No Longer a Game Ch. 11

Chapter 11 - Psychopath, the Proposal, and End of a Voyage

By mid-day on the ship, the sun was bright and the water calm as the Mistral made its way to Athkatla. The companions, minus Natalie, gathered in the males' cabin for a light meal and to discuss their options. Ahira had finally overcome his seas sickness and while still queasy he managed to eat a little food and guzzled water to hydrate. There was not much new to talk about, even with the extra one hundred gold Natalie had secured they were still very short what they calculated they needed for supplies. If Natalie managed to "negotiate" more gold from the captain, the two hundred more would not even put a dent in what was needed per Lou's and Ahira's estimate.

"We could get jobs?" Rain threw the idea out there.

The dwarf chuckled, "Jobs? They only jobs we could get would take us years to earn enough money."

"Just a thought." Rain muttered.

"We could put Natalie to work in a brothel." Christie suggested with a smile.

Rain giggled, "Yeah and Christie and I could be her madams and Jason and Ahira the muscle and beat up clients who don't pay or try and cheat us."

Jason chuckled that time, "We are not going to pimp Natalie out."

"Just a thought." The drow winked at Rain.

"We also have a larger issue," Lou said to change the subject. Natalie had become the butt of several jokes between the friends.

It was not what she did with the captain or how she moved her stuff into his cabin, well that was a small part of it; but it was more her attitude that morning. The elf separated herself from the companions and ignored them as she flirted with Samera when she had the chance. When they invited her to join in their discussion at the mid-day meal, she politely declined and joined the captain in his cabin instead. It was as if she was ostracizing herself from her friends from the other side and it was starting to irritate them, Rain and Christie the most.

"Yes, Lou is right. It's not our funds that are the main concern but the portal back home and where to find it. We can have a castle full of gold but what good is it going to do if we can't find the portal." Jason added.

"I can research some in the library in Athkatla and I will take Natalie with me; her being a mage will be helpful, but I doubt they are going to allow us access to the books we will need to find it. Now that brings us back to gold again...we could bribe the keepers to give was access to the more restricted areas but we don't have that." Lou sighed.

"We could do an adventure...ask around and maybe find a dungeon to loot or some poor village that needs help from a raiding band of orcs or something...like we used to do when we played the game." Rain said.

"Yeah but then it was just a game. We got hurt and Christie healed us no big deal...she can't heal right now, remember. We died, no big deal let's take Ahira a temple with a high level priest and they can cast raised dead. Does not work that way now...it's not a game anymore."

"Well no one else is suggesting anything." Rain pouted.

Jason sighed, "Maybe something will come up in Athkatla."

"We need to talk about something else." Christie said and then explained her and Rains conversation about their "this side" personalities taking over at times.

All the others admitted they experienced the same thing from time to time. "Its like we have multiple personalities." Jason added. "I can remember my characters back ground like it really happened. I can feel I experienced it."

"Me as well." The dwarf added and Lou nodded. "Do you think Natalie has the same?"

"I don't know. I think some but not like us." Lou answered. "Remember she is new to the game and she did not have time to do a complete background on her character like we did nor shared in the adventures we all had together. I think she is more limited to her moon elf heritage and being a mage. Like...well...this may sound crazy but I can remember all of my characters life. Studying under the tutledge of great wizards, leaving the mage school in Candlekeep, meeting the rest of you and adventuring...all of it."

Christie nodded, "Its not crazy. I feel the same."

"Well we need to keep a an eye on that." He looked at Christie and Rain, "For some of us it can be very dangerous."

Rain chuckled, "Yeah for you it is noble and chivalrous...the goodie goodie paladin."

Jason shrugged, "I can't help I choose the honorable path."

The other laughed but it was a humorless laugh.

Feeling disheartened and with nothing accomplished the friends finished their meal and went their separate ways. Jason back to helping the crew with Rain behind him to lend a hand as well, Lou decided to have a look around topside; he was finished with his spell book, or as far as he could get with Natalie's spells. There were still several he could use but Natalie was not high enough level to know them and Ahira joined him saying he wanted to get a view of the sea without throwing up in it. Christie was the last to leave the cabin and followed the dwarf and mage.

Christie was standing on the bow of the ship looking at Natalie and shook her head in disgust. The elf flirted shamelessly and kissed the captain at every chance she got and now she was observing while two members of the crew washed her clothes.

"She's becoming the Princess of the Ship, huh?"

Christie looked over and saw Ahira had joined her, "Spoiled bitch is more like it."

The dwarf chuckled, "Jason said half the crew wants to throw her overboard but are afraid to."

Christie nodded, "Yeah our captain seems quiet enamored with her."

"It's not the captain they are afraid of...well him some but mostly you."

"Me!" Christie exclaimed.

"Yeah, you being a drow priestess and all...they are afraid you will mass murder them in their sleep or sacrifice them to Lolth."

"I don't even serve Lolth."

Ahira laughed, "They don't know that."

Christie smiled, "Well tell them if they decide to throw her overboard I will help."

"She's doing it on purpose you know." Ahira said soberly.

"What?"

"Her flirtations with Samera in front of you. She wants you to stop her...to say something to her and make her stop."

"I tried yesterday and this morning." Christie protested, "What does she want, for me to forgive her and ask her to forgive me?"

"Well you yelled at her yesterday and called her a whore and from what I understand you were about to bash her skull in."

"She started it, she started casting a spell. What was I to do? Let her roast me alive?"

Ahira chuckled, "No...and I know the feeling you got at that moment...oh don't look at me that way...we all are struggling with the game alter egos of our characters and their race. Yesterday morning when the city watch came for Rain all I wanted to do was unsling my ax, jump into the middle of them, and shout dwarven war cries of Clan Bloodhammer as I cut them down and if they killed me so be it. I would have died a glorious death in battle that Clanggedin Silverbeard would have found noble and he would have taken my soul to his great feast hall in his realm of Mount Clanggedin. So yes I know what came to your mind yesterday when she started casting. You felt the drow in you and you wanted to brain the stupid moon elf who was trying to fight you. It's actually lucky you can't cast your spells. You are much higher level than her and almost a High Priestess of Eilistraee and you have spells that would have blasted her very soul."

Christie nodded, "But I still am not going to apologize to her about me and Rain...I mean look at how she flaunts herself in front of me. I did not do that. Least I was discreet about my indiscretion. She should apologize to me."

Ahira shook his head, "She won't. She does not feel guilt for what she has done, doing now, or going to do. She wants you to stop her but she is has no remorse for her actions even if she tells you she is sorry they are just words to her."

"Yeah and what the hell do you know about her?" Christie snapped.

"Indulge me for a moment if you will," The dwarf started and Christie nodded, "I grew up just not being able to walk but lost muscle control in 85% of my body. I grew up in that damn wheel chair. Well let me tell you what happens when you grow up like that. At first people have pity for you. You see it in their eyes, then the more they are around you they just begin to ignore you...you are like a piece of furniture in a room they walk around. That's when you can study them and learn their secrets. I study people, Christie, and I have gotten very good at observing people and I like to pick one person and study them...no I don't mean stalk them in pervy ways, but like in classes I have with them or when Jason, trying to be kind to me, drags me to a party or the rec area or even his football games."

"See Natalie was wrong the night she came to play the game with us. She said we met once because we had a class together but she was wrong. We had three classes together our freshman year and two our sophomore year and I picked her to study. At first I admit it was because I found her to be a very lovely young lady and she was so witty and charming and I was quite stricken by her. I may not have been able to act on my desires but I still had them. But once again after a few weeks of our first class together she started to see me as that piece of furniture and when we took Swicord's calculus class together I was oblivious to her."

Christie laughed harshly, "Yes I found out this morning how she got an A in that class. She admitted it was because she fucked Swicord for a better grade. Her and her husband."

The dwarf laughed hard, "Oh, Christie, that's funny and a lie. Natalie got a B in that class and she worked her ass off for it and not sexually but by studying and getting a tutor. But that just helps me prove my point about her."

"What point?" Christie asked.

"Bear with me if you will. So I would watch her in classes and even saw her at a few parties Jason felt I needed to go to and when Jason would take me to hang out on Coleman Hill in front of the law building I would see her reading under one of the large oak trees and I observed and then listened to the rumors about her." Ahira pointed at Natalie, "She has some deep issues and I think...now it's just a thought mind you and not a professional diagnoses but I think she has psychopath tendencies."

It was Christie's turn to laugh hard, "She is not a serial killer, Michael. She may have some issues...that's obvious and she is a slut, which is obvious as well, but Natalie would never hurt anyone. I know that for a fact. She can be very sweet and caring...she has shown that to me when we dated. I am not in love with a serial killer."

Ahira let being called Michael go, "I did not say she was a serial killer or would hurt anyone. Not all psychopaths are serial killers or hurt people. They can live normal lives and have families but their actions will always be the same. They show no remorse or guilt over any immoral acts they commit. They have a very difficult time forming true relationships and bonds with people and when they do it's mostly for selfish reasons."

"What the hell do you know about it?" Christie asked defiantly.

The dwarf laughed again, "It's like I said, Christie, once people get to know me and their pity wears off I become almost invisible to them. They don't want to see me and be reminded of the crippled boy in the corner. You did the same."

"I did not!" Christie protested.

"Yes in a way you did. You never asked what my major is. You asked Jason and Lou and Rain and Derrick about themselves but never me. To you I was just to be pitied and how could someone like me have a life so you never asked about me. You see, Christie, I am a senior and in May I will graduate a year early with a major in psychology and I have been accepted to Stanford in California and will get my Master's in Behavioral Neuroscience and from there a doctorate."

"Oh God, Michael...I...you are right. I am so sorry...I never realized how I treated you."

"It's ok and it's Ahira not Michael. I studied you for a while also, when we played the game. I found you well...you are a good person, Christie. You are so outgoing and kind and you enjoy life so much and very pretty. That's why I telling you this about her. I like you and am very fond of you so you need to know what you are getting yourself into if you try and reconcile with Natalie. She will never be cured...there is no cure. She can take meds, which I am sure she has been on before, but she will never be what society calls normal."

"So what do I do? I love her, Ahira...I still love her. I would forgive her but she would just do it again wouldn't she? Cheat on me and hurt me?"

The dwarf nodded, "Yes she would. What you do is up to you. Take her back and try and live with it knowing she will break your heart again or let her go. That choice is up to you. But remember this, one of my professors once said about personality disorders like I think she may have; the person is fucked and everyone who gets close to them are fucked and they do whatever they can to destroy the people closest to them."

"You sure we just can't toss her overboard?" Christie teased to make light the serious conversation.

"That is the third option." Ahira laughed, "But honestly I am fond of her also. Like you I have seen her at her best. When she is kind and caring and charming...right now she is going through a bad phase but one day she may just wake up and her best will show again and hopefully that happens soon and her bad phase will not come out again until we get home."

The drow smiled, bent down, and kissed the dwarf's cheek. "Thanks Ahira...for a dwarf you're not all that stupid."

Ahira laughed, "And for a drow you are not all that vicious."

"Maybe we should have let Natalie play a drow like she wanted. She would make a better one than me."

The dwarf smiled, "No that would not have been a good idea knowing what we know now being sent to this side."

"Why?"

Ahira chuckled, "If Natalie was a drow she would not be like you and serve Eilistraee. Her deity would have been Lolth or even Shar and we damn sure would have been in trouble then."

Christie laughed as the dwarf walked away and once more set her gaze on Natalie, who was now taking the time to kiss Captain Samera again in view of everyone. She sighed and felt a little jealousy but not as much as she expected. She more resented the moon elf than anything.

"Maybe Michael is right about her." Christie said aloud to herself. "But is it up to me to try and fix her or at least try and help her if she can't be fixed? I do love her still I know that."

"Who you talkin to?" Rain said a she came up behind the drow.

Christie turned and smiled, "Myself."

"Oh and what did yourself say back?" Rain giggled.

"That it's time for me to be a drow and a priestess of Eilistraee and stop fucking around and feeling sorry for myself. We are going to need Vierna of House De'vir Fourth House of Chad Nessad if we are to get home."

"About fucking time." Rain told her and walked away.

The next two nights and three and a half days of the voyage went easy. The weather was clear and the Mistral caught the winds and sailed smoothly into the large port in the Dock District of Athkatla. The companions were rather glad to reach the city; life on the ship was starting to get tedious. Natalie had shred the captain's cabin and bed on the rest of the voyage.

Rain was gathering the last of her items and alone in her cabin when she suddenly turned with her kopi in her hand. Standing before her was the Halfling first mate smiling at her.

"Put the blade away. I have come to talk not kill you." Lotholi told the half elf as he waved his hand at the knife.

"Well talk then and make it quick."

Lotholi sat down on the edge of the bed, "I understand you and your friends need gold...lot's more gold to buy supplies and travel to whatever destination you are heading...correct?"

"What business is it of yours?" Rain asked as she put her knife away.

The Halfling shrugged, "None really and I could care less if you and your friends live or die, specially the elf witch. But we can help each other."

"How?"

"First let me ask you, what guild do you belong to?"

Rain gave the first mate a puzzled look, "Guild?"

Lotholi smiled, "Don't play coy with me. I know a professional when I see one. What Thieves Guild do you belong to and what city?"

Rain now understood. The Halfling recognized her as a fellow rogue. "I was a member of the Night Knives of Sembia until they were wiped out by the Zhentarim and the Harpers, now I am independent." Rain told him. The story was part of her character's back ground in the game.

The Halfling nodded, "Good so there won't be any conflict. Go see Bayle at the Sea Bounty Tavern and show him this." Lotholi held out a small coin.

Rain took the coin and looked at both sides. The head side was the holy symbol of Mask while the tails side showed a man wearing a cloak with the hood pulled over his head.

"It's a coin of the Shadow Thieves, show it to Bayle, the owner and barkeeper of the Sea Dog and he will get you in touch with Aran Linvall."

"And why would I want to speak to this Aran Linvall person?" Rain asked.

Lotholi smiled again, "He has a proposition for you and your friends that can make you a lot of gold."

"Are you a member of the Shadow Thieves?" Rain asked.

The Halfling stood up and smiled to Rain in reply and walked out of the cabin.

Rain finished packing her belongings and noticed Natalie's mage staff in the corner where the elf first put it the day they boarded the ship. She sighed and picked it up deciding that regardless of her feelings for the moon elf they would need her magic and staff.

As her companions waited for her, Natalie gave Captain Samera one last kiss on the lips and walked off the quarterdeck and down the plank to join her friends on docks. The captain had asked her to stay and become his lover and promised he would make her Queen of the Sea of Swords to which Natalie laughed and told him the three nights had been wonderful and blissful, but she needed to go with her companions.

"Well don't you look all fancy?" Natalie told Christie with a smile. "And rather sexy."

Rain rolled her eyes. The elf acted like nothing was wrong. Like everything between her and Christie and Rain was normal.

Christie did indeed look "fancy". Her long white hair was once again in the high pony tail and intricately braided. She wore the same clothes she had when they were first teleported to this world, but over her chest she wore a black scale mail cuirass that shined like black glass. Over her breasts the armor became solid plate of the same metal and formed to her breasts perfectly. Between her breasts was the holy symbol of Eilistraee. She wore a black cape with no hood and at her belt dangled the magical, demon headed mace.

"It's her armor of Eilistraee." Lou told Natalie. "Very magical and made of the same mithril like Ahira's armor but the priestess's of Eilistraee enchant theirs to make it black.

"Why are you wearing that?" Natalie asked.

"If you would have joined us over the last three days instead of making a spectacle of yourself with Captain Samera or sharing his bed you would know what we are doing...what Christie is doing." Rain answered in a harsh voice.

"Enough, Rain." Christie told the half elf. "I have some business to take care of. I will meet up with you later." She told Jason.

Jason nodded, "Ok. We will be at the inn...the one the crew suggested...the Leaky Cup...it's here in the dock district."

"The docks?" Natalie whined, "Samera said the best inns and taverns are in Waukeen's Promenade. Why can't we stay there? They have bath houses there also."