Cory Shook His Head. You're Incredible. I Know I Won't Be Playing Video Games for a Little

Cory shook his head. "You're incredible. I know I won't be playing video games for a little while."

Robert snorted as he sat at his desk. "I'm not playing. I just missed my guild's PvP night. I'm one of the better players[1]. I can't just ditch without an explanation."

"Kind of missing my point."

Robert logged into Aspect Realms. His character, a female Deviling Windwhisper he named Bluster, loaded onto the screen. People always asked him why he played a female character. Though he felt like a lech for it, it was because he rather stare at that exaggerated, unrealistic depiction of the female body than a male avatar. "It's my computer. If it was going to try and kill me, it would have already[2][3]."

The details of the game-world Bluster lived in took a long time to load [4]up. The capital city always took a long time to load. His graphics card was outdated two years ago when he built the computer. In gamer terms, it was just ancient. "Besides, worrying about the fact that one arcade game tried to kill us makes no sense[5]. There are handhelds, cell phones, and consoles all around campus let alone the dorms. You worry about that, and you'll become a paranoid basket-case[6]. What's done is done. Worrying about it won't make it go away, so why worry?"

"So you're not shaken up. Not even a little bit? We almost died, dude!"

Robert began typing up a quick message to his guildmaster. Obviously, he'd leave out the parts about the monster attack and magical cheerleaders. A simple witness of a robbery would do. Easy to explain why he never showed up for PvP. "But we didn't die. We just have a bunch of cuts and bruises. Those heal." Mentioning the cuts made Robert think about the deep gash Polygal had cut into his own face. Thinking about it made it sting a little.

Cory shook his head again. "Yup. You are incredible."

Eli hurried into the room. "I drew up the image of what was on your forehead when you were glowing. I tried to find a blue pen, but I couldn't find one."

Robert sent the message in his mailbox and then logged out of Aspect Realms. "Thanks, Eli. Black ink will be just fine." The image was a dot encased by a small circle with part of another larger circle enjoining the smaller circle.

Cory leaned forward. "What do you think it means[7]?"

Robert wondered that too. He squinted, looking as though he was trying to will the scribbled image to give up its secret meaning. "Not sure. Never seen anything like it. You?"

"Not me."

"Doesn't look like anything I ever saw."

Robert bit on his thumbnail, a bad habit he always resorted to when he was thinking[8]. "Well, it meant something. At least it meant something to Polygal and the Spirit Guard." Robert still had a hard time believing gorgeous cheerleaders that turned weapons into pompoms and battled with fantastical monsters wasn't a story he had heard on the news before. "So tell me, who are these so-called Spirit Guard? You said they've been here for a year. How come I've never heard of them?"

"You're from across the country, dude[9]. They're a Kessia City thing."

"Yes, but they can manifest, by my count, arrows of pure light, energy shields, pink fireballs, red electricity, and are superhumanly fast! Oh, and they run around in tight revealing cheer uniforms and are absolutely stunning[10]. That's got to at least make the 9 o'clock news somewhere!"

Eli nodded. "I thought the one in yellow was the hottest. I think she's Charity."

Cory gasped. "Charity? You blind? The one in red! Tenacity! Her legs went on forever!"

"Guys..."

"Tenacity? No way. I mean, yes, I'll admit she is attractive, but I didn't think she was 'hot' per se."

"You're blind man[11]!"

Robert groaned. "Guys! Let's focus here. Regardless of which is hotter, they should be national news, right? We agree on that[12][13]?"

Cory and Eli paused to think about it. "You know, I guess I never really considered it, but yeah, they should be bigger news."

"Especially when you consider all the destruction [14]their battles with the monsters cause."

Robert nodded; he was obviously glad they moved onto more important subjects. "Yes, and on that note, these monster attacks are common enough that you know about them. How often do they happen?"

"Every few weeks or so[15][16][17], I think."

Eli plopped down on the empty, uncovered bed of Robert's yet-to-arrive roommate. "Yeah, and I think every monster has been some sort of weird, female humanoid thing that's fused with some item or theme."

"So, where do these monsters come from? The one that called herself Valor said something about 'minions of Platicore.' That ring any bells?"

Eli shook his head. "Not a one."

Cory crossed his arms, thinking. "I think it sounds familiar, but that might be because he sounds like a poorly named Saturday morning cartoon character[18]."

Robert sighed. "Guess that was a far stretch anyway. Let's focus on what Polygal said then." He stood up and started pacing. "She said she thought I was their 'aloof protector' [19]at first, but then she saw the symbol and said I was something else. Something she thought was impossible[20]."

Eli nodded. "So then the glowing meant one thing, but the thing on your forehead meant something more."

"Yeah," Cory said with a disbelieving tone, "and Polygal said something about you having an 'Ardent Resonance' or something."

"No," Robert corrected, "it said that I was 'radiating [21]Ardent Resonance.'"

Cory shrugged. "So maybe 'Ardent Resonance' was what you were glowing or what the glowing is called?"

Eli nodded. "And Valor asked if Polygal drained," he made quotation marks in the air, "your 'investiture.' When you responded a little confused she changed it to 'energy' that you were drained of. Maybe this investiture is what the monster was after, and when we lose it, we get all slow and tired."

Robert bit his thumb nail again. "Yeah, but whether we call it glowing and energy or Ardent Resonance and investiture, it doesn't really explain what it is. It's just different names for the same thing we know nothing about." It galled Robert. The more he tried to figure it all out, the more questions seemed to come up.

"Maybe not," piped up Cory. "I mean, let's think about this one word at a time. Ardent just means passionate or intense or something like that. When something resonates it, I don't know, is in-tune with it. So your glowing means something about maybe being passionately in-tune [22]with something."

Passionately in-tune with something. That would indicate there was another thing that he was resonating with. So what was that thing? Eli interrupted Robert's thoughts, "And investiture is, at least in a legal sense, the power an official of the government has. Or at least that's what I think it is. But if that's the case, maybe there is some sort of, I don't know, investiture or power every person has that the monsters are after. And without it we get sluggish like those kids and Cory were. That would explain why Valor changed the word to energy since that would be how people feel it."

"A good theory." Eli's and Cory's ideas had some meat behind him, but something kept nagging at him. The image on his forehead. "But Polygal commented on the Ardent Radiance before she ever saw the thing on my head so they aren't connected. And if this 'investiture' is what the monster was after, and Cory and a bunch of kids got drained of it, that means everyone has it and it's not what made Polygal or the Spirit Guard react to me in such a strange way. The symbol on my head must be something else entirely... so what is it?"

Eli and Cory shrugged in unison. It made Robert chuckle inside himself. They were so different yet so similar at the same time. "So maybe the answer lies in what is different. Cory, when Polygal drained you, what did it feel like?"

Scratching the back of his neck, Cory walked forward and looked at the picture Eli had drawn. "But, what was it that happened? I mean, when she touched me, I just instantly felt tired and..." He trailed off, obviously not sure how to explain it.

"And what?" Eli inquired.

"I don't know. Just... I just felt... meh. I mean, yeah, I knew she was taking something from me, but I didn't care. I think I even kind of liked it."

Robert turned around and examined Eli's drawing. "You liked it?"

"Not in a 'this is awesome' kind of way, but just a, I don't know, like a bug being drawn into a bug zapper's light kind of way. What about you?"

Robert frowned. "When she went after my, I guess, 'investiture,' I could feel Polygal inside me. Like, her, I'm not sure how to describe it, presence was in my body or something. But not my body, but some part of my body that wasn't physical but still me." Cory and Eli blinked at Robert. "I know, makes no sense."

Cory nodded. "Yeah, I didn't feel anything like that."

Eli tapped his chin. "But you could feel her. So, what was that like? What was she doing in that part of your body that wasn't your body but still part of you." He paused. "Wow, that does sound ridiculous."

Robert laughed again. "It wasn't like anything I've felt before. She was looking for something, that I'm sure of. But she, after a quick search, found it."

"And what was 'it' that she was looking for."

Robert shook his head in dismay. "It's the damnedest thing. I still don't know. It was a piece of me, some... some Facet of me that she wanted. But when she went for it... remember how I told you that I was having waves of icy chills in Loose Change?" Cory and Eli nodded. "Well, I, and again, I know this doesn't sound normal at all, I somehow took control of that icy feeling in my bones, turned it into water, and defended my Facet with it."

Silence hung in the air as each boy blinked at the other. Cory finally breached the silence. "Yeah, I didn't have any of that happen."

Three sharp knocks [23]echoed from the front door. Before Robert, Cory, or Eli could get up to invite the person on the other side in, the door opened[24]. "Elijah? Cory? You here?" The voice was concerned and female.

Eli groaned. "Crap. It's my sister." Robert gave a reproving eye. "I didn't tell her anything about the attack!"

Cory seemed to forget all about the serious conversation they had been having, chuckled, and hopped out to the door. His limp was noticeably absent. "Mallory! What's the occasion?"

Robert smirked. "Lot of pep in his step for someone who was gimping around earlier."

"Oh, he was totally milking the injury for all it's worth. He's a drama queen." Eli shuffled off the other bed and headed out of Robert's room. "Mallory, what are you doing here?"

Robert sighed and glanced back down at the picture of the icon that had been on his forehead. One blue circle with a dot in it. Another circle interlocking the smaller one[25][26][27]. It sort of reminded him of ripples in a pond. But what did it mean?

"What am I doing here?" It was clear that Eli's sister was not happy. "Elijah, I heard about a monster attack at an arcade. An arcade that you work at. On a night I knew you had a shift! And then you don't answer your phone! I came here to make sure you weren't killed by a monster[28][29]!"

Robert thought about going into another PvP match, but he realized that Eli's sister probably would ask about the attack. Cory and Eli had been smart and not mentioned the glowing or the symbol to the cops when they asked them questions, but he had learned family could loosen tongues really fast. He exited the room and saw Eli blushing sheepishly. "Oh, um, I think I may have dropped my phone in all the excitement." He coughed. "Sorry I made you worry, Mallory."

Mallory shook her head with dismay, her brown ponytail swaying in the air. "Dad's going to kill you if you lost that. That is if I don't kill you first for making me worry myself sick over if you were alive or not!" Robert had never met Eli's sister before and was impressed by her height. She was almost six feet tall and had a well sculpted body. His eyes lingered on her long, athletic legs [30]and...

Robert hadn't noticed at first, but there was another girl behind Mallory. She was so short that, until Robert had let his eyes dwell on Eli's sister's beautiful legs, he hadn't noticed a second pair right behind her. He moved over a bit more and saw this girl was maybe five feet tall, and that might have been generous. Regardless, she was very cute with shimmering black hair that hung straight down to the back of her knees. Cory chuckled. "I think monster attacks would be an acceptable excuse for a lost or broken phone, Eli. Even with your father." Cory put on his most dashing smile. "But I'm sorry, Mallory, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to your lovely friend. My name is Cory Frost, and who might you be?"

The girl giggled and glanced up at Mallory, practically craning her neck to do so. "Wow, you were totally right."

Mallory's face lost all hints of anger and she smirked. "I know Elijah and Cory like the back of my hand."

Cory grinned nervously, obviously uncomfortable with not being in on the joke. "What do you mean?"

The raven haired girl stepped forward, each stride as proud as a cat's. "Oh, Mal here told me you'd be the first to try to introduce yourself and give a cheesy compliment. I told her that you and her brother have two other roommates that might beat you to the punch, but she guaranteed you'd be first[31]." Cory slouched a little, and that caused the short girl to giggle more. She had a really cute laugh. "It's okay though. I like cheesy compliments. My name is Vivian Joyce. But my friends just call me Viv. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She bowed in a mock display of formality.

Cory straightened right back up. "The pleasure is all mine, madam." The pair shared a laugh, and he relaxed. "So how do you know Mallory[32]?"

Mallory pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. She gave Robert a glance, her eyes lingering on him for a second. It wasn't long, but it lasted long enough that Robert could tell she had been sizing him up for something. Vivian shrugged. "My parents and I attended a lot of volleyball games last year. We actually met though after a set of matches and got to talking before we started hanging out.[33]" Vivian giggled seemingly for no reason. "Made senior year of high school a lot more fun to be hanging out with a college girl[34]!"

The conversation didn't involve the arcade attack at all. He should start doing some research on the Spirit Guard. Wasting more time with idle chit chat wouldn't be productive. He needed to know more about who these mystical cheerleaders were. Robert pushed off the wall and turned towards his room. "So what about you Twinkle Toes? What's your name?"

Robert froze. How did she... no, it was because he was sneaking back to his room. That's why she had called him Twinkle Toes. "Robert Dreese." He decided that sounded too abrupt and stand-offish. There was no way calling him Twinkle Toes should have made him get so tense. He needed to soften up his introduction. He decided to add, "Nice to meet you. Both of you, I mean." He winced internally. He had waited too long to throw the last line in. It sounded stilted and fake. He hated sounding fake.[35][36][37]

Mallory shot Vivian a quick glance. She still wore her smirk. "Robert, huh? So were you at the arcade too?"

Robert nodded. He was surprised how much he tensed up at being called Twinkle Toes. He could tell the girls had noticed he tensed up too. Deciding to borrow a page from Cory's playbook, he attempted to act casual by throwing a joke in. "Yeah. Wild times. Didn't know you people grew video game monsters out here."

Vivian pointed at Robert's face and practically skipped towards [38]him. "Wow, you have quit a few nicks and bruises! What did you do to piss the monster off?"

Robert stepped back, not comfortable with how close she was. He was even less comfortable in how interested she was in his injuries. "It's nothing really[39][40]."

The short girl rolled her eyes. "You were attacked by a monster. I can see your battle scars, dummy. So spill the juicy details!"

Eli tried to ease the pressure off of Robert. "There was a lot of debris that cut us up."