"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."

  Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Writer

  “Do you see that slight golden sparkle in the rock? Here, right at eye-level along the cliff,” Calista instructed as she traced her hands along the chasm. The Huntress had noticed the subtle distinction moments after they had arrived at the entrance to the maze in the mountains.

  Milly leaned in close and squinted. The shimmer was faint, but she could distinguish it if she looked hard enough.

  “I see it,” Milly answered. She scratched a tiny flake of stone from the wall and rubbed it between two fingers. It crumbled into dust and tiny, golden flakes settled on her finger. “Clever.”

  Calista pointed towards the other three entrances into the maze – an animal path through the forest, a small river valley, and a winding, weather-carved passage up the cliffside. “There are four paths we can choose, but this is the only one with the golden shimmer. I’ll bet you anything that if we follow the shimmer will lead us through this maze.”

  “I don’t recognize any of these paths. It was two chasms, a tunnel, and an animal path when I came here last time,” Milly said, confused. “And there definitely wasn’t any shimmer.”

  Calista tapped Milly’s gothic boots with her sandals. “Improved perception, honey. For me, with advanced level, the shimmer is clear as day. Hell, it practically pulls me in. At beginner level, I guess you have to actively look for it.”

  “Then this maze can’t be solved by someone without that skill?” wondered Milly.

  “Or another pathfinding talent,” Calista said. “There are a bunch of different talents available, each with its own strengths. I suppose a player could eventually find their way through the maze simply by trial and error, but it would take a lot longer. Though… you said these paths weren’t here last time? Brute force may not be an option. No wonder no player has made it past this point in the mountains yet.”

  “Well, I want to see what’s on the other side of this maze,” Milly declared as she grasped Calista’s hand in hers. “Ready?”

  “Always,” Calista smiled, and they walked into the chasm side-by-side.

  * * *

  Calista’s observation proved correct, and they soon found themselves weaving their way through the maze at a rapid pace. The goblin camps they came across proved no match for the Witch and the Huntress, who tore through them so quickly that it hardly slowed them down. The experience and rewards were still terrible, and soon Milly was once again drowning in pitiful rings, non-magical goblin equipment, and enough loincloths for Lunky, the Goblin Prince, to outfit an entire goblin army in the smelly garments.

  At noon, they stopped for lunch beneath a waterfall that cascaded down from a glacial field at the apex of a nearby mountain peak. Devouring a fare of berries, coconuts, and boar, they sat next to each other, hips touching and feet intertwined, as they talked about their lives and their future.

  “It could be years, you know,” Milly said as she tossed a boar bone into the water and watched it float down the stream. “This contest. It’s not the life I’d thought I’d be living.”

  “Are you disappointed?” teased Calista.

  “No, its the opposite,” Milly smiled, leaning into Calista’s shoulder. “I’ve got a wonderful girlfriend that I love, an amazing best friend, and an actual home I can call my own. Sure, it comes with its… um… Stoney downsides, but, if I’m being honest, it’s more than I had ever hoped for in my previous life.”

  “Which was?” asked Calista curiously.

  “Holding down a steady job. Paying rent so I stayed off the streets. Just… being able to get through each day,” Milly admitted. “In the end, I wanted little more than to survive until the next morning, just so I could do it all again. And there were days I didn’t even want that. In my dreams, there was never anyone one else in my life. No girlfriend. No best friend. Just me. Alone. As it had always been. It… it wasn’t really a life. It was just an existence.”

  Calista wrapped a supportive hand around Milly’s waist.

  “What about you, Cally?” asked Milly. “You must have had some pretty ambitious dreams before all this.”

  “Me? My dreams were ambitious, but hardly noble,” laughed Calista. “I wanted to marry rich. Snag a man with a fortune who was too busy to pay attention to me, so I could spend my life doing what I wanted on his dime. Travel the world, buy expensive clothes, and experience the finest luxuries life has to offer. I figured if I had that much money, I could bury who I really was so deep that she would never emerge again.”

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  “Cally!” Milly said aghast. “You are the most wonderful woman in the world. Why would you ever want to do that?”

  “Well, you only saw the tip of my self-destructive iceberg, beautiful,” Calista sighed as she opened up to her girlfriend. “Honestly, it wasn’t that much different than the life you described. Empty. Cold. Lonely.”

  Calista lifted Milly’s hand to her lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “But then I had to go and meet a wonderful woman in a game of death, and she made me realize I could be so much more. I guess fighting beside a woman like that can change one’s perspective.”

  “I know the feeling,” Milly echoed, enjoying Calista’s lips on her palm. “So… did you dream of you and Mr. Rich having… um… kids?”

  “Honestly?” Calista chuckled. “I was willing to shoot out a couple brats if it kept his money rolling in.”

  “You would not!”

  “That’s what nannies and boarding schools are for, after all,” Calista continued. “Rich people don’t parent. They outsource.”

  “Cally!”

  Calista giggled. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I never came close to achieving that dream. I was working in Acicenter after all. And he day you saved me from that ogre, that shallow woman and her self-centered dreams vanished. There’s nothing like a near-death experience to make you reconsider your path in life.”

  “So… kids?” Milly prompted. She needed to know.

  Calista clutched Milly’s hand tightly. “I know what you are asking, honey. But… I never wanted a child. I didn’t think I could give a child the love they needed. My father was such a wonderful person and I… I wasn’t. I didn’t want a child to grow up to be like me – selfish and mean.”

  Milly felt her heart drop.

  I never wanted kids either. After a life devoid of affection, what could I possibly have to offer a child? But then I met Passi and… and Luna… and it changed me in a way I never thought possible.

  Calista picked up a stone and tossed it into the stream. The ripples were carried away on the current. “I know what you’re thinking, love. I meant it when I said you’ll be an amazing mother. Ever since Passi started hanging around you, I’ve seen how you’ve changed. You love that little fairy child, and I love that you love her. And, truthfully, I like the little brat too. How could I not? I just… need more time to figure out who I want to be to her.”

  “I’m not her mother, Cally,” Milly said. “We’re just… I’m just looking after her while she’s Ying’s apprentice.”

  “Milly, that little girl adores you. Right now, you’re the closest thing she has to a mother. I know she’s still healing. She’s been through a lot. But I can see, plain as day, where this is going… and so do you.”

  “I… if it did… what would you…,” Milly stammered as she struggled to ask the critical question.

  “If you were her mom?” Calista finished for her. “I’d love you all the more for it, and I’d protect that little dumpling with my life. And, who knows, maybe our future here is more than we thought possible back home. Maybe… I could learn to be something more.”

  Milly wiped away a tear she hadn’t realized had been growing in the corner of her eye. “Yah?” she asked softly.

  “This is a strange world, honey. Being mothers to a fairy girl won’t even make it to the top ten list of unexpected experiences by the time we win this damn contest.”

  “You’re probably right,” Milly chuckled softly, trying to hide her uncertainty. “It’s just… between you, Rain, and Passi, and having a home to call my own, I feel like, lately, the life I’m living here is better than the one I left behind. It’s more than I have ever hoped for.”

  “I know. I feel the same way,” Calista agreed. “Just one roadblock we need to deal with. Well, two roadblocks, I guess.”

  “Stone and Brass,” Milly agreed. “I know we agreed to work against them subtly, but…”

  Milly and Calista felt a soft tone in the back of their minds as Rain’s telepathic voice entered their minds.

  “Hey you two. How’re the mountains? You find those Firebush thorns?” Rain asked with a sense of urgency.

  “Yes, though they were a bitch to pick, Rain,” Calista responded. Her fingers had been burned when she had plucked the sentient plant, though Milly had healed her wounds. “They’d better be worth it.”

  “They will be. Thought that’s not why I need to talk to you. Elmer and Alison just came to see me at Rain On My Parade. They reached an agreement with Stone and Brass on their justice system. The one that will be trialed at Milly’s hearing tomorrow. They’d like Calista’s help to plan Milly’s defense.”

  “Does that plan include hurling my spear through Brass’ face?” Calista asked, only half-joking.

  “You know it doesn’t,” Rain admonished. “This is important, Calista. It’s an opportunity to use Stone and Brass’ plan against them and show the players loyal to the CEOs that we’re not the bad guys they’ve made us out to be.”

  Calista looked over at Milly, who nodded her agreement. “As much as I like the sound of Calista’s spear hurling idea, Rain’s plan is safer. And I’d feel better if you were there helping them plan, Cally. Rain, will you be there too? You’re both much better at this intrigue stuff than I am.”

  “Yes, they want me on their defense team as well,” Rain confirmed. “Business at Rain On My Parade has been brisk since we opened this morning, but Anchovy can watch the store this afternoon. He’s gotten quite adept at using that Invisible Hand talent. Though he’s also developed a habit of tossing that penguin plush toy at customers who displease him. Which, as a cat, is most of them. He’s… hey, you little minx! Knock that off.”

  Milly could picture the penguin plushy hitting the back of Rain’s head, and, despite the anxiety in her chest, she couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Will you come back with me, Milly? Calista asked as she withdrew a Waypoint Crystal.

  “No. I’ll just get in the way. I want to I’ll finish this maze and see what’s on the other side,” Milly decided.

  “Just be careful, okay?” Calista said hesitantly. “You have a Waypoint Crystal?”

  Milly opened her inventory to check. “I’ve got two. I’ll be fine, Cally. We’ve seen nothing but low-level monsters in here.”

  “Okay, but…”

  Milly leaned over and kissed her girlfriend. She let the kiss linger until she felt Calista’s protests melt away in her arms. “Go. I’ll see you tonight. If I get into trouble, I’ll message you telepathically and you can come rescue me.”

  Calista squeezed Milly’s hand affectionately as they separated. She held aloft the small crystal.

  “Oh, and Cally,” Milly asked. “Can you pick up Passi after her apprenticeship, in case I’m late getting back?”

  “You’re such a mom,” teased Calista, as she activated her crystal and teleported away.

  In the blink of an eye, Milly was left alone under the waterfall, her mind now flooded with anxious thoughts of what tomorrow’s hearing would bring.

  The Non-Canonical Aftermath: