“Reid!” I screamed. I was so excited I wasn’t thinking clearly. Normally I wouldn’t be screaming in a place where hundreds of rats might come swarming us.


    “What?” he asked, slightly alarmed and confused.


    “They’re there! They’re over there! We aren’t too far!” I exclaimed.


    “What? Seriously?!” We were both overflowing with energy at that point and nearly bouncing up and down with happiness.


    “What? Who?” Theo asked.


    I groaned, I didn’t want to hear his input, “Our party.” I responded dryly.


    Rosalynn was flipping around, her head on a swivel looking for something, anything familiar. She grimaced as she scanned her surroundings. I did the same, anything other than the two pillars that Aureus made was extremely difficult to make out. I assumed that the two of them were going to have a very difficult time finding their way back to whatever they had to go.


    “Uh. So I hate to ask this… but… would you be okay with us joining you until we find our group?” Rosalynn asked.


    I paused for a moment, considering the option, and clearly my indecision lasted longer than Rosalynn expected because she followed her question up with “I’m not expecting much, you don’t need to add us to your party, and we won’t ask for resources unless we contribute. It’s just not safe to travel alone and we will pull our own weight. I swear!”


    Reid looked at me with that look of ‘we should bring them, why are you hesitating?’ and I looked at him with that ‘we don’t know these people and didn’t you hate Theo’ look and he responded with ‘aren’t we all human, I don’t want them to die for nothing’ and I caved.


    “Okay, then let’s head out. I have ground rules, I will provide food if you participate in fights. I will allow showers for Rosalynn and not for Theo, he shall be put on Noel level. I will not answer questions if I don’t want to. I will protect your lives to the best of my ability and I expect the same from you. Also, I will create more rules whenever I want if needed. Got it?” I rattled off my rules quickly and flatly and barely glanced at the two of them as I speed walked towards Caro and Noel. I couldn’t help it, I wanted to see them more than anything. Plus if I delayed any longer I figured that Caroline was going to wring my neck for leaving her without access to a shower for this long.


    “Alright, sounds good. I’m fine with that.” Rosalynn quickly agreed.


    “What does Noel level mean?” Both me and Reid ignored him as we were marching towards the two pillars in the distance. He complained and repeated his question a few more times, but scrambled to keep up with us.


    Quickly I realized that I was still quite tired. I guess I might not have slept very long. That made sense though, I had passed out after I was in a significantly dangerous situation for half a week, it definitely made sense for me to be on edge and not sleep well. I could handle a bit of sleepiness, I just wanted to see the both of them again. I needed to confirm for myself that they were doing alright. They had insisted they were fine over the social tab and told us to focus on making our way out, but I couldn’t get rid of this overwhelming anxiety while they weren’t around.


    How was I going to leave them to figure things out on their own and return home at this rate? Or was I just more worried this time because of the way that we ended up getting separated? Maybe when we got more people for the party and they were strong enough to handle themselves I wouldn’t be so stressed? I shook my head, there wasn’t much point in fretting over it at that point. I pulled up the GGC to distract myself.


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” praises “Collector of Gems and Stones” for his excellent labyrinth.]


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” blushes and exclaims that he was very satisfied with this batch of mortals as well.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” asks if “Collector of Gems and Stones” keeps a record of all of the mortals that enter the labyrinth.]


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” states that he doesn’t keep a record, but does pay attention to his guests.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” clicks his tongue.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” suggests that “Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” could keep a record if that was important to him.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” complains that they know he’s too busy for another project.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” agrees with “Traveling Spring Painter” and says she was surprised the labyrinth was so entertaining, but complains that it was too short.]


    “Oh yeah, why didn’t you say that it was a challenge we had to give up on? If I knew that none of us had to complete it I wouldn’t have tried so hard!” I whined. I wasn’t certain that was the case, but I had an inkling that there wasn’t a way for us to complete that challenge. Not at our current level at least. It was frustrating that they didn’t tell us that we all had to surrender.


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” shakes his head and explains that being vague and instilling unease yields greater results.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” flips through a book and marks something before grunting in agreement.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” states that it is much more entertaining if you don’t know.]


    [“Playful Cat hates Yarn” agrees that they all get more entertainment if the game is played this way.]


    “Ugh, well I will agree that I got good things out of it this time. Though since we did the individual challenge it makes me wonder what the reward is for the team challenge.” I tried not to pull at my hair while I thought about it, I was very aware of the group staring at me while I chatted with the gods. I wondered why I was different, from what I’d heard from Caroline they didn’t get nearly as much engagement from the gods.


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” complains that you never appreciate the things they do for you.]


    “What’d you do? The Collector is the one who created the labyrinth in the first place. Why are you taking credit?”


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” nods vigorously stating that you were wise.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” clutches their chest with an exaggerated gasp.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” asks you when you plan to go back home.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” echoes her query.]


    “Ah… Yeah I’m not sure. I wanted to go sometime soon, but I needed to make sure that they were fine to leave on their own. It’s definitely taken me longer than I wanted.” But now at least, if things go well, I’ve found someone who can look after them while I’m away… Maybe. I thought to myself after I finished talking. I didn’t quite trust Rosalynn yet, but anyone who could put up with such a useless bag of shit like Theo probably wasn’t an awful person.


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” complains that they are your friends not babies.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” touts that loyalty is one of the most important virtues one can have.]


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” teases “Abandoned Bloodied Sword” exclaiming that her eyes have gone bad since they are clearly adults.]


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” blushes and grumbles about how everyone knew what she meant.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” smiles, saying that they are proud of you for taking care of your friends even to your own detriment.]


    “They might as well have been babies…” I mumbled under my breath. Then I winced at my own comment, really I meant that they were as defenseless as babies and needed my help, but I knew the gods were going to misunderstand.


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” cackles at your comment.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” states that if you hadn’t watched over them, then more than likely all of them would have died by now.]


    [“Void Who Gazes Back” angrily disagrees saying that her contractor is strong enough and would be fine.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” teases her by arguing that her contractor would be fine but a captive to that group you clashed with.]


    [“Void Who Gazes Back” grits her teeth and says they would never let that happen to their contractor.]


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” wonders how that would work out anyway.]


    A portion of the chat window after that was obscured again. I wondered why the system even showed that the window was obscured, surely leaving the chat out altogether would protect the information more? Showing me that there is some sort of information that needs to be redacted makes me want to know more, or was that the goal? To drive curiosity or greed? That would make sense, it wasn’t like the gods as a whole were necessarily good or evil from what I could tell. Rather I hadn’t found any gods that I would categorize as one or the other at all yet.


    “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I owe the Playwright an apology for the words I said on the first day. You were right, it was impressive.” I said proudly, I tried to hide my emotion, but it was hard not to be proud when I looked around at the wasteland and compared it to the place that the Playwright prepared for me.


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” tries to hide a smile rubbing the tip of his nose with a finger as he proudly states that at least you know.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” is happy you’ve apologized for your comments.]


    “Really though, this place is the worst, but I guess it does suit the mood of a deadly and desolate landscape… If that''s what they were going for…” I said as I peered around in the distance.


    I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I couldn’t help but look around. Maybe I’d find Rosalynn’s party. Finding them this soon gave me mixed feelings in my gut though. I wanted to find her party since I liked her, but at the same time I didn’t… since I liked her. An odd contradiction. I wanted her to stick around and help out and grow closer with everyone, but I could also see the anxiety and uncertainty in her. This place was really hard to navigate, so finding her group might be close to impossible.


    I read through a few more messages in the GGC, a couple gods I didn’t recognize whined about how humans never saw the appeal in places like this. I considered for a moment arguing with them and stating that Noel was quite taken with the place. I decided against it though, since I was sure that Noel would be taken with almost any section of the Underhollow.


    “So… uh, sorry to interrupt your uh conversation, but I’m just a little curious…” Rosalynn was peering over at me, waiting for my nod to continue, I obliged her, “Are you like? Do you have a contract, actually are several gods offering contracts or like… It''s so strange I’ve never seen someone talk to more than a god or two, but the way that you talk and read it seems like there''s quite a few.”


    I stared at her for a moment, she must be very perceptive. Actually maybe I was dense, I had been staring at that window for ages. If there weren’t several gods then I’d have gotten bored or finished reading much sooner. I weighed my options on whether or not to tell her, but I really didn’t see much point in hiding it. Especially since it was so obvious at that point.


    “Yeah, I mean I do have a lot of different gods chatting to me… or in my channel? Sometimes they’re more talking to each other than me, but no I don’t have a contract at the moment and I don’t plan to get one.”


    “Really? Then are the gods that talk to you gods that want to become your patron god?”


    “I’m not sure about all of them, but I don’t think so. Honestly I’ve been feeling like I have become a neutral ground of sorts, ya know? Since I won’t make a contract they gathered to watch without having any real stakes in me. If I die they lose nothing except their bets and if I live… well actually I guess it depends on what they bet.” I scrunched my face in thought as I said it.


    That was something I had been considering myself for a while, why they were gathering in my channel. The gods clearly enjoyed watching lots of humans, but for some reason they weren’t chatting in the others. I was sure there were lots of gods watching all four of us right at that moment, but for some reason they didn’t say much to the others. I was assuming it had to do with god etiquette or something. That if they got involved with a human that was contracted it was seen as rude? Or maybe the patron gods were territorial as gross as that is to say.


    “Neutral grounds huh…” she looked to be in thought for a few seconds, “Then do you think that there are lots of gods watching all of us?”


    “From what I’ve seen, certainly.”


    “Why do you say that?”


    “Because there have been lurkers in my channel too, gods that referenced things that happened way before they ever first chatted to me. Plus from how they act it really just seems like they want to use us for entertainment, so why would they pass up on someone like you or Reid just because you’re not a prospect for a contract?”


    “That’s weird though?”


    “What do you mean?”


    I waited for a minute, but this time Reid chimed in instead, “It’s strange that they would chat more to someone that isn’t contracted. Wouldn’t someone who has already committed to a contract be a safer neutral space? Since the god with the contract would have the assurance that they already snagged them?”


    “Yeah exactly, thanks I was trying to put that to words.” Rosalynn exclaimed with a big smile towards Reid. He was startled by her sudden change in attitude and blushed slightly.


    I furrowed my brows as I considered it, they were right. I never stopped to consider if I was the weird one since everyone around me had signed contracts. Wait, that wasn’t right. Noel hadn’t as far as I was aware. Damn, why had I never considered this? It was weird that none of the gods were pushing me to sign their contracts, and that they were so violently protective over other gods communicating with their contractor. It was almost as if they were afraid they’d lose them.


    “Wait a minute… Hey… so can you sign multiple contracts?” I turned from my group back to the GGC, and as expected they went dead silent yet again. Highly suspicious if I did say so myself.


    “So?” Rosalynn asked.


    “I’m not sure they’re ignoring me, which in my humble opinion means yeah. I think you can. I don’t know why you’d want to, but it certainly seems like it. I mean it isn’t like I’ve ever been told that you can only make one contract, I guess I just assumed because of the conditions. Like if you have to be the representative of a god or goddess wouldn''t it be hard to do that for more than one?”


    “Hmm… not really? As long as the gods you chose were compatible with each other and you it’d be fine… probably? Like all you have to do is show how awesome they are, that’s why I post so much on Celes, and if you have more than one patron god you could get stronger faster than others which would reflect better on the patron gods right?” Rosalynn sounded more and more confident in her theory the more she talked.


    “Yeah maybe, but our gods clearly don’t want us to do that though. So even if it is more beneficial there must be a downside for them.” Reid mused.


    “It’s the type of exposure they want that isn’t right…” Theo mumbled.


    “What?” I turned to look at him and he flinched.


    “They want the right kind of exposure,” he repeated.


    “Yeah, I hear you, but can you explain?” I asked again.


    “Like, if you are really strong but only have one patron god then it seems like that god is strong, but if you’re strong and have multiple then each god looks weaker by extension. Like you needed more than just the one you started with or the second one is just there to make up for small areas the first lacked in. It doesn’t get them the … I dunno oomph? That they want… probably?” He stumbled his way through that thought, but it was convincing.


    I pulled at my hair while I mulled over the conversation. It does make some sense, but in that case why did none of my gods contract with me? I assume somehow fame and contracts benefitted the gods outside of just having a lacky as they put it. Then that means that exclusive contracts are valuable and need to be defended, or maybe they were only valuable with certain contractors? If they set up the system to allow for more than one contract then that means the gods wanted to be able to contract with humans that already had a contract.


    “Then why would they do that?” I muttered my thoughts aloud.


    “Do what?” Reid asked.


    “Why would they set it up to where we could even have multiple contracts if they didn’t want to lose portions of their contractors?” I asked. A long silence followed as we marched towards the ever closer pillars.


    We were very close to them now, and I nearly had forgotten what I’d asked when Rosalynn answered, “Maybe cause they wanted different types of contractors? Like they’ve got different plans for each person or different levels of commitment?”


    No one really knew what to say after that. No matter how much we speculated, that’s all it was. Speculation. We wouldn’t really know their motives until they told us or if we somehow managed to confirm it. More than anything it bothered me, I had assumed you could only have one patron god because I basically had three. We weren’t contracted but they had been sponsoring me and chatting with me since I first awakened. If they could all contract with me why hadn’t they?


    I was lost in thought while we advanced, and nearly tripped when Reid caught my arm to stop me, “What?” I looked back to ask.


    “What do you mean ‘what’? We’re here.” He said with a huge grin.


    I looked forward and there they were, Aureus’ huge landmark pillars each to one side of the huge hole he dug. Finally we had made it out of that damn labyrinth and across the Underhollow to where we had left them. It was finally time to see Caro again!