Chapter 204: 33: Heart of the Empire

Aishin said, "I'm home, be right back." He logged off so he could switch to his full motion console.

Ryullusion said, "Oh, be right back too."

Kit released ZipZing just in time for her to be snatched out of the air and shaken by Nao1.

"Hey!" Danika protested.

"Bad dragon!" Nao1 scolded.

"You know it's not Zippy's fault," Saaki reminded Nao1.

"What do you think I did?" Danika asked worriedly.

Nao1 squinted at her. "No babies allowed for at least five more years," she stated firmly. She turned to look at Saaki, "That goes for you too."

Saaki rolled his eyes and replied, "I think at least ten would be better."

Kit said nervously, "I think it's only going to be about five weeks."

Shrubbery giggled and told Kit reassuringly, "I don't think they mean in the game."

Nao1 turned and gazed at Kit with a startled expression. But then she winked and said, "Oh, digital babies are fine. Maybe even good practice. And congrats?"

"Thanks," Kit said uncertainly.

ZipZing sat in Nao1's grasp with her arms crossed and a sour expression. Nao1 didn't back down, she met her eyes again and said, "I'm serious."

Aishin reappeared and bopped Nao1 on the head. "Stop that," he instructed.

"How do you know what she was telling her?" MatchlessMinion asked curiously.

"I don't need to know, I can see ZipZing's face," Aishin replied calmly.

Danika sighed and told Nao1, "Not that it's any of your business, but I've got it covered."

"Oh, OK," Nao1 said as she released her.

As soon as Ryullusion returned and Edwardian joined them, they all headed for the temple in the center of the city. The closer they got, the more crowded the streets became. The human capital at the heart of the Empire was as filled with players as it had been on the first day Danika had seen it.

Aishin said, "It looks like everyone wants to try the new quest."

"It said you could get the token from any shrine though," Shrubbery pointed out.

"Why don't you all ride in my garden and I'll try flying to the portals and take us to another town?" Danika suggested as the members of Endless Song were crowded closer and closer together.

A character in a red hat, dressed in a dark mix of red and black accidently elbowed MatchlessMinion in the face as the crowd shifted again. Len923 said apologetically, "Sorry… uh, mouse person?"

"Chinchillamin," MatchlessMinion corrected. He looked up at ZipZing and said, "Sure, let's try it."

"I wish Logical Heart had time to make the one with windows for this kind of thing, but yeah, it sounds like a good idea," Aishin agreed.

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Danika handed him one of the magic mirrors she and Hikaru had collected from the repeatable quests, and dropped down to where everyone could reach the pebble that was back in place in its harness on her back. Aishin raised an eyebrow at her and she pulled out the matching mirror.

"This way we can talk," she explained as Shrubbery, Kit and MatchlessMinion entered the stone space.

Ryullusion, Nao1, and Saaki were next. Aishin poked Edwardian who was staring around in amazement. "Oh, right," he said, and reached out to touch the stone. "It's dragonheart right?" he asked.

Danika and Aishin regarded him with startled expressions. "Yeah?" Danika agreed after a moment.

"Dragonheart," Edwardian repeated, and vanished into the stone space.

Aishin reached out and touched the pebble and said tentatively, "Maybe it doesn't work when dragonheart is part of a sentence?" Nothing happened and he laughed. "Dragonheart," he repeated, and followed everyone into her garden.

Danika zipped upward and headed over the crowd to the portal daises. Even the air was more crowded than it had been earlier in the game, as more people had gathered enough Karma to play characters with flight, or leveled up skills that let them fly. She even spotted a witch on a broom that she mistook as KiKi for a moment, but when she blinked and reread her name she saw that it was actually Kikiri.

ZipZing was small and agile though, so between her flight and evasion skills she reached the portal of return without much trouble. The extent of the crowd worried her though. At first she'd just felt stunned and then happy that she could take Shrubbery and all of Endless Song to try the quest right away, but now she felt really nervous.

It felt like there were as many players as had participated in the holiday quests rushing to try the quest Ariana and Takahashi had helped her construct. What would happen if there were flaws that hadn't been caught in a single day's testing? Would she be demoted back to apprentice or kicked out of the sixth?

Danika hovered in front of the portal indecisively and Aishin suggested through the mirror, "Somewhere in the northern plains maybe? I think the south might be more crowded since it's the Twins center of power?"

She blinked, and then nodded. She selected the quiet centaur town on the river that they'd passed through on their way to the goblin fortress. A friendly centaur easily directed her to the Twin's shrine, and then stared as her guild members appeared around her one after the other a moment later.

"Is it an invasion? Are you planning to destroy our shrine?" the centaur asked worriedly.

"Nope," MatchlessMinion replied cheerfully. "We came to buy something."

"Our market is near the riverside," the centaur informed them helpfully. "I know that many towns keep their temples and shrines at the edges of their marketplace, but ours is a little different."

"Your town is beautifully laid out," Shrubbery complimented him.

"We'll head for the river after we visit the shrine," Danika announced cheerfully. She didn't mention that they probably wouldn't buy anything.

--

The town was less floral than it had been in spring, but it was still very pretty.

The little centaur built shrine to the Twins stood on a small hill with four others. In the center was a small pavilion to provide shelter and a tiny shrine to the Jade Emperor sat atop it on stylized clouds. To the north in a pool of water a stone Black Turtle sat, to the west a huge boulder supported a small golden shrine for the White Tiger, and to the east an even smaller but more elaborate shrine that looked to be carved from turquoise floated a few inches above its supporting plinth.

The Twins shrine was more like a medicine cabinet standing at the head of a table with an everburning flame at the foot of the table. Danika gazed at it with a puzzled expression, but Aishin walked forward without hesitation and opened the cabinet. Inside it was sectioned into miniature versions of the usual alcoves.

He glanced at her and back to the others, and then grinned and pointed, "The closed eye is for photos, the open eye is for videos, so the heart must be for memory."

He reached out and touched the image of the heart and then tapped the nearly invisible screen that flashed up a moment later. A puff of flame flared around his hand for a moment and left behind the small paper token that Danika, Ariana and Takahashi had designed.

He held the token out to Shrubbery and asked, "Do you want to lead the quest? It said it can be activated on any shore at night beneath the moon."

Shrubbery reached out and touched the paper, but then shook her head and turned to ZipZing and said, "You wanted to show us this quest, so I think you should lead?"

Danika blinked and replied, "Oh, but I helped make it?"

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