Loose Ends

Nightmares plagued him. Wispy faces with no features laughing at him mockingly. Jenny was so far away, and she shrunk into the distance, no more than a speck. The elvish bassist faded in, with her cheerful but hauntingly agonized eyes.

John woke up with a start, shooting up before realizing he was… in his room? He recalled passing out in the concert barrier but had no further memories. The warm summer morning made no difference to the shivers that riddled him when he remembered what happened to Jenny. Jenny.

He gently put a foot on the floor, hardly managing to steady himself before placing the other down and shakily trying to get out of bed. He stretched and nearly fell backwards, recovering at the last moment. He noticed two envelopes on his bedside table but had much more pressing concerns. His body felt too heavy. Breath felt hard to draw, and stones had settled into his lungs. His eyesight wasn’t as sharp, and he feared for the worst. Checking his stat sheet, two popups explained why he felt so horrible.

You are Very Hungry! -25% Endurance! -10% Strength, Agility, and Charisma. Eat something, dummy!

You are Severely Dehydrated! -50% Max HP, -100% HP Regen, -1% HP per hour until status is revoked (damage cannot be lethal), -35% Endurance, -30% Strength and Agility. Drink something now!

His health floated at one, and he realized that, for all he knew, a papercut could kill him as he was.

David appeared on his shoulder and looked at him with uncertainty. John never realized how heavy the bird was. “David, get off me please!” he croaked, and the hawk, concerned for his master, fluttered onto his wardrobe. Slowly attempting to get up again, he lowered his feet onto the floor once more. This attempt fared much better than the last, and his knees didn’t give out from under him. He felt as though he were moving through water. Slowly getting used to the reduced physical stats, John made his way to the stairs. Why couldn’t I have been left on the couch.

John swore under his breath as he tentatively made his way down the stairs, easing each foot down as if he were glass. When he stumbled into the kitchen, he nearly fell but recovered on the table. He threw the fridge open and snatched a carton of orange juice out, greedily gulping it down. He cast it back in haphazardly when this almost immediately made him throw up. Using Clean to get rid of the puke, he instead poured a glass of tap water and sipped at it slowly. Don’t I need electrolytes or something?

Slowly rising after finishing his water, he painstakingly poured himself a glass of the orange juice he had half-finished moments before. I wonder where my Mom is, he idly wondered, not as worried about it as he should’ve been, while he gradually drank the juice. When he finished the juice, he set the glass in the sink and tore a bag of bread open, consuming three pieces in a little under ten minutes. After he finished the bread, a few popups appeared.

You are no longer Severely Dehydrated!

You are now Mildly Dehydrated! -25% Max HP, -20% Endurance, -15% Strength and Agility.

You are no longer Very Hungry!

Back to the drawing board, John thought, pouring himself another glass of water, since the juice made him feel sick, no matter how slowly he drank it. Not caring whether his mother saw David or not, he set out a large chunk of the food he bought and a saucer of water for his loyal companion.

An hour later, an achievement told him he was in the clear.

Achievement Unlocked: Bear Grylls
You nearly died for lack of food and/or water, and you didn’t even drink your own piss. That wouldn’t have been a fitting end to the Game though, so nice job on avoiding it.

• Hidden Perk: Iron Constitution

Tapping on it curiously, John hoped it was a perk he would never have to use.

Iron Constitution, Hidden Perk
Allows The Gamer to survive 25% longer without water and 15% longer without food. Does not slow down body atrophy from these things.

Alright, I’ve been wearing these clothes for days, and they probably stink. I’ll change and head over to Keith’s, maybe he can explain what happened. When his head popped through the shirt hole, he heard David flutter over and land on his shoulder, two letters clutched in his beak. The first was a handwritten note from Keith in an untidy, doctor-like scrawl.

Lad, if you don’t stop dying, I’m going to stop saving you. Kimberly examined you, and you should be fine, so at least I didn’t have to give you another potion, so cheers for that. She can’t make heads or tails of why you can’t wake up though. Next time tell me when you have potion fatigue. When you wake up, come to my apartment pretty soon. Jenny wants to see you.
Keith Rutherford
P.S. I **** your mother with a drought of serenity. She won’t remember much of the last few days. It should wear off when she sees you. I’m charging you the five thousand dollars for that one.

Well, that lifted a weight off his chest. He didn’t know how, but Jenny was okay, and that was what really mattered. Sighing in relief, he picked up the second letter.

He examined the crisp, white envelope and noticed it had a shiny gold square emblem on it, with an icon in each corner. A sword in the top left, a chalice in the top right, a stick in the bottom left, and a coin with a pentagram on it in the bottom right. The middle of the emblem housed the letters RW. Opening it up, he scanned it quickly.

To John Newman,
You have been cordially invited to the Rider-Waite Bounty Hunter Entrance Exams (RWBHEE) due to your unusual abilities and proximity to the new Springfield base. The exams will be held outside the Springfield base on August 1st. This invitation is not given out lightly, so know that someone of the higher staff believes you to be an up and coming member of the Abyss. If you wish to attend, please sign your name on the line below, at which point this letter will self destruct. To learn more, consider our complimentary information package on the Abyssal Auction, coupon code included.
The Rider-Waite Bounty Hunter Recruiting Department

Jotting down the coupon code on the envelope and slipping it into his inventory, John signed his name. The letter jumped out of his hands and a lightless orange flame engulfed it, leaving nothing behind. RSVP’ing can’t hurt; worse comes to worst, I don’t go. I’ll order the information later though, right now I have much more important things to attend to.

Racing down the stairs, John checked his phone and noticed it was Saturday. Saturday!? I slept for three days!? He nearly tripped at the bottom but regained his balance and flipped instead. Upon walking into the living room, he saw his mom.

“Hi, honey,” Brenda said oddly absently, and he stopped in his tracks. The far away look in her eyes broke upon seeing him, and she continued in a much less lifeless tone, “have any plans for the weekend?”

“I’m going to go see Jenny today; after that, I’m not sure,” John said, grabbing a sweatshirt from the hooks by the door before turning back to her to make sure whatever Keith had given her had totally worn off.

“Are you alright, Mom?” John asked, and she seemed more animated by the second.

“Feeling fine, dear. Would you like breakfast before you go?” Brenda asked, getting up from the kitchen table.

“I’m good, I’ll see you later, Mom!” John exclaimed, running out of his house and toward the nearest fast-travel barrier. He was at Keith’s in less than five minutes and in his residential barrier in two after that.

“Heyyy!” Kimberly said upon seeing John enter; “Keith’s not here, but he told me to give you this!” With that, she handed him a bill for the potion Keith had used on his Mom.

“Jenny’s also not here, and she told me to give you this!” With that, she kissed him deeply for the briefest of moments. “I can see why she likes you,” Kimberly said with a thin smile, before going back to her couch and her ice cream.

“Where are they?” John asked, and she put her ice cream down to reply.

“Well, Keith’s at the Inferno, he’s got this arm wrestling thing going on there. Jenny’s there too, but she’s there to fix her bass. There’s a guy there who specializes in the creation and reparation of magical instruments. Andy? Anton? I forget his name.” She spooned neapolitan ice cream into her mouth before continuing, “He made me my electric triangle.” She giggled, and John realized he didn’t even know where the entrance to the Inferno was. He also didn’t know what an electric triangle was, but he had a few guesses.

“Can you take me there?” he asked, and she put down her ice cream again with a sigh, it had been millimeters away from her mouth.

“I guess. I’ve been meaning to go back to gluttony anyway,” Kimberly replied, tossing her ice cream into a mini-fridge that was next to their couch.

“Gluttony?” John asked with raised eyebrows, but Kimberly kept it vague.

“Oooh, that’s right, you’ve never been there! You’ll see,” she giggled again and dragged him out of the apartment. John noticed the homeless man was there again waiting for him, and this time he had the right mind to Spy him.

Nick Andros
Homeless Puppet, Level 4
HP: 35/40
MP: 0/0
A deaf and mute homeless man who met an insanely powerful necromancer by chance and now is totally under her control.
RS: +0
Status Effects: Deaf, Mute, Mark of the Necromancer

That last one interested him, and the homeless man scrambled away as he tapped on the tooltip. He was so intrigued, however, that he tripped over the curb because he wasn’t paying attention and landed flat on his face. Even when I get out of there normally, I still fall down. Man, that’s frustrating.

Mark of the Necromancer, Permanent Status Effect
This individual’s very soul has been claimed by the inherent darkness of their innermost desires, exploited by the creator of the Mark. This individual now has no free will and acts as a puppet to his/her commands. He/she can also remotely control this body through his/her will, effectively feeling, hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling everything this individual normally would.

That’s… beyond creepy John thought as Kimberly helped him up. _At least I know the Necromancer is a woman now. Maybe joining the Bounty Hunters wouldn’t be so bad. At least I’d probably be protected from threats like her.

Kimberly led John to the mundane nightclub Jenny had played at, The Seven Circles of Hell. As he walked inside, he thought, They’re probably linked somehow, with names like these.

His thoughts were interrupted as Kimberly led him straight through a wall. At first there was some resistance, as if they actually were walking into a wall. His mind flashed back to the few times he was here, and he realized that the crowd often avoided this corner. He assumed it was in favor of the dance floor, but perhaps this entrance repelled people. That made more sense than people randomly avoiding a corner anyway.

“Hiya, Kimberly!” a cheerful blond man greeted them at a mirror, similar to the one inside the Waite base. Rider-Waite base, apparently, John thought as Kimberly replied.

“Hello, Callum, going to see Keith, he’s already inside, yes?” Kimberly asked, taking out a giant stack of bills from the purse she brought. “This’ll cover the entry fee for premium members.” She handed the man the bills and walked inside, as if she had forgotten about John.

“How much is it for normal people?” John asked reluctantly, hoping it was somehow less than the impressive money Kimberly had lackadaisically spent.

“Twelve-thousand dollars. You even old enough to drink, kid?” the man who was apparently Callum asked. When John winced and hesitantly brought out his money, the man’s tune totally changed.

“Enjoy your time inside, sir.”