The Chosen One made the party pick the next quest, which involved running around Cobbletown trying to find a flower seller who moved from street to street on an unchanging circuit. Qube didn’t think that there was much point to this — surely the person who put up the request could have just waited for the flower seller to walk by? — but at least the little girl who’d requested it was very grateful when they finally gave her the golden daisies she had so badly wanted.

The Hero, however, didn’t seem to be particularly interested in the social quest. Even the fact that the golden daisies were something that the party hadn’t run across before didn’t excite him.

“Chosen One, are you well?” Qube asked as the Hero handed over the flowers without trying to bargain with the little girl to keep some of the daisies or shake her down for more money. “Those were unique flowers.”

“Wait, they were?” the Chosen One asked, whipping his head back around to where the girl had just jerkily skipped off. He winced. “Ow, okay, that hurts.” Qube instinctively reached out and cast [Lesser Heal]. The Hero shifted as her spell sank into him.

“We should really get some rest,” Qube said. The tiredness from the Wizards’ Academy had somewhat subsided, but the longer they spent in Cobbletown, the more it returned. A certain pressure was starting to build in her head as well. It wasn’t the commanding chains of the Golden Prophecy, rather it was more like cotton wool was stuffed inside her skull, stopping her from thinking as fast as she normally would.

The Chosen One gave one long, slow blink.

“Sure,” he said, the word sounding slightly distorted. “Yeah. Let’s go to the inn and get some rest. I don’t know if I can stand this for much longer, sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I’m tired too,” Qube reassured him. An eyebrow flew up, and he examined her face, and then swung around and looked at the rest of the party.

All of them looked tired, and a little bit tattered, like they’d just finished a battle.

“Wait, are all of you tired? Like, actually sleepy and not just saying that?” the Hero asked. The rest of the party nodded. Even Squiggles gave a big yawn. The Chosen One chewed on his bottom lip. He looked genuinely worried.

“It’s normal to be tired, Chosen One,” Qube reassured him. “Why, we used to sleep every night! You shouldn’t get so used to adventuring life that you forget what keeps you healthy. When was the last time you ate?”

Actually when was the last time the rest of the party had eaten? It had been a month or two, at least. That was probably not ideal. The spirit of their grand quest keeping them going was all well and good, but at some point they would need to eat proper food.

Aside from Squiggles, who was munching on something crunchy. Qube narrowed her eyes at the pet, who did her best to look as innocent as a furiously chewing sharktopus could.

“Squiggles,” Qube said warningly. “That had better not be something you took without asking.”

Squiggles grinned, revealing the corner of a flag stuck between her jagged teeth. Qube blushed in embarrassment.

“Yes, well,” she said, coughing into her fist. “That was for an emergency. Also stop eating that, Sexy Screamy Spider Lady made it especially for you.”

“My darling, if it brings her more pleasure to consume her adornments than wear them, I would never tell her not to,” the arachnid said as her thorax once again briefly ate a section of her top. The whole party had changed back into their regular outfits some time ago, something Qube was grateful for.

One day she would figure out how to change outfits. One day.

By this point they’d reached the inn, and the Chosen One barged past the crowd of chickens and approached Zakora.

“Do we need to pay for rooms to sleep in or we just do it?” he asked with his usual tact.

“Five copper a room,” Zakora said. While she was still polishing a mug, and had yet to actually leave the inn to check out the areas the Royal tokens had given her access to, she seemed noticeably friendlier. Unless she’d left while they’d been off rescuing Timmy?

Who would even look after the inn while she was away? Normally shopkeepers stayed at their shops until the shops closed, and would then go about their business. The only exception to that was Mr. Igma, who never left. But the inn was always open, and it was always just Zakora there. How did this half-orc take time to herself?

Before Qube could persuade one of the other party members to start interrogating the barkeep about maintaining a healthy balance between work and leisure, the Chosen One threw some money on the counter, and marched up the rickety stairs.

It was a sign of how far Sexy Screamy Spider Lady had come with her self-control that she was not only able to climb the staircase with only a tiny amount of sticking, she also didn’t knock over a single item as her legs scrabbled up the wooden stairs.

As soon as they reached the top, the Chosen One walked past the somehow still smouldering ruins of what had once been the Exiled Prince and Exiled Princess’s dining room, and brought them to four doors near the end of the corridor.

“All right,” he said, looking at the party. “Time to [Sleep].”

Immediately, each member of the party turned to a door, walked into their respective rooms, and fell fast asleep.

---

Qube dreamed of the Chosen One. In her dream, the numbers that made up her friend turned, and walked downstairs to the inn’s entrance. There was a strange portal next to the inn’s doorway, right where the Save Point would be in the real world.

Qube was being watched. She couldn’t seem to move, pinned in place in that way peculiar to dreams, but she could feel attention focused on her from the direction of the castle.

It reached out, seeking a connection.

The Chosen One merged with the portal, and all awareness fled.

---

It was morning again by the time Qube opened her eyes, although it felt like only a few moments had passed. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have thought it was the same morning as when they’d gone to sleep. Or maybe it was only later in the same day? She heard heavy footsteps climbing the staircase, and the Chosen One’s voice bounced down the corridor.

“Rise and shine!” he said. Qube instantly sat upright and was out of the bed in seconds, despite the fog still hindering her thoughts.

“Chosen One, did you sleep at all?” she asked, looking in shock at the nearly-haggard Hero. The Chosen One rubbed his face.

“What? Oh. No. I’ve been busy,” he said.

“What have you been doing?” Qube asked, hurt that he hadn’t invited her.

“Studying,” the Chosen One said.

“Studying?” Qube asked, blinking. Had he gone to the Royal Library to study? Without her? She started breathing deeply to try and stay in control but could still feel her cheeks beginning to redden with emotion. “I’m sure I could have helped you study, Chosen One! I wasn’t that tired!”

The Hero stopped rubbing his face and gave Qube a slightly dazed look. After a few seconds, what she was saying seemed to sink in.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh! No, no, not here. Studying something in the Devs’ Realm.”

“Oh.” Qube dropped her shoulders slightly as she realised she’d been bracing herself. “That’s different. Of course, you would have more time there. Well, if you ever need any help studying things from the Devs’ realm and you’re allowed to share them with us, I’m sure everyone would be more than happy to help you study!”

“Certain things would be of interest to me. Science and anatomy in particular,” Definitely Bad Guy said thoughtfully. Sewer Bard also perked up.

“I would indeed be most pleased if you could find a way to bring us copies of the various sagas popular in the Devs’ realms!” he said, with more enthusiasm than Qube had heard from him in a long time. “Why, I could help adapt and popularise them here, while also bringing our local stories to the Devs’ realm when we ascend!”

It was the first time Qube had heard him actually sound excited about ascending.

Sexy Screamy Spider Lady was silent for a moment as she looked at the Hero. The Chosen One looked directly back at her, something he rarely did. The Hunter smiled, showing her fangs as she tapped a claw against her cheek.

“Hmm,” she said playfully, popping out her abdomen. “Maybe just some fun, light reading for me? Oh!” she straightened upright, as just struck by a sudden thought. “I wouldn’t want to get into trouble when we ascend, so maybe you could help a girl out and find some books on the law? I wouldn’t want to get arrested or anything for being naughty,” she finished with a pout.

Qube nodded her agreement. That was something she hadn’t even thought of! They would have to make sure they knew what all the rules and laws were when they ascended, so they didn’t accidentally offend anyone or do something illegal! The Chosen One, no doubt stunned by Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s brilliant idea, stared at the arachnid a second longer before shrugging.

“Sure, I can see if they’ll … actually I don’t know how they’ll do any of that stuff, but I can ask,” the Chosen One said. He looked at Squiggles, waiting to see what her request was.

Squiggles just opened her maw.

The Chosen One nodded.

“Sure,” he replied to her unspoken request. He yawned and stretched. “Oh man, I am exhausted,” he complained. “Oh yeah! How are you all feeling?”

“No different,” Qube said, and the others all made various noises of agreement. The Chosen One’s mouth quirked downwards for a second before reverting to his usual amiable expression, marred only by the weariness weighing him down.

“Hmm,” he said to himself as he slowly led them down the stairs and into what was now a truly enormous amount of chickens hanging out with the inn’s regulars. The clucking, drinking, and smoke was almost overwhelming. The Chosen One certainly seemed affected by it, trying his best to carefully shove chickens and patrons out of his way so he could exit the place. He didn’t even stop to greet Zakora, instead rapidly shuffling until he was outside.

Not that things were much better there, as someone was still teleporting around, and the children’s laughter was echoing despite the fact that no children were visible. Even the music was now skipping every few seconds.

The Hero pressed his fingers against his temples, closing his eyes.

“Okay, this is — this is hurting,” he said thickly. “So you all feel bad and tired too, right? Then this isn’t working. I put in the request but I don’t think I can be here while we wait. I’m sorry.”

What did that mean? What were they waiting for?

He reached out and touched the Save Point, and reality jittered. His body contorted for a second, before his hand finished passing through the Save Point, and he straightened up, reinvigorated. He looked around, rolling his shoulders.

“Yup, still a hot mess,” he said as he scanned the entire courtyard they were standing in. “But now I’ve got a solution!” he said cheerfully, with all his renewed energy. “Follow me!”

He started walking towards the richer area, where they had once found a basement full of skeletons.

“Hopefully once we’re out of the main area things will settle down a little,” he said, pressing a few fingers to his temple again. “This is some serious overload.”

Qube wasn’t sure if she should be asking the Hero to tell her what exactly was wrong, healing him, or demanding to know what his solution was. Instead she just settled for looking at him inquiringly. Her brain was so foggy.

Things did indeed seem to be less chaotic as they reached the area with the larger houses. Qube noticed that the house they’d burned down however long ago was still destroyed, no efforts having been made to fix it. Who was responsible for that? Given the city was run by a tyrant, was it left to the owner to call in a crew to come fix up the burned-out property? The owner had been Evil, Qube was pretty sure, so maybe they just didn’t care about fixing things?

“All right,” the Chosen One said, stopping at the abode next to the ruined house. “Before we go in, though, there’s a couple of things I’m going to have to explain.”