her campfire and chatting to world chat was a day lost. She hated the real world with a passion she couldn’t describe and didn’t want to look too closely at.

So, she said nothing. She only allowed herself a tight nod of affirmation because it was the polite thing to do. Maybe that Duke had taken it a step too far, but it was easy to do when this world meant so much and the other meant so little.

Confirmation that that would be … hanging outside set Ezra in motion again. There was a small pit in front of her tent where she normally cooked food for herself and Dispater or sat down at to look at the stars. It was nice, really and on some nights when she couldn’t sleep in the real world, she’d log in and just sit here, head back, arms looped around her legs, and look at artificial stars.

A boot kicked at a few of the branches that were still in the pit. Good enough for kindling, she supposed. Kneeling, she began to strike against a smooth stone, trying to get the spark to catch and light. Once it did, she blew gently on the tiny ember, a smile catching her cheeks as the fire suddenly roared to life.

It’s not the land I’m worried about, Ezra said as she took a seat about an arm’s length from Madison, her eyes glancing from the wineglass to the woman next to her. Lucia is powerful, probably one of the most powerful women I know if not the most powerful player in the game. But, all it takes is enough hate in someone’s heart, enough force of personality to have a mob storming over the hills, through the mountains, and trying to destroy all of this – and her – because she’s a necromancer.

She couldn’t help the tug of her shoulders this time, her glance taking her vision away from Madison and into the fire. Sounds dumb, probably, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I’d rather meet somebody on even ground than be ambushed.

Glancing down at the dead ground beneath them, a frown crested over Ezra’s mouth. She had never considered what would happen if someone tried to take the land from Lucia. Madison was right, nothing grew here. The small plants she had been gifted from Aalam were safely within clay pots. She knew better than to try and put them around her tent, even if they would look nice.

Magic, probably, the Death Knight said. Magic can do so much shit, even bring us back from the dead. I wouldn’t be surprised if magic could heal this land, make it fertile for growing crops and raising livestock.​

 

"Wouldn't I know it," the dark druid muttered into her wine when Ezra brought up the inevitability that someone with a hate boner and the biggest set of balls ever would try and storm Lucia's kingdom and burn everything she worked so hard for to the ground. Madison continued, "In another game I lost years of my life to, I was like Lucia. Strong, driven, played with dead things. I just lacked the kindness she steers us down the path with. But a lot of people eventually came after me and the little niche that I carved out for myself. It was too much for me to handle on my own."

Madison didn't really want to talk about her old virtual lives. Ezra probably wouldn't be so forgiving and understanding as the priestess herself was on touchy subjects like causing epidemics and committing war crimes in the name of a mad assassin's delusional ideals.

She took a sip of her wine as the death knight joined her on the ground before the campfire. Maddy felt the heat emanate off the small blaze in waves, warming her to her core on this chilly Astorean night.

"That's why she's lucky to have you, y'know?" Madison lowered her glass and glanced over at Ezra. The knight was still obviously pretty tense around her. That was fine; she understood perfectly. "A lot of 'friends' I've had over the years were quick to abandon me when things started to go south. But knowing that someone has your back no matter what can go a long way."

Maddy listened intently while the Death Knight mused about the endless possibilities of magic.

She took another sip of her wine before speaking. "Probably, yeah. I think if you got enough experts at Nature Magic together, established a link between them and the Emerald Garden... then sure, they could probably restore this region. Not sure they'd want to, with the ever-looming threat of having their skulls cracked open and their brains scooped out, of course."

The woman thought for a moment about her next words. If Ezra was close enough to the necromancer to be her personal guard, then she probably knew of Lucia's ziggurat and her dreams of an undead nation.

Fuck it, she decided. Savoring another pull from her glass, Madison aid, "That's the project Lucia has me working on. Making the land sustainable, able to grow crops and provide resources to those that would live here--talking about her undead, of course. The ziggurat is the key. I'm working on a plant-based structure that can pull mana from the earth and turn it into something that the undead can actually use to grow and develop. The ziggurat would also pump a twisted form of mana back into the ground, terraforming the place into something that can provide for the undead."

And they were so close to achieving that dream, too. Just a few more steps to go, from what she reckoned.

Either way, it was probably time to change the subject. For someone who claimed to be a severe introvert, Madison had the uncanny ability to blabber on and on about herself if given half the chance. Probably because she got so little human contact in the real world.

She downed the rest of her glass and went to pour herself another. "So, how did you come to meet Lucia?"

 

So, Madison was a veteran and not in the sense that many of the TerraSphere players used it. She had been around the block before, been in other full dive MMOs similar to TerraSphere. It seemed like she had a better handle on the ‘this is a game, this is real life’ thing that Ezra constantly struggled with as well. An appreciative glance was given in her direction, but the Death Knight said nothing on the subject.

Her lithe fingers wrapped around the stem of the wine glass and brought it to her lips. She took a sip, prepared for the familiar dry and gross taste that many wines usually had. She was pleasantly surprised to find that that wasn’t the case at all. A flavorful citrus combination danced across her taste buds and she smacked her lips, enjoying the slightly tart flavor. Holy shit! If all wine tasted as good as this, she would be an alcoholic in no time.

People are selfish, Ezra murmured after taking a second, longer pull from the glass. They care about you when they need something from you or when they can get some type of entertainment out of you, but as soon as you stop fulfilling that roll, they throw you out like yesterday’s old newspaper. She cleared her throat, trying to shake the bitterness from the lyrics. It was there, sticking to the underside of her words like hard sap, unwilling to yield.


Lucia’s not like that. She loves you for you, not for anything you…provide her. She licked her lips, completely missing the faux pas of her word choice. If I went to her right now and told her I didn’t want to be her Death Knight anymore, she would probably ask me why and then try to help me get over whatever issue I might be having and that’s it. She wouldn’t cast me out or get her summons to kill me or anything. She’d still keep me, I’d still be welcomed here. My position would just change.


There was full conviction in the words she spoke and leaned back with a small, content sigh. She listened as Madison explained the work that she and Lucia was doing with the Ziggurat. The Knight had heard Lucia mention those plans before and while Ezra had found the entire thing immensely interesting, she wasn’t able to help. She held no magic capability at all, so she left the planning and mana extraction to the mages…and now, to Madison.

I just help with the Tal’Darim, she said in a small voice, feeling somehow eclipsed by how much Madison would probably come to mean to Lucia in the long run. There was no way the Necromancer would let the Briar Witch go. Ezra swallowed and shook her head, willing the dark thoughts away. I just help train them.

Another sip of the amazing wine, another topic change. Her shoulders slumped a bit, her fingers relaxed their tight grip on the wine glass and her silver eyes roved back over to the woman sitting next to her.

I met her my second day in the game, actually. Geesh, it was so long ago it feels like. She chuckled and shook her head, remembering the scene like yesterday. There was a bunch of politics going on and everyone was in the great hall in Astor’s castle and I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about, so I turned and there was Lucia. So I asked her and she was very kind, very informative. And, I mean, I was a completely new player to this game so I didn’t know anything at all and I heard she was a duchess, so I went out to her that night and vowed to protect her.

A smile covered Ezra’s mouth, her cheeks lightly blushing, but it was obvious the memory made her very happy. It was probably the best day of my life, to be honest. Completely weird and foreign when she raised, well, everyone, but if I had a chance to go back and do it again, I would…in a heartbeat.

Finishing the last few dregs of her wine, she held the glass out to Madison so that it could be refilled. What about you? What attracted to you The Dark Lady? She paused, knowing that the next question was probably tactless, but the courage from her sips of alcohol spurred her on. And how long do you think you’ll be staying around?​

 

As the Death Knight held out her empty glass, Madison was all too happy to top it off for a second round. Knowing that Ezra enjoyed the wine brought a modicum of warmth to her heart--she was worried that she got the mix of fruit wrong, and that it'd be thrown in her face in disgust.

The subject of how Madison met Lucia came up. "Hmm," she muttered over the rim of her own glass.

Madison leaned back, the memories playing back in her mind as she recalled the tale. "I was new to the game myself," she began. "Not quite a triple-zero; I'd gone through my fair share of beginner quests by that point, but you get where I'm going with that. I had just joined the Aristocracy, figuring I'd be starting small. Extortion, petty thievery, breaking a couple noses, stuff like that. But no; they decided to throw me right into the fire."

The witch took another sip of her own drink before continuing, "The Lion's Pride were organizing a group to assault the fortress of the Bandit King--I can't even remember the guy's actual name, but whatever. It doesn't matter. What does is that our little group of Aristos--most of them green like me--were sent to help defend the Bandit King and kill the leader of the Pride, Zeus. None of us could really get along when we were trying to organize a plan, but Lucia was there, punching holes in our ideas and kind of guiding us without being forceful about it."

"But when the time came to do the job, she and the other one--what's her name again? Vivian?--the pair of 'em stopped us, declaring their intent to save Zeus and the Pride from us. And since we were all a bunch of weak noodles, the majority of us said 'okay, sure, whatever'." Madison swirled the citrusy wine in her glass for a moment. "Yeah, we weren't going to get ourselves killed fucking around with Vivian's pyromancy and Alice's... aliceomancy."

The smile slowly slipped from her face as the thought of her first near-death experience flashed in her mind. Maddy decided she'd skip the part about the Queen Ant, the whole ritual with Synra, Zeus losing an arm and still punching the ever-loving hell out of the ant, and the trip back topside.

"Anyway, after we all survive--including Zeus, who ended up saving our asses--I make the trek back to Brisshal and think about what happened. A few days later, I reach out to Lucia, asking if she'd like to meet up for a bit so I can pick her brain about the whys of that whole event. She agrees, which surprises the shit out of me, and we start talking."

The witch set her glass down on the ground, steadying it so it wouldn't tip over. Can't be wasting perfectly good wine and all. "She kind of opened my eyes to the nature of this game, how it's not like a lot of others I've played. How it's basically a living, breathing world."

Madison glanced at Ezra. "Take Zeus, for example. Being the leader of the Pride, he's in a position to help train the next generation of players using all the..." She let out a slight laugh and shook her head. "I hate to put it this way, but data he's accumulated over the years from both developer design and the way we players have acted. Had we killed him, those opportunities for others would've been gone. Lucia taught me that Terrasphere isn't like other MMOs, where you might have done something big, but other players aren't going to be affected by your decisions in the slightest. My Zeus would've been dead and I would've gotten quest rewards, but their Zeus would still be alive and well, shouting 'ORA ORA ORA ORA!!' into the sky and punching dire bears or however the fuck he trains." Madison threw some wild punches into the breeze for emphasis.

"Anyway, she encouraged me to treat this world as if it were the real ones, and go out and explore. Learn from NPCs, other players, any texts written by those that came long before us. Explore every crack, crevice, town and village. Become one with the world, y'know?" The witch picked up her glass and took another pull of wine. "Sorry, Ezra--I get a little gabby when I'm drinking. Feel free to tell me to shut up anytime."

And yet, she barreled on. "But Lucia and I get to talking about her undead kingdom, her aspirations for it and everything. I mention that I might be able to help, since I spec'd into Nature Magic, and was starting to learn more and more about the school. I figured, if she wanted me to learn from the best, then why not start with her?"

The witch threw her arms out wide, a smile growing on her blushing face. "And now here I am! Serving Lucia and standing by her side as long as she'll have me here."

Madison consciously left out the more intimate moments the two women shared. The embrace in the shadow of the ziggurat, the hour spent in Synra's realm in each others arms after the battle against Titanius, the trip to the hot springs after that... These were all things Ezra didn't need to know. The witch picked up on the tone of her voice after she mentioned she trained Lucia's undead to defend themselves. There was this hint of... sadness? Jealously? Something that she didn't want to risk triggering any further.

 

You’re fine, Ezra replied to her comment about over-talking once she got drinking. The Knight didn’t mind, especially since the wine was so good and the fire kept them warm. It was nice, in a way, this…bonding thing they were doing. Who would’ve thought that mere days ago, Ezra had fantasized ripping Maddy’s head off her shoulders and tossing it to Dispater to play with.

Luna and I were there, she said after a moment, her gaze squinting into the fire as she tried to remember the entire event. Most of it was a blur by now, but the press of the Arcanamancer’s shoulder against her own, the warmth of her thigh pressing against Ezra’s flesh beneath the comfort of her black bear cloak; she could remember those things with vivid detail.

Lucia had asked us to go so she could get both sides of the story, all the information. So we did. It was…interesting. She gave a dry chuckle before taking another sip of the wine and swallowing. The Pride are…an interesting bunch. Very…energetic. All of them wanting to be little heroes with their eyes always set toward Lawful Good. Gods forbid that anyone tell them that there are shades of grey in the world…

Her voice was amused instead of gravelly. She felt no animosity toward the guild nor those whom had signed themselves to the Pride and while she hadn’t met Zeus personally, she could imagine that someone named after the Greek God of Thunder and Lightning was an amazing individual. Loosing him would have been a travesty for exactly the reasons Madison had mentioned. Ezra was sure that these NPCs, though composed of ones and zeros and data points, learned and grew and evolved in very much the same way player characters did.

It was a…rather scary idea, truth be told.

She told me the same thing when I gave her my vow, not that you mention it, the Knight murmured, her voice slow as she reached back through her memories. I…I doubt I’ve done that though. Or, well, maybe I have? I’m not sure. I don’t go to the cities much anymore and spend most of my time either here, training, or out in the villages helping the NPCs. I find it’s easier to get along with them than some of the players who decided to pick up this game.

She rolled her eyes at that, emphasizing her dislike.

Lucia will ask you to stay, Ezra said after a moment of quiet settled between them, the slosh of wine the only sound that danced through the air. She’s always talking about a spark and you have it. I can tell. Again, there was no venom in her tone, just the hard undertone of hard facts that needed to be recognized and accepted. She gave Maddy a long, hard look before she sighed, took a big swig of her drink, swallowed it, and spoke again.

It’s probably better if she tells you, but I’m here so I might as well. Lucia is into poly…poly…poly-am-or-ree. So, she’s kinda, uh, dating, me and Luna. And we’re dating her and each other…kind. So, yeah, it’s a thing. She blushed and drowned the last bit of her drink, extending it once more for a refill. So I don’t know if she’ll ask you to stay like that, but I figure, at least, it’s better for you to know than not know.​

 

The plagueslinger blinked, finished her drink, and poured herself another glass.

If I'm going to talk about this, I'm gonna' need another one of these.

She offered to fill up Ezra's glass before setting the rest of the wine aside. "Yeah, no, I'm... I'm already aware," she admitted. Moments ago she never would've mentioned the hot springs hangout, but now it seemed pretty important. "After Lucia and I escaped the dying body of Titanius, we shared a few... moments alone together. I won't go into detail about those, since..." Her cheeks turned beet red as the heat rose in her neck. "...yeah."

"Anyway, a few days after that, I go to meet Lucia at some hot springs here in her territory, and Luna shows up. Lucia greets us both, and she pulls Luna into her lap and holds her close." Madison's head dropped slightly as she stared at the clump of dead grass at her feet.

"It was..." The witch pursed her lips. "It sucked, to be honest. Felt like I got kicked in the stomach. There I was, not a week removed from pledging myself to her completely, and..." Madison shook her head furiously to try and wipe the darkness from her mind. A smile slowly twisted her features, bitter from the memory. "Anyway, I shut down. Closed myself off. Let Luna and Lucia share their time together while I just sorta... sat there and kept quiet. Like I was trying to wish myself out of existence."

It amazed Madison how quickly she was starting to go through this third glass of wine. The tangy drink was doing wonders to loosen her lips. "Lucia sensed that, and that's when she told me about being polyamorous. I will admit, I'm still not used to the whole idea of it... But that's not really her fault, yeah?"

She pressed her hand to her chest and looked at Ezra. "I mean, who are we to really question how others express their love, right?"

Madison smiled at the knight, hoping that it was enough to hide the jealousy that brewed deep inside her. "I'm sure I'll come around to the whole idea someday," she said.

The witch quietly swirled the remainder of her wine. She contemplated topping off her glass once more. Her fingers hesitated for a moment, mere inches away from the bottle. The woman decided against it, though.

"She's always commenting about how talented we are. How we always shine so brightly... And that when we move on, she hoped we don't forget about her." Madison stared deeply into the swirling colors of her glass of wine. "I just don't want her to forget about me, now."

 

Normally, she wasn’t into alcohol and that was mostly because she couldn’t afford it. Every penny, dime, and nickel had to go to some other expense be it a bill, clothes for work, or actual food to put in her belly. Even happy hour was a mite too expensive for Addison’s pocket book. So, when Madison offered to refill her glass again, Ezra wasn’t going to turn her down. She even lifted her glass to the Witch in a silent toast before taking another sip. Ugh, she wanted a case of this shit in her tent from now on.

Her gaze drifted away from Madison as she revealed that she already knew about the polyamory thing. Well, she was one step ahead of Ezra when she found out, that was for sure. And maybe it was the fact that she knew or that she and Lucia had shared a moment that made the Knight suddenly scowl and turn her attention to the fire. It was getting low, not roaring as loudly as it usually did. Good enough reason to get up.

Listening as Madison continued speaking, Ezra rose from her sitting position, wobbled a bit, straightened out, and went over to the side of her tent. There, she easily grabbed up a few logs and brought them back to the fire pit. Unceremoniously, she threw them in, kicked at them a bit, and watched as the flames devoured them whole, the heat turned up for the time being.

I was—am—like that when it comes to Lucia and Vivian.

Ezra wanted to be angry or upset or even just moody, but the alcohol was a nice counterpoint for this conversation. The tension she had felt before had flowed right out of her, the movement loosening her up and making her breaths come deep and easy. She sat back down next to Madison, grabbed her glass, and took another sip.

I dunno if you’ve met her but…well…she’s a conniving bitch, but she loves Lucia. Worships the ground she walks on and everything. Will protect her from whatever out there that wants to kill her and, I’ll be honest, that’s all I care about. But, I dunno. She could do better, ya know? Lucia is such an amazing woman and Vivian is so…just…crass. Her mouth twisted into a frown and she gave a powerful toss of her head, like a dog trying to shake the water from its coat.

She hasn’t logged in for a while though, so, maybe you won’t meet her. Another shrug, this one with indifference laced through the movement of her shoulder muscles. But, you’re right. Lucia and Vivian love each other in a way that fulfills them both and I shouldn’t make judgement calls. No one should. Love is different for everyone.

She paused for a moment, digesting Madison’s last statement, her tongue slithering out and wetting her bottom lip before retreating. The difference in their thought process was amazing, but Ezra was too tipsy to realize it at the moment. Another sip, another swallow, and she opened her mouth to speak.

I don’t want her to forget herself, she murmured, her voice heavy with some unidentifiable emotion. She doesn’t give herself any credit. She thinks she’s mundane or ordinary or that she doesn’t shine as bright as the rest of us but, fuck man. Who else could do this? She lifted an arm to gesture around to the wasteland, the absence of life under the dark night sky with nothing by stars to keep them company.

Who could raise a khalasar of undead and keep them in line? Who could allow them the…the…autonomy to find what they’re good at encourage them to cultivate it, to improve? Who could give them a safe-haven and culture and another freaking chance? No body but her and she just…doesn’t…see it.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Ezra drained her glass and set it down. She smacked her lips together, enjoying the tart sensation as it tickled her throat and taste buds.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about Madison, Ezra said after a moment, her voice having lost the zeal with which she had been speaking before. The octave was lower, more conversation, and her silver eyes were pinned on Madison’s profile. I say this as someone whom only recently started appreciating the sight of another woman: you’re very pretty. You’re powerful. You’re helping Lucia achieve her dreams, her goals. You make really, really good wine. She won’t forget about you.​

 

Madison allowed herself relax a bit and let the mix of warmth from both the fire and the alcohol wrap her up. She hummed to herself softly. "Yeah, I've met Vivian. She was the one who sorta... I guess you can say 'betrayed' the lot of us in underneath the Bandit King's castle. Well, not really betrayed; that's the wrong word," she corrected herself. "More like... dissuaded us from proceeding with the job?"

The witch nodded. "Yeah, that sounds better."

She eyeballed the bottle of wine. Less than half of the stuff remained. She decided to cut herself off there, no matter how much she wanted to finish the rest of it off. This was supposed to be a gift to Ezra, after all.

"Kinda' saw it coming from a mile away, though," she added, her thoughts lingering on Viv. "Between the braggadocious displays of magic, the fufufu way she spoke, her hat and that revealing dress of hers that showed off her, uh, ample..." Maddy trailed off, her hands reaching up to her own breasts and making squeezing motions, signifying that the elder witch had a pair of backachingly massive ones. "All the classic hallmarks of someone who's ready to fuck up your day if you look at her funny."

Which she did, even though Madison didn't.

The Death Knight began talking about Lucia once more, saying that the necromancer was too hard on herself, never giving herself the credit she was rightfully due. In that, they agreed.

"I've tried to talk to her about it, but..." she trailed off with a soft shrug of her shoulders. "I guess it's in her cheerfully nihilistic nature. All that power at her fingertips--hers and our own, mind you--I don't think she'll ever be satisfied with herself."

I can relate, she left unsaid, taking another small sip from her glass.

But then, Ezra said something caught Madison completely off-guard. A compliment, meant to make her feel better about her status with Lucia once the woman's transformation was complete and the ziggurat was finished.

Madison, normally unable to cope with anyone saying anything positive about her ever, blushed. "T-thanks," she managed to stutter, her eyes immediately fixating on what was left at the bottom of her glass. "I mean--I'm a six, maybe a six and a half on a good day, but I appreciate it."

A curious little smile crossed her lips. It might have been the alcohol whispering in her ear, but something in the back of her mind told her that it she should reciprocate instead of sitting there all awkward and sheepish.

"S-sorry," apologized for no particular reason, other than it being her default way to interact with friends. "I'm just not used to..." The witch trailed off.

So, am I supposed to, uh, call her very pretty too? I mean, she kinda' is... If she'd only take off that helmet and armor more often, I bet she's very nice.

Just go ahead and tell her, dumbass! She said something nice to you!

"I can see why Lucia loves having you around too," she awkwardly began. Yep, it definitely was the alcohol talking now. Madison steeled herself before continuing. "You would've definitely kicked my ass a couple days ago if I didn't have my magic. I'm sure with skills like yours, her... What did you call them? Tel'Mythrin? Tal'Guardian? I... I can't remember, I'm an idiot, sorry-- But I'm sure with someone like you teaching them, they'll be strong enough to repel any attack on Lucia's domain."

Madison slowly raised her glass to her lips to drain the last of it. "And, uh, you're quite pretty too, I think."

And suddenly, a rush of shame rose in face, coloring her cheeks even further. Fuck it, Madison thought to herself as she reached for the bottle to pour herself more wine.

Boy, was she really bad at this friends thing.