“I’ve been watching you. Revelator.”

  No doubt about it. That’s Tamiel’s voice! I wasn’t wrong! It really is her. It really is—

  “Tamiel,” I say, breathless.

  She hesitates, cocks her head slightly. Then at last she answers.

  “You know me?”

  My heart drops at her question; for a moment, I can’t understand it. Then it comes back to me.

  Of course. She’s already forgotten all about me. Curse this game and its forgetful NPCs! They only remember you after you’ve gained enough reputation with them.

  Then, that’s just what I’ll have to do. Take any quest she gives me—do whatever it takes—so she remembers my name.

  “We met before at Colonel Adolphus’ camp,” I explain, my voice sounding awkward in my ears for some reason. “My friend told me they’d moved on, following the demons. Is that why you’re here? Are there demons in the city?”

  “There are always demons in a city,” she answers, her voice as measured, as mystical and lovely as I remember from before. “Wherever people are gathered, wherever evil congregates, believe there is a demon working at the center of it.”

  “Where are the others? Colonel Adolphus and the soldiers?”

  “They are moving north.”

  “But, I thought you were traveling with them.”

  “I am.”

  “Then—how did you get here?” I ask, confused.

  “I travel instantly where I will, when I will. That is my power.”

  Instant transmission. She’s like Goku!

  Tamiel watches me a moment, as though seeing through the mask. Or is that, reading my thoughts? I shift nervously beneath what I imagine to be her gaze. At last, she speaks.

  “You wish to gain my favor?” Though she phrases it as such, I can tell it’s not really a question.

  I swallow painfully.

  “Yes,” I admit. “I wish to be remembered, and cherished by you.”

  “Cherished?”

  “Yes.”

  “You desire to win my heart?”

  Gulp!

  I learned my lesson with Penelope. This kind of gorgeous, angelic NPC doesn’t stay on the market for long. I mustn’t be timid, mustn't dance around the issue.

  “Yes. I wish that.”

  “You have the heart and soul of a knight. And the fortitude to carry out my purpose. It is for this I have revealed myself to you this night...”

  She didn’t reveal herself, she only appeared in front of me. Though I wish she would reveal herself, and take off that ugly mask and robe, and throw herself into my arms… Oh, Tamiel, my love…

  Ah, she’s still talking. What did she say, my fortitude drew her? Is this some kind of special quest I’m being offered because of my high Constitution stat? Better pay attention or I’ll miss the ball.

  “…thus I have sought you out…”

  “Right. Ahem. So, this, uh, purpose of yours, if I accomplish it, will you—” gulp! “—consider me?”

  “You are a good and honest person. I cannot tell a lie, and say this does not appeal to me. Your looks, as well, I do not find disagreeable. So, yes. If you will do this for me, I shall consider you, Revelator.”

  “R-r-r-r-romantically?” I confirm, my tongue for some reason dry and sticking in my mouth.

  I can definitely hear the teasing smile in her voice as she answers, “Romantically.”

  [You have gained Charis’s favor]

  Charis? All my stupidity and awkwardness leaves me in an instant. At once my guard is up, my suspicions raised.

  “You said you were Tamiel. Who are you, really?”

  “Tamiel is the name the others know me by. But my true name, the name my father gave me that is known by no other man, is Charis.”

  Her admission, the intimacy it suggests makes my heart pound, but I’m not going to just fall for it.

  “Prove it. Prove to me you are who you say you are. Take off your mask.”

  She hesitates. Looks up at the still lit windows all around us.

  “Not here. It’s dark and my face is too bright. It will draw too much attention.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “We’ll go to the inn, then. Show me there, in private.”

  “Very well.”

  She follows me on long elegant strides, and somehow I lead her out from the maze of alleyways and back to the Pigeon Spire Inn. At the front desk, I feel embarrassed renting a room for the two of us when the innkeeper gives me a knowing wink. It’s not what you think! I want to say. At least—not that I’d mind if it were, but still—!!

  Upstairs in our room, alone at last, I shut and lock the door. Then I turn expectantly.

  “The window,” she says softly, so I go and secure the curtains, so no one will see.

  My voice is hard though my insides are trembling. I’m so nervous, it’s a wonder I’m not getting another system warning.

  “Alright Charis, or whatever your name is. Prove your identity to me.”

  “As you wish.”

  She removes her gloves first, so her hands shine, illuminating the room. Then her hood is let down to reveal a black cowl and the mask.

  She takes off the mask first, showing a familiar face. She’s as beautiful as I first glimpsed her, in a cold, ice queen sort of way, like that old super model who used to be really hot, what was her name? Gigi Hadid.

  Her eyes are glacial blue, nearly white, like her shining, brilliant skin. Then she removes her cowl, and I’m surprised and somehow dazzled to see her hair is a deep, brilliant red, falling in glamorous, wavy curls around her perfectly sculpted face.

  This is enough. I can already confirm she is the same woman I saw just before I was teleported to the Whale Base. But Tamiel isn’t finished. She unfastens the robe she’s wearing, so it parts a little at a time, slowly shedding the dark, ugly fabric till at last it falls to the floor, revealing a slender body gowned in gossamer, shimmering white.

  Oh sweet lord, oh heavenly Father, forgive me for I have sinned! Her gown’s almost see-through! If I squint and use my imagination just a bit, I swear I can see everything!

  What do I do? What do I do? I might die. Don’t panic! Stay cool! Say something!!!

  “Are you satisfied with this, Revelator?”

  Almost! I can almost die a happy man! Only first, Tamiel, my love—please! Show me your heavenly fruits!

  What am I thinking? Am I a pervert? I’m definitely a pervert! My alignment is definitely going to shift to hell if she finds out I’m thinking of her like this!

  Ahem! I clear my throat. Ahem, ahem!

  “You are the same,” I say, and my voice squeaks embarrassingly. Ahem!! “The same as I remember.”

  “Truly?” She glances up at me almost shyly. “I wish now I could remember what passed between us before. Were we,” she steps a little closer, and lifts her delicate, shining hand to lay it against my chest plate, “very close?”

  “We weren’t that close, but, I wouldn’t mind getting closer…”

  She looks up at me through her brows, her icy blue eyes seeming to see right through to my soul.

  “Me neither…”

  Oh sweet lord. She’s kissing my neck!

  Is it finally happening? Is tonight is the night—I finally become a man?!?

  [Heart rate accelerating.]

  What? No! No, don’t! Don’t screw this up for me, Tina!!

  [Heart rate accelerating. 150 BPM. Activating relaxation protocol.]

  NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

  tEN mINUTES lATER…

  When my babysitter Tina finally lets me log back into the game, I return to find my angel fully robed once more. Even her mask has been replaced, and she waits for me very primly in the chair by the window. I want to scream or cry—I want to beg her to return to where we were when I made my untimely exit. But somehow I can’t quite work up the guts.

  “Revelator,” she addresses me as though I’d just stepped out for a quick drink of water, and didn’t vanish into thin air before her eyes. “Are you satisfied now as to my identity?”

  “Yes,” I say dejectedly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Ugh, what’s the use? At this rate, I’ll never become a man.

  “Something the matter?”

  “It’s nothing,” I sigh. “Anyway, I think you had a quest for me?”

  “I have need of you, yes. There is something I need you to get for me—something very precious.”

  “I’ll get anything you ask, Tamiel. Or is that Charis?”

  “I would prefer to keep my true name a secret. You may call me Charis when we are alone, but please call me Tamiel in public.”

  “Charis, then,” I say, sighing again, resting with my chin in my hand, majorly bummed by the turn the night has taken.

  “It is the name my father gave me, as I told you before. He was a very special man, a celestial being, Myuriel was his name. He came down to this realm via the branches of the World Tree with a heart full of goodness, desiring to enlighten the mortals, and enrich their lives. An apostle of Elyon, he planted churches wherever he went, teaching the mortals of the High God’s grace, and channeling our Lord’s healing power through his staff.”

  She’s gonna ask me to get the staff, right? Sigh…

  “A holy staff, taken from a branch of the World Tree and fastened by the goddess of craftsmanship Salak, it was more valuable than any earthly treasure that has ever been possessed. So it was when he died, certain of the churches came to claim the relic for their own. But a fight ensued, and in the struggle the staff was broken in three. As three clerics had come for the staff, they each settled for a piece of the relic, and took it from my mother, who was too weak with grief at the loss of her beloved to take it back, and myself, who was too young to defend what was rightfully mine…”

  Get on with it already…

  “I have seen your heart, Revelator. You are righteous and good. That is why I knew you would be the one to help me reclaim my father’s staff. There are three churches where the three pieces of the staff are being kept. I will mark them on your map. If you would be my champion, you must go to each in turn, and take back what is rightfully mine. Return it to me, and I will give you a reward worthy of your endeavor.”

  “Why me?”

  “Sorry?”

  I sit up, suddenly intrigued.

  “Why do you need me to get it? You can teleport to the churches in an instant. Why can’t you retrieve them yourself?”

  “Because I am a priest of Elyon; it is my vow not to steal. I cannot go against it, not even to take back my own property. To do so would be to lose all of my priestly powers.”

  “But servants of Elyon are supposed to be good people. If you explained your story to them, I’m sure they could be reasoned with.”

  “If they were good people, they would not have stolen the staff in the first place.”

  “But these were clerics your own father trained—”

  “Enough!” She cuts me off, startling me with her vehemence. All the air around her seems to darken with her rage, and a cold chill runs down my spine.

  Tamiel? No, not my angel Tamiel.

  Charis.

  Perhaps I do not know her so well as I thought.

  “If you do not wish to help me just say so!” she shrieks at me. “I shall find another who is willing to champion my cause!” She rises abruptly as though to leave.

  “No!” I protest, jumping in her way. “I shall champion! I mean, I will do it for you, my lady.”

  “And will you continue to insult me with your questions?”

  “I shall not, my lady. Only…”

  “Only what?” she demands, shoulders heaving slightly in her anger.

  I swallow painfully. “Let me see your face one more time.”

  “No. You may see my face on the day you show me the first piece of the staff, not before. You desire my favor, yes? Then I trust that will be enough incentive?”

  “For now,” I say, lowering myself to my knee before her. She gasps lightly, and I sense that somewhere behind the mask, she is pleased with this demonstration of fealty.

  Gently I peel the glove from her shining hand and bring it to my lips.

  “Swear yourself to me, Revelator,” she purrs overhead, bringing her hand to linger atop my scalp, pulling her fingers sensually through my hair so I shiver. “Swear you will serve me—in life or in death.”

  “In life or in death, I swear myself to thee, Lady Charis.”

  [Would you like to accept quest: A Stolen Relic?

  Reward: Unknown]

  Yes.