Yours Truly, Callie

6. Meeting Natalie

There was no reason she should be awake right now, it was 2:30 AM. It'd been a full hour since Callie got home from the gala and her body blatantly disregarded her wishes to fall asleep. Carefully peeling the covers off herself to not wake the smoke and sand-colored pooch, Callie shuffled into the kitchen with her pink bunny slippers on.  Thank goodness tomorrow's Sunday. 

Making her way back to her room with her favorite cup of tea, she instinctively tapped the 'on' button on her desktop. If she wasn't going to go to bed anytime soon, she might as well do something she enjoyed. 

'I heard we did goooood.' An unread message from Augustus blinked in the Discord app. 'That dress looks great on you!'

Callie smiled to herself before taking another sip of tea. 'Yes, we did good, August.'

'We're about to hunt for another Dragon's Tear for Nat. It's the same dungeon you found Shrowd's. You in?' 

'Nat?' Out of all the members she's met in Lotus this past week, she was sure she hadn't heard of that name before.  

'Natella? She's another Ice Mage like me.'  

Ah, Callie recalled where she heard that username. When she met Ryu, Will, and Katie, Natella was a part of the crew that broke the dungeon clearing record for the Forbidden Forest along with James, August, and Phantom. 

'Get in voice chat, we're waiting for you. Nat's great - she just got back from vacation. Shrowd, Nat, SuperDouch, and I met at the same time when we started playing Valoria two years ago. She's excited another female is in the guild.'

Callie joined the Lotus voice chat with a swift click of her mouse and already she felt like she mistakenly entered into a lover's quarrel.

"So Jamesy, tell me more about the annual V for Valoria collaboration between you and the game developers," a gentle soprano voice teased over the microphone. 

"Nat, you know I can't divulge any details until the live stream hosted by them," James' voice was hoarse. "Ah, New York." Her nickname rolled off his tongue effortlessly. 

"Couldn't sleep," Callie groaned. "Is this the Natalie I've been hearing about?" 

"The one and only." The feminine voice responded once more with pep. "Would you be Pyxis by any chance? The one who found the Dragon's Tear at Vinewood?" 

"The one and only," Callie repeated. "It was pure luck, really." 

"We would love to have you run it with us if you're planning to stay up, and hopefully your luck will rub off onto one of us," Natalie giggled. 

Making her way back to Ceare Dungeon into the Vinewood Forest, this time Callie knew where the hidden entrance stood. Expecting her guildmates to be meeting her there, instead, she was met with a motley crew of three strangers with raggedy armor.

"These are our alternative characters since our mains can't enter, remember?" James' reminded Callie of their first meeting on Shrouded. 

SHROUDED has invited to their party. Accept? Y/N

The familiar dungeon greeted Callie again with kobold goblins in the first room baring their teeth and snarling at each other. They held wooden clubs yet again with a cheap metal helmet to protect them from physical damage. They stopped pacing back and forth the second James pulled the lever and the iron gates lifted. 

"So, how was vacation Nat?" James' inquired. The Kensei moved at lightning speed. However, unlike his main character - his attacks were slower and did less damage. They still mesmerized Callie by the amount of skill he had.