Chapter 160 - 156: Rest for the Weary

Chapter 160: Chapter 156: Rest for the Weary

If I were human, I’d fall into bed now. We regroup in our suites while Maartenitz reads off the list of final contenders going into the next round.

House Riddlehoeven-Lammermoor

House Rottmas

House Barillot

House Yonel

House Bottomsley

House Hegel (defeated House Carlinet)

House Pikari (defeated House Shamoon)

House Milian (defeated House Ceareach)

Elandior beams. "We’ve been consolidated for the final matches. Before, it was advantageous to keep us in the running separately. After all, more houses means more opponents and more potential for glory."

Niall shows us another magical flower he’s been saving, the Fluxroot, a bright sparkling vermillion flower with many blooms on the same stem glittering with magical energy. "Boosts your energy and keeps it from fluctuating."

Kaline raises a hand from where she’s lounging on a chair in Minette’s and Lamant’s room. "Niall, you kept this from us?"

She’s not wrong. I bump her with my nose. Finn and Leonie practice pouncing on the Fluxroot. Promptly, Niall passes it to Peridot, who flies out of reach and narrowly misses colliding with Dag. Surprisingly, Gussie doesn’t scold Dag. Could it be that the moth-eaten bundle of feathers (her words, not mine) is growing on her?

Peridot drops the flower in Niall’s hand, while Lightning cuffs Finn and Leonie with her paw. For all of two seconds, they manage to look contrite.

Niall huffs. "How could you stay angry with those faces?"

On cue, Finn and Leonie give the big kitten eyes, and Leonie smells sweet like roses, even though she is a little terror some of the time. That’s my girl.

Minette brings the conversation back. "Of course, it makes sense now that there are only eight or nine houses for us to be combined. That way, it’s even. The final matches are always one house versus one house, even if two houses are allied by mating or marriage and count as one house. It’s all quite confusing."

"Not to us." Vedette yawns. "I wouldn’t mind skipping to the end. When we win, I hope."

You said a mouthful, Vedette. Maybe your player customized your dialogue or selected your dialogue to reflect what everyone battling for our lives feels.

Niall and Maartenwitz use an old-fashioned parchment paper on an easel to sketch out the probable next rounds of the tournament. It looks just like a NCAA Basketball or college football bracket. That makes sense.

On one side from the south:

Riddlehoeven-Lammemoor

Bottomsley

Hegel

Pikari

On the opposite side from the north:

Rottmas

Milian

Barillot

Yonel

Niall sketches out the final matches like a coach. "House Bottomsley will not be playing us yet because we are from the same region. Too easy. We will probably play Hegel. They are stronger than Pikari but not on the level of us or Bottomsley. Therefore, it will be..."

He puts us next to Hegel and Bottomsley next to Pikari.

Lifting an eyebrow, Maartenwitz adds, "Since we will no doubt win and Bottomsley will too, that leaves us facing Bottomsley."

Niall places us vs Bottomsley on our side. Next, he does the same for the northern houses. "Rottmas will face Yonel. Those two houses have a rivalry that goes back decades. They always end up matched in the final rounds whenever they both make it to the finals. That leaves Milian vs. Barillot."

He places Yonel vs Rottmas and Milian vs Barillot.

Hans scoffs. "Barillot easy."

Kaline wrinkles her nose. "Milian has a hippogriff."

She’s not wrong. I’m tempted to remind her of Buckbeak in Harry Potter. Hippogriffs can be temperamental. My girl Kaline is right.

Niall nods and places Milian in the winning column. "No question, Yonel has the edge over Rottmas." He adds Yonel in the winning column. "And since we will eventually win against Bottomsley, that leaves us facing Yonel or Milian."

Lobo nudges me. [We want Milian.]

I don’t question him. [We want the hippogriff.]

[Yes, because we want the player behind it.]

"It will probably be Milian then," Kaline asserts. "That hippogriff is just too strong."

Niall draws a rectangle around the center match. "Riddlehoeven-Lammermoor vs Milian."

Add "sports knowledge" and "fantasy sports brackets" to my list of things from the real world that I am grateful for.

Hans shakes his head at Kaline. "Why are you always right?"

Modestly, Kaline says, "I just studied about hippogriffs."

So did I. Hippogriffs don’t like insults, or at least Buckbeak didn’t in the Harry Potter book and movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban. They don’t like insults about their appearance.

[Kaline. Don’t insult a hippogriff’s appearance.]

I don’t know if it works the same here as in Harry Potter, but maybe.

Kaline’s response is swift. [How did you know that?]

I purr. [Lightning told me.]

[Oh! Well, that’s why she’s your mate. Yes. Don’t insult hippogriffs, period.]

My ruse worked. In real life, Amber is an admirer of Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter books, and Ginny ends up with Harry Potter, so saying that Lightning told me is a nod to Amber.

"So, we win against Milian," Lamant declares. "But first, against Hegel and Bottomsley."

The group cheers.

Niall sobers. "But there is one consideration. We only fight one house, which means that we rotate our beasts to save them for the final round. To take on House Hegel, House Bottomsley, and House Milian, we need to be strategic. The draws are no longer random. We choose."

Elandior raises a hand. "Einswine and I can partner with Peridot and Niall for House Hegel."

Vedette adds, "And Father and I can fight House Bottomsley with Demos and Gussie."

Of course. System has engineered this so that Lobo and I will fight the final round. I’m weirdly grateful that it is against House Milian, even if they have a hippogriff. On the other hand, it means they must be even worse than House Bottomsley.

[Lobo. House Milian. Sympathetic players or not?]

A long pause on his part.

[Lobo? You’ve gone silent.]

His next words send a chill through me. [So have they.]

Uh-oh. Did System get to them? Well, we knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

Minette pats Kaline’s arm. "Blaze and Lobo have acquitted themselves very well. They’ll be more than a match for the hippogriff."

Recalling my words to her, Kaline smiles. "Blaze is the beast of the moment. So is Lobo."

Everyone agrees. By now, there’s no arguing about who should represent the house. We may not be as overpowered as Einswine, but we’ve defeated beasts above our power level. It’s not always about the level.

Food is delivered and we eat ravenously. We enjoy our food and the camaraderie and the sense of family. Even the raw meat tastes better because I’m hungry, and because I need all my energy. Of course, after eating, I go into a food coma that triggers my sleepiness.

I want to celebrate our hard-fought victory, but the exhaustion of the day overtakes me. Suddenly, the room and Niall’s tournament bracket blur, and Lightning is helping me to bed along with Finn and Leonie.

Lobo seeks his bed too, not without nuzzling me. [Only three more matches, and we can go home. And in the real world, you just woke up. We are stronger than System ever dreamed.]

I nuzzle him back. [Get some rest. We’re both going to need it soon.]

In Kaline’s room, my little family all squishes together while Kaline and Hans talk quietly. Although they’re young, they’re practically engaged, so they share these moments without any hesitation. It comforts Lightning and me to see them both happy.

Slowly, I fall asleep. in my mind, visions slowly unfold of myself awake in the hospital bed, slowly recovering. I’m not eating yet because I’m still too weak. Mama promises that tomorrow she’ll talk to the doctors about me eating. Broth and juice and gelatin.

Josh and Amber come in, because their characters and mine are sleeping in the game. Amber’s hand reaches for mine. Her slender fingers, not furry or with claws, wrap around mine and refuse to let go. For the first time in weeks, I feel safe.

I stay for as long as I can until my human eyes start to close, then I’m back in my tiger body. The visions of the hospital and of my loved ones sustain me. I feel a connection to my physical body now. A slender cord connecting me to the world I’m fighting for. I feel anchored in a way that System cannot alter. I’ve awakened, and that inspires more hope. System’s control is breaking down. The nightmare is ending. Of course, System has no one but itself to blame. It made this contest personal when it threatened my loved ones. Also, I don’t react well to people manipulating me and trying to control me. And I react even less favorably to a tyrannical machine doing it. I’ve been red pilled now, and there is no going back.

I will be home maybe in a matter of days! Or even tomorrow.