End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2), John Gold [ebook reader online txt] 📗

I pull up my map to find the best way home.

“That’s strange.”

“What’s strange, Sagie? The job’s done, you got your money.”

“No, not that. The rings I have for my parents are pointing to the west, though Fang Island is northwest of here. I even checked my compass just to make sure.”

“Well, let’s go see what happened. Your rings say they’re still alive, so don’t worry.”

A pensive feeling starts eating away at me. All I can think about are my parents, and I pray that they’re still okay. My prayers, however, are whispered aloud, something I do involuntarily and to Femida’s dismay. She knows me better than I know myself. My head is buzzing, and I feel like I’m going crazy.

***

Fiji logged out of the game and jumped into the shower. Most of her abilities only worked in the game, in the med capsule, so she had a hard time even sitting still and thinking deeply in real life.

Her favorite raspberry pie was waiting for her in the kitchen, her mom’s signature dish. Figiraldina’s parents were ordinary servants in Lunar, though all her grandparents were among the honored citizens who founded the nation. Her father and his children inherited their abilities from the grandfather on that side, Miguel Elmaro. Nobody knew where he actually was; he didn’t talk with the family. Her brothers also lived separately, though they still maintained close relationships with the family. They were trying to get farther than the Crossroads of Worlds.

When her mother got home, Fiji couldn’t wait to tell her about the quest she’d completed.

“Mom, I can’t get enough of all the zeros in my bank account.”

“What are you going to do with the money?”

“I’ll give you four million. Father’s better at finances that I am, and he’ll use them better and for the good of the family. I’ll keep the rest for pocket change.”

“You don’t think that’s a lot? Half a million credits for pocket change?”

“I earned the money myself!” Fiji’s hands went to her waist as her chin jutted out proudly. “I need to learn how to spend and have money. Basically, I’ll be figuring out what kind of life I want.”

Her mother shook her head.

“Just like your brothers. Exactly the same opinions and reasoning. How’s your chosen one?”

Fiji frowned.

“He has problems with his parents again. The worst part is that he’s getting too wrapped up in it. He’s muttering out loud already, and it hasn’t even been a day.”

“If he really is a genius, that’s normal. He’s consciously avoiding external stimuli so he can think.”

“That’s just the problem.” Fiji raised both index fingers at once. “I think he has several streams of consciousness, and they’re all focused on his parents right now. He could drive himself crazy with worry. That’s possible, even if it’s unlikely, and I really would prefer that it didn’t happen. It’s only been eight months since we met. I’m up almost 600 levels and nine million credits. Sagie has grown quite a bit, too, but he doesn’t have his sights set very high. I know the Project Chrysalis rules, so I haven’t said anything.”

The mother looked at the daughter, barely out of diapers and already thinking like an adult. Still, her face said that she needed more life experience.

“Fiji, you’re an exception to the rules. Sagie is younger than you, and he hasn’t come to think about strength and goals the way you have.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. He could get too tied to the world and not want to keep moving forward. At worst, he’s as smart as I am; at best, he’s smarter. I wouldn’t be able to trick him, and convincing him is going to be hard.”

The Elmaro family worked in the department that developed strategic plans for the colonies in neighboring states. Its two dozen employees worked behind the scenes to push them forward.

In comparison to Miguel, the grandfather, the father and brothers had inherited the crumbs that fell from the table of his abilities. Fem inherited them, too, but there was no comparison to be made until she reached the Crossroads of Worlds.

One thing was for sure. Fiji had inherited her grandfather’s most important quality: his ability to wait for the right moment.

***

We’re running across the water to Fang Island. All the monsters we come across get blitzed - lightning, a leap, dissection, finish them off, grab the loot, keep running. It’s our third day. Another week at this rate, and we’ll be home.

I’ve started sleeping poorly in real life. First, I couldn’t fall asleep, and then I started having nightmares. Nosebleeds have started, too. I spend eighteen hours a day in Project Chrysalis, doing my best to get home as fast as I can.

Our path takes us through the Sea of Winds and a small corner of the Sea of Madness. We’re mostly left alone, the aura of death is missing from the Sea of Madness, and the monsters there behave themselves. The two schools of predatory flying fish don’t count. Our food is running out, and we buy drinking water from one of the ships we come across on three separate occasions. I’m tired of eating raw fish and meat, but I haven’t cared what food tastes like since the second day.

We get to the island on the ninth day and head straight to my parents’ hut. Nobody’s there, though we find a note on the table.

***

Rachel’s group found Sagie’s parents on one of the islands in the Godless Lands and were on their way back to Castle Airis with them. The previous month had been spent checking all the floating cities, where nobody had wanted anything to do with her. It wasn’t just that they weren’t fans of saints there; they hated and drove them out.