"This is your room for now," Mars said, swinging open the door to what used to be her gaming room. 

Aya stepped in to look at the room now cleared of Mars' gaming pod and tables. The room was sparse now, only having a thick spare mattress laid on the carpeted floor and one of Mars's free tables.

The short curtains rustled in the wind as Mars forgot to shut the window, Mars walked in gesturing to Aya and wide space.

"It's not much but once we put the rest of your things around I'm sure it'll be-"

Mars didn't finish her sentence as Aya leaped to hug her. Mars stumbled from the shorter girl's weight, pausing for a moment before hesitantly wrapping an arm around Aya.

"Thank you for doing this," Aya said earnestly, she pulled back to observe Mars whose face had grown red from the hug.

"I said I was going to do it," Mars mumbled, She patted Aya's head fondly with a sigh. "Silly girl,"

They spend the evening putting Aya's things in order all around the room, in an hour it looks as close to home as Aya could hope before they move out.

"Don't get too comfortable, we'll be moving soon after all," Mars reminded her, watching Aya set up her VR Gear and PacBook.

"It's alright, I just have some things to check on in the game and then I'll sleep,"

"You better, I'm going to play a little too but I'll be here to help you log out so you can get some rest," Mars said.

"Hey! I thought you said you wouldn't help me if I choked!" Aya whined.

"Making sure you sleep is different from you choking," Mars grinned, the dark haired girl left the room allowing Aya some space to process her thoughts.

"I'm really glad, if Lydia and Fido do manage to get in they'll find nothing in my apartment," Aya said laying down on the mattress she thought about Fido and how remorseless the man had been.

He had abandoned her at eighteen, leaving her to fend for herself with a woman who would rather see her dead than taken care of. He hadn't even paid her discounted rent which led Aya to work double to cover two months of overdue rent.

His smiling face disgusted her, the way the man had spoken about her through her door and the way he thought she wouldn't see through his facade strengthened the notion that Fido was someone to be careful around.

"He honestly makes me sick to my stomach," Aya said with a grimace, she laid down on the mattress with a frown. If Fido really did kill her grandmother what proof did she have? So far, all she had were suspicions of his foul deed but one way or another Aya was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Discomfort grew within her chest, the conspiracy thickened. Aya never thought her family would have such an intricate web of deceit, was Lydia even her aunt at this point? Or was the woman simply a plant much like Fido had been?

Who was her only living relative and were they looking for her too?

----------

Before starting the game Aya checked her phone to find the missed call notification. Her mind flashed back to earlier in the day when she had dismissed Atlas' call in a fit of panic.

"Oh crap, after bugging him to call," she said to herself.

She dialed the number, putting the phone to her ear and hoping it would connect to the busy president of Nue Corp.

"Aya?" Atlas' voice said on the other end of the line prompting Aya to release the breath she had been holding.

Over the phone, she heard the soft whirring of tires letting her know he was on the road.

"Hi! Sorry, you caught me at a bad time earlier today," she said with a nervous laugh.

"I'd expect, I hope this isn't a bad time for you. Professional gamer and all that,"

"Wait, how did you know I was a professional gamer?" Aya asked.

"It seemed like the next logical step for you, though I've seen some of those PVP matches and I must say it's brutal out there isn't it?" Atlas said. 

Aya heard the concern in his voice, she shook her head despite knowing he couldn't see her.

"Oh no, no, I don't play PVP matches, they're way off limits for me, I don't want to get hurt or something," she said.

Atlas made a sound over the phone, agreeing with her assertions.

"Good, I've seen matches with one player in particular, Changelo or something like that. He seems like quite the maniac," 

Aya laughed, prompting Atlas to give a chuckle of his own.

"I've seen his highlight reels too, he's exactly what put me off PVP permanently, I would hate to encounter him at all!" 

The two enjoyed their conversation until Atlas had to end the call due to overtime work.

"I promise to call again soon," Atlas said, "Hopefully with better timing," 

"I look forward to that, we should go out again. Those donuts were really good," 

"They were, bye Aya,"

"Bye Atlas,"

----------

Yvlena appeared within the desolate halls of the Rose Manor within the mysterious room containing the dollhouse. She marked it for later and exited the room turning around the corner to find another staircase leading upstairs.

"Let's see," She said, placing her foot on the first step. The game notified her with a similar warning as before.

[Unstable Infrastructure, Your Character Risks Possible Injury]

[Repair Staircase To Proceed To The Upper Level?

Wood x300]

[Yes/No] 

"Now it needs 300 pieces of wood, I suppose I should busy myself with restoring these two floors, I'll ask Risel or Laurent where I can find a silk for the rag and if they know anything about the previous Harvest Guardian the room might have belonged to,"

She ran down the steps and out the doors to be met with a flurry of birds.

Large black birds circled her fields, cawing loudly as they dug up her seeds and ruined the land she had worked so hard to till.

"Ack! My crops," Yvlena yelled, running forward and swinging her arms to scare the birds away. They paid her no mind and continued to swiftly land and peck at her plants.

[Sprite cast Sting (01 MP)]

One of the birds went down dissolving into flakes of light as all her previous enemies had done in the past.

[Yvlena Acquired

EXP: 975/1300 

***

Chum x1

***

Moon Points: x5]

"Oh," Yvlena said in disappointment as she let her summons finish up the pesky birds. "They're so weak!" she rushed over to the patch of land where she had planted her wild seeds. 

Not only had the birds eaten some of the newer seeds, they had pulled some plants up at the root and messed up the freshly tilled patch.

"Looks like I'm starting over," She said, already taking out her hoe to organize more squares for her seeds. "I could probably craft a scarecrow or something, I never thought birds of all things would attack my crops!"

"Keep an eye out for more birds, I'll be back," Yvlena said to her summons. Sprite gave a small salute as Rabbit Knight skewered a bird mid air with his trusty rapier.

----------

"Oh Yvlena," Risel said in a solemn tone, the elf was reading a large alchemical tome and hadn't bothered to look up at Yvlena, her pointed ears drooped.

Soon Risel put the book down and tended to the apothecary shelves prompting Yvlena to know something was wrong.

[Your neglect of Risel's urgent quest has dampened her mood]

"Oh no, the Verdant Woods," Yvlena whispered to herself. She'd been so busy with the manor that she had forgotten to do her friend's quest.

Risel was one of the most important NPCs to Yvlena and she hated to see her friend so down. Yvlena sighed, making up her mind to investigate the Verdant Woods among other things.

She walked up to the counter and placed her hands on it, leaning forward with a smile.

"Hi Risel, I've gotten my alchemy to level three I think I'm ready for more potions, do you have anything that could help me through the Verdant Woods?" Yvlena asked.

Risel's ears perked up, the blonde elf spun around with her mouth open upon hearing Yvlena's intention to enter the Verdant woods.

[Affinity with Risel Increased+2]

"Y-Yes, I mean the potions you have should be good for now but you're always welcome to buy more! You can get an alchemy kit too and enhance them some more!" Risel said beaming.

Yvlena smiled back at her, it warmed her heart to see the only other elf she had met so far smiling.

Risel pulled up her shop menu allowing Yvlena to look through the items now available to her. Some of the recipes previously walled off from her due to her lower alchemy level now flashed with a noticeable light.

"Poison," Yvlena gasped. After another moment of searching, she found a common antidote. She purchased the two of them and then got the alchemy kit as Risel suggested.

"Oh Yvlena you have no idea what this means to me, the possibility of seeing my brother again!" Risel said.

"You can count on me Risel, I just have some questions," Yvlena said.

"Ask away,”

“The Verdant Woods have been submerged in the Miasma for a very long time, haven't they? More than the Bloom Forest's Depths?” 

Risel nodded.

“The Miasma from the Depths was still pretty young, nowhere near the level of the Verdant Woods, I worry what you might encounter there actually,” Risel said.

'She’s right, the creatures there might be even more corrupted and I know I'll have to fight some lesser Miasmic entities like that car and Commander Addison,’ Yvlena thought.

“That would mean I'll have to be careful,”

“Yvlena the Verdant Woods has several layers of Miasma, the deeper you go the worse it gets, if you can't manage it all at once you can always come back!” Risel said. Worry shone in the elf girl's green eyes.

“Don't worry Risel, as the Harvest Guardian it's my duty to clear the Miasma in the first place,” Yvlena said bravely, she puffed out her chest the way she imagined a hero would. 

Risel giggled.

“Be careful, I'll know if you clear the first layer, I can see it from here after all,” Risel said. 

“My next question is, do you know where I can find a silk rag?”

Risel put a finger to her mouth in thought.

“Now that's an odd item! Only the aristocracy of Bloom Haven would have something like that, you can get spider silk from the Verdant Woods or the caves to the East, but you will have to get a Loom from one of the tailors within the Artisan District,” Risel explained.

Yvlena nodded.

If the silk rag was a symbol of Bloom Haven's aristocracy then one of the previous Harvest Guardians must have been one as well.

“Risel, did you know any of the Harvest Guardians besides Rael? One that might have been a novel perhaps?”

“Yes, she was from a destitute noble family here in Bloom Haven, but it's so fuzzy to me and I can't remember her name!” Risel said, rubbing her temple. “The library might have something,” 

“Thank you Risel, I'll be sure to stop by again if I need anything,” Yvlena said.

“I'll be expecting you!” Risel called as Yvlena left through the door of the apothecary.