Life After the Apocalypse

I said maybe (I said maybe)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)

Raquel finishes the final chorus and Grace plays the outro to the song. When it's over, the assassin adjusts her glasses and gives a little bow. "Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal!" she jokes lamely.

Grace stares in disbelief as rainbow-colored notes float overhead from her music.

"Taylor Swift never did that!" Eyes flickering to the table, she admits, "She does have my Raining Gold thing beat by a few billion coins." She scoops the coin into her hands, relieved that they didn’t come from the villagers’ pockets.

She flashes a smile at Raquel’s joke, even if it is lame. In reference to some of the song lyrics, she says, "You were definitely the one who saved me." She raises a glass to Raquel, then drinks up.

Oh! She’s about to complain about the booze being watered down. But… if it’s just water, that’s a good thing.

When she tries the food, she’s polite about it. What’s unsettling is not the taste, but the mismatch of texture. She takes a sip of her drink, then hesitates before taking another bite.

"Oh, where are my manners?" she says to the villagers. "Thank you all for providing food, shelter, and… well, I would say ‘the comforts of home,’ but honestly, Aegelby, it was better than that. I felt like a princess in your bathhouse. Five-star review! And—" She picks up four of the coins that were summoned by her music. "—a tip for the hairdressers!"

She gives each of the maids a gold coin.

Isbjorn is mostly quiet during the meal, distracted with his slow, simmering worry for his son, although he sways a little to Raquel and Grace's singing. He doesn't even notice how weird the stew is for a few bites, but it definitely jolts him enough to frown while staring at his bowl.

He does continue eating it however, and urges Guy and Varga in doing the same, seeing as the other two are hesitating. "You guys should try eating as much as you can. We've got a long journey ahead of us and we need all the energy we can get," Isbjorn whispers to them before downing another spoonful of the stew.

Fren laughed with Piphany. "There is no right or wrong with these games, I always go for rule of cool. It's my way to escape reality...or was, just before we entered this...game? Dimension? Dunno what to call it..." he changes into a more serious tone in the end. "Anyway, I really like both your style and scythe." He does a dual thumbs up gesture and with a grin that shows his canines. "As a Foxtail I do not feel much different, all movements are the same. I had to take care of my tail moving when I entered the smithy though, fire hazard and such. I feel and do not feel my tail at the same time, dunno how to describe it. And it was a funny feeling at the bath when my fur and tail got wet."

He then tries the stew. Although he hates it on the first bite, he tries to endure it. "Well, I was expecting some bugs but not in the taste...is this normal taste or something is wrong with my character?" he asks the other adenturers. He shrugs "oh well, we will need sustainance...even like this..." and he continues eating it. He sure misses his girlfriend's Kimchi stew now.

"Well, that's what I'm here for," Raquel quips. She smiles and gives Grace a thumbs up.

Despite the initial aversion to water, the experience wasn't all bad. The cheery company and the novelty of having her fur styled leaves Clara feeling surprisingly relaxed.

Joining the rest of the group at the dinner table, she spots two new faces. With a warm smile and a tilt of her head, she offers them both a greeting. While she isn't particularly familiar with the latest gaming content creators, their conversation nonetheless draws her in.

As Grace and Raquel takes center stage, Clara watches with delight at the harmonious performance. Unable to resist the melody, she claps her little paws and softly sings along in the audience.

The colourful music notes that emerges from Grace's instrument leaves Clara momentarily speechless. Piphany's earlier remark resurfaces in her mind. The NPCs here seem alive, which is why Clara has been treating them like real people. It almost feels like she can form genuine connections with them, but the gold raining from thin air, the visual effects, coupled with the strangely bland taste of food are constant reminders of the true nature of this world.

She doesn't seem to be the only one in contemplation, however. Clara notices Isbjorn's furrowed brows and distant gaze during the meal. Gently, she asks. "Hey Isbjorn, is everything alright? You seem a bit troubled."

Taylor frowns at the food then shrugs, he's eaten worse on the regular.

"Here's to hoping that the road is easy."

>>>A partial moon creeps up over the tree lines, bright and clear, as the sky fully darkens into night. The hubbub of the villagers' conversation fill the boulevard with a cozy sort of life. The absence of noise beyond the cicadas and crickets, the scrape of utensils on wooden bowls and the murmur of village talk make the dining experience oddly an intimate affair. The lack of bright screens or the noise of clashing media is a bit jarring to the Adventurers used to life in the 21st century.

>>>"I probably would agree with you about there not being a 'wrong' way to play when I was sitting behind a screen." Piphany admitted to Fren. "But now? I'm not so sure. I...I just don't know what the future is going to be like here." Lost in herself, she had merely been pushing the stew around in the bowl instead of eating. She looked at the Fox Tail when he mentioned a bug in the taste. Intrigued, she brought a half spoonful to her lips and tasted it gingerly. "Ugh. That is terrible..." she said softly. "Well, that solves one problem.' she said cryptically. Returning her gaze to Fren, she flashed the briefest of smiles, "Thanks." she returned the Fox Tail's compliments. "I like the Japanese design on your armor and weapon. Are you a Samurai?" she asked.

>>>The girls, who had been watching earnestly while Grace and Raquel performed, ran up to the Adventurer's table at the Bard's request and practically beamed to receive a gold coin from Grace. One tried to catch the ephemeral musical notes that trailed from Grace as if trying to catch a bubble on the wind. "Thank you!" they squealed before returning to their parents' table.


>>>"Having never served for the nobility, I can't say as to how they're treated but I do take pride in serving." she took the compliment begrudgingly.


>>>"Eat up?" BradL33 scoffed at Isbjorn's admonition. Not that there was much choice in the matter... He wasn't trying to be rude to Varduhn or the village but his honesty spilled out maybe a bit more than he meant it to. "I'll eat what in can...but it'll be a struggle." Guy shared the sentiment across the table, trying to wash the food down as best he could.
>>>"Um. How exactly is the food prepared here?" BradL33 asked, following a hunch.

>>>It was clear that Varduhn was about to launch into an explanation when a farmhand and a much older lady appeared urgently at the Apothecary's side, waiting only a moment to interject. "Pardon us, Varduhn...Lords and Ladies." the farmhand held his hat in his hand respectfully. He was the same farmhand, Veskar, that had come to Varduhn's villa earlier to announce the Adventurer's arrival; both Grace and Piphany recognized him right away.
>>>"A few fieldworkers haven't returned yet from the fields. Kaimon and Junjo and Nikmon. Kaimon is often late, taking a pipe after the day's work but is always back before the evening meal is done.
He has yet to return and the others haven't either." His eyes flick between Varduhn and the Adventurer's, unsure of the social protocol of whom to address more directly.

Clara's ears flatten at the news. "That doesn't sound good. Did they leave anything behind, or mention where they might be going after work?" She addresses the farmhand. "When did everyone last see them?"

Grace rises, instrument in hand. "Point us in the right direction, and we’ll—"

Don’t promise you’ll get them back safely. You know how it goes in those police dramas.

"—waste no time."

Raquel nods. "Yes, we'll help find them," she says as she gets to her feet.

"Thank you" Fren says to Piphany "No, not a samurai, but I modeled my self as a swordsman. I wanted a more european style but japanese style is fine too..." he says as he grabs his sword hilt. "...I am more interested in making things, my character was meant to be a blackmsith of sorts. Resource gathering and creating stuff. Never liked the PVP aspect but I enjoy a Dungeon Raid now and then." he says with a grin.

When he hears the news he stands up and agrees with Raquel and Grace.

Clara's gentle words jolts Isbjorn out of his stupor. He turns towards her and gives a small smile. "Nothing much, just... taking in all that's happened today. It's a lot," he says with a chuckle. "I could say the same thing to you. You okay? I can't really imagine what it's like to be in a completely different body, even more so a non-human one."

He doesn't get to hear her reply though, because the news about the missing fieldworkers alarms him as well. He immediately recalls the words from the status box he saw earlier when they entered the village—Monsters: Yes. Fearing for the worst, he rises as well, ready to help with the problem at hand.

>>> "Have you yet told Maxime about this? Perhaps he..." the Apothecary interjected.

>>>Veskar cut off Varduhn's protest, "It is he we went to first, Varduhn. He thought you ought to know." It was on obvious from Veskar's darting eyes that the message was meant more for the Adventurer's ears than the Apothecary's. "Maxime has already headed down to the fields to look into the matter."

>>>"Papa?" Jean Louis perked up at his father's name being mentioned. He looked at the Adventurers as they sprang into action. He licked the stew from around his mouth with his raspy pink tongue, "Papa will help you find them. He is gendarmes for our village." Jean Louis seemed very proud of that fact.


>>>Varduhn stood up, rather quickly, "But they are our guests... We couldn't just expect them to jump to our aid."

>>>"Wait. You want to go out there?" Guy stopped drinking for a moment as some of the Adventurers stood up to leave. "In the dark? By ourselves?" said the man in full plate armor. He looked at Tina, then to Grace and Calamity and Isbjorn and back, in quick succession.

>>>They were last seen at dusk when everyone was coming in for the evening meal." the farmhand answered Calamity. "They sometimes linger for a bit of a smoke after the day's work but are always back for the meal. They are quite overdue... " The older women beside Veskar was wringing her hands. Perhaps she was Kaimon's wife. The ages would match up and the resemblance between the older woman and Veskar might lead one to think she was her son.

"Yes," Grace says, fighting the fear building within her—recalling Raquel’s telling of the one fight she’d been in.

She turns to Varduhn. "You feed us, shelter us—the bathhouse was a delight. And the starstruck look we got from the children, all because we’re Adventurers.

"Well, that title comes with a cost. If any villager is in danger, we step up." And like in The Three Graces, Grace is well aware she ain’t the lead. "If it helps, I mean to play a healing song’s soon as we encounter any monsters."She goes on, "Once I start the music, I’ll be in the fight—if it comes to that." To Jean-Louise she says, "It’ll be an honor to work with your father."

She hopes her in-game skills will kick in because the real life Grace fled backstage the one time a bar-fight broke out in her presence. And that, her mates told her later, was just two tired-drunk flailing fists followed by laughter and a bro-hug.

"No time to waste," Raquel says as Guy hesitates. "We’ll have to rely on torches or magical lights." She rests her hand on the hilt of her katana as she tries to fight against a rising tide of anxiety beneath her cool exterior.

"I'll go. Hopefully it's just nothing, and they are overworked a lost track of time."

Thinking back about the goblins that attacked Brad in the forest, Clara also stood up from her seat. "We have strength in numbers." She reassures Guy. "Let's go find them."

Fren pats Clara's head and is ready to go help find the villagers.

>>>"Do take care..." Varduhn cautions as the Adventurers stand up from the table. "...tho I'm sure it's nothing." The old Apothecary didn't sound all that convincing.

>>> "I've got us covered on lights." BradL33 announced as he fished his gnarled tree branch staff from his magic bag at his side. "BUG LIGHTS!" he lifted the staff as a soft, diffuse light surrounded the Adventurers twinkling like a swarm of fireflies. "Er...which way should we go looking?" BradL33 asked sheepishly.

>>> Follow the path back that way..." the farmhand instructed, pointing with a toil-worn and knobby finger. "...back past Varduhn's villa and turn left at the tree. The field wall will guide you to where Maxime was looking for them. No doubt he'll find you before you find him." With a gentle nudge from the older woman at his side, he hastily added, "And thank you for your help."

---

>>>Away from the village and the sounds of people gathered, only the sounds of the wind creaking branches in the trees and the night sounds of the cicadas and the other (as yet unseen) insects dominated. The absence of the kind of noises the Adventurers would associate with the night were conspicuously absent; no cars, no muted sounds from a neighbor's TV, no loud cellphone conversations, no buzz of electric lines... Just the relative silence of a different world.
>>>The moon hung large and low in the sky, just a sliver past half full and shedding her silvery light onto the forests and fields when not behind the few clouds scudding across the sky. Behind that was a tapestry of stars unlike most of the Adventurers had seen in the 21st century sky. It almost didn't look real...but in the current situation, real was an interesting word to contemplate.
>>> Veskar's directions weren't hard to follow. The layout of the village was fairly simple; a central hub of homes and village buildings surrounded by a half-circle of fields. The given direction led them out to the maze of low stone walls that were the boundaries of the AleBalm fields, breaking up the big swaths of orange flowers into manageable plots.

>>>"I hope this is just a 'Find & Escort' quest or the like." Guy mused out loud. "Farmer Brown didn't have a glowing question mark or exclamation mark over his head, at least." It sounded like he was talking just to hear his own voice...or perhaps to calm his own nerves. "Either way, I'm not sure what's worse, poking around out here in the dark or eating whatever that stuff was the village served. That was the most disturbing and questionable stuff I've ever put in my mouth." his armor clanked as a shiver ran down his spine. "And they say English cooking is bad..."

>>> "Extinguish your light and hold your tongue." a robust figure appeared along the path, crouched low along the stone fieldwall. The creamy fur of the Catfolk blended well with the color of the stone under the moonlight and the brocaded vest broke up enough of his body lines to work as effective camouflage in the dim lighting. "There is something large stalking through the fields. I do not want it to see us until we can better tell what it is." He waved the Adventurers to take shelter along the wall with him. "If it is what I fear... Well, we are all in great danger."

---

>>>In the distance, a couple of field plots away, a dark and indeterminate shape slouched through the fields cutting a swath of dark upturned earth in its wake. Guessing a distance in the dark was a gamble, at best, but the dark bulk seemed to be maybe 100-150 meters away and its slow trajectory was definitely towards the village.

---

>>>"Woah...that thing is HUUUUUGE!" the Sorcerer exclaimed as loudly as he could in a whisper. The dim light accentuated the flickering orange of his tattoos and the luminosity of his eyes as he poked his head above the stone wall for a second and third look.