Yours Truly, Callie

4. Joining Lotus

Callie impatiently tapped her heels against the concrete subway platform. She fixated her eyes on the dials of her dainty mesh gold watch. It was almost 7:00 PM, the time she told James she'll be home. Today was the day he promised to run her through her level 45 to 50 dungeons. No longer did she have to wait until Ryu, Katie, or Will were available, or better yet - entering with a random party and hoping they all knew what they were doing. James, could easily clear the dungeons and get her to her target level in no time. 

'The trains are late today, will be home in 30.' She opened the Discord application on her phone and direct messaged Shrowded. 

'I'm guessing you don't live in the suburbs.' Her phone vibrated instantly with a reply from James.

'Yeah, New York City. Trains never run on time, especially not in the middle of a storm.' Callie's fingers were frozen from the frigid air blowing through the tunnels. 'And, which not-city are you from?'

'Not a problem, I'm stuck in traffic, I should be home by then too.' James' reply was instantaneous yet again. 'A suburb in New Hampshire.' 

'Shouldn't you NOT be texting and driving?' Callie shoved her phone back in her pocket when the train screeched in front of her. She squeezed inside through the throng of straphangers and barely held onto the metal pole for stability. 

It was grossly warm.  

'Standstill traffic. I realized, I still don't know your name.' 

Callie paused for a minute before replying. 'That's not important. Just call me by my character name, Pyxis.' Callie knew once James fulfills his promise of getting her Valkyrie to level 60, he'd be gone. She might as well skip the formalities.

'See you soon, New York.' She could almost hear the playful tone of his voice through his text. 

Callie cursed her flimsy umbrella for barely making it through the freezing rainstorm. After inverting on her three times and almost stabbing her in the eye, she finally made it home. Thank goodness Ryan ordered pizza for the both of them tonight. The two of them had an unspoken rule, whenever pizza was being ordered, it must be shared. Especially if it was on a rainy day like today. 

"Pepperoni?!" Callie hovered over the sink to squeeze the water from her soaking sleeves. 

"Pepperoni!" Ryan confirmed from the bathroom with the shower running.

"I'm taking three slices!" She immediately flipped open the top of the box and popped the first slice in her mouth and plated two more before going into her room. She didn't even care if the slices were cold. 

Callie settled down on her computer chair and after changing into her favorite set of fleece pajamas, she was ready to get to level fifty today. She was right on time, well technically, since both of them were going to be late.

Shrowded: Ready for Cassandra's Castle?  It gives the most experience at your level, it should take me 30 minutes to get you to level 50. I'll meet you there in 5. 

Callie was taken back and almost in awe when he messaged her right when she logged in. Callie shook her head is dismay, she must be going crazy if she's feeling starstruck over an over-glorified internet gamer. 

Shrowded: Before I do that, let me invite you to the guild and voice chat in Discord. Head on over whenever you're ready. 

Within seconds, the word 'Lotus' appeared above Pyxis' username along with the guild crest of the side profile of a pixelated white lotus flower. Not wanting to draw any attention to herself in town, she quickly teleported to the Cassandra's Castle via a teleportation scroll and waited patiently outside the witch's chambers.