Chapter 21
What the Future Holds
In early April, things at school became more intense. A lot of the teachers were preparing the juniors and seniors to take the SATs, and had been for the last couple months. Classes were more focused, and more practice tests were being taken than in the earlier part of the school year. Since a lot of the students had already taken the SATs or were getting ready to do so, it was the perfect opportunity for them to be prepared for what to expect.
Micah had been struggling more than usual with the material, at least in his math class. His chemistry class wasn't going nearly as badly as anyone had expected for him. It was almost as if something clicked in his head and he started to just get it. He was maintaining a B+, so Elsa was able to relax more than in the past. All she really had to do was focus on helping him keep his math grade up. She knew that that was going to be the toughest section on the SATs for him, and she just wanted to be sure he wouldn't do poorly. It was important to her that he succeed.
Elsa was actually rather thankful for the extra effort the teachers were putting in to get the kids ready. It helped her stay on her toes and make sure she herself was ready. She had no doubts of her capabilities, although it made her feel kind of arrogant to think that way. That simply wasn't the case. But she knew what she was capable of, and she was confident that she would do well. In fact, she was confident in all her friends as well. She knew that at least Kristoff and Rose would do well enough to get into the schools they wanted to go to. Micah was the only one she was concerned with, but even then she knew that if she kept tutoring him the way she had been that he would do well enough. She knew what parts of the math studies he struggled with, and so she made sure to focus extra hard on those with him so he could pull through and actually get the hang of it. He had always said he preferred the way she taught him versus how the teachers did, and that he always understood the material far better because of it.
It had been decided that they would take the tests in May, giving themselves extra time to prepare. Elsa had taken the liberty of signing all four of them up, which they didn't mind. It just meant that they were now more or less obligated to actually follow through. Micah was actually worried about taking the tests, but didn't voice his concerns to his friends at all. He didn't want them worrying about him, since they did that enough as it was. But his biggest problem was he didn't think he could focus. He was still battling his internal issues with the depression and feeling of worthlessness that Amber left him with. It consumed his thoughts more often than he wanted to admit, and it made it difficult to function.
By the time May hit, the gang was ready. The tests were being administered the first Saturday of the month, so Elsa decided to pick everyone up that morning so they could all arrive together. She figured that they could all go out to eat or something afterwards to celebrate. On the way, she could see that Micah wasn't looking nearly as into the idea as the others were. When they got to the school and parked, Elsa turned to him and tried to give him some words of encouragement.
"Micah, you're going to do just fine. You've been preparing for this for months," she told him as sweetly as she could.
"I dunno. I mean, the math part still scares me. I'm not really worried about the other stuff so much. Besides, that's not all," he said.
"What else is there?" Kristoff asked.
"I haven't been telling you guys because I didn't want you to worry, but I've been thinking about Amber. A lot. Like, all the stuff she did to me, the way she made me feel, everything. It's made it really hard to focus on school, and I think about it all night when I try to sleep."
"You can't let that bitch ruin your life, sweetie. Just forget about her, at least for the next few hours. After that, we can deal with it as needed," Rose chimed in.
"She's right. You can't do this to yourself. Not right now. This is too important to let her get in the way," Elsa added earnestly.
"Look, I'll try my best to forget about her," he promised. "But, I can't guarantee it'll work. I just don't know if I'm strong enough for that. Besides, I'm nervous as hell about taking this test as it is."
"Like I said, you'll do fine. I know what you know, and I am confident in your ability to do well. You have to just trust me on this, and then trust yourself. So let's get in there and kick this thing in the ass."
With that, they climbed out of Elsa's car and made their way into the cafeteria where the test was being held. The room was large enough for the amount of students that were there to take the tests, and by the time the gang got there there were already quite a number of people sitting and waiting. The testing was to start at 9 am, so they had roughly fifteen minutes to find some seats and mentally prepare themselves. About fifty desks had been brought into the lunch room and lined up, and over half of them were already filled. For some reason, that was making Micah feel kind of anxious. He had never cared for large crowds, which was why he always tried to beat the rush to the cafeteria, and it was also often the reason for him being late to class. He'd have to wait for things to die down enough so he could walk from class to class without feeling overwhelmed. But it's something he had kept hidden from everyone, even Elsa. Not even his mother knew. It wasn't even something he ever thought about. It was so natural and second nature to him that he never put any thought into it. He just knew he didn't need to bother the others with it.
Soon it was 9 am, and the proctor began handing out the test to everyone. Apparently it was broken up so that there could be breaks in between each section. That made Micah feel a little bit better. At least then he could have Elsa reassure him everything was going to be fine. She would tell him that he knew the material and would fly through it with ease. He needed that. It's something he craved. Her approval and reinforcement meant a great deal to him. If she hadn't been there to encourage him then he likely would have failed. The last thing he needed to do was let her down.
The first sixty minutes flew by, and at the end of it his brain felt like it was going to melt and ooze out of his ears. The sad thing was that was only the first portion. There were two more that would be just as stressful. When they were allowed to get up and stretch, he looked to the others who were already circled up and talking. So, he decided to get up and join them and pray that they were finding it as difficult as he was.
"Hey guys," he said as he approached the group. "Kind of tough, isn't it?"
"I didn't find it to be that tough at all," Rose replied. "Just got stuck on a couple questions. But otherwise it wasn't that difficult."
"Yeah, I found it pretty easy," Kristoff added.
"Guys, you're not helping any," Elsa said sternly. "Micah, like I told you before, I'm positive you're doing fine. I looked over at you several times and I saw how far along you were. You were keeping up well enough that I didn't have any concerns. The critical reading part isn't that bad for some people, but I can see how it would be difficult for others. But you came ready, so there's no problems. Next is the math portion. So, just focus like I taught you and do the best you can. I'm positive that you'll make it through it."
"You're absolutely sure? You don't think I might fail?" he asked.
"No, I don't. I am one hundred percent positive that you'll do well. I prepared you myself. I know what you're capable of. There shouldn't be anything on the test that you don't know. If you come to a problem you can't figure out, just skip it and then go back to it later. You want to get as much done as you can, so don't stay stuck on one very long. I'd say two minutes or so. If you can't figure it out in that time, move on to the next one. Missing one question is far better than not having enough time to finish ten more."
"Yeah, okay. That makes sense. I'll do that. Thanks."
"You're welcome. Just have some faith and you'll be fine."
As soon as the next portion of the test started, the room fell silent once more. It was a bit more stressful than the previous section, primarily because Micah was positive he had no idea what he was doing. It was almost as if his brain had gone blank, and he was staring at a page covered in Chinese. But, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a brief moment, then plunged in headfirst to try and tackle the beast. Every time he got stuck on a problem, he remembered what Elsa said and did exactly as she told him. He found that it wasn't that bad after a little bit, and that he had begun psyching himself out for no real reason. The math was tough for him for sure, but luckily he was able to use a calculator for roughly half of it.
Though it felt like it took forever, the second period of the test was soon over, and they had another short break. Elsa congratulated him on finishing the math portion, as he was almost positive he wouldn't have enough time. She could see the stress and concern on his face, and she did the best she could to reassure him that the worst was over. All that was left was the writing section, and he was pretty good at that stuff. So he felt a bit better knowing that there was at least one portion he wouldn't have to struggle with.
Finally the last portion of the test was handed out, and Micah breathed a sigh of relief as he was working his way through the thing. Time went fairly quickly, unlike the math section where it seemed to drag on. The whole thing ended on a fairly high note, and he was thankful for that. He didn't think he'd be able to handle much more.
There was an essay portion as well, but it was completely optional. Micah chose to not bother with it, and when it was time to turn the tests in he stretched and felt a thousand times better having completed the hardest test he's ever had to take. When he looked over at his friends, they were chatting away. He felt good though, better than he had expected to. The best part was he was able to keep all that terrible stuff about Amber out of his head.
As they were walking out to the car, Elsa glanced up at Micah and smiled at him.
"I'm really proud of you. I have faith that you did well. I have no doubts in my mind about that," she said proudly.
"Thanks, but you might want to hold off on that until we get the results back. How long does that take?" he asked.
"It should only take a couple weeks. We'll know before the month is over for sure."
"Cool. So what now?"
"I think we're headed out for pizza, if you want to come with." Elsa's eyes were pleading with him to say yes.
"Why would I skip out on that? Let's go!"
00000
That evening, her friends were over for dinner, and she was in the kitchen making some pasta with a homemade white cream sauce. It was another one of those things that she refused to buy pre-made, and she felt that it always tasted better made from scratch. Everyone else seemed to agree, because they all loved her cooking. They had become rather spoiled, and spent nearly every weekend at her place for dinner. Or lunch sometimes. And breakfast. In fact, they often spent the entire weekend at her place just for the food alone, although they did rather enjoy hanging out with her. Especially ever since she started opening up more and acting goofier than she used to.
Elsa and Anna were both in the kitchen preparing dinner. Anna had been learning from Elsa how to bake, and she took it upon herself to make some dinner rolls for everyone. It wasn't something she had done a lot, but she'd done it a few times and knew the process more or less. She still had to ask Elsa questions, but not nearly as much as she had to when she first started. Anna didn't want to be useless, and did her best to help out with meals as best she could. Her sister loved the fact that she was so willing to help and learn, and had no problem teaching her how to cook any of the food she made.
The others were in the dining room preparing for a night of Dungeons & Dragons. They had done that on occasion since Micah first asked Elsa about it a few years ago, and it was sort of a thing they did when they weren't killing one another in Startcraft or dying miraculously in Dark Souls III or Bloodborne. Rose was the dungeon master, since she was the most imaginative of the group. It kind of came with the territory of being an artist. Elsa had tried running the game a few times too, and she proved to be rather malicious and diabolical in her adventures. The sessions when she was in charge usually proved to be almost too challenging, but they still ended up having fun.
They were sitting there waiting for Elsa to finish fidgeting with the sauce she was making so they could get back to the adventure. Rose currently had them storming some lich's stronghold, and there was a war being waged outside the walls. The party was part of an infiltration squad that managed to work its way inside, and they were looking for some allies that had been taken prisoner. The lich was too powerful for them to take on their own, but it was the main villain for Rose's campaign. Instead, they were stuck dealing with the hordes of undead that roamed the fortress. Luckily, they had Micah, who was a 5th level elvish priest named Ashven. He had the ability to turn undead, which helped control the abominations some. A paladin could have done the same thing, but to a lesser degree.
It didn't take long for dinner to finish cooking and be served, and as soon as they were told the food was ready they were swarming the kitchen like a pack of hungry wolves. Lucky for Elsa, she had made enough so that everyone could have seconds if they were still hungry. She knew that at least Kristoff and Micah would certainly head back for more. Rose could pack it away too when she wanted to, but sometimes decided to be civil and just eat what a normal person could manage.
After everyone was done moaning over how delicious the food was and they were stuffed beyond capacity, they decided it was time to resume their game. Anna had finally decided to join in on the fun, and chose to play as a mercenary for hire. She was a spellsword, able to cut people down or burn them alive with a fireball. Both were equally cool in her opinion, and she made sure to take advantage of that whenever she got a chance. It happened more often than she had initially thought. Rose liked to toss all sorts of critters and bad guys at them to fight, so Anna got to see a lot of action.
Kristoff chose to just go with a warrior. He liked the idea of being thick headed and able to chop things down with big ass swords or axes. Or smash things with warhammers. Whichever seemed right for the occasion, or would cause the most pain and misery on his opponents. His character wasn't too terribly bright, but he was strong, and at the end of the day, that's all that really mattered. He didn't fully trust magic, although he did have a magic gauntlet that gave him giant-like strength. This allowed him to wield two-handed weapons with one hand as if they weighed nothing.
When creating her character, Elsa decided on making an elusive sorceress. A being born with the touch of the arcane coursing through her veins. The exact causation of her powers was a mystery, and her goal in life was to learn where her powers came from. Able to call on the magnificent and dangerous powers of fire and ice was something that drew her to the class. She liked the idea of having immense power, but needing caution to control and wield it. There were so many possibilities waiting for her to take advantage of that it was almost overwhelming. She didn't possess any magic artifacts like the others did, but she didn't really need to. Her powers more than made up for it. That didn't change the fact that she was looking for something in particular, but it was something that was rumored to be in possession of the lich. Which was enough to urge her to join on this little suicide mission.
Rose took pleasure in harassing them though. She would send wave after wave of shambling skeletons and mindless zombies, with some ghouls mixed in for good measure. It was fortunate, though, that the party was ready for such an event. They were all high enough level that the monsters really weren't a threat. Whatever Micah couldn't turn a way with his priestly powers, the others would destroy without a second thought.
Eventually they made their way into the interior of the stronghold, and located the prison cells. After a particularly tough fight with the jailer and his hounds, the group was able to free the prisoners and escort them back out to what was relative safety. Then there was a debate between the party about whether or not they should pursue the lich and at least try to take it down. There were four of them, plus several other non-player characters in the party, so they figured that they could at least make an effort. Elsa secretly hoped that they would, so she could try and find the object she was looking for. The others knew full well why she was all for going after the lich, but they weren't that thrilled at the prospect of possibly dying horribly.
She did manage to finally convince them to make an effort, and after making some preparations they set off for the lich's throne room. Rose had to throw more monsters at them in order to slow their progress, though it all culminated in them breaking down the doors to the inner sanctum of the stronghold where the lich was to be found, only to find that the throne room was utterly empty. There was no undead host waiting for them, or some other abomination poised to strike. There was literally nothing there besides an empty chair.
"Well shit," Kristoff exclaimed as he scratched his head in confusion. "I was kind of expecting there to actually be something here."
"Besides an empty throne, the chamber is completely barren," Rose repeated.
"I want to cast detect magic," Micah called out.
"Really, Micah? We're in the middle of an undead fortress. There's going to be magic everywhere," Elsa reminded him.
"Yeah, but I'm trying to see if there is anything in the room. I mean, there is no other door leading out is there?"
"Only the doors leading out to either side, and the one you came in through," Rose stated.
"Then I want to cast my spell on the doors. Maybe the lich left behind some sort of magic residue or something."
"I don't think it works that way, bud," Kristoff said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Why not?" Anna asked.
"Because I say it doesn't," Rose answered sternly.
"I'm telling you, it's a complete waste of time. Save your spells for another time," Elsa urged him.
"Fine. You guys have fun figuring this one out," he said grumpily.
"Don't be like that. Help us search the room."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Anna asked, curious.
"I don't know. Something. Anything, really. Trap door, hidden portal, false wall...stuff like that. Just do search checks everywhere. It'd be nice if we had a rogue though. Find and disarm traps could be useful here."
"So, what's it gonna be? Who's doing what?" Rose finally asked.
"Alright, I'm going to search the walls in the back of the room, Anna you search the throne for anything suspicious, and Kristoff, you and Micah check those doors and see what's behind them."
"Wait, when did you become group leader?" Micah asked her, suspicious of her actions.
"When you guys were making bad decisions and nearly got us killed. Twice."
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! I was standing in the back of the party like I'm supposed to!"
"Micah, you're a priest that specializes in blunt weapons and medium armor. You should have been up front with Kristoff and Anna when we ran into that mummy lord and his squadron. You can freaking turn undead. Not only that, but your healing spells can hurt them. So yeah, it was partially your fault."
"I'm not the one that critically failed to cast a fireball spell at the mummies and ghouls."
"You can't blame me for the roll of the dice."
"You're being impossible right now!"
"Micah, I'm being logical here. What you did could have been remedied if you had gone up to the front with the others and fought. What I did was simply an unlucky roll of the dice, which is something that can and has happened to all of us. Could I have chosen a different spell to cast? Sure. But the undead are weak to fire, and I had a clear shot."
"Whatever. Let's just search this room already and get this over with."
"Please don't be like this. I don't want you mad."
"Let's just do this and get you that ring or whatever."
"It's a staff."
"Like I said, let's just do this."
"Alright, are you guys finished bickering?" Rose asked impatiently.
"Yes. I'm going to search the back of the room for just about anything," Elsa declared.
"Alright. You feel around the wall and notice a small breeze blowing through the cracks. You're not sure what is on the other side, but you can hear the clinking of metal on metal."
"Okay, can I search the walls for a hidden switch or button?"
Rolling one of the die, Rose looks up and smiles wickedly. "Sorry, but you don't find anything."
"What's with that look?" Kristoff asked.
"Oh, nothing," Rose said innocently.
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Do I find anything on my side of the room?" Micah interrupted.
"Besides the door that Elsa told you to check out, no," Rose deadpanned.
"Fine, I'll search the door," he said impatiently. "Like, I'll open it and see where it goes."
"It's locked."
"Of course it is. Can I use my mace to bash it open?"
"You can try, but you don't really have a good strength modifier."
"Jesus Christ. Okay, Kristoff, check your door then come help me."
"Yeah, sure," the burly blonde said. "I'm gonna poke my head out the door there."
"Okay, all you see is a storage closet full or useless junk," Rose told him.
"Who the hell puts a storage closet inside a throne room?"
"I do."
"Alright, I guess I'll go over and help bash Micah's door in."
After another roll of the die, Rose ends up frowning and looks almost disappointed. "Okay, you bust down the door, and on the other side is an empty hallway."
"Why do you look like we just ruined your plans?" Micah asked.
"Because that door had a nice little trap, but Kristoff broke it."
The two boys high-fived each other and laughed. Elsa and Anna sat there patiently waiting for them to figure out what is going on.
"Okay Anna, your turn," Rose said after the small celebration was over.
Rubbing her hands together, Anna was getting a little excited that she finally got to do something. "Alright, I want to search the throne. I figure there's gotta be something special if there is a crack in the wall, so hopefully there's like a hidden lever or something."
With the clattering of some dice, Rose actually grins at Anna, but it's not malicious like normal. It's almost one of pride. "Good job, kiddo. You find a part of the throne that moves in a manner that it shouldn't, and you hear a loud click. After a few seconds, there's a loud grinding sound as the wall at the back of the room slowly slides apart, revealing a tunnel. You can hear some sort of screaming coming from deeper below, but it doesn't sound human."
"Alright, I think we know what we're going to do. Let's head on down," Elsa said, ushering the others to follow her lead.
Down they traveled into the dark depths beneath the stronghold. The gloom was heavy and thick, or at least that's how Rose described it. Their characters traveled quite a ways, and when they finally reached the bottom they came to a large metallic door that was seemingly built into the earth. It was slightly ajar already, meaning something had gone in, or come out, recently. The party decided that it would be prudent to sneak inside and see exactly what was going on. After making the appropriate stealth checks for everyone, they slipped by the large door, making sure not to touch it and cause any noise.
Once inside they quickly noticed that it was a large tomb. Elsa surmised that it must have been some royal tomb for whoever used to rule the stronghold before the lich took over. But that wasn't the main attraction. Standing at the back of the chamber was a man dressed in heavy armor and a black cloak. He had several skeletons surrounding him, and didn't seem all that friendly.
"Um, what is this? Is this the lich?" Micah asked in confusion.
"Nope, this is a death knight," Rose replied cheerfully.
"You're way too happy about that."
"I am. Now then, he's not standing around waiting for you guys to make up your minds on what you're gonna do. He's instructing his skeletons to attack."
"How many are we talking here?" Kristoff asked, eyes narrowed.
"Twenty."
"Okay, that's a lot of skeletons."
"If we can take him out, then we don't have to worry about the skeletons, right?" Elsa asked.
"Technically," Rose responded.
"I'm going to ignore you for now. Let's just focus on the death knight."
So, an epic battle of dice rolls and charging in yelling battle cries at the top of their lungs proceeded, and there were some casualties on both sides. Several of the non-player characters died in the conflict, and Micah ended up critically wounded after turning back nearly half of the skeletons that attacked. Elsa and Anna managed to burn up several as they worked their way to the death knight, and Kristoff just charged headfirst into the fray and barreled through the skeletons like they were nothing. By the time their characters actually made it to the death knight, they were pretty weakened. But, through stubbornness and teamwork, they managed to actually take the thing out, if only temporarily.
"Okay, just so you guys know, death knights can't be permanently killed unless they fulfill whatever task it is that keeps them holding onto the material plane. But for now, he's toast."
"Good. Now, is there anywhere else to go down here?" Micah asked while he tried to keep his character from dying.
"Oh, yeah. There's another big ass door right behind where the death knight was standing."
"Of course there is."
"Okay, well give us a few minutes to recuperate before we plow forward and try to tackle whatever is on the other side of that door," Elsa said.
After everyone had rested up for a few and were ready to get back to it, Kristoff's character had the task of forcing the new set of doors open. They were heavy and rusted, and barely budged as he pushed. So, the other three had to help the best they could to open them enough so they could squeeze through. It made a terrible amount of noise, which did not work out in their favor at all.
On the other side of the door was an eerie purple glow. They weren't really sure what was causing it, but they all assumed it was the lich's doing. Once they were all inside, they noticed that the staff Elsa had been searching for was jutting out of the ground at the back of the chamber. Thankfully, Elsa knew better than to run out and get it. Instead, she hung back with the others as they slowly approached it.
"Alright, so it's there right in front of you, Els. Are you gonna go grab it or what?" Rose asked.
"No, because I don't trust you," she retorted.
"Hey, I've been pretty good to you this whole time. What makes you think I'm about to stop now?"
"Because you always find some way to dick us over," Kristoff said.
"Is the staff what's causing the glowing or what?" Anna asked.
"You don't know. But the glowing is pulsating, kind of like a heartbeat," Rose said.
"Okay, well if Elsa isn't going to take it, I will. I'm gonna walk up to it and grab it."
"Micah, you idiot!" all three groaned at once.
"Okay, you grab the staff, and then find that you can't let go. You suddenly feel like your very life is being sucked out of you. You start to grow weary and cold, and you fall to your knees. Sound and vision become distorted, and you can barely breathe." As Rose described what was happening to Micah, the others folded their arms and shook their heads in shame. Micah was feeling a little stupid at his decision.
"Is there any way we can free him, Rose?" Elsa asked.
"I can't tell you that! You're gonna have to figure it out on your own. But I will say that one of you has the capacity to save him. And once you save him, you might just be able to take the staff for yourself. Provided it still has power."
"Micah, if you break my staff I am going to be furious with you."
"It's not like I did it on purpose!" he said defensively.
"What did you expect would happen?"
"I dunno. I figured if I grabbed it it would break whatever spell was being cast."
"That's not at all how that works," Anna retorted.
"Alright, someone has to have the ability to save our priest's ass. I sure don't," Kristoff lamented.
"I don't have any spells that break curses. Or heal, for that matter," Elsa said with frustration.
"I have that healing wind spell that Rose gave me," Anna said. "I'm gonna cast that."
"That's not even a real spell," Kristoff interjected.
"It totally is now," Rose said dismissively. "Alright, cast the spell and roll the die. See what happens."
As Anna rolled the die, Rose rubbed her hands together and smiled. Everyone looked at her expectantly.
"So, what happens? It healed him for the full amount," Anna said.
"It's a critical success. Not only do you bring his sorry ass back from the brink of death, the light in the room fades, leaving only your torches. Micah's hands are free, and he has regained his strength."
"Okay, I'm not doing that again," Micah said as an apology.
"I certainly hope not," Elsa replied. "Okay, I'm going to grab the staff and yank it out of the ground."
"Alright, it slides free after a little bit of effort. You can feel an energy of some sort pulsating from it and into your veins. You feel more alive than you ever have. On top of that, you can see clearly in the room without the aid of the torches."
"What, like night vision?"
"Sort of, but minus the grainy green glow to everything. It's more like low-light vision, only you don't need light to see. It just illuminates everything like it's in the shade."
"Well, I can't complain about that. Does it boost my magic like it's supposed to?"
"Technically, I can't tell you that because your character wouldn't know that. But yes, your spells do double the damage now, and you can prepare more spells in advance."
"So wait, she gets this bad ass staff that turns her into a walking death machine, and I get a ring that gives me one extra chance to heal someone once a day?" Micah asked in a whiny voice.
"Don't be such a baby," Kristoff said.
"At least you have something totally useful. You can swing around battle axes and claymores like they're butter knives. And Anna has that sword that can shoot fire out of it randomly. I have a freaking ring that does practically nothing."
"Quit complaining Micah. You were the first one to get a magic item, and you got it at level one," Rose said. She was rolling her eyes at him, and was kind of sick of his attitude.
"Yeah, but mine kind of sucks. At least theirs are useful. What does my ring do? Oh, it lets me heal one extra time. That's really going to save us."
"Fine. If it bothers you that much, I'll just take the ring away."
"That's not what I said."
"That's how you're acting though. Besides, that ring was plenty useful when you were lower level."
"Maybe when we were level two. We're levels five and six now. Elsa's almost level seven. I don't even know how that worked out!"
"Because there were a few sessions you didn't play, Micah."
"I want a new magic item. I want to actually be useful."
"Micah, you are useful," Elsa interrupted. "You're our healer, and you're the only one that can get us back on our feet after we fall. You just need to learn to not rush into things head on."
"Yeah, that's my job," Kristoff joked.
"I said I was sorry!" Micah exclaimed angrily.
"Guys, it's just a game," Anna finally said. "Micah, you messed up and Elsa got a bad ass staff out of the deal, so just deal with it and move on. This is supposed to be fun, but right now you're making it not so fun. You're taking it way too personally and way too seriously. Besides, nobody is forcing you to play. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it was you that suggested that we all start playing to begin with. So stop acting like such a brat and just enjoy the game for what it is."
"I don't need this. I'm going home."
As he got up to leave, Elsa sprang up after him and chased him down the hall, grabbing him by the arm and was pleading with her eyes for him to stay.
"Micah, please don't do this," she begged. "It's just a game. We don't have to play anymore tonight, okay? We can take a break and just go watch a movie or something. But please stay. For me."
He glanced at the front door before returning his gaze to her and sighed. "Alright. I'm sorry, I feel like I constantly get ragged on by everyone and it makes it not fun for me. I know I don't always make the best decisions, but still. I'm not as imaginative as you guys are, or as clever. So when Rose or you throw this stuff at us, I get frustrated because I don't know how to handle it."
"Micah, it's just a game. It's fine. Maybe we give you too hard of a time. I will tone it down a bunch, okay? I'll talk to the others and make sure they're on board. But it's not going to be avoidable all the time. Sometimes you just have to take your medicine. But please, don't go home. I want you here."
"Okay, I'll stay. But only because you begged," he said with a grin.
"Thank you!"
She pulled him into a nice, tight hug before giving him a peck on the cheek. He blushed, but it was thankfully dark enough that she wouldn't have noticed. As they headed back to the dining room to help the others clean up after the game, he thought to himself just how lucky he was to have her in his life. He smiled to himself, and thought about just what would happen if he were to come clean to her. He wasn't sure when that would be, but he was finally starting to build up the courage to confess his love to her. He just hoped it wasn't too late.