Jane had no time to look and see what had caused Winnie’s distress. Right now, she had a spear-wielding Scarlet Shadow, whatever that was, to deal with. Gold Crusade; Scarlet Shadows. These criminal organizations sure loved giving themselves fancy labels.

Winnie cried out, “Help me!”

But Jane couldn’t. She forged her way forward through the water and brown morass about her legs, pushing against the spearwoman, refusing to give her enough room to use that weapon.

The spearwoman, who was thankfully lower level and not that smart, didn’t fight back with her fists. She kept backing up, trying to give herself space to use her spear, only banging the haft against Jane’s arm and side. 

Jane’s stamina was draining as fast as usual, but she chipped away at the other woman’s health almost as quickly.

The spearwoman slipped and went down on her back.

With a thrill of opportunity found, Jane leapt atop her in order to hold her body underwater. 

The spearwoman struggled but was fairly helpless, sputtering fetid sewer garbage each time her head surfaced.

Jane took a split second to look up.

Winnie fended off three medium slimes, each waist high and a couple of meters wide. Two were brown, and the third was darkly glowing red, a fire-type. “Help! Can’t you see I’m outnumbered! [Icicle]!” 

The shot of ice forced one slime to halt while it healed itself, but the other two kept coming. Gross-smelling steam rose from around the fire slime as it oozed forward.

Jane ignored a flare of indignation at the woman’s self-centred attitude. She could darn well fend for herself because Jane had someone of her own to defeat. 

The spearwoman’s head went under. Desperate for breath, she became ferocious. 

Jane put more weight on the woman’s chest. It was very unpleasant killing another person. Though this wasn’t her first full-dive MMO, not even her first human kill in this game, it sickened her every time. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to it. Actually, she hoped she never did. She preferred fighting zombies and monsters. Slimes, even poo slimes, were fine. When you thought about it, for a game to require people to kill human beings was pretty twisted.

The spearwoman died and fell limp. 

“[Icicle]! Argh! Get off!”

Jane looked up to see that Winnie had been backed into the far wall. She couldn’t fire her magic fast enough to kill any one slime, and each healed while the other two attacked. They pressed up against her legs, eating at her HP.

Roger was in an even worse position, down on both knees, water around his waist, desperately blocking overhead strikes from the rogue he fought. Although, at least he’d taken down half the rogue’s health.

She made a snap decision. Hopefully, it had been fuelled by the practicality of taking down the enemy already at half health in order to free the warrior and free up more firepower and not by spite at the annoying mage who showed no appreciation for what the other two were dealing with.

“[Icicle]! Gah!”

Jane did her best football charge, sloshing toward the rogue as fast as she could in the water, lowering her shoulder, and knocking him off his feet. 

Roger, panting, grunted and got to his feet. “Thanks!” 

They both hit the rogue before the Shadow could regain his balance. Knife and sword turned him into a pincushion. 

The Scarlet Shadow was furious. “No! This can’t be my end. I deserve better than this!” The rogue gave one last gasp and died.

Roger didn’t tarry. He turned and raced toward the slimes. 

“[Icicle]! Hurry! Get them off!” Winnie’s face twisted in pain, and her health had rapidly fallen. She had seconds of life left.

Roger plunged his flaming sword into the nearest poo slime. It quivered in pain and tried to move away, internal ooze boiling away.

Jane, unsure how to proceed, kicked the fire slime away from Winnie, pushing it backward. Then she yanked Winnie out of the slippery grasp of the third slime, putting the mage safely behind her.

“Finally! What took you so long?”

Jane nearly turned around and stabbed her.

“[Icicle]!” The projectile punctured the fire slime, which was weakest to the ice magic. 

A reaction seemed to take place when the ice entered the fiery interior. The slime swelled like an explosion had taken place inside. 

Winnie growled, “You hold the other ones off. I’ll kill this one first.”

Jane had no problem with that. Her lame knife slipped and slid off the poo slime in front of her, and its secretions burned her bare arms, the stench still making her want to vomit. But she held her own, slowly killing it. She had more HP than it did, so it was only a matter of time. 

Soon enough, Roger appeared, and a thrust of his sword to ended the slime. He gave a tired smile. “Woo. Last one.”

Jane swayed and shook from the exertion. She’d spent the entire fight with her stamina hovering just above empty, trying to manage it before it ran out entirely and left her stunned. Head heavy, arms at her sides, she looked over at the fire slime. 

Winnie triumphantly stood over the disintegrating monster. “Ha. Take that.” She reached up to wipe her forehead with a forearm and stopped just before doing so, realizing she was covered in grossness. “Ugh. Ok. Let’s go.”

Roger hesitated. “Drops—?”

“I don’t care. I want out. Let’s go.”

“But—“

“I’m tired, stressed out, covered in crap, and starving.”

Jane had had enough. Annoyance won out, and she snapped, “Oh for eff’s sake.”

Winnie frowned at her. “Excuse me?”

“You think you have it rough?” Jane gestured to Roger. “Can’t you see what he’s been going through this whole time? Are you teammates? Or do you only care about yourself?”

Roger held up his hands in protest. “Oh, it’s ok. You don’t…” He trailed off.

The woman’s face went through changes. First, she was angry, snarling, mouth opening with a sharp retort, no doubt. But then she glared at Roger, and something shifted in her gaze. Some awareness seemed to strike her. The anger faded, and though it didn’t disappear, there was embarrassment there. Instead of replying, she looked away, not meeting their gazes.

Jane only half noticed, thinking it was a good sign. If Winnie could be embarrassed, then the woman wasn’t entirely a jerk after all. But more importantly, Jane’s words triggered her own realization. Her annoyance at the woman drained away, replaced by a sense of humility. 

Because she’d been acting somewhat the same toward Quill, hadn’t she? At least…well, she wasn’t entirely sure of her thoughts and feelings, but some sense in the back of her mind seemed to finally register that maybe things going sour between them hadn’t been entirely his fault. She might also be to blame. No, she was sure she was.

Jane strode forward but stopped next to Winnie to put a hand on the other’s shoulder, ignoring the brown handprint this caused. She made her voice kind again. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I’m sure we’ll all feel better once we get cleaned up.”

Winnie nodded once and moved forward. Seemed like she was thinking about serious things, too.

Roger didn’t look at Jane or say anything. He fell into step next to his partner and remained there in solidarity for the trip out.

They exited the sewers at a canal, where the brown sludge drained into it. Unnaturally, the brown mixed with the clean water of the canal only a short way before disappearing. Perhaps because the programmers didn’t want brown canals.

Jane doubtfully looked down at the clear water. “Ugh. Mental note, do not drink canal water, no matter how clean it looks.”

Roger chuckled, though he seemed uneasy with her now, and he stuck close to Winnie. After all, she was his party member and Jane a relative stranger. He wanted to protect the more important relationship already established.

Jane was cool with it. And figured it might be best to give them space. The idea of joining their party didn’t seem like a natural fit. Not that they were bad people, just…well, they weren’t Quill. And maybe she wasn’t done with Quill just yet.

They cleaned off in the canal as best they could. Standing on a stone staircase going down the side of the canal, they pulled off their clothes and created a brown stain around themselves as they scrubbed.

Winnie, more subdued now, looked frustrated as she bent over, her locks in the water and scraped her fingers through the icky hair. She sighed. “What I wouldn’t give for a hot bath.”

Furthest down the stairs so that he was chest deep, his shirt off as he pulled off his pants below the dirty surface, Roger agreed. “Too bad we don’t have money for the public bath.”

Jane’s head jerked up. “Public what now?”

“Baths.” At her blank but very interested look, he explained. “Over by the temple. Looks kind of like a government building from the outside.”

“They have a public bath. Seriously.”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

She blinked twice. “Hot water?’

“I guess.”

She leaned forward. “Soap?”

“Probably? But it’s a silver entrance fee.”

“Let’s go.” She took to washing twice as hard, wanting to get as clean as possible before going in the public bath. 

He looked awkward. “Uh…we can’t really afford it. We’re trying to save as much as we can. It’s not cheap at our level.”

She shrugged his worries off. “Don’t worry. I got it.”

His brows rose. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.” She had cash. An extra two silver? No big deal. “We worked as a team down there. Couldn’t have made it out of there without you two.”

He glanced at Winnie, who now looked annoyed again. 

But she spoke up, “That would be nice. Thank you.”

Jane shrugged. “All good.”

The other woman’s features screwed up as she warred in some internal debate. Finally, “Sorry about earlier.”

Jane smiled. “It’s ok. It was a crappy situation.”

A moment of silence, then Roger snickered at the wordplay. “Nice.”

Even Winnie smiled for the first time.

They made their way through the streets, carving a wide bubble through the crowd as players and even NPCs gave them all a wide birth, pinching noses and sending lots of joking insults their way. 

Jane didn’t care. Bath… Bathbathbath…

The public bath was everything she’d hoped. Separated into men’s and women’s sections, each side had three hot-tub-sized pools of varying temperatures and a washing area with — soap.

“Yes!” Jane, nude at a washing station, sitting on a short wooden stool, exulted as she liberally coated every inch of herself in suds. A small waterfall coming out of the stone wall in front of her allowed her to collect warm water in a small bucket and dump it over her head and body. She was getting clean!

Winnie relaxed as the two washed and soaked. The two fell into idle conversation, and things improved between them.

When they left the bath and met Roger outside about sunset, he was quick to show his appreciation. “Thank you, Jane. That was amazing.”

Winnie smiled. “Yes. Thank you so much. I feel human again.”

Jane was about to wave their thanks away, then thought better of it and bowed her head instead. “No problem. I really needed that.” She reached into her now-cleaned backpack, which she’d laundered inside, and pulled out two more silver. She handed them out. “Dinner is on me, too. You guys get some good food in you after that quest.”

Roger was hesitant, half reaching out but also wanting to turn her down. “You don’t have to—“

“It’s fine. Take it.” She pressed the coins into their hands. “You guys have a good day. I…need to go find someone and work things out.”

Winnie opened her mouth, then hesitated but decided to continue. “If you ever want to party-up some time…”

“That would be great. Thank you.” And she meant it. She shook their hands, waved goodbye, and went in search of Quill.

She thought she might as well start at the last place she saw him: the adventurers guild. During the walk there, her head hung low, and she lost herself in thought. 

Part of her was still upset at him. But a bigger part of her realized that the rupture between them was also her fault. And regardless of his side of things, she had to take responsibility for hers. 

It made her wonder about things. Like, who was she? What kind of person? Perhaps more importantly, who did she want to be? Because no matter who she was right now, she could always become better, right?

At least, she wanted to be the type of person who could improve. 

She found Quill in the back corner of the guild tavern, next to a window overlooking the rather uninteresting alley on this side of the building. He looked morose. But the beer was gone, replaced by a glass of water. His eyes stared out the window at nothing. 

Jane tried not to notice the puzzled looks and wrinkled noses people around her got as she wound her way between tables towards the corner. Perhaps her backpack or clothes weren’t as clean as she’d hoped. She came up to Quill’s table, heart fluttering, ready for him to be angry with her, surprised her own anger had almost entirely melted away. “Hey.”

He did a double-take but thankfully didn’t seem upset, only wary. “Hey.” He started to rise.

But she sat, waving him down. “Can we talk?”

He gave her an uncertain look, probably afraid she was going to yell at him or say more horrible things about him. “Sure.”

She took a moment to compose her thoughts, busying herself with taking the backpack — which, yes, did smell a bit — off and putting it at her feet under the table. Then she took a breath and looked at him. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier. That was really cruel. I don’t mean any of it. I don’t think badly of you at all.”

He pulled back, skeptical.

“Really.” She leaned her elbows on the table and looked down at her hands. “We’re both going through a lot. I’m sure most people are in this game. And with Aarush dying…and other people, too… I know you weren’t living with anyone, either. And you must have been really afraid of dying as well.”

He looked away at that.

“I was caught up in my own feelings. And I needed comfort. But when you didn’t follow me out of the plaza that night, I…” She fidgeted. It wasn’t easy to share and be vulnerable, but she wanted him to understand her because she wanted to fix things. 

He turned back, and it seemed like he was listening, that he wanted to hear. But he stayed silent, only making her more nervous.

It was difficult to meet his eyes, so she mostly spoke to the table, only glancing up now and then. “Out in the real world, I was dealing with a lot. My family rejected me. Being an influencer is emotionally tough ‘cause of so many nasty comments and haters out there. I guess I’ve lost a bunch of friends, though some of that’s my fault. I — I was feeling rejected by a lot of people, some of them really important to me. So when I met you, I think maybe part of me was waiting for you to reject me, too. And that night, it was all the excuse I needed.” And a growing part of her was waiting for him to reject her again right now.

He slowly nodded. “I did…try to find you. At one point. Sort of.” He looked down. “I didn’t try nearly as hard as I should have.”

She was increasingly nervous but plowed on ahead, feeling like she was risking so much of herself by putting herself out there. “I want to be clear. I really enjoyed being in a party with you. And meeting you has made this whole traumatic experience way better than if I’d been alone or with other people. I respect you. And I’d like to be a party again.”

He was silent for a few moments, the tension rising between them. Finally, “I’d like that, too.”

Relief flooded her.

“I’m sorry, too.” He shook his head like he was angry with himself. “I was so caught up in myself. You’re right; I should have tried to comfort you. We were partners, and I failed you.”

“I understand—“

“No, no matter what, I should have been better. I should have been there when you needed me.”

That hit her in the heart somewhere. Apparently, she hadn’t let go of all her resentment after all. So it felt good to hear him say that. 

Very serious, he looked into her eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

Suddenly nervous again, she rapidly nodded. “Of course.” What was he going to say?

He frowned. “Why do you smell, uh, different?”

She blushed. “Poo slime. Giant poo slime. Seriously. The size of a house.”

“What? You’ve been gone for a few hours.” He glanced out the window, where it was now dark. “Er, several hours, I guess.”

“How about I explain over dinner? Before we go to the public bath.”

He straightened in interest. “Bath?”

“Oh, it’s soooo good! Some other people showed me. We have to go. Because I guess I need another round.”

“It not that baa…”

She cocked her head. 

“Yeah, good call.” He still seemed out of sorts, still down and, well, lost. But at least they didn’t seem to be angry at each other anymore.

Jane wanted to cheer him up, to get them back to a healthier place. And she thought maybe she could help him feel better. She clapped her hands. “Ok. Let’s eat. Have a drink. Then go do the bathhouse. And tonight, we stay at an inn and get a good night’s sleep.”

He became embarrassed. “Actually…I don’t have any money.”

“You spent it all?” She was astonished. They’d had decent funds. 

“No. I was mugged.” He looked ashamed. “By two women.”

“Huh?”

“To be fair, two women with super high stats. One had max strength, apparently.”

“Ok…I think maybe we both have stories to tell.”

“I can’t pay—“

“I’ll pay. It’s fine. And tomorrow, we’ll make more, all right?”

He reluctantly bowed his head in acquiescence. 

“Good. Tonight, let’s enjoy ourselves.” She smiled at him. She was going to be cheerful and kind and put a smile on his face. Because that’s what a friend would do. She was going to call this her…Lost Quill Quest, and it was going to be her mission to find the awesome version of him that she knew was the real him, just — lost — under stress and anxiety and depression right now.

They ate a hearty meal: roasted baby boar seasoned with hot spices and savoury gravy; cool and crunchy salad with sweet apple slices and some kind of flower petals; and what looked like steamed barley triangle things that Quill called onigiri, which he said were usually made with rice. All of it was delicious. 

Quill stayed well away from alcohol, which she respected after seeing him drowning in it before. She herself had a really interesting beer that was peppery and herbal, then a malty stout that left her tipsy but thankfully wore off soon enough. 

After dinner, they went on a quick shopping trip, where Jane bought a cheap shirt, pants, and underwear. “I’m never getting these clothes completely clean. Better to just buy new.”

He agreed.

While the food and mutual stories eased things between them, their time in the bathhouse was a nice breath of space, allowing them their own thoughts and feelings as they processed what was going on between them. 

Well, Jane spent some time processing but more time scrubbing the ever-loving hell out of her every possession, determined to get that smell out. After a half hour of it, though, she gave up, and not just on her clothes. “Screw it. I’ll just make two more bags.” Though she kept this one, for now, to hide the unique bikini in. 

She came out of the building feeling very refreshed. 

Quill emerged looking better as well. When he saw her, his eyes were drawn to a specific sight, just as she’d intended. 

She hid a prideful smile. She’d purposefully not dried her chest before putting the new shirt on, and now the thin fabric clung to her curves. The cooler night air had also stiffened her nipples. Hey, he was a guy. Who didn’t appreciate a little fan service? If that didn’t cheer him up at least a little…she would probably have to go shopping for a new ego as well because hers would be crushed. 

Thankfully, he reacted just the way she’d planned. And after a few seconds, she couldn’t help but knowingly smile, after all. 

He noticed her noticing his staring and failed to fight back a grin. He leaned in close and loudly sniffed. “Hmm. Better.”

She pointed at his mouth. “Ahhh! There it is. A smile!”

“Oh, bite me.” When she moved to do so, he jumped out of reach. “No! Not for real.”

She slid up next to him and lightly hip-checked him. In a sing-song voice, she asked, “Shout to my lost boy. You rowdy?”

He was puzzled for a second, then chuckled. Ruefully, he ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the stars. “Not yet. But I do feel better. Thank you.” He looked over at her. “You?”

She slowly nodded. “I feel better. I’m glad we talked.”

“Me, too.”

Only a little nervous, she opened her player menu and invited him to form a party.

Nodding to himself, he accepted.

She grinned.