13. Suit

I was in a hotel hallway. And not just any hallway— the hallway. The hallway at the beginning of the night of my Waker Moment. Or, as Thing One liked to call it, my Death Experience. I knew what was coming. I felt it in my bones. The door to the stairway opened, and Thing One and Thing Two walked through.

I screamed and ran—ran with all I had in me. I knew what would happen if they caught me, and I didn’t want to live through that again. The two thugs chased me, but they weren’t that fast, and I felt relief as I pulled away.

Then I felt a blaze of power flare up in front of me. A figure blocked my path, radiating so much magic I wasn’t sure if it was a man, woman, or even human. Wait, that wasn’t how it happened, a tiny voice whispered, but I ignored it and looked around frantically. I saw a giant door surrounded by blinking neon lights, strobing like they were the entrance into a den of iniquity. It was my only option, so I barreled through and paused in the dim light. It was a strip club, filled with old, diseased male strippers. The floors were sticky, the poles looked rusted, and the smell of tobacco smoke and used condoms filled the air. All eyes turned to me as I searched for a way out.

The door opened again, and God Thing and the two henchmen walked inside. I was screwed. The strippers started walking toward me as they hissed and their fangs popped out.

Fangs? The damn things were vampires!

All of them slowly, but with deadly intent, stalked toward me as I backed into a corner. I screamed for all I was worth when the first vampire came in close and licked my face. His tongue was raspy and insistent.

What? That didn’t seem right.

Suddenly, I was awake. I flared my magic sight and looked around wildly. I was in bed with Tyler. Bermuda was licking my face. Everything was okay. I was alright. I wasn’t being hunted, and vampire strippers weren’t out to bite me.

I shivered as my heart raced and chills ran up my spine. Tyler’s warm presence anchored me, though, and Bermuda’s gentle loving pulled me back to the present. I took several deep breaths and ran a hand through Bermuda’s soft fur. He purred, put a soft paw on the side of my face, and licked some more.

I hadn’t dreamed of that night for a while. What had made me think of it now? Maybe being in a hotel of sorts and sleeping in a new bed was affecting me more than I’d thought. Regardless, I’d had dreams like this many times before, and I knew how to deal with them.

I dredged up the memory of Thing One and the strength it took to face him down in my Throne Room. Once again, I took my power back from him and utterly destroyed the shade that remained. Then I did the same thing to Thing Two. I’d never actually faced down Thing Two like this in real life, but I’d found it was a great mental exercise to take back my power and banish him from my mind.

After that, I did the same to God Thing and all the stripper vampires. Feeling much better, I gave Bermuda kisses and belly loving, just the way he liked it. Satisfied that his job of dream guardian was done, he got up and gave a big stretch. Then he turned around a few times and went back to napping on my pillow.

I snuggled back into bed myself, expecting to fall asleep right away. Instead, my mind felt awake and ready to go. Well, damn.

I was very comfortable and Tyler felt wonderful, so I didn’t want to move. This was a peaceful moment and I might not have too many of them in the coming days, so I had the Surfer Dudes fetch my phone and I played a few rounds of Sudoku. Figuring out the numbers and watching them fall into place felt nice. Unlike the real world, Sudoku is logical and peaceful, and it was lovely to just be in that world for a while.

I got bored with that too, and my bladder was letting me know it needed some attention. I still didn’t want to move, so I mentally drifted into my Bank Stamp’s Hogwarts-looking hall, touched my Freshness Fountain, and took care of business. The whole process was still a little strange, but the convenience was so very nice.

‘Greetings, young mage,’ the Bank Crystal flashed, letting me know it wanted my attention.

‘Greetings,’ I replied as I walked over and touched its faceted surface. It didn’t really need direct contact to communicate, but it was still new to me and it was nice to spend some time together. ‘Actually, while we’re talking, there was one thing I wanted you to do for me.’

‘Of course!’ it replied happily. ‘How can I help?’

‘We made contact with Gold Trim and Tami at the buffet today,’ I said. I got back a feeling of confusion, so I quickly sent it two images.

‘His name is Babekh,’ the Bank Crystal noted, ‘but I will update his nickname as noted. Please continue.’

‘I told them we would send them update messages of our progress in the quests,’ I said. ‘However, I don’t want them to get as detailed an update as you”re sending out to Sandy, John, and Tyler. I’m happy with them knowing the general progress of our adventures, but I don’t want them to see all the powers we have. They’ve been wonderfully supportive and I’m glad they’re interested in us, but I don’t want them to inadvertently start talking about all the things we can do. We don’t need that out in general knowledge yet.’

‘Understood,’ the Bank Crystal replied. ‘I’ll take care of that. Was there anything else you wanted from me?’

‘That’s it,’ I said. ‘That’s all I needed. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?’

‘I wanted to discuss your footwear and overall clothing,’ it replied. ‘I’ve been looking into options, and I’ve narrowed it down to some basic categories. I need your input on what level of clothing you require before I narrow it down even more.’

‘You can provide me with some new shoes?’ I asked. I was surprised, as I still thought of the Bank Stamp as more of a bank. Having it provide me with a Freshness Fountain hadn’t seemed that much of a stretch, as it was magical and part of the Bank Crystal’s space. Shoes, however, were so mundane that it threw me for a loop.

‘Of course!’ it replied happily. ‘Food, water, shelter, and clothing were all deemed essential items for mages hundreds of years ago. The Bank started providing the basics not long after its inception, and that has continued all the way up to the present day.

‘Naturally, over time, the quality of these essentials has risen substantially. We used to only provide simple homespun robes and reed-woven sandals. Now, we provide so much more! Would you like to see what levels of suggestions I have for you?’

‘Oh, yes!’ I replied. ‘I know you’d told me you could provide essentials back on the bus, but I just never thought of shoes or clothing as part of that. It makes perfect sense now that I’m thinking about it, and I’m so glad you’ve reminded me. You really are a wonderful Bank Stamp.’

The Crystal sparkled with pride and sent me warm, happy vibes. It was happy to serve, and it loved doing a good job.

‘Excellent!’ it said. ‘Let’s set the scene, and then we can begin.’

One wall shifted, and a large arch appeared. A broad, white runway lifted about a foot out of the floor. All the regular lights went out, replaced by bright spotlights that brought the runway to life.

OMG! I knew what this was. We were going to have a fashion show! My gay heart squealed with joy.

Techno music with thumping bass started up, and a backlit model appeared in the arch. He paused for dramatic effect as an announcer that sounded suspiciously like Tim Gunn began his spiel.

‘Our first look comes to us from the basics line. It’s called basic because it’s, well, basic. We have to start somewhere, however, and this outfit provides an excellent example of what is available at the lowest price point.’

The model stepped forward and started strutting his stuff down the runway. I was a bit surprised, as the model was a faceless mannequin.

‘As you can see, our model, Basic Bob, comes with red basic shorts, a blue basic t-shirt, and acceptable non-performance sneakers. Included in this look are basic socks and basic underwear in the style of your choosing. This outfit doesn’t include any magical additions of any kind and only comes in solid colors.’

The mannequin model reached the end of the runway and struck a pose.

‘The clothes are comfortable, though. If all you need is something simple to lounge in while watching a show, then they are probably your best choice. The price is the best part of the outfit, coming in at an easy twenty pearls.’

I wasn’t sure about twenty pearls. I felt like I could have gotten just about everything for twenty dollars at the dollar store. When I’d been using Morphous Points for toilet paper at the Gathering, the House had told me that a large part of the cost was the delivery, so maybe that’s what had caused this to be so high. I’m sure if I chose the outfit, the clothes would magically appear beside me, and that had to cost something.

Regardless of the price, I knew I wanted something better. These clothes wouldn’t last through one fight. Although, that might be an advantage if I used them like they were disposable. I still needed better shoes, though. Who knew what I might be facing in future challenges, and I didn’t want to push my luck by twisting my ankle again. The next time I might not be so lucky.

The mannequin kept posing until I indicated I was done. Then he turned and strutted back to the arch. The music was rocking, and I couldn’t help but get my groove on. This was fun!

Basic Bob reached the arch and vanished, only to be replaced by a new silhouette. This time the outline was more refined, and as the new mannequin moved forward, I saw it was an upgraded, sexy model—like one of those Under Armor mannequins.

‘Our next look comes from our designer line of clothing,’ Tim Gunn continued. ‘If you want to make an entrance and look your best for any event, look no further than the House of Louis Matisse. They are the first name in fashion for all your menswear needs. Depending on your requirements, their clothing is edgy, elegant, or casual chic—but always fashion forward. Designer Dan is modeling their fall collection, and if this category is of interest, we can style an entire show around their offerings. The price for this outfit is around two hundred pearls.’

Designer Dan did look very nice. He sported an asymmetrical jacket with wide buttons up one sleeve, a blue and green color blocked shirt, and wide bottom jeans sporting artful tears and traces of gold thread. Best of all, the tips of his shoes sparkled and flashed in the bright lights.

If I needed something to wear to an exclusive New Year’s party in Milan, then this was my category. For battling monsters, not so much. I let him have one pose at the end of the runway before signaling the show should move on.

Despite having no actual features, Designer Dan managed to look offended, and he stalked all the way back to the arch like he was just too good to be here anyway. He vanished into the light, and a new silhouette took his place.

This guy walked forward with a lot less attitude. His outfit and build sort of looked like Steve Irwin of Crocodile Hunter fame, and he walked the runway with a casual and curious look. When he reached the end, he didn’t do any fabulous poses. Instead, he looked around like he was trying to figure out where he was.

Before the announcer started talking, Eggy and Penny joined us. Chairs appeared along the runway so that if we wanted, we could sit down and act like we were members of the press here to report on the latest fashions. I loved it, but the music was feeding my soul. I needed to shake my booty.

Eggy manifested a pair of maracas and joined in the beat. He’d loved them ever since I’d had my eureka moment about runes and we’d partied down the street. Penny switched out her Athena battle outfit for a grass skirt and nothing on top. Then she started tiki dancing to the rhythm, and together we turned the runway show into a party!

‘Our next category is from the pathfinder series,’ Tim Gunn announced. ‘This is one of several looks that are typically bundled together. Pathfinder Paddy is modeling the jungle ensemble. The shirt is designed for breathability in hot climates while keeping out any bugs or creepy crawlers that might try to snuggle up and have a bite of your tasty flesh. The utility belt is bulky, but useful, as it contains matches, fishing line, fish hooks, a flashlight, and many other items for survival. The boots are waterproof, and you can wade through two feet of water without getting your feet wet. If you go over that, the boots are quick drying to keep your blisters to a minimum.’

The outfit did look nice and seemed very functional. That’s what I really needed—functionality. I wanted it to look good, but I needed clothing that would support me in the challenges.

‘The pathfinder line also includes the appropriate clothing for forests, tundra, deserts, marsh, and even urban environments. There are ten outfits in total valued at around two thousand pearls. These outfits are non magical, and any repair or replacement is the responsibility of the user.’

This was getting much closer to what I wanted. The first quest had been at a pleasant temperature and in a mostly urban environment. We’d gone over the mountain, so hiking boots would have been a great help, but most teams had stayed on the roads. If we had gone that way, we’d have wanted something suitable for riding a mount or running on the road.

That pathfinding line was great, but its lack of flexibility was its greatest weakness. We didn’t know what we were getting into with these quests, so we wouldn’t know beforehand how to dress. We could dress for a dry, warm environment and end up in a place that was wet and cold. I’d keep this line in mind, as the cost per outfit was the same as the designer line, but I wanted to see what came next. Pathfinder Paddy was still doing his lost-in-the-jungle poses, so I motioned that I was done and the show could continue.

He consulted his compass and pointed to the arch like “Ahha! I should be going that way!” before wandering back down the runway and disappearing into the light. The next silhouette formed, and I got a superhero vibe. Then he strode onto the runway, and I realized we were at another level of clothing entirely.

For starters, he was a person, not a mannequin, and he looked a lot like Michael Cimino from the Hulu series Love, Victor. The clothing was all one piece, like a superhero’s outfit, and it looked amazing. It was black with dark blue lightning bolt accents on it and an ‘M’ as a logo in light blue. The suit had Michael looking sleek and muscular, like he was a member of a premier team.

I loved the idea of a superhero costume, but I’d read that in real life they were hot, sweaty, and very uncomfortable. That wouldn’t work for me.

‘Our next tier of presentation introduces magical assistance form-wear,’ the announcer spoke up. ‘I’ve skipped the basic magical versions and gone straight to the very best option available. This outfit has everything a single piece can offer. As shown by our magical model Michael, it allows for full color control, reforms for additional functionality, provides protection in all basic environments, and even has self-repair capabilities. This configuration is valued at twenty thousand pearls and comes with a five-year warranty. Would you like to know more?’

Michael strode to the end of the runway, gave us a handsome smile, and then hit his model poses. The changes in options were amazing. One moment he was wearing shorts and a polo like he was going to play tennis at a fancy club, and the next he was wearing dress slacks and a button-down shirt with a tie like he was going out for a business lunch. His shoes changed too, from white tennis shoes to shiny black dress shoes. The outfit changed again to something that looked like snow camouflage, and it grew over his hands and head giving them protection as well. It even covered his eyes with goggles. His shoes grew wider, like snow shoes, with a web pattern.

In a few seconds, Michael had gone from evening wear to trekking through the cold and snow. It was impressive and exactly what I was looking for. The transformation didn’t stop there, as it then shifted to a blue-green camouflage and the shoes shifted to short flippers. The gloves also changed so they had webbing between the fingers. Michael was now ready to swim across a river. Wow!

I indicated that I was interested, and Tim Gunn continued.

‘This outfit is all one piece, so there are limits to how much it can transform, but inside those limitations are a world of possibilities. For example, looking at evening wear, Michael can quickly create the illusion of a tie, even though he isn’t actually wearing one.’

Michael transformed back into something for a fancy evening, with olive colored pants, burgundy shirt, and classy looking brown shoes. He also had on a skinny black tie held by an emerald tie pin. Or that’s what my eyes told me he was wearing. My magic sight saw it was all one piece with just a hint of raised edges on the tie to sell the illusion. Michael turned like he was talking to a group of people, but even at an angle, I’d have sworn it was a real tie. I also noticed his shirt had buttons, which weren’t real.

‘Carrying this one step further, let”s look at a simple pair of shorts and t-shirt. The sleeves can retract to form true short sleeves, but the legs of the outfit need to remain connected to the footwear. To achieve the effect of the shorts, the pants become very thin and transparent.’

Model Michael continued his transformation, and I could have sworn he had on a regular summer outfit. Now I knew what I was looking for, though, I could see instances where the illusion failed. The hair on his legs lay flat, which wasn’t natural, and the shorts and shirt hugged him tightly. This wouldn’t be able to simulate loose clothing. Still, I wasn’t knocking the outfit for that. If I wanted to lounge around at my place in shorts and a t-shirt, I’d just put on the real thing.

‘Although this outfit is not designed for defense, its coloration does allow the wearer to often hide in plain sight.’

Michael hopped off the runway, walked over to the wall, and blended right in. It wasn’t perfect, as he was still protruding out from the wall and different viewing angles would need slightly different coloring, but it would fool anyone who wasn’t specifically looking for it.

‘This outfit has all of the advantages of the previous category, as it will also perform well in forests, tundra, deserts, and marshes. It actually exceeds the capabilities of the pathfinder line, as the entire unit can be waterproof, or even airtight. You could swim across a lake in record time using your transformed flipper footwear and arrive on the other side completely dry and ready to run a marathon.’

This was perfect. It was exactly what I was looking for. I could climb mountains, run on roads, and be ready for whatever challenges showed up when I arrived. Michael returned to the runway, and I hopped up so I could get a closer look. The material had a bit of texture to it, like little dimples, but that only added to the illusion of real clothing.

‘Best of all, the outfit also has a self-repair feature. It can use the wearer”s mana to gradually restore its structural integrity. The more mana provided, the faster the restoration. This is a viable option as long as fifty percent or more of the outfit remains.’

Fifty percent. Hmmm. I’d like it to be a bit more than that. I had a tendency to destroy my clothes.

‘Naturally, of course, the magic was designed with your comfort in mind. Wearing this outfit is as comfortable as wearing your favorite pair of pajamas.’

I liked the sentiment, but in this case, it wasn’t true. My favorite set of pj’s was being naked and wrapped up with Tyler. These clothes were amazing, but they weren’t Tyler.

‘You have shown a great deal of interest in this selection. The value of what Michael is modeling comes in at slightly over twenty thousand pearls. Would you like me to further refine your options at this time?’

Twenty thousand pearls. On one hand, that was a lot. On the other hand, that seemed like a heck of a bargain considering how versatile it was. Charms were selling for a whole lot more than this at the fair at the Gathering. Was I getting some sort of discount?

‘I think this is a winner,’ I replied to the Bank Crystal, ‘so let me know additional options and the costs associated with them. I’m curious, though, am I getting some sort of discount?’

‘Most certainly,’ the Bank Crystal replied smoothly. ‘Because of your Most Favored status and our affinity level, I’m able to offer most purchases to you at a seventy-five percent discount. This option would cost normal Bank users around eighty thousand pearls.’

That was nice to hear and made twenty thousand pearls sound much more reasonable. I needed to get one of these for Annabeth too, so it would end up costing me forty thousand pearls total. That was much better than a hundred sixty thousand pearls!

Due to my wagers at the Gathering, I had over six hundred and fifty thousand pearls, but I didn’t want to blow through them all. I’d gotten lucky meeting Goggles and wagering against fantastic odds. I was pretty sure that opportunities like that weren’t going to come by very often.

‘Thank you for all your help,’ I told my Bank Crystal warmly. ‘This is going to be a huge advantage in the tournament, and the discount you’ve provided is going to make it all possible. Now, before we move on to finalizing my selection, was there a category beyond this one that you wanted to show me?’

‘Yes,’ it replied. ‘I think this will be more than you want to spend, but it might be useful to know what comes next.’

Magical model Michael stayed with us as a new silhouette appeared in the arch. He paused so we could all take in his stocky form and then marched forward into the light. He was big and solid, like Donald Glover after a year of intense training, and he certainly wouldn’t be anyone I’d want to mess with.

‘Our next tier of performance wear comes from the personal protection line,’ the announcer said. ‘This line of clothing is designed to provide a second shield between you and your enemies. It has many of the advantages of the assistance line of clothing, but it is first and foremost all about personal defense. As such, it is bulkier and heavier than lower tiers and less focused on appearance. It is incredibly useful, though, and it doesn’t matter how comfortable you are or how good you look if you’re dead.’

I could certainly agree with that sentiment! I’d had my fair share of looking rough before, but I’d lived and come back even stronger.

‘This outfit as shown is at the lower end of what is possible, but still comes in at two hundred thousand pearls. After all, how can you put a price on safety? Higher levels of protection cost more, of course, and these models can quickly range north of two million pearls. Would you like to learn more?’

I shook my head, and Donald bowed slightly and stomped back through the arch. Two hundred grand for the lowest level of protection wasn’t something I wanted to spend my pearls on right now. Maybe someday, when I was pushing out pearls like rabbit pellets, I’d revisit this and see what was available.

The fashion show had served its purpose, so the arch disappeared and the raised white runway sank back into the floor. The spot lights went away, and the regular lighting came back. Michael the model stuck around, which was nice as he was very easy on the eyes.

After that, we got down to the serious business of options, costing, and exactly what I was going to purchase. The Bank Crystal had already selected the gloves, shoes, complete head covering, and goggles options for me. From there, I could make the clothing transform faster, recover from more damage, or provide even more protection in extreme environments.

The protection options started getting into armor territory, and the cost went up very quickly. Finally, I ended up with a configuration that I liked and cost twenty-five thousand pearls. The outfit would provide environmental protection from the coldest winter in Montana to the hottest summer in Arizona. Clothing transformations were slightly faster than originally modeled, and the range of transformation was bigger. That meant we had bigger flippers in the water, wider snow shoes, and more clothing to sell the illusions of collars, ties, belts, etc. For regular clothing, it could transform all the way back to a tank top and real shorts if I wanted to go barefoot.

The option I absolutely wanted to expand was how much damage the outfit could take and still grow back. I pushed it as far as possible and ended with clothes that could survive being ninety percent destroyed. Hopefully, that would be enough. That cost the most pearls, but given the adventures I’d been through, I thought it would be worth it.

I bought two of them—one for myself and one for Annabeth. My Bank Crystal had already gotten her measurements from her Bank Stamp, so it knew the clothes would fit. I’d also decided to call it my Super Suit, as that was much better than calling it my outfit. Plus, I could now tell Annabeth we needed to suit up—just like in the comics!

I thanked Michael Cimino for all his help modeling the options and told him he was welcome back any time he wanted. He laughed and flirted a bit, so I tucked a few imaginary dollars into his pants and gave his beautiful ass a swat to help him on his way.

‘Before you leave, I wanted to draw your attention to your magical capacity,’ Eggy said. ‘Penny and I still have plenty of magic to support you for now, but if you continue to make new soul creations that are highly detailed, then you are going to start running low. I’d suggest keeping an eye out for any unclaimed sources of magic the Granny Godmothers can tap into. I’m not worried when we are at the House, as there is always the Circle Room and the picnic bench area at the park. Here, though, we haven’t found a recharging source. We need that, even if it’s just to help Annabeth.’

‘I agree,’ I replied. ‘And thank you for the reminder. I know Annabeth is worried about having enough magic as well.’

‘I also have a suggestion,’ Penny spoke up. ‘I think it would be a good idea if you stored the physical pearls from your quests in the Throne Room. That way they can’t be stolen or lost. Plus, carrying a large number of pearls around will get awkward.’

‘I think that’s a great idea,’ I said. ‘But I don’t know how to move things in and out of my Throne Room. Bermuda does it all the time, but I’ve never figured out how.’

‘Oh, that’s not a problem,’ Penny said brightly. ‘I can do that for you until you get the hang of it. I’m the one that first moved Bermuda into your Throne Room, after all.’

That’s right! I’d forgotten about that. So much had happened since then. Big Ugly had thrown a car at me in downtown Louisville, and Bermuda had gotten hit by all the debris. He’d been cut up badly, and I’d been afraid for his life. Penny had moved him off of the sidewalk and into my Throne Room to keep him safe until I got home.

‘That would be awesome!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’ve always wanted to have a Bag-of-Holding like they do in role-playing games. That’s going to go really well with the new Super Suit, as I just realized it doesn’t have pockets. So how many inventory slots do I have? How much can I hold?’

Penny looked confused at my terminology, so I started sending her images of what an RPG inventory bag looked like. Usually, I’d click on it and it would open up into a grid of squares. I’d drag what I wanted to keep into the squares and then close the bag. It was an easy way to manage a bunch of items in a quest, although there was usually some sort of weight limit based on the character’s strength value.

‘There isn’t a limit on the number of items you can store,’ Penny explained. ‘But everything you move into or out of your Throne Room takes magic. The bigger or heavier the item, the more magic it takes. I suppose you”re limited by the size of your Throne Room, too. It’s already pretty big, though, so I think your real limit is how much magic you want to spend. Pearls aren’t very big or heavy, so it shouldn’t take much to store them.’

‘That sounds logical,’ I said. ‘The pearl pouch is certainly smaller and lighter than Bermuda.’

‘You can’t use Bermuda as your benchmark,’ Penny warned. ‘He’s your Companion and uses your magic, so he’s a perfect match. It hardly costs any magic at all for him to move back and forth.’

That made sense. I didn’t have any idea how much magic it would take to transfer a pound of stuff, but I’d figure it out. I just needed to remember to start small and work my way up.

This was pretty incredible, though. Eugene, at the Gathering, had said that he had a pocket that was only a few inches wide. I didn’t know how big my Throne Room would translate to with actual items, but it should be a lot more than a few inches.

I thanked Penny, Eggy, and my Bank Crystal for all their help, and then returned to real life. I was still comfortably lying in bed, and Tyler was still snuggled in beside me. The night was feeling a bit surreal, as I’d accomplished so much and hadn’t moved. Bermuda decided he wanted some more loving, so I murmured sweet nothings and rubbed his fur as he licked my nose.

My furry baby was everything to me, and he kept me happy and grounded. I knew all cats were magical, but Bermuda was just extra special to me. I told him he was my handsome warrior, and he purred in agreement. Then he rolled on his back so I had full belly access, and I ramped up the loving even more. I told him he was the strongest protector in the whole wide world, and all the presidents and all the kings in the world wished they had someone as amazing as him. He purred in pure bliss and begged for more. More!

I told him he was the softest, the furriest, the most loving, and most beautiful Companion a gay boy could ask for. He gave me slow blinks of pure happiness as I made sure every part of his soft tummy got some attention. He was having such a good time, I had to smile. His human was telling him just how awesome he was, so all was right in his world.

Of course, after a while he decided he’d had enough, so he got up and hopped off the bed. I pulled Tyler’s arm tight around me and snuggled in even more. The next thing I knew, it was morning. Surprisingly, we didn’t make love. Instead, we talked about yesterday, the quest, and how fun karaoke had been.

Tyler was doing okay, but he was in a weird space. He was there to support me, but he wasn’t feeling like he was doing anything. He wasn’t used to being on the sidelines, but there wasn’t anything he could do to help. He couldn’t coach us or give us advice in the middle of the quests. He was both a lover and a fighter, but there wasn’t anyone for him to fight, and the only person he was making love to was me.

I told him he was doing exactly what he needed to as far as I was concerned, and that seemed to help. Tyler always seemed so assured and knew what to do on every occasion. It was interesting realizing he had insecurities too. It made me feel even closer to my man.

We showered, got ready, and headed out to the communal living room to greet the others. It turned out we were a bit early, so I spent a moment looking out the window at the morning view. We were on the tenth floor at the back of the Palace, so we had a beautiful view of the wheat fields that seemed to go on forever.

I looked down, and there was only a service road and a small strip of grass separating the Palace from the field. I guess the fancy fountains were only for the entrance side of the complex.

I’m sure the premier teams and the VIPs got the lavish views, while we got to see how Farmer Frank was doing. I didn’t mind, though. Nature is beautiful, and it wasn’t like I could see fields like this in Louisville. It was so peaceful and rich, it felt like I could actually feel the wheat growing.

It wasn’t all growth, though. I could feel the days getting shorter and the reaper arriving. Then the cold arrived, and everything died. Life went underground, and there was peace in that too. Then, the first touch of spring, the final frost, and I felt the land surge as life came back again.

The warmth of the sun felt beautiful on my skin. I basked in the light until the cold came again.

I died.

I rose.

I died.

I rose—over and over again.

I didn’t feel the years pass as years are for humans. I felt the seasons. I felt the changes in life on the land. The rain that fell. The heat that came.

Then, one season, the cold truly came. It arrived like it never had before, and life had to retreat far underground. I had to retreat far underground. And I realized I was sick of it. I was tired of it all.

My people were gone. My land was changing. No one loved me anymore. No one appreciated me. No one even knew I was here.

I gave and gave and gave! I never got anything back.

I was so lonely. So desperately lonely.

I remembered when life wasn’t this way. I longed for a better day. A different future.

I longed for more than seasons.

I longed for more than the cold.

Tears flowed down my face, and my body shook with emotion.

“Jason?” Tyler wrapped his arms around me. “Jason, are you okay?”

I was crying too hard to answer.

Tyler picked me up and pulled me away from the window. My hands were stuck to the glass, but he wouldn’t be denied. He took me over to the couch, wrapped me up in a blanket, and held me tight.

“Jason.” He kissed me, touched me, and gradually brought me back from the cold place.

“What happened?” I asked. I took a deep shuddering breath and wiped my eyes.

“You tell me,” Tyler said. He looked deeply worried, and as I climbed out of whatever strange space I’d gone to, I felt worried too. What the heck had happened?

“I’m not really sure,” I told him. “I was looking out the window, enjoying the view, and somehow I connected with nature. Only, it wasn’t just nature. It was something else. It was something about the field.”

I told Tyler about the seasons and the cold. And just how achingly lonely I’d been. That’s when I realized the entire wall of floor to ceiling windows was now covered in a thick layer of frost.

Oh, wow.

I’d thought I’d just been in my head. But the frost was real.

It was too early for this. I hadn’t had my first cup of coffee yet.

Tyler kept warming me up and talking to me. He kept me present. The feelings quickly faded, and soon it almost felt like a bad dream.

“What happened here?” Sandy asked as she and John came out of their room. I told them the story, and then had to repeat it all over again a moment later when Annabeth showed up. I felt embarrassed, and I just wanted to move past it. I wasn’t a stranger to going into imaginary spaces. I’d had a whole fashion show last night with my Bank Crystal, after all.

Even that seemed like a dream at this point. Had that really happened? Had I really spent fifty thousand pearls on two Super Suits? Or was I starting to go crazy?

I knew one thing for sure—I wasn’t going to stand at the window and look out at the wheat fields any more.

There was a knock on the main door of the suite, and Sandy went to open it. But not before sharing a look with me that said this wasn’t over. I was aware of all the worried glances flying around, but I was glad for the distraction. I just wanted to get some coffee, something to eat, and start the day. I’d worry about going crazy later.

Sandy opened the door to see a bellhop carrying two large packages.

“Special delivery for Jason Cole,” he announced.

OMG! It looked like I had gone shopping in the middle of the night after all.

“I got us some Super Suits,” I told Annabeth excitedly.

“Super whats?” Annabeth looked interested and puzzled.

Sandy accepted the packages and tipped the bellhop as I told them all about my fashion show last night.

“You did all that while I was sleeping?” Tyler asked. He was still holding me tight and rubbing my back.

“Yep. I’m a modern day multitasker,” I joked lightly. “Sometimes my imagination is a three ring circus, but sometimes it’s useful too. I’m just hoping these Suits are as good as advertised.”

Sandy looked at both of the boxes and then handed one to me and one to Annabeth.

“You go first,” Annabeth said, although I could see she was dying to open her box and see what was inside.

The plain brown box was taped up tight, and I actually had to use a tiny bit of magic to get it open. Inside was another box, shiny black with silver lettering. “Gentlemage’s Service Suit for all Occasions,” it proudly declared in an old-fashioned, swirly script.

I carefully opened that box, and lying inside was a light gray Superhero-looking outfit. It was carefully folded and lying on a nest of gold tissue paper. I touched it, and a sound thrummed through the room. It was like someone had hit a rock chord on an electric guitar, and the nest of gold tissue with the outfit floated into the air.

The gold tissue started flashing, like it was burning with golden flames, as the suit unfolded and stood up. Wow! I’d never had clothes stand up for me before! What an entrance. I wondered if I was just being naive, but everyone else seemed just as impressed as I was.

The outfit put its sleeves on its hips and struck a heroic pose. It had a perfect moment of presentation that said it was a bad-ass product before the chord faded and the golden flames burned out.

I looked at the others. Now what? They looked just as mystified as I was.

The suit had reacted to my touch at the start. Maybe I needed to touch it again?

That ended up being the right thing to do, as I received a simple query. ‘Are you my body?’

That was a curious way to phrase it, but I guess to clothing, we are just the forms they drape around. I replied back, ‘Yes. I am your body.’

It seemed satisfied and sent another query. ‘Please provide magic for initiation.’

I laughed and told everyone what was going on. “I guess that even in the magic world, you have to charge your new toy before you can use it.”

I added a bit of magic, and a gauge appeared in the air before me. It showed it was at ten percent of capacity. I added more magic, and the indicator quickly moved all the way to one hundred percent. It had been easy to charge, and it didn’t seem like it held that much. That was nice. With everything it was supposed to do, I’d been afraid it would be a magic hog.

The gauge blinked and disappeared as the suit opened up in the back like it was a shell. It sent a mental picture of a naked mannequin stepping into the open suit and the suit closing in around them.

This was some next level stuff. I was going to suit up like Iron Man!

Everyone here had seen me naked more than once, so I didn’t hesitate to strip out of my clothes. I was especially happy to shuck off my Jeffry Dahmer, blood-stained shoes. They were clean, but they looked gross. I’d resigned myself to wearing them all day, but now I didn’t have to.

I stepped forward into the suit cautiously. Once my feet were firmly planted in the bottom of the open shoes, the suit started folding in around me. It was weird, but neat. I felt like I was on one of those futuristic sci-fi shows.

I thought the suit might feel heavy, but it wasn’t. It felt soft, light, and very comfortable. Like the advertising had said, it was like wearing a pair of flannel pajamas. So far, this suit had certainly lived up to its hype. Now I just needed to make it actually look like real clothing.

The suit had hundreds of preconfigured outfits already programmed in. Actually, it might have been thousands. There were clothes of all types and colors, clothes for occasions and clothes for different cultures. I could have spent hours browsing through the list, but fortunately, it had several help options. One of them was a filter for events, so I selected breakfast. That brought up a list asking what kind of breakfast—at home, or country club, or impressing a mother-in-law. I selected the buffet. It asked if I wanted to add another event, and I selected going to the fair. Again, it asked what kind of fair. I couldn’t believe it, but a magic fair at a tournament was an option.

The last question was what geographic region of the world I was in, and I selected Nebraska. Now the list was much more manageable. Some of the choices were over-the-top, and I wasn’t ready to go there yet. I needed to blend right now, so I selected white pants, a woven brown belt, and a light pink shirt. It caught my eye, as I thought Annabeth would like the pink.

“Wow!” Annabeth exclaimed. They all gathered around and started checking out my clothes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so good. You look casual, but stylish. I like it!”

“It’s the pink,” I teased her.

“It’s the pink,” she agreed. “Now, if you’re done, I’m ready to open my suit!”

She looked like a kid on Christmas morning as I laughed and said I was good to go. She opened her box, and once again we had the thrum of the rock guitar and the golden flames light show. The whole presentation really was impressive. Her suit was smaller than mine, of course, and it fit her perfectly. I thought she might be shy and take it into the bedroom, but she shimmied out of her clothes without a second thought and stepped into the suit. She was lost in thought for a moment while she sorted through the options, but then her Super Suit morphed into the mirror image of mine.

“Twinsies!” I exclaimed.

“Twinsies!” she exclaimed back and gave me a high five.

“You two look adorable,” Sandy chimed in. “I couldn’t be prouder of my two kids.” We just laughed and got a group hug. Then John and Tyler joined in, and we got a real squeeze. When they let go, I had to grab Annabeth’s hand, as I was a little lightheaded. She looked dizzy too.

“Are we ready for breakfast?” John asked hopefully. Super Suits were nice and all, but he was ready to get his munch on.

“Not yet,” I replied quickly. John gave me a mournful look. “We still need to count the pearls from yesterday’s quest.”

“Oh! That’s right,” Sandy agreed. “Annabeth, fetch the pearl pouch, and let’s see how you did.”

Sandy hadn’t wanted to count the pearls in public after we’d gotten out of the quest, and we’d been in no shape to count them last night after getting out of karaoke. So this was the first real chance we had to see what we’d made, and I wasn’t going to pass it up, no matter how hungry John looked.

“If we all help with the counting, this will go very quickly,” I assured John as Annabeth returned from her room. She emptied the contents carefully on the floor, and we all got to work.

We’d made four hundred eighteen pearls at Otugh’s and five pearls at Indifie’s. We gave six pearls to Ank, so the real unknown was how many pearls we’d collected from the Fists of the Desert. It turned out we’d collected another one hundred ninety-six pearls from them, bringing our total to six hundred and thirteen pearls.

Not bad.

Not great either, considering I’d just spent fifty thousand pearls on two Super Suits. Still, these were just bonus pearls. The real haul would come from placing at the top of the tournament.

While we had the pearls out, now seemed like a good time to test my other memory of the night.

‘Penny, are you ready to try moving a pearl into my Throne Room?’ I asked.

‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘Just hold the pearl in your hand, and I’ll do the rest.’

I placed a dark brown pearl on my hand. I was about to give Penny the go ahead, when the pearl disappeared. I quickly checked my Throne Room, and it seemed I now had a new set of shelves on the wall opposite the Throne. On the middle shelf was a clear glass vase, and in that vase was one brown pearl.

‘Wow! Penny, you did it!’ I exclaimed happily.

‘You sound surprised,’ she said. ‘I told you I could do it.’

‘I know,’ I replied. ‘It’s just that seeing it happen is pretty awesome. I can’t believe I actually have a real magic pocket! Penny, this is so fantastic! It’s just amazing. You’re amazing!’

I sent images of us dancing the quickstep all around the Throne Room in celebration. I couldn’t actually dance the quickstep, but I’d watched several seasons of Dancing with the Stars, so I could imagine it pretty well.

‘If everyone wasn’t waiting on me for breakfast, we’d break out the maracas and have a real party,’ I told her. She just laughed and sent back images of warm metal nestled snugly in the earth. That was her way of telling me she was happy that I was happy.

I returned to real life with a huge grin on my face.

“What did you do?” Tyler asked. “You’re grinning like the cat that knocked over the cream.”

I told them about my conversation last night with Penny and how we’d moved the pearl into my Throne Room.

“Wow, Jason!” Sandy exclaimed. “That’s huge. I haven’t even figured out how to create a pocket yet. You truly are amazing. And this couldn’t happen at a better time. Having a secure way to store the pearls you earn is going to be a real advantage. You can’t get mugged, and collecting others’ pearls won’t slow you down. This is just wonderful.”

The others echoed her praise and I was happy, but I started to feel a little embarrassed. After all, I wasn’t doing the work—Penny was.

“So, should I go ahead and store all the pearls now?” I asked Annabeth. “Or do you want to keep what we have so far?”

Annabeth had the wisdom of motherhood, and if she wanted to keep these pearls safe and for me to collect the new ones, that was totally fine with me.

“You keep them,” she said quickly. “They were a little bulky to carry around last time, and we might need them to pay for services in the next quest. I must admit I was worried that I’d end up losing them when we were fighting all the giant orcs. Since you can keep them safe and they won’t slow you down, then I’d love for you to have them.”

“Alright then,” I replied. “Give me a moment to move them, and then we can head to breakfast.” John looked excited about that.

I started by putting another pearl on my palm. ‘Penny,’ I called, ‘let’s move another pearl, but this time, use my personal magic. I want to feel how much it costs to move it back and forth.’

‘Sounds good,’ Penny replied, and the pearl disappeared out of my hand. I didn’t feel a thing. I put two pearls on my hand and tried again. This time I felt the faintest tug on my magic.

I decided to jump all the way up to ten pearls, and this time I felt it for sure, but it was far less than filling up one of my new Miners. I felt brave and jumped all the way up to a hundred pearls. That still wasn’t as much as a new Miner.

I was hungry and John was looking impatient, so I swept up all the rest of the pearls in both hands and Penny pulled them into my Throne Room. The cost in magic still wasn’t bad. I’d have to experiment after the tournament and see just how much I could hold and how much I could transfer at one time. For now, it was enough to know I could safely store over six hundred pearls, with room for a lot more.

“One thing we haven’t discussed yet is this thing,” Annabeth said while I was storing the pearls. She held up the nugget of power we’d found on the floor at Otugh’s. “We know it has a small stone in the middle, and we think it came from the rat king. Does anyone know what it is?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a core,” John said as he took the nugget and held it in his hand. “When supernatural creatures have grown enough in power, they can form their own core. If I had to guess, this is where the original idea for pearls came from.”

“So is it valuable?” Annabeth asked.

“I don’t know if I would call it valuable, but I know some mages would collect them.” John said. “When I was younger, they would buy them and trade them like baseball cards or rare coins. I have no idea how rare this is, but it should be worth something. That doesn’t help us in this tournament, but when we are done here, we can look into finding a buyer.”

Annabeth seemed disappointed, and John went to hand the core back to her, but she motioned for him to hand it to me. I was disappointed too. I’d hoped it would be valuable, or at least useful somehow. John made it sound like more of a curiosity. The core was bigger than a pearl so it had more magic in it. Surely that made it worth something.

I sighed and Penny popped the core into its own container in my Throne Room. As soon as she did, the Mark of the Deep Earth ate it.

Like, it ate the whole thing. Stone and everything.

I was so surprised, I froze. What the hell?

‘Delicious!’ the Mark of the Deep Earth declared happily. Then the stone popped back into my Throne Room again. It was polished and glowing, like the Mark had sucked all the candy coating off and left the pit behind.

‘What did you do!?’ I exclaimed. It was not okay that the Mark had just gobbled it up. It may not have been hugely valuable, but now it was worthless. Nobody was going to want to buy a stone. Whatever pearls we could have gotten for this thing had just gone up in smoke.

My Mark sent me happy images of how tasty the core had been. The rat had been a creature of the Earth, and the solid magic that had collected around the core had been exactly what it wanted.

It thought my magic was nice—warm and comforting. But it wasn’t tasty like the rat king. That core was like a perfectly cooked steak. Or a whole meal built around lemon garlic butter scallops.

My Mark loved it and wanted more.

‘You can’t eat anything I put in here,’ I said sternly. ‘That might have been very valuable. You could have cost us a bunch of pearls!’

My Mark regarded me like a cat. Which is to say it was proud of what it had done and it would do it again.

I gave a mental sigh. I knew what that meant, as Bermuda had trained me well. It was going to do what it was going to do. If I was upset about that, then that was my problem.

Well, at least my Mark was happy. I guess that was worth something. It had already helped me a lot, so I couldn’t begrudge it a tasty snack.

I returned back to real life and let everyone know what had happened. Annabeth and Sandy seemed surprised, but the guys thought it was funny.

The morning had certainly been exciting, and we hadn’t even had breakfast yet. We were all ready to leave, but John was especially anxious as he hustled us out of there before we could think of anything else to delay our departure.

Bermuda decided he didn’t want to travel in my Throne Room, and he certainly wasn’t going to stay behind. He also was adamant that he wasn’t going to walk on his own. That only left the option for me to carry him, which I did after telling him he was lazy, entitled, and more stubborn than he had a right to be. He just purred happily and accepted it gracefully when I kissed his head.

“Where’s the backpack?” Tyler asked. “He wants to be part of the team and look around, and the backpack is perfect for that.”

“It’s back in our room,” I replied. “I should have taken the time to get it, but I didn’t want to carry it around the rest of the day. Bermuda wants to be out and about right now, but I’m sure he’ll want to nap in the Throne Room again after a bit.”

“Then why don’t you make a backpack with your new fancy Super Suit?” he asked. “After all, lots of superheroes wear capes. This would sort of be like that, only for a cat.”

“I don’t think this thing has pockets,” I explained. “I’m calling it a Super Suit, but that’s just my name for it. It isn’t really a superhero outfit.”

“Really?” he replied. “Your Suit can do flippers and snowshoes, but it can’t do pockets? Or a pouch on the back? That sounds strange.”

Now he’d said it like that, it didn’t sound right. Michael the model hadn’t had pockets, but I’d upgraded the Suit from what he’d shown. Surely it could create an extra pouch, right?

I was going to stop and dive into the Suit interface, but I didn’t want to pause our march towards the buffet. Then it hit me that I already had an expert to help out.

‘Pardon me,’ I sent to my Bank Crystal. ‘Can you see if this outfit can make pockets? Specifically, I need to make a cat pouch for Bermuda.’

I sent an image of the backpack and how Bermuda liked to use it as his personal home on the move. There was a brief pause.

‘The pouch option is the Suit’s most popular upgrade at lower levels,’ my Bank Crystal explained. ‘It’s rarely added for more powerful mages, as they already have their magic pockets. I apologize for not adding this to the base configuration. With our affinity, I forget that you are such a young mage sometimes. Would you like to turn on this option for an additional two hundred pearls?’

I wasn’t sure if I was happy the Suit could be upgraded or upset that it was going to charge me for the changes. What else could this Suit do? And how much more was I going to spend on it?

I mentally sighed. This was probably for the best. If I needed something else later on, the cost would probably be minimal. I wouldn’t have to buy a whole new suit and wait for it to arrive before getting the new feature.

‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Turn on the pouch option for both our suits.’

‘Done,’ my Bank Crystal said happily. I felt the material on my back flex slightly. ‘Your back pouch is ready to go.’

‘Thank you,’ I replied and lifted Bermuda up to my shoulder. He grumbled a bit until he saw the new addition, then he easily slipped inside. It felt different than the backpack, of course, but Bermuda seemed to like it better. The pouch was higher on my back and it was easier for him to put his paws on my shoulder and look out at the world. His nostrils flared as he took in all the new scents, and his eyes were wide as he looked around. I gave his head a scratch, and he licked my ear.

Since Bermuda was happy, I considered it two hundred pearls well spent. Plus, it would be very convenient to have an instant backpack wherever I went. I filled Annabeth in on her Super Suit’s new ability, and then held Tyler’s hand all the way to the buffet. Today was starting out right.