48. Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Eight
Yana
After dinner, Nyrah went to spend some more one-on-one time with Cody.
Yana was once again sleeping on the couch, trying her best to block out all the noises Nyrah was making.
She was happy for her friend, but…Nyrah was being quite vocal during this evening’s love making and level up session with Cody.
She probably leveled up at least once, maybe twice.
Morgan had gone to bed in the guestroom, but had taken something called ‘earbuds’ with her, which apparently helped her block out all the sex noises.
Morgan was taking things exceptionally well, all things considered.
She even hinted a few times that she would like to join Cody and Nyrah, but was letting them have some alone time as they leveled up.
Morgan also hinted that Yana should be working on her own Romance level ups with Cody.
Yana knew there was an open invitation for her to join Nyrah in Cody’s bedroom, and she knew she should be wanting to join in, but it all felt so…
trivial. There was a literal countdown hanging over their heads and all Nyrah wanted to do was have sex.
Which, yes, they needed to do that in order to level up, but somehow that made Yana feel…
she wasn’t even sure how she felt. Mostly angry. Angry at Temica.
Yana had wanted to kiss Cody that day, out in the rain.
She wanted it so bad it had made her feel dizzy with need.
She had been overcome with how much she wanted him even though she knew she shouldn’t.
And he was drenched in the rain, shivering, and upset about his grandfather.
The trying-to-kiss-him thing kind of happened.
She regretted it afterward. Being pushed away by the person you are falling for is not a great feeling.
It helped paint a very clear picture of how Nyrah had been feeling the past several weeks.
They actually had their harem set up now, but things felt off to Yana.
She was given permission to kiss Cody, but all she could think about was Temica and her stupid chicken, and how the others weren’t taking the situation as seriously as they should be.
It completely took away all the happy feelings that had been building for Cody, including that feeling of wanting to kiss him.
But if she didn’t kiss him, if she didn’t level up through intimacy, they were all going to die, and everything hinged on the whims of an insane demon-goddess-bitch.
Yana groaned and pulled her blanket over her head.
She was exhausted but she had way too many things on her mind.
She lay awake for hours, but eventually fell asleep.
When she woke next, it was morning, and Cody was working with the contraption that brewed his favorite beverage.
She had tried a sip one morning, but it was too bitter for her liking.
Cody had insisted that she needed to add more sugar and milk, but she had declined trying it again.
He must have felt her eyes on him, because he looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. “Good morning, Yana.”
“Good morning.” Yana climbed off the couch and slowly made her way to the kitchen, opening her game Menu to see what she could make for breakfast. Despite her inner turmoil, she still had an appetite.
That never went away and she was thankful that Cody had been accommodating and buying extra food to contend with her orc-ish appetite.
Cody turned to face her. “Sorry if we kept you up last night. Nyrah was um…loud.”
“It’s fine.”
“And you know you’re invited to join us, right? You know, when you feel ready. Or Nyrah can take a night off and we could…”
Those words made her heart ram against her ribcage. She did her best to ignore it, trying to decide between waffles or eggs. She decided on both and began to make her way to the fridge.
“Yana.” Cody reached out as she passed, gently grasping her wrist to stop her. “Are we…good?”
“Good?”
“It’s just, we almost kissed the other day, so I thought you were okay with this harem stuff. But…?”
She slipped from his grasp and grabbed the eggs from the fridge. “I’ve had other things on my mind, and you have been busy with Nyrah.”
“I know a lot has been happening and—”
Yana turned back to face him. He was being so kind and patient and yet she was finding that infuriating.
“Why does it feel like I’m the only one worried about Temica’s threats?
It feels like no one is taking her seriously!
We have five more days to figure everything out, and that’s assuming she doesn’t get bored and cut the week short! ”
“Yana…” It wasn’t until Cody took the carton of eggs from her and set them aside, and then clasped her hands in his, that she realized she was trembling. “We’re going to get through this.”
“You don’t know that!” Her heart was still pounding in her chest, but for an entirely different reason. It wasn’t the warmth of Cody’s hands holding hers, it was the doom and panic that she felt whenever she thought about Temica.
“But this is exactly what she wants!” Cody said. “Temica wants us to be freaking out and scrambling to get shit done! She wants unrest and fear and chaos! The more we freak out about our ticking time bomb, the more she feeds off of us.”
“You don’t get it.” Yana pulled her hands away.
It was so clear to her, why couldn’t he see it?
“You’re trying to play by her rules. Someone like Temica does not play by the rules, Cody.
If you continue to work through the game and level everyone up, do you really think she’s going to let you win?
She’s going to walk away from all of this, hungry and unfed? ”
Cody leaned back against the kitchen counter and ran his hands over his face. “Fuck.”
“I think Yana’s right,” Morgan said. Yana turned to see her walking down the hall and into the kitchen, wearing what looked like one of Cody’s black T-shirts as a sleep dress.
“I heard that last bit. I have been trying so hard to not freak out these past couple days, to pretend like it’s business as usual and we’re going to get through this but…
Yana’s right. We have absolutely no guarantee that Temica is going to give us until the end of the week to complete the game.
And what even happens if we do finish everything?
Is she really going to be fine with letting us win? ”
“I don’t know. I am just…so fucking tired,” Cody said quietly.
“I have been doing nothing but fighting for my life for the past decade. I have that stupid nightmare at least once a night. I haven’t had a full night’s rest in years.
I am physically tired and emotionally fucking drained…
I really wanted to make this week count.
To pretend like things were going to be fine.
To have fun.” He looked up at Morgan with a pained expression.
“I wanted to give you and Nyrah everything you want from me.” He turned to Yana: “And you, Yana. When you’re ready.
But we don’t get to wait until you’re ready, because we’re on the clock.
And if we don’t get shit done, innocent people like Marigold and Lexi, Doris and William, Doug and Gracie, they’re all going to die because of me.
Because I came back here. I should’ve…I should’ve never come back here. ”
“No.” Morgan shook her head fiercely, tears in her eyes. “Don’t say that! I love you, Cody. I missed you so much. I want you here. I want you in my life.”
“But we don’t get to have that life. Everything is completely fucked.”
Yana took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s not.
At least, not yet. All I meant is, we need a different plan.
We can’t rely on Temica’s clock, because she can change the numbers anytime she wants.
And if she isn’t going to play fair, then we shouldn’t be trying to play fair and finish off the game the way it’s been laid out for us. ”
“Yes. Exactly,” Morgan said.
Cody looked up at them. He really did seem beyond exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and his hair was still messy from just waking up.
“So, any ideas for an amazing plan to take down Temica? Because we’ve been down this road before, and it always ends with our only chance at defeating her is to try and finish the game. ”
Yana looked away because no, she didn’t have any ideas. All she had was this twisting, uncomfortable knot in her stomach that was telling her that they needed to do something, and that the stuff they were currently doing was not the right something.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Cody said bitterly.
“Because we can’t fight a fucking Chaos Demon.
Even if she isn’t a goddess, she’s still powerful.
She’s still a demon who runs the game we’re all stuck in.
I have none of the skills I had while I was in Velasarin.
I’m just a regular human with zero powers.
You,” he pointed at Yana, “used your sparks on Temica and she barely flinched. And Nyrah has what? A bit of extra strength, and wings and claws? That did shit during our last scuffle. Nyrah scratched Temica’s face and it healed in seconds.
We think that maybe Temica has a cool down period between relocation spells, but we don’t know that for sure.
So, how the fuck do we take down someone as powerful as Temica? ”
“Gracie?” Morgan said quietly.
“What about her?”
“The blueprints, the gems, the World Arch.” With every word, Morgan’s voice grew more animated.
“Clearly, Grandpa Sam is, you know, someone. Someone who travels through worlds, someone who was able to connect Gracie to a game system similar to the one you’re in.
Maybe if we help Gracie finish crafting the gems and build that arch thing, Grandpa Sam comes back and… ”
“Assuming he’s not actually dead, sure.” Cody shrugged dismissively. “But once again, that’s just a whole bunch of assumptions and I don’t like the idea of putting everything on an eight-year-old’s shoulders.”
“Yeah, well, that’s all we have.” Morgan sounded as frustrated as Yana felt.
Which was a step in the right direction, but still not enough.
“I don’t like putting everything on Gracie’s shoulders either, but at least we’re going to be with her, helping.
She won’t be alone. And we’re not going to tell her about Temica.
So, we’re eating breakfast, we’re getting dressed, and then we’re going to go talk to Gracie. ”
Morgan looked at Yana expectantly.
“I agree,” Yana said. “I think that’s a good place to start.”