Track 18: What Is Love? - Ewan Dobson

Immaculara, 3.8;

Vagatha sighed gustily, stroking Adam's arm as it lay around her stomach. "…I tire of this," she spoke.

Adam stiffened, a thrill of fear racing to his heart. "…Of this?" He asked tentatively, indicating their nudity and occupancy of their bed.

The young angel spun around, cupping his cheeks and kissing him soundly. "No-no-no, Song of My Soul, not this," she assured, embracing him, "Never this…I speak of the Incursions from Hell. We must rely on our Gate and the Watchers there, always defending the Golden City, when we should be assaulting Hell itself! Let the Sinners know what it is like to fear invasion, to worry ceaselessly that their doors will be struck down and their safety shriven from them! Perhaps when it is their turn, they will understand what we have suffered!"

"Vagatha," Lute chimed, sitting up from behind Adam's back, "There is no known way to connect the realms beyond the portals they use to invade. The Fallen Ones knew of Heaven before they were cast down, but we did not know of Hell. And besides, here our defenses are strong. Heaven is our territory; were we to invade, we would be assaulting the unknown. Losses would be inevitable."

"Losses are already inevitable, Lute!" Vagatha exclaimed, clenching her fist with a scowl, "If we are to maintain our defensiveness forever, it is sure that they will overcome us eventually! Perhaps not now or in a thousand years, but someday they overwhelm us! The majority of human souls still fall to Hell, and these incursions are small compared to the first Invasion. It is assured that a second will occur…but if we could curtail their numbers, somehow…"

Adam and Lute traded concerned gazes. "…Perhaps by teaching humans less sinful ways to live?" The angel offered, "We know of those who lived righteous lives and those who lived simple lives who ascended, maybe their example could be used to show humans what to do?" The First Man nodded thoughtfully.

"No, I would curtail their numbers directly," Vagatha said simply, "Storm into Hell, annihilate them before they could gather into an army…as many times as necessary, until Heaven is safe."

"Dark words lead to dark deeds, sister," Lute warned, wearing a face of discomfort, "I would talk no more of this, not in our bed."

Undeterred, the brash young Angel turned to her lover. "You agree with me, right Adam?"

The First Man grimaced. "I would have peace and security, an end to the fighting, but I am unsure such actions would do so." Vagatha frowned and he kissed her softly. "It is a moot point, besides. We know of no way to reach Hell, and a place that would produce such Sin is no place I would wish to visit or invade."

…

(The handwriting within is messy and strange, only sometimes resembling English or any written word, and filled with scribbles that occasionally look like pictures. The words that are the most repeated are 'Great Clean One' and 'Clean.')

Nifty hopes we go into the Maze again! Great Clean One and Charlie were smiley night before! Bad mmmmen were sighy, heretics don't like Maze! Purge!

No, friend, no purge friend. Tell purge friend, don't do.

Hope they make great mess! Friend comrade KeeKee cleanbattle Nifty, Nifty win again!

Then Nifty get hands on Great Clean One-

-I don't know why, but being around Adam clears my mind. I wish he didn't, being not-me isn't something I want to be aware of. But I enjoy his presence, too, and his eyes-

-Take for Nifty! Keep in jar!

-nonono-

(There is a picture of Adam in-between the pages, dressed like a teacher and winking over a pair of glasses)

-they're so warm and…understanding-

Clean knows Clean!

-how can he understand-

…What is this? Where am I? What's wrong with my hands?! My face, my body, what's happened to me!? I don't understand-

-no don't do it no don't do it no don't do it mY EYE-

-Himiko? Himiko, where are you?! Where's my sister? Himiko-

-I'll be good I promise I'm your wife please-

SHUSH.

…Shh. Nifty will take care. Nifty will clean. Nifty will fix. Nifty will.

…

Great Clean One will understand. Nifty…I hope he will. I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't.

…

"Look, all I'm sayin' is, you don't have to shout 'roll for initiative!' every time we come across some bastards," Angel Dust pointed out with a sigh as they turned a corner in the dungeon, "I know it doesn't- hold up, there's a trap." A tile glowed in front of him and he knelt to disarm it. "It's bad enough we're doing this nerd shit, you don't gotta act like one, too."

"Shut the fuck up, Angel!" Vaggie barked, gripping a halberd and wearing half-plate armor.

As she spoke, the walls crumbled as four mummies stepped out of hidden sarcophagi, bearing rusty weapons.

"Yeah, talking's not a Free Action, dumbass, the enemies can hear just fine," Adam snarked, wearing a sleeveless black tunic as he drew a lute from his back, the instrument reinforced with metal, "Roll for initiative, by the way."

The clacking of rolling dice sounded in their heads, and a small line of portraits depicting their characters appeared overhead. First it was Vaggie, then Adam, three of the mummies, Nifty, the last mummy, then Angel. "Oh that's fuckin' unfair!" The spider cried.

"Hey, you're just lucky them being woken up by you talking doesn't count as them ambushing us," the First Man replied, checking the mummies' character sheet before grinning, "Oho, Vaggie, if you can get them all in one place I can burn the fuckers!"

The fallen nodded grimly and thrust her halberd into the air, the weapon glowing with holy light. "Sweeping Smite!" She cried and swung, smashing the two leftmost mummies to the right, the undead directly in front of her bursting into white flames and collapsing into ash. "Holy Damage guarantees critical hits on undead and evil!" She crowed.

"Nice, babe!" Adam laughed, "Set 'em up, knock 'em down! Ignis!" He thrust his hand out, a small fireball racing from his fingers to strike the mummy in the middle. The undead practically exploded, setting the other two on fire. "And ending turn."

"B-wha-?" Vaggie shot him an incredulous look, "That was just a cantrip, you still had six Action Points!"

"Yeah, except-" the remaining undead had taken burning damage as he ended his turn, then taken more at the start of their turn- enough to kill them both, the mummies collapsing into piles of ash. "-that."

"…Oh."

"Nifty got Inspiration Point for killing four bad guys in one turn!" The tiny maid cheered from her perch on Adam's shoulder just as a ding rang out, gold light shining from his body.

"Fuck yeah, level six! Time to really put my build into action…" Adam chuckled evilly, opening up his character sheet and making a couple of selections, then pulling on a pair of hand wraps made of slightly blood-stained bandages. "And you said buying these Wraps of the Pugilist didn't make any sense."

"It still doesn't," Vaggie replied, looting a handful of gold and a rusty sword from the piles of ashes, "They aren't light armor, so Angel and Nifty can't use them, not heavy or medium so I can't use them, they're for physical fighters and you're a Bard so you can't use them either!"

"Heheheh…" Adam merely chuckled dangerously as he rubbed his hands together, "And yet, me charming that merchant led me to leveling up before you. So who is really the fool here?"

"It's still you!"

"Semantics, fuckface!" He cackled, "Angel, range! And try not to alert anymore mummies, eh?"

The former pornstar rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'nerd shit' under his breath and took the lead, stopping occasionally to disarm a trap or loot an urn. Eventually, they emerged from the corridors into a wide hall where a camp had been set up, several tomb robbers and explorers stumbling around tents and campfires almost drunkenly. An eldritch mist hung thick above the sand and despite the aridness of the tomb, the air was damp. As they stepped into the camp, one of the explorers, a man with glowing green eyes and sagging skin, turned to them and spoke in a layered voice. "Intruders," he rasped, "Ye shall not plunder this tomb! The curse of Charbuam shall take ye as it has us!"

"Oh this is bullshit, we didn't even get a chance for a sneak attack!" Angel whined, throwing up his hands, "Ya can't blame me for this!"

"Nah, this is how the encounter's supposed to go," Adam assured, nodding at Vaggie, "He's cursed, want to give it a shot?"

The fallen looked briefly surprised, then cleared her throat. "Er, yeah…ahem, foul creature! Begone from this poor soul, lest we seek your destruction!" She pointed her halberd at the possessed tomb raider threateningly.

"Fool! None may deny the will of Charbuam! Sacks of meat, fall to my curse!" The possessed breathed a lungful of sickly green mist into Vaggie's face, making her cough.

"That's a Constitution or Wisdom roll, Vags, which one are you going for?" Adam called, lute in his hands.

"Constitution!"

"Lemme hit you with my Empowering Song, then!" The First Man quickly strummed out a tune, "You got this…baaaaabe!"

Vaggie made a dice-rolling motion with her hand and the clacking sounded out again. "Oh, I only need a ten for this. Resistance to Undead and Evil again!" There was ding. "Resisted, fuck you Charbuam!" She blinked. "Oh wait, I have a Religion option here. Ahem…you poor soul, don't you wish to be free of this curse and sink into the embrace of Selune? You must fight it, for yourself and your companions!"

"…You're way too fuckin' into this." Angel Dust muttered with a sigh.

"Fuck off, Angel!" Surprisingly, it was Adam who'd voiced the retort. "You need a fifteen to succeed here."

Vaggie nodded solemnly and rolled the dice. It came up a fourteen and she growled under her breath, then there was another roll. "Oh yeah, your Empowering Song adds a six roll." The dice clacked and came up a two, totalling at sixteen. "Fuck yeah!" She and Adam traded high-fives and grins.

"That's right, baby!"

Angel rolled his eyes and hid a smile.

The possessed tomb raider jerked, hands coming up to clutch his head. "Ye shall- ye- please, save us from this hell!" He pleaded, the green in his eyes fading slightly, "Death would be a mercy!"

"Fuck yeah, their Wisdom and Constitution just took a hit!" Adam fist-pumped as the dice rolled again and the portraits for the attack turns appeared. "We get to attack first!"

Angel Dust was first to attack, the ranger circling around the edge of the camp, just barely arriving behind the last explorer. "Oh yeah, I can double up on the height and backshot bonuses," he muttered, jumping on top of a tent and ending his turn. "Wait, what?! I didn't get to attack, this is bullshit!"

"You used all your Action Points for moving, dumbass!" Vaggie called with a smirk, "Shoulda paid attention to the rules, huh?"

"Oh kiss my ass! And these guys are all cursed or undead, too, so I can't even bite them!"

"That's what you get for rolling a half-elf vampire spawn, Angel!" Adam shot back, "This was supposed to be a forest campaign, but we had to switch it to tomb raiding so you wouldn't immediately burst into flames!"

"Whatever! At least I didn't…" Angel Dust brought up their character sheets, "…Multi-class into Barbarian!"

Vaggie jumped slightly. "Wait, you did what?" She gave Adam an incredulous look. "Why?!"

The First Man laughed and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Oho, I've been waiting for this moment! You see, you poor, poor fools, I began as a Bard because of the Feat that allows me to use my Charisma as my attack modifier, as well as basically every other roll, including substituting it for my Wisdom, Intelligence and Constitution rolls! It's already seventeen, plus this Amulet of Silver Tongue makes it eighteen…and then, as I multiclassed into Barbarian, I chose Brawler as my subclass! Which gives me a bonus 1d6 on my Attack Rolls whenever I use an improvised weapon, such as my fists," he wiggled his fingers, the Wraps of the Pugilist around his knuckles, "Or my lute…or…" He pointed at Nifty perched on his shoulder, then held up a finger, "And I'm not done yet!"

"Why haven't they attacked yet?" Angel pointed out, looking rather bored as he leaned on a hand, "Seriously…"

Vaggie gripped her halberd and ducked her head, her gray tresses hiding the fierce blush filling her cheeks and shuffled from foot to foot.

"Haven't taken my turn yet," Adam shrugged before continuing, "As a Barbarian, I gain bonus Armor Rating for not wearing armor," he gestured at his tunic and pants, "Which includes clothes and robes, so right now I've got…" he checked his sheet quickly, "The armor rating of mail armor. On top of that, as I'm still a Bard, singing a song is a Free Action and as a Barbarian I've got Adrenaline Rush to boost my action points…" He strummed his lute and sang, "Y'all are so fuuuucked~!" He grinned and held out his hand, the one-eyed maid jumping into his palm, "I just used an Empowering Song to boost my critical chance…go for the eyes, Nifty!"

The fallen gulped and bit her lip, trying not to let the conflict on her face show…or the way her eye was taking in the shape of Adam's rear in his tight breeches which, for some reason, seemed mighty appealing all of a sudden. And had his shoulders always looked that nice?

With a grunt, he heaved the tiny demon over the main thoroughfare of the camp, letting her land on a cursed explorer in the back of the group. Nifty stabbed the man in the eyes with her daggers and a cackle and he fell with a scream as green mist escaped his mouth.

"Now, Thunderwave!" Adam strummed his lute, a wave of purple force racing out to carry five of the cursed and possessed enemies back near the main campfire. Spying a barrel of wine nearby, the First Man jogged over to it and hefted it up, tossing it into the fire where it exploded, covering all five of the enemies and the ground around them in medieval napalm…as well as himself. "…Ah shit, I forgot to use Adrenaline Rush. Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions." His turn ended and he jerked, taking damage. Two of the tomb raiders collapsed into burning, flailing piles of limbs and died.

Vaggie blinked, realizing her turn had come. "Adam, you're on fire!" Without thinking, she ran over and picked him up out of the fire, tossing him behind her, "Are you okay? I can use one of my Lay on Hands charges!"

"Bet you'd like to lay hands…" Angel muttered from his perch, his words swallowed up by the crackling flames.

"Don't worry about it Vaggie, you should save all your charges for the boss fight coming up," Adam replied with a shake of his head, ignoring the fact that he was coated in burning alcohol. "I can tank the two turns of burning damage."

She frowned but nodded. "Alright, I guess so. If we need, we can take a Short Rest after this, okay?" He smiled at her and she turned away, biting her lip. Then she focused on the cursed undead in front of her, eye narrowing. "Alright assholes, time to die! …Again." With a quick glance around, she made a plan.

She made a mighty leap, clearing the flames and landing on the other side, near three more possessed tomb raiders. She thrust her halberd into the air, the weapon glowing a dangerous purple. "Thunderous Smite!" She called and swung, a rumble of thunder shaking the tomb as she struck, sending two of the possessed back into the fire. Then she hit the third with a hard shove, pushing him to join his fellows. "End turn."

Two more enemies burned to death, and Adam yelped as he took damage. "Ow! Why was this designed to cause pain?!" He blinked, "Oh right. Because this shit hurts in real life, and immersion is paramount."

"Nifty's turn!" The maid cackled, stabbing a cursed explorer in the back. With her bonuses to backstabs and Assassin feats, and the debuff to their Wisdom and Constitution, she hit them with a critical strike that killed them in a single blow, plus her high Dexterity meant she could attack another, also ending them with one hit. "Great Clean One! Nifty does good, right?"

"Damn right, sister- ow!" He flinched, the flames finally fading away. Another possessed tomb raider died in a pile of ashes.

Then, it was the enemy's turn. The leader took burning damage as he turned towards Vaggie and unleashed a trio of energy blasts from his hands, which given her Paladin perks and Constitution, barely did any damage.

Another opened their mouth, cursed mist spilling from their lips as they started running at Adam…right through the heart of the fire. They didn't even make it halfway through before dying.

One of the last three quickly used a health potion before firing more Eldritch Blasts at Angel Dust, missing entirely due to his height advantage. They barely survived another tick of burning damage.

"Alright, only two to go! You got this, Angel!" Adam cheered, pumping a fist.

"Yeah, yeah," the spider grumbled, "Had this whole fuckin' plan and everything…" He sighed as he fired off a pair of bolts from his hand crossbows, killing both of the remaining enemies in one hit each.

"Fuck yeah! That's what I'm talking about! High-fives all around!" Adam crowed, putting his lute on his back as combat ended, Nifty crawling back up on his shoulder as he received an enthusiastic high-five from Vaggie and a much less enthusiastic one from Angel Dust. "Alright, let's take a Short Rest and prep for the boss fight. Can any of you guess what it might be?"

Angel took an offered waterskin and took a drink. "I'm guessing some kinda super mummy?" He shrugged, leaning on a hand, face bored.

Adam wavered a hand and took a bite out of a piece of jerky. "Eh…not wrong, but not right. Sister?" He handed the dried meat to the tiny sinner on his shoulder.

"Great Unclean Beast, must be purged! Purified in fire and flame!" She cackled, before tapping her chin in thought. "…Big Bone Boy."

"Again, close but no cigar," he shook his head, shooting a curious look at the fallen. "Vags? Got an idea?"

Vaggie idly pondered when Adam had started calling her nicknames, and furthermore when it had stopped pissing her off and became endearing instead. She buried that thought deep and focused on the question at hand. "Hm…well, going by the name, I'm guessing it's a dragon of some kind, then the tomb setting…a dracolich?" She pumped a fist victoriously as Adam nodded. "Yes! I knew Paladin was the right choice!"

"Hard to go wrong with a Pally," he agreed sagely, missing the brief flash of redness in her cheeks as he dug around in his pouch, lightly tossing her a glowing potion. "Here, I charmed it off that merchant, it's basically a Short Rest in a bottle, we couldn't afford it if we sold all of our gear and since it's both Undead and Cursed, you're gonna have to be the heavy hitter and the tank. Is that alright with you?" Adam asked, giving her a concerned look.

The fallen swallowed, pocketing the bottle with a nod. "Y-yeah, leave it to me. I can handle some giant bony bitch, I-" she paused, realizing she didn't have anything good for that, "A-anyways…you put a lotta thought into your build, huh? Not what I expected."

"Ugh, not this again…" Angel Dust dropped his head into his hands.

"Yeah, I guess I do put out 'Fighter' or 'Knight' vibes," Adam bobbed his head, taking out his lute and giving it a little strum, "Always liked mixing shit up, though. Took me about fifty years to get this homebrew where I like, perfectly balanced so that every class has a role or two they fill, with multi-classing for even more creative potential, like my Bard-barian. Just wait until I get two more levels, then I can take a feat from both classes; the Bard one is called 'Liquid Courage,' so whenever I drink alcohol I get buff to my Charisma until the next Short Rest and the Barbarian one is 'Stumblin' Drunk' which does the same to my Constitution, and they stack." He looked up at Vaggie with a grin, waggling his eyebrows, "I call it my 'Barfight Build.'"

"That's not bad," the fallen said gruffly, letting her hair curtain her face. A quiet chime rang out and they all sighed as their wounds were cured. "Alright, Short Rest over, let's get to it."

They split up and quickly looted the camp, raking in a few handfuls of gold, potions and general valuables, whatever weapons and armor the explorers and raiders had been mass produced and unenchanted. The exceptions were a dagger the leader had that inflicted necromantic damage on hit, which Nifty received, and an enchanted chest that had the Moon Seal of Selune instead of a lock.

"Vaggie, I need you over here!" Adam called, the fallen paladin jogging over with a frown, "I'm betting this is a Religion roll, and you are a Selunite. Wanna take a crack at it?"

"Yeah, easy," she scoffed, tapping the chest with a finger, "Pfft, it's just a five."

"Want a Tune of Guidance?" The First Man offered, holding his lute.

"Nah, my Devout of Selune feat and Religion bonuses mean I could roll a two and pass this easy," she waved him off, making the roll. Her expression froze as a taunting 'wah, wah waaaaaah' came from the chest. "…I rolled a one. How the fuck-"

"Ooooh~!" Angel Dust teased, "I don't really know what that means but I'm gonna say it again ooooh, you suck!"

"Fuck off!" Vaggie snapped, "Gotta use an Inspiration Point for a fucking five goddammit-"

The dice rolled again and there was the ringing of a bell, indicating a Nat Twenty, which did little to make the fallen any happier. The loot inside, though…

"Gauntlets of Selune, nice," Adam nodded approvingly as she pulled the shiny silver plate gloves on, a Moon crest on the back, "That's a free Moonbeam evocation, no concentration required. That'll be damn useful, and hey, you got an Inspiration Point for a Religious Ritual and hit level six, so it's a net gain. We're gonna kick so much ass!"

Vaggie glanced at the First Man over her shoulder, lips twisted in a grimace. "Yeah…" she muttered, before clearing her throat, "Hey, Angel Dust, take Nifty and scout ahead. You'll disarm the traps better together."

The spider sinner shot a scowl at her. "Don't remember making you the fuckin' party leader," he grumbled, then rolled his eyes dramatically, "C'mon, Tiny Crazy, let's do some shit or whatever."

Nifty looked to Adam curiously, who nodded. She kissed his cheek with a hum and hopped off of his shoulder, scurrying after the former pornstar. "Hehehe, bad boy better watch out for spike traps!" She called.

"You're going first, short-ass!"

The First Man turned a curious expression on Vaggie, pocketing a few potions he'd looted. "What up, babe?"

"There something you want?" She asked bluntly, eye narrowed in suspicion, arms crossed.

Adam arched an eyebrow. "Fuck you mean?" He shot back, hands on his hips, "I wanna kill the damn boss…duh."

She waved a hand sharply, gray tresses swaying. "No, not that, dumbass! You…you've been…nice to me," she muttered, brushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "I don't think you've called me a bitch in like, a week. So…why? Is there something you want from me or what?"

The First Man donned a thoughtful look. "Well now that you bring it up, there is something that comes to mind…" he lowered voice and leaned in, and the fallen couldn't help but do the same as he whispered, "I want us to beat the fucking boss."

As he chuckled and stepped back, her hand shot out to snag his wrist. She'd surprised herself, but shook it off. "I'm serious, Adam." Vaggie insisted, frowning at him.

Adam looked down at her for a few silent seconds, his smile fading with a sigh. "…Alright, listen," he started, running a hand through his hair, "Immaculara. You didn't watch it."

She blinked. "…Yeah?"

"You didn't go digging around my memories when you had the chance, when everyone else did. You've got reason to go searching through my…mountain of dirty laundry," Adam admitted with a small, almost shy shrug, "And you didn't. You didn't invade my privacy, and I…I appreciate that, Vaggie. I really do. And, y'know, maybe that got me thinking you've got some other qualities to appreciate…"

Vaggie resisted the urge to stand up straight and thrust her chest out proudly, partially because she wasn't sure where the desire had come from, and secondly because he was looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully and wouldn't notice. "Or maybe you were just too biased to see them?" She snarked, a brief look of shock on her face. Why did I say that?! Oh right, it's Adam.

Adam gazed into her eye, a small, somewhat sad smirk on his lips. "…Maybe," he offered with a shrug, enjoying the expression of surprise she wore, "I can call you a big stupid bitch if it makes you feel better."

"N-no, that's…" Vaggie cleared her throat, "It's about time, dickhead," she grunted and walked off after Angel and Nifty. Internally, she was screaming in confusion.

The First Man grinned slightly and followed, the two traipsing down the corridor after Angel and Nifty.

There was silence for a few moments. "So, hey…" the fallen started awkwardly, "Now that I'm level six, I was gonna multi-class into Warlock, use Charisma as my Attack Modifier while keeping my Constitution, Heavy Armor and Great Weapon Fighting, plus the healing and Oath charges, but, uh…that would kinda make us two Charisma-based builds, and that might overlap badly, so…"

"And Eldritch Blast, right?" He added knowingly.

"No shit," she scoffed, "Repelling Blast kicks ass! But, uh…yeah. I'll stick with Paladin because of the boss fight coming up." Vaggie coughed into her hand. "No other reason."

"You don't have to," Adam pointed out, "Do what you want, babe. Yeah this is technically a trust exercise, but you're allowed to have fun. If that's what you wanna go with, go with it. Maybe there's some overlap, yeah, but great minds and all that shit. If you want, we can buildcraft some synergy before the next session?"

She swallowed thickly and bit her lip. "…Whatever. Let's just kill the fucking thing." Silence fell again, and once again she broke it. "…You keep calling me 'babe.'"

He shrugged grandly. "I've already said I think you're hot, Vags. You'd rather I call you sweetcheeks? Honeybuns?"

"NO!" Vaggie coughed into her hand, facing away from him to hide her cheeks, "Fuck no, don't call me that, I'll kick you in the nuts."

"…Babe alright, then?" He asked quietly.

She grunted under her breath. "Whatever, dipshit, like I care!" She sniffed and whipped her hair.

"Sure…babe."

Vaggie muttered something incomprehensible as they finally rejoined the others, the Ranger and the Rogue standing before a massive stone door carved with dragons. "Well that's a Boss Door if I've ever seen one," she muttered, pulling open her character sheet and leveling up, "Right. Ready?"

Nifty scrambled up on Adam's shoulder and Angel nodded, idly spinning one of his hand-crossbows on a finger. Adam grinned and cracked his knuckles, stepping forward with Vaggie to shove the door open. Despite the size and obvious age of the stone portal, it swung open smoothly and almost without sound, kicking up small, rolling clouds of dusty sand as it went.

The interior was vast, a smooth stone roof curving up overhead, sunlight shining down from the apex onto a throne, occupied by a skeleton dressed in dusty but still ornate armor, the remains of a once-bushy beard and long locks still clinging to their skull, a greatsword leaning against an armrest. And all around the throne were piles and chests of gold, jewels and other such shiny shit.

The only problem was, it was on the other side of a massive pit more than eighty feet wide, the floor broken away to reveal only the abyss.

"…So how the fuck do we get-"

An echoing roar cut off Angel Dust's question, the roof trembling and the ground shaking as a massive, bony paw reached up from the abyss and slammed down twenty feet in front of them, the head of a gigantic dragon erupting from the darkness to loom over them. Its eyes glowed a terrifying, eldritch emerald, fixed on the party as cursed mist spilled from between its fangs. "FOOLS!" It roared, somehow without lungs or moving its mouth, "YE SHOULD HAVE FLED! NOW YOUR BONES WILL FOREVER SERVE THE WILL OF CHARBUAM!"

"Oh hey, there's a Religion check here!" Adam chirped, nudging Vaggie with his elbow, "Tune of Guidance…where were they going, without ever knowing The Way?" There was a quiet chime. "Alright, you're up!"

The fallen bit her lip as the dice roll came up. "…Shit. It's an eighteen." Taking a breath, she rolled, the dice clacking and clicking before settling on…fourteen. Then her Religion bonus was added, kicking it up to eighteen, followed by Adam's Guidance bonus, making it twenty. "There we go, fuck yeah!" Brandishing her halberd, she thrust it defiantly up at the dragon's face. "Charbuam, you bony bitch! In the name of Selune, we will punish you!"

"FOOLISH PALADIN!" Charbuam rebuked, drawing back as its cursed breath glowed between its ribs, "YOUR GODS HAVE NO POWER HERE-"

A beam of soft blue light shone from the ceiling, drawing their attention, the dragon twisting his neck with a series of echoing cracks just as the beam grew in intensity, a bolt of power shooting out to slam into the dracolich.

The dragon roared in pain, slamming a bony paw on the ground and scattering the party. "SO BE IT! YOUR GODS WILL WATCH AS I DEVOUR YOUR SOULS!" There was a symbol of the moon under its health bar that said 'Weakened by Selune.' The dice rolled and the attack turns were decided.

Vaggie was first, followed by Angel Dust, the dragon, then Adam and finally Nifty. "Alright," the fallen muttered, hand glowing with magenta light as she thrust it at the dragon, "Bane!" The animated lizard glowed subtly as the spell took hold, then clapped her hands together in prayer, "Moonbeam!" Holy blue energy cascaded over her armored fingers, a beam of soft sapphire light shining down on the dracolich, making it roar. Then she took a couple of steps forward before her Action Points ran out and her turn ended.

Charbuam flinched as the damage from the Moonbeam hit it. "YE SHALL SUFFER!"

"Alright, finally!" Angel crowed, switching from his crossbows to a bow, "Time to blast this bitch to pieces!"

"Don't forget to use Hunter's Mark, Angel!" Adam called.

"Right, right, whatever," the spider sinner muttered, waving a hand, "Bomb arrows~! One, and two!" The arrows shrieked as they sailed through the air, impacting the dragon's skull and detonating in clouds of smoke and shrapnel. "Ha! Lookit that! Now that's a lotta damage!"

The Boss's health bar had dropped by nearly a quarter. "This is the end boss, it's definitely got a second phase!" Vaggie warned as Charbuam reared back, roaring as it unleashed a breath of cursed mist that washed over all of them.

"FALL TO MY WILL!" The party coughed as the dice rolled, and Angel Dust fell to a knee.

"That was a Wis and Con check, you failed the Con check!" The fallen pointed out, "You're gonna wanna back up, Angel! The dragon's cursed breath made you more vulnerable to physical strikes, if you get over here I can cure it!"

"Yeah, I'll get on that when I can, y'know, move 'n shit."

Adam cracked his neck and strummed his lute. "Alright, undead, no necrotic flesh plus arid environment means brittle bones, so weak to blunt damage, fire and holy," he muttered, strumming out a quick tune, "You've been…Thunderstruck!" Air pulsed with the power of his Empowering Song, followed by a wave of thunderous force that crashed against the dracolich's skull.

The bar lost another chunk.

"Alright Nifty, hold onto your good stuff and just hit it with your crossbow," the First Man advised the maid perched on his shoulder.

"Okay, Adam!" She chirped, taking aim with a hand crossbow that looked regular-sized in her tiny hands, "Bolt from the Heavens, Purge the Boner!" She fired once, a bolt sailing through the air to impact the dragon's head, then twice, the second shot missing completely. "Booo!"

Vaggie's turn came once again, though it wasn't a long one. "Dammit, I'm too far away!" She grumbled, using all of her Action Points to jog halfway up to the dragon. "I should've had a ranged weapon but noooo, Angel needed to dual-wield!"

"Alright, the fucker's half-dead already!" Angel whooped, ignoring the fallen's growling, drawing a pair of poison-tipped arrows and drawing back on his bow, "Take this!"

"Angel, wait-!"

Both arrows found their mark, leaving sickly green splashes of poison on Charbuam's ribcage…and the health bar refilled a bit.

Vaggie snarled, "Poison heals undead, dipshit! You just gave the boss a HoT!"

The spider blanched. "Shit! Uh…hold on, I can fix this…wait, hot…" Drawing an arrow with a burning tip, he launched it at the lich again, landing in between the two patches of poison and igniting both. The health that had been regained disappeared and even dropped further. "Booyah, fuck you! I…wait, there was something I was supposed to-"

"I…I WILL NOT FALL TO YOU!" The dracolich roared, eyes shining with furious light, "CHARBUAM WILL NOT FAIL AGAIN! YOUR-SOUL-IS-MINE!" Its jaw cracked open and despite being nothing but bone, it began to inhale with the force of a twister, sand shrieking as it was sucked into its maw…dragging Angel Dust along with it.

"Oooooh fuck whyisthisbastardtargetingmeeeee?!" The spider ranger squealed, scrabbling at the ground fruitlessly as he was pulled inexorably to his doom…

…but then the sucking ceased, leaving Angel rather dusty, if unharmed.

Before Charbuam curled a bony paw into a fist and slammed it down on top of him.

There was the loud, sickening crunch of a Special Critical Hit, and Angel went into a Downed State immediately. "Ah, fuck," Adam muttered, scratching his head, "I don't have any ranged healing spells prepared…uh, wait, idea!" He pulled a healing potion out of his pouch and flipped it up, holding it by the neck, "I can throw this at the ground near him, and that should bring him back to his feet long enough for him to reach you, Vaggie!"

"Good idea, it's a good thing I saved my Lay On Hands charges!" She nodded, scowling with determination.

Adam pulled back, aimed carefully, and let fly with the potion bottle.

It hit Angel on the ass with a quiet bonk and bounced off, dealing exactly one damage.

He died immediately.

The bottle shattered on the ground, drenching his body in healing juice as a final insult to injury.

"…This is BULLSHIT!" Angel raged, voice a distant, ghostly wail.

"Ah…" The First Man sucked his teeth sharply, "Okay, new plan! We burn this bastard down fast! Nifty, I choose you!" He hefted the tiny maid in his hand and hurled her at the dracolich, trading nods with Vaggie.

"…Wait a second," the fallen murmured in thought, "Wasn't there-" She traded alarmed looks with Adam as they realized- "The dagger!"

The dagger they'd looted from the leader of the tomb raiders, which was enchanted to deal necromantic damage…which healed undead. And Nifty was a Rogue who specialized in dealing damage with daggers.

The maid impacted the dragon's forehead, slamming her daggers into the bone. Critical Hit. She landed in front of the dragon, it being her turn, and attacked it again.

"Nifty, wait -!"

Critical Hit.

"Nifty wai-!"

Critical Hit.

"Nifty-!"

Critical Hit.

"…"

The boss' health bar, once more than halfway down, was now almost entirely full. "Shit," Vaggie muttered, gauntlets creaking as she gripped her halberd, "Now what? Maybe…I get close, use Blinding Smite, then we beat it down-"

"-Wait, Vags, I've got an idea!" Adam interjected.

"Your last two ideas fucking sucked, Adam!" She shot back, "Angel Dust is dead, Nifty's gonna be dead, and the boss is almost completely healed!"

"I know, dammit!" He retorted with a grimace, "This one will actually work, but I need you to trust me!" He held a hand out to her, eyes pleading. "…Do you trust me?"

Vaggie swallowed and bit her lip, eye darting between his hand and face. Slowly, cautiously, she nodded.

"…Oh for-spare me!" Angel muttered, "Fucking nerds…"

"Use your turn to get to me, then buff yourself for damage. I'll throw you at the boss, that should take a good chunk off of its health," Adam explained, "Then do what you were planning, hit it with the Blinding Smite, that should give us some room to work with…after that, we'll figure it out."

"Right," she nodded firmly, jogging over to him and holding her halberd aloft, "Inquisitor's Might!" Her weapon glowed with holy golden light, and she ended her turn. The Moonbeam, still centered on Charbuam, burned it for a little Holy damage.

"ANOTHER SOUL FOR MY COLLECTION!" The dragon declared victoriously, slamming a paw down on the ground and sending Nifty tumbling into the void with a scream.

"Nooooo! Nifty wanted to Cleanse! Purge and Purify!"

Adam winced. "Sorry, sister," he murmured, strumming out a crunchy beat on his lute, "I'm one with the warrior inside, my dominance can't be denied! Song of Strength, and…!" He bent down and lifted Vaggie, balancing her booted feet on both of his hands, "You got this, babe! Bring the fucker down!" He heaved and threw her into the air with a roar.

Vaggie shouted a warcry as she hurtled towards the snarling dracolich, glowing golden weapon held above her head, power coursing through her as she raced towards the climax…!

Time's up!

*POP*

They were in the observation room, and she was now hurtling off of the balcony.

Her intimidating warcry became a shrill scream of disbelief as the hotel grounds rushed up to meet her, the distant sound of Charlie calling her name just reaching her ears…

…If only I had my wings…

There was a subtle pop and suddenly, Adam was there, her small frame impacting his larger, his wings wrapping around them both. Vaggie flailed in surprise, the tip of her halberd nailing him in the eye just as he teleported them both back to the observation room. "Ow!" He set her down and reeled back, hand clutching his face.

"Wha-Vaggie!" Charlie reprimanded as Adam groaned and sat down hard, giving her girlfriend an incredulous look, "What was that for?!"

The fallen gripped her halberd, something unkind curdling in her chest at the sight of her girlfriend worrying over someone else…contrasting to the dismay she felt at the sight of that someone else grimacing in pain and holding his eye. Naturally, she reacted loudly. "It was an accident!" She denied, perhaps a tad too shrill than intended, "And he's a big boy, he can take it!"

Adam just moaned quietly.

"Hmm, the eyes seem to be a weakness, isn't that good to know?" Alastor noted cheerfully, dressed in blood-red and black robes, a tome on his belt and staff in hand.

"Eyes are always a weakness no matter how powerful," Pentious pointed out, dressed like a steampunk Ranger, a metal rod in his hand that he waved at the Radio Demon, "Want to see for yourself, good sir?"

As the two bickered, Husk carefully leaned away and made eye-contact with Angel Dust, nodding at the fallen and the First Man with a questioning quirk to his brow. The spider sinner subtly nodded and flashed a thumb's up and the bartender silently pumped a fist. Progress.

Adam squeezed his eyes shut, pressing a finger to his forehead and concentrating, collecting and acknowledging the pain before wrapping it up and setting it aside. He blinked at them, his eye slightly bloodshot and weepy, but otherwise undamaged for having about six inches of steel jammed into it. "…What's going on?" He asked faintly, "I couldn't hear anything over the lights flashing in my brain."

"-You could at least say you're sorry!" Charlie said heatedly, "You stabbed him in the eye with a spear!"

Vaggie opened her mouth to reply when Adam beat her to it. "It was an accident," he said simply, blinking rapidly and not seeing the fallen deflate, "I'm a big boy, I can take it. What I want to know is…did you motherfuckers beat the dragon before us?!"

Charlie sputtered at him, tentatively poking his cheek with a finger. "…You sure you're okay?" She asked softly, "All I really saw was a spear hitting you in the eye…"

"Yeah, I'm good," he was still blinking quite a bit, even as he focused on her in her Selunite mail, a shield on her back and a mace on her hip, "Seriously though, did you guys kill Charbuam before us?! Fuckin' how, your party comp sucks!"

"…There was a dragon?" Husk asked, raising a hand in the air, the bandolier of phials and bottles across his chest clinking.

The Princess coughed lightly into her hand, taking a step back from the First Man. "Ahem. First of all, the main goal of this trust exercise was to have fun-"

"-winning is fun-" Vaggie muttered, and Adam nodded.

"-so the party composition doesn't matter," Charlie finished primly, before blushing, "…Also, we never made it to the dragon, we got stuck in the fake treasure room."

"This stellar intellect," Pentious added, jacking a thumb at Alastor, "Kept trying to convince the cursed genie to work for him. He used all his Inspiration Points and died twice. He's lucky this Rod of Revivify is the first Enchanted Object I made."

"Hey, the two of us got along like a house on fire, it was only natural we should work together!" Alastor replied proudly, "Which is also why I threw the lamp in the Blacksmith's forge after the second time he killed me."

Vaggie dropped her arms, peering at Charlie's party in confusion. "Then, wait, if you never even got to the boss room, then how did we…" She recalled the pop-up that had appeared just as she was flying to strike the boss. "Noooo…" She glared at Adam.

"Well, we just ran out of time," Charlie shrugged and smiled, "You know what they say, time flies when you're having fun!" She blinked at her girlfriend staring Adam down as Angel Dust shook his head and tsked.

"You poor, poor fool…" the former prostitute echoed with a grin.

"We lost…because I spent five minutes bragging about my build," Adam realized with dread, "I monologued…" He slumped forward and faceplanted onto the carpet with a deep, pained groan. "Ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…"

The fallen smirked at his self-recrimination, though not for long, recalling that, at any point, she could've told him to shut up and hadn't, for reasons she wouldn't admit out loud. Gut clenching, she set her halberd aside, ignoring Angel Dust complaining to Charlie about all the 'nerd shit' they had to do. "…Hey," she said gruffly, nudging Adam with her toe, getting a depressed moan from the man, "We probably would've lost, you know? Angel was dead, Nifty was dead, boss had full health…it's not entirely your fault…"

"Except I forgot Nifty had that enchanted dagger on her," he mumbled into the carpet.

"Yeah, well…I forgot, too," she admitted grudgingly, "It's not that bad. There's always next session."

"Yeah but it was gonna be so cool, you'n me battling a dracolich and fightin' together and…ugh…" Adam grumbled, hands fisting in his hair, eyes pressed against the ground and missing the small, rather pleased smile that flashed across her lips at the thought, "Arrrgh, things were going so well then they weren't and now I feel like shiiiiiiiit…"

"Alright," Angel Dust announced, "It's time for lunch and the sharing circle, so hurry up and cut the crap, Adam, I'm starvin'."

There was a second of silence.

Then Adam bolted up like he'd been shocked, glaring at Angel. "DID YOU JUST CALL MY FEELINGS 'CRAP?!'" He shouted, genuinely offended.

The spider raised all four of his hands, grinning weakly. "Er, I mean…you just said you feel like shit, so…"

The First Man squinted at Angel for a long, angry second. "…Fine," he acquiesced through grit teeth, snapping his fingers and teleporting them all to the library then snapping them again, summoning a plate of pasties, turnovers and calzones to the center of the table. Grumbling, he stood up and shoved one randomly in his mouth before stalking away towards a couch.

"Uh, Adam?" Charlie called cautiously, "Are you gonna share today…?"

"No, I'm gonna sulk," he replied, flopping back-first onto the couch, muttering under his breath, "Fuckin' dragons…monologuing…lich…grrrgh…"

"…Okay…"

The Happy Few sat around the library table, dining on savory pastries as they drew and chatted about their characters. The sound of Adam's guitar covered his mutterings, and the atmosphere became somewhat peaceful.

"Master?" KeeKee asked perkily, bouncing over to the First Man, straightening her maid uniform, "Would it make you feel better if I put your head in my lap?"

Adam glanced up at her thoughtfully. "The fabled catgirl maid lap pillow…" he mumbled, tapping his chin, "Yes, I think that would make me feel better. Good idea, KeeKee."

"Thanks!" She chirped, and the sinners watched as the maid delicately stepped up onto the couch, hiked her lacy black skirt up and, without preamble, sat on his face.

"…KeeKee," Charlie sighed, face palming, "That's not how a lap pillow works."

"I said 'in' my lap, not on it," the former cat informed her primly, "And I can feel it working already, so there."

"Adam-"

"-I'm not," he replied, voice understandably muffled. "…Did you shave, KeeKee?"

"Thank you for noticing, Master!" She purred, wiggling her hips, "You're supposed to lick it."

Charlie growled under her breath, trying to remember their promise to be more professional…then she noticed Vaggie was glaring at KeeKee, and not at Adam. Ooh, potential.

"Maybe with that example…" KeeKee mumbled, tapping her chin in thought. Then she pulled the front of her skirt up to yell at Adam. "Lick it, slut!"

"KeeKee!" Charlie squealed in pure embarrassment.

The catgirl blinked 'innocently' at her. "What? It seems to work for you, Mistress."

The Princess gurgled something, sure that her head was about to burst into flames. Next to her, Vaggie shrank into her chair, face burning red.

There was an awkward silence, broken only by Alastor's amused chuckles and KeeKee's humming.

Then, suddenly:

"Ahn~!" The maid moaned, spine arching.

"Adam!"

"It's my halo someone's calling me!" Adam quickly said, reaching up to move KeeKee from his face to his lap, his face suspiciously damp. "Hello? Oh, Pansy! Hey sweetheart, what's up? I was about to get an exem- what? Yeah, I made the cake last night, your favorite…why do you-? Alright, come on through." He snapped his fingers and a portal opened up.

An Angel rushed through, purple hair patterned with flowers swaying as she slammed into Adam with a joyous cry. "Adam!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely, moaning as he hugged her back, lips smacking together loudly. She pulled back with a pop, licking her plump pink lips. "…Were you going down on someone?"

He shrugged, running a hand through her hair as she nuzzled him, "Not really, but also kinda," he shivered lightly as she started necking him, "Babe, you know I'm happy to feel you-" he squeezed her butt and she giggled lovingly, "-but you said you needed something?"

Pansy bit his neck and sucked, leaving a mark that was slowly filling with gold. "Oh right!" She perked up, hopping off of Adam and turning to The Happy Few, sitting around the table and watching them with various expressions. She skipped up to Charlie and offered a hand. "Hello, Ministar, I'm Pansy and I need to ask you a favor!"

Charlie blinked at the smiling angel, tentatively taking her hand. "It's…nice to meet you?" She offered, "I'm, uh, not sure what you've heard about me-"

"You're cute, sweet, optimistic but fierce at times, a little naive but willing to learn, and way too good for Hell," Pansy replied, clasping Charlie's hand with both of hers, eyes sparkling, "And you're hot!"

The Princess of Hell blushed. "O-oh, uh, thanks…" Vaggie growled subtly. "So, that f-favor?"

"Right!" Pansy stood up straight, putting Charlie eye-level with the angel's breasts, her shirt reading 'Adam's Head Bitch,' "So, it's my birthday today-"

"It is?!" Charlie gasped, grabbing Pansy's hands, "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you!" The angel giggled as the Princess hugged her, "Anyways, we usually don't celebrate birthdays-"

Charlie gasped again, spinning on Adam with a disappointed look. "Adam!"

"Let her fuckin' finish a sentence, would ya?" The First Man replied with a smirk, tilting his head to get a better look at Pansy's ass in her yoga pants.

"-we don't usually celebrate birthdays because after about three hundred, it's just another day," Pansy shrugged, "Adam makes it a special day…I still remember what we did last time…" She fluttered her eyelashes at Adam, cheeks pink.

"Love you, Pansy," Adam replied with a wink and an air kiss. Charlie's face fell minutely. …I want that…

The angel giggled. "Love you~!" She sang sweetly back, "Anyways, we only really have big parties on big years, and this year is my Three-Thousand-Year Birthday!"

Eyes bulged around the table, Husk pounding his chest as a mouthful of lemonade, iced tea and rum went down the wrong tube. "Three- three thousand?!" Pentious gaped, "That's…"

"Are you gonna say 'old?'" Pansy asked, eyes closed and a gentle smile on her lips, an aura of danger burning around her.

"N-no!" The inventor denied, waving his hands frantically, "You l-look very good for your age!"

"For my age…" The angel whispered, face shadowed by her hair. Then she spun on her heel and leapt at her lover. "Adam!" She wailed theatrically, "They…they called me old! My heart…oh, it hurts so terribly!"

"No, Pansy, don't listen to them!" Adam called dramatically as she swooned in his arms, "My Flower, you're still in the Springtime of your Youth! Your heart, tell me how I can heal it!"

Pansy immediately ceased swooning. "Kiss it better," she ordered, thrusting her chest at him.

"Can do!" He planted his face in her cleavage with zero hesitation.

"Mwehehehe~" Pansy giggled victoriously, "Anyway, it's a big milestone for me, so we're gonna have a big party! But instead of having Adam sign another exemption form for the day, I figured…could we hold the party here at the hotel, please?" She asked Charlie, eyes wide and watery.

Charlie wrenched her eyes away from the angel's chest, jolting in surprise. "You mean…all of the Eradicators here? With…" She looked around the table.

Vaggie immediately shook her head, eye wide.

Alastor simply chuckled.

Nifty…was drawing something and not paying attention to the conversation.

Angel Dust, Husk and Pentious all gave tentative nods.

Charlie took a bracing breath and looked back at Pansy, expression firm. "You can hold the party at the hotel-" she shook off Vaggie's hand as her girlfriend tugged at her arm, gazing into the angel's eyes, "-only as long as everyone here is invited as well."

Pansy arched an eyebrow at her, a smile growing on her lips. "You see, Ministar," she said softly, "That's what I was going to insist, too! …Ohmygosh, we're like twins!" The angel pulled Charlie into a hug, Adam with his head trapped between their chests as she bounced happily.

Vaggie paled, hands clenching at her skirt.

"Everyone," Pansy nodded, looking the fallen in the eye with a thin, dangerous smirk.

Charlie stepped back, hair slightly mussed. "Okay, um, alright…uh oh, I didn't think this through, I don't know what kind of venue or party it's supposed to be!" She wrung her hands, casting a desperate look about for ideas.

"Well, for big parties," Pansy commented, tapping her chin, "We usually go to one of Heaven's beaches, because my favorite food is Adam's hamburger recipe, freshly grilled…oh, it's so good," she gave an almost sexual moan at the thought, before shaking her head, "But no way are we gonna have a party on a Hell beach. If you even have beaches down here."

Charlie bit her lip in though, before her eyes widened and a grin came to her face. "Adam!" She said excitedly, making the First Man extract his face from the angel's cleavage and look at her, "Pool room!"

"Pool room?" He echoed confusedly, squinting, before nodding happily, "Pool room!"

"Can you use more than two fuckin' words for Christ's sake?" Angel Dust called in frustration as Adam whispered in the angel's ear.

Adam smirked at Charlie, who grinned back at a giggling Pansy. They threw their hands up in a cheer. "BEACH EPISODE!"

…

…

…

…

…

…

A/N: (message from the future: this story is up to chapter 24 on the AO3 version and 25 on my pa-treon. Also, why the fuck does FF keep killing my goddamn italics and shit? what the hell man)

BEACH EPISODE! Next chapter.

Here we are, the first of Nifty's three chapters. It wasn't my intent to add another chapter to the usual two, but it ended up being pretty topical when it comes to Nifty.

Funnily enough, the reason this chapter's one of three is because I finally figured out Vaggie's character. Earlier, even up to this chapter, I've been going 'oh god how'm I gonna make her work?' and then now I'm like 'oh god I can't wait to get to her chapters 'cause I know how she works now!' And how does she work? Well, Vaggie's passionate, some would say a bit too much, she's stubborn, some would say a bit too much, she's dramatic, some would say a bit too much, and then it hit me…

Vaggie's a huge nerd. The passion, the stubbornness, the drama…she finds it hard to actually express herself, bottling all her actual feelings inside until they explode out…but when she's in character suddenly, she can say it. She can actually express herself in a dramatic, passionate way…

And no one's more stubborn than nerds. That's just a fact.

After I had that realization, what was supposed to be a short intro became about half the chapter. Originally, the beach episode was also going to take place in this chapter, but it would've been too long.

So yeah. That being said, ya did also get some insight into Nifty's situation, which is messy, to say the least. I'm sure the next chapter of beach fun and character interaction isn't a setup for a gut-punch of a backstory or anything.

Also, it gives me great pleasure to show you this art Sir Deathclaw made for chapter 1 of Earn It:

It's bitchin'.

Thanks bro, I love it.

I'm also gonna post it to chapter 1.

Big thanks as always to NSG for being the man, why not give him a look and tell him I sent you?

Another big thanks to Sir Deathclaw for obvious reasons. That's right, scroll up and take it in again. I did.

And another big thanks to all the peeps and supporters in the discord, my own and the FMC.

Last but least, a big thanks to you, for reading. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to spend some of it on my little story. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, I'd appreciate a comment, a review, or a like or favorite or whatever. But whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Stay Awesome!

~Soleneus

P.S.: Wooo summer's almost over. I'm tired of the heat dudes. Also, I'm already done with chapters 19 and 20 and I'm already working on chapter 21. I'm excited for Alastor's chapters, mostly because after he's done I'm gonna get to Vaggie's chapters and I'm super looking forward to that.

…That's all I got.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus

Party A: Adam (Bard-barian), Angel (Ranger), Nifty (Rogue), Vaggie (Paladin)

Party C: Charlie (Cleric), Husk (Alchemist), Pentious (Arcanist), Alastor (Warlock)