She couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Her Porter had knifed her!

Astra sat on the ground at the Soul Stone, seething. The crowd from earlier had all dispersed. Only empty stalls remained as a witness to her respawn. Thankfully, her Death Penalty from before had worn off, but now she had a new one, and if she died again while it was active, her stats would take the hit.

“He killed me!” Porters weren’t supposed to be able to do that! Porters just followed you around and carried your stuff. Sure, sometimes Xander had done things outside of the commands she’d actively given, but that was just his AI trying to be helpful. She’d had him focused on casting [Cure] and [Resurrect] if she died. She’d never given him any Melee Skills since the only Melee Skill she had was a Player Scroll with Dual Wield. Astra had not leveled that up enough to make a Skill Scroll of her own to give him. If she’d had her Menu she would have been able to check her Skill levels and his, but since he’d taken it, she was completely blind.

Furthermore, he killed her with a simple knife, which meant that his STR was probably higher than hers. She pulled her ruined armor tighter around her chest. If her armor had been intact, she was sure he wouldn’t have been able to do that.

She heard footsteps approaching but didn’t bother looking. Of course, he knew where she was. Where else would she have been?

“Get up,” Xander ordered.

Turning to scowl up at him, Astra couldn’t think of anything to say. He’d killed her, and while it wasn’t permanent, it was indeed painful. If she could just find the Menu options to fix that... but she didn’t have her Menu!

He pulled the knife out again. “I know you don’t like dying multiple times in a row. Get up.”

Astra got up. She tried to control her expression, but her ears were pinned back, and her tail lashed. She had no choice. Her Skills and Teleportation were locked. Even if her Teleportation wasn’t locked, he had her Menu!

She couldn’t even pull out one of her weapons to defend herself physically; that was only available through her Menu. She’d died in the Southlands with pruning shears equipped. She couldn’t switch weapons.

“Would you be reasonable?” Astra asked. “I need to Log Out.” The whole idea of this was absurd. She was arguing with her Porter!

“I implore you to be reasonable,” Xander said. “Allowing you to leave now is not an option. I intended to have this discussion somewhere more private, but your threat of slaughtering me forced my hand.”

“Forced your hand?” Astra shouted, throwing her arms up. “You knifed me!” She turned to walk away, only to be yanked back by her arm, the knife pressed against her throat. She stared into the icy gaze of her NPC.

“And I will do so again,” Xander said. “As many times as it takes. You are too dangerous to allow to walk free.”

“D-dangerous?” she sputtered. None of this made sense.

“Astra Diane, how many times have you died in this Plaza to other Immortals? Immortals, who were not even targeting you but merely destroying the city?” Xander demanded. At least the knife moved away from her throat, but his grip on her arm was tight.

She glanced around. Admittedly, she’d died many times, and so had Xander. She’d had to drag his corpse out of the city to get away from the stupidity and wait for her Death Penalty to wear off before she could Resurrect him. But wait... That had been fights between Players. Maybe from an NPC’s point of view, Players were immortal, she supposed. “Where are the others?” she asked. “I don’t see anyone else here.”

“They have been absent for five hundred years,” Xander said. “However, your reappearance implies that others might follow.”

Astra stared at him, her tail stilling its furious lashing. “Five... hundred? But... I wasn’t gone... did they update, and I didn’t know?” she wondered.

“Come,” Xander said, releasing her arm finally and stepping back. “We will speak further somewhere more private.” He started walking without looking back to see if she was following.

Astra sighed, feeling incredibly weird about following her Porter, but jogged to catch up and walked a step behind and beside. He was leading her to the church. “Why not the inn?” she asked.

“And expose more innocents to danger should you decide to Raise Undead?” Xander asked.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Astra said. “And I wouldn’t have actually killed you.”

“Considering that this is the first time we’ve spoken to each other, I can’t say I know you well enough to believe that.” The look he gave her from the corner of his eye was chilly. She was not going to get an apology for the knifing.

Astra folded her arms, muttering curses at him under her breath as she followed him up the white staircase.

As they approached the doors to the sanctuary, an acolyte hurried up, blue robes fluttering. “Divine Brother,” the young Elven girl said. “The Holy Mouth wishes to speak to you.”

Xander looked from the acolyte to Astra. Coming to a decision, he said, “Heather, take this woman to my apartment. Give her food and clothes.” He looked at Astra. “You are to stay there until I return. I’m sure you’re aware that I can find you wherever you go in this world.”

Ears folding down, Astra felt like she’d barely had them up at all today. “Fine,” she growled. She did want some time to herself to think about how to deal with this unusually willful NPC. Turning, she looked at the acolyte and gestured for her to go on.

Heather bowed to Xander, then Astra, her confusion evident. Taking the lead, she headed into the church while Xander peeled off in a different direction.

“Why do you call him ‘Divine Brother’?” Astra asked as they turned right into a long hallway. This was a section she’d never been in before. Previous forays into the church to get her Death Penalty removed had always ended at the altar. Side halls like this one had been roped off.

“Because he is one of the church,” the girl said. “He has had ample opportunity to become the Holy Mouth but has declined the honor, remaining a Brother within our order. His powers are far beyond ours, so out of respect, we’ve given him a new title. You are lucky to have a personal audience with him. He does not often speak to others.” She folded her hands in her wide sleeves, flushing slightly.

Sensing that she could get more information out of this NPC, Astra moved closer. “Doesn’t talk to others?” she asked. “Why?”

“He is a lonely soul,” Heather said. “As one of the Cursed Ones, he is blessed with eternal youth and Skills that know no bounds, but he must watch Time take all except him in return.”

Heather stopped at the door and gestured. “We have arrived.” Opening the door, she allowed Astra to enter. “I shall bring meal and clothes shortly.”

Entering, Astra looked around the spacious sitting room. It was nice but a bit sterile. One wall consisted of shelves stuffed with books and other knickknacks. A boat in a bottle caught her eye, and she approached, touching it with a finger to use Examine.

[Boat in a Bottle Level 200, Crafter Astra Diane]

She turned to look around the room again, approaching the couch. Touching it, she used Examine.

[White Rosewood Settee Level 100, Crafter Astra Diane]

She frowned. “I told him to sell this.”

A sigh escaped her. Without her Menu, she couldn’t even see how much longer she had to wait for the Death Penalty to wear off. Her tail lashed.

“That jerk knifed me.”

* * *

Xander didn’t have to bow to the Holy Mouth, but he did so out of courtesy. “You wished to speak to me,” he said, closing the door to her office.

The Holy Mouth, a wizened Dracoid, nervously twiddled a pen between her claws where she sat behind her desk. “You brought the Immortal here,” she said.

“Yes. I deemed it the safest way to keep an eye on her,” Xander said.

Standing, the Holy Mouth put the pen down. “I was told you slaughtered her in the street.”

“I did,” Xander admitted. He still couldn’t believe he’d done that.

“And yet here she is, in our church, undamaged.”

“Immortals have some inconvenience when they are killed,” Xander explained. “For a time, their Skills are locked. They must either be blessed by the Holy Waters or simply wait for the effect to wear off.”

“So, the Immortal is disarmed at the moment,” the Holy Mouth said.

“For the moment,” Xander agreed. “I believe reasoning with her is possible.”

“Is she likely to side with us in the coming war?”

Irritated that the conversation had taken this turn, Xander bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything he might regret later. After a moment, he took a breath and said, “Her decisions are her own to make. However, I would caution against asking an Immortal to take sides. They are unpredictable and dangerous.”

“Yet you brought one here.”

“Where else would I take her?” Xander snapped. “I’ve disarmed her to the best of my abilities. She is cooperative for now.”

“Xander, you know that we are facing a Cursed One. We will lose many good people to his Skills without your help.”

“So, you think turning to an Immortal will solve the problem? I lived in the time of the Immortals, Grestra. Yes, they called themselves ‘Adventurers’ and took on requests at the guild, but how they performed their tasks were often unexpected. I’ve seen many instances where a mere potion was requested but Astra Diane delivered an Elixir. Removal of rats in the sewers often ended with the entire system being blasted sterile with fire!” Frustrated that he could not make these people understand the dangers Immortals represented, Xander fell silent.

“You are against even asking her,” Grestra said.

“Do as you please,” he muttered. “I will be removing myself from the church tomorrow.”

“Xander!” she gasped and stepped around her desk, reaching out for him. “Please, do not make hasty decisions!”

“You are all fools,” he said coldly. “Johnas has merely raised taxes, and you would throw lives away in protest of them. A war between the Cities has not happened in ages, and you would drag me into one regardless of my protests.”

“With the Immortal on our side, we need not involve you.”

“You would involve me,” Xander said firmly. “Astra Diane was the Immortal I served. Where she goes, I am bound to follow.” He stared the Dracoid woman down.

Admittedly, he could stay in Aesir, but that would hardly keep him from being involved in the conflict if the fighting came here. His best bet, he realized, would be to allow her to Log Out with the promise to never return. However, if she was here, the problem remained, then other Immortals were likely in the world again.

Astra Diane had only ever acted to defend herself when attacked, but he had seen her summon creatures in city limits before. She wasn’t incapable of causing destruction.

This time, he did not bow. Xander let himself out of the Holy Mouth’s office and stalked across the compound.

Why could no one see the bigger picture in all this? Johnas was a mere pebble in the shoe compared to an Immortal, and now Xander had the arduous task of deciding whether trying to get rid of Astra Diane was the right thing to do. She would be the only thing capable of taking on another Immortal. However, their battle would be endless, as they could not die permanently. Not to mention that her Class was Healer, which did not lend itself to combat. Pausing in the hall outside his apartment door, Xander pulled out the Scroll he’d taken from her. It was something he’d seen her consult often but never had the opportunity to look at himself.

Opening it, Xander hoped he was prepared for whatever happened.