I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 9 - Full of Rest

The actually-a-cleric-not-a-mage rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm a cleric," she growled.

"That's great," Evangeline said, smiling smugly over at Valerian. "See? Now aren't you glad we rescued them?"

"Delighted!" he said with faux enthusiasm, a twinge of exhaustion tweaking the corners of his eyes.

She understood it; she felt exhausted herself. It had been a busy day, and she still felt uncomfortable with her inability to remember whatever it was she was trying to remember.

"I succeeded in the sanctuary spell," Hagor reported, gesturing toward Valerian's cloud of darkness, still hovering a few feet away.

"Sanctuary?" Artmond asked, eagerly. "Oh, that sounds most splendid!"

"Follow me," Hagor instructed and turned to walk into the dark cloud.

Everyone else stood and stared after the druid.

"I assure you, just walk forward through the dark cloud. It's all here."

Evangeline was the first to do so. Sure enough, after two steps through the darkness, she passed through a door-like entrance made of branches bent together.

On the other side was a beautiful partial glade filled with winking fireflies. A "wall" of bramble ringed the space, sealing it off from the rest of the forest, even though there were trees laced throughout. The glade had several places for sleeping like someone had formed the ground and trees into flat areas perfect for sleeping platforms, nestled amongst nature. Bedrolls were stacked in a pile next to a circle of stones where campfires had burned previously.

Evangeline spun in place when she reached the campfire pit, her mouth opened in wonder. "It's beautiful!" she said.

"It'll do," Hagor said, clearly blushing, pleased with the praise.

"Oh dear, Lord. Where the hells are we?" Valerian appeared through the door, his eyes passing haughty judgment over the sanctuary.

"A safe place where we can rest, eat, and heal. A place you didn't have to do anything to acquire."

His eyes widened at her, surprised by her sudden vehemence.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "It's also exactly what you asked for, so you should just thankhim before he kicks you out to go snuggle a goblin."

His widened eyes narrowed again.

Why am I saying all this to him? she wondered to herself as she met that stare. She had no idea, but it felt ... good. Like it was something she had been wanting... needing to say to him for a long time. But that is absurd. We only just met?

Valerian worked his jaw a moment, then forced a sharp smile. "Thank you very much for your hospitality," he said with forced pleasantry to Hagor, along with a gallantly practiced half-bow to the druid.

Hagor nodded in return, just as the other two of their newly formed party crossed the threshold into the sanctuary.

"Oh, brilliant!" Artmond declared, his eyes wide with a child-like delight at the space.

He and Sigismund passed over the threshold as well, their presence pushing Valerian and Evangeline apart.

For his part, he smirked at her with his haughty eyes promising... She wasn't sure what exactly. Then he nodded to her and sauntered away, snatching up a bedroll as he went past to presumably find the most secluded space to sleep.

Evangeline let out a breath and rubbed at her temples.

"Are you alright, Evangeline?" Hagor asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I think I just need to sleep," she said, forcing a smile. Then she glanced after the direction that Valerian went. "Man, I hate that guy," she muttered.

Hagor followed her gaze with a grunt, then offered a fresh smile, holding out a bedroll. "The sanctuary has some fresh food. It's not much, but it will keep us alive tonight."

"Sounds perfect, thank you, Hagor," she said returning his smile.

# # #

Sucking in a sharp deep breath, Evangeline sat up with a start. All around her were the sounds of a forest, the tree leaves swishing in the wind and birds chattering about what they planned to do that day. Feeling warm and comfortable inside the wool-lined leather of her bedroll, she blinked rapidly as she realized another truth.

She remembered.

Not just the events of the previous day, but everything. Who she really was, where she came from, Meta and his strange gift. Everything...

"What the hell?" she whispered as she looked around the sanctuary glade. Sure enough, she recognized the "camp" space from the game, exactly as she remembered it on her TV screen but far more real and visceral... surreal. For one thing, she had just been sleeping on the ground, she should have been stiff and achy, but she was as rested as she would have been if she had slept in her bed.

The others were still asleep in their bedrolls, spread out in the sleeping nooks, snoring softly.

It's all real, she thought, marveling. Still, the fact that she had forgotten everything about herself left her feeling equally unsettled. If she stayed in this world long enough, would she forget everything about herself?

Feeling disconcerted, she wanted to check her stats table again, wondering if maybe there were some answers there, and as soon as that thought slipped through her, the table floated before her as real as the trees and the bedroll.

It looked much the same as it had yesterday except for a small message that flashed at the top.

Full Rest complete. All life points restored. All abilities restored.

She glanced over her stats, focusing once more on the Special Ability. Behind the name this time, she noticed seven filled-in ticks. Wrinkling at her nose at it, she wondered, What exactly does this Meta Knowledge do anyway? As soon as she asked it, a small box appeared with text in it beside the stat line.

"Well, you're up early," a voice interrupted her before she could read it.

Startling, she turned toward the voice to see Valerian standing there, shirtless with wet hair and a confident grin even as he hooded his eyes at her. She knew it was supposed to come off as sultry and mysterious.

"I'm seeing things a little differently this morning. How about you?" he asked.

To be continued...

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