"So, angels and demons are real?"

  Oli was casually lying on the couch in the Guild. Meph had somehow managed to find a bean bag and had sunk into it. It was one of those huge ones, so it almost looked like it was enveloping him, like a Gelatinous Cube. Griff purred away on my lap for a change, as I sat in my favourite reading chair.

  "Yeah, kinda. Though I think they prefer to be called Divines and Infernals," I answered lazily. Not that I was bored, far from it. The real structure of the esoteric nature of the universe still fascinated me, but we'd been talking for hours now and it was getting late. That and Meph’s previous warnings about knowing too much too soon still struck a chord in me that continued to hum. I wanted to know, sure, but I knew the consequences could be huge and unexpected.

  "Eh, not so much a preference, more that's just what we are. We're beings of primordial force, representing moral abstracts. Terminology like angels and demons was very much added by your lot, but it works just as well," Meph was initially resistant to sharing this kind of stuff with Oli, a Player, but he had wore him down eventually. After all, what harm could it do to have a Player aware of just who he was playing for, as long as it didn’t go much farther than that.

  "Ooooh-kay," Oli said, drawing it out. "So, does that mean God is real too?"

  "Yeah, but so are, like, all the gods too. They're just like higher level forms of Divines." I took a sip of hot chocolate. It was too late for coffee, I'd be up all night and me and Oli would be at it again in the morning.

  Grinding, that is. For experience points. That's what I mean.

  "Okay, but, like, don't a bunch of different gods all claim to have created the world? Which one is right?" Oli asked, sliding his head off the couch until he was basically upside down.

  "Ah, that's the thing: that's us again. So apparently, all the religions and whatever of Earth got snippets of how everything worked right. How was it you said, Meph? Like we all had pieces of the puzzle, but no one had the full picture?"

  "That's right," the tiefling murmured, eyes closed. He seemed to be increasingly contented the more he sunk into the beanbag.

  "Some religions believed in reincarnation...is that a thing too?" Oli asked, slightly hesitantly.

  "Yup. Though it's pretty rare, and there's a whole bunch of different ways it can happen. But essentially, yeah, it's a thing."

  I vaguely remembered Meph telling me something like that before. It was strange to think about. That maybe there was a way back. For some people, anyway.

  "That's so wild. And really interesting," Oli added, stifling a yawn.

  "Okay," I said, rising to my feet. "Time to call it a night, I think. More training in the morning and all that, and I don't know about you guys, but I am shattered."

  "Yeah, totally. Same time tomorrow morning?" Oli rolled backwards off the couch, and rose to his feet, walking over to pet Griff. The grifflet leaned into his palm and trilled at him. "Goodnight to you, too."

  "Yup. Bright and early."

  "Cool," Oli smiled. Then he threw his big, brawny arms around me in a hug. I was so thrown off guard, my hands floundered out at my sides. He pulled away. "Cool. Well, see you then."

  I showed him out and when I returned to the common room. Meph was leaning forward, looking at me, one eyebrow risen so high it threatened to crawl up his horn.

  "Well, that was…something," he grinned.

  "I don't know what you are talking about," I lied, feeling heat rising in my cheeks. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some sleep."

  I left the room, feeling Meph's eyes boring holes into my back as I went.

  I walked through the door into my room and then yelped when my vision was suddenly assaulted by beaming light from below.

  "You really shouldn't be telling him all of that, you know."

  Xandra had manifested a stool that she sat on casually, her legs crossed over at the heels.

  "Jesus, Xandra, you gotta warn me or something before you do that."

  I caught the slight tug of a smile at the corners of her lips before she stood and held her hands together in front of her.

  "Really, Russell. You're a Game Guide, not a guide to the afterlife. Oliver doesn't need to know that information."

  I swung my head up and stared up towards the dark.

  "That's what you're worried about? Haven't you noticed the weird inconsistencies with some of the mobs and rewards lately?”

  Xandra flinched. She actually flinched. Her eyes flashed over, like some hidden conversation was happening behind them, then she just looked me right in the eyes.

  "That's not you're concern. Just some tweaks to the game system for—" her eyes flashed again, causing her to pause with her mouth ajar. Then it stopped and she smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It's not your concern."

  "Are you okay?" I asked, unsure.

  Xandra startled me by laughing.

  "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, though it didn't sound entirely authentic. "Yes, I'm fine. We can also park that under 'not your concern'."

  I let that hang in the air for a moment. "So, no talking to Oli about all this stuff. What will happen? If I slip up, I mean. I think he'll still have questions."

  "You should just get him to focus on the game itself. After all, you don't have much time left," Xandra answered coolly.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  "What does that mean?"

  "Just that we're very happy with Oliver's progress, but he’s not meant to be sitting around in the starter town forever. I think we'll be sending him on a quest soon enough, and you have him well prepared. Just use the time left to continue that, and all will be well."

  "...Fine," I replied, letting my shoulders drop. A tension had built between them without me realising and I felt it drop away. Oli was going soon. I didn't have much more time with him. It felt a shame now, all of a sudden. I wasted time I could have used getting to know more about him. And getting him ready, of course.

  "Good. Happy hunting," Xandra said, and the light fell away.

  I blinked to adjust to the new light levels, and then realised it was brighter than it should be. I looked at the clock, and I had about three hours to sleep before Oli would be back.

  I looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, very nice, Xandra."

  Around a week later, Durrilan City received a new visitor.

  They moved cautiously down the tree-lined path towards the front gates, their shoulders clearly tensed and hands hovering over the pommel on a short sword strapped to their hip. A seemingly young woman, she had jet black hair that was parted into two straight strands framing her face, the rest tied tight into a high ponytail. She was dressed in a tight leather waistcoat and trousers, with billowing linen sleeves covering her arms. Her ears were pointed, and I realised she'd selected an elven race, even from a distance.

  She was the first Player besides Oliver we had seen yet.

  I'd received a notification as she was approaching, and we decided to meet her at the gate. When she was about twenty yards away, she noticed us and paused, then continued on her walk towards us.

  "Good morning," Oliver shouted, waving as he bounded out to meet her. He seemed particularly excited, and I wasn't sure why. I guess she’s very pretty.

  The woman stopped in her path, looking at Oliver as he approached. Her eyes narrowed, and I realised she was activating her interface so she could get details on his stats before he got too close. Her hand tensed around the hilt of her sword, but only for a second. Her whole demeanour changed quickly, and she let out a breath.

  "You're a real person? God, you're the first one I've seen, Oliver, I thought you were coming out to attack me until you started hollering," the woman said in an American, Deep South kind of lilt, a half-smile playing on her face.

  "Uh, yeah, I'm real. So are my friends, though they're not Players, like us. Sorry, have we met before?" Oliver shook her hand, with a curious tilt to his head.

  "What? Er, don't think so. I got your name from the pop up display thingy,” the woman said, eyebrow raised.

  "Oh, right. Sorry, I keep forgetting. I still stick to the whole old-fashioned asking," Oliver laughed. "Well, you know my name is Oliver, and you are?"

  "Tahlia," the woman, Tahlia, smiled back, still shaking Oliver's hand. "Are you heading to the dungeon too?"

  "Excuse me?"

  Oliver introduced us, and Tahlia came into Durrilan proper, heading to the tavern, where Oliver bought her a meal. If she recognised who he was, she didn't let on. She wasn't thrown by me or Meph, as Game Guides, as she had already spent time with her own, a tabaxi named Gerry. I didn't question her on what that likely meant for Gerry's origins.

  "I got dropped in at that port town, down the coast. Tureen. Gerry helped me get on my feet, because boy, I was lost. I never expected to be doing anything like this when I moved on," Tahlia told us. I had already gathered that a lot of the whole setup was a surprise to her and didn't come naturally. I imagine Gerry had to do a lot of work, but given she'd made it this far, it seemed he did a good job.

  "So, what's this dungeon you mentioned?" I asked, as Tahlia cleared her plate.

  "Oh, about a week back, a sailor came into the port, talking about some treasure that is supposedly in the hills north of here. The Chalice of True Reward, or some such. It popped up my first quest, and I figured why not give it a go. Perhaps I can move on to the proper hereafter," Tahlia laughed at the last part.

  As she said it, a notification popped up in my interface, with more details about the quest that was now available. Oliver's eyes glazed over momentarily, and I realised he got the same notification and he quickly skimmed it.

  It was curious, as the entrance was in the cave system that I'd been taking Oliver to grind in. There was suddenly an entrance there displayed in my map. That wasn't there a week ago, when we were last there.

  "What's this chalice supposed to be, then? Is it just a trophy? Something you can sell for gold?" Oliver asked, though he must know some of it. He had clearly skimmed the description, and he can't have missed the rewards for the quest.

  "Apparently, it will give you whatever you truly desire. I'm hoping it will get me out of this game entirely. I wasn't exactly thrilled to learn I had to play some game to decide if I was worthy enough to get into Heaven. Years of being faithful apparently didn't mean much."

  That surprised me.

  "You were religious?"

  "Still am. But yes, I attended church every Sunday. Put some money into charities whenever I could. Helped out at the homeless shelter every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Heck, I even did a half marathon for breast cancer in my thirties. But here I am," she explained brightly, but with more than a little hint of annoyance underneath.

  I knew from what Meph had explained to me that most people, when they passed, went on to become one with the Pleroma, experiencing it as either a Heavenly or Hellish afterlife, depending on their beliefs and what they're actions in life earned them. He told me that it really did come down to the belief part more than anything: even someone who had acted with all due piousness, if they thought they didn't deserve it, would wind up experiencing the other place. People, Meph explained, in their heart of hearts will always believe what they really deserve, despite how much they may insist on the opposite.

  It reminded me of that old Egyptian myth, entering the underworld when a person's heart was weighed against a feather to decide where they would end up, based on the actions in their life. Except it wasn't some god who weighed our deeds, it was ourselves.

  So why would Tahlia wind up here? Obviously, she seemed positive that she should be in her idea of Heaven, and certainly, she described all the kind of actions she would need to do to ensure that given what I presumed her faith was. Was she just talking a big game? Or was there more to it?

  "It's apparently pretty dangerous, but you're already Level 20, Oliver. I'm sure we could get the prize if we worked together," Tahlia sent Oli a Party request, which I could see because I was his Game Guide.

  The request hovered over the table, only visible to us as we sat around it. The NPCs filling the character of the tavern were oblivious to it. Oli looked over to me, tusk biting into his lip, like he was thinking intensely.

  "Thanks, Tahlia, but I'm good where I'm at right now," Oli smiled at her, eyes closing as he gave her his biggest smile. Tahlia, I could tell, was a little crestfallen, but not overly so. She shrugged, and picked up her small cup.

  I thought about what Xandra had said to me, and turned my attention back to Oli. "Oli, you might want to consider it more. You're already well past what training I can give you here. We all knew this would come up eventually."

  Oli gave me a look I couldn't quite read, though it was familiar. It was a similar look he had given me weeks ago, at camp, when he thought I didn't want him around.

  "I know, and I get what you're saying, but I don't even know if I want to go on quests quite yet. I'm pretty happy here," he explained, and there was the slightest tone of pleading in his voice. It sounded like it was alien to him.

  "You're happy here? This isn't even the real afterlife?" Tahlia sounded as confused as I was feeling.

  "Oli, you know you're not meant to be here forever, right? The whole goal of it is to work out where you belong?"

  "And what if where I belong is here?"

  Tahlia grunted with amusement. The rest of us just sat there in silence. I didn't take my eyes off Oli's own. Meph, strangely, remained utterly silent, watching it all, most keenly on Oli. There was something going on behind his eyes, but what I couldn’t tell. It was like he was coming up with an idea or something. I guess I’d have to ask him about it.

  After a few moments, Tahlia stood from the table. "Well, I suppose I should get along. Oli, best of luck with...whatever you decide to do."

  We waved her off as she exited the town to the north, heading towards the hills and the caves.

  For the rest of the day, Oli was quiet. He tried to mask it with smiles and laughs at the right points, but I could tell something was weighing on him. While he was so distracted, I decided it was best to leave training.

  Later that night, I figured I'd talk to him, see why he was so determined to stay. But I also had my own questions for Meph too, shook loose by the whole exchange from earlier.

  Little did I know that would change everything.