Terms and Conditions

Chapter 09

The magical swirls of Love or Nothing moved around me and Manny as we logged in after dinner, but something was different. The bright hues normally within the sky were darker, streaked with grey instead of pink.

"So, are you going to tell me the rest of the story about meeting this guy in person?" Manny walked forward but he faced me, his back to the sky. While he focused on my afternoon incident, I stared at the clouds. "Was he the same or what?"

I was stuck on the game, and because of it, I ignored his question. Not on purpose, but I was confused. Love or Nothing was supposed to be cute. Calming. Peaceful. Not grey. Nothing dark.

"Chari, are you—"

"Forget Luis. Can you look behind you please?" I gulped and put my hands on Manny's shoulders to make him turn around. He stopped talking when we reached the center of the town's square. The market stalls, which were normally open and ready for player services, were shut. There wasn't a single in-game NPC lingering around. Not even Anna One.

"Wait, why is this different?" Manny approached one of the stalls. He glanced back at me, lifting the tarp high to peek inside of it. "Are we missing something?"

Other players logged in. I could see their names and levels appear around town. Some approached the town's market square, like we'd done. Others stayed near the buildings, bordering the stalls like a ceremonial circle. With so many mages and warlocks logged into the game, seeing the way they surrounded us was... creepy.

Can y'all come here and be curious, please?

"I don't know." I thought back to the last few quests I'd completed. Every detail was shared with Luis and me. And when each quest ended, clues for the next quest appeared in our inbox. I scrolled through my messages to see if there was anything I might've missed, but nothing hinted at some brewing storm affecting all players. If I read it correctly, our next quest should've been something fitting for both of our characters.

Wasn't sure how a Thief and a Mage have a quest befitting both, but that was the message. And unless Luis received something different and didn't tell me; he could have mentioned it during his whole coffee thing. Wouldn't this be more important?

I wouldn't put that past him. I glanced at Manny and the other players approaching. And where was that jerk anyway?

"Chari!"

I heard my name, turned towards the voice, then rolled my eyes. Speak of the Devil.

Luis hurried in our direction as he glanced up at the sky. Judging by the look on his face, he was just as confused as we were. "Why does it look like this?" he asked, glancing at me and Manny for an answer. "Was there something we missed?"

Oh, so he doesn't know either.

I shrugged, unsure of how to answer him.

He stood next to me. So close, I heard his deep breath. "Whatever it is... we'll be all right. I can think of a plan."

Sure, dude. I scrunched my lips up to my nose, side-eyeing him. Sure.

"You know what I think this is?" Manny moved away from the stall and stood on the other side of me. "It's an event."

"Okay?" My cousin pulled my attention, and I looked at him. "Like a full game event? That's cool. Normally we'd get a notice, and everyone can prepare." My fingers nervously spread at my sides as I eyed the curious players. Some of them whispered amongst each other. Others pointed at the sky. "But it looks to me like no one knows what the hell is going on."

Luis crossed his arms. "She's got a point."

Thunder sounded above us. Light slashed across the sky. A roaring wind blew into town, pushing my curls onto my face. With a gasp, I moved hair out of my mouth and held it down against my ears.