Gwen's PoV

 

Gwen was watching the burning docks. She winced. It's hard to believe that everything started from a seemingly small quarrel.

Davis walked up beside her and just watched the burning city with her. As it grew smaller in the distance, some kind of magic user with a water ability was found. Giant waves from the sea were quenching the fire bit by bit. But even to her eye, she could see the weakened blackened docks were now useless.

Gwen said to Davis "I don't think we can go back home after this. If they ever find us, it won't end well."

Davis nodded and said "Probably not."

She wanted to apologize but she bit her tongue. An apology seemed too small a thing for what had just happened. Gwen seemed to make bad decision after bad decision. She didn't notice when her daughter was suffering from being forced into the caves.

Then she didn't have the spine to tell her daughter 'no' to going on a dangerous journey because she was afraid she would run away. When danger did arise, it was never Gwen protecting Maria. It was always everyone else. And finally her irresponsible temper that caused a chain reaction.

Gwen was still coming to terms with killing people. Back at the alcove she only killed those imps and rats. But now she killed real people. Then she remembered the burning slums. Has everyone made it out okay? Even if they did, how many lives did she ruin?

Then she turned her hand to burning the ships and the docks after fighting the Necromancer. They didn't have to. They could have just tried to take one ship. They could have left the docks unburnt. Still she understood Davis' reasoning. The economic might that was Jacksberg was powered by their wealth from trade. Their lack of response after they had defeated the Necromancer was telling. With many of their forces absent, they were weak.

Fighting back tears she was surprised when a hand patted her head.

"Davis?"

"No need sis. No need. It will be fine."

Once she got her emotions under control she asked "What do you think will happen to King's End?"

In a low voice Davis said "Don't mention that name again while we are on this ship. Too many ears. If we want to protect our home, we need to be anonymous."

Scarlet was in earshot and she seemed to hear the comment. With a slightly evil grin she said "Good work fellow Knives of Xalross! Those evil bastards might have taken our home, but we bloodied their eye!"

Baffled, she watched Davis pause only shortly then responded loudly in turn saying "Yes. They might have won the day, but we made them pay dearly for their actions. For Xalross!"

Then Scarlet padded Gwen on her shoulder loudly saying "You killed many of their citizens! Surely they will remember the name of the Mad Fire Witch! You did Xalross proud!"

Gwen wanted to cry and rage with anger at the same time! What was this woman doing? In an almost mockery of Scarlet's statement she could feel that she learned a new spell just a short time ago. Without even trying it, she knew what it was. It felt like Fire, just a lot more powerful. She had learned Fire Lv2.

Then Gwen looked around and many of the crew were giving her fearful looks. As she met their eyes, they jumped in fright and then kept their eyes down while continuing with their work. She didn't have any words.

Davis said in a low tone "It's better this way. Make sure Maria understands, okay?"

Gwen nodded.

***

Davis' PoV

 

Davis watched Gwen walk away. He would need to give her some space. Killing men for the first time was something that everyone dealt with differently.

Raising a questioning eyebrow he quietly mocked, "So, for Xalross, huh?"

Scarlet's jovial mood disappeared as she nodded saying "By now it's surely over. Someone from Xalross paid a lot of coins to make my people dead. If the correspondence of Aaron is to be believed, even Shila is taking part. Not only that, but they were sent into traps. Our own people paid coin for our deaths. You remember that note that said I was the priority target at that village?"

Appreciating she kept the village name vague, he nodded in understanding.

Continuing she said "Turns out that was not the only letter similar to that. Aaron himself said they collected payment on at least 100 agents. After I cut his throat I looked at a dozen different copies of receipts for payment. From the details, I confirmed they were authentic."

Really looking at the woman, he realized she truely mourned for her people. His many years of sifting through bullshit tended to give him good insight into people. He had always considered her a heartless and reckless killer. She might be a reckless killer, but heartless she was not.

Davis said "I am sorry for your loss."

Scarlet gave him a stoney nod and then her lip quirked again. She said "You know, you were fairly lucky that your plan to burn down the ships and docks worked so well."

Almost taunting him he waited and she said nothing. She had an 'I know a secret that you don't' look on her face. And she didn't want to spill the beans till he asked. Finally giving in he said "How so?"

"Guess who was in charge of the docks for the Merchant Circle, including their security?"

With her almost bursting grin he said in half disbelief "Aaron? Really?"

Scarlet nodded and said "Yup. They were too slow to respond because they were probably trying to find a dead man for orders!"

Laughing, Davis marveled at how life seemed to be one big scoop of irony after another. He was the one cautioning Forrest and Scarlet, calling them reckless. Yet not only was it the group who 'responsibly' stayed behind getting into trouble, the 'reckless' one's actions helped the 'responsible' ones when they doubled down on causing more trouble. But that brought him to a question.

"And you couldn't have told me sooner? You could have said something when I was going over the plan. Did Forrest know?"

Scarlet said "Yeah, but he was so out of it, even after Maria did the Vigor Heal."

"And you didn't say anything?"

Scarlet shrugged and said "If they had a competent chain of command, it wouldn't have mattered. You can't count on an enemie's incompetence. We just got lucky."

Davis couldn't help but agree. If he fell in the defense of King's End, his fellow guardsmen would have been competent enough to react. Even if they wouldn't have responded as well, they wouldn't have been paralyzed with indecision. It's better to act quickly with a decent plan then to wait too long for the perfect plan.

Nodding Davis said, "True. So what are your plans now? What will you do?"

Scarlet stared out into the sea and said "I don't know. Two armies have already converged on Xalross. I would love to torture the hell out of those traitors, but that will be practically impossible for now. Maybe in a few years, but not right now."

Scarlet returned the question and asked "What will you do?"

Davis said "I don't rightly know as well. Going home would be a mistake. The average villager would only know that a group of us left to negotiate. With Jim's equipment given after we left, our look and power are completely different. If someone explained to the council the events in Jacksberg, no one would make the connection to us."

After a pause Davis continued "But if we returned, there would be questions. Even without the equipment, people might notice similarities when they could actually look at us. They would ask us for an account of our mission, which would place our people's names and Jacksberg in the same sentence. We need to be somewhere else, at least for a while."

Scarlet laughed and said "It seems we are in a similar position."

***

Maria's PoV

 

Maria was exhausted. She had never cast so many spells before. Even during the battle at the alcove she had given away one of her Full Mana Potions.

This time her mom gave her one and Scarlet gave her two! She had used a total of six Full Mana Potions. After using the third one her guts felt sick. But she continued to cast over and over. Even her Vigor Heal seemed to stop working on herself.

But it was kind of fun being a damage dealer for a while! It was so weird seeing her Heal spell damaging those things. It would be cool if someday she could learn a damaging spell like her mom. She had been so cool during the battle at the alcove! All those evil things burned!

Then she beat up those bullies at the potion shop! Uncle Davis did that too, but her mom could even beat up those undead things! Seeing her mom walk over, Maria could see the crew feared her mom. When did she become so cool?

Thinking about her friends, she remembered she really hated that Milly girl. Liar. If she had taken as long as she promised, Princess and Fluffy would have been there as well. She missed them. Now on a boat in the middle of nowhere, how would they find her?

Sitting down next to her, her mom said "How are you doing? You look really tired."

Maria nodded and said "I think drinking that many potions made me sick, but I'm feeling better."

Her mom put her hand on her forehead and said "You do seem a little hot, you should get some rest."

Putting her head down, she pulled her legs to her chest and said "I miss them. My friends. Do you think we will see them again?"

In a soothing voice her mom said "Of course. You just have to be patient."

Then her mom said quietly "If anyone asks, tell them you are from Xalross. Don't say where our real home is to anyone, okay?"

Maria nodded even though she was a little confused. "Okay."

As she was dozing off with her mom next to her, she heard barking in the distance. She would know that bark anywhere. It was her friends!

Standing up she covered her eyes and saw them swimming in the distance. Her friends! They were coming for her!

Jumping up and down with renewed energy she said "Mom! You were right! I was being patient and they came! When did you become so smart and cool!?"

***

Gwen's PoV

 

Gwen replayed the words her daughter said in her mind. Smart? Cool? When was she smart and cool?

Even the scene of the two wolves paddling in the distance couldn't take her mind away from what her daughter said. Did she really seem that way to her daughter? Her daughter who was always so brave?

***

Jim's PoV

 

Man he sucked at swimming. Actually he didn't know how to swim, but apparently if you have enough strength and you flop around a bit, it will make you move. Will it make you move forward in the right direction? That was the tricky bit.

Luckily he had rudder A and rudder B. As he was getting off course a little bit, rudder A corrected his angle. Then he rubbed rudder A's ears and said "Who's a little good doggie rudder! You are!"

Fluffy actually rolled his eyes back at him! Bad rudder! Eventually through their combined efforts they made it to the boat. Or was it a ship? He wasn't sure which one it was. He vaguely remembered that calling one the other got people angry at you. Oh well.

Jim tossed them both in his inventory and then made his way on the boat. As he got on board he met a heartbroken little girl who looked at him saying "What.. what did you do to them! They were just with you! I saw them! What did you do to Princess and Fluffy!"

Sighing he pulled them back out of his inventory. As they dropped out he noted that they each had a leather boot in their mouths. And they were both right footed boots. They couldn't even take a matching pair! Hopefully it was ones with the weeds in them.

And instantly the heartbroken little girl filled with joy as she tumbled with her friends. It only took a minute before the girl was tuckered out and the two fluff balls made themselves pillows for the girl.

Glancing over to the party, he saw everyone was accounted for. Relieved they were all still alive, they had definitely seen better days. Forrest seemed to be the worst of the lot. Damn near all his armor seemed to have evaporated. If he didn't know any better he would have thought he was trying to make it an armored bikini.

Cautiously Jim asked "So how did those peace talks go with Jacksberg? Last time I checked those normally didn't get started with burning half the town."

Scarlet started laughing hysterically. He wondered if she was the cause of the ruckus, but Davis stepped up and said in a low voice "Could you not mention our home? We are worried if Jacksberg finds out, they will retaliate."

Splitting off from the group, Scarlet went to some of the sailors who were working nearby. Sneaking up on one of them, she put the dagger to his throat and then whispered something in his ear. Was she really going to kill someone right in front of him? But a second later the man was agreeing profusely and all the men working nearby left the area.

Jim slowly felt like his original worry with equipping people with too powerful gear was coming to fruition. Even middling armor would make a massive difference in this low level area. Plus they had all leveled up so much because of that odd fight at the temple. Then they leveled a bit more at Jacksburg. Each of them was a lot more powerful than when they started the journey.

Davis continued a bit more loudly saying "We waited in the potion shop, but Milly had a few visitors. They noticed that new people were in the shop and demanded we pay protection money to them. Even though Milly had insisted she had paid it twice over."

Rubbing his forehead he wondered how a shakedown for money turned into setting the town on fire. Patiently Jim waited. Davis continued his story and told him how Gwen sent the thugs packing. Looking over at Gwen she averted her gaze and looked… embarrassed?

Davis said "I offered those thieves three times the amount they requested when they came back, but they demanded the life of my sister. I refused. They insisted. They died."

There still seemed to be a bit of a gap. "What about the fire?"

"After we defeated the men, a powerful caster came."

Helpfully Scarlet added "A Necromancer! A powerful one!"

In stunned disbelief Jim said "Necromancer Dominic? You fought Necromancer Dominic?"

Using her knife to clean her nails, Scarlet said in a nonchalant manner, "Didn't fight him. Killed him. He was trying to do the same to us."

Jim sat down. This was depressing news. Necromancer Dominic was the first person you could recruit in the game outside the original starting four members in Alextria. The trick to obtaining him was talking to him before leaving on a ship to Quickmire. He would learn he had been fired and decide to head there as well.

But if you farmed a particular spot in town where you could have random battles with thieves, after a while he would show up. If you didn't save recently, you would screw yourself. You couldn't run away and if you defeated him, he would be gone. And they had just killed him!

Seeing his change in mood Scarlet said "Oh, was he a friend of yours?"

Jim shook his head and said "He was one of the people in the vision before I came over. Had things played out normally, he would have been part of the group trying to save the world."

Scarlet said "It was a close thing. He didn't try to talk to us, he just attacked us. That Necromancer controlled over 60 minions. Forrest barely survived distracting him while we took care of the undead. If he had fought even a little smarter, we would have all died."

Yeah. Dominic was kind of an asshole. That's probably why he liked him as a kid. At first his character was very sarcastic and aloof, but after fighting alongside the original hero's party, he became loyal to a fault. He would back up his team against outsiders whether they were right or wrong. Easily one of his top 5 favorite characters.

That made him wonder about the three other original characters in Alextria. Without Zed tossing them in prison and breaking out and fleeing before they were executed, would they ever meet? Would some of his other favorite characters die because he was so intent on speed running through the game?

What about the side quests? There were tons of good people in harm's way whose savior would never come. If he followed his heart, he would do just that. Do a 100% completion of the game and try to give everyone a happy ending. It was an adventure worth having. But if he ever died, he would be killing millions of people.

Trying to be responsible sucked. The team noticed Jim was brooding and gave him some time. Finally he said "What's done is done. What do you plan on doing now?"

Davis replied "Probably head to Quickmire and find a place to hide for a while. We can't go home. Would cause too much trouble."

Jim rubbed his chin intently. He remembered a while back about trying to find highly qualified people. He trusted Davis. Maybe they could come to an arrangement?

***

Gwen's PoV

 

Shocked, she asked her brother, "Are you sure it's a good idea? Going somewhere so far away could be dangerous!"

Davis said "We don't have a lot of coin. Once we reach Quickmire, we would need to keep going to find a place in a remote location. We would be in hiding for years. Or…."

Yes… or. Or they could go to Jim's world. Jim wanted Davis as a bodyguard and herself as a cook for his new company. She couldn't help but feel a little prideful that her cooking impressed him so much.

Maria butted in and said "I want to stay with my friends. If you two work for him, I can still come to visit them! He even said so!"

Davis said "I think it would be making the best of a bad situation. We would be nobodies there. And someone wouldn't be the feared Mad Fire Witch."

Gwen winced at the moniker. She actually really wanted to go so that she could learn more about cooking in another world. Jim's ingredients were much higher quality than anything she could get ahold of. But she felt selfish for wanting to see so badly. Feeling slightly guilty, Gwen said "Fine. But make sure he knows we want to come back someday."

"Okay, Gwen. I'll let him know."

***

Jim's PoV

 

Jim mentally fist pumped as he heard their answer. Even more new employees! If he could find some late game armor that didn't look too out of place, he would have a super secret powerful body guard. Which meant he could finally go home! Also he just got his own personal chef! Goodbye fast food! Only the good stuff from now on!

He just needed to tell Charlotte about the new additions.

His thoughts were interrupted as Scarlet said "Oh, oh! I'll go! I'll go too! Pick me! I want to go to another world too!"

Yeah. That wasn't going to happen. Apologetically he said "Sorry, I only need one bodyguard at the moment. Oh, and just one cook. And one of whatever Maria can do."

Narrowing her eyes she said "What! Come on! I'll be good!"

Forrest, awake from his long nap and equipped with a new version of his tattered armor said "Thanks again for the new equipment and new Full Healing Potions Jim. They really saved my life back there."

Scarlet said to Forrest cheerily "Don't you want to visit another world? We need to burn some time anyway."

Forrest looked into Scarlet's eyes and said seriously "I don't care about going anywhere. I want to be wherever you are."

Scarlet's shock and her immediate blushing face made Jim quietly laugh. It was too bad he had already put Davis, Gwen and Maria in his inventory. They would have loved the show. Scarlet tossed a glare at Jim, then took Forrest's hand and forcefully pulled him below deck. Wow, lucky man.

Petting Princess and Fluffy he said "Okay you cute little fluff balls. Can you protect me again? Please don't let them toss me overboard."

They both gave him stern looks. Damn, why could he tell what the wolfies were thinking? They didn't try to nod to say yes or no, they just waited. Little blackmailers!

"Fine. I'll make sure to bring Maria over to visit! Just please keep an eye out for me, okay?"

The happy expressions with lolling tongues came out as they both nodded vigorously. Man they were still so cute, but they drove a hard bargain. Giving them a final good head rub each, Jim made himself comfortable and went over to his world.

***

Milly's PoV

 

Milly was annoyed. She was having a conversation with her cousin and Jim just cut her off! She was in the black void again with all of the goodies. Looking longingly at the glittering red vials she tried to tamp down her greed. And then exhaustion hit her.

After finding a number of the more comfortable looking cloaks and vests she made a makeshift bed. When she tried to lay down in it, she felt something poke her.

Shuffling the new bedding around she found a weird little helmet. It had colorful roots covering it with little metal parts sticking all over the place. Curious, she dug at the little roots to find that they were only metal strings.

Shrugging she grabbed it from one of the protrusions and it broke. Milly kicked it. How in the world could that be a good helmet if it broke so easily? Moving her pile of robes and cloaks in her makeshift bed, she tried to get more comfortable.

Laying back down she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

***

Necromancer Dominic's PoV

 

Dominic was astonished he was still alive. The only thing that was left of him was his half crushed skull. Fortunately that was enough for a Necromancer to still be alive.

Opening his one good eye it seemed that he was in a wagon of corpses. Another bit of fortune after that disastrous fight. Dominic closed his eye and soaked in the necromantic energy around him.

While he was still alive, his reputation would be ruined. Should the heads of the Merchant Circle or any of the High Nobles learn that he still lived, his debt would be immeasurable. The contract he signed had very specific details about the amount of collateral damage that was allowed.

He surely surpassed that limit. The rest of his life would consist of controlling undead in some god forsaken mine till the debt was repaid.

One thing was sure, he needed to get out of the three city-state area.

Then he remembered that very powerful human that died to the far south. His Death Sense still echoed with the man's passing. With the war in Xalross, nowhere around the three cities was safe. He would make his way to King's End, the most southern point in the area.

Wistfully he thought of how nice it would be to visit the fabled Kingdom of Alextria. Maybe those other two powerful non-human entities that died were the monsters in that cave?

Dominic relaxed as the wagon bumped and swayed. Hopefully himself and all the corpses would be dropped off in some hole. Once he was better, he would make his way south as quickly as possible.

***

Charlotte's PoV

 

Charlotte was ecstatic! It was payday! Not only had the deal with Mr. Montgomery gone through but she also got the first payment from the silver deal!

The doctors had judged that Mr. Montgomery could easily live for more than 30 years now, so in total that was 34 million dollars they were getting from it. Also they were getting 30 million from the silver contract. They were going to pay in those installments for the next 12 years. Once she got the money she had the perfect place already scouted out to restart the project.

As she was getting ready she got a phone call from Jim. Picking it up she said excitedly "We are getting paid 64 million dollars today!"

"Fantastic! How's the work visa coming or whatever it's called? Also I got three more people I want to employ that aren't from around here."

Charlotte sighed and said "Still no paperwork?"

"Yup!"

Rubbing her temple she said "What information do you have on them?"

"Uhhh.. name's and age?"

Sighing she said "Well, tell me that at least."

Jim started rattling them off "I have Milly, she's in her early twenties. I have Davis and Gwen who are in their late twenties. And I have Maria who is eleven."

Seriously? Eleven? Annoyed she said "Do you know what child labor laws are?"

"I don't know? Is that like minimum wage laws for children?"

"No Jim! Is she even attending school?"

Jim paused and then said "Uhh.. No.. is that bad?"

How could he be so smart in some things but so stupid at the basics. Suppressing her annoyance she said "Kids have to go to school Jim. It's the law."

"Oh. Can you handle that?"

"Fine. Tomorrow. Just let me finish what's on my plate first. I'll come by tomorrow to talk to these people."

Jim said cheerily "Thanks Charlotte! You're the best."

She hung up the phone. After she got this money she was going to hire an assistant. This was getting nuts.

***

Mr. Montgomery's PoV

 

Mr. Montgomery was staring at the mirror in wonder. He had been checked out by three separate doctors and they all agreed he should easily be able to live for another 30 years.

Mr. Montgomery was almost 80 but now he looked like a fit 50. All of his ailments had disappeared overnight. He could actually run! The idea of living to well over 100 made him smile. He had so much time now.

One thing that was nice about being rich was that you made all sorts of acquaintances. People who could make things happen. He had just called a meeting with a few of those who owed him favors. The cat was going to be out of the bag soon. Even though all of the doctors and staff had signed NDA's, it wouldn't stop the rumor mill.

With a phone call here and a nudge there it shouldn't be too hard to get a few of his so-called friends to become very interested in this new drug. That would keep his hands clean. Straightening his tie he looked at himself in the mirror again. He looked like a sharp businessman from the past and not an old and dying cripple.

He wondered how the world would change if there was a true fountain of youth. The very wealthy would never have to die and give all that they had earned in life to incompetent younger versions of themselves. Mr. Montgomery liked his kids but they did not have the drive. The will to make things happen even when things turned to shit. But he did.

He actually bought the one thing that people said money couldn't buy, time. It was easily the best money he had ever spent. 30 years. How foolish he was to antagonize the goose that laid the golden egg. But what did it really matter? Sooner or later the formula would become available. All he needed to do was be helpful and point the right people in the right direction.

Hell, he could play both sides. If they really did have powerful backers there was no reason to place all your chips in one bet. 30 years would be more than enough to secure his legacy.

Mr. Montgomery relaxed in his chair free of pain. He could go back to being a kindly old gentleman for now. Someone else can do the dirty work.