At the Observatory—

I pumped my fist. “They did it! They took out the assassin! Good job, Elma!”

“Fainn, the Mission has been marked as completed... We have permission to pull them back now, but given that they’re on their way to stop the people who ordered the assassination, we’ve been allowed Overtime.”

“What? What is that?”

“It’s what it sounds like—special conditions that allow the girls to stay beyond the initial mission scope. Their efforts earned them this time.”

“Is there any benefit to not taking the Overtime?”

“If the girls were more hurt, being allowed to pull them out could be valuable. Also, if they die, they’ll lose their potential rewards.”

“Oooh. I see. Got it. So we’ve gone above the bare minimum and are being rewarded for that. Okay. Well, the girls don’t seem to want to leave, so we won’t pull them out. Leaving this half done might just make it so something similar happens in the future.”

“I agree...” Svilran knit her brows and looked down. “Though...”

“Yes?”

“We need to be ready for something unexpected when they return... Elma... She doesn’t seem like a classic hero. We might see something unusual in her Mission Report.”

I looked at the screen showing Elma and Dorthaunzee. Svilran did touch on something I was thinking about myself.

I chose my words carefully. “Elma... might be the kind of person that isn’t afraid of doing the dirty stuff to ensure peace.”

“Can that kind of person really be a Hero?”

“She can be a Dark Hero, or an Anti-Hero in that case... I mean...” 

I thought about the scenario. In my mind, neutralizing corrupt officials feels like the right thing... But was there consideration of the methods utilized? If so, Elma could be penalized...

I sighed. “We can’t do anything until we know how the powers that be judge the situation. Regardless, we’re the Hero Hub that nurtures Heroes, right?” Svilran nodded. “Then, if we see that Elma is getting negative feedback, all we have to do is help readjust her course after learning she’s going in the wrong direction... This... This isn’t a normal situation. We’re in a reality where we know afterlives exist, and we’re doing work for the good of a world. On the other side, evil can be insidious. The ones fighting for good can’t be so inflexible at this stage. If we stay inflexible, thinking good will always win… Well, that isn’t how the world works. We’re in a situation that evil ultimately provoked. We can’t be inflexible in curtailing it.” I glanced at Svilran. “What do you say to that?”

Her lips quivered, and she frowned. “I don’t know... I... I spent a lot of my time looking at happy people... I don’t know about this kind of stuff.”

“A goddess who only saw the good parts...”

Svilran became small. “I’m sorry, Fainn.”

“Don’t be. Your opinion will matter when we’re navigating moral matters... It’s clear that there is some kind of balancing act we have to be conscious of. If Gods can be bound by rules and laws, then obviously we would be too.” I chuckled. “Of course, we’re not told all the rules, so they have to cut us some slack.”

Svilran giggled and smiled like a weight was lifted. “Yeah! We can make some missteps with our handling of the Heroes—it’s their fault for not giving us clear guidelines when we’re in uncharted territory.”

We both turned our focus to the screen. We were in Overtime now. Knowing we could pull them out at any time was good. Now we just had to watch carefully in case they needed a last-minute rescue.

“Come on, girls. You’ve got this,” I muttered.

***

—Elma and Dorthaunzee’s Side—

“There it is—that would be the residence I was told of,” said Elma from her perch on a nearby building’s roof. 

It had been two hours since the fight with Dreks. After leaving the slums, Elma worked quickly, hopping from tavern to tavern as she tried to find out information that would help her find the address. Eventually, and after speaking with many drunks, the pair ended up on a roof, observing the heavily secured residence a few buildings away. Elma, resourceful, had pilfered a spyglass from a drunk guard, and it was coming in handy.

“According to the information I collected, that is actually a merchant’s home.”

Dorthaunzee watched Elma with stars in her eyes. The mushroom growing out of Elma’s hand pulsated in response.

“Hmm? Me being like a spy?” Elma giggled at the thoughts Dorthaunzee communicated. “I’m nothing like that,” she said, while keeping her eyes fixed on the home’s entrance. “What’s that? How am I so confident?” Elma shrugged. “Well, in my world, my master—“ Elma caught herself and shook her head. “The family that kept me would sometimes take me out to these parties with others of their ilk. They would always tell me to make sure their contemporaries didn’t snack on me. I was something to be shown off. I wasn’t a free meal.” Elma’s expression darkened. “And when I slipped up, and their friends ate some of my mana? It was me that was beaten. After all, I was irresistible—they couldn’t be expected to hold back their appetite. I should have known better and not have enticed them... It was in my best interest to be vigilant... Soon, I started to be vigilant for that family whenever we were out and tried to protect them from anyone who would have ill designs for them. I hoped that I could curry favor that would protect me, and it did. The daughter of the family appreciated my efforts and taught me some things on the side...” Elma let out a heavy breath. “Sorry, that was a lot to unload—“

Dorthaunzee placed her hand on Elma and shook her head. She was happy to hear it. Elma felt the warmth radiating from Dorthaunzee’s thoughts. And then she sensed fear and smiled at Dorthaunzee.

“You have it pretty rough too, huh? Having to invoke Fainn’s image so often to keep those tentacles at bay.”

Dorthaunzee shook her hands and flexed a little. “I’ll be fine,” she conveyed.

“Of course you will,” Elma said with a chuckle. “You’re a Hero too.” She fixed her eyes on the residence again. “So, there are two guards at the door, and they just let in some women in gowns... Are these people just partying?”

Dorthaunzee looked at the residence curiously.

“Yeah, they’re probably doing it to make it look as if they weren’t involved with the assassination. Is it a good idea? I’m not sure... They would all have alibis, though. Whatever. This gives us a way in.”

Elma took off her black jacket and then threw off her sweatshirt. She was standing in just her undergarment—a black bra. Dorthaunzee cocked her head and then reached for the bottom of her dress—

“Whoa there,” Elma said as she replaced her jacket. “You don’t need to do that.” Elma eyed Dorthaunzee. “Yeah, you’re already a bombshell,” she muttered. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but lament how malnourished she herself was. She shook herself out of her self-pity and nodded at Dorthaunzee. “I bet you’ll fit someone’s tastes dressed like that.” The mushroom pulsated. “No, don’t worry if you don’t get what I mean. You don’t need to get it. Anyway, we’re going to try to get in there...” Elma twisted her lips. “I might need you to use your tentacles again. Is that okay?”

Dorthaunzee showed Elma a thumbs up. Elma smiled and looked up at her lantern—one she had wrapped earlier so that the light wouldn’t give away their position.

“We need to come up with a story for that one.”

Sebas_Guzman

That's it for this week! Next week's chapters are more exciting. This one's more important for the story. In this chapter, we see Fainn and Svil speaking about the aesthetics of a Hero. I think talking about the nature of heroics is important, as every world can't be one where the power of friendship wins (though there ARE some like that in the Imaginal Realms). When it comes to this plotline, this is one that will affect Svilran and Elma the most. Svilran's problems have already been hinted at, but I don't think the readers will be able to guess where exactly this will take her. Hope you stay excited for this!

This chapter also had some important stuff for Elma and Dorth. As I was reading over the part where Elma was telling her backstory, it kind of occurred to me I could give a more direct glimpse of what her life was like.

Readers, would you like a bonus chapter that depicts a short scene between Elma and the family that 'owned' her? Of course, it would be relatively dark but one of the characters during that sequence might be worth getting to know.

The bonus chapter would not interfere with the story's current release pace, and would instead be in addition to the 3000 words per week.

Let me know in the comments below with a thumbs up or something.