I skipped up to her, ignoring everyone else. She'd changed in all the ways that didn't matter. Crawler Lucille Stevenson 2, Level 21 Hedge Witch Mongrel. Her hair had thickened into green vines, leaves sprouting out of it in places. Her skin was several shades of rich brown, a pattern like wood-grain to it. Her eyes were a rich, faintly-glowing green, with no whites or pupils at all. She was slimmer but about the same height. Actually, no, she was the same height relative to me, so we were both equally shorter. I saw a flicker of her infectious smile as she saw me, vanishing quickly but definitely there.

  She wasn't dressed quite as she'd been when I left. Her boots now had bright laces, one green and one red. She was wearing a plaid mini-skirt like an anime schoolgirl, and her former dress had been torn or burned away below her midriff. Most importantly, she still had my jacket on. The yellow had been changed to burnished gold, but the embroidery still read "Madison."

  A massive reptile rested an arm on Lacie's shoulder. Crawler Luxury, Level 29 Bloodkin Champion Crocodilian. There were three skulls beside his name. "So this is the Maddy you're always talking about, Babe."

  My heart was trying to shatter my ribcage. I shook, struggling to focus. There was this massive thing, with its hand on her shoulder, and she wasn't moving away, and she was alive and that was the most perfect thing possible.

  Realizing my smile had vanished, I forced it back onto my face. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. I was looking, asking everyone, but nobody knew your name, then I saw you in that video, the Hekla one, and I, well, I came as fast as I could."

  Lacie leaned my way, the crocodilian's heavy fingers unmoving, pressing into her shoulder. She rested a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you, Maddy. Thank you so much for saving my life."

  "I... did I?"

  She gave her adorable snort-laugh. "The first like five minutes down here, when those Rat-Kin attacked us."

  I blinked. "Wow, it feels like that was five years ago. And also yesterday."

  Luxury—the name seemed really weird, but also kinda awesome; why not name your kid Luxury? How was Madison Pomegranate better than that?—leaned my way, his maw big enough to chomp me in half. "Lucy talks about you a lot, sometimes asks if people have seen you. A few people had seen you at a distance, always out fighting something. Made it to 22, I see."

  "Oh." I blinked. "I always forget to check. Honestly, I just think about—"

  "Ghouls incoming!" someone bellowed.

  "Back to work," Luxury said, turning.

  Lacie stumbled a step along with the croc.

  I slid in front, holding up a hand. "Please, let me join your party. The next floor is coming soon, and—"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "We'll talk after the ghouls," Luxury growled. As a crocodilian, he had a really effective growl.

  "It only takes a second, right? Please."

  Luxury shoved me out of the way, released Lacie, and charged towards the line. Well, the sooner the ghouls were done, the sooner this was over. I slid up the wall, found a crack where I could wedge my toes and flag pose off of. Sending breaking balls as deep back as I could manage, I set ruptures on clusters of two and three near the back.

  Soon enough the surge was over, and I went down to the line, grabbing Luxury's shoulder, even as they tried to stay there. They wheeled on me.

  "Look, kid, putting pieces back together when those daughters fractured, most of them with barely a scrap of combat practice, wasn't easy. Now, I get my group in line, get some order, and you come in and risk messing things up. You're in a group, that's working for you."

  "I get that, but I'm her friend from before. Please, don't ruin this, after I finally found her. This group, I've never even fought at their sides, it was a convenience thing on the rails yesterday," I half-lied. As I said it, I dropped the group, feeling a rush of terror as I realized that, if this person didn't let me into her group, I'd be solo yet again on the next floor and probably find neither Lacie nor Mom.

  Reinforcing that were a sudden deluge of messages from Mom, Sandra, and even the members of that group I didn't message often.

  Lacie slid under Luxury's arm, leaned in close. "Let her join. It won't be a problem, I promise."

  Several others were looking at Luxury now too. The crocodile let out deep rumble, shifting as if that was his new sigh. "Alright, but don't say I never do anything for you."

  The offer popped up, I accepted, and then there were yells of, "More Krakarens."

  New Achievement! Lost and Found

  Hey, look at that, your baggage is back. Remember when you worried she wouldn't like you if you looked different? Look at the shit she did to herself.

  Reward: You'll probably get laid, unless you fuck it up like the last time she made a pass at you.

  I did not know what it meant by last time, but I also had other things to focus on. I glanced at Lacie, who was staring down at herself for some reason, and didn't move until Luxury yelled at her. I sped after, thinking that a group of that massive krakaren was a terrifying thought.

  It turned out it was just a swarm of smaller ones, but there were a lot of them. Once the leadership there learned how my rupture worked, they approved of me standing well back and sending breaking balls deep. I could have been further forward, but the distance meant, if there was a breakthrough, I could get up enough speed to check a few back.

  About ten minutes after I joined the party, the announcer lady came on and informed everyone that we would go down to the next floor in parties formed before that point, and I almost died of relief as I realized how close it had been.

  The relief didn't last long, as the enemies weren't slowing down.

  It was really something, actually fighting alongside all these crawlers, seeing everyone hurl powerful spells and send massive weapons into the fray. I finally saw this Carl in action, when he and the crazy lady that murdered Hekla blasted an entire column of Krakarens into dust, then ran off for some "mission" that they didn't explain to anyone.

  They were certainly terrifying. They seemed to be somewhat leading this mess, but I didn't trust them.

  More than watching any of that, I kept glancing over at Lacie, grinning, and then having the grin fade. Her job seemed to be to stand behind Luxury, a hand always on the big brute's back, occasionally dousing him with something glowing so that all his injuries vanished.

  I knew by then that everyone knew Luxury and "Lucy" were an item, and I told myself that was fine, it was good that Lacie found someone in all this mess. Sometimes, when I stopped looking at Lacie, I could slip into the zone, forget about all that, and really start sending those pitches out.

  Most of the time, I was miserable, but glad I had the chance to be miserable in a party with Lacie.