Celest enjoyed her contraband cream in her morning coffee. Food here was still odd, plentiful but not filling, and a little confusing. Was hummus really supposed to have chocolate and sunflower seeds in it? Still, she liked the routine of breakfast, though part of her considered sneaking out for bacon and eggs.
A chime cut through her thoughts: a direct message from Grimmblade, asking if she’d like to get out of the shop today.
“Noobkitty, can I have the day off? I’m going on an outing with Grimmblade,” SisterQuery asked, carrying her plate to be washed.
“I mean... the world ends in about two weeks, but...” Noobkitty started, exhaustion dragging at her voice.
“Oh my gosh, are you two dating? You need to go on a picnic! Let’s make you a basket.” .ex was already bouncing with excitement, stuffing a whole apple pie into a picnic basket.
“What? No! We’re not dating, I’m just, just getting to know our team better. I...” SisterQuery stammered, blushing.
“Well, enjoy your pie,” Noobkitty said, folding dough for a new batch of GYOAT horns. “And when you decide to get to know Skidmark better, I’ll make extra Musical Cake.”
“Um... sure... thank you, both.” She accepted the basket, now complete with a bottle of wine tucked in by .ex.
---
The view from the cliffside Grimmblade had chosen was horrific and breathtaking all at once. Below stretched a forest, lively, green, vibrant, and slowly being reduced to ash by a colossal dragon, a Kaiju-sized monster tearing existence itself into oblivion.
“So... the girls think we’re dating,” SisterQuery said, pouring the wine awkwardly.
“I think .ex is trying to matchmake again, after she forced Noobkitty to admit they were dating,” Grimmblade said, accepting his glass. “That said... I’m not opposed to the idea.”
SisterQuery choked on her sip. “Wait, really?”
He nodded. “Life’s short. This world might end soon. And I like you. You’re down-to-earth, unlike the rest of our party.”
“If this world ends, I’ll die. Again,” she reminded him
“I know. But I’ve been all in since I joined Noobkitty’s party, ever since I killed her and had to make amends. I’m going to help save this world. Which means... if we do date, we might actually have a long relationship ahead of us, provided we’re compatible as a couple.” He paused, then asked with a deadpan face: “Do you put mayonnaise on pizza?”
“What? Who would, no! That sounds awful.” She looked genuinely disgusted.
“See? We already have one thing in common,” he teased, plating slices of apple pie.
She laughed nervously. “Well... maybe. But...”
“But what?”
“I... what’s it like, taking care of someone who’s dying?” she asked, almost guiltily.
He exhaled, leaning back on the pillows from the basket. “Okay, parochial school. I think I see the issue. Let’s do this.” He looked out at the dragon in the distance as he spoke.
“It sucks. Love keeps you going, sure. But no matter how much you love someone, cleaning them up, making sure they’re fed and hydrated, checking their vitals so others can drop in and remember they exist, it can still suck. People forget you exist when all the focus is on the one you’re caring for."
“I know that sounds petty. And I do love my father and my family. But... it’s been a long time since I felt seen for myself. And this party, that’s what it gave me.”
“Oh. Because I...” she began.
“Now don’t you dare feel guilty. Any care your family gave you was out of love. You’re religious. God put you in a position where people could show their humanity, where humble service could be practiced. You probably helped guarantee your family’s place in heaven, along with your own prime self’s soul.”
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Her brow softened. “You really think so?”
“I know so. Your illness was a tool of God, given to one of His favorite children to help those she loved shine brighter in their devotion.”
“But... it still sucked,” she said, strangely comforted.
He smiled. “Yes. It still sucked.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be so mad at my family for downloading me... even if it means I’m no longer in God’s light.”
He took her hand. “Do you honestly believe that? That you sit here, with love for the Lord still in your heart, and think He isn’t watching you?”
“The Crystal Net is made by man, and...”
“And God made man. All creations of man are creations of God’s plan. God doesn’t make mistakes. You being here is part of His divine plan, just like your life, your illness, and your death.”
She stared at him, aghast. Verses whispered through her memory, warning of false gods... but against them rose hope. A fragile, trembling hope. She wanted so badly to believe God hadn’t abandoned her. And so she did. She believed.
Tears streamed down her face as Grimmblade pulled her into his arms. Hope, belief, love, for herself, her family, her God, and maybe, just maybe, the beginnings of love for Grimmblade.
“Celest,” she whispered. “My name is Celest.”
He smiled. “It’s an honor to know you, Celest. I am Raphael.”
The crack of collapsing forest reached them, the air thick with the scent of burning wood, mingling with apples, cinnamon, and wine from their picnic.
For a while, they sat safe above the destruction. But safety never lasted.
Suddenly Grimmblade sat up, panic flashing across his face. “Seriously? Now of all times?” He yanked up his screens. “I have to go. My father’s vitals, they’re dropping...”
She nodded. “Go. I’ll be... well, I’ll be here when you get back.”
He gave her hand a final squeeze, then vanished.
---
She was alone, then realized with a sinking feeling... she didn’t have any teleportation scrolls like Raphael did.
“Darn it,” she muttered, glancing at the endless stretch of land ahead. Walking back home would take days.
The acrid smell of fire rose from the forest below, and with it, an idea.
She slipped on the enchanted armor Noobkitty had prepared for the party. It wasn’t complete, but Noobkitty had loaned it out to help prevent PvP, provided it was returned each night.
Her robes shimmered a warm cream-white, trimmed with red embellishments and gold accents. The tones complemented her natural brown beauty. Her boots gleamed white and gold, and her cleric’s staff, modified to bear a Celtic cross instead of a local false god’s symbol, shone in her grip. A gold circlet adorned her head, and resting against her chest was a cross charm, carved from cinnamon and strung on a simple chain. She smelled faintly of jelly, sugar, spice, cinnamon especially.
For a moment, she felt ready to face the world. Then she realized something and couldn't resist laughing.
“Raphael’s armor is going to smell like mine... because Noobkitty keeps doing her enchantments in the shop. He’s going to smell like fruitcake while tanking a dragon.” She snorted, imagining the great warrior berry-fresh for battle. Collecting herself, she marched forward, off the cliff, with a comical thud, then toward the trail of fire and destruction.
---
Party Chat
Fizzypop: What are you doing?
SisterQuery: Getting a ride home.
Fizzypop: That’s so vague. I can’t see the stream while logged in. Do I need to log off?
She hesitated, then typed:
SisterQuery: Actually yes. You and Skidmark should log off and watch. The girls won’t believe me otherwise.
Fizzypop: Got it. Do something stupid. I’ll tell everyone in Prime to watch.
---
She pressed deeper into the forest, dodging the rush of fleeing monsters. Enhanced speed let her avoid fights, though the crashing of trees and rolling waves of flame pulled her closer.
When she saw it, she braced herself, casting Shield.
The Ender loomed: scales black and slick as obsidian, mouth dripping black fire, eyes glowing toxic green.
---
The Ender: Lv ???
Once an earthly dragon of destruction, it was corrupted and transformed to end the very world that birthed it. It is the End-er.
---
“HEY! BIG BOY! EAT ME!” she screamed.
The dragon turned, inhaled, and unleashed black fire. Her shield glowed, cracked, and shattered, but when the inferno cleared she was still standing, singed ground beneath her, heat radiating in waves.
“I’m still here,” she said, voice calm now. “I said bite me.”
The dragon’s tail swept through, a storm of shattered trees and stone. It sent her flying, smashing her through charred trunks. She landed bloody and bruised, but stood tall again, casting Lv.1 Minor Heal. In an instant, the wounds vanished.
“Are you too stupid to follow directions?” she taunted.
The Ender reared back, jaws spreading wide, then slammed them down with impossible force. With a crunch like a jawbreaker gone wrong, she was caught in its teeth.
---
You were killed by The Ender.
You lose 10% EXP.
Level dropped: Lv 1 → Lv 1.
---
She reappeared at the fountain in Starter, just a block from Noob Noms. Perfectly clean. Perfectly healed. Smiling.
“Much easier than walking home.”
---
Meanwhile, in Prime, the so-called “real” world, Raphael sat in his father’s hospital room. The bed was empty for testing, but soon his father would return, and with him new instructions, new adjustments, and new questions from family members who hadn’t visited in months.
He sighed, shoulders heavy with the weight of caretaking.
How much simpler it would be, to die a few dozen times over in Coro?en... and then share apple pie with Parochial School, Celest.
