Broken Lands

Chapter 347 – Return to the Night Market

When they finally did step out of the zone  the next morning after a good night’s rest in the Library of Monsters, they were met with a sight they didn’t expect: other people. The campsite that was abandoned when they came through the link the previous day held three tents and a campfire, along with a group of six people. One of the people was cooking breakfast.

Sophia didn’t recognize any of them.

“Mikka! What are you doing in the Maze? I thought for sure you’d be watching the dyleda tournament.” Xin’ri apparently did know at least one of them as she strode over to a woman with long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail that stretched down her back.

“Ehh,” Mikka looked up from the tent she was disassembling, then turned back to her task. “You know how it is, Xin’ri. Johan made a bet a couple days ago that he shouldn’t have; if we want to pay it off, we need the money, and this is better than betting we’ll win enough from bets on the tournament.” She raised her voice slightly. “Johan usually loses, anyway.”

“I do not!” the man cooking at the campfire shouted back. “This time was different, the match was rigged! The Iron Fist usually gets more kills than the rest of his team, and they never fight only one enemy!”

Mikka sighed. “It was announced as an exhibition fight against a single third upgrade enemy before you made your bet, Johan. Stop claiming it was rigged for something you already knew!”

Johan lifted his head from the pan and shouted back, “The Iron Fist should have gotten the kill! He did the most to the golem, and everyone knows golems aren’t hurt by arrows! There’s no way the Bronze Bow could snipe the kill without cheating!”

“And I don’t care!” Mikka screamed. “We’re out here trying to pay your debt because you can’t stop betting on the next sure thing! I’m tired of your shit! When we get back to town, I’m leaving your team. I don’t care if you’re a better fighter than I am, I can find another team or go home! It’s not worth this!”

Sophia glanced back and forth between the two, not certain what to do or if she should do anything at all. This was clearly an intra-party dispute and probably something that had festered for a long time, so it really wasn’t her place to say anything. She also didn’t know any of them. It certainly sounded like Mikka was fed up with Johan. Were they involved romantically as well as professionally? Sophia could believe that, but it was just as possible that they were only friends who delved together.

“If you need an escort out of here, or just some time to cool down, we can do that for you,” Xin’ri offered Mikka. It was clear that she didn’t have the same hesitation Sophia did. She also didn’t worry about volunteering her team’s help. 

Sophia didn’t mind, and she doubted any of the others did, either. If they needed to take a day to escort Mikka out of the Maze, they would. Taking her into the Night Market wasn’t a problem, either.

Mikka shook her head. “I shouldn’t. The zone holds plains zyrebeasts, and I’m the best at luring them in and preserving the valuable bits when we take them apart; Johan always ruins the hides.”

“So what?” Xin’ri didn’t sound sympathetic. “So it takes him a little longer to pay off his debt, who cares? Maybe it’ll teach him to only bet what he can afford to lose, even on a sure thing.” 

“Now look here, you can’t steal our team member!” One of the onlookers from the other team protested. He was large and well-muscled, with a very nice spear and armor that had obviously seen better days. 

“I’m not.” A hint of a smile peeked through Xin’ri’s masklike face as she glanced at the other man. “Or are you telling me that Mikka can’t make her own choices?”

“It’s fine, it’s just a few more days.” Mikka sounded almost defeated.

“That’s what you said last time. And the time before that,” Xin’ri declared. “You said you were going to leave the team a week ago. What happened?”

Mikka sighed and closed her eyes. “They just needed my help for one more time because of Johan’s bet, it’s not a big deal.”

Xin’ri nodded slightly twice, then glared at the man whose name Sophia didn’t know. “And exactly how much are you paying Mikka for her help, Niklaus?”

Niklaus snorted. “We’re all on a team. She gets her cut, same as anyone else.”

“After Johan’s gambling is taken out, I see. And what else? How much does it come to?” Xin’ri didn’t relent.

“A roof over her head, food to eat, and her gear taken care of. Just like all of us,” Niklaus answered. “Now go away. I don’t care where you go, but go away.”

“Two-year-old battered armor without any enchantments and a marginally enchanted skinning knife. Am I wrong, Mikka?” Xin’ri gave her a critical look. “I don’t see anything else. What gear?”

“It’s all I need,” Mikka protested.

Xin’ri sighed. “Maybe, but it’s not all you deserve. I know delving the Maze is tough and expensive, but that doesn’t mean channeling everything you make into Johan’s dream of winning the big score is working. It isn’t. Okay, maybe stepping away means you don’t get part of it if he does win a huge bet, but you know what I think? I think he’d end up spending it all on more bets. Isn’t that what happened last time?”

“Girl, you need to leave,” Niklaus told Xin’ri. “I know you’re all fancy with your Arena getup, but that doesn’t mean you know how the Maze works. It’s time for you to leave.”

Xin’ri tilted her head, then nodded. “All right. I’ve said what I need to say. Mikka, you’re welcome to come with us. The rest of your team isn’t. They should be fully capable of getting themselves out or hunting for themselves if that’s what they want to do. I assume the twins are with you, too?”

Mikka nodded. “They’re still asleep, they never wake up until breakfast is ready.”

Xin’ri nodded. “That’s enough, then. Sophia, please use the token. Let’s get moving. I’d rather not linger here.”

Sophia bit her lip but followed Xin’ri’s instructions. She hoped the other woman knew what she was doing.

Mikka did not come through the link-gate with them. Instead, Xin’ri asked Jax and Dav to stay at the entrance while Sophia and Ci’an went to find the Eidolon and Xin’ri went shopping. Xin’ri thought there was a decent chance that Mikka would come through the link-gate, but that wasn’t enough of a reason to delay the questions Sophia and Ci’an had for the Eidolon.

The Night Market was just as breathtaking as the first time they visited, with colorful lights and displays filled with magic nearby and a brightly-lit almost neon magical city in the distance.

They’d entered from a different location this time; that wasn’t a surprise, since they didn’t ride the floating cloud to the ground, but it was still nice. This time, they seemed to have entered through the exact same link-gate they’d used to exit the last time. Sophia was happy about that; it made it fast and easy to find the Eidolon. She’d just go to where they talked last time.

It was only about five minutes’ walk before Sophia could see the Eidolon already waiting for her. She was seated in a chair that looked just as sketched out of light as she was. What Sophia could see if it made Sophia wonder if “chair” was even the right word; it was really more like a recliner or lounge chair. Well, that was still a chair, wasn’t it? It was just a specific type.

Sophia pushed the inanity out of her mind as she went over to greet the Eidolon. 

“It’s good to see you return,” the Eidolon spoke before Sophia could. “I assume you haven’t managed to repair your Tower yet?”

Sophia shook her head. “No, but we found a Hub. The Library of Monsters. It’s … well, it has a lot of books but it says it wants a Librarian, and … we’re worried that if we bring a Professional to help, she’ll get stuck like you are.”

The Eidolon shook her head. “I’m not stuck here. Well, my original isn’t. That’s not how the Towers work. You’re right to guess that this was a Hub, though. The Night Markets are one of the possible additions to the City of Stars. Hm. Interesting; I was able to say that. I expected the Guide to stop me.”

“Why would it stop you?” Sophia couldn’t think of any reason to stop the information the Eidolon had given them so far. It wasn’t particularly helpful.

“People like me, copies, can’t talk about certain parts of the Tower with people who haven’t been there yet,” the Eidolon explained. “I doubt you have been to the City of Stars yet; if nothing else, the Library of Monsters sounds like it might be another annex, even though I don’t know that one. Actually, now that I think about it, that might be the reason; two annexes of the City of Stars, one of which is still a buildable Hub, may be enough to qualify. Unless you’ve been to others?”

“I’m not sure.” Sophia described as many of the places she’d been in the Maze as she could remember. There were a lot of them; she’d been to quite a few after they started their one and two-day Maze trips as a group. She probably missed some, but she was pretty sure she’d at least covered all of the ones that could belong to a city. In the end, the Eidolon shook her head; none of them sounded like part of the City of Stars to her. 

Sophia stretched and looked around, then realized that Jax and Dav were sitting only a little ways away. Had she really been talking for long enough that they were sure none of the other group was coming through?

That thought was silently answered when she noticed that Mikka was sitting a little ways away from Jax. Well, sitting might imply that she was relaxed; she wasn’t. Mikka had pulled her knees up against her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, with her feet flat on the ground in front of her. It looked tremendously uncomfortable to Sophia, but Mikka didn’t look like she thought her posture was unusual.

“You said the City of Stars is a hub. That’s great, but what does that really mean? What’s a hub, and how did you get stuck in a piece of one?” Ci’an directed the conversation back to the questions she cared about while Sophia was distracted.

The Eidolon sighed and shook her head. “Again, I’m not stuck. This copy of me is only active when someone is in my zone, and my original will receive only the memories I choose to send her. This is something I chose to do when I took on the mantle of a Court. I chose to make it a Night Market, for those best match what I wanted to do with it. I suppose that’s the best way to start, since my Court was a Hub when I first found it; I had to claim the Hub and choose its direction. That’s how Hubs work; they give options based on their starting point and their limitations. You figure out what you want out of it and develop the Hub in that direction. They’re a lot like similar places outside the Tower, but the Tower simplifies things and allows options that aren’t really possible otherwise.”