Of Good Boys and Bygones

John stood and stretched, looking around at the devastation wrought by the heart’s final beat. Strange, uneven lines had been melted into everything in sight. An acrid smell permeated the tunnel. Idly, he wondered what kinds of magic his ice wall had that it held up as well as the concrete and steel of the surrounding subway station.

’That wasn’t so bad, all things considered,’ he thought, waving his hand in front of his nose. ’I’ll be happy to get going though.’

Next to him, Ela emerged from behind the wall, looking back and confirming that nothing remained of their target. As she inspected the goo-filled crater left behind, The Gamer turned his attention to a single red "1" hovering over his notifications tab. He opened it to find confirmation of the side quest’s completion.

John was pretty sure that the money and exp had been deposited as soon as the heart had exploded, yet he still hadn’t seen an item reward. He furrowed his brow in confusion, but when he moved to ask his companion if she’d seen anything, he heard the faint jingling of metal. His hand shot to his neck, finding that something already hung around it.

The Gamer ran his fingers over cool metal, finding it surprisingly bumpy and uneven. Reaching behind his neck, he unclasped the strange item, holding it in front of himself so that he could inspect it. It appeared to be a locket of some kind, with a rough approximation of a heart held on a copper string, woven with other threads of metal.

The locket itself looked to have been fashioned from salvaged aluminum and silver, giving it a distinct appearance despite being made of obvious scrap metals. An impressive amount of time and craftsmanship had no doubt gone into trying to make something beautiful from the discarded materials. Detailed copper accents on the face had begun to turn green as they oxidized.

’Well, that’s about as depressing as it gets…’ John thought, struck by the item description. ’I don’t want to think about why this was the reward for clearing down here.’

He sat for a moment, awash with melancholy, unable to stop himself from imagining the story of how the locket had come to him.

“John? Is everything OK?” Ela asked, concerned about the evident sorrow on The Gamer’s face. “Is that the item from the zone reward?”

“I… Yeah, it is.” He shared the window with her.

The blonde paused for a moment, reading the window. John sighed, running a finger over the face of the locket, stumbling upon a tab. Pressing it down, the necklace opened. The left of the inner faces was glass, smudged over with dirt. Gently, he brushed his thumb over it, wiping it clean enough to see a photo below - an old print that had begun to yellow with age, depicting an aging man with an unkempt, bushy beard holding a small baby.

John’s frown deepened as he recognized the coat the man wore. ’Dangit…’

Sighing again, he moved on. The right inner face was indented with something The Gamer recognized immediately, a skill gem. It was an orb of brilliant amber-brown, decorated on its lower half by crags of silver and bronze. The gem sat, embedded in a felt-like material, glowing faintly. The nerd blew the dust off of the gem, casting [Observe].

'Quite the skill…' he thought. 'It's already been leveled up a couple times as well. I suppose that someone has to have owned it before. Way more durable than my ice wall, but also leaves us stuck inside, at least if I'm reading it right.'

"I see what is bothering you," Ela said, breaking John from his musings about the skill. "This meant a lot to someone. They would not have left it behind willingly."

She offered a sympathetic smile. "I was never expecting to find survivors, though. Look around us. Even the apocalypse seems to have run its course."

"You're right, I know. It just feels wrong for me to be holding it." The Gamer sighed.

John couldn't help but see pictures of his own family as he stared into the eyes of the old Lighthouse Keeper. He was beaming, so full of joy as he held his child. The Gamer already knew the father's fate, had the daughter's been the same?

Ela put a hand on his shoulder.

"This represented hope to them, yes?" she sang, noting his pained expression. "Perhaps it is worth hoping that you will find someone to return it to, however unlikely that is."

John smiled, somberly. "Yeah, I'd like to think that… I guess from a purely mechanical perspective, it will be a nice piece to have in the meantime."

Nodding, he closed the locket, choosing to leave the [Jagged Earth Dome] where it was, for now. He told himself that it was because he didn't want to lose the experience it had come with, though he knew it was also because he couldn't bear to take it apart yet. The Gamer clipped the locket back around his neck, feeling its magic run over him.

"Alright, ready to go?" he asked, gesturing towards the far side of the station.

Ela nodded, and the two crossed the ruined room towards the stairs to the surface. This subway station wasn't all that different from the first one they'd come though, aside from the heart chamber built over the boarding area. The stairs were almost slick with goo, but still perfectly usable, with care.

"You know," John commented, following his companion upwards. "We got so much experience down there that I'm about to level up again."

"I wonder how close I am, then?" Ela mused.

Cautiously, the pair scanned the area surrounding the top of the stairs before they exposed themselves too much. They were definitely in a downtown area now. The part of the city closer to the shoreline had had a lot of brick and wooden buildings that were low to the ground - shops and restaurants and the like.

This area was all concrete and metal now, mostly towering skyscrapers that had once been office buildings and department stores. High rises blotted out much of the blackened sky, and the rumble and crack of thunder echoed between them. A large swathe of the area in front of them was blackened with char, the remnants of an uncontrolled firestorm. To one side, a once grand tower had conceded to the decay of time, collapsing down upon a highway, leaving both as little more than piles of debris.

Multiple covered vehicles, painted in forest green camouflage sat arrayed around the top of the staircase. The tattered remains of military tents were scattered around the clearing they now found themselves in, lined with outward facing concrete barricades. Boxes and crates had been toppled and rifled through long before they’d arrived. Everything was stained in muddy reds.

"Some kind of impromptu army camp? Maybe an evacuation center or something?" John guessed, inspecting the damage. ’Maybe they tried to use the subway to get people out back when all this started?’

"I have a decent guess what happened to it," Ela murmured, gesturing to one end. A straight line had been bored through the defenses there; concrete and steel alike had been melted into gnarled masses.

“Yeah...” He nodded. “Seems clear for the moment.”

Together, they emerged from the underground. The Bookworm Knight stood slightly in front, prepared for an ambush, while John followed, experimenting with his vision. Using his [Unawakened Eye] ability, he scanned the area for any signs of life.

The world outside The Gamer’s barrier had been so vibrant and alive when he’d used this vision that he’d had to struggle to block out all the ambient mana. In here, the world was unimaginably dead. The gray and darkness seemed only amplified by his enhanced senses, as if the absence of light was the only trait of note. John halted momentarily, stunned by how truly empty the world of his dungeon was.

’This place really is as dead as it gets…’ he silently lamented, canceling his ocular spell.

“John,” Ela called, shaking him from his stupor. “I think I know where we are. Can you pull out the map?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, one second.” The Gamer leaned his staff next to him, digging his phone out of his inventory and opening the picture he’d taken of the map they’d found in the lighthouse. The two ran their eyes over it, quickly identifying where they’d started, tracing landmarks and comparing against the subway route they’d followed earlier.

“Here, by these red markings. I think this is where we are,” Ela said, zooming in on a spot on the image. “That puts us very close to the hospital.”

John brought a hand up to scratch his forehead for a second. “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. That mark on the left has to be the highway over there. So just a few blocks through some alleys, if I’m reading this correctly.”

The blonde nodded. “We are almost at our goal.”

“Yup. With any luck, we can find a few random zombies or whatever on the way, so I can get that extra level before we arrive.” The Gamer leaned back, stretching, before grabbing his staff and standing with renewed focus. “Shall we?”

Ela offered a smile, bringing her axe up to rest on her shoulder. “Of course.”

Across the clearing they found themselves in, the pair of nerds made their way to the entry to an alleyway, double checking with the map that this was the path the survivors had marked. Above, the tempest’s grumbling grew more intense. A fresh wave of shadow, blacker still, settled upon the unending darkness of the city.

Momentarily, John looked up at the angered heavens above. Then he shook it off, and the two set off once more into the storm-covered ruins.

The sounds of thunder above crackled loudly enough to muffle most things, besides an almost ever-present dripping noise. A fresh cold wave had settled upon the city, bringing a discomforting chill with it. A thin layer of frost crept atop puddles of the thick black ooze. The Gamer shuddered, realizing that he could see his breath.

The pair trudged through oddly swampy passages between buildings, where pooling ooze and rot had worn through ruined pavement, which had cracked and split apart. Beyond all that, the alleys had been unnervingly quiet for their journey so far, John thought. Momentarily, he paused, looking at the half-frozen, slushy goo running over his armor plates

’I’m never going to get this out of my clothes ever again,’ the anxious nerd thought, lifting his new boots from the muck. ’I wonder if prestidigitation or something similar is real. That would be pretty nice.’

He turned forward to Ela, who walked in front of him confidently, her axe at the ready. ’You’re doing the whole distraction thing again, John. Still things out here trying to kill us. Stay frosty.’

Trying to stay aware of the world around him, The Gamer glanced down at the phone in his hand, examining the map. He’d been in charge of navigating them through the seemingly endless maze of back roads and alleys they’d followed. Quickly, he confirmed that they were on the right track, covering almost half of the marked route on the map.

“John,” Ela whispered, turning back to him. “Left or right up ahead?”

He stopped, double checking himself. “Uh, to the right. Looks like a side street.”

The blonde nodded back, and John followed her around the turn into yet another darkened alleyway, streaks of red and black running inward and pooling down the middle. On the far side, he could see faint light coming from the opening they were heading towards.

Creaking and groaning drew The Gamer’s vision upwards, where he found an old fire escape, swaying gently with the storm’s winds. Sets of steel stairs and railing had been bolted to the building to his left, though it had begun to peel off from where it was mounted, leaning over on the other side.

’I guess this must be an apartment or something next to us? Never seen one of these outside of a movie,’ the curious nerd thought, looking at all the rust and wear covering the old metal. For a moment, his focus slipped, and his mind drifted to thoughts about the people who must have lived here in years gone by. Had anyone, anywhere, made it out?

Streaks of liquid ran down the structure, dripping off into puddles below, and The Gamer snapped out of his mindscape just in time to avoid getting any on his head. He was more careful with where he was going after that. Just before he returned his vision downward, he realized something as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he gazed into.

It wasn’t just the wind moving the fire escape.

There was something, cloaked in shadow, atop the highest set of stairs. He activated his [Unawakened Eye], piercing the inky blackness above. A small group of somethings moved slowly atop the crumbling superstructure. They pulsed with crimson red mana, which itself seemed to squirm through bodies that even his enhanced vision couldn’t quite make out at that distance.

He knew in his gut that the creatures had been watching them, and that they knew he’d found them.

“ELA! ABOVE US!” John screamed, allowing his mana to pour into his staff. Amber light exploded around him, almost blinding in contrast to the oppressive darkness from before. Winds of his own creation whipped around The Gamer, alight with his mana in brilliant greens and golds.

His companion spun around, her own suit rippling with strength as she turned to the sky, looking for what John had seen. Ela flexed, pulling her axe into a defensive stance and lowering her center of gravity. She blinked quickly, eyes adjusting to the sudden colors all around.

A trio of howls cried out into the empty city. Three creatures sprung from the shadows above. Dog-like beasts of squirming sinew and hungry maws.

The first crashed into the building on John’s left, bloody muscle impacting the stone and brick with enough **** to send cracks through the structure. It bounced off, pouncing at even higher speed, intent on slamming into The Gamer directly. He loosed his first spell at it, meeting it halfway with magical fury.

A ball of compressed air power and holy fire burst upon the monster, which only narrowly missed crashing into John as he dove backwards out of the impact zone. Rolling back to his feet as quickly as he could, the nerd began to channel another spell as his companion faced their other assailants.

The second and third beasts had moved in tandem, dashing back and forth past each other as they sprang downward, leaving half a dozen impact marks on the sides of the alley as they closed on their blonde target. Ela’s eyes danced around as she struggled to follow her enemy’s advance. Backing up, she dodged the first as it tried to hit her from the right, only to be caught off guard by a second slam from her left, tossing her sideways out the end of the alley.

Ela rolled over herself, grunting in pain at the new bruises on her ribs. The blonde found herself thrown into a long abandoned cul-de-sac, one of the landmarks from the map very close to the hospital. She scrambled back to her feet, grabbing the trunk of a burnt-out car wreck to pull herself up. Drawing her weapon once more, she squared up against the beasts that had rushed her.

They were savage, snarling creatures, somewhat canine in nature, but warped by the same tainted ooze that had afflicted the zombies they’d fought up until now. Their legs were thick with muscle, bursting at the seams with mana. The sinews themselves throbbed in anticipation. Their tails were unnaturally long, wagging behind them high up in the air. Another ferocious howl pierced to the sky as the dog monsters unhinged their jaws, then split them in half, letting out another call to attack as they rushed at Ela.

Meanwhile, in the alley, John was struggling to keep the beast that had jumped him at bay. His first spell had taken a decent chunk out of the monster, but even with a limp it was fast enough to keep him on the back foot. They’d entered a strange dance back and forth, jockeying for position. The creature was too fast for The Gamer to get another clean shot off on it, but the threat of another likely lethal spell kept it from cleanly moving in for the kill.

’Alright, I need a better idea than backing up forever…’ he thought, bouncing an [Observe] off it while he racked his brain for an idea on how to break the stalemate.

I’ll give you an achievement if you pet him.

The monstrosity snapped at him, its teeth oddly bony and twisted. ’Preferably ideas that won’t get me killed. Or Ela, we need to regroup.’

The blonde’s HP bar pinged downward again in the corner of his vision, sending a spike of adrenaline through his veins.

John backpedaled as best he could, waving his glowing staff in front of him as the beast approached. It snarled, dripping ooze and red liquid from its unsettling maw. Its front left leg had been blown off entirely by the first air burst, and holy fire danced across its back. Another swipe of The Gamer’s glowing weapon gave it further pause, ceasing its advance for the time being, focusing its beady black eyes on him. John had been backed up all the way to their last turn, stuck in the elbow with a long-abandoned dumpster narrowing his range of movement.

“Actually, wait a second,” he muttered, an idea forming. “You like this, eh?”

He moved his weapon more deliberately now, watching as the monster followed it closely, waiting for his next [Lesser Air Burst] to fly out of it. Mentally, The Gamer ran through his plan, running through the steps he needed. He did his best to gauge distances and angles of attack, but realized that he didn’t have time to keep guessing.

As suddenly as he could, John shot backwards and to the right, back around the corner, pointing his staff left and shooting his holy-converted spell intentionally wide, on the outside of the elbow. He held his right arm close, just behind himself.

The beast charged to follow, focused on his air spell. It pressed its one good leg against the wall on the inside, away from the blessed air explosion. The creature crouched down as it dashed forward, winding up to pounce with all its might, only to be cut off by a sudden eruption from the wall.

Brick and stone cracked and crumbled as deep orange rings appeared along John’s hidden arm. He closed his fist with finality, piercing the canine monstrosity’s side with a [Lesser Earth Spike]. The monster was unable to stop its own momentum, driving itself further onto the stone spike, blood and ooze flying everywhere.

The Gamer didn’t wait for the body to fade to dust and loot, sprinting past the lifeless corpse as soon as XP came rolling in. He pushed his fifteen agility to its limit, racing to find where Ela and the other two enemies had ended up.

The blonde had done her best to hold her own against her twin assailants, allowing her defensive prowess to match their ferocity and speed. Slowly though, they’d driven her down the street, harrying her every move. The creatures struck in tandem, trying to catch her off guard, to wear her down cut by cut, bite by bite. Blood ran down Ela’s shield arm again from where one good hit had made it through.

The creatures were much worse for wear as well, both bearing numerous cuts from her axe. One had a broken hind leg, while the other's ribs had been crushed inward. The monsters continued to move with unnatural strength though, sick red energy giving strength to their injured bodies.

Circling her now, the beasts of unsettling sinew closed in, preparing for their next strike, their flesh rippling in anticipation. Without warning, one struck from the knight’s left, on her injured arm. Ela’s eyes erupted in green. She slid forward whirling with unexpected aggression, her axe carving into the monster’s side, slamming into it with enough **** to send it flying backwards.

The Pole followed through, rolling away from the follow up strike from the second. The monster’s broken leg failed it as it tried to pounce again, and Ela offered no quarter, charging forward to finish it off with a mighty downward strike, her axe crushing the beast’s skull as much as cutting into it. Her forearms flashed with mana as she ripped her bone blade from the corpse.

The first beast moved to attack once more, howling with fury. Before it could jump or Ela could move to meet it, a flash of green and amber flew past the blonde knight as John arrived, a [Lesser Air Burst] sizzling and searing into the monster before exploding, tearing it apart. The blonde turned, offering a relieved smile as her lanky companion came up behind her.

“Sorry I’m late!”