Chapter 34

  I took another long sip of my hot chocolate, taking a moment to close my eyes, lose myself in the delicious flavor for a single extra moment, before I opened my eyes, returning to the present. This wasn’t all a dream. And the absolutely stunning woman before me… who happened to be in a cult, was still there. The way she looked at me with those silver eyes, her lips pursed slightly, as if she were trying to memorize every detail about me, was just… so not fair.

  “I, uh,” I licked my lips, cleaning them of any lingering chocolate, “I’ve been enjoying it so far, yeah.” Well, that was brilliant.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” she folded her hands, resting her chin atop them as she continued to watch me. “I know for some, winding up in a new world can be quite an experience. Many find themselves lost and confused.” She practically purred as she spoke.

  I took another drink.

  “Well, I, uh, haven’t really had any issues. Honestly, I’d be lying if I said being here wasn’t the most exciting thing to have ever happened to me.”

  “That’s good,” she looked at my Gauntlet, then back at me, “I’m assuming, that you’re on your way to Silver Springs? May I ask what your plans are, now that you’re here?”

  Previously, my run in with cult members here had been extremely negative. After all, they’d tried to practically press gang me into joining their cult. But, so far, this mysterious lady, seemed to just be talking to me. Was… was she going to try to recruit me? Did she have some nefarious plans? Or was I just something, er, someone interesting she was conversing with to pass time for the evening? If it was the last one, I wouldn’t mind. Not at all.

  “You would be right in your assumption,” another sip, “guess taking on Keepers is the only way to get my Gauntlet Tiers up, and at the rate I’ve been leveling my Muns, well, I should probably do that sooner, rather than later.”

  “And after you beat Julius?” She asked, “what then?”

  “Julius?” I asked.

  “The Keeper at Silver Springs,” she responded sweetly, “his name is Julius.”

  “Oh, well, after that, I guess I’ll probably head to the next city, and kind of… repeat the process?” If my Mun’s had reached level 20 so quickly, I had no doubt they’d climb to thirty equally fast. And, I wanted my Gauntlet to reach at least Tier 3, so I could have an amplifier and unlock the final augmenting stone slot. That would also give me the ability to have Muns up to level 50, which seemed a pretty healthy strength point, assuming 100 was the max here?

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” she continued, never once looking away from my face, my eyes, “why do you want to level up your Gauntlet?”

  “So I can have stronger Muns?” I said dumbly. “I, kind of want to capture and train and evolve as many Muns as I kind find.” It was kind of my thing in taming games. I could care less about beating the final challenge at the end, unless the game was especially cruel and kept cool creatures locked behind that as a soft end game type of deal. Otherwise, yeah, I always just preferred to complete collections and discover any secret evolutions or fusions or whatever else may exist in the game.

  “Is that all you want to do while you’re here?” She asked, pressing me, gently, for more information.

  “Pretty much,” I replied honestly.

  “No ulterior motives?” More pressure. Her eyes holding mine captive. They were the most stunning eyes I’d ever had the chance to look into, honestly.

  “If,” I started, feeling my annoyance start to come forth, even as I knew I’d gladly get lost in those eyes under normal circumstances. But first, I figured we needed to move past this questioning bullshit, “you’re asking if I am planning to take out the Cu—” Her eyes narrowed, “—Disciples of Grand Nox. No. I know there’s some prophecy or belief or something that a Traveler would do that, but that’s not me. As far as I’m concerned, I want absolutely nothing to do with the organization you’re a part of,” then, my voice softening, “no offense, of course.”

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  She smiled and leaned back. God she’s so fucking hot. I thought as my eyes took her in. Pretty sure the internet would be calling her a goth mommy if they saw her picture anywhere back home, and, honestly…

  “None taken,” she said with a smile. Even as she continued to speak, she ordered a drink, which magically appeared in her hand. The glass reminded me of a martini glass, and it was filled with a purplish black liquid, and topped with a berry. “And I’m sorry, if my questioning seemed a bit direct.” She took a sip, smiling. Her lipstick was practically the color of the liquid. “Just, figured we should get them out of the way, before anything else. After all,” another sip, as she eyed me from over the rim, “I’d rather we get all the uncomfortable topics out of the way, before we let ourselves just enjoy the night, don’t you?”

  I need liquor. I thought immediately. My hot chocolate was almost all gone anyways. Time to follow it with something stronger. Much stronger. What was she drinking? I looked at the table screen as I called it forth, trying to browse for whatever sounded like what she was drinking.

  “Allow me,” she said with a kind smile. A moment later, another drink appeared, and she slid it towards me, “my treat, obviously, as a welcome to Mutopia.”

  “How did you…” I trailed off as I took the drink. It smelled like blackberries, with only the faintest hint of alcohol. I took a sip, and marveled at how sweet and sour and tart it could be, the alcohol all but impossible to taste. Oh, that’s dangerously good.

  “It’s clear you’re still unfamiliar with how everything works here,” she said with a smile, holding her drink lazily in her left hand as she tapped the table, “and you don’t know what everything is called. Once you get the hang of it, you can order things without having to scroll through the lists, just by thinking of it.”

  “Is that so?” I asked, having not known that. Good to know.

  “It is,” she smiled sweetly, “I can teach you other things about the way the world works here, too, if you’d be interested.”

  “Would that involve me having to join the Disciples?” I asked, narrowing my eyes even as I took another sip of the delicious beverage.

  “It wouldn’t hurt if you did,” she said, before she shrugged, “though, I wouldn’t force you to. Not everyone is suited for the Disciples, after all.”

  She was good.

  That simple, offhanded phrase immediately had me prickling. I almost took her up on that statement, right then and there. What did she mean, not suited for. Was she implying I wasn’t good enough to join the disciples.

  Of course, I calmed down before I could say or do anything rash. Impulsive as I could be at times, I knew reverse psychology when I heard it… my mind just was a bit distracted by the absolute goddess sitting across from me to process it quickly.

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” I took another drink. “Besides, I ran into a couple members of the Disciples earlier today… and it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.”

  She chuckled, the sound pure as a plucked chord from a harp. It sent shivers through my body.

  “I did hear about that,” she sighed, “which is also why I figured I would buy you a drink. As an apology, for those two.”

  I drank said free drink, though my eyes narrowed, “you know about what happened this morning?”

  “It’s not every day members are randomly, per the world’s magic, returned to the local chapter base. Nor every day when they start complaining about a Traveler with a Tier 0 gauntlet and a Cogberus at her command.”

  Her eyes refocused intently on me, her smile sweet, yet predatory. “When I heard the story, I couldn’t help but come out here searching for you. Considering they’d mentioned you were with a Traveling Guy,” she motioned around, “this seemed the best place to look.”

  I swallowed hard. She’d been searching for me. But, wait. How far away did Aaron and Ember get teleported? Was it close by? If so, did that mean I had to worry about them showing up? Or did this lady have a way to travel even faster than I knew was capable? This was a world with magical creatures. Maybe she had one she flew on? Was that an option? Because if so, I super needed one of those in my life.

  “So, you were looking for.” I said, my guard starting to come back up. “Why?”

  “To apologize, like I said,” she offered, “to buy you a drink. To find out what your intentions are here, and, of course, to introduce myself. And, I suppose, to pay a visit to my dad, considering it would seem he has actively picked… the wrong side… of history.” Her tone took on one of venom at the last part. It was equally deadly, and somehow, alluring. The same way a Cobra’s hood was a thing of artistic beauty, even though it could kill you in a second.

  She shook her head, smiled sweetly at me, and held out her left hand. I took it in a shake. “My name is Sasha, though most usually refer to me as the Abnormal Queen,” she looked at her wrist, where again, I took note of the fact her 6 Mun crystals all had that slight, off color, that denoted Abnormal Muns. “One of the Three Pillars of Disciples of Grand Nox,” she continued, which sounded grand, but meant nothing to me, “and, the daughter of the Mayor of Cogni.”