Their dinner that night attracted trouble.

Fahd had set up a fire wall, to cut off the visibility of their fire at night. The stone under their tents was too cold, the night was dark too early to not have a fire. At least the ground and sky was dry.

Once they had a fire, Fahd cleared them for a warm dinner. That's when Shawn and Val noticed trouble coming for them.

Marin had been concerned about the difficulty of the monsters on Mount Nibel. The first few twin brain's to appear were not a problem. Val named them, which Marin had forgotten.

Again, she had only seen the things with purple polygonal textures in a video game. Yet here, the things had more human-like hands, clearer eyes. They looked as real as anything else.

And the first three were downed by the combined might of the group.

Dinner was now on hold.

"Shawn?" Jamie asked her brother.

Shawn was in the middle of casting another spell. He stood there, woodenly and didn't respond.

More of the things appeared. Another four this time, from the other side of their fire.

Danny brought his rifle to bear, shooting enough to stop more of them from approaching the tents.

Marin threw blizzards around, creating more temporary obstacles of ice for the things to move around to get to the center.

Val was frozen-mid jump and crashed into a tent. Marin had seen Val get paralyzed by one of the monsters in mid-air.

More fire spells came from Shawn's direction, as he came out of his paralysis.

"They're attracted to the food!" Danny yelled between shots.

"How do you know?" Fahd yelled at him, from where he had slipped behind the thing and was slicing one to pieces with his knives.

"Got a better idea?" Danny picked up one of the dead twin brain's from earlier and chucked it to the nearest slope. Where the body rolled away into the darkness.

"Stay near the tents!" Marin shouted. "the darkness is hiding-" Marin was cut off as she was paralyzed by the gaze of one of the monsters. She wanted to scream as it approached her to wail into her. All her muscles were locked up, she couldn't move. Marin barely breathed as the monster punched her over and over.

Something launched out of the darkness behind her, interposing itself between Marin and the twin brain. Stabbing it with a spear, first in a down stroke. Then skewering it. Dark hair over a dark flaring coat.

'Jamie.' Marin wanted to say, her lips were locked in a grimace. Her arms were in the middle of picking up a dead twin brain.

"Ahh!" Jamie was being bashed for it.

Marin started counting, fighting the panic down. She watched Jamie get battered as Marin's muscles cramped in the paralysis. Ever muscle was pulled tight, everything but her diaphragm. She couldn't help her girlfriend. 'Please still be my girlfriend after this.' Marin pleaded to herself.

Marin got to ten before she was distracted by the hope that Jamie could be made up with, over whatever distance was growing between them.

A memory of being unsafe to others, felt a long way away from this. Marin was still dangerous, but only when she didn't act in time to help her friends.

"FINALLY!" Marin exhaled at the release of the paralysis, it had felt forever with her adrenalin pumping.

Marin snapped off healing spells, first a couple to Jamie. The other woman nodded before moving around the tents to get behind another one of the things.

Marin found herself alone for a few more moments, so she picked up the monster she had been holding, and threw the twin brain off into the darkness.

Heading to the center of their encampment, she picked up the burning bacon and flung the slices from the pan, also into the darkness. As well as the rest of the uncooked pieces, from the waxed paper wrapper.

"Not the bacon!" Shawn called to Marin.

Marin wasn't sure if that was a joke or not, it made her angry "I don't love bacon as much as they do." she retorted.

One of the monsters disengaged to go after the meat, the rest of the meat was flung into the shadows, gone forever.

They must have fought off ten or more of the things.

'Those Valrons must have been the big meanie of the area.' Marin thought. The monster that was more powerful than all the other monsters, in a given ecosystem.

The dust was settling, her heart was still pounding. It was going to be a while before she would be calm again.

More and more minutiae of the game was slipping away from her. Being replaced with the real thing, or pushed aside by all the new skills and novel things she had seen, met, or people she had talked to on this planet. Her notebook slowed that down, but only if she kept it from being destroyed again.

As for the Valrons, every area seemed to have some kind of apex monsters. The one monster that was a problem even if you encountered just one of them. And weaker monsters were managed easily, unless they came in waves or large packs. Such as the Nibel Wolves on the downslope of these mountains.

Marin waited for the all clear from Fahd before plopping herself back into a camp chair. The smell of burnt bacon was gone from the clear mountain air. They sat dejectedly around the rest of their destroyed dinner.

Danny circled the fire walls, looking for trouble with his rifle.

Jamie poked the fire more to life with a stick.

Val was inspecting the cast iron skillet, "At least you didn't dent it." she told Marin.

Shawn pointed a flashlight, in the direction of the bacon.

"Leave it, Shawn." Fahd called from the other side of the encampment.

Marin was the only one to barely hear Shawn mumble to himself.

"Don't talk to Cloud. Don't climb that wall. Don't mess with the time-line. Don't do this, don't do that..." He grumbled as he kicked a small rock.

"What was that?" Val sounded firm with accusation.

"Nothing!" Shawn told her.

Val withered Shawn with a glare. He didn't mumble any further.

The sun was gone now, the only light was their flashlights and the fire. The fire walls prevented the spread of the firelight. They say in a small circle of tents and chairs. A small circle in the darkness. Outside their circle was starlight and a full moon.

The shadows were few and far between, but they were as black as oil and hid the danger of the mountains within them.

"Shawn, get back here." Marin called. She looked around the dejected group. "Anyone else hurt? I have healing to spare." 'Wow, already?' She thought, 'I couldn't cast half this much a week ago. And I still have so much left in me tonight.'

Fahd tossed a potion to Val, "Save it. The night's only just started."

Jamie moved to Shawn's empty chair, next to Marin. They could almost touch, Marin hoped that Jamie would close the gap. She didn't want to push Jamie away with over-eagerness.

"Shawn, come on." Jamie called.

Danny took the proffered potion from Fahd.

"I'll show- OH!" Shawn shouted. "Not YOU again!"

Shawn's moonlit profile was washed out by the flashlight he pointed right at all of their faces. The terrain disappeared from the light, anyone with night vision was wiped out by the bright light.

"There! It's right there!"

"Fuck, Shawn." Marin shouted, covering her face. "Not in my eyes."

Shawn pointed the flashlight a little to the left, over their heads. The lamp still shone in all their faces. "there's another one!"

Marin was not the only one to cuss him out.

"Turn that off!" Fahd told the other man.

Shawn continued raving, "They're right there. Surely…" He moved the flashlight. "and ANOTHER one!"

Marin got up, trying to pick out Shawn's profile in the darkness. 'Only I can see Ardyn.' She thought. Still frustrated with Shawn, she didn't want to believe him. "Shawn, come over here, let's talk."

"Not the fuckin' ghosts again." Danny poked at the fire.

"Shawn? Are you OK?" Jamie asked her brother with growing concern.

"Now there's five ghosts! They're all hooded. Tell me you can't see this!" His flash light whipped around, blinding them again. He kept pointing it at one then another then another of whatever only he saw.

"Shawn?" Marin asked. "What do you see?"

"Five ghosts."

"Get back over here." Fahd told him. His head was whipping around, looking for trouble. "Ghosts are just a story."

"It's the Mako," Val told Fahd, "the hills around here are saturated with it."

"Shawn, what are the ghosts doing?" Marin asked him. Wondering if these ghosts were Shawn's 'Ardyn'.

"Marin, don't encourage him." Jamie called, moving closer to her brother.

"They're looking at me. It's pretty fucking creepy actually." He kept moving around the flashlight, trying to keep track of whatever they were. "Got a problem? You won't stop me this time!"

Marin took a step closer to Shawn as Shawn took a step closer to the campfire.

Her mouth opened, she wanted to ask "Won't stop you do what?"

Shawn shouted, cut off Marin's question. "They're coming right for-" He pointed the flashlight up to the sky.

Under the light of the moon, Marin could pick out Shawn throwing his arms across his face. He shouted "No! No!"

Shawn's feet lifted off the ground as he flew backwards. "No!"

He swiped once with the flashlight before disappearing into the darkness. He kept shouting "Let me go!"

Shawn flew. He flew away and the flashlight was still in his hand as they watched it disappear, downward. "Noooooo!"

Jamie was the first to shake off the shock. "Shawn?" Jamie shouted. "Shawn!" Jamie crouched in a leap to help her brother.

They could hear his cry continue for another second before cutting off, suddenly.

"SHAAAWN!"

Val grabbed Jamie by the shoulders. Preventing the younger woman from leaping towards danger.

"Let me go!" Jamie cried "Shawn!" She struggled against Val's grip. "Let me help him!"

"He's gone, girl." Val told Jamie.

Marin stared. Ghosts they couldn't see, Shawn had been floating over the ground. A stone dropped into Marin's stomach. There was one reason why his scream would cut off like that.

"We have to HELP him!" Jamie kept trying to break free.

Danny stared from across the fire, his fire stick lay forgotten at his feet. "There really was something there. I think there was…"

Fahd broke from his own shock and turned on his flashlight. Keeping it pointed away from anyone's faces. He used it to retrace Shawn's steps.

When Fahd was most of the way to the cliff. Val let Jamie go.

Fahd stuck out an arm to block Jamie's path further forward. He took the last few steps to the cliff slowly.

By the edge, he was on his knees, careful that he didn't follow Shawn the rest of the way. "Val, keep watch with Danny."

Marin took that as permission to proceed forward herself. She failed to swallow the lump on her throat, she listened to the night. There were no cries of Shawn's voice from below them. He was too far below for his body to make any audible noises.

Joining the two by the cliff, she stood by Jamie's side.

"Shawn..." Jamie was crying.

Marin, in that moment, didn't care about the gulf between her and Jamie. She just wanted to be there for Jamie. It's what a friend would do.

Marin leaned forward a little, but nowhere near enough to look down. She leaned back and put out a hand for Jamie. Whatever happened, whatever Marin wanted, they were still friends.

Jamie grabbed Marin's whole arm, sobbing into Marin's shoulder.

Fahd shuffled away from the cliff and stood up, looking to the back of Jamie's head.

Marin put an arm around Jamie and found Fahd's eyes in the night.

Fahd gave a slight shake of his head, before heading back to the campfire.

Marin patted Jamie's back. She had her won tears welling in her eyes. She did not like Shawn, but she never wanted this to happen to him. "Jamie, let's go sit down."

"Did-did- Fahd" she spoke between sobs. "F-f-find any-thing?"

"Let's go sit down, Jamie."

Jamie sobbed louder.


Interlude 1:

Shawn's butt crashed onto the stone. The air stank of gasoline, car exhaust and dirt. His eyes were blinded by the brightness.

A car honked. Footsteps scraped against the ground past him.

"Sir?" A voice in the light called. "Are you all right?"

Shawn rubbed his eyes, his ass was going to bruise. He rubbed the sunlight out of his eyes as they adjusted to the change of scenery.

He had been falling seconds ago, into the dark void of Mount Nibel.

A woman in a track suit stood over him. "Do you need help standing?" She held out a hand.

The street wasn't stone, it was concrete. The buildings were…He knew those buildings, he knew this street. He had been here weeks ago. Before he had been gone in a blink.

"Sir? Are you okay?" the woman asked again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to be fine." 'I'm home.' He thought to himself.'I'm home goddammit. I knew that place wasn't real.'

With the woman's help, he got back off the ground and dusted himself off. "Thank y-"

The world was interrupted by screeching, metal on metal and screaming.

The cross walk, that he had been about to cross, before whipping off to another world, was full of the metal of cars. Someone screamed. "there's someone UNDER THERE!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"Someone call 911!"

Chaos.

More screaming.

The woman with the tracksuit watched the whole thing go by, in a state of shock. So did many others.

'I had been waiting to cross this street.' He thought. Before taking his first step, back on Earth.

Shawn stepped up to cut through the mess panicked, and frozen, people were making of the accident. He was home, somewhere real. And he started stepping into the chaos, to help someone who needed real help.


Jamie was sobbing into her sleeping bag when Fahd yelled.

"INCOMING!"

In the dark, Marin couldn't see much. "Jamie!" she yelled. As a giant clawed leg stepped on that tent.

Marin took one step back, snapping in a fire spell. She didn't recognize it in the dark. As only parts of it came out of the darkness to attack their group.

"Not FIRE!" Fahd yelled from the darkness.

Val stabbed at the green leg on Jamie's tent until it moved that leg away.

The people were immediately routed, retreating to the nearby slopes.

Jamie had managed to escape her tent unscathed, though without her boots.

"Over there!" Danny pointed with his rifle, he had taped a flashlight to the barrel. "That's either a cave or an overhang." He shot a few times into the thing. It ignored the bullets.

"Worth it!" Fahd yelled. Calling everyone to retreat.

The opening wasn't large enough for the thing to follow them in. It still tried to stab in the opening with horn and claw.

"Wait," Marin said in-between ice spells. "there's only four of us in here."

Marin looked around the cave, it went in the mountain side a ways before opening up to a glow.

Val started, "Where's Jam-"

"MARIN!" they heard Jamie scream.

The legs and head withdrew from the cave opening. Fahd and Val stepped up to follow.

Marin and Danny stayed near the cave opening, launching their ranged attacks at the thing. It was large enough to hit over the other's heads. Even in the dark. Between the full moon, the flashlights and dying campfire, it was enough. It was a giant green dragon, come down from deeper in the mountains.

Marin was beside herself, Jamie was in trouble. She followed Fahd and Val sway from the cave's safety anyway. She had to get within range to heal, to help.

Jamie screamed as they watched her get picked up by the dragon's front paw, claws getting too close for Marin's comfort. It launched Jamie into the air, throwing her.

There was a sickening crunch, and splat sound from the impact. The Dragon slashed at the humans with it's front claws.

While Fahd and Val hammered various legs, Marin searched for Jamie in the darkness. While Danny shot over all of their heads.

The night was chaos of gunfire, roving flashlights, and the noise the thing made. As the dragon took on more.

"Retreat!" Fahd called.

Marin stepped backwards towards the cave once, she fell over and landed on her butt. The Dragon roared again. She wanted to live. 'But Jamie...'

Someone grabbed Marin by the back of her coat collar and dragged her. She kept shooting Blizzara spells. She had finally attuned the ice materia enough for the more powerful spell.

The tension on her collar went away, as Val leapt over Marin and landed on the back of the Dragon.

"Danny! Val's on top of the thing!" Marin shouted in the chaos.

One more shot rattled off, as Val did what she could, leaping away again before one of those claws could stab Val. Or worse, breath fire.

Fahd was somewhere in the darkness.

Marin shuffled around to get up while casting another spell. She had one of Val's extra spears in hand. The knives would have required getting even closer to the thing.

"Retreat!" Fahd called, this time from behind Marin.

Now that Marin was up, she moved herself to safety.

Something grabbed her collar again, this time the pressure was too much to have been a person. She screamed when she realized that the monster had her coat pinned in a claw. It was so tall.

She felt moisture run down her back, as she played tug of war with her coat. She cast a quick blizzard spell over her shoulder, impacting on the leg or face behind and above her.

The monster made another screeching noise and finished tearing Marin's short coat. She felt a tug on one of her legs as she could finally get away.

"Get over here!" Fahd shouted.

Feet pumping a beat to match her heart, Marin pounded on the stone. She stumbled on a few rocks on the way in. Her training with Fahd paid off here, she moved into it. Keeping upright two out of three times, she rolled on the third and did not bash anything coming down.

Marin was quickly up and running the last few steps into the cave.

Sighing with relief, she felt exhausted, her shirt and pant leg was soaked.

Danny stepped closer to the cave opening again, emptying his rifle into the thing.

Fahd was catching his breath ad Val kept the thing back, stabbing at any part that tried to fit through the opening.

'This is it,' Marin thought. 'Either we win or we die.'

She reached into one of her intact pockets and pulled out the ether. Jarvin's gift felt from years ago, not weeks.

Restoring her mental reserves, Marin was more selective with her spells this time.

While the others did what they could to keep the thing back, Marin tried to pick her targets. She wanted the thing to hurt, to feel pain. To hurt more than her heart.

One of her Blizzara's missed the head and flew into the darkness. The next one didn't. She landed that spell right into the thing's open mouth.

Val stabbed at the conjured ice. Driving it deeper.

Fahd was cracking potions on each of them in turn, he and Marin knew to keep to borrowed spears. Not even Fahd was using his hidden blade-arm. Fahd's blade and Marin's knives would not be enough for a dragon of this size.

The monster didn't scream until Danny picked his next target.

With Val stabbing at the ice holding it's jaws open, Danny had several moments to pick a shot and get it in one eye.

The dragon made deafening roar, moving away from their cave.

Danny shot it some more.

Marin paused, she slumped against the wall of the cave. She had one big spell left in her, or several small ones. She needed to decide now, and make it count. That ether was her only one. 'We do this now or we're all dead.'

The thing skittered back a little more.

"Marin." Fahd tossed a potion at her.

She grabbed at the air, missing the potion. She felt her eyes flutter.

Fahd picked the potion off the ground and poured it on her. "Heal yourself." He told her.

Marin looked up at him, her wet shirt had soaked into the seat of her pants, her coat was in shreds. She could feel the texture of the cave wall on her skin. The cave stank of blood, and wet stone.

She bashed her elbow on the cave wall as she tried to cast a cure spell.

She could hear gun fire, but from faraway.

"Marin!"

Fahd grabbed her shoulder and shook her. "Marin! Focus!" Fahd's face filled her vision.

In her fatigue and spotted vision, she could finally see the concern rim his eyes. "Don't worry," she mumbled. "I'll be fine."

Standing straight with his help, she snapped off a cure spell, then another.

The tunnel vision and spots in her eyes disappeared. She did the rounds with the other survivors. If they looked hurt, she tapped out with the last of her magic.

That had been close, and yet the night wasn't even half gone.

"Further back!" Fahd called to Danny and Val. "I'm going to make sure it can't breath fire!"

Fahd slipped deeper into the cave. He came back shortly after, whispering. "there are lights ahead. But I don't want to risk attracting any more trouble. Val? What's going on outside?"

"It's gone into the darkness. I don't know where."

Danny shook his head, "It's going to be a long night."

They looked out onto the campfire. It was burning low, untended. One of the tents was in disarray, the rest had been flattened. There was no sign of the monster.

Marin went to lean against the cave wall, but her now healed skin was covered with sticky blood and torn all down the back. Leaning right now was very unpleasant.

"Marin?" Fahd asked. "you okay?"

"I will be, once I get some sleep."

Fahd nodded. "Double watches. One there." He whispered to the cave mouth, "One there." He pointed a few feet down the cave deeper into the mountain. "Val and Danny, you have first watch." Fahd sat cross legged on the cave floor, between the others. "We rest for thirty minutes, then switch."

"What about Jamie?" She asked Fahd.

"What about her?" Marin meant Jamie.

"Retrieving corpse aren't worth it." Fahd told them.

Marin shook her head, "she's okay, Fahd-"

"Your job is here."

Marin shook her head. She needed rest, her mind wanted rest. It was that double-math-exams-in-a-row feeling again.

"You need rest before you can help anyone else." Fahd intoned.

Marin shook her head, stepping up to the cave mouth. She could imagine which direction Jamie had been thrown.

The night outside was silent.

"You go out there, I'm not going to protect you." Fahd warned.

"I'd rather die than leave her out there alone." Marin threw at him, before flicking her flash light on and leaving the cave.

Danny didn't even try to stop her.

"Danny!" Fahd hissed.

"I'm with her." Was all he said, as he loaded another bullet into the rifle's chamber.

"Then die with her." Fahd hissed. Before Marin and Danny's steps took them too faraway to hear Fahd anymore.


Marin searched as long and as far afield as she dared in the night. She and Danny hissed "Jamie?" into the darkness for minutes that felt like hours.

Eventually, they turned up empty, back at the fire pit.

Something small skittered in the darkness.

Marin had the spear ready, she had no mana left for another fight.

Marin wasn't sure if she had searched for five minutes or an hour. Danny had helped her and urged her on, she had sworn that she would rather die than leave Jamie alone. But she had to find her first. And Jamie wasn't answering their calls.

"I'm going to do another circuit." Marin told Danny. "Stay by the fire."

It was much easier to sneak around when it was only her, keeping to the deep shadows. Though the full moon banished most of them, the few left were deep and could hide monsters, or Jamie-sized objects.

Marin found herself coming back to the fire pit. After a third circuit alone, there were two more people by the fire.

"Oh," Val said in mock surprise. "You're alive."

Marin didn't answer Val's snark.

"What? No quips from the immortal?"

"What does Val mean?" Danny asked Marin.

Marin shook her head, "It's just a joke." she looked into the darkness, she was trying to think if she had missed any of those shadows.

This was not how Marin wanted the rest of the night to go. She had wanted to offer

Jamie comfort, at the death of her brother.

Unlike her own mother, Marin had wanted to be there for Jamie, while she was in her grief. Marin wanted to let Jamie have her feelings. And not be like her own mother, who had buried Ayame's death with 'aw, don't be sad Marin.' And deny Marin's grief with an offering of ice cream Marin had refused.

Marin's grief for her great-grandmother came at the oddest times. Thinking of how Jamie might have felt, for Shawn. It reminded Marin of her own roller coaster of emotions for great-grandmother Ayame.

The four of them were all that was left now. Marin was full of tears. "I can't find her. I don't know where she is. I have to-"

Val grabbed Marin's shoulder. "You're place is here. With the living."

The last word wanted to trigger more tears. A tumble of rocks interrupted Marin's grief. They weren't alone in the night.

She swallowed her tears as she felt her heart beat pound in her neck and chest. She hadn't wanted Jamie to die, nor did she want to die herself.

That was the moment she had remembered what she had thrown at Shawn in her anger, 'Drop dead Shawn.' Marin wiped away her tears, she had never meant it, and not literally.

Looking around to the darkness and moonlit mountainside. Nothing but a few rocks moved.

Marin followed Fahd's gaze to the sky. The stars looked like any sky in the wilderness. With the spray of stars across the sky, the moon caught their attention. She didn't see anything flying above them. No blotted stars or shadows across the moon. There weren't even clouds.

But until the were off the mountainside, there would be no end to the danger.

The fire was burning low, the food they had had since the first fight, it had grown cold. So that cooking meat wouldn't attract any more trouble.

Val yawned and was on a silent watch with Marin.

Marin wiped more tears away. She tried to keep her head clear for the watch. She had a fresh shirt on, and one of Shawn's coats, to stay warm in the mountain air.

'I'm wearing the clothes of a dead man.' She thought while grimacing. Even as she mourned the loss of the man, and the friendship that had never been.

Val stabbed the low fire with Jamie's fire-stick, wielding it like a spear. Marin had mistaken it as a spear at first. She was so tired.

Val looked angry, in the glow of the fire.

Marin would never be able to ask Jamie what she needed to bring the two of them back together.

Now Marin could never ask how Shawn had decided for himself to be himself.

Shawn was now and forever, Jamie's brother.

'What if I wanted to be like you Shawn, but only some days?' Marin would never be able to ask him that now.

Marin silently watched the low fire with Val.

Marin was confused. She knew the words, but she wanted to hear it from someone else. Someone she trusted and knew was similar. She had wanted to trust Shawn, for being Jamie's brother. A part of her had always accepted him into their group.

She was a mix of feelings for three people now, that had left her life. Each one was more dear than the next. But they were gone, and none of their deaths felt fair.

Shawn had been tugged by some invisible force, off the cliff. Everyone had been frozen in shock of what they were seeing. This world had magic and monsters and there were still things in this world that could surprise her. And surprise Shawn for that matter.

Jamie was out there, alone. Marin wiped away another tear. 'I am weak, to weak to look again.' Marin thought, while full of shame for giving up.

Her great-grandmother Ayame had been ancient, the oldest person Marin had ever known.

All of Ayame's history went with her. The joys she had had, the stories she could tell, or the horrors she had seen during the War.

Marin's own horrors in her life felt so small. Her Mother that said one thing and did another. Ayame had survived a war. She had seen people escape the horrors of what people could do to other people in those circumstances.

And yet, some part of her was living a dream, to be here, on this mountain, in this place. Away from all the worries of Earth. Except now without Jamie.

Marin's heart died a little, this far apart from Jamie.

This world had it's own nightmares, it's own ways of inflicting pain and death. There was no escaping suffering, no matter where Marin went. She just had to deal with it, as it crossed her path again and again.

She hated wanting to stay here, hated that she was here, and not at home. She hated that she had not picked up her phone, even once, to call Jamie. It had been selfish of her.

Jamie could have been tossed off the cliff, or she could be in the nearest shadow.

Thirty minutes of rest felt far longer than it was, while not being enough at the same time.

Marin made herself get up and take a step towards one of the remaining tents.

When Val had her back to Marin, Marin shut off her flashlight and took up the spear.

'I will find you Jamie.' Marin promised herself, 'Even if it's the last thing I do.'

While no one was looking her way, Marin slipped away into the darkness, to find Jamie. Or die trying.