I leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed, straining to hear the music that was playing in the background. It was a familiar tune, though I was vaguely annoyed by the fact that I couldn’t place the song.

At the moment, I was in a small café in Moose Tow proper, eating lunch with Lenore and trying to ignore all her probing questions about my developing relationship with Stine. That was one of the reasons that I was distracting myself by focusing on that song.

Once I remembered the song, I opened my eyes and absently looked around the café. There was a TV in the far corner that was playing a game, though I didn’t pay enough attention to know what teams were playing or even which sport. Considering that we were still in Canada, I suspected that there was a good chance it was hockey.

“Well?” Lenore asked me with a predatory grin, clearly not letting go of the topic. “Have you fucked him yet?”

“That is none of your business,” I told her with a bright blush.

Lenore laughed at that. “You did.” I blushed even brighter. “Well, he did leave his team for you…”

“It’s not like that,” I muttered self-consciously.

It had been three days since the fight with Stine’s old friends, and the fight with Fenrir. Stine and I had gotten to know each other a bit better since then, but I still wasn’t sure where we were going with it.

After a few more questions, Lenore finally took pity on me and changed the subject. “So,” she asked with a look of amusement. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now?”

I gave her a suspicious look, wondering if she really had changed the topic. Then, I shook my head. “Still trying to figure it out.”

“Starting over again isn’t easy,” she responded with a sympathetic nod.

“No, it isn’t,” I agreed with a sigh before admitting. “On one hand, it’s a second chance, but…”

“But, you start over with nothing,” Lenore finished.

I shook my head at that. “But I probably don’t deserve it.”

Lenore stared at me for several seconds, looking a little surprised by that. “Donna…”

“I’m not a good person,” I quietly admitted. “I’ve done things… Do you know where I was when I died?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she insisted, giving me a look that almost dared me to argue. “None of us are who we used to be. I mean, I used to be a goody-two-shoes who was always worried about offending other people. But you know what I learned? Fuck them.”

I blinked at that. “You? Worried about offending people?”

Lenore smirked at that. “I know, right?”

“That is hard to imagine,” I told her.

“I was quiet, repressed, and always worried about what other people thought,” Lenore told me with a sigh. “Then I got cancer and realized that what other people thought didn’t matter. What mattered was whether or not I was happy with myself.” She paused at that, smirking faintly and adding. “One of the last things I did before dying, was to tell my overbearing mother to go fuck herself.” Then she laughed. “It was one of the only times I’d ever sworn in my life, and it felt so liberating.”

“Well, you don’t seem to hold back anymore,” I said.

Lenore smirked at that. “No, I don’t. Being respawned was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me a second chance to be the person I want to be.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “My last life wasn’t a very good one.”

“I don’t know who you used to be,” Lenore told me, “only who you are now. I like the person you are now.”

“Are you sure?” I asked with a chuckle. “I’ve been told that I have a bad case of foot in mouth disease.”

“Don’t we all?” she responded dismissively. Then she gave me a serious look. “Who we used to be doesn’t matter, only who we are now.”

I considered that for a moment before nodding. “I do want to be a better person…” I owed it to Pham, who sacrificed his life to give me this opportunity. And even more importantly, I owed it to myself.

“The reason I brought the subject up,” Lenore told me, “is that Grayson and I have been talking.”

“Oh?” I asked, curious but also a little suspicious.

“Grayson and I do a bit of light delving on our own,” Lenore explained. “We usually team up with a few other players when we want to get serious. And of course, we contracted with Giles and Pham fairly often too. Warden players like to work with non-Warden players, partly for numbers, and partly to build connections.”

“I can see that,” I said with a nod of understanding.

Lenore paused for a moment before continuing. “Well, Grayson and I agree that you’d make a great addition to our regular team. Hell, Giles would be happy to work with you again too.”

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. “You’re saying…”

“We want you to join our team,” Lenore told me. “Officially.”

I blinked several times as I absorbed this. They wanted me… I wasn’t really used to that, but I definitely liked the idea.

“I’m in,” I answered with a grin.

“Good,” Lenore responded.

Lenore was about to say something else when she paused and turned to look off to the side. I followed her gaze and saw that Giles and Grayson had just entered the café. Grayson was in normal clothes, though he still had his sword hanging from his belt while Giles was wearing one of those gray Warden uniforms.

As they reached our table, Lenore flashed Grayson a grin. “She said yes.”

Grayson blinked at that. “I thought we were going to ask her together.”

Lenore flipped him the bird and smirked. “Beat you to it.”

“What’s this?” Giles asked.

“Donna is going to officially join our team,” Lenore told him as she flashed Grayson a smug look.

“Congratulations, Miss Donna,” Giles told me with a smile.

“Thank you,” I responded, watching Giles carefully. He was tense. “What’s going on?”

“I received a new mission,” Giles answered as he looked around at each of us. “And I was hoping that all of you would agree to help.”

“What is it?” Grayson asked, his expression turning serious.

“I know this is short notice,” Giles said carefully. “None of us have had enough time to really recover after recent events, but circumstances being what they are…”

“What the fuck is it?” Lenore asked with a roll of her eyes.

Giles chuckled at that. “The mission, Miss Lenore…”

“Chase after Frank and Jag?” Grayson asked.

“Save Timmy from the well?” I added.

Lenore snickered at that and held out her fist for a fist bump. “Fuck up some monsters?”

Giles hesitated for a moment before chuckling. “Yes, to that last one.”

Grayson scratched his chin for a moment, then asked, “Does this have something to do with the Labyrinth swallowing up Labyrinth zones?”

“Yes, Mister Grayson, it does,” Giles answered. “Another remote zone has vanished, though they don’t know how long ago this happened. This one was in the Sahara.”

“In the middle of fucking nowhere,” Lenore said with a snort.

“Exactly,” Giles said, his expression grim. “Because of this, it has been decided that we need to take proactive measures. Teams are being sent to all the remote zones to cull the monster populations, and a lot of players are being contracted to help with this.”

“Warden contracts are usually good money,” Grayson agreed cheerfully.

“So, we head to the middle of nowhere,” Lenore said, “kill a shit ton of monsters, and make some nice money? I’m in.”

Lenore and Grayson both looked to me, a clear reminder that I was now part of their team. I smiled at that, pleased to feel so accepted.

Then, I pulled up my status page.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 11
FREE STAT POINTS: 0

FOCUS: 11
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 11
STRENGTH: 6
VITALITY: 10
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 7

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES
-MAGE STAFF

ABILITIES:
-HEX
-CURSED GROUND
-CURSED OBJECT

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I’d gained another level after that fight with Fenrir, and I’d assigned the extra point to focus. It all looked good, but I definitely wanted to continue improving and this mission offered an opportunity to do just that.

“I’m in too,” I said.

“Now that that’s decided,” Grayson said. “Where are we doing and when do we leave?”

“Brazil,” Grayson answered. “And we leave in two days.”

“Well, crap,” I mused with a sigh. What was I going to tell Stine?