{-Myr-}

She didn’t get it, though it didn’t really look like anyone else understood it either. But… it made sense, too. After all, it was just putting a name to a group. Doing that alone, though, wasn’t any more to answer the dozens of questions she’d formed since then.

They mostly acted like it didn’t happen. The inn was closed when they got there—an update, given the message left on the door—so they wandered around and found a place outside to sit. They weren’t the only ones; many other players have found their way here, grumbling about having to wait.

Zetai and Reynneak were busy discussing the other quests they could do. It sounded like they planned on doing a few more in Anthalas until they all reached level ten then move on to Kyirius.

“Myr-Myr.” Llewel’s voice drew her out of her thoughts. “You’ve been pretty quiet.”

It gained her the attention of the other two as well, and she wondered if she truly wanted to say what was on her mind. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt anything, though, she mumbled, “I want to try to find Casrane again. I don’t even know if I want to talk to her or ask her things, I just want to see her… make sure she’s alright.”

Zetai grinned. “Well, we can definitely do that. We’ve got plenty of time to spare. Where do you think she could be?”

“I don’t remember,” Myr replied in a near-whisper. Llewel shook his head to show that he didn’t know any more than she did.

“We can just ask around,” Reynneak offered. “Someone has to have seen her somewhere… there might even be someone who knows where she probably is. No matter who she is, it’s unlikely that she would’ve gone through here without talking to Haksima and Cahacu—they might even remember more about her than you do, if you want to try and see if hearing stories will help you remember.”

“It looks like Cahacu is still inside the inn,” Llewel remarked, “and I don’t think anyone knows when it’s going to be open again. As long as the shop isn’t closed, we can go there first and try visiting Cahacu afterward.”

Myr smiled at their attempts at helping. She knew that Llewel had just as much reason to want to find Casrane as she did. But Zetai and Reynneak never needed to get involved in it—their willingness to help meant a lot to both of them, even if one of them wouldn’t directly say it.

“Let’s go pay Haksima a visit, then.” Myr got up and started towards the shop.

She hadn’t realized how many players had been gathered in that area until they left it. The streets of Anthalas City were nearly empty now, save for only a handful of players and the NPCs that they were helping. It made all that much easier to spot Haksima and her parrot, both standing right outside of the shop.

Myr gave them both a smile. “Hello!”

The parrot squawked before declaring, “Welcome to the Anthalas City Shop! Have a look around and remember, window shopping is strictly prohibited!” It paused. “Currently closed for restocking.”

“Can we still ask you something, though?” Llewel prompted.

Haksima shrugged. The parrot picked up the cue and gave them a verbal answer. “Restocking is boring; we wait in the sun all day. Entertain us with your question.”

“Do you know where someone named Casrane might be?”

The parrot let out a harsh screech that drew the attention of several others on the street. “Casrane Kyrenise? Casrane Kyrenise? No, no! We don’t talk about her. Terrible things happen if we do!” Haksima furiously shook her head in agreement.

“Why?” Llewel tried. They couldn’t keep on accepting half-answers. They needed something definitive, something that actually answered questions instead of making more of them.

The parrot, however, didn’t give a straight answer. “You should stop talking about her. Bring her up, and you’ll get in trouble too. You’re already supposed to be gone. Don’t make it worse by bringing her up! If you know what’s best for you, keep your mouth shut!”

Zetai stepped up. “Can you talk to a player about her?” It was worth a shot; they did seem to be offered things that the others wouldn’t have.

“No, players shouldn’t know her name at all!”

Reynneak also tried to help. “What can you tell us?”

“Oh, I can tell you lots of things,” the parrot remarked, “but I don’t want to. What I’ll say is that you should pretend like she never existed.”

Haksima made a couple of gestures again with a solemn expression.

“Don’t chase ghosts?” Reynneak mumbled with a perplexed frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Neither the parrot nor Haksima made any intention of explaining further. All the parrot said was another warning, “Don’t talk about her around the players. Don’t raise questions you don’t want answers to. But most of all… Enjoy your day and come again soon!” Its tone lightened up significantly at the end. It was perfectly timed as the end of their conversation and the arrival of another player.

Knowing that there was nothing left for them there, they walked away.

“That didn’t help at all,” Myr sighed.

“What did she do that would get that kind of reaction out of them..?” Llewel wondered aloud.

Zetai, in an attempt to keep it as bright as possible without seeming dismissive, shrugged. “Maybe it has something to do with what you guys are? If you were all together at one point, then that might be able to answer some things.”

“But from the sounds of it, they want to get rid of the twins,” Reynneak pointed out. “All it seems like they want to do with Casrane is keep people from seeing or hearing about her. They don’t want her to exist but they solve the problem by trying to pretend like she doesn’t instead of getting rid of her.”

They passed the place where all the players had been gathered before to find that it was empty now.

“Do you think this means that the inn’s open again?” Myr asked.

“Either that, or something way more interesting happened,” Zetai remarked. “It’s probably the inn. Let’s see if Cahacu knows anything.”

They wandered over to the inn to see that it was, in fact, open again. No one seemed to be in there but there was plenty of shouting coming from it—it was all coming from the room Llewel and Myr had helped prepare for Cahacu.

Cahacu was at her usual spot behind the counter, giving them a tired smile. “Welcome to the Anthalas City Inn, what can I do for you today? Feel free to ask about the new room we just set up. Become the champion of the board game and receive coins, weapons, and customization options determined by your class.”

“Maybe later, but not right now,” Zetai said. She wandered up closer to the table, the rest of them close behind her. “You’ve been able to help us out a lot before. Llewel and Myr were hoping to find someone named Casrane and we were wondering if you knew anything about where she might be.”

“Casrane’s in Anthalas City?” Cahacu stopped and shook her head. “You know, if you’ve seen her enough to remember her, it’s probably better to stay further away. You don’t know what they’re going to do if they catch you all together.”

“But it seems like you do,” Llewel pointed out casually. “Can you tell us?”

“I’m not really comfortable going into that part with so many others around,” she admitted, glancing at the new room. “But what I will say is that I’m afraid it’ll lead up to something that can’t be reversed.”

Myr was a lot quieter than she’d meant to be when she asked, “Do you remember when we were together?”

“I think all of us do, in fragments,” Cahacu said with a nod. “We probably aren’t supposed to know anything, but we’re so close to the developers that we can’t help but hear their conversations about it. I didn’t see a lot—only when you came into the inn. You weren’t as close to each other back then like you were near the end. I couldn’t think much about what was going on because I was still following the code that told me that it didn’t matter. We all knew from the beginning where you were—we never told anyone else, too, so I don’t know how the developers heard about it—and that she wasn’t with you. We heard that she wasn’t allowed to be, but I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean that she was completely unable to be close to you…”

“Who was the first to tell you?” Llewel questioned cautiously.

“Duuzlo. He’s been around the longest; the first one out of all of us to be created. He’s the only person that we know of that fully retained their memories when the game officially launched. After that, he told all of us. It was by Fininri’s insistence that we didn’t tell anyone about you, though… even if it wasn’t always the easiest option to choose.”