New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



Astaroth briskly walked back out of the tree palace. He looked to the sky and estimated the time.

'Hmm. It'll be around six hours before the sun sets. I'll need to come back then.'

Phoenix looked at him mumbling, Morticia still following her around. Having her tag along everywhere was grating on her.

"Morticia. You don't need to follow me everywhere, you know?"

"Oh, I know, darling. I'm not following you. I'm following him, same as you."

Seeing her point at Astaroth made Phoenix's anger come back to the fore.

"I already told you to back off. Don't make me burn you to cinders."

"Oh, honey. You and I both know you would sleep faster than that could happen. But that is not why I'm following him. Something about the way he acts is intriguing to me. Like he is always looking at the bigger picture."

"Stop trying to psychoanalyze everything. Sometimes people act in a manner for no reason. Not everything is a psychological mystery."

"Quite the contrary. My job entails finding out what makes a person act the way they do. And the way he acts makes me curious about his real motives."

"Don't you have something better to do?"

Morticia chuckled at how Phoenix wanted her away from her man. Jealousy could be an ugly trait in anyone.

But Phoenix was right to be jealous here. Given a chance, Morticia knew she would jump on that train and ride it until it ran out of steam.

Not wanting to make her angrier at her without reason, Morticia took her leave.

"Fine. I'll go see if I have trustworthy contact to bolster our roster."

"Anyone needs to be approved by me first."

"Yes, of course. If I find anyone who wants such a stringent vice-guild leader, I'll let you know."

After saying her piece, Morticia walked away, the corner of her mouth still stretched in a smile.

Phoenix watched her leave, her hair almost combusting, as the surrounding mana reacted to her anger.

'God, I can't stand her! It's like she does it on purpose to anger me.'

Astaroth was still murmuring to himself, while the women talked together. He was calculating something and kept pulling up different internet tabs.

After a few minutes, he finally snapped back to the present. He spun around, noticing Phoenix was standing aside, watching him with a smile.

"Ahh. Were you waiting for me?"

"I have nothing better to do for now. What was it you were mumbling about?"

"I was calculating the stars and their location."

Phoenix looked at him with slight confusion.

"Why did you need to calculate the stars?"

"Because I need to contact the deity that rules them for my plan to work."

"Wait… You have a way of contacting a deity?!"

"I do. She's a minor deity, and her name is Alantha Anulo. She is the mother of the stars, and the kingdom spirit of the Ash Elves. We've talked a few times, so I think she will answer the call."

"You talked with a deity a few times already?!"

"Yes. Why do you seem so surprised?"

"Astaroth, my dear. Not a single player has been able to even confirm the existence of the deities yet. Only the priestly and devoted classes have an inkling of knowledge about them."

"Hmm. I see. Well, I guess I'm lucky then."

Phoenix conked him over the head lightly.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Lucky my butt! That is beyond luck! You talked to a deity, and more than once, at that!"

"Can I count the times I talked to you in there?"

Astaroth tried soothing her by using flattery. And it seemed to work, mostly.

"You! Nevermind. Hmph!"

"Hehehe."

"So? What did your calculations tell you?"

"Ah, yes! The constellation I want will be to the east tonight, when the moon is at its zenith. So I need to come back in about eight hours. I don't know what to do in the meantime."

"Hmm." Phoenix hummed.

She looked at the system clock. Since their time was the same as out-of-game, but inverted twelve hours, it was close to four in the morning.

"We could log out for a bit. Get some rest. What do you say?"

Astaroth looked at her before nodding.

"You know what, catching some Zs sounds good to me. We could also go to a nice breakfast place nearby. I hear they have the best poached eggs in town."

"Alright. Then I'll see you back in bed."

Phoenix said that with a wink, before promptly disconnecting.

Astaroth had a feeling she wouldn't want to just sleep. His heart was already pounding in his chest, his body thinking about the skin-to-skin contact.

A small cough brought his attention back forward. Violette was standing in front of him.

"Astaroth. I'm sorry about how Alfred treated you. I wish it wouldn't have happened, but my father was extremely mad that I was put in danger while under your supervision."

"Don't worry about it, Violette. I understand his reaction. I just hope he won't lock you back inside your house again."

"I hope so too…"

"I was about to log out. Did you need anything before I leave?"

"Um… Yes. My mother wanted me to tell you she would like it if you come by sooner than later. She wants to talk to you."

Astaroth smiled.

"Of course. Tell your mother that I will find some time this week. If we're lucky, she might even allow you to come by for a sleepover again. Kary is home with me."

Her face lit up at the mention of Kary being there and having a sleepover.

"I would love that! Alright, I'll tell her when she wakes up!"

Astaroth chuckled.

"In that case, I'll be going to sleep for a bit. I have something I need to do in-game later tonight, so I need to rest now. Catch you later, Violette."

"Okay! Rest well!" Violette chimed.

After waving her goodbye, Astaroth logged out.