he wouldn’t organize one, no matter how much we told him to. I didn’t even think of going until he told me not to bother thinking about it because it wasn’t my place. Then…I lost my temper.”
Justin laughed. “You did it because he told you to stay out of it?”
“Not only because of that!” Zaara protested. “I knew how to wield daggers and cast some spells. I thought I would go to East Newbrook and wait for all the other adventurers to arrive. I would convince them to wait until we had enough numbers, and then we’d go. Plus, I assumed if I went, my father might send more people.” She sighed. “I guess he still thinks one person can fix this. Either that or he doesn’t care if I come back.”
“I know how that goes,” he said quietly.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Did you run away, too?”
“Not…exactly.” He tried to think about how he could explain his circumstances. “I’m far from home right now, and I’m not sure if my parents want me to come back.” He swallowed. “I wasn’t the son they wanted. I would play games with my friends. In the tavern, I would talk to people from all over the world. I heard amazing stories. I learned to trust people with my life, and each of them taught me something. My parents wanted me to have a trade, though.”
“It’s hard,” Zaara said, “when your parents want one specific thing for you. They block your chance to do anything else and then what are you supposed to do? I don’t want to marry a lord. I like East Newbrook and don’t want to wear uncomfortable dresses and embroider all day.”
“I don’t want to argue cases in court,” Justin agreed and sighed. He couldn’t say he’d gotten very far with his choices, though. “Would you change anything? Now that you know how it ends?”
“It’s not over yet, adventurer.” Her voice was gentle. She considered his question. “But…yes. I think I would change one thing. I never said goodbye to my father. I wish I had.” She looked down, silent as the carriage jounced down the road.
He was trying to think of something comforting to say when his wrist vibrated.
“What’s that?” Zaara asked.
“It’s my magical apple watch,” he told her. “Uh—never mind. Look, can you feel the medallion on my wrist?”
“I think…yes. The circular one?”
“Yes.” He stretched his wrist as far to the side as he could.
“Ow—ow! My shoulder doesn’t bend like that.”
“It’s only for a moment,” he promised her. He tilted his wrist so he would be able to see the message, then asked her, “Could you press the jewel in the center?”
“Does this get us out of our ropes?” Zaara asked in a hopeful whisper.
“If it did, we wouldn’t still be tied together. No, it’s…I’ll explain later. Just press it.”
She did, and the rest of the world froze as a blank white screen came up. He stared as script popped up. It wasn’t the handwritten script he had grown accustomed to in this world but instead, the very regular typeface of a computer.
Justin, the note read. I don’t know how much time has passed in the game. Dr. DuBois says it’s not very much. We miss you, though.
I want to apologize to you. I don’t think I ever told you what Mary’s father said to me when I was eighteen. He said I would kick myself forever if I realized I hadn’t been the man I could be. I hadn’t had any focus in life before that. I only cared about shooting pool and drinking beers with my friends, but that comment made me shape up.
Justin sighed. While he hadn’t heard that particular story, he’d heard versions of it. He didn’t expect much from the rest of this letter.
It has been difficult to watch you sitting around, playing games. I wanted you to succeed and live up to your potential. It has taken this experience to make me see that you always were. I have listened to Dr. DuBois speaking about how these games work, how you can be a hero by creating a team around you and learning new skills. I think of how I heard you laughing when you played the games or of how you used to tell your mother about the stories you came up with for your games with friends.
Your video games aren’t like me playing pool. I always thought I wanted you to grow up and achieve your potential,