Chapter Text
When the dawn breaks, Lizzie carefully eases Ren's head to the floor, bunching his cloak under his head to act as a pillow, and slips down the stairs. Her hound shouldn’t wake for another hour or so, but she has some things she wants to do around the tower, and spending the previous day and a half as a shell of herself has left her feeling the need to be useful. BigB is sleeping slumped over the table on the third floor, Scar snoring away in the chair across from him, though she knows Ren built a bunkroom on the floor below this one. Neither of them stir when she passes.
She walks around the full length of the walls three times, looking for any weak points or areas that might need shoring up. There will be no fear of fire here; nearly everything is made from stone. It muffles the feeling of the forest, but she will live with it if it means being safer.
On the third pass, she concentrates hard, and thornbushes spring up in her footsteps, climbing up the walls, three feet thick at their widest point. When she finishes the circuit, she steps back and admires her handiwork. Hopefully that will discourage any reds trying to break down their walls in the future. She is left feeling… drained, however, and this time she thinks this really might be the last dregs of her magic. It's not a feeling she enjoys, and there is still something jagged and aching from the loss of her circle, though it's not as raw anymore.
She catches sight of movement at the top of the tower and guesses her hound has finally woken up. If he is awake, the others surely will be soon, and they should really meet to put together some sort of strategy for their continued survival.
She climbs the steps back into the tower. Scar and BigB are awake now, and the gentle sounds of sizzling are coming from a pan on the stovetop.
"My lady," says Scar, catching sight of her. "You look…"
"Alive? Aware?" she suggests, with one arched eyebrow.
"Better," he says, winking. "So, is this some kind of Shadow Alliance meeting? Ren was running around calling the banners yesterday— although I guess he's not here yet."
"We'll wait for Ren," Lizzie says, and takes a seat across from BigB, catching his eye. "I'm sorry I was… absent, these last couple days."
He shrugs, looking uncomfortable. "I mean, hey, I get it, y'know? That was kind of a lot." The words bring up a sour taste in her mouth, and she knows he doesn't really understand, but he clearly doesn't want to talk about it, either.
Ren chooses this moment to descend the ladder from the roof, and pauses when his boots hit the floor, taking in the other occupants of the room. "Nobody told me we were having a party, dudes," he laughs, and crosses over to stand behind Lizzie's chair, just at her shoulder. His color is high, and Lizzie notes with some satisfaction that he looks more well-rested than she's seen since the start of the game.
"A Shadow Alliance council," Scar corrects, smiling. Then his face grows more serious. "We're going to need to really be on guard now," he points out. "People are starting to drop down to yellow and red again, and this time there's less lives to go around. I heard a bunch of reds ambushed Tango and made him give them each a life."
Lizzie nods thoughtfully; Joel had said something similar when he'd visited last night. "I've shored up our defenses along the inner walls," she says. "It should make anyone think twice about trying to sneak in."
"We can set up a guard rotation," BigB says. "Or watches, at night." The rest of the room nods along.
"Scar, are you moving out here?" Ren asks, head tilted inquisitively. "We've got plenty of room."
"Oh, no, all my things are still at Magical Mountain— I couldn't leave them unattended for too long! And it's really nice here, of course, I have no problems with this verrrrry secure tower, but I'd think we need some eyes on the other side of the arena, wouldn't you say?"
"You make a good point," Lizzie says. "And thank you for coming all this way— it's good to know we can rely on you."
"Yep, Ol' Reliable Scar here," he says, his cheeky grin back in full force. "I'll give you a shout if I need anything, but I really should be going."
"Of course," Lizzie says— as graciously as she can manage, though it is a little abrupt— and Scar is gone, almost quicker than she can blink.
"I think he has commitment issues," BigB says, into the sudden silence of the room, and neither Lizzie nor Ren can hold back their laughter.
"You know, I cannot help but admire everyone's commitment," Lizzie muses, her thoughts drifting back to paths they had wandered down the night before. "You must be very brave, volunteering for a game with permadeath options."
BigB's brow furrows, and out of the corner of her eye she sees Ren step away from her shoulder, turning to face her.
"Volunteer, my Queen?" Ren asks, sounding very confused.
"Well, yes— weren't you approached with the opportunity to join this game before the start?" Lizzie is puzzled.
Ren and BigB exchange a look. "No," they chorus.
"It's all pretty hazy," BigB adds. "I know I had a home server before this, but I don't remember how I got here— just that I did."
"Same goes for me," Ren says. "Though sometimes—" He breaks off, pursing his lips. "Never mind."
"So you didn't choose to be here," Lizzie repeats, slowly. "And you've never done anything like this before?" Her allies shake their heads. She feels— almost offended, on their behalf. She is all for trickery, and deals that give more to one party, but something about this seems… off. Amnesia, and abduction? It's all very odd.
"I'm assuming, from this line of questioning, that you did have a choice?" BigB asks, somewhat delicately, shaking her away from her thoughts.
"Yes," she replies, frowning. "And I had assumed everyone was the same."
"I knew Martyn wasn't getting the full picture," Ren mutters, though he looks— relieved. BigB puts his face in his hands.
"This is way too much to be dealing with at eight o' clock in the morning," he says, his voice muffled. "I am— I am not going to think about this anymore. It's fine. It's totally fine."
"Our main priority is still to survive," Lizzie says, heartily regretting bringing up the topic at all now. "Are we still able to brew potions? Did the underground caves escape Cleo's wrath?"
BigB lifts his face out of his hands. "Surprisingly, yes," he reports. "We're still short on glowstone and gunpowder, though. We could also use some more spider eye."
"We can make that our mission for the day— or, this evening, rather. Agreed?"
"Yes, my Queen."
"Sounds good to me."
Lizzie smiles. "Then I call this meeting of the Shadow Alliance council to a close."
~o0o~
"Ah, Martyn! I didn't think I'd find you here," Lizzie says, politely. She is a little suspicious, all things considered. He'd turned down her offered alliance, and now here he is, skulking around in her woods.
"Ah, you know me, always poppin' up here and there," he says, shrugging faux-casually. His sword is in his hand, and his knuckles are white from the strength of his grip. He expects a fight, though Lizzie isn't entirely sure why.
"I understand you decided to forgo our offer of an alliance," she says, probing a little. Ren hadn't told her much, and she can't deny she's curious. "Did something… come up?"
He looks surprised, just for a moment, before the cheerful mask comes back on. "Just didn't fancy the work environment, to be honest," he says. The sword hasn't lowered. "Or the, uh— the terms. Not really my speed."
Lizzie has to hand it to him: he is actually being honest, if terribly vague. There is no sharp tang of a lie in her mouth, and she grudgingly respects the fact that this player, at least, knows exactly who he's dealing with. "Well, that's a shame. You're sure you won't reconsider?"
The nonchalant smile is fixed almost painfully to his face. "Nah, I don't think so," he says. His sword lifts slightly, as if he thinks she's going to fly at him in a sudden rage. She wonders what's given him so much wariness of her over the course of the game— they’ve hardly interacted at all. She's been trying to fly under the radar somewhat, in all honesty; when she had had her circle, she had not taken full advantage of it, and now, well— now her power is diminished significantly anyway.
The forest still answers her call, though, and she thinks she could still hold her own in a fight against Martyn, however clever and ruthless he may be. The branches nearest her begin to rattle restlessly, and she lays her hand on her own rapier. She will not make the first move— she's always been better at letting her prey come to her.
It doesn't come to that, though, as three-quarters of Team BEST take this opportunity to emerge from the trees, coming to a sudden halt.
"Are we… interrupting something?" Tango asks, eyebrows sky-high. Lizzie takes her eyes off Martyn to give him a flat look, and the branches still. Martyn finally lowers his sword, and tension that Lizzie hadn't even realized was there drops from his frame.
Interesting.
"We were having a discussion," Lizzie says, serenely. "And how are you?" What are you doing in my woods?
"Just passin' through, don't worry about us," Tango says, holding his hands up. "Wouldn't want to get on your bad side, Lady Luck." He grins.
"We're on important — important server-saving business," Bdubs puts in, and Lizzie lifts a hand to hide her smile. She'd forgotten they'd taken up the role of "heroes," play-acting at knights and do-gooders, though she's fairly sure it's mostly Skizzleman's influence. If she were forced to admit it, however, she would say she prefers her hound’s brand of chivalry.
"Enchanting table gone missing again?" Martyn asks.
"Oh, no, we got a handle on that," Skizzleman puts in. "No, this is more along the lines of, uh— resource gathering."
"Oh, I had a question for you all," Lizzie says, recalling her peculiar discussion with Ren and BigB that morning.
"Shoot," says Tango.
"Do you… remember how you got here? To this arena, I mean. And does any of it feel… familiar, at all?"
Team BEST all exchange looks, and Martyn has gone very still in her peripheral vision. She keeps her face lightly curious, trying not to seem overly interested.
Skizzleman is the first to speak. "I don't really remember how I got here, but I do remember home, kind of. And I've been getting some crazy deja vu when I'm around a few people, but everything's really fuzzy."
Bdubs's face is screwed up in thought. "Yeah, fuzzy. That sounds about right," he agrees. "I dunno, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it."
Tango nods. "Uh-huh." Lizzie catches his eye, though, and she sees a knowing look there. She'd thought that might be the case. She tips her chin up minutely— Talk later? — and he gives the slightest of nods in response.
"I remember getting here," Martyn says, and his eyes are chips of ice. "But nothing before, really. I get… feelings about people though, sometimes. Like I can trust them. Or can't."
"Perhaps you're a budding clairvoyant," Lizzie says, and Martyn snorts derisively.
"Sure."
"What about you, Shadow Lady?" Bdubs asks.
"Everything in this game has been new to me," she says, taking care with her words. "I'm not usually so close to— well, mortality." And she smiles her most unnerving smile, aiming most of it at Martyn.
"Right," says Skizzleman, looking uncomfortable. "We, uh— we should get going."
"Yeah, me too," says Martyn, darting a look over at Lizzie. "Mind if I tag along?" Team BEST agrees, and he falls in with them.
"Take care," Lizzie says. She holds her smile until they have all left the clearing, then lets it fall. She waits, the branches of the nearest tree swaying patiently above her head, and about ten minutes later, Tango reappears.
"I had a feeling you would be the one to have gotten an invitation rather than this silly abduction thing Grian appears to have done with most of the server," she says, by way of greeting, and he smiles ruefully.
"Yeah. I've been trying to keep that on the down-low, though. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing he really wants spread around."
Lizzie nods. "So you remember the previous game— or were you in it?"
Tango sighs. "I was, and I do. It's a little hazy in some parts— probably the arena magic, if I had to guess— but I remember most of it. Pretty much everyone here was in the last one— you, Pearl, and Mumbo are new, though."
"Fascinating," Lizzie says. "You know, I didn't know some people were here involuntarily? It seems a bit odd."
"They might've signed an initial contract," Tango says, shrugging. "G's good at those. Either way, though, everyone's here now, and everyone's trying to win. Does it really matter how they got here?"
"I think it matters to some," Lizzie says absently, remembering Ren's odd comment about Martyn having some things backwards. "Well, that was very helpful." She takes in the bright yellow flecks in his flaming hair for the first time and smiles sympathetically. "If you're looking to pick up a life, you might try Scar, and tell him I sent you. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to cut you a deal."
"I have your husband to thank for this," Tango grumbles, but nods anyway. "I'll keep that in mind. 'Preciate it." He stuffs his hands in his pockets and heads back the way he came. Lizzie turns and leaves the clearing, heading back for the Shadow Tower.
Best not to stray too far from home for too long, these days.