From Real to Realm

Val’s eyes slowly opened. She blinked away the sleep before realizing what she was looking at. A smile spread across her face. Lynesia was lying next to her, facing her. Her brunette hair was gently cascading over part of her face. She was still asleep.

“So beautiful,” Val whispered.

Lynesia didn’t stir.

It was still dark outside. Val figured she’d woken up in the middle of the night for some reason. So, she moved a bit closer before closing her eyes. There was no way she’d give up more sleep with her girlfriend. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before she fell asleep again.

When Val woke up again, sunlight was already pouring through the windows. Lynesia was already gone as well. She sat up, stretching and looking around the room. Lynesia’s bags were where they had left them last night, but they were open. A few things were set on the nightstand on her side as well.

“What time is it?” Val muttered.

She slipped out of bed and made her way through the apartment. Lynesia wasn’t home, and judging by the sun in the sky, it was well past noon. Val couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in like this. She wanted to take Lynesia to the guild for her re-evaluation, but slept straight through everything.

“Well fuck.”

She made her way to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. Luckily for her, there was a little note next to a platter of food. There was fresh fruit, some smoked meat, and bread.

You looked like you really needed the sleep. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done with my badge evaluation. -I love you

Val’s heart was aflutter in her chest. Seeing the food and then reading the note really got to her for some reason. Maybe it was because things were beginning to feel like before? Then again, things would always be different at least a little bit.

“How’d I get so lucky?”

Val grabbed the platter and made her way to the table. She sat down and started eating. While she enjoyed the meal, she started going over the plans for the next few days. She still wanted to visit her parents for dinner tonight. It’d been a while since they last stopped by. Now that Lynesia was also back, that would remove the potential for sensitive questions regarding her absence. It was then that Val realized the two of them needed to discuss her family. Lynesia knew the truth, but her family didn’t.

She ran her fingers through her hair. “Fuck this is complicated.”

Lynesia would likely want to tell them if Val had to guess. It was a terrible idea, in her opinion. Lynesia was able to work past the reveal due to falling in love with this version of Val, which was a miracle in itself. Telling her family the same thing couldn’t go well, right?

Click.

Val turned as soon as she heard the door open. Lynesia walked inside, hair a little messy, but otherwise not all that different.

“How’d it go?”

She smiled as she shuffled to the table. “Exhausting.”

Val chuckled. “I know what you mean. I spent a few hours in the medical ward.”

Lynesia glared at her. “You got hurt, didn’t you?”

“I did, but nothing the guild channelers couldn’t handle,” Val said, pushing the platter of food closer to Lynesia. “But I’m asking about yours, how did it go?”

Only after eating a few pieces of fruit did she start answering. “Well, I was fighting these summons. They were see-through, like ghosts, I guess.” She swallowed. “Anyways, I had to defend myself and attack. I am so fucking drained after that.”

Val raised an eyebrow. “Did they land any attacks on you?”

Lynesia nodded, turning sideways in the chair. The back of her leather breastplate had a nice gash. “One of them snuck around me.”

“Armor did its job, though,” Val said, running her fingers along the gash. “Didn’t get all the way through.”

Lynesia set her scroll on the table. “Well, we’ve both done our test. Maybe we should check in with everyone else? See if they did their tests yet?”

Val nodded. “Why don’t you take a bath, change, then we can go check in with them? After that, we can head to my parents’ for dinner.”

“Oh? When did they invite us?”

Val shook her head. “They didn’t invite us. It’s been a while, figured a surprise visit would be nice. We need to get there before Mom starts, though. She’s going to change what she’s cooking when we show up, probably.”

Lynesia studied Val’s face for a moment. “Does it feel odd calling her Mom?”

“Honestly? No.”

“But she’s not your real mother, Val.”

Val sighed. “I know that, but she’s been my mother ever since being put in this body.”

Lynesia exhaled slowly. “Maybe you should tell them?”

“Funny you say that,” Val said, leaning on her elbows. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”

“Does that mean you’re going to do it tonight?”

Val shook her head. “I need time to figure out how to do it.”

Lynesia reached across and took her hand. “You told me. You should tell them.”

“I will.”

Lynesia stood up. “I’m taking that bath now. Then we can go say hi to everyone.”

Val stayed to finish off the rest of the food Lynesia had left out for her. While she wanted to join her for a bath, it was probably too soon to ask such a thing. Val didn’t want to press her chances in any way. Lynesia was more than capable of making her own decisions and asking for what she really wanted. Val was more than happy just to be sleeping in the same bed as her. Other things could come later.

After finishing her food, Val made her way to their bedroom. She didn’t need to throw her nasty armor on to say hello to everyone. Instead, she swapped her clothes out for a black tunic and her normal leather pants. Of course, the two of them had their thick fur coats hanging by the door as well. It was probably still cold as hell outside right now.

Just as Val finished buttoning her pants, the door to the bathroom opened. Lynesia walked across the hallway to their room, wrapped in only a towel. Instantly, Val’s eyes roamed over her bare legs as she walked past.

“Can’t help but stare?” Lynesia crouched down to grab some clothes out of her bag.

Val didn’t reply. Instead, she turned away to sit on the edge of the bed, facing away. With her boots in hand, she started slipping them on. Lynesia stood patiently waiting for Val to finish with her boots.

“Mind giving me a minute to get dressed?”

Val walked to the door. “Of course.”

It didn’t take long for Lynesia to walk into the living area. She was wearing thicker clothes than Val was.

“Ready?” she asked.

Val stood up, grabbing their coats off their hooks. “Ready when you are.”

The two of them made their way through The Weeping Wagon out into the cold air.

“Fuck, it’s even colder than yesterday.”

Val offered her hand to Lynesia, who happily interlaced her fingers with Val’s. Together, they started walking along the snow-dusted cobblestone streets. They didn’t talk all that much as they made their way toward Amarisse’s place. Mina lived near Amarisse, so she’d be the next stop. Cera lived a bit further in the opposite direction from their neighborhood, so they’d have to circle that way.

I really wish there were an easier way to communicate.

One by one, they stopped by each place. To Lynesia’s surprise, no one else had opened their scrolls either. It seemed the group as a whole valued the moment just as much as Val.

“You know,” she started as they walked together, “everyone looks up to you, Val.”

Val gently squeezed her hand. “What do you mean?”

Lynesia took a moment to find the words. “You’re central to this group. I can see it in their eyes when they look at you. Not only do they trust you, but they also value you. I think even others have picked up on it as well.”

“How so?”

Lynesia giggled. “Why do you think most people face you when talking to our group? You’re definitely the leader.”

Val looked down. “I don’t think I deserve that.”

“Why not? You fit perfectly.”

“Elza died, and we almost lost Mina, too,” Val said, sighing. “I really don’t think I deserve to be a leader after that.”

Lynesia stopped walking and stepped in front of Val. “Look at me.”

Val did so.

“What happened was out of your control. A good leader learns from something like that.” Lynesia cupped Val’s face. “We all trust you with our lives for a reason.”

The pep talk was sudden, but it helped. Even now, Val still worried about her ability to lead the group. Now they were about to take on the Ashen King.

“You’re right. I need to stop doubting myself if I’m going to lead us against the Ashen King.”

Lynesia smiled. “Good. Now, it’s about time for us to head to your parents.”

The cold continued to bite as they made their way to their home neighborhood. Val did well enough to visit every so often before. However, it’d been a few weeks since her last visit. It was likely her mother would chide her for taking so long to visit. Considering the career she was choosing, going a few weeks without visiting might have worried them. As they turned the corner onto Val’s street, they saw Maxwell walking ahead of them.

“Maxwell!” Lynesia yelled, pulling Val along.

Maxwell turned around, then smiled in relief. “It’s about time the two of you came by. We haven’t heard from either of you in weeks.” He pulled the two of them into a big hug as soon as they were close enough. “Outta beat your asses for making us worry.”

Val hugged back. “Sorry. It’s been getting busy around the guild. Surface jobs are drying up, so we’ve been in the dungeon a lot.”

He finally let them go. “Well, let’s hurry inside. If we’re lucky, Mom hasn’t started making dinner yet. She’ll want to go all out if the two of you are staying for dinner.” He paused. “You’re staying for dinner.”

The three of them started walking together. As they walked, Maxwell started asking questions.

“How are things?”

Val looked at Lynesia, then answered. “Dungeon has been rough, but fun. Our entire group recently took its first rank re-evaluations. We’re all meeting tomorrow at the guild to talk about our new ranks.”

Maxwell whistled. “Moving up in the world, are we?” He chuckled. “How about the two of you?”

Lynesia answered this time. “We’re good. It’s still worrying to watch Val get hit in the dungeon, but other than that, we’re good.”

Maxwell glanced over his shoulder at Val. “You’re not getting hurt too often, right? I’ll start adventuring to cover your ass if I need to.”

Val laughed. “Please don’t. It’s stressful enough worrying about my friends and Lynesia. I couldn’t imagine having to worry about my brother, too.”

He sighed. “Maybe you’d understand how it can be for us sometimes then.”

Val sighed. “I’m sorry I haven’t checked in more often. I’ll do better.”

They started ascending the small stairs to the front door.

“Good. Then how about trying to come by once a week, even for a little bit?” he asked, turning to her. “If not once a week, then no longer than two weeks at most, deal?” He held his hand out to her.

Val smirked, grabbing it and squeezing hard. “Deal.”

“Ow! Let go of my hand, you fucking beast!” he yelled, laughing.

Val grinned. “I’m definitely a beast, and Lynesia is my beauty.”

Maxwell and Lynesia shared a confused look.

“It’s a bad joke I heard while at Axeman’s Hall,” Val said, waving her hand. “Something about a beautiful woman able to see the good in a beast and still choosing to be with them or something like that.”

Lynesia giggled. “Sure, sure, whatever you say.”

Maxwell rolled his eyes. “You two are so weird.”

He opened the door, holding it for the two of them before following inside. One by one, they took off their shoes, trying to avoid getting too much snow and muck on the floor. Then Maxwell took their coats and put them in a small closet.

“We have guests!” he yelled, smiling.

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