The Outlands

The next day, Tess was in the middle of breakfast when she got a text message from one of her friends, Nolan.

Hey…sorry for the awkwardness last night. It read. I…well, was not expecting you to be there. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let Sarah come. I would have preferred to give you the option to meet her rather than just…bringing her to see you. So…sorry again.

Tess contemplated that for a moment before responding. It’s fine, you didn’t know. Sarah’s your girlfriend, right?

I thought she gave you her name?

Now that I think about it, I remember that. I’m a little groggy right now, sorry

Oh, I see. Um…by the by, do you have time to meet up later? I have some…questions that I would rather talk about in-person. Uh, without Sarah, of course.

Not until after five. Tess responded. After that I’m free, though

Can I drop by your place at six, then?

I don’t see why not

Cool, see you then

See you then

Tess put her phone down and returned to her breakfast, only to be interrupted by an inquisitive Ellie.

“Who was that?” Ellie asked. “Was it Alice, or Maven or…?”

“Nolan actually.” Tess said between bites of toast. “He wanted to apologize for last night and asked if we could meet up later. I told him six was fine, so it looks like he’s coming over then.”

“Did he say why? It seems kinda weird to ask that after not contacting us for months.”

“He said he has some questions he wanted to ask in person, so it’s probably something to do with magic. Can’t say I really blame him, I would be curious too.”

“Well, I can.” Ellie replied, frowning. “He basically ignored us for months, started dating the girl who’s been super hostile to us, and then just…pretended nothing was wrong. That’s kind of awful if you ask me.”

“Yeah, but we basically ignored him for months too, and I doubt he knew about our beef with his girlfriend before they started dating. Plus, I think it’s reasonable to be intimidated about reaching out to us. I mean…I literally showed supernatural powers, wouldn’t you be wary of reaching out to a friend of they started sprouting claws and tearing through metal doors?”

Ellie shifted uncomfortably. “I kind of feel like, if it was someone I’d known for a long time and they specifically mentioned still wanting to be friends after tearing through said metal door, that I’d try and learn magic from them. Come on, you know being able to do all this stuff is cool, don’t pretend you wouldn’t try and learn if you had the opportunity.”

“I don’t know about that.” Tess said. “I’m not quite that…courageous. Still, that aside, even if we say he’s been awful, isn’t it our job as Appointed to be the bigger people? We have to be an example, right?”

“I think you’re just a bit too forgiving sometimes, Tess.” Ellie said. “Even the gods think it’s fine to be a little selfish. You don’t have to just…roll over and let anyone do whatever they want.”

“I’m not!” Tess protested. “Nolan’s a friend, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt! We can’t just…not even listen to his side of the story!

“There you have it.” Tess said. “Besides, if we turned up our nose at him, we’d have to turn up our nose at everyone. He hasn’t really done more than anyone else, aside from start dating someone who’s apologized and is trying to be better.”

Ellie sighed. “You’re probably right.” She admitted. “I just don’t like the thought of everyone being all buddy-buddy with you after they abandoned you those last couple of weeks at school.”

“Yeah, that was kind of hurtful.” Tess said. “But I can’t say I wouldn’t have done something similar, so I really can’t get that mad at them. That’s really not an easy situation to be in, especially given how much influence Aaron has around here. Anyone who is too public about consorting with me was risking facing lasting consequences.”

“I’m not so sure I agree, but let’s leave it at that.” Ellie replied. “We gotta finish our breakfasts if we want to be on time.”

Tess glanced at the time on her phone. “Ah, you’re right!” With that, she began to wolf down her food, trying to fit in as much as possible before she had to head out and start the day’s work.

---

Tess sat down on the couch letting out a small groan as she did. She was sore all over from the day’s dungeon dive. They were getting towards the end of the Jagged Cliffs, and had been picking up the pace so they could finish in time for the expedition.

As a result, the climbing had become a lot harder. Her various abilities made it much easier on her than it would normally have been, but even they weren’t enough to fully nullify the strain of climbing a mountain as fast as possible.

“Can we just like...call in a rain check on meeting Nolan?” Ellie asked, sitting down and laying her head on Tess’s lap. “I’m so tired it feels like I could just…fall asleep any moment.”

“I know, but…it’s not going to get any better in the next week or so, so I think we should just suck it up and deal with it.” Tess replied, stroking Ellie’s head absently.

Ellie sighed. “Fine, I suppose you have a point. Has he texted you since this morning?”

Tess pulled her phone out of a pocket and checked for new messages. Sure enough, there was one from ten minutes earlier. Going to be running a few minutes late. It read. Mom’s making me do a bunch of cleaning before I go, sorry

“He’s gonna be late.” Tess said.

“He always is.” Ellie chuckled. “What’s his excuse this time?”

“His mom is making him do chores.” Tess replied.

“Sounds about right.” Ellie replied. “He give you a time frame?”

“A few minutes, so…not really. You know how long his “minutes” can be.”

Ellie smirked. “That I do, that I do. So…we have a bit of extra time, what do you want to do?”

“I feel like we haven’t played games together in a while, do you have any good ones?” Tess asked.

“A couple.” Ellie said, taking her head off of Tess’s lap and standing up. “Give me a minute to go get it ready.” She walked over to the TV, turning both it and the console below it on. She picked up a couple of controllers, changed the input on the TV, then walked back over to Tess and handed her one of the controllers. “I’m thinking a party game so we can drop it at like…any moment if we need to. What do you think?”

“I’m up for anything.” Tess said, shrugging. “I just want to spend time with you.”

Ellie blushed and gave Tess a quick peck on the cheek. “You’ve been getting awfully forward as of late.” She said. “I’m not complaining, I love it, but…what’s changed?”

“Don’t know. I’m just…more comfortable in my own skin now. I’ve gotten used to being a girl, and I’ve found something in life that I’m reasonable competent at. Plus…well, plus I know you like it when I act like this and all I have to do is say what I’m actually feeling, so…it works out.”

“You are too cute sometimes.” Ellie said, sitting down and throwing an arm around Tess. “I don’t deserve you.”

“That’s funny, because that’s exactly how I feel about you.” Tess replied, turning and giving Ellie a kiss. “I couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend.”

Ellie blushed even harder. “Stop it, you. If you don’t, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself back, and we don’t have time to fool around before Nolan gets here.”

“Fine, fine.” Tess giggled. “Let’s get to playing, then.”

They ended up playing for another half an hour before Nolan texted them again saying that he had finished and was on his way. But, given that he lived over twenty minutes away and it was already six, they still had plenty of time to squeeze in a couple more rounds.

Or they would have, had Nolan not shown up fifteen minutes after. “S-sorry I’m late.” He panted. “I was as fast as possible, but mom sprung those on me at the last minute.”

“Nah, I get it.” Tess replied, waving dismissively. “Come on in.” She led him through the house and to the living room, where Ellie was waiting. “Go ahead and take a seat. You had a couple of questions you wanted to ask?”

Nolan sat down nervously, while Tess sat back down with Ellie.

“Actually, I want an explanation first.” Ellie said. “Why didn’t you contact us for so long? And why did you think it was totally cool to date someone who literally tried to get Tess killed?”

“We’ve been over this, Ellie.” Tess said. “We need to give him some time, we shouldn’t grill him on this right now.”

“No, we need to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s had enough time, and we are perfectly entitled to an explanation.” Ellie said.

“But–”

“It’s fine, Tess.” Nolan said. “I was prepared to answer those questions anyway, so it’s no big deal. So…I didn’t contact you because I wasn’t sure I…should? I mean…I know you said you still wanted to be friends and all, but how was I supposed to just…approach you once school ended? For all I knew, you were like…on the run or something. How am I supposed to just…text you like nothing happened? So, I sorta figured I would wait and see if you guys contacted me first.”

Tess nodded. “I was sort of waiting to see if others would contact me first, so…I guess we were sorta at an impasse, huh?”

Nolan chuckled. “I guess so. As for Sarah…well, I met her a few days after graduation, and it wasn’t like I knew she had history with you two or anything. She didn’t know I knew you guys either, so we just sort of started hanging out and one thing led to another and it became official.

“When she found out I was in your friend group, she really wanted to start to make amends, so I made her tell me everything, and…I figured that perhaps I should, at the very least, help with that. I…know this is kind of selfish, but could you…maybe have another meeting with her? I know she’s been awful, and I know this is a lot to ask, but she really is trying to change.”

“I don’t know…” Ellie said doubtfully. “Again, she tried to get Tess killed. That’s not the kind of thing you just…forget.”

“I think we should meet with her.” Tess said. “I…well, I can’t say I fully get it, but at the very least I understand wanting to protect your loved ones from something dangerous. And…people deserve a second chance. If she’s really willing to change, then I think I should at least hear her out.”

“Thank you.” Nolan said, relief flashing across his face. “Um…that’s not the main reason I’m here, though. I was…wondering where you learned to do all this…stuff. I mean…you said you were normal until that little bit where you were out of school, right?”

Tess hesitated. She wasn’t sure she wanted to bring Nolan in on everything just yet; he was terrible with keeping secrets. And now that he was close to Sarah, that was even worse. As much as Tess was willing to hear the girl out, she definitely didn’t want to be letting her in on any secrets. “I can’t say right now. You’ll find out in the future, but now’s not the time.”

“I was sort of expecting that.” Nolan said, shaking his head slightly. “But it was worth a shot. I assume you mean you wouldn’t be able to teach me, either?”

“Not right now, sorry. You’ll definitely have an opportunity to learn stuff in the future, though.”

Nolan perked up a little. “Really?”

“Really.” Tess confirmed.

“That’s…good to hear. Um…you mentioned having like a…minimap, is there anything else you can do that you’re not telling us? Um…if it’s something you can say, that is.”

Tess rubbed the back of her neck. “To be honest? A lot. Even amongst people who can use magic, I have a lot of…strange abilities.” She said. “I’m really not at liberty to discuss it all, though, so…yeah.”

“I think I get it. So…there are other people who can use magic, then? I assumed so, since it would be weird if there was literally only one person, but…” He shook his head again. “What about Ellie and your grandpa?”

Tess hesitated again, but Ellie stepped in. “We can’t do the things she does.” She said. “And don’t get your hopes up about meeting other magic users in the area, either, it’s basically just Tess.”

“Ah, that…was my next question.” Nolan replied. “Which…I guess really only leaves me with one more. What…are your plans after this? I can’t imagine you’re going to keep trying to be an accountant, right?”

Tess shook her head. “No. I’ve got some more…uh…magical work lined up. As Ellie mentioned, though, there aren’t any other magic users around here, so I won’t be working locally. I should still be about, though, so feel free to ask to hang out and stuff.”

“If…you’re not working locally, then how will you still be around here? Is it just going to be on the weekends that you’re here or…?”

“Magic.” Tess said. “I’ve actually been working like this for months now. Even did it a bit while I was in school.”

Nolan blinked. “Oh, duh. I…probably should have thought about that.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Tess said, giving him a reassuring smile, “it’s way outside the norm, so it’s only natural you wouldn’t think of it. So…if that’s all your questions, do you want to hang out for an hour or two? Seems kind of a waste to come all the way out here for just that much.”

Nolan paused, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not. What do you guys want to do?”

“Well, Ellie and I were playing party games, and there’s room for a third…”