I step through the portal, returning to the basement.

  Dee sits on Kai’Lenal’s shoulder, chatting his ear off as he calmly sharpens his sword with whetstone.

  What an interesting relationship. It must be nice for Dee to have someone she can talk to like that.

  I make my upstairs and open the fridge to grab myself some lunch. Just a sandwich for me.

  The day passes quickly, and in the evening, mom gives me a ride to Elizabeth’s soccer game. The game itself is fun, and I enjoy cheering for her as she scores one of the three goals in the game. It’s a normal evening, with no monster attacks, none of my friends getting kidnapped, and no one starts shooting at me.

  All in all, it’s a relaxing time. As a bonus, I get a full night’s rest.

  ***

  To my utter horror, school isn’t cancelled the next day.

  I turn off my morning alarm with a groan.

  I roll out of bed debating whether I should just skip classes. After all, a girl deserves her rest after beating dungeons, fighting villains and facing world-shaking events.

  On the other hand, my mom would kill me.

  So I decide to suffer through Monday’s school. As soon as I get to the school, I realize that it wouldn’t have been too out of place for me to have skipped. Half the students are gone, making the hallways feel extra empty.

  Rose, Blake and Damien sit with me at lunch. It’s interesting to see how the social dynamic has shifted this last week. It used to be just me and Blake at our own table. Now I have more friends.

  Weird.

  I take a bite of the lunch my mom had prepared for me. She’d made some fried rice that is pretty good.

  “So, how was the dungeon?” Rose asks.

  I pause, then smile and pull out the purple mask I’d gotten as a reward from Thoth.

  They all ooh and ahh as Rose explains to the boys what it does.

  “Now that I have a mask to protect my secret identity, I’ve come up with superhero names for all of us!” My words make the boys look up sharply, while Rose raises an eyebrow. She’s cute. I point to her first, “We’ll call you Dagger,” I motion to the boys, “You two will be the sidekicks, and I’ll be Paladin!”

  “I should’ve known.” Blake shakes his head.

  Rose taps her chin with her spoon, “I don’t know, I kinda like it.” She grins at the boys.

  Damien laughs, “I mean, it’s accurate. Sidekick number two.” He points his fork at Blake and wiggles his eyebrows.

  “Who said that you get to be sidekick number one?” Blake asks. He puffs up his chest, trying to intimidate Damien.

  “All in favor of Damien being sidekick one?” I ask.

  Everyone except Blake raises their hands.

  “The motion has passed. Blake will hereby be called sidekick number two.” I give him a cheeky smile.

  He just shakes his head in disappointment.

  “You shouldn’t have insulted my magnificent naming sense.” I say.

  “I did not!”

  “‘I should’ve known’” I say in my best Blake voice.

  ***

  After I get back from school, I decide to get a little bit of studying done. I pick up one of the Egyptian books I’d borrowed from the library, and sit at my desk.

  An hour or so later, a soft knock on my door makes me look up from the book of hieroglyphs I’d been reading.

  “Elena?” Elizabeth calls.

  I close the book, and stand up to open the door for her. “What is it, sunshine?”

  She shuffles her feet, looking a little lost.

  I put my hand on her head, startling her out of whatever thoughts were going through her head. “Come on in, let’s talk.”

  She follows me inside and we sit down on my bed.

  “I just wanted…” She looks down at her hands for a little bit before looking up at me. “You’ve been distracted lately, is everything okay?”

  “The world is going to shi- heck.” Whoops, almost missed that one. “But other than that, I think I’m doing pretty good.”

  “Elly, why do you suddenly have a girlfriend?”

  “I wouldn’t call us that-”

  “And how come I didn’t meet her until you were in the hospital?” She looks up at me, and I’m surprised to see a lost expression on her face.

  Why in the world is she making that expression?

  I grab her and pull her into a hug. I pull away slowly, then give her a kiss on her forehead, “A lot of things happened this week sweetheart. Things with Rose happened really fast, and I’m still figuring that out.”

  “You… You’ve barely talked to me this week Elly. Why are you pulling away from me?” She asks with all the innocence of a thirteen year old.

  I pause, because, well, she’s right. I’ve been pulling away form her. I’m involved with things I can’t talk to her about, because I want to keep her safe. “Hey, sunshine?”

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  “Yeah?”

  “You have soccer practice coming up this wednesday, right?” She nods, so I continue, “Why don’t I go with you to that?”

  She brightens, “That would be amazing! I mean, you don’t have to-”

  “It’s a plan.” I pat her shoulder, “Now get out of my room and go play with some dolls or something.” I push her playfully.

  She gets up with an irritated huff. “I don’t play with dolls anymore. I’m not a kid.”

  “Sure, sure.” I respond, smiling at her.

  She makes an irritated sound, then leaves the room, slamming the door behind her.

  “You break it, you pay for it!” I yell through the door.

  “Not in your wildest dreams!” She yells back.

  I chuckle at her antics, then stand up and stretch. My gaze is drawn to the portal that had replaced my window.

  It’s about time I pay that debt to Taylor. I wonder how she’s been since I last saw her? Hopefully she isn’t too pissed at me after our last meeting.

  Welp, there’s one way to find out.

  I walk to the portal, and step through it. The world shifts around me, and I find myself in a familiar market. Soft guitar music plays in the background, providing a nice comfortable atmosphere.

  Three other Beta Testers are already in the market, looking at the two Open signs. They look indecisive, as they argue about which one to go to.

  I grab the masquerade mask out of my inventory and place it over my face. I’m pleasantly surprised to find the maks is very comfortable, and doesn’t seem to block my vision in any way.

  I don’t look at the other Beta Testers as I walk past them, but I can feel their stares on me. I’m not in the mood to deal with them, so I ignore the stares, and push the door open to Taylor’s shop.

  A little bell rings and Taylor turns to me.

  “Hello, and welcome to the Information Shop for planet Earth. My name is Taylor, I am from the planet Troi, how can I help you?” The woman smiles wide, putting her pointed teeth on full display.

  “Hey Taylor, I’m here to repay my debt.” I hold up a single gold coin, then place it on the table between us.

  “Elena! I didn’t recognize you with that mask on, although, that’s the beauty of Thoth’s magic, isn’t it?” Her smile loses its professionalism, becoming more friendly. The coin disappears in a quick motion.

  “Mhm. There were some other Beta Testers in the shop, and I didn’t feel like advertising who I am.” I motion towards the group of people outside her door.

  “Ah.” She leans over and whispers conspiratorially, “Don’t worry, your identity is safe with me.”

  “Even if they pay you for it?” I ask, genuinely curious.

  “Well… The information is still for sale, as my contract requires. But let’s just say that no one will be able to afford that information anytime soon.” She winks at me.

  “You’re amazing, as always.” I say, “Speaking of, how many Beta Testers have access to the shop right now? If I can ask that without paying.”

  She waves her hand at the mention of gold “There are thirteen entrances to the shop, an auspicious number.” She makes a sign with her hand that I don’t recognize, “You’d have to pay for any names, of course.”

  “Of course.” I say.

  Before I can ask any more questions, the bell on the door rings. The three Beta Testers enter the room.

  “Hello, and welcome to the Information Shop for planet Earth. My name is Taylor, I am from the planet Troi. How can I help you?” Taylor’s smile becomes pointier as she turns to the newcomers.

  Their expressions widen in fear and surprise as they look at Taylor. Some of them even reach for their weapons.

  My gloves light up with a white light, drawing their attention to me.

  My presence seems to calm the three of them down, surprisingly enough.

  The one in front, a buff Asian man, has a long curved blade called a Nodachi on his back.

  The girl right behind him has an unstrung bow and a quiver of arrows on her back. She looks at me with more nervousness than the other two.

  Jesus, she could be as young as my sister, what in the world is she doing in this stupid fucking game?

  The final man of African descent, is the oldest of the group. He has a long staff in his hands, and he completes the image of a wizard rather well.

  The wizard clears his throat, calming the situation with a motion of his hands. “My name is Adisa, I speak for the three of us. You say that you sell information?”

  When I see that the three of them aren’t going to do something stupid, I stop the light coming from my gloves.

  “I do!” Taylor says without missing a beat, “I have information on anything you might have questions about, for a reasonable price of course.”

  Realizing that this conversation might take a while, I nod to Taylor and leave her store.

  I make my way to the other store, and enter it to see a familiar array of wooden statues.

  “Greetings Beta Tester, and welcome to the Shop Of Statues.” The same woman I had met last time greets me, her blue silk veil hiding her eyes from me, matching the color of her horns.

  “Good evening,” I say, not as willing to share my identity with this woman.

  There are more statues on the shelves than the last time I visited, each more lifelike than the last. My gaze is caught on a large statue; a warrior standing ready behind his tower shield, a long sword in his other hand.

  I feel bad that I haven’t had a chance to use the chess set I bought here. I’d forgotten the beauty of their artwork.

  “Does anything catch your eye?” She asks, “Perhaps a chess set? Those have been quite popular.” She points to the many chess sets on display. When I don’t show any particular interest in them, she guides me to a set of necklaces with figurines on them. “Perhaps a defensive spirit?”

  These weren’t on display last time, and I study them carefully. There must have been twenty different figurines of all different shapes and sizes.

  “What do they do?” I ask.

  The woman smiles wide at my question, “When the wearer is in danger, they will evoke the spirit inside them and protect their wearer.”

  My thoughts turn to Elizabeth and how defenceless she is when Dee isn’t around. “How well will they stand up to monsters and Beta Testers?”

  She looks at them thoughtfully, then carefully picks up a phoenix, lifelike wooden flames circling around it. “This one is fifty gold. It will be able to fend off any classless Beta Tester or monster below level seven. It can stay active for ten minutes.”

  I take the figure from her, and look at it closer. It looks like a wooden carving to me, but I trust the woman’s words. “What makes it so expensive? I could hire a guardian for my humble abode for less.”

  She looks over her carvings with a proud smile, “Guardians won’t sacrifice themselves for the wearer. This spirit of the necklace can’t feel pain, and will simply return to their homeland if they die. The lack of monthly wages is a bonus.”

  I consider it for a few more seconds, then break out into a wide smile. Why am I being so cautious today? It’s only fifty gold coins, I can just risk my life and fight some more monsters if I need more.

  “I’ll take it.”

  I click yes.

  The necklace disappears from the woman’s hand and enters my inventory.

  My sister’s well-being is more important than a few gold coins.

  But if she breaks this, I’m going to kill her.