“Just to say ‘hi there’,” Hunter grinned. “I’m looking for a bow. Money is no object. Maybe the most powerful thing that ever existed? Two years with nothing to spend money on. A girl has got to come back and shop once in awhile.”

“Fine! Whatever! I’ll find you!” Hendrick was grinning now despite himself and the impossible request for the strongest bow that ever existed; Helcare didn’t look like he could get any more surprised at this point. “You people. Leave without a word and come back. You’re ruining my reputation already!”

“Mmhmm. Always a pleasure Hendrick.” Hunter straightened lazily and looked around before nodding. “Onward then?”

“Okay.” Amelia moved forward past Hunter despite agreeing they could leave. She gently leaned over the counter and after a moment Hendrick leaned over too and gave her a brief hug.

“Been gone too long Amelia. What fantastical items have you brought me?” He demanded with a quiet fierceness before breaking off the hug. The smile on his face was completely gentle now.

“The best. But we can do that later when we lose the red,” Amelia smiled.

“Who’s the boy?” Hendrick turned to Shade.

Shade bristled. He was 22 years old and hardly a boy. It seemed that it was only the fact that he was being practically held hostage that he kept his tongue.

“Tour guide,” Amelia said sagely with a wink.

Hendrick threw his head back and laughed. “You don’t even know who you’re with do you? Lucky you.”

“Hendrick. I see you.” Aidan stepped toward the counter and offered his arm. Hendrick clasped it at the elbow and the two men glared and smiled fiercely at each other.

“Can’t believe she is still with you.” Hendrick said. His words were soft and compassionate, as if he knew full well why Aidan was still with Amelia and still found it amazing.

“We should talk,” Aidan said abruptly.

“I’d like that. Did you all have a good time my heroes?” Hendrick smiled even as Helcare and Shade both watched with confused gazes.

“I have a world now, more like a startup world than an honest to goodness planet, but a world just the same,” Aidan said seriously. “There was some debate on what I would name it. Raven’s World came up but like the tyrant I am I quashed it immediately.”

“You are a surprisingly good man,” Hendrick said with feeling. “That would have been awful.”

“Right?” Aidan exclaimed, as if the former idea had shocked and horrified him as well.

Hendrick looked at Shade again with that weird half-smile.

Shade wasn’t feeling very lucky and from the look on his face would have liked to swat Hendrick if he thought he could get away with it.

“Suffer well Hendrick.” Aidan tossed over his shoulder as they left the store. Already the crowd was standing outside the building waiting for them to exit. They were abuzz as to what business they could have had in the Light and Shadow Imports store. The store was incredibly expensive and after entering it once or twice most would have given up on the treasures that it contained.

Now however, many of the Transients wandered inside once the murderers were safely far enough away. Hendrick and Helcare were already calling out a greeting and it looked like their quiet day had ended.

Sen was easy to find. She was a tall tawny-haired, bronze-skinned girl that was practically all legs. She had short leather shorts with long leather outrider boots that went well past them almost to her hips giving her the strange illusion that she was wearing boots all the way up to her waist. She waved at Shade and moved forward, though her gait stalled slightly when she saw the people that were flanking him. Caution blanketed her expression and her eyes narrowed slightly as she approached.

“Hello.” Amelia said before Shade could think of what to say. “We’ve fetched your young man. I believe we almost had a case of mistaken identity. You must be Sen.” The way she said it immediately put Shade on guard. Sen wasn’t broadcasting her name, it was hidden behind the privacy feature. A feature that had become wildly popular, it seemed. Shade wasn’t exactly sure how Amelia knew Sen’s name. He certainly didn’t recall offering it.

“Thank you.” Sen’s face was pinched, and her gaze was now looking around furtively. “Uhh?” She eyed Shade questioningly and he shrugged. Apparently he’d told her he’d met a company of people but hadn’t explained the particulars.

“We’re Shadow Fall as a guild. I’m Amelia, the warrior over there standing next to Elisha, our priest, is Forsythe. Aidan is the one in white, Hunter is the ranger, and War is the scary one in the mask.” Amelia supplied gently. “Raven is the one behind you now, circling you like a shark. She means well.”

With each new name Sen seemed to be paling. Her mouth opened and worked after a moment. She looked suddenly furious and turned to Shade. “I didn’t know you knew them!” She accused. “You told me you were new to this game!”

Shade seemed at a loss himself, and despite the fact he had been moving quicker than the rest of them toward the square to meet up with his friend he seemed aloof now. He was looking around them. Amelia belatedly realized they were drawing a crowd.

“Yes, well some things happened.” Amelia said dryly, earning a strange look from Aidan. Usually when he explained so haphazardly she chided him.

“Are you really Empress Amelia of Elysium and Shadow Fall?” Sen hissed. “No one has seen you guys for two years!”

“Someone is doubting us. Wow.” Hunter piped in. “Two years is just long enough for everyone to forget what you look like.” Hunter seemed to be omitting the part where they had all gotten different haircuts and their gear had changed slightly. They weren’t as recognizable as they once were. The privacy feature was also a godsend.

“I’m an Empress but Hunter is the leader of Shad-.” Amelia began to protest immediately, only to be cut off by Raven.

“I suppose we’ve entered mythical status.” Raven said generously. “We are legend now. No one believes the legend when it is before them. Bow. Bow before us.” She waved a hand in front of Sen, who backed away from her. This only seemed to delight the black haired warrior. She waved her arms in a lazy fashion in front of Sen once more. Ever since she had updated her avatar to have the two arms she didn’t seem to tire of using both of them.

“We are getting too much attention. Perhaps you should do what you came to do and we should go?” Forsythe suggested.

“I suppose.” Amelia said, amusement coloring her voice. She was enjoying the expression on Sen’s face quite a bit. Journeying with her friends for two years had made her realize she missed the random occurrences and meetings with other Transients. World travel was something still relatively new and worlds were still being discovered at an alarming rate. Still, she was confident she could still add a few nuggets.

“So then you’re off?” Shade asked, more like suggested. He didn’t seem to know what was going on, which just tickled Amelia even more. She had never thought of herself as famous but the fact he had no clue who she was and her friend certainly did was proving to be great entertainment.

“Sure. I invite the two of you to accompany us to the palace in a moment. Elairdrin will most likely be waiting. He’s funny like that.” Amelia smirked as Sen’s jaw dropped once more.

Moving beyond the girl, she walked up to the statue titled ‘Shadow Fall Victory’ and stared at it. There was now a stone pedestal near the base of the statue with a simple orb on it. “Examine.”

----------------------

World Stone - There are many worlds, is this known to you? Do you fear them? If not...

Simply visit the Arcanist near the side street on Palace Way and give him a destination from those carved and added to this pedestal. If your heart is worthy and your purse heavy enough, you can begin to discover the secrets of world-traveling.

----------------------

The pedestal itself had a dozen names describing different worlds. Amelia was slightly saddened that there were still so few.

Aspiria, the original game world, was still so vast and unexplored that many didn’t journey to the other worlds that the game was slowly providing. People who traveled to these other worlds would have the opportunity to learn of others. Still, it seemed to Amelia that even after two years the number of names on the list wasn’t nearly long enough.

“[Share World Destinations.]” Amelia commanded.

After a moment the pedestal glowed, and slowly, one after another, a dozen and a half names began appearing on the available world list.

------------------------------

Global Announcement

World Travel Destinations (18) added to the World Stone Pedestal!

-------------------------------

The effect was immediate. Every Transient in the plaza stopped what they were doing and stared at the person in front of the Dragon Statue. Amelia pulled down her hood, unable to resist a bit of theatrics, and almost immediately the world became chaotic and a bit too dramatic. Every Resident in the square suddenly took a knee. There were thousands of Residents, and suddenly all of them were kneeling in the direction of the statue.

Sen and Shade stared in abject terror along with several hundred Transients who also looked around in bewilderment. Few of them had ever seen Residents react so strongly. It was almost as if every Resident in the area had come under the effect of some super gravitational force. The sound of their collective knees all hitting the ground at once actually shook the air. Then, before anyone could begin asking questions, another announcement.

---------------------

Local Announcement - The Return of the Empress of Elysium

Two years since Empress Amelia revealed the possibility of traveling between worlds and ordered the erection of the travel pedestal. Two years and her small band of Shadow Fall companions return.

Result: 200% Experience gain in Elysium for the next week.

Result: Festival - Anniversary of the Death of the World Ender!

The populace is overjoyed and new vigor flows through the streets. An announcement is made for festivals to commence. Special week long vendors will open up their exotic goods and fireworks will be displayed in the evenings.

Result: King Elairdrin, Queen Catherine, Prince Orekin, Queen Victoria, and Princess Skyline all declare special event sponsored breaks including price reductions and game booths as one and all they begin to journey toward Blutonsi to greet the returning ruler.

-----------------------------

“We should leave and come back a few times to see if there is a festival every time Amelia decides to grace the town with her presence,” Aidan said dryly.

Sen was staring hard at Shade, who by now was pale and staring. He wasn’t very good at navigating these screens yet and the sheer volume of available quests and festival related events was starting to overwhelm him. He gave her a short, jerky shrug, as if to ward off her questions. She didn’t have a chance to start grilling him. Amelia immediately walked through the crowd and lightly clasped Shade and Sen by the arms. “Come. Don’t you want to join Shadow Fall? Let’s be world travelers and guildmates.”

“Why?” Sen blurted out.

“Why not? I just knew.” Amelia countered, looking owlish.

After a moment she put her hood up and walked away toward the palace that towered high in the distance. Her companions, all smirking, turned with her and fell in step. The red named Transients moved through the crowd. The Residents got to their feet, all falling over themselves to get out of their way. One small child was actually jerked off his feet by his parent, falling to the ground. He looked like he was about to cry when Forsythe bent down and effortlessly lifted him to his feet, smoothing his shirt from the front before taking a big step to catch up.

His mother wrapped her arms around him and began sobbing, her gratitude at the kind gesture volumes higher than was necessary. It was eerie. No guard so much as drew a sword in their direction. In fact, they all looked relieved that Amelia and her entourage were making their way toward the palace and had returned to Elysium.

“Shadow Fall is famous then?” Shade asked Sen, earning an immediate glare.