Chapter 6

Alice groaned. It was funny, under normal circumstances, she always tended to wake up with a more chipper attitude. However, as much as she loved Clarice with all her heart, the woman hadn't ever replaced the bed from the house's previous occupants. And it showed.

The hay inside the mattress had long since gone stiff with age and the distribution of it from many years of use had left uneven hills and lumps dotted throughout the surface. Even now, she felt her side ache from hours of her unconscious discomfort. But that wasn't really what had put such a damper on her early morning mood. After all, she'd dealt with worse than a worn-out bed. No, what had caused her to wake with a fatigued frown was the absence of her little bundle of hope and joy that was normally curled up in her arms.

Tia was gone.

Of course, she was sure she was just downstairs with Clarice. The two of them were probably having a good time cooking breakfast downstairs. Although, with Clarice there was always a good chance of something ending up burnt. Regardless, she shouldn't have been so bothered by this right? Yet as she rose in a sitting position, rubbing her eyes, she still felt that discontented frown pull at her lips.

She needed to get up.

Her robe lay tossed against the wall by the bedside and she remembered she'd stayed up quite late last night. The reason why laid right beside it. As she got up and walked over to put on her robe, she couldn't help but look over the strangely unique garments she spent the day before, mending. The first article was a shirt, that much she could tell, but the stitching and threading was so finely done that you could hardly even see it at all. Nothing she'd ever done, not even her finest work as a seamstress had ever come close to the quality of the simple piece of clothing laid out before her. And that was another thing. She couldn't tell what it was made from. It was almost certainly not wool, the fabric was much too smooth. Yet, it didn't have the same consistency as silk from spider thread, but it was a close second.

The pants were another mystery entirely. The material had a rough texture like leather, but it too was smooth and much more flexible. She couldn't place it. It was almost like it was made from another world. Nether, with everything that had happened, she'd almost believe it at this point. Of course, she knew better. There had to be some explanation. She'd be sure to get it from him the next time she saw him. So help her, she would.

With a light sigh, she made her way across the second story room towards the stairs. As she approached, she began to notice the most wonderful aroma and it made her pause. Clarice had certainly never cooked anything that smelled that good. In fact, she didn't recognize hardly any of the smells emanating from downstairs at all! She could place one of them as having the faintest distinction of eggs, along with butter searing, but there was one aroma that carried some kind of meat sensation. A mouthwateringly delicious sensation.

She quickly started descending the stairs, but stopped once again as she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Alright guys. You all remember the lyrics and parts now?" She heard her previous guest's voice ask from below.

"Yeah!" Tia, and who she could only assume to be Sharon, both answering excitedly.

"Oh, I think so. I hope I don't mess it up." That was definitely Clarice's nervous demeanor.

"Ah, don't worry. You can't mess up good music. Alright, here we go!"

There was a brief moment of silence between the three of them before heard…Notch, what in the world was that?! Suddenly, a loud and high pitched noise reverberated across the room. However, despite the sound being pitched highly as the notes played, it wasn't like a whistle. It sounded hoarse and low yet somehow pleasing to the ear. She caught some instruments in the background she recognized, similar to the music disc Stal Fifi had showed her one time. That had a much calmer, upbeat melody though. This music almost made you want to dance along as it played. She quickly moved down the last few steps, turning the corner.

"Alright Ms. Clarice, start us off!" Her would be guest exclaimed and she had to cover her mouth. He was standing in front of the kitchen counter, dressed in a light brown villager robe he…borrowed, swaying happily in rhythm to the beat of the strangely pleasant music. Beside him, oh Notch, that's where that delicious smell was coming from. Arrayed out on three plates was a bounty of eggs, fried, boiled, and scrambled. Buttered and browned toast slices were laid out in a spiral on a separate plate, but what surprised her was the very last saucer in the procession. It was full of meat strips! Thinly sliced, golden brown, meat strips. That had to have been the pork she smelled earlier, but why in the Minecraft would you eat meat with breakfast?

Her train of thought was soon interrupted as her attention was drawn to the table in the living room by a soft, melodious voice. "H-How do you like, your eggs in the morning?" She could hardly believe it. Clarice was singing?! True, it was hard to tell with wherever the voice that was actually singing to the music that was playing was. But Clarice was singing!

"I like mine with kiss." He responded in time with the music, cracking another egg into a cast iron skillet resting on the furnace top. "Boiled or fried, I'm satisfied. As long as I get my kiss." He stopped swaying and pushed off from the counter, sliding effortlessly to the opposite end to grab some toast. All the while keeping in time with the beat. "Girls?"

Tia and Sharon both giggled as they skipped over to him. "How do you like your toast in the morning~?" They both sang in unison in their cutely high pitched voices.

The chef chuckled, taking two pieces of toast in one hand before dipping down and picking up Tia in the other. "I like mine with a hug." He sang as he lightly nuzzled into her, making his way back over to the furnace to another awaiting pan.

"Dark or light?" Sharon respond in tune, Tia too busy squealing to sing her part.

"The world's alright." He set Tia down and quickly kneeled down to Sharon's level, moving an arm around her and wrapping her in a quick sideling embrace. "So long as I get my hug." There was a slight pause as he quickly straightened back up to drop the two slices of toast down onto the skillet with a hearty sizzle. "I've got to have, my love. In the am." He chuckled as he danced in place. "And why's that girls?"

"Or the rest of your day is positively mayhem!" They happily exclaimed.

"Quite right! Ha. I'm a regular monster." He turned over to Clarice with a smile as he flipped over one of the bread slices. "How do you like your eggs in the morning?"

Clarice blushed a little, but did manage to reply. "I-I like mine with a k-kiss."

"Up or down?" He asked, flipping the second piece before moving to grab two of the plates of eggs and heading to the table.

"I'll never frown." She responded, gaining a little more confidence now.

"Eggs can be almost bliss." He set the plates down in the center of the table. Then, much to her shock, he reached out to grab Clarice's hand, pulling her from the chair and into his arms. In a dance poise! Dear gosh, she'd never seen Clarice's face so red before! "Just as long as I get, my, kiss."

Whether her amused guest could tell or not, he started slowly leading her into a slow, but basic movement in a box-like pattern. She never knew if Clarice was a dancer before, but by the way she was lagging behind on the beat a bit and purposely looking at the floor during the musical reprise confirmed her earliest theories about it. Though, right now she couldn't tell if she was looking down to make sure she didn't step on his toes or to hide her face. She chuckled. She couldn't help it. It'd been a while since she'd seen Clarice so flustered. In a good way of course.

"How do you like your eggs in the morning." He crooned.

"I-I like mine w-with a kiss…" She sang softly back as they danced.

They both sang back and forth as they danced, one right behind the other to create a staggered vocal duet through the verses and as he led her into a twirl, she caught his eyes meeting her from across the room. It was only for a moment, but during that period, his smile seemed to grow just a bit as he led Clarice back to her chair at the table, pulling it out for her as he did so. While he still held her hand as she went to sat down, he kept it a second longer. He then raised it to his lips and give it a light kiss, finishing up his verse before spinning around and now heading over to her.

"I've got to have, my love, in the am." He smiled, offering a hand out to her.

She looked from his hand, then to his face and found herself a little embarrassed as well. It had been a long time since she danced with anyone. Well, maybe with Tia every so often. Not with another man. Yet, there was just something about the way he smiled at her. Warm. Inviting. She saw no ulterior motive in his eyes, nor in his actions. Just an invitation for a fun, harmless little dance.

She took his hand, remembering the same lyrics he sung the first go around. "Or the rest of my day is positively mayhem."

That seemed to make his smile grow all the brighter as he laughed and pulled her in. "I'm a regular monster. How do you like your eggs in the morning?" He asked as he took lead and moved them around the spacious living room.

"I like mine with a kiss." She smiled lightly as she sang. It was funny, almost. As she danced this silly little dance, she felt at ease. Like all her cares, all her worries about everything that had transpired just yesterday and the consequences she feared would follow. They all just seemed to melt away. She felt safe, somehow, in this strangers arms.

"Up or down?" He asked, snapping her out of haze and she just now realized she'd been staring into his eyes this entire time and quickly diverted her gaze away enough to focus on Tia giggling to the side with a hand over her mouth.

"I'll never frown." She smiled at her daughter, projecting the lyrics onto her lips. For once, she wasn't doing so for her benefit. It wasn't meant to be an encouragement for her or to protect her from knowing how she truly felt. No, this time Alice was smiling for herself. She was smiling simply because she felt happy. The happiest she had been all week. And she just wanted to show it.

"Eggs can be almost bliss." He raised his hand slowly above her, indicating that he wanted to do a twirl, which she happily followed into with a giggle that surprised even herself. However, he didn't move to pull her back into him and she now realized all this time, he'd been leading them back to the table, using his free hand to pull out her chair for her. "Just as long as I get, my, kiss." He held out the last note as he pulled her over and gently motioned for her to have a seat.

She did so, turning back to him somewhat expectantly. But instead of repeating the same action he'd done with Clarice, she felt his hand drifting apart from hers and provided no indication that he was going to do such a thing. She didn't understand why, but she felt a little disappointed at the fact. So, just as his fingers were about to slip away, she grabbed hold of them to keep him from leaving. Doing so got her a confused look and before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled him to her and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Just as the music came to a close.

There was a bit of a silence between them all and Alice soon came to realize fully what she had just done. Thankfully, Sharon came to her rescue.

"Yay! That was so pretty!" Sharon exclaimed, clapping her hand enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Tia agreed with just as much fervor as she bounded over to hug her. "I liked the ending!"

That brought a blush to her face and her mind reeled to try to find something disengaging to say. "Yes. It was a very…enjoyable song." She said, smiling down at her daughter and doing her absolute best not show the embarrassment she felt. When she looked back up though, it seemed her action had affected him as well, as he stood with a hand over his mouth, clearing his throat. Was it just her imagination? Or were his cheeks just a bit red there?

"Right. Well, I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Let me go get the rest of the plates and you guys can eat." He said with a small smile before quickly turning to do the task. "Girls, why don't you two take a seat?"

At the promise of food, both Tia and Sharon quickly took their seats at the table, both anxiously staring down the two plates of eggs already there like hungry kits. Alice had to work not to giggle at their childlike expressions and as their chef came back to set the rest of the plates down, Clarice spoke up.

"You, um, aren't eating with us?" She asked delicately, half-glancing up to him.

"Ah, no. Sorry. I made this all for you to enjoy and say thanks for the help you've given me and Alice. So you four eat to your heart's content. Besides, someone's gotta clean up right?" Clarice seemed like she was about to try and put up some form of protest, but another smile from him was all it took for her to look away with a light blush.

"O-Ok. Thank you very much then." She muttered.

"Sure thing." He nodded to them all, still keeping that same warm smile, before walking back into the kitchen.

"Psst. Mom." Tia whispered. She looked over to her, curious as to why she had to be so quiet with whatever she had to say. It wasn't like her. "Isn't Zyeke great?" Again, she almost laughed at Tia's child-like demeanor. Her daughter could be too cute sometimes.

Even so, she looked towards the back of his figure in the kitchen, his body slightly hunched over the sink as he worked on cleaning the dishes. She smiled.

"Yes. I suppose he is."

It was a beautiful day outside. The palace gardens really did look their best in the mornings. The light breeze that swept through the air and glided across her cheeks brought with it a refreshing coolness to a warm summeresque temperature. It was a shame. Most of the palace staff passed through without so much as a sparing glance to the bountiful floral arrangements displayed with loving care and adoration. She could tell by his work alone that the caretaker here truly enjoyed what he did and when she'd had the opportunity to see him work in person, it only strengthened that belief. He was such a kind, old soul. Kind, but really much too formal. Though she supposed everyone she talked with was.

She was the princess after all.

"You, step forward!"

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she was taken away from her idle daydream. A middle aged man stepped forward from the waiting procession in front of them. From his attire, she could assume he was a poor laborer. His ragged and dirt stained clothing indicated that he was likely a farmer from one of the town's on the outskirts of their kingdom instead of those that lay beyond the capital. Even the farmers here were outfitted well.

"State your name and business with the king!" The same guard from before declared and she caught the poor man quiver a bit as he looked over towards her father before hastily kneeling down in his presence.

"Your majesty, my name is Duncan Rivers. This humble servant hails from Hedgewood."He stated, though his voice was low and she dare say, a little weak even. "I have come to request aid your lordship."

So she was right. He did come from one of their outermost settlements. If she recalled, Hedgewood was their last town to the East before reaching the desert land. He truly had come a long way to make a request from her father. It must be important. "Speak your request!" Her father boomed, his voice echoing throughout the throne room.

Duncan winced, whether from the sheer volume or the authority held in her father's tone, she did not know. He lowered himself down further to the floor. "Sire, our town has been attacked by bandits from the desert neighboring our town. They've come in the past 24 moon cycles and we are unable to fight them off. Please, I beg for your assistance." He did indeed beg, practically laying his entire front on the marble floor in complete submission and humility. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor farmer before her.

Her father did not seem affected in the slightest. "How many have come?" He asked, his regal tone unchanged.

"We…are unsure my Lord. They've only come in the night and attack one location quickly, vanishing before we have a chance to fight back. We have no way of knowing what their next target is sire. We do not have the man power to watch the entire town. Not with the injuries our citizens have sustained." Duncan explained, his voice practically a whimper at this point. He hadn't even lifted his head to address the king and she could only guess it was more out of fear than respect. She knew and he knew that the answer her father gave would either bring forth relieve or grievous hardship.

The king remained silent, his eyes narrowing in thought as he brought a hand to his chin. The frown present on his face revealed his displeasure for the situation. It could have been directed towards this man and his town being unable to deal with the situation themselves, just as easily as it could have been from his lands being attacked. Reading her father at times like this was difficult even for her. Drawing away forces to deal with these kinds of disturbances was always a delicate matter. Especially when the threat was unclear. If they sent too many away to a town on their outskirts, it could leave others open to raids like this. If they sent too few, it put the lives of the knights at meaningless risk. She understood her father's hesitation with the issue.

However, only one more look back down at the man before her, was all it took for her to make her decision. This was serious and their town needed this assistance. She would make it known in the only way she could.

Slowly, she reached from her chair at his side, moving her hand over to his and giving it a light squeeze. When he turned towards her, she gave him a small smile and as hopeful a look as she could give. She wasn't the one with the crown. Her presence hear was more for presentation than it was for council. Most everyone in their diplomatic staff knew that. Yet, she was very blessed to have the kind of relationship with her father that she did. That, from this gesture alone, she could voice her feelings and opinions on matters such as this without having to utter a single word.

She knew her father would not react too openly with her gesture. But, did give a very light squeeze back, closing his eyes and taking a quick breathe as he rose from his throne, prompting everyone to give him their attention. Well, everyone except Duncan.

The king approached. "Rise." He commanded and the effect was instant as Duncan scrambled to get back into his feet. It would have almost been amusing had the situation not been so serious. Duncan looked back at the king with worried eyes, tense with anticipation as he awaited the king's response. The entire hall was dead silent.

"One of my servants will meet you outside. There you will discuss with him in explicit detail, the circumstances of your town. We will then send a party of guards back with you to deal with this threat." He stated. "Be on your way."

Despite his words being clear, Duncan only seemed to stare back at her father in shock and surprise. This lasted for just a moment though, as his look gave way to gratitude and he bowed repeatedly, his voice cracking a bit. "T-Thank you sire! Thank you! I-I…I will do that. Thank you…" Duncan continued to bow as he backed away and made his way back to the exit. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought she's glanced a few tears forming in his eyes as he turned to go.

Her father turned, moving to take his place back on the throne. She smiled softly to him, hoping he would receive her unspoken gratitude for his decision. Like before, he did not allow any indication to show to the guards or his subjects who were still awaiting an audience with him. But for the briefest of moments, his lips curled ever so slightly upwards in a ghost of a smile for only her to see. The small gesture made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Her father cared. Though he didn't get the chance to show it often, these little moments between them always reaffirmed that the love and consideration she had for him was mutually shared.

And she thanked Notch for that every single day.

The guard stationed at their front straightened up and thumped his spear. "Alright. You there, step-"

"Argus!"

The entire crowd turned in unison towards the sudden outburst and to who dared call the king by his first name. However, Cupa recognized the voice almost immediately and she had to quickly stop her face from dropping into a dissatisfied frown. She'd know that pretentious, demanding, arrogant tone from anywhere. And the last place that she wanted to hear it was here. Even her father let out a soft sigh, probably the closest she'd ever seen him to actually showing frustration or irritation short of declaring it outright. The only reason he did not was because of their relation to the person in question. The royal treasurer and her first cousin.

Joshua.

The young noble strode up the red carpet lining the path to the king's mantle and the crowd parted to let him through. As he grew closer, she started to understand why. He was positively irate, the furious sneer on his face enough to get anyone from the crowd quickly out of his path. That wasn't the only reason though. Once he was close enough, Cupa had to keep herself from wincing as she was able to take in his horrid state.

The most notable injury on him came from a huge welt and bruise on the left side of his chin. It was clear that it hadn't been treated yet. On top of this, multiple shallow cuts had been marked by dry, flaking blood on his face, stemming from both cheeks and showing all the way up to his forehead. As he approached even, one of his hands were clutching his side where she imagined the rib would be and he appeared to have a slight limp. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Not just because of her cousin's state, but because despite him being an insufferable jerk most of the time, he was still related to the royal family. Which means someone didn't care about attacking the crown.

No doubt her father recognized this as well.

"What is the meaning of this Joshua?" Argus asked, his tone barely masking his displeasure.

Knowing that disrespecting her father wouldn't ever go well, Joshua very carefully knelt to the ground, groaning lightly as he paid his respects. Despite his ill-mannered disturbance not a minute beforehand. "Arg-, your highness. Forgive me for intruding, but this is urgent. I've been injured."

"Do I look like one of the doctor's here Joshua?" He stated in subtle, but obvious annoyance. "If you need medicinal help, you should've gone off to find the castle nurses. Not interrupt my procession."

"I know sire. But it's not just that. I was attacked. At one of our towns." He stated, looking up from his kneeled position, still clutching his side. "I fear there may be preparations being made for revolution."

That got both of their attention. It was no small matter when it came to talk of revolution. Many great empires had fallen to as little as a few towns worth of women and men. Cupa was fortunate enough, she knew, to have never have been faced with such a thing. But she also knew from both her father in their history that he had had to quell a few cases of small resistance groups in the past. It was almost necessary to do so. It was better to have to deal with it at its startup than have to face an army later. That is, if Joshua wasn't exaggerating things. From what she knew of her cousin from the local community, he wasn't always the most honest or noble person as his title would suggest. Yet, injuries like those were hard to argue with.

"Which town? How many were there? Explain yourself." Her father ordered, leaning forward from his throne to listen.

Joshua rose to his feet, albeit with some difficulty and looked Argus straight in the eye. "It was Oakwood, my lord. I was on my way back from Spruceshire and figured I'd stop to collect the taxes from that town from those who could pay to make things easier for myself later." His sneer returned, though he knew better than to direct it towards her father. "They must have known I was coming, somehow. When I went to the first tenant on the outskirts, a group of masked men attacked me once I was inside the house. I fought valiantly, but there were too many for me to handle alone. Seven to ten men. Maybe more throughout the town, I couldn't be sure. I barely escaped with my life sire."

Oakwood? That was strange. They'd never received any kind of report from their people or the townsfolk themselves about disagreements between them and the tax laws of the land. Not like they had with a few other settlements sprinkled across the kingdom. Had they really been planning something like this in secret without any indication at all? It was possible, but very unusual. They had recently implemented a larger tax on the town, but it wasn't a particularly large increase. Not to the point where it would spark revolution. Which meant this had to have been in the works for longer than that. If so, this was a big problem.

She spared a glance to her father again. She could see he was thinking on it as well.

"There is one thing that I suppose you could call fortunate to come out of this treachery." Joshua piped up, grabbing their attention once again. "Before they attacked me, I was able to rip one of their masks off. From the way the rest of them reacted, it may have even been their leader or at least of their core members. If you would send me with a small group of knights, I'm confident we could seek him out and capture him. Sire."

That would be rather fortunate. Almost too much so. Why would they have one of their leaders present when attacking one of the royal family's chief treasurers? And if that was truly the case, how did he end up escaping from seven men at the minimum in that state? Surely, they would have pursued him to keep him from doing exactly what he was now. Unless, they'd grown strong enough that this was meant as a message, but even that seemed unlikely. Something just seemed too off about all this. However, she was in no proper place to voice any of her thoughts. She could only hope that her father would be thinking similar thoughts and use the sound judgement he'd always seemed to have.

"Very well." He declared. "Gather up five of our best knights and take them with you. Captrue this man and bring him back here. But he is to be brought back alive." He stressed that last point with a pointed stare directly at Joshua. It was enough to make him fidget beneath them. "Should you not do so, you will find yourself facing a punishment short of the same meant for that of treason. No matter who gives the killing blow. Unless he becomes a direct threat to you or your party. Am I understood?"

Joshua didn't seem entirely satisfied with this, but he did nod in agreement.

"Yes sire. I will bring him back to you alive."

"How much further?! Are we close yet?! We've been walking forever…" Tia whined from behind.

I could only grin. Ever since we left Clarice's, Tia had been nothing but excited and eager. Maybe a little more so than normal. Of course, it was my fault. After all, I was the one that told Tia that I had a surprise for her and her mother and that alone turned her into an animated, bouncy, high spirited mess that required her mother's expertise to bring her down from. But, her short little bursts of energy from the promise of new experiences or tasks was kind of what made her so adorable. I wonder if she knew that.

"It's only been a few minutes honey, be patient." Alice responded in her usual motherly tone. "But, Zyeke, how much further do we need to go? Isn't this a bit...much?"

Possibly. Blindfolding them may have been a bit much. But, it wouldn't be any fun otherwise, would it?

"Not much further. Don't worry, it'll be worth the wait. Just bear with me a little longer, ok?" I responded back to them with a smile. Oh, right. Well, hopefully it would come across in my tone.

It wasn't much. If I had a little more time, maybe I could've done a more with it. I wasn't the best builder in game, but I considered myself to be above average for sure. Gathering materials was what took the most time. Though, if I was being honest, that was more my fault than anyone else's. I was picky with my block choices. Thankfully, things like mining, building, and farming all lined up exactly with the standard game mechanics. That certainly helped. But there was also one extra thing I came across while working on my little project that made it much easier to finish as quickly as I did.

I didn't need to sleep. I know, crazy right?

I came across this unusually useful benefit while I was down in the cave system I discovered just outside of town. It seemed that my stamina also tied into my hunger bar status. So long as I kept it full, my body would be able to continually work. Isn't that insane? Imagine all the things we could accomplish back on Earth if we had all those extra hours of time we lose to sleep on a daily basis! I couldn't tell you how many things I could've accomplished. However, this unexpected ability didn't come completely free of consequence.

Even now, I could feel it. A light, fuzzy feeling simmering at the back of my mind, consistently reminding me that I hadn't slept at all in over thirty-six hours. For anyone that's pulled an all-nighter before, it's a lot like that. For those who haven't, consider yourselves lucky. I will say, the effects were slightly repressed, making it much easier to deal with. Part of me was curious to see how far I could push putting off sleep until it really became a problem. But that probably wasn't wise. Not now. I should get some rest at some point today. Hmm. Maybe I could just get away with a few hours.

Anyway, I'd set myself up about as well as I could have in my new home sweet cave. Boy was I happy when I found out I could use a crafting table! Although, to be honest I learned that a lot sooner than last night. Unfortunately for the town's resident blacksmith, Victoria as I now knew her, crafting three iron pick axes was just as easy as arranging the proper materials on the table. Oh man, you should have seen her face when I brought her all three before she even had the chance to heat up her metal! Hah! I'd be lying if I said I didn't derive a bit of satisfaction from taking her ego down a peg. She wasn't happy, but I was surprised. Not shortly after, she literally did try and hand the business over to me. It was a little refreshing, you know? Coming across someone that held that much value over their word. I couldn't do it though. It would've just been so cruel to take away something she'd been building up her entire life. So, I did the next best thing.

Speaking of which, there she was now.

I smiled, giving a light wave. "Hey Victoria." I called out to her. "How're you doing partner?"

It had the desired effect. Victoria cross her arms and frowned heavily towards me, the leather sack clutched in her left hand drooping down lazily. Huh, she was still dressed in her standard villager robe and black apron. She must have come straight from the shop. Looking up at the sky, I hummed. It was pretty much just after closing. Evening wasn't too far off. Another hour or so.

"I don't see why you had to have me deliver this...whatever the nether is in this bag." He huffed, clearly annoyed at the nominal task I'd asked her to do. "Seriously, what do you have in here? Rocks? It's blocking heavy!"

I chuckled. It's true, I could've done it myself. But where was the fun in that?

Before I could think up some witty response, I heard Tia gasp from behind me. "Oh my gosh, is that Vicky?!" I felt Tia's grip on my hand tighten a little as she quickly made her way to my side, all but dragging her poor mother with her. "Hey Vicky!" She called out with a wave in her general direction.

I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing right then and there. Vicky? Vicky?! Gosh, why hadn't I thought of that sooner?! It was perfect! Oh, I would certainly be using that to mess with her. Strange, she wasn't responding. Even though it was coming from the most adorable little girl I'd ever met, I kind of expected that to get some kind of a rile out of her. RIght now, she was just standing there looking at us all with this dumbfounded look on her face. I was a little confused as to why until I stopped and took one more good look at Tia and Alice. Suddenly, I realized that this might not look so innocent from an outsider's perspective.

"What the Nether are you doing with them?!" She all but shouted across the short distance between us.

I knew where this was heading. I've watched enough anime and even been in enough situations like this myself to know I needed to clear this up now. But, call it the will of the universe, an unkind indian rubburn from fate, or just my really, really bad freaking luck, Tia spoke up first.

"Oh, it's ok Vicky. Zyeke's just taking us somewhere to show us something. He just doesn't want us to know what it is yet. He said it was going to be a biiiig surprise!" She exclaimed, spreading her arms out wide as she put an unnecessarily huge amount of emphasis on the word big. It was so cute. So innocent. I gulped. I really would've appreciated it a lot more if it wasn't for the murderous look that was slowly forming on Victoria's face.

My sack dropped.

No, literally, my leather sack Victoria was holding outright plummeted the short distance to the ground. "Zyeke..." She said, her voice dropping to a low and dare I say, even dangerous tone as she approached. Slowly. Threateningly. Her right hand reached her back and, holy crap was that an iron pickax?! Did she have that thing strapped to her back this whole time?!

I immediately let go of Tia's hand and threw both mine up. "W-Wait, Victoria, it's not what it looks like. I can explai-" It was no use.

"You really are a dispicable, rotten, piece of trash!" She exclaimed before charging towards us. Or rather, at me.

Crap!

"Take 'em off! Take 'em off!" I cried out to Tia and Alice before raising up both hands defensively. Dang, she was quick! She covered the ten or so blocks between us in seconds, raising her pick up high into the air. Damn! I was too close to Tia to risk dodging. I shut my eyes and threw up a guard over my head. Ah, this was really going to hurt...

"Wow!" Tia exclaimed.

When I didn't feel the no doubt agonizing pain that I imagined would come from Victoria's pick digging into my arms, I slowly opened my eyes. Somehow, Tia's little outburst had made her freeze, the business end of her tool not inches away from my bare flesh. Thank the Lord for small miracles. And tiny, easily excitable children.

"Mom! Look at that! Someone new is moving to the village!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

"U-Um, y-yes honey, it would seem so." Alice managed to respond, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked between Victoria and I. She seemed a lot more shocked than I was about about nearly getting my arms cleaved off. "Um, Victoria, why don't we lower the pick ax? Please...I'm sure Zyeke didn't mean any harm."

"Actually," I took heavy advantage of Victoria's conflicted expression and sidestepped the hell away from her and her swing-happy arms. Closer towards the house. "This is what I wanted to show you two." I gave a wide, theatrical gesture to the southern style ranch house. "Surprise. Welcome to your new house."

Silence. Complete, utter, silence. Not even Tia said a word.

I gulped. I'd really messed up here, hadn't I? Stupid. I really should have known better. These guys probably had a different sense of what looked good and what didn't. All of the buildings here were practical and architecturally simplistic. No display of artistic flare, unnecessary décor, or extra additions. This probably looked terrible to them didn't it? Dang it, I knew I should've just rebuilt it like all the others!

After another few seconds, I dropped my arms and sighed. "Ah...sorry. If you guys don't like it I can tear it down and re-do it." I said, a little dejectedly, looking down and berating myself for being so inconsiderate. I was supposed to be building a home that they would enjoy. Not what looked good to me.

Not a moment later, my ears were assaulted by an uncontrolled and high-pitched squeal. I had just enough time to look up before bracing myself as Tia barreled into me. "Like it? We love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" She shouted, laughing and giggling as she bounced up in down in excitement.

"How did you even get this done?!" Victoria cried out with a look of disbelief. "This should've taken weeks! No, months! And you're saying you built this? It's not even been a day!"

Aw, she looked kinda cute when she was upset. That being said, I really just couldn't not tease her after a reaction like that. I looked over to her with a smug smile. "Come on Vicky," I said, putting Tia's newly provided nickname to good use, "You should more than anyone else that I have a special talent for making things, partner."

Victoria continued staring back at me until my words finally seemed to sink in. "You know what?" She threw up her arms and turned swiftly around, stomping off back to town. "I've had enough for one day. I'm going home. You and your blocking special talents can go fall in a lava pit for all I care!"

I couldn't help but laugh a bit as I watched her go. She had just the right kind of attitude that almost forced me to have to pick on her. Actually, reminded me of a neighbor from back home. She had a bit of an overly developed ego too. Heck even, their personalities matched up to a certain extent. Maybe that's why I always felt so compelled to mess with her. Heh. If they ever met, I bet they'd get along with each other so well.

"I-Is...is it true? Is this...really our new house?" Alice asked, breaking my chain of thought as I turned to her. She was still looking at the house and the expression on her face was pretty similar to Victoria's. Yet, hers seemed to carry a sense of wonder underneath all that bewilderment.

"Yep," I moved my gaze back over to the house. "It's, ah, three bedroom, two bath, and I did my best to make it two stories like your old one, but with a little more space. Figured you and Tia might have guests over at some point." Thinking back on it, I looked back to the leather sack that Victoria had brought with her. "Oh, there's also one more thing."

I went and grabbed the bag, wrapping the opening around my wrist to help me lift it. She was right, It was heavy. She must not have looked inside, otherwise it would probably be a bit lighter. I smiled. Even though she probably hated me right now, I'm glad she at least listened when I asked her not to look inside upon bringing it up here. I'd have to do something nice for her too. Couldn't have really done any of this without her lending me that pick.

Alice turned back to look at me, raising an eyebrow in confusion as I place the bag on the ground between us. "This is also yours. To say thanks for, well, saving my life really." I chuckled and gestured to it with my hand. "Go ahead and take a look."

Curiosity starting to take over, she slowly knelt down and looked inside. At some point during my little strip-mining expedition, I must have crossed into an extreme hills biome because I started finding emeralds along with my other minerals. And with a fortune II pickax, I'd manage to get an entire stack of them. There really wasn't any use for them from a player standpoint except to trade with villagers. So, I figured she could use them more than me. Plus, I really did owe her a lot more than I could pay back in emeralds. I think there was also a few gold bars in there too, but ya know, statement still applies.

She gasped, raising both hands up to her mouth. "Z-Zyeke..." She stammered out. "I-I...I can't accept all this."

I figured she might say something like that, so I knlet down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile. "Sure you can. I can't really use the emeralds at all and I've got plenty more gold stashed away. You don't need to feel bad about taking it. You saved my life Alice." I chuckled. "I mean, compared to that, this is nothing. Besides, you got Tia to take care of. So, please, take it."

Alice didn't say anything, but she kept her hands over her face. Her eyes were squinting at me and I started to see the beginning of tears starting to well up around her eyelids. When she choked back a sob, I knew I was about to get it. Ah...crud. I wasn't really good with girls crying in front of me. Before I could think of something witty to say though, Alice nearly knocked me to the ground. She practically sprung over and wrapped her arms tightly around me, half digging her face into my shoulder.

"T-Thank...T-Thank you so much Zyeke..." She struggled to say as she fought to keep from breaking down into a crying fit. "I-I...I don't know how I could...e-ever repay you for this..."

A little taken aback from her sudden grateful gesture, it took me a moment before I carefully reached my arms around her waist and return her embrace. I let out a quiet breathe and couldn't help but let out a small grin. "Don't worry about it. You've done more than enough already." We both just kind of stayed like that. Alice was really trying to keep her composure, but I could feel how her breathe would hitch in her throat each time she tried to hold back a sob. I took a breathe, mulling it over in my head before moving to pull her tighter against me. "You okay?"

She didn't try and break it off. In fact, her arms reached up further, moving just under my neck to pull us both closer. "Yes..." She replied, her voice a little muffled. She lifted her head up to rest beside mine. "I'm just...so happy. I've been struggling...for so long now. Trying to support Tia..keeping my business afloat...and Joshu-" She cut herself off, shaking her head and letting out a small sniffle. "N-No one's ever done anything like this for me before..."

I had to swallow hard. The hardest part about trying to comfort someone like this was not trying to lose it yourself. I don't know if it's just me, but whenever someone's crying next to me, I have to fight like hell not to start crying myself. Dear gosh, the sheer amount of emotion in her voice. The gratitude and relief from all the feelings she'd no doubt been repressing for who knows how long was enough to pull at my heartstrings. And I thought Tia was bad about doing that. Geez.

"It's really not that big a deal, ya know?" I said, chuckling nervously because I knew if I didn't, I was going to break down right there with her. Instinctually, one of my hands moved towards her back and started rubbing gently. I know that probably also sounds weird, but a lot of my friends usually came to me with their problems. Most of them were girls too, so...when things got emotional, this seemed to help. "Just, ah, you know, keeping my promise and all. It's no good if I, uh, don't keep my word, right?" Ugh, this was a lot easier when the person that caused her to cry wasn't me.

Suddenly, I felt both her hands move to my shoulder and she pulled us both away. For a second, I was worried I messed up until she spoke. "No! Of course this is a big deal. How can you say it isn't? You gave Tia and I a home. A home you built and one I certainly don't deserve with..." She paused to take a breathe, looking away slightly. "Some of the things I've done." She whispered ashamedly. I was a little worried she was about to break down, but she instead focused her attention back on me with a strangely serious expression. "You weren't responsible for any of this. You didn't have to help me. Or Tia. But you did." She lowered her head. "Even if you think it's not a big deal...it is to me."

I felt her hands slowly slide up to both sides of my face, her soft caress sending tiny tingly sensations across my cheeks. I could feel my face starting to flush again. Was this going where I thought it was going? This wasn't quite like any of the experiences I had with my friends. Then again, I don't think there's ever been a situation quite like this ever. You know, being inside a game and all.

When she looked up at me again, I doubt I could describe the expression of soft, pure, appreication on her face. "Thank you, Zyeke...for everything."

There was a bit of an awkward pause between us and can you blame me? What the heck was I supposed to say to that?! All my 'oh, sure no problem' responses that I would normally give weren't going to match the sincerity of the statement she just gave. Wait, is it just me or was her face getting closer? No, it was definitely getting closer! Crap, what do I do? I mean, no, I know what I was supposed to do. But was that really alright? Weren't you only supposed to kiss someone if you liked them? Heck I hadn't ever kissed a girl! I didn't want her to feel obligated to either just because of what I'd done. But would it be rude to refuse a kiss just based on that? Crap, I'm running out of ti-

Click.

"Mom! You gotta see the inside of th- Oh." Tia froze before gasping excitedly. "Are you and my mom dating now?!"

I instinctually looked over towards Tia's voice, feeling Alice's hands drop away from my face quickly, leaving me with probably one of the biggest blushes I've ever had. Her comment did absolutely nothing to help and a look back towards Alice only confirmed that she also felt just as embarrassed about the whole situation as I did. To be caught by your own daughter of all people. Oof.

I will say, she recovered much quicker than I did.

"Ah, no Tia, honey. We aren't dating..." For some reason there was a bit of a pause there. As if there were one or two words that were being conveniently left out. She quickly got to her feet and moved to rejoin Tia by the door before turning back to me. "Would you...mind giving us a tour Zyeke?"

Happy for any excuse to move past that extremely embarrassing moment, I hastily got to my feet and nodded. Man, what a little sneak. I didn't even catch her opening the door. She must have done it when both our backs were turned. Maybe when I went to grab the bag? Dang, she was usually so loud and energetic. Who knew she could be so quiet when she needed to. Heh. I'd have to watch out for that from now on.

"Sure. I'd love to."

Oookay. I finally seem to be back on track for updates. I'm thinking that today or Sunday will probably be the days where new chapters will be posted. I will get them out to you as quickly as I can, but I will definitely say that your reviews and comments are always a motivation. If it would help boost the story so others might enjoy it, I would be more than happy to start up the old deal we use to have as a writer to his audience. 5-7 reviews on the chapter guarantees an update by the following week. If we could do that, I will do my very best to uphold my end. I remember this is how we gained a lot of support last time, so I'd really like to ask this of you all if it isn't too much trouble.

I hope you all enjoyed and as you can see, I may be a little slower on the draw, but this story will still have most of its main cast of characters. Just a little more fleshed out this time around. I will get us to the Monster Games as quickly as I can.

Thank you for your wonderful support and I can't wait to hear from you!

Until next time.

Review Repsonses:

Blegar1: Yes, you guys will probably notice that I tend to alternate between comedic and serious scenes a lot. This is a formula I worked with for the last story and it seemed to do well, so...no sense in changing it xD. I will say that the mysterious stranger you referred to is not Andr, but that's the only hint you're getting . Thanks for the review!

Miss Electricity: Always great to hear from you again ME. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and acknowledged that the rules that may apply to regular people in game don't necessarily apply the same way to Zyeke. Keep that in mind as the story progresses. I will confirm that the mysterious stranger was pursuing Zyeke, if that wasn't confirmed in this chapter. Thank you so much for the review and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter.

Bluecrimsonflames: Glad to see you're still with me Crimson. Thanks for the review.

V-O-I-D: Yay! A new reviewer. Thank you for taking the time to write one and I'm glad you're loving the story so far. I did try to make the fight scene somewhat realistic despite the completely unrealistic circumstances...but most fights last less than a minute depending on the skill levels of the people involved. Of course, that is, on the street. In a tournament, fights generally last longer and are more detailed and they will be once we get to that part. Hope to hear from you again!