Clara stood guard. It was the only thing she could do. Petra was a whirlwind of preparation, cleaning out the not-ruins of Reflection Manor. Weeds carved from the grout, dirt swept from the flagstones. The only thing she couldn't do was empty the flooded cellar tunnels.
Then the wood arrived.
Scott led the massive wagon, sitting atop like he was riding some mythical tortoise of stacked lumber. It wasn't enough for the total, but enough to begin.
"Perfect," Petra waved him down, grinning, "Welcome to Reflection Manor! Let's hope your stay will be 'edificing'."
Scott leapt with a graceful bound, landing where the driveway fountain would go. He set his hands on his hips and declared, "It is BEAUTIFUL!"
Petra smirked and said, "Hear that, Jasson? That's how you react when a lady shows you her home."
Off in the corner, nested in the unfinished walls of one of the raised sections, was the orange kitten. It lay curled against one of the walls, occasionally purring. Jasson reclined on top of it, scrolling on his phone as he squinted against the sun.
Jasson looked over and said, "Calling the Not-ruins beautiful? You would have killed me for 'insensitivity' if I had tried that on my first night."
Petra shrugged and said, "Maybe. It would have been the way you said it. Alright, Scott. I haven't started on the foundations yet so you'll have to wait for a bit. It's hard to hold these stones in place while sealing them together, especially when I'm alone."
Clara stepped forward and said, "Wait, didn't you mention something Jasson had described? Scaffolding?"
Petra winced and said, "No, it's fine. Scott will be busy later. I can handle this."
"Come on," Clara said, "It will be faster."
"Wait a second," Jasson said, sitting up, "You mocked me for suggesting scaffolding! So it's a good idea after all."
Petra flushed and said, "I didn't say that! It's still a ridiculous and wasteful idea. But if we were to try it, then it would only work because Scott is doing it. Not some louts with hammers. Buildings are supposed to be made with magic. Anything less is- is a poor man's shack."
Clara watched Jasson snort and roll from the unprotesting kitten, waving his freshly charged phone as he walked toward them.
"You want to see what man can build without magic?" Jasson declared, "I can show you! Let me find a compilation."
"We don't have time," Petra turned back to Scott, "Would you be willing to make temporary wooden structures to support the stones as I seal them? I know that we're already asking a lot from you."
Scott bowed and said, "Consider it done. We should probably move the cats out first."
Scott straightened and said, "On that note, since when did you have horse sized cats?"
"They just kinda appeared," Petra said, "Do you have any ideas for names? We haven't been able to settle on one."
Scott tapped a finger on his chin and said, "What about naming it 'Fire Hazard'?"
Petra said, "No, that's…"
Clara tuned out of their conversation and leaned over to look at what Jasson was doing, "Find something to prove Petra wrong yet?"
"No," Jasson growled, swiping out of a video and selecting another, "It's a bunch of alien theories. I need to search for something else. Different keywords."
Clara smiled. It was good to see him so determined. The sleep last night had done him some good.
"Okay," Clara put an arm around him, "Let me know when you find one. I want to see."
Clara pulled Jasson into a hug as he tried to pull away, then let him go. She smiled, watching his ears flush. He'd been desperate for a comforting embrace yesterday, but now he was getting embarrassed whenever she hugged him. It was so much fun watching him react to her.
Scott and Petra got into discussions, and Clara found herself wandering away. Where had Harriett gone? The fire kitten had gotten up at some point and was digging in some loose soil. The other was nowhere to be seen. Amazing how easily horse sized kittens could disappear, leaving only an absurd amount of fur on everything.
Nothing to do except guard. Or…go on patrol. Clara grinned.
"Come on," Clara said, grabbing Jasson from where he was sitting and hauled him up, "Let's get out of their way. Wouldn't want to get killed by an errant piece of home. So we're going on patrol."
Clara watched as Jasson looked up with agitated eyes, and he said, "I can sit under the trees over there."
"You know," Clara said, eyeing the new light crystal that Petra had got him, "Just because you can charge your phone faster doesn't mean it's the only thing to do. Switch that thing to attack mode and back me up out there."
Jasson said, "I sincerely doubt that there's anything that can hurt you here. Not anymore, at least."
"Sure, sure." Clara said, "Look, either you get up and walk or I pick you up again."
Jasson turned back to his phone and Clara sighed, then scooped him up with one hand.
"You know," Clara said, draping him over her shoulder, "I keep having to carry you. I'm starting to think that you like it."
Jasson scrolled, then said, "I mean…it's not the worst. Your shoulder digs in a bit, but otherwise I'm fine."
Clara stopped, changed her grip so that he was dangling clear off her back and said, "How's that? Is this more encouraging for you?"
After a few moments of dangling from his knees, Jasson said, "You can let me down now. I'll just walk."
Clara chuckled and set Jasson down, but noticed that his face was a bit flushed. Understandable, since he had been upside down. Jasson started walking immediately, taking the lead without looking back.
Grinning, Clara caught up. Then Jasson sped up. Clara raised her eyebrows, matching him again. He went faster.
Wow, Clara thought, he's really into this today.
Clara decided to let Jasson lead. After all, he was starting to breathe quite heavily.
****
Jasson breathed, sharp and painful, as he rested face down on the forest floor. The crisp mountain air cleared his lungs and helped him regain composure. Finally, after being thoroughly sure, he rolled over to face Clara.
"I," Jasson said, "Am going to walk from now on. So please ask me before you pick me up."
Clara straightened from leaning over Jasson, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh?" Clara said, "Okay. What's got your crystals glowing bright?"
"Nothing," Jasson looked away and sat up, "Let's get going. I'm sure there's something nasty hiding in some hole around here. Did you have a plan?"
"I was thinking of checking the other side of the lake," Clara said, "I doubt that the kittens made it all the way over there. And there is a creek running from the lake to the river, so some monsters could have followed that up."
Jasson raised his eyebrows and said, "A bit of a hike then. I take it you found that creek when scouting for Petra?"
"Someone has to get familiar with the place," Clara said, "I'm not good at it, but Petra only has that underground mapping ability. So, yeah. Maybe Scott can take over for now. I bet he could draw up a real map."
"Probably a good idea," Jasson said, "with how likely this place is to become a battlefield."
Clara sighed and said, "Don't remind me, Jasson. Let's just focus on the moment. Okay? Now let's go."
Clara had gotten better at matching Jasson's pace since their hike in Smill. Jasson was barely winded as they walked. Everything felt easy, save that his heart thumping just a little more than normal. Or perhaps that was because of other things.
How strong am I? Jasson thought. I haven't checked my app in forever.
He brought up FITbeat on his phone.
****Jasson's Status****
| Strength | 152
| Agility | 195
| Intelligence | 226
| Wisdom | 183
| Charisma | 181
| Magic | 199
| Stamina | 194
| Luck | 303
Jasson frowned, navigating around a fallen tree as he read through the stats. He hadn't internalized the last set of numbers. It felt like years since he had checked. When was the last time…
It was his last hike with Clara.
Jasson pulled up his photos and scrolled through. There were some accidental screenshots, some pictures of the shady pawn shop they had sold those fire crystals to, and then one or two hundred pictures of their kittens.
He did his best to scroll through these, pausing in the shade so he could see his screen better before jogging to catch up with Clara.
The wagon ride back from Smill took up the next batch, with plenty of pictures of mountains and creeks and creatures. Then he was to his pictures of Smill. The black recording from his pocket of that jerk lord trying to scam them before they left. Quite a few pictures from the crystal caverns, although not as many as the place deserved.
They passed through a clearing and Jasson had to stop scrolling briefly as the sun glared on the screen.
He came across the pictures of the torn up town defenses which had been because of the momma fire cat. His glamor shots with Harriett on the pile of murderous rabbit corpses, right before that momma cat had knocked him off and stolen his kills. The shredded cliff which, now that he thought about it, was probably also the momma fire cat as well.
Wow, Jasson thought, Let's hope that she doesn't think that we stole her kittens.
Finally, Jasson found his pictures of the Twain Springs, where they had gone swimming on their first day. He lingered on the pictures, then shifted guiltily and swiped away. There was the pictures of the sunset from the top of the mountain and then-
"Yes!" Jasson said, prompting Clara to hike a little closer, "Found it."
Clara said, "Found what?"
Jasson reflexively turned his phone away from her prying eyes, then paused and said, "It's a bit hard to explain. You don't have the framework for this."
"Alright," Clara said, "Could you try? It's time for a break, anyways. Come on, let's sit on this boulder over here."
"Sure," Jasson said, following her, "Hmm. Let's see."
Jasson scooted up onto the boulder, the rough stone grabbing at his jeans. The birds sung merrily around them, and the air smelled of fresh earth. A gentle breeze caught Clara's hair and blew the scent into Jasson's nose. Flowery soaps from the duke's castle.
"So, here's the thing." Jasson said, turning slightly to face Clara better, "These are kind of like mechanics from a type of game in my world."
"A kind of rule?" Clara said, "or is it more like the cards and dice themselves."
"Hmm," Jasson said, "I don't know. Probably a combination of the two. It's the rules by which you abide, but also part of the material of the game."
Jasson waved his hand and said, "Anyways, what I was saying is that…hmm. Say you were to rank parts of yourself. Like how you estimated sixteen out of twenty scores for your overall combat. But split into separate parts."
Clara nodded and Jasson pushed forward, saying, "Like, take…charisma. If you were to rank yourself from one to ten, how much charisma do you think you have?"
Clara blushed and said, "Like, how charming am I? Wouldn't that depend on the person who I was talking to?"
"Oh," Jasson scratched his head, "Yeah. But-"
Clara leaned in, and Jasson froze as she said, "How charming would you say that I am? On a scale of one to ten."
Jasson gulped, heat rushing to his neck as he said, "A lot."
Clara grinned and slugged Jason on the shoulder, saying, "That's not a number."
Jasson grinned, rubbing his shoulder, "Alright. Ten out of ten. You've been amazing and I hope that I never lose you. But, back to what I was talking about. I don't think being charming is quite right. You've seen certain individuals who pull people differently, regardless of audience. There is a scale. For myself I would say that I'm a two out of ten. Just enough to not be unpleasant for most folk."
Clara shook her head, "No, that's not right. You're at least a four. But I think that I understand what you're saying. So, this game thing. It's like you break yourself into a dozen different characteristics and rank them from one to ten? Why?"
"Eight characteristics," Jasson said, "And I don't know why. So I can see that I've improved, I guess. I almost never use it. And here's the problem. It's not a scale out of ten. It's just…numbers. I have no idea how good or bad I am."
Jasson showed Clara the numbers, and Clara said, "I can't read your writing, remember?"
"Oh, right." Jasson's shoulder rubbed hers, "But this here is my best stat- that means statistic. It says that my luck is 303. I would say that I'm pretty lucky to have lived this long. But-"
Jasson flipped to his photo of his old stat, "This is what my Luck stat was before swimming together in the Twain pools. It's gone up, and I can only guess that it goes up whenever I survive dangerous experiences. Or, rather, whenever I get lucky."
Clara nodded and wiggled closer, saying, "What are these other 'stats'?"
Jasson explained the rest and, somehow, found his arm draped over Clara's shoulders. Her muscular back wasn't a very pleasant thing for his arm to rest on, but that wasn't particularly pertinent at the moment for Jasson.
"You've grown a lot," Clara said, resting her head on Jasson's shoulder, "You should be proud. I've rarely seen people double themselves within a few months."
"I guess," Jasson said, "But…"
The darkness swamped back in as his own weakness drove back home. Jasson found his eyes focusing on the luck stat. So very high. How much luckier was he now that Dockson was dead?
"Hey," Clara stood up suddenly and pulled Jasson into a hug, "None of that. You've come a long way. You couldn't have saved him. I couldn't have saved him."
"But…"
But what? Jasson thought. But I should have broken the bottle earlier, should have stopped dreaming of glory and taken the help? But I'm the one with the magic phone? But I'm the main character in this game where I've been the weakest member of my group?
Face it, Jasson hung his head. I'm the mascot.
Oddly enough, that thought didn't make Jasson feel any worse. Not better, but it was something.
Clara hugged him tighter and Jasson tried to push free. With a giggle, Clara picked Jasson up and tossed him in the air. Jasson flailed, shouting in surprise before Clara caught him again.
"Come on!" Clara said, "Lighten up!"
Jasson caught a branch in a tree and pocketed his phone, then swung and let go. He landed, nearly twisting his ankle as he hopped to recover, desperately pinwheel…
And then fell down a hole.
"AAAH!" Jasson flailed catching hold of the ground as his feet slipped in, flailing against the walls. Jasson looked back and caught stone and darkness descending into the depths. A consuming void.
Not again! Jasson thought. This is not happening.
Jasson clawed against the inevitable force and kicked at the stone. One handhold further, then another. Dirt and weeds slick from the rain. Then Clara grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him onto safe, steady ground.
"Wow," Clara said, panting, "You are prone to falling in holes."
"Thanks," Jasson groaned, rolling over, "Maybe it's my luck stat."
"Possibly," Clara said, "You haven't died in a hole after all."
Jasson thought, Yet holes are always life-threatening. From goblin caves to infested sewers. I should probably stay above ground.
Jasson nodded, then said, "Let's find that creek. I need to wash my hands."
Clara lead the way, but Jasson paused. Something about the hole didn't feel right. Jasson turned around and lay flay on the ground. He carefully inched his way to the edge of the hole, gut tingling.
It wasn't a massive hole, just about six feet across. But it was perfectly straight. The walls around the opening had collapsed somewhat, but everything below was perfectly square. It disappeared below, appearing to curve with the sheer distance. The walls had lines chiseled out on all sides. And, just possibly, Jasson saw the rusting remains of a ladder.
"Are you coming?" Clara said, "Come on- oh. Let's step away from there."
"Yeah," Jasson inched away, "Cut down a tree. Please. We should cover this up."
There was something below Reflection Manor. Something man made. This had been an enormous mountain once, but some kind of apocalyptic event had vaporized the middle. Turning it into twin peaks with a lake at the base, which Reflection Manor was build beside.
And, upon seeing this shaft, it occurred to Jasson that there had to be a reason to attack a mountain with that much power. There had to have been something here.
It might just be that something was still here.