The Last Experience Point

Chapter 123: Current Events

As Zach waded through a dark hallway and bumped into one of the walls of the large estate, which still smelled of newness and fresh paint, he wasn’t sure how he knew where he was going. Actually, he couldn’t even remember how he’d gotten here. His mind was fuzzy, and he was groggy. He knew he’d been to the bathroom before—probably several times—but it was all a blur in his head. Really, everything that’d taken place since the moment after walking through the doors of Kalana’s island-paradise home yesterday seemed like one big dream.

After fumbling around for the light switch, he relieved himself in one of the largest bathrooms he’d ever been in, and then upon flushing, he stared at the massive jacuzzi and shower across from him. He’d washed up in here, hadn’t he? Right. He had. Now he remembered. Yesterday, upon coming here with Rian and the others, Kalana had refused to let him pass out in the bed until after he’d showered, so when his Unleashed Phase duration ran out, he’d instead plopped down onto a couch in the living room. Two or three hours later, she’d woken him up, seemingly becoming worried that he hadn’t already done so on his own; taking his hand, she’d led him to the shower—getting inside it with him.

Zach recalled being so exhausted that he hadn’t even really been able to “appreciate” that last bit. Operating more like a robot than a sentient being, his body had moved on autopilot until she’d shown him to the master bedroom, which she’d adorned with every manner of luxury furniture and a king-sized bed. It was here that he’d finally gotten under the covers and blanked out the moment he did so, waking up only momentarily several hours later—when night had fallen—and Kalana had joined him in bed. He remembered feeling her close to him as he drifted back off to sleep.

Now, in the very early hours of the morning, with the sky still blanketed by darkness, he made his way back to the bedroom as the intense sounds of rain and thunder blared outside. He didn’t remember changing into the loungewear he was wearing, nor did he know where his phone or weapon was, but from a digital clock on a shelf, he could see that he’d been asleep for almost fifteen straight hours. Entering the bedroom, a blueish light briefly illuminated the dark as lightning struck somewhere nearby.

Night is just as bad as she said it is, Zach thought.

Yesterday, Kalana had told him that from sundown to sunup, the island was typically in a perpetual state of stormy weather with the same intensity of the brief ones that came throughout the day; and from what Zach could tell, it was constant and unrelenting. Fortunately, given the early days and late nights at this time of the year, the nasty weather would likely stop in just shy of two hours when the earliest signs of light hit the sky. For now, it would remain miserable outside.

Zach yawned as he entered further into the well-furnished bedroom, though he was already feeling a great deal more awake. Actually, he doubted he could go back to sleep even if he tried. Even still, he climbed into bed next to Kalana and smiled at her. Then he sent his gaze to a bedside table across from him where he spotted a controller that he assumed operated the luxuriously sized viewing screen mounted on the wall across from them above a dresser. Despite wanting to disconnect from the rest of Galterra, Zach nevertheless decided to watch a bit of the news, as his curiosity and boredom won out over his societal fatigue. Given the difference in time zones, it should have been far enough into the morning in North Bastia for the news to have begun the day in full swing.

And so, ensuring that the volume was low, he activated the screen, and with a thick pillow giving him support, he lay on his back and began to watch—and Gods was there a lot to take in. There was so much going on in the world. Never once had he seen so many people covering so many different active stories all at once. And surprisingly—and thankfully—his name was mentioned minimally. It appeared that there were matters of such importance taking place that yesterday’s “quest scare” had quickly fallen from public consciousness. Even the news, celebrations, and all other matters related to the raid of Ziragoth had faded to just a blip here or there, and that was something that Zach expected would’ve remained the primary story for a good solid month or so. But no: there was too much going on aside from that, and much of it revolved around Shadowfall Coast and the outrage of the public, which apparently hadn’t even learned until early last night about the events that’d taken place a day before.

Now, however, anyone tuning it would immediately learn that Peter Brayspark was dead, the Guild of Gentlemen had “slain numerous cultural icons and business leaders,” and that a full-scale, conventional war had broken out in the city. On the screen were the faces of famous actors, actresses, and industry leaders that had been killed during the dinner two nights ago, including “Chall Brillstar,” the lead actor in the world-famous “Gun Racer” series. The man had been sitting next to him and Kal while they’d eaten and drank, and Zach recalled him falling to the floor after a bullet hit him in his spine while he’d attempted to flee.

I remember, he thought, suddenly feeling shivery and unwell. His body tensed—but only for a moment.

“It’s okay,” Kalana whispered, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him.

He looked at her, somewhat surprised. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

She smiled. “It’s okay.”

“How long have you been watching with me? I had no idea you were up.”

“Only like ten minutes.”

“I can turn it off if you want.”

She stretched her arms and yawned. “It’s okay. I wanna see what’s going on, too. You can make it a bit louder if you want.”

He nodded then slightly increased the volume. He didn’t want to make it too loud, however, because Rian, Lienne, Trelvor, and Seiley were likely still all asleep elsewhere in the home, and so were Fluffles, Ruby, and Kalana’s ordinary housecat, Nila. Zach wasn’t sure where Nila slept, but he recalled seeing Ruby and Fluffles bunking together on a large sofa in the living room. Those two were getting along dramatically better than Zach would have expected. It was probably because Fluffles had no preconceived prejudices against “raptors” like he did dogs, and also because Ruby was so exceedingly nice and polite that even Fluffles couldn’t find anything to hate about her the way he did with Chumpkenwiffles.

Assuming he even really hates that dog, Zach thought.

Despite being his “worst enemy,” Fluffles constantly talked about Chumpkenwiffles. Even during the brief trip home yesterday, he kept talking to Ruby about the dog, describing her favorite chewing toy, the difference between their paws, and other irrelevant details that only seemed to matter to animals. Zach chuckled at the idea that Fluffles secretly liked the dog, and so did Kal when he explained to her why he’d suddenly started laughing.

“My mom’s dog is so cute,” Kalana said. “She’s a good girl if you get to know her.”

“She is cute,” Zach said. “But she’s scary when she’s chasing you down a tunnel and shooting lasers at you.”

Zach returned his attention to the news broadcast as the reporter read the results of a poll that had been taken. Apparently, the number of people who now supported conventional military action against the Guild of Gentlemen had skyrocketed to over 86% among the regions not controlled by them. That number, quite obviously, went down a lot when including the territories of Tomb of Fire and Shadowfall Coast, decreasing all the way to 63%, as most of those people were loyal to the Guild of Gentlemen.

Further increasing outrage was the fact that the guild had stolen all of the dragon’s loot, of which only one member of their entire guild had taken part in slaying—the very same member whose life ended with a blade running through his turned back. Increasing the volume a bit, Zach decided to more carefully listen in.

“We go now live to our war correspondent in Shadowfall Coast, where the war against the Guild of Gentlemen has begun picking up in intensity.”

Zach sat up straighter, and any last trace of tiredness faded away as the image of Shadowfall Coast popped up onto the screen. Kalana gasped, and Zach gripped the blanket. He was in disbelief at what he saw, as he barely recognized it. A news reporter was crouched down behind an overturned school-bus as allied forces—thousands of them—could be seen hurrying down the street with rifles in hand. There were constant loud explosions and gunshots to be heard in the background, and each time one rang out nearby, the reporter, who was wearing a military-style helmet, would duck his head down before continuing to speak.

“As you can see, even here in 5th avenue, this is still very much an active battlefield. I’m told that, only moments ago, the allied North Bastian forces have managed to recapture 6th.”

Though it was early in the morning over there, the sun was out in full, and it illuminated the full scale of destruction. Though the buildings in Shadowfall Coast were not tall by most city’s standards, they were still compact and densely populated, and now, Zach could see that almost every single one of them along 5th avenue had been completely destroyed. Though most were technically still “standing,” a great deal had their entire front-facing sides ripped off, whereas others were burned out husks, and a few had collapsed completely, becoming nothing but rubble.

“They’re going too fucking far,” Zach said, finding the sight of it distasteful. “There had to be a better way than this.”

“I agree,” Kalana said, shifting closer to him on the bed. “I don’t know why they have to do all this.”

Zach filled with disgust. “This is why I don’t want anything to do with the world anymore. Just look at this. I mean, I hate the Guild of Gentlemen too, but Shadowfall Coast was beautiful, and Vim, you know, he can be a real dick, but he’s not that bad of a guy, so why would he go this far?”

“I dunno,” Kalana whispered. “My mom’s gotten dragged into it too now. The Guild of Gentlemen declared war on us yesterday.”

Zach laughed, though more from the absurdity of it than because he found it funny. “Are they out of their minds? They better hope the Elves don’t take that seriously, because your mom and ten of her best could probably singlehandedly dismantle the entire guild. And don’t even get me started on how much shit they’re in if she decides to actually attack with the full…the full…wait a second.” Zach leaned in closer and pointed. “Is that Grundor?” he asked, both shocked and confused as, behind the reporter, the NPC zombie could be seen in full officer attire walking side by side with a high-ranking member of the Royal Roses.

“And over here, behind me, you can see that Sir Grundor of the Royal Roses has just arrived, leading a full platoon of troops into battle.”

“This isn’t real,” Zach said, shaking his head. “What the hell is going on? And why don’t you seem surprised, Kal?”

Kalana frowned. “It’s ‘cause I knew this was gonna happen. I talked to Kolona about it yesterday, actually. Grundor’s not doing this for show. He’s really a member of the Royal Roses now.”

Zach snorted. “No fucking way.”

“It’s true.”

“And Oli just allowed it?”

Kalana gave him a serious look, pursing her lips before speaking. “Grundor’s not his slave, Zach. He doesn’t treat him that way. Actually, Kolona told me that, in all the years Grundor and Olivir have been together, he never once used a pet command on him—well, other than during a fight if he needed to pull Grundor out of the way of an attack he didn’t see coming. And I kinda understand that, ‘cause umm, I’ve had Ruby for only a day, and I would never force my will on her either.”

Zach thought over her words. “Wait, are you saying you can actually command Ruby like I can command my Kralzek’s Beast?”

Kalana nodded. “I think so. But it feels wrong to do it. It’s kinda like yanking hard on a leash.”

Zach took a deep breath and tried to make sense of things. “I just don’t understand any of this. Grundor was only pretending to be a member of the Royal Roses just like I was, and in his case, it was because he wanted, like, a movie deal or something.”

“That’s how it started,” Kalana replied, placing a hand on his lap. “But I know from Kolona that, umm, Grundor spent all his life on Archian Prime reading about Galterra, and that he always talked about making a difference in the world. Maybe he thinks this is how he can do that.”

“I guess that makes a bit more sense,” Zach admitted. “After what we all went through at the dinner, I wouldn’t be surprised if Grundor views the Guild of Gentlemen as a true force of evil that can’t be allowed to remain in power. Especially after what they did to you, Kolona, and the Elves.”

“Exactly,” Kalana said. “So I bet that’s why he’s become a real, true member.”

Zach wiped the crust out of his eyes as though making his vision even slightly less blurry would change the reality he saw on the screen before him. For all the horribleness of the situation, Grundor, the goofy-looking zombie, stood proud, valiant, and moved with a sense of purpose that removed any doubt from Zach’s mind that this was the path he wanted to take; still, he couldn’t bring himself to agree with it.

Is this really what he wants?

Before long, the camera cut away, and now an intimately familiar sight filled the screen. A tall reporter stood on the sidewalk of a busy street in downtown Whispery Woods, where three Elvish warriors in green cloaks were dragging a bunch of screaming men out of an apartment building while level-1 humans in peacekeeper uniforms exited the very same building with handguns wrapped in evidence bags. On the bottom of the screen were the words:

CRIME CRACKDOWN BEGINS: QUEEN VAYRA TARGETS CRIMINAL GANGS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS.

“Get the”—bleep—“off me, you”—bleep—“Elf son of a”—bleep—“or you’re all dead!” cried one of the arrested men. “Gods curse you, Elvish filth!”

At this, Zach couldn’t help but grin. “Wow, it looks like someone’s finally doing something about those Gods-be-damned gangs.”

“Not someone,” Kalana said, playfully bumping shoulders with him. “We are.”

“Well, I’m glad. Hey, did I ever tell you how, before my mom died, she had to close down her bakery because she couldn’t afford the protection money that they were extorting her for?”

“Mhm. I think you mentioned that once. Didn’t you say they wanted thousands of gold from her each month?”

“Yeah. Bastards extorted her until she couldn’t stay in business. If only I was…if only I could go back in time and be then the way I am now, I’d tear every one of those people apart.” The anger that rose within him came on suddenly and unexpectedly. “Thank the Gods. Your mom’s finally killing the right people.”

“That’s not true,” Kalana said, frowning. “I hope you’re joking.”

“Joking? About what?”

She nudged his elbow. “You don’t seriously think we’re executing them, do you?” she asked, her tone coming across as displeased.

“You’re not?”

“Of course not.”

“Oh. Okay, so I’m guessing you guys are throwing them in the dungeons instead, right? Hey, that’s still just as good.”

“No, Zach!”

Zach scratched his head, unsure of why she had taken such offense. “You’re confusing me.”

“We’re putting them on trial,” Kalana said.

Zach tilted his head, partially in disbelief. “Why the hell would you do something like that?”

“It’s ‘cause that’s how we do things. We’re using the same code that Elvish rulers have used all throughout history—at least back when there were such a thing as Elvish rulers.”

Zach vaguely recalled learning about this in history. “Tell me you’re not seriously bringing back that medieval crap.”

“It’s not medieval. If anything, the way you humans do things is what’s medieval. You arrest people and then they go straight to the dungeon.”

“Well, yeah,” Zach said. “Obviously. The peacekeepers know who the bad guys are. If you get arrested, it’s because you did something wrong.”

“That’s not true, though.”

“Yeah, it is. No one gets arrested because they did nothing wrong.”

“Nah-uh! You don’t even know any better. People do get arrested by mistake all the time.”

Long ago, before the guilds of humanity rose to prominence, and before the Elves vanished in what, until recently, most had believed was extinction, there used to be a convoluted system involving trials, whereby everyone arrested had to go through some kind of lengthy, drawn-out process, and even people who were obviously guilty got to sit in court and lie about what they did for hours at a time—or something to that effect. Obviously, it was way more complex than that, but he wasn’t exactly an expert in history.

At any rate, nowadays, the system was much simpler. If someone was arrested and charged with a crime, they went before a judge; this judge would then examine the evidence and determine if the person was guilty, and if so, sentence them to either a fine, a stay in the dungeons, or execution depending on the severity of the crime. Naturally, arrests in Whispery Woods were much rarer than in other, better policed regions, but even in Whispery Woods, when the peacekeepers actually managed to catch a bad guy, they made sure he was gone for good.

“If those men are found guilty at trial,” Kalana said, “they’ll go to the dungeons. But not before.”

Zach shrugged. “Fine, whatever. I mean, it sounds like a waste of time, but even still, it’s better than ignoring them. I never thought I’d live to see the day where someone actually went after the gangs.”

Kalana kissed him. “When I’m governor, I’m gonna make sure they’re all arrested.”

Zach thought to bring up the fact that her mom was no stranger to ordering the execution of people without any kind of “trial” or even real wrongdoing, but he didn’t feel like starting a fight with her over it. Clearly, she was taking a different approach to being a queen now that she had more than just a few-thousand lives to be responsible for. It was as if the weight of all those lives was pulling her towards an ideal that was greater than herself.

At first, Zach had thought this was all some kind of act, such as how she was focusing all her efforts on rebuilding the lives of people in Den of Ziragoth, or the way she seemed intent on repairing the city’s infrastructure. Yet it was becoming more and more difficult to deny that she was acting in good faith.

As if seeing the confusion on his face, Kalana said, “My mom’s the first Elf in more than a thousand years to return to real power. She told me so in Angelica’s. None of my people have had this kind of importance on the world stage in over a thousand years. She doesn’t wanna mess this up. What she does isn’t just gonna affect her legacy or mine, but it’s gonna affect the way people view Elves for a really long time to come. I dunno how she did things on Archian Prime, but this is a fresh start for her, and I know she wants to do what’s right.”

That makes a lot of sense, actually, Zach thought. She has a chance to do things differently now.

“You can’t repeat this,” Kalana continued, “but my mom wants to eventually give Archian Prime back to the white-cloaks.”

“Give it back?” Zach asked, not fully grasping what Kalana meant by that.

“Mhm. She rules there by divine right, but she caused a whole lot of trouble since showing up, and once she’s firmly resettled back in Whispery Woods with the green-cloaks, she’s gonna let them go back to being a self-governed territory of Elvadin. I think they all wanna return to their own ways and values. They’re very unhappy since she showed up, but their honor doesn’t allow them to say so.”

This, Zach found to be incredible. “Will the Elves still keep in contact with each other?”

“Oh, yep, definitely. We’re not gonna drift away like how we’ve been for so long. It’s just that a lot of the white-cloaks are really sad ‘cause my mom kinda blew up their whole understanding of society, and I think that she wants to give it back now that she has all this here on Galterra to care for. But that won’t be for a few years at least. She’s still gonna rule for now.”

“But wait. Didn’t your mom only go to Archian Prime in the first place to build a life for you and your dad?”

“Yep. But things are different now, Zach, and a lot of that’s ‘cause of you.”

Zach shivered at what Kalana was saying; it caused a chill to travel down his back. She was implying—correctly—that his actions, specifically, those that led her mother here to Galterra in the first place, were an integral part of the current outcome. This meant that Zach, unwittingly, had done something that caused a profound impact on the future of the entire world: that entire regions and the lives of millions were now permanently changed because of him.

It’s too much. I can’t think about this.

Not wanting to dwell on the idea, Zach let the thought drop and continued to watch the coverage of Whispery Woods. It was here he learned that, despite having only just taken control of the region, Queen Vayra had become immensely popular worldwide. Even though it was still her “guild’s” first week in charge, already, she was the most approved and well-liked leader in North Bastia. The media played brief snippets of an hour-long speech she’d given the day prior, in which she vowed in the name of her ancestors to care for each and every victim in Den of Ziragoth, claiming not one of them would be forgotten and left to fend for themselves.

“The cruelty towards those of you who have been left to your fate is one I seek to address,” she said, reading from a teleprompter at a press conference taken just outside the destroyed town. “No one who has suffered has done so through any fault of their own. You will be made whole, and your lives will be repaired.”

The camera cut away and once more returned to the reporter in downtown Whispery Woods. “Reactions to the queen have been mostly positive, Domanik, and people we’ve been interviewing on the street such as Zelira here have told us much the same.” Turning to face a short, elderly woman who was standing beside him outside of her shop that happened to be located at the ground level of a building adjacent to the one where the Elves were cracking down on gang activity, he said, “Can you tell us a little bit about how you’re feeling towards the guild of Elvadin?”

“I just want to thank Her Majesty,” the woman said, bowing her head graciously. “We’ve been terrorized by them for so long it’s become part of ordinary life. The kidnappings. The murders. I never thought someone would do something about it.” She smiled. “Everyone in my family is saying that Whispery Woods is going to make a comeback now. It’s going to be like how I was when I was a little girl. Things were very different back then, you know? We weren’t considered a poor city. People actually wanted to come here!”

Together with Kal, the two watched the news until the very first rays of sunshine broke through the storm clouds, which departed shortly thereafter. “We should get dressed,” Kalana said. “And you should get ready for your first session.”

“My first session?”

She twisted her lips at him. “You know, Zach.”

He moaned. “Ah, fuck. I keep forgetting about that. Therapy.”

Kalana snickered then kissed him on the forehead. “I’m having one today too, so don’t even start.”

“Can we at least eat breakfast first? I’m starving.”

“Mhm! She’s bringing it.”

“Who is?”

“Your therapist.”

“Huh?”

Rather than reply, Kalana got out of bed and started getting dressed, and Zach lay back down, suddenly becoming tired again. This was going to be annoying.