Sarah was sitting at the dining room table with Yuki and Naomi eating a dinner consisting of homemade lasagna. Yuki had been in a sour mood ever since earlier this morning. It being Friday had helped her attitude a little.

 

“Yuki, sweety. What is bothering you?” Sarah finally broke down and asked Yuki. Yuki continued to poke at her lasagna and ate it with trepidation.

 

“A quest I did last night really pissed me off. Sorry if I am bringing the mood down. I just can’t stop thinking about it.” Yuki said with a frown and stuffed food into her mouth.

 

“Did you die, or was it too hard?” Sarah said as she picked up her tea and took a sip. “You can take a break from the game. I am not forcing you to play it. Sometimes to relax, you just need to do nothing at all.”

 

Yuki poked at her food for a bit, her eyes glazed over, lost in thought. “No, that’s not it. I was betrayed by someone I thought I could trust.” Yuki recounted her adventures with the faeries over the past week and her eventual transformation.

 

“It’s not like I don’t understand where she comes from. She wanted to protect her daughter, but it still hurt, y’know? There were better ways to do it, but she just threw me under the bus as some sacrificial lamb. It makes me wonder if she truly cares about her subjects or decides their fate on a whim because she can do so.” Yuki then stabbed her fork into a big chunk of lasagna and popped it into her mouth.

 

It felt like a cold aura was emitted from Sarah once she heard Yuki’s story. “Mothers are scary when their child is at stake. I may have to visit this Faery Queen,” Sarah said sternly.

 

“Mom! You don’t need to worry about it. After I left the Summer Court, I returned to the swamp. I was furious then, so when I saw the witch, Carmun, I clocked her real good. Should have seen it. Her head snapped back, and she hit the edge of the alter breaking it.” Yuki said in a much happier mood.

 

Sarah laughed and then replied. “Your violent temper is coming out more often, dear.”

 

Yuki shrugged her shoulders and happily ate more of her food. “Well, I told her I punched her for kidnapping me and making me drink that potion or whatever it was. She stood up afterward and laughed it off, saying I had good form. She then said she would train me in combat and tactics like when she was with the Amazon Warriors. After that, I may have declared war on the summer court.”

 

Sarah slowly chewed her food while in thought. Then coming to an idea, she spoke. “I don’t really condone this violence…but…make sure you give her a good punch from me. Though this also brings up another topic. Amazon warriors make me think of Greece. They seem to be using a lot of different mythologies for this game. I wonder if places like Greece or Rome exist in this game.”

 

Naomi took her plate to the kitchen and put it away, returning to the table after. “It’s not uncommon for games or other forms of media to pull from myth and folklore. I am almost positive the game has a country or continent resembling ancient Greece or Rome. I think the proof of this is that Yuki is the queen of the Unseelie. Some lore out there says the Unseelie are the Winter Court, while others say they are their own faction.”

 

Sarah had a thoughtful look as she digested the information from Naomi. “Sounds like you know your mythologies then. I wonder what inspiration was given to our starting area then?”

 

“I had a phase in high school. Our area was inspired by medieval and dark ages Europe, so we have things such as faeries. Some players have even said they have seen some things from old Norse folk tales further up north. The other starting zone to the east is reminiscent of ancient China and has flying swords. So, this game has a bit of everything, I guess.”

 

Naomi put her arms on the table and cradled her head, trying to soothe her stomach as she overate. Once she had abated her stomachache she spoke again. “Are you sure I can use your VR headset? I feel like I am just taking advantage of you, and I don’t like it.” she asked with a tinge of worry in her voice.

 

Earlier in the week, Sarah received an email stating that the wireless VR headset was due to come out earlier than planned. Since she was entitled to one for her troubles with the game, she would receive it this week. To help Naomi get out of her funk, she offered it so she could play the game with them.

 

Sarah could see that Naomi was trying to be independent and not rely on her goodwill. Naomi was still looking for jobs, despite protests from Sarah. Sarah had been practicing potion-making and enchanting for the upcoming event for the past week. Emiko, Naomi’s character, had joined her in the capital, and they had met up a couple times but never really did much beyond having lunch together.

 

“You think Aunt Alex will be at the first part of the event. I know she wasn’t planning on doing the crafting stuff, but I wonder if she will spectate.” Yuki said, breaking Sarah out of her thoughts.

 

“I think she will. She messaged me earlier in the week, saying that she would be busy leveling up and trying to get a good rebirth option. I haven’t heard from her since I am sure….” Sarah was saying this until she was interrupted by the doorbell.

 

Sarah got up, went to the door, and looked through the peephole. She saw Alex standing there, wearing sunglasses despite the sun setting. Sarah opened the door to invite her in.

 

“Come in, Alex. We were just talking about you.” Sarah greeted Alex as she ushered her into the dining room. “I made lasagna. You are welcome to some if you want.”

 

“Thanks, I think I will. I am absolutely starving.” Alex said as she walked in. Alex strode into the kitchen and put a big helping of food on a plate. With steaming lasagna in hand, Alex sat at the table and started to eat as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

 

“Calm down there, sis. The food isn’t going anywhere. Also, you can take the shades off while inside. I know I have a blinding personality, but it isn’t that bright.” Sarah said while chuckling.

 

“Sorry, I haven’t eaten in a week, and the sunglasses are because everything is very bright to me.” Alex then removed her sunglasses. A gasp could be heard from everyone at the table. Her eyes were the same magenta-colored eyes Sarah had.

 

“What happened to you?! Did you go through the same dungeon I did?” Sarah said in shock and in anger as she thought of her sister going through the same troubles she did.

 

“No, I did a quest. Met a girl a bit older than Yuki to save her family. It went tits up. The girl died unfortunately, she had grown on me, and I miss her a bit.” Alex said with a bit of melancholy. “Then I met a five-headed dragon. Next thing I know, I am being ushered into a portal where I met the same creatures you did in that dungeon.”

 

Alex paused long enough to eat more lasagna. Sarah was a great cook. Something Alex wished she was better at. “They were all nice enough. I had to learn a few things, and my eyes were ripped out and replaced. Nothing major.” Alex laughed at how she downplayed her events.

 

“That’s not funny! You were in your pod for a week with no one there for you!” Sarah yelled back at Alex.

 

Alex let out an awkward chuckle while scratching her cheek. “Sorry for making you worry about me. I wasn’t alone, though. Eri was sent to my house to watch me and ensure I was fine. Something about not wanting to anger an Outer God or something.”

 

Sarah sat back down and let out a loud sigh. “I suspected Eri was real, but this drives home that fact. You get everything I did too? The Force and the I See Dead People bit?”

 

As if to prove Sarah’s point, Alex lifted her fork up using psionics and fed herself another mouthful of lasagna. Yuki laughed, seeing her aunt’s antics. “Maybe we should call you the Psion Twins,” she said jokingly.

 

Sarah and Alex looked at each other and then used their psionic abilities to levitate their forks and have a mock sword fight with them. Yuki and Naomi, who were watching the event, laughed. Yuki eventually fell to the floor, holding her side.

 

Sarah and Alex eventually stopped their horseplay, and Alex went back to eating her food. “So, did you go through the same trials I did?” Sarah asked as she picked up her dishes and went to the kitchen.

 

“Based on what you told me about yours, no. Well, at least not really. I had lessons, and the idea behind them was more or less the same as your trials, but it wasn’t as harrowing as yours. I asked about that, and they gave me some vague answer about how, at the time, that was the best they could do.” Replied Alex as she finished her dinner.

 

“I wonder If I will get powers eventually. You and mom got them now.” Yuki said as she sat on the couch in front of the TV.

 

“Don’t worry. You will get them one day.” Sarah said, sitting beside Yuki and pulling her in for a hug. Alex and Naomi eventually joined the two on the couch. It was a tight fit, and everyone was in everybody’s lap.

 

“Are you going to watch the first event when it starts tomorrow?” Sarah asked Alex.

 

“I might not watch the whole thing, to be honest, but I will watch when you are participating. I have to go into town and do my rebirth anyway.” Alex said as she tickled Naomi. Naomi tried to fight back against Alex, but the prankster quit before she could do anything. “Mind if I crash here for the night? I have been away for a week, stuck in a game. I could do with some human interaction.”

 

“That’s fine with me. Sleep wherever you want. You know where the spare blankets are.” Sarah replied. Then, she used her psionics to grab the TV remote and turn it on.