Getting Phyll'd In

As I stared at the distant corpse, the marina's silence was deafening. I was in disbelief that it was done, but no matter how long I eyed the creature, it wouldn't move. It was dead. We had done the impossible. We had killed a dragon.

“Iz!” Aesandoral shouted, drawing my attention back to the world beneath me.

I could see her approaching from across the sand. Hobbling as fast as she could over the dunes towards me, she was extending an arm in my direction. 

“Brace yourself! My magic! The vines! They're—”

The plants that bound me quickly decomposed as her magic depleted, and I began to fall towards the ground. Catching myself on the protruding rocks of the wall, I slowed my plummet but ultimately collided with the archer as she tried to catch me. I tumbled into her open arms as she did her best to catch me as though I were a princess, a sweet yet unrealistic gesture.

“Ouf!” She gasped, holding my weight for all of a second before we both collapsed to the ground.

I expected groans as our injured bodies pressed together, but instead, she began to giggle exhaustedly. Aesandoral's body shook as she wrapped her arms around me, allowing the laughs to take her.

“We-We did it!” She cried out.

“Yeah—” I huffed, reaching for my bag for a healing potion as she buried her head into my shoulder. “Yeah, we did.”

Tears began to flow as chuckles turned to sobs, and she began crying into my chest. Aesandoral's heavy weeping mirrored her laughter before she finally fell limp to the sand, cheering loudly.

“We’re alive!”

“Obviously,” Sharzin added as she approached us with potions in her clenched fists. “All according to—tch—plan.”

The rogue winced as she uncorked one of the elixirs and drank it. Finishing my own bottle, relieved that the magical healing had finally taken effect and closed the wounds, I grabbed at Sharzin and pulled her onto our dogpile with a laugh. I felt my own tears forming in the corner of my eyes as joy and appreciation overwhelmed me.

“Thank you,” I whispered to them as I wrestled with my own emotions and hugged their bodies tightly. “Thank you both so much for not letting me die.”

“Of course, dummy,” Sharzin remarked, pushing herself from us and jumping back to her feet before brushing off her clothes. “Like I told you. I prefer you getting punched over Aes.”

“Gee, thanks—"

“Did you guys see that!” Rionriv yelled excitedly as she came running up to us. “That dragon is so done!”

“I did, Ri,” I responded proudly, my tearful smile flashing her way. “I saw the whole thing! You were amazing! Tens. Tens. Tens across the board.”

Rionriv's smile quickly faded as she looked to the ground, examining mine and Aesandoral's tearful expressions. She then glanced at Sharzin and back again before placing a hand on her hips.

“You all look like crap!”

"Yeah?" I remarked with a sniffle, uncorking another bottle of potion and chugging it. "Well, it's a vibe, 'kay?"

"A what?"

Chuckling loudly, I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. With the dragon dead and the final level cleared, we had officially finished the dungeon. Nothing else was coming to get us, so we could take as much time as we needed to recover. And time we took, enjoying a well-deserved break to chat, enjoy potions and leftover rations as the adrenaline of nearly dying wore off. 

Eventually, with our stamina returned to us, it was time for the next and final task of our quest. It was time to loot the dragon's horde. Casually making our way towards the small central island where I had seen the creature resting the night before, we did our best to contain the overwhelming excitement of what riches awaited us. And what we saw was no small pile of coins, weapons, gems, and artwork. 

“Well—” I remarked, looking at the mound of riches that the beast had collected over its short few decades of life. “Better clean this all up and get to travelling home. Let’s just scoop everything into the bags, and we’ll sort things out when we return to Dwindlefyre.”

"Oh, Mister calm and collected all of a sudden!" Rionriv yelled out as she gave my shoulder a shove. "You were gushing last night about the cool items you looted on the last level, and now, you're all 'just scoop it up?' Look at all this! We're rich!"

I felt a handful of coins hit my chest, drawing my attention down to Sharzin, who playfully flung the money at me. The groundling smiled as she fell back into the money and poured handfuls of coins over her.

"Yeah, Iz." The rogue spoke up from her growing money mound. "Don't be such a loser! We just killed a dragon and got its horde! You can be excited."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," I replied, tossing a handful of precious gemstones towards Sharzin's pile. "I'm very excited. It's just that I'm coated in blood, bile, dirt, sweat and God-knows-what else. So I'm really looking forward to a bath."

Suddenly, there was a collective hum as the three nodded in agreement before we all got to work clearing out the gold, silver, and copper coins. Setting aside magical items and potions, we split them evenly amongst each other's bags without examining them too closely. That was before I stumbled upon a particularly rare and unusual arcane item that sent my heart racing.

“Oh, no way!” I announced, picking up the finely polished Esserian Oak receiver of a magical weapon from the Age of Mortals.

The device was an arcane firearm that looked remarkably similar to a World Eighty-Two submachine gun. The only real difference was that the weapon I held in my hands didn’t fire bullets. Instead, it quickly shot darts of magical energy converted from the wielder's supply. And because this weapon could take a small amount of magic and make it go a long way, so long as the user had magic in their veins, the supply of ammunition was nearly limitless. This was why it was the armament of choice for the city guards of the ancient city of Westerriton. 

It also meant that this surprisingly brand new-looking arcane firearm was well over three thousand years old.

“Oooh,” Rionriv blurted as she caught sight of the item. “That looks neat.”

I looked at the weapon before glancing at Rionriv. With a smile, I waved the arcane firearm.

“Here, for when you’re conserving magic.”

Tossing it to her, she took it into her grasp and inspected it curiously.

“But I saw the way you looked at it. Why don’t you keep it?”

“You killed the boss,” I said with a playful wink. “You get first dibs. Anyways, there will be more eventually.”

Rionriv stared at the gun, and I watched as her eyes lit up while she inspected the magical firearm. Her gaze lifted, locking eyes with mine for a moment as a gentle smile crossed her lips. And, even though it was for only a second, I could have sworn I saw the faint shift of colour on her cheeks.

“Iz, I found something weird!” Aesandoral announced, having finished clearing her corner of the horde and drawing my attention away from her blushing sister.

"Yeah?" I replied before stepping over a mound of bejewelled ceremonial daggers and thirtieth-century artwork to approach the archer. "What's up, Aes?"

She stood in a relaxed stance away from the island, scratching at her head with one hand while directing my attention with another. Approaching her side, I quickly examined the edge of the rocky island where her search had turned up a submerged cave opening. Long since covered by dunes, it became apparent that there was another—unknown—layer to this dungeon.

“Hey, Ri—” I spoke, looking towards the approaching sorceress who waved a hand at me.

“On it.” She announced, stepping forward and summoning the wind with a snap of her fingers.

A small dust devil formed as sand was drawn out from the sunken mouth of the hollowed-out island, revealing ancient text etched over the entrance. Leaning in, I eyed the weathered relief, gently touching at the faint design for a moment before realizing what I was looking at.

CXXIV. I thought, my head twisting to the side as it dawned on me. Wait, this is one of Phyllis’ old shoppes.

“Yes, it is.” Phyllis’s voice echoed in the back of my mind. “What a coincidence—how wonderful that you found that for me.”

“Phyllis?!” I yelped, looking around. “How did you know we found your shop?”

“Don’t you remember? As per the Ninety-Nine-Z contract, I can look through your eyes whenever I want. So, it was dinner time, and my favourite show was on—”

I sighed, pinching my eyes closed. Forcefully rubbing them, I wondered how I had forgotten about that clause in the contract. And then I questioned how many more times she had spied on me, specifically, how many of those times had been while I was naked or enjoying 'me' time.

“Uh oh, bad connection. Hey! Stop doing what you’re doing.”

“So, Phyllis," I grumbled. "Anything we can use to reactivate this place?”

“I’m soooo glad you asked,” She replied delightfully, which was a telltale sign that this had been her goal since the beginning. “Just put one of those shimmer crystals you lifted from the bandit boob into the skull's eye—you'll know which one. Then, hit it with a few spells. I’ll send a proper soul gem through once the lights turn on.”

"Mmm, 'kay." I sighed as I turned to face the triop, who I suddenly realized had been staring at me the whole time

“What’s up?” Aesandoral asked with a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Phyllis," I grumbled, pointing down at the cave entrance. "We're not quite done yet. Do you still have some magic left in your tank, Ri?"

"I don't know what that means, but yeah, I can cast a few more offensive spells." She responded, tilted her head to the side. "Why? What does that lich want us to do? Do we have more combat?"

"No. No. No, combat..."

I explained to the group that the uncovered entrance was, in fact, an ancient Phyllis shop that she had wanted us to reactivate. After a quick discussion where I explained the situation and our responsibilities, we entered the cave together and were instantly transported to a small, rundown shoppe. Sand had covered much of the floor, and shelves that had once been lined with goods now stood bare and broken. Above us, a faint glimmer of sunlight from nowhere gave the illusion that a hole had been made in the roof, even though no such issue existed in this extradimensional space.

Navigating my way through the rubble to the corner of the shop, I discovered a skull the size of Sharzin half-covered in sand. I immediately knew that this was what we were looking for. After all, every shoppe had one of these ‘Phiner Phylacteries’ present to maintain their respective Phyllis fragment. Approaching the giant skull, I withdrew it from the sand and immediately noticed that one of the two gemstone eyesockets was vacant, with the original soul stone long since used up.

Since Phyllis hadn't given the most thorough instructions, I winged the in-shoppe repairs by jamming a shimmer crystal into the socket and instructing Rionriv to channel her electricity into it. Luckily, it only took a minute of repeated electrocution for the gem to begin to glow. With that, for the briefest moment, a long curtain appeared at the rear of the store. It flickered into existence before catching a gentle wind and vanishing a second later. Moving closer to investigate, Aesandoral returned with a glowing jawbreaker-sized gem meant to be slipped into the eye socket.

I took hold of the gem, taking a moment to stare at its slimy exterior and smell the faintly foul odour that wafted from within. With a glance at the surface, I couldn't help but wonder if this soul had been a recent addition to Phyllis's collection. After all, only the most evil souls were used to power the ancient phylacteries, and those who racked up a bill with no intent of paying the lich back deserved a special kind of hell, in her opinion. But that was a question I would have to save for her some other day.

So, making quick work of the phylactery by swapping in the gem and cleaning the remaining dust and sand from it, I watched as the new eye began to glow. An ominous red light radiated from the skull as it floated into the corner of the ceiling before the curtain reappeared, and out came Phyllis.

“Oh, wonderful.” She exclaimed delightfully as she looked around the space. “Uhhgg-uh! Phyllis-One-Twenty-Four really left this place in a disgusting state. Shame—Anyways.”

Snapping her fingers, the shoppe began to restore itself as magical buckets and brooms came in through the veil and went off to work cleaning. As for Phyllis, she set herself up behind the cash register and huffed.

“Great job, children. Thank you for reopening this store. It will be extremely useful in the future. As a reward, everyone gets Solstice Bonuses!"

She smirked, placing a hand to her chin before continuing. 

“Wow, Phyllis, you’re amazing," Phyllis spoke, waving her free hand as though it was nothing. "Yes. I know. And that’s not all, everyone! I’m willing to buy everything you found at market value! Now, are there any items you would like to sell to help me restock these shelves before the next dolt—erm, adventurer—stops by?”

Without question, we began to dump out all the loot we weren’t planning on gifting or keeping. Taking up multiple tables provided by the lich, we sorted through weapons, potions, tools and armour. There was more than we could have imagined collecting, making me wonder if we had gone overkill with our looting strategy. It seemed that every time we filled the tables and began lining the checkout counter, more items emerged from someone's bag. 

By the time we were done with the resale of the loot alone, our party had earned over ten thousand gold coins. This excluded the almost nine thousand gold coins worth of loose currency we found across every level, which was also more than I had been expecting. All in all, after receiving the bonus from Phyllis, each member of the triop, myself included, walked away from our dungeon dive with over five thousand gold coins in our individual purses.

“We’re rich!” The girls screamed excitedly as they looked at the spoils of their hard work.

"This is so much better than a typical school quest." Aesandoral squealed as she fondled the big bag of money before her.

"You see—" I began, only to have Rionriv cut in.

"We're still going to school and graduating, Iz."

Holding up my hands, not wanting to argue with the sorceress, I watched from the side as the triop jumped for joy together. Even with extra money in my pocket, the sight of their happiness was a reward in itself and one I found particularly adorable. But thanks to the restoration of Phyllis' shoppe, I knew the money wouldn’t be the only thing they would be excited about. Remaining secretive about the next reward, I sent the group back up the elevator to gather their pets as I waited with Phyllis.

"Fantastic work, my little jujube," Phyllis spoke up at one point. "You really came through."

"Was that Bully?" I demanded, turning to face her.

"Whatever do you mean?"

Pointing to the phlactery, I narrowed my gaze and continued.

"The disgusting gemstone. Was that Bully the Kid's soul? I know you've been dealing with him. How else would he have been a silence caster?

"You caught me! Mwahahaha—" She chuckled maniacally as she approached the skull. "Yes, he owed me quite a bit of money and was in default. A true degenerate with no interest in repaying. Therefore, I needed to make sure I reposessed that soul."

"You could have just asked me, you know? And then maybe you could have given us some information about the dragon."

"But where's the fun in that?!"

"I almost died, Phyllis! Where would the fun have been in that?!

"Meh! That was just some character building. Trust me, the test audience requested it."

"What?! What are you even talking about?"

"Mwahahahaha—you'll never know!"

Phyllis and I continued to yell at each other for a while after that as we waited for the triop to return. Finally, after gathering up the menagerie of beasts upstairs and bringing them back into the cozy shop, we were ready. With a pull of the curtain, Phyllis allowed us to venture beyond where we found ourselves standing directly across from the mall food court. Just like that, multiple days' worth of travel became seconds, all thanks to the mall dimension.

“Yayyyy!” Sharzin and Aesandoral squealed as they rushed away from the storefront we had emerged from to see what food was currently available.

Hanging back for a moment, Rionriv gave me another passing glance and a smile. She inspected my face, her gaze no longer the same hardened and suspicious one it had been when we first met. And, while I wasn’t sure where we stood in the long run, for right now, everything seemed good between us—and I was happy with that. After all, we had survived our first real-world mission together, made ourselves reasonably rich in the process, and gathered enough evidence of our quest to ensure all three passed their Winter Quest with flying colours. It appeared to be a win-win all around.

Watching her depart, I looked at her with a smile of my own. Just as important as their successes, I felt like something had also changed in me. The struggles of my old life would undoubtedly continue to haunt my dreams, but I felt that, for the first time in my existence, I had truly lived for me. And in doing that, I had moved past some trauma and befriended a trio of truly extraordinary women in the process.

And, sure, they may not have had ‘main character’ energy in the beginning, but now, the author in me felt like they had the potential to write a new chapter in this world's tumultuous history.

“Pretty successful first three months,” I whispered to myself, eying the triop as they sat at one of the small food court tables with their pets cuddling to their sides lovingly.

“Hey, Iz!” Aesandoral called out to me.

“Huh?” I replied with a smile, snapping from my trance to look at her.

“Come sit. Phyllis is bringing something called…lasagna?”

“Yeah, and I can’t guarantee I won’t eat yours.” Sharzin giggled as Sharmin licked her face. "And Sharmin gets your seconds."

“So, come and sit,” Rionriv finished with a smirk, patting the seat beside her. “And keep your pants on, oracle.”

“Hey!” I shot back as the triop laughed.

A smile of genuine happiness stretched across my face. A smile that faded just as quickly as Phyllis emerged from a Tomato Garden with bowls of unlimited salad and garlic bread loaves floating behind her.

“Oh, are we talking about his little pecker coming out to say hello—mwhahahaha—hilarious! That’s good scry-o-vision.”

“Phyllis!” I yelled as everyone laughed harder.

In the end, it was a pretty good start to a new life. I thought to myself as I took my seat, only to have Phyllis make my clothes disappear and Rionriv electrocute me. Mostly.