Walking up to the hole in the floor, I caught sight of the remnants of a stairwell that once extended to a former entrance somewhere behind the bar. I skirted the edge of the hole and slid over the bar to a door that was hanging on its hinges. Pushing the door aside, I made my way into what must have been an ancient kitchen. The door to the cellar was long gone. The wooden stairwell down was heavily damaged but the pieces still clinging to the wall seemed solid enough to hold me, with some careful acrobatics.

  Peering through the open doorway to the sitting room where the shades once held court, I saw Sakurai searching some of the cabinets and asked, “Will you watch the front to make sure we don’t get any more surprise visits?”

  She nodded and I jumped between the creaking wooden supports with ease before dropping to the basement floor. The walls were surrounded by both busted and intact kegs and empty crates. Beginning my search for the hidden cache, I paused when I noted something out of place amidst the hanging cobwebs draping the stone walls. One of the bricks between two of the kegs was completely blackened and seemed to have been burned. None of the bricks around it had suffered the same fate.

  Cleaning the brick off I dragged my avatar’s finger through the mortar around it and found it loose and decaying.

  Digging my fingers into it to try and free it from the wall. Finally, with some difficulty given my lack of a second hand, I wrenched the old brick out and tossed it aside.

  Underneath there was a small object wrapped in some kind of hide. I slid it out of the webs to find that it was a box just larger than my hand.

  Glancing into the little recess, I saw nothing else, and, with my frankly out of control agility, easily bounded back up the crumbling stairs to the kitchen. Holding up the little box to show Sakurai, I said, “You got a way to destroy this?”

  She walked over and asked, “Aren’t you tempted to check it?”

  Chuckling, I shook my head, “Tempted? Yes. There is no way I’m going to saddle myself with some crazy curse though. I have a feeling we will find out a lot more about this quest line anyway.”

  The skeletal warrior shrugged and held up the box in her mailed palm. A burst of ruby flame shot up around the box and engulfed it. After a few moments the item was completely immolated and the only thing left was a twisted hunk of melted brass.

  The earth shifted beneath our feet and a hollow boom echoed from the town outside. The two of us emerged from the archway into the old town square and looked down over the hamlet.

  Streams of long silver and gray light were rising up from the structures and winding their way through the air toward us. When they reached the square they descended to resolve themselves into a parade of forlorn shades.

  Sakurai and I descended the steps to find the ghostly remnants of the villagers trudging into the area where we had killed the two giant beasts. Their bodies of light were falling apart, drifting away into the air like leaves as they approached us.

  Many fell completely apart drifting away on the wind. The girl I had saved in the street earlier and the man who I had spoken to in the basement approached us. Despite his lack of features I saw a brief glimpse of a smile on his face. The little girl’s face returned entirely to reveal a beaming smile and bright silvery eyes. A genuine grin crept onto my face as the two of them fell apart in front of me.

  I felt Sakurai’s hand on my shoulder. We shared a look and a nod and in moments, the whole square was empty and silent.

  “Quest Completed

  Purge the Unquiet Dead from Vertcollin Hamlet

  XP Gained: 1400

  After defeating the Mated Eternal Hunters you searched the cellar of the Town Hall and found a cache left behind by the Lady of Flame when Remnants last dwelled in Vertcollin. You immolated the cache without looking at its contents, freeing the village from its curse.”

  Letting out a sigh I looked out over the ruined hamlet in the direction of the old church where the meeting was planned. A small amount of torchlight was visible in the vicinity of the ruins.

  “I guess we should get to that meeting. Thank you for helping me out with this.”

  She flashed me a peace sign and said, “No worries. It was great xp.”

  “I’ll take your advice. I’ll at least talk to Syd,” I said as we turned and headed off into the village.

  She giggled, ecstatic as she said, “Yay! I’m telling you, it’s best for both of you.”

  “AND, if you need me to speak with Nomura please let me know.”

  She seemed to tense at that and waved off the offer, “It will be fine,” she turned and nodded to me, “but I will remember the offer.”

  The two of us made our way through the now silent village and in short order we were approaching the ruins of the old church. There were many men and women wearing dark brown leather and mail armor in swiftly set up camps around the structure. They eyed us with concern and hostility as we passed. Smiling, I gave them a jaunty wave with my remaining hand and the two of us climbed the short steps up toward the partial arch into the building.

  Theodora was lounging on a nearby wall, her eye locked onto me, and I excused myself to walk over to her, “Leveling achieved. I ran into a few manifestations of your old boss up there.”

  Her gaze became a mask of studied boredom as she asked, “Did you? If they represent him when he was here they hardly represent the man I knew.”

  Nodding, I looked toward the chapel, “Are you going to come to the meeting or just brood out here?”

  She pouted and was suddenly very close to me, looking up with parted lips, “Do you want me to come?”

  Rolling my eyes, I shook my head, “You will obviously do as you wish either way.”

  Turning, I made my way toward the entrance but paused when she called after me.

  Turning, I saw what might be concern on her scarred face as she said, “What if I asked you not to go to the meeting?”

  Furrowing my brow I shook my head again, “I would assume you are just trying to manipulate me again and I would say that, regardless of what curses this game might throw at me, I won’t be forced to do anything.”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  She cocked her head, her expression changing to interest as she asked, “I didn’t order you. I asked.”

  My shoulders slumped and I continued on toward the bustling church, muttering to myself, “More mind games.”

  Leaving her there, I climbed the steps into the darkened ruins of the chapel. None of the soldiers I had seen outside had entered the rubble strewn area. The only people I saw were Valerie, the young Cardienne noble, and an entire room full of Remnants.

  Including myself and Sakurai, there were nearly twenty five players.

  Perhaps the loudest of them was a massive shirtless zombie covered in stitching who I recognized immediately. He was still only wearing a pair of tattered pants that barely reached past his knees. In addition he was wearing a ring on each finger and a gaudy silver necklace. He was surrounded by two other familiar players who were laughing along with him as he talked to a robed female zombie. Of the three, Lestra was the first to notice me and offer a small nod. Dendro was laughing at his own crass joke.

  KKG boomed a laugh as he gestured at the zombie, “Look, all I’m saying is that you should run with us. You’re a healer right? You can trust us, we’re good dudes. We’ll protect you.”

  The girl spoke in Mandarin, which I could barely understand due to ancient 100 level college courses. She was holding up her hands and seemed to be politely begging off their offer.

  KKG guffawed and shook his head, “Oh, no problem. We don’t wanna run with a foreigner anyway,” he chuckled and spoke to one of his friends in a whisper that was audible to everyone present, “that shit sounded Chinese or somethin’ right? Fuck that, bro.”

  Sneering at the four of them, I raised a hand to the robed zombie as she walked away speaking in rough Mandarin, “Are you ok?”

  She looked surprised for a moment but only offered a shy bow before muttering in perfect English, “I’m fine. Thank you.”

  Smiling, I tried to turn away but not before KKG caught sight of me and called out, “Yo, what’s up killer?”

  He and Phil broke into hysterics, while Lestra seemed as cool and collected as ever. She was far better equipped than I last saw her. She was wearing armor made out of some kind of dark red scale and carrying a steel banded club. She was no longer a simple skeleton and appeared to have black gemstones for eyes. Dendro’s avatar had wisps of dark gray smoke wafting off its bones. He was wearing a gold and red robe and carrying his heavy ornate book on his waist in a large sling.

  Giving them a tight unfriendly smile I ignored KKG’s goading and continued my survey of the room. There was only one other player garnering a lot of attention. A goblin-like skeleton wearing leather armor who reminded me of the shop owner I had seen earlier was surrounded by five or six other players. He was wearing goggles and speaking in a rich deep voice that I recognized from somewhere. He was posted up next to Valerie and her boyfriend.

  Valerie looked much the same as I last saw her. Her damaged armor and shield had been replaced with equipment bearing the symbol of her house. The grime and blood of our adventures were long gone and Valerie’s long dark hair and violaceous skin bore the hallmarks of more noble treatment. She hadn’t noticed me yet. My thoughts drifted back to that last interaction at the gates of Braithe and I realized that I was smiling. Sighing, I turned my attention to the figures next to her.

  Cardienne looked quite a bit different than when I last saw him. He had more of a regal posture and bearing and was wearing heavy ornate armor and a crown. Besides sharing a whispered and brief conversation with Val, he seemed intent on ignoring everyone.

  Sakurai was leaning against a wall near them and, from her distant look, seemed to be absorbed in her menus. Valerie stood up sharper when she saw me and almost smiled until it faded into a wince at the sight of my missing arm, “What did that?”

  Putting on an air of nonchalance and a ready roguish smile I gestured at the stump and said, “Oh, that. I’ll be right as rain in no time. It was something called a Mated Eternal Hunter. Sakurai and I ran into it in the hamlet.”

  An awkward moment passed as Valerie’s brilliant golden eyes bored into mine. She started to speak but was interrupted when young Cardienne stepped between us and glared at me growling a greeting, “Monster.”

  Young Alphonse had gained a significant amount of his spine back now that he had soldiers within earshot. Smirking at him I offered a small nod of my head, “If it isn't my old friend Shaky.”

  His face hardened and he cocked his head as he asked, “What is this Shaky? That is not my name.”

  “You don’t like it? It’s a nickname,” I growled as I stepped closer to glare at him, “it’s what I remember you doing every second of our last meeting.”

  The shaking did indeed return. The young consort started to reach for the sword at his hip but something stopped him. After a baited moment, he dropped his hand to his side and smirked at me.

  A booming voice near my shins distracted me from the tense interaction, “You the one who set this up?”

  The small skeleton wearing goggles was looking up at me expectantly.

  Raising an eyebrow, I nodded and said, “I’m Florin,” as I extended my hand.

  He reached up and shook it as he said, “Protag.”

  My eyebrows shot up and I chuckled, “Holy shit, I’m a big fan of your work.”

  He cocked his head and seemed to be amused, “Not many folks say that. I appreciate it.”

  Protag was, by 2030s streamer standards, a legend. At his height he was the most subscribed male streamer on Sett. He ran an entire squad of multiplayer pranksters who had a presence on multiple platforms. He was already nearly forty when he started his streaming career and bucked the trend by being popular in multiple demographics. He and Dendro, KKG’s weasely friend, had even run in the same circles for a while. I heard he quit streaming in 2024 when his wife got sick. In a similar vein to a lot of people I’d met here he had just vanished. A few of his friends still streamed regularly but no one talked about Protag anymore.

  Looking to Valerie, who was still staring at me as if she was eager to talk in private, I nodded, “Well, it seems Lady de Lafontaine and Shaky came through for us with the troops. We just need a commander and we can take this show on the road. Valerie told me that the descent to the next zone is within some fortified old noble manor in the city. We just have to murder a bunch of cultists.”

  Protag guffawed and gestured to his following of motley skeletons and zombies, “I ain’t got no problem with that. We’ve been cutting a swath through those bastards already. We got a whole army and the element of surprise I’d say we can clear it and set up a base of operations to send folks down once they are done around here.”

  Valerie stepped forward, raising her chin as she spoke resolutely, “All we ask is that you don’t harm anyone who isn’t in the cult or directly attacks your group.”

  KKG spoke up from his spot near the wall, “Bullshit, you know how much exp is in that city?”

  Shooting him a tight smile, I said, “I’m sure there are plenty of quests for you to get your exp without going on a killing spree.”

  He beamed that black and gold smile and pointed at me, “Big killer man doesn’t want to kill? Am I in the fucking Twilight Zone, bro?”

  When I flinched at that statement I knew from his smile that he had seen it. Shaking my head I spread my hands and gave him a warning look, “Can we not…”

  He hopped up from his seat and spread his arms wide as the entire chapel turned to regard him, “We got the man himself in the house boys!”

  One of the other players spoke up, “Who is he?”

  KKG pointed finger guns at me and chuckled, “This is motherfuckin’ Malcolm Voss. The Vox himself!”

  A stream of murmurs filled the chamber. I felt my face slipping and ran my hand through my hair. I should just leave. It wasn’t worth all this. I shouldn’t be the reason this whole thing…

  Shaking my head to dispel the dark thoughts I muttered, “Nah, fuck that,” and plastered a smile back onto my face as I removed my voice modulator and spread my hands as I said, “You got me. Malcolm Voss. That’s me.”

  A very few of them looked excited, the looks I’d seen on the faces of fans every time I went to a con or other public event. Most of them looked concerned or in some cases afraid.

  Protag somehow looked confused despite his skeletal features. When I started to explain I spotted Cardienne pulling Valerie toward one of the arches out of the church. Speaking up loud enough to cut through all the chatter, I dispelled the rumbling crowd in the church into complete silence, “Something wrong Shaky?”

  The young man nearly fell as he turned to look at me. His light lilac skin was even paler than usual. Valerie glared at him and put a hand on his shoulder as she said something I couldn’t hear.

  Scowling, I summoned my blade into my remaining hand as I cursed, “It’s a fucking trap.”

  The soldiers waiting beyond the arches rushed into the room and towards the adventurers roaring battle cries as they brought their weapons to bear.

  Falling into my stance I rushed the nearest soldier, leading with my blades.

  To KKG’s credit, he was the next to act, right on my heels.