New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"Yes, let's," Alex groaned.

"Here, let me start the conversation. Why did you have someone try to kill Randall West's family? And why have him kidnapped?" Alex asked, sounding angry.

The woman's smile wavered a bit at his rudeness, but it didn't last.

"How about we start with introductions?" she asked, trying to keep civilized.

Alex scoffed.

"Why? You seem so hellbent on getting rid of us. I'm considering getting rid of you as well, especially after the threat your muscle just did to my woman," he glared.

The woman raised her hands in a gauge of peace.

"Please. I wish not the death of anyone present. You have to excuse Maria. She is quite protective of me and goes from zero to a hundred in seconds. You know how that is, I'm sure. Can't we start on a neutral foot here?"

Kary looked her in the eye, trying to see if she was deceiving them, but the woman looked sincere.

Alex wasn't inclined to believe her, given his already established impression of her, but when he saw Kary extinguish her flames, he sighed loudly.

"Fine… Introductions it is. You start."

The woman smiled wider, nodding her head.

"Why, of course! It would be quite rude of me to ask your names without telling you mine, now, wouldn't it?" she said, as the woman to her left, Maria, groaned.

"My name is Amara, Amara Rossi, head of the Rossi family. To my left is my second in command, Maria Lombardi, and to my right is our current strongest awakened, Carla Pesci."

She looked almost proud of announcing that her underlings were her strongest assets, and Alex wondered why that was.

'Is she not scared that I'll take out her entire family right here, right now?'

Alex and Kary stared at the three women before them, as the latter looked at them, expecting them to introduce themselves as well.

"Seems you don't trust us enough to tell us your names. Well, it doesn't matter. I already know them," Amara said, smiling at them.

"Alexander Leduc, known inside the game as Astaroth, king of Stellar Woodlands, powerful fighter, as well as caster. Your class is Soulmancer, and you were seen with at least four different summons and multiple more forms of fusing.

"As for you, my fiery friend, I also know a lot about you. Kary Deveille, a top-rated Esports player, as well as a Pyromancer in almost all the games you've played in the past. A tendency for fire, I assume? But I digress.

"Queen of Stellar Woodlands, as you stand by the side of your lover, and mark yourselves as the most prominent power-couple in New Eden, and meet every challenge with gusto, and wipe out your would be enemies ruthlessly.

"Although you established your kingdom just before the game went into its first update, and the timeline within New Eden jumped a decade, you came back, and it was still standing, having experienced meteoric growth.

"Your kingdom is now part of the most popular and wealthy cities in New Eden, winning you a spot in the alliance, and cementing your place as the most powerful guild in one fell swoop. Am I missing something? Stop me when I'm wrong," the woman smirked, as she aired their progression like it was public knowledge.

Alex looked at her with increased wariness as he cracked a joke.

"What are you? Are you a fan or something? You've been following our steps since the start of the game."

Amara looked at him, her smile returning.

"You could say I'm a fan of sorts—a fan of what you will do for humanity. But that is beside the point, and we can get to it later. For now, I'm more curious as to why you came here alone with Ms. Deveille instead of coming with your current backer, Jack Boudreau."

Alex's blood froze for an instant when she mentioned what he did for humanity.

'Does she know? No. That's not possible.'

"Since I exposed your classes, let me tell you ours. It's only a fair trade, right?" Amara said, waving her hand at Maria.

"Maria, if you could start with yours?"

The woman low growled at Alex and Kary, but nodded her head.

"Assassin," she bluntly replied.

Amara turned her head to her right, and the other woman smiled, looking at Kary.

"I'm a mage specializing in defensive magic."

This left only Amara's class for them to find out.

Looking at the woman in the middle, Alex read the essence of her mana, but couldn't figure out what it was. It was the first time he had seen mana that felt like this to him.

"I guess that leaves just mine. Well, it's not relevant to the conversation right now, so let's shelve it for later. First, we can talk about your accusations; what do you think, Mr. Leduc?" she asked, smiling at him.

Alex wasn't happy about being left to dry like this and almost popped a fuse. But Kary's hand dropped on his thigh, as she shook her head no.

"I don't need to wait. I figured out what class you are already," Kary declared, locking eyes with Amara.

"Oh?" Amara said, looking surprised.

"You're some kind of Seer, aren't you?"

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly, before she went back to her warm smile.

"What makes you think this, Ms. Deveille?"

Kary scoffed.

"Many things point to it, actually. I don't know if you thought you were hiding your game well, but you've been giving pointers all this time. The first one being the car up front."

Amara suddenly became serious.

"Would you care to elaborate on what pointers you think I left, Ms. Deveille?" she asked, her tone cold.

"Sure," Kary said, smirking.

"The first was the car. How could you know Alex would come for you if you hadn't seen it happen already? I don't believe you could know he marked the car. You're not a mage powerful enough. Maybe she, but not you," Kary said, pointing at Carla.

Amara's eye twitched at being called a weak mage. It wasn't a wrong statement, per se, but it still pissed her off to be downplayed like this.

"The second one was the fact you knew we would figure out your invitation before getting here. You set up all your men to guard up front, but you waited for us in the back. Who else than a seer would know where we would choose to land?"

Amara smiled again.

"Maybe I'm just good at predicting what goes on in your mind," she said, in an almost mocking tone.

Kary smirked before firing a firebolt at the woman, which shattered on a shield, the embers disappearing before they hit the ground.

Amara twitched when the firebolt landed, fear flashing in her eyes ever so briefly.

"See? I predicted you would do that. I was already shielded."

Kary scoffed again.

"Please. Don't kid yourself, woman. You've been shielded since before we got here. You didn't know I would attack you, because you haven't seen the entirety of this meeting. I'm guessing you get visions, bits and pieces. You were scared that this would go south, and you've had her protect you all this time.

"This brings me to my third pointer. You said you are a fan of what he does for humanity. Although Alex wants to do what he can, he hasn't done anything for humanity yet, which means you knew he would become someone who helps us in the future.

"You've either seen what happens and know he changes things, or you've seen what he becomes way ahead of time. Did I get anything wrong?" Kary mocked.

Amara looked at her warily. She'd rarely been laid bare like this in her life.

"So you really don't think I could have predicted your actions?" she asked, slightly annoyed at how Kary downplayed her intelligence.

"I highly doubt it. You seem smart; I won't deny it. But you seem less of a planer, like me, and more of an impulsive person, like him. Am I wrong?" Kary asked, narrowing her eyes.

Amara sighed loudly.

"Very impressive. I would expect nothing less from the one who helps keep humanity a step ahead, Ms. Deveille. You were almost right on the class name. As for the rest of your statements, they are mostly correct.

"Aside from the one where you said I feared you, that is wrong. I don't fear either of you. I've seen when I die, and it's not here—not now. My class, Oracle, has allowed me to peer in time enough times to know what's changed and what hasn't.

"And you put a wrench in my plans when you kept me from getting my hands on Mr. West. But we can get to that in a moment. For now, I have a question for both of you."

Alex looked at her, feeling her animosity rise inside her.

"Will you drop the idea of fighting? Or will I have to watch this garden burn, as you battle with my lieutenants?" she asked, her eyes ice cold.

'So she's seen multiple instances of this meeting…' Alex thought.

Alex looked at her with intensity.

"Depends. Did you order to have a family murdered?" he asked, his gaze steady and devoid of fear.

Amara locked eyes with him, before sighing as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"I did not. That was a mistake in communications, and the ears of a young, violent man, hearing what he wanted to hear. I fail to see how murdering the family of a man would get him to work for me, don't you?"