I-I-I-I-I-I snapped back into my mind with a gasp, vision fish-eyed and scratchy. What was that? My seer sight worked fine every other time I’d used it—but a single attempt on Nick left me feeling drained, ill.

Fuck.

In retrospect, it made sense. Whoever Nick’s patron was, he didn’t seem like the spin-the-world, then-go-out-for-cigarettes type. It was possible he had some sort of ongoing divine protection. Though that they apparently cared more about shielding Nick’s thoughts from prying eyes rather than keeping his tongue in his head irked me to no end.

Okay, fine. Keith then. Not what I wanted. He’d lack any insight on what was happening in Nick’s head or what he intended, but he’d still have the most important detail—location. I’d try to glean the rest from context.

* * *

Lumpy yellowing fingers the size of logs curled downward, countless knuckles interspersed in a tight focus that grew blurry around the circumference of the finger, craggy skin set deep with lines that wound creeks and fissures around a brownish core. My-my-my-my-my-my-my—

—Keith plucked a cluster of fruit in the air, squinting at it. As odd and bizarrely shaped as it was, he was pretty sure this specimen was a non-system fruit. His parents used to buy them from the commune by the pound, justifying their purchase by grinding them into a sour-bitter paste, which they then slathered on everything.

With a frown, he turned the fruit over. They were supposed to be looking for anything out of the ordinary.

“Leave for two seconds and come back find you grabbin’ nuts.” Nick’s sudden reappearance startled Keith, and the tamarind pod flew from his shocked-open hand. The older boy bent down and picked up the pod, then cocked his head. “Throwing together some trail mix?”

“They’re not native. Most of the fruit and greenery on this floor are pretty tropical, to the point it could almost pass for South America. But this is an entire continent removed. Could be a sign of a ripple.”

The words entered his mind and nearly escaped before a gray miasma of doubt strangled.

What if I’m wrong? What if this finally sets Nick off and he requests a transfer? What if he thinks I’m wasting his time and hates me more than he already does?

Nick was better at hiding it than most people.

There was something about Keith that put most people off. He’d never quite nailed down what. Maybe it was the slight nasal timbre of his voice, or his timid nature, or his occasionally obsessive interests, but he’d gone to great efforts to alter and hide all that, and while sometimes it took longer, the result was always the same.

For a brief, cruel moment, Keith had thought that Nick would be the exception. The so-called Ceaseless Knight looked like the exact sort of person who frequently took issue with Keith, so he’d prepared for the worst. But instead of the expected hazing or ostracization, Nick spent just as much time working with Keith as he did with the more promising members of Zero-team. He’d even openly shared details of his personal life, confiding in Keith about how he could barely walk before the system. It felt like a non sequitur, and Keith had been laying in his barracks bunk when it finally hit him why Nick told the story.

The new team leader was reaching out to him. Empathizing. In a way almost no one ever had. For the first time in forever, it felt like someone actually cared.

Keith woke up bright and early the next day, almost vibrating at the prospect of going to the training facility and sweating his ass off, and tried to suppress the tiny pinprick of hope growing in his chest. The possibility of a new start. This, of course, made it all the more devastating when right before training was about to start, he caught Nick’s expression in a mirror as the team leader watched his warmups with the same disgusted apathy as anyone else.

That hurt. More than Keith cared to admit. But it was also fair. He was worthless, as a person. Weak, and not really smart enough to do anything other than occasionally talk over peoples’ heads. His parents ground that into him first, every time he got back a report card or injury, then his brother and their grandparents. That many people couldn’t be wrong. If anything, Nick was gracious in being slower on the uptake than the rest of them. And even if Nick had now course corrected and distanced himself, he was still willing to give Keith opportunities most wouldn’t—picking him for the mission, for example, despite there being plenty of other better candidates in Zero-team.

Which was why it was very important that Keith say and do nothing to make their relationship worse.

“They’re tamarinds.” Keith’s mouth went on auto-pilot. “Closer to fruit than nut. Just thought it was kind of weird to see stuff from the outside world in a place that’s supposed to be a fantasy realm.”

“Really?” Nick peered at him, then back at the cluster. “There were banana trees by the elevator, man. Unless they were a weird fantasy copyright infringement. Right color, but kinda big.”

Plantains.

“Sorry,” Keith said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “We rolled out of the elevator in a hurry. Just, like, try to mind your surroundings and shit.”

“I’ll be better,” Keith promised himself as much as Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Don’t take everything so damn seriously. And stop apologizing like it’s your job.”

“Sorry.”

“The hell did I just say?” Nick muttered.

They walked in silence then, proceeding through the shadowed greenery of the forest toward the bluffs. Nick had spotted them from a distance and extrapolated it was worth checking for a ripple. Something about points of interest. Keith didn’t really follow the logic, but he wasn’t about to question it. Even if their search yielded nothing, the bluffs overlooked the vast ocean on a mostly unoccupied side of the island. In more casual circumstances, Keith would happily make the hike for the view alone.

The trees thinned, growing sparser and further apart until they disappeared entirely, a verdant green incline stretched out and upward before them.

With the end in sight, Keith wanted to rush ahead and scramble up the hill, eager to take it all in.

But Nick had stopped moving. He looked distracted, far away.

“Everything okay?” Keith asked.

Instead of answering, Nick reached in his inventory and withdrew something that resembled a knotted stick with a handle. A wand. Though its appearance didn’t hold a candle to some of the more expensive—and frankly gaudy—wands Keith frequently saw around the Order. Nick held it gingerly, as if it was precious despite its appearance. “Uh. Don’t spread it around, but they’ve given Zero-team a line of credit at the vendor. When you’re ‘ready,’ I’m supposed to help you guys upgrade. Thing is, most of the others are already kitted out.”

It made sense, Keith thought glumly. Most of the Zero-team had higher-level Users with plenty of resources looking out for them, while Keith suspected his brother viewed the assignment as little more than the teenage version of free childcare.

“Should be an upgrade from that rat-poker you’ve been waving around. Here.” Nick stuck the wand out to him with zero fanfare. He looked away, grimacing slightly as he waited for the mage

Keith sucked in a breath. The system text read <Wand of a Thousand Cuts>. It was graded rare, which put it on a higher tier than pretty much anything he owned. But he hesitated, not wanting to appear too eager. “Are you sure? Seems like it means something to you.”

Nick’s jaw worked. “Yeah. It’s fine. It uh, it used to belong to a friend. Found it in the vendor’s stock and paid a pretty penny for it. Meant to hold it for her in case she needed it. You know, when she came back.”

“And she doesn’t need it anymore?” Keith asked, trying to temper his own expectations. Even if the wand was a loaner, he’d be fine with that. It meant more that he’d been considered at all.

Slowly, Nick shook his head. “No. And even if she did, with the way I am now? I’m pretty sure she’d want nothing to do with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith said. He was racking his mind, trying to come up with a reason someone would actively dislike the Zero-team leader and coming up dry.

“Me too.” Nick wiped his face with his sleeve. His voice muffled through the fabric. “Been putting this off a while, if I’m honest. But holding off before I went into the ripple turned out to be a massive blunder. Just sentimentality welling up to bite me in the ass. As always.” Again, he pushed the wand toward Keith.

This time, Keith took it. It was heavier than it looked. He held it the same way Nick had—as if it was made of glass. Given the soberness of the exchange, he tried his best to hide his excitement. “Thanks. For trusting me with something so valuable. I’ll take good care of it and swear I won’t let you down.” Keith looked up from the wand. “And it’s not like I’m going anywhere. If you ever want it back, or just want to hold it or something, I totally get it.”

Nick suddenly looked away and coughed, his shoulders bunching in silent hacks. When he turned back, his eyes were red around the edges. “Appreciate that, buddy. I… really do. Tell you what. We’ll probably end up searching the entire area, but I’m not really particular about where we start. Any ideas?”

“How ‘bout the top of the bluffs?” Keith said, verbalizing his earlier thought, studying the path to the top. “Incline’s pretty steep. We’ll need to climb in a few places, but there are plenty of handholds. And even if the ripple’s not up there, we’ll have a good vantage on the rest of the area.”

Nick nodded slowly. There was something in his grimness that felt resigned somehow. “Sure. Not sure I trust my city-boy ass to navigate that, so why don’t you take point?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Lead the way.”

This wasn’t a good day, exactly. There were too many close calls for that. But with his earlier breakthrough thanks to Myrddin, and Nick’s generosity, it was still shaping up to be one of the better in recent memory. Keith set his shoulders and prepared to march up the incline, the sound of waves beckoning him onward.

Something nagged at the back of Keith’s mind. A promise he’d made. He pulled up his interface and tried to send a party message. When it failed for the second time, he looked over his shoulder at Nick. “Been meaning to keep Halima updated on our location, but nothing’s going through.”

For just a second, Nick froze. Then shrugged whatever it was off just as quickly. “Probably just the realms of Flauros being unpredictable. Could be some sort of interference. Let me give it a shot.” After a few seconds, Nick nodded. “Still working for me. Halima and Myrddin are on their way. From the sound of it, they’re gonna be a while.”

“Should we wait?”

“Nah. There’s a good chance it’s not up there. Might as well save them the climb.”

“If it’s not, can—” Keith hesitated. “Can we hang out while we catch our breath? Grab a bite to eat and talk?”

Nick nodded. “Sure, kid. Whatever you want.”

* * *

I couldn’t believe it. Refused to believe it.

The ability faded, and when I opened my eyes, my vision was woozy and gray. I stood upright too quickly and nearly fell, stumbling forward and catching myself on the limb of a nearby tree. Maybe I was being my usual, cynical self. There was a chance I was wrong. That this wasn’t what I thought it was.

While I waited for the dizziness to fade, I called Halima.

She picked up on the first chime. “What happened?”

“Heard anything since earlier?” My voice was raw.

“No,” Halima said. “Nothing going through from me either. Just errors every time I try to send them a message.”

“Any possibility something came in while you weren’t looking?” My heart pounded. The answer was written all over Nick’s face. The cold, carefully restrained intent that Keith was too naïve to recognize.

“Myrddin, I’ve been glued to the goddamn UI since the last time we talked, waiting to hear something. I’m looking at it right now. There’s nothing,” Halima said.

God fucking dammit, Nick. This isn’t you.

“Now what?” she asked, sounding scared again. “What do we do?”

“Stay put. I’ll reach back out when I find them.” With a few mental presses, I disconnected the voice chat before she could argue.

And ran.