Page 103 of I Ran Away to Evil #3
Do I Have to Leave?
Gerda
Five years.
Five years of living alone in a world of magic and monsters, not knowing why I was here, how I was here …
Five years of being green .
It wasn’t all bad. Being green.
In fact, I kind of loved it. I loved being Gerda. I loved my life and my home and my new world.
But a burning question ate at me. Could I go back?
Would I go back?
If only for a day.
[Perk: World Bridge . Establish a permanent link to any bridge you cross, even those not under your control. You may travel to that bridge as if it were under your control. All previous +Troll Magic [Dimension] bridges under your control are included in World Bridge .
Bonus Abilities Available:
1: If you control all bridges in a Domain, gain double experience for bridges in that Domain. Current Domains Unlocked: Dark Enchanted Forest.
2: If you control a bridge in all Domains, mana cost to travel between Domains is halved. Current Domains Unlocked: Dark Enchanted Forest, Drendil, Peldeep, Servalt, North Sumbria, Sumbria.
3: If you control the furthest bridges at the four corners of Valaria, unlock the ability to travel between any bridge you have ever crossed, even before obtaining World Bridge .
This power can pass through the Void into alternate and subspaces for additional mana cost. Current Bridges: South: Faren’s Arch in Sumbria; West: Daffolyn Bridge in Peldeep; East: Sea-to-Sky Bridge in Servalt; North: Forgotten Frost Bridge in Northern Ice Fields.
4: If you control all bridges in Valaria, unlock Hidden Domain: Valarian Royal Palace. World Bridge Perk upgrade: Empress of All Bridges. Unlock Title: Empress of Valaria.]
[You have unlocked World Bridge bonus ability. You may now travel to any bridge you have ever crossed.]
I closed my eyes for a second, not trusting what I would see, but when I searched the list of available bridges I could teleport to … there they were.
Bridges remembered from another life. Another time.
A time before I was Gerda the Bridge Troll … And I noticed with a sad smile that there was also a bridge from Gerda’s old village.
I hesitated, wanting to look back at least once, but I knew that if I saw Julian standing there, I would lose the nerve.
[You have selected Lions Gate Bridge . Mana Cost 1000.]
Suddenly, I was walking through portal space … but not as I was familiar with it. Crossing a dimensional bridge in Valaria was over in the time it took to blink: one step, a rush, and then it was over.
Traveling between worlds wasn’t fast; it was harrowing. Each step felt like my feet were going to fall out from underneath me. There was a lurch in my stomach, my mind reeling against a momentum that threatened to make me vomit. I could feel the “bridge” beneath my feet, but I couldn’t see it.
I took ten steps that lasted an eternity. All in Void space.
Then suddenly, there was a barrier, a translucent film where this bridge ended and another began, and I knew with absolute certainty that I’d reached the edge of this world and was going to cross into another.
I opened my eyes, only knowing they were open because I was met with another prompt.
[Thank you for playing Dungeon Delves and Debutantes . Would you like to exit the game? Yes/No]
I stared at it. I couldn’t answer.
Julian’s note was still in my hands. I couldn’t even read it in the darkness of the Void.
“ Why are you crying? ” a familiar voice whispered into my ear. It passed through me like a gentle gong. The sound lingered, like a hum in my bones.
“Fate?” I asked.
“ I opened this path for you; I thought you would be happy? ” the goddess said.
The world shifted, and I could see . I was standing on her mana: hundreds of thousands of small motes of divine magic that stretched behind and in front of me. The goddess was made of pure mana, the outline of a tall figure, effeminate and ethereal.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, knowing it was rude to answer a question with a question but doing so anyway. “ Was it you?”
“I asked Luck to find me a soul who could change this world for me. Someone who knew what would happen here and would have the will to change it. ” Fate bent down and her gentle hand wiped away one of my tears. “ She found you .”
“Then why did you ignore me? I went to your temple! You could have—” I was yelling at a goddess, but she simply shook her head.
“ I could not appear and risk drawing attention to you, ” she explained. “ You needed to be truly a part of this world before my siblings noticed you … or they might have removed you. ”
“So I get dragged here, do all the work fixing the weave, save everyone—and then what? I get kicked out?” My heart pounded against my chest as anger laced my words. “Did I even need to unlock this stupid bonus ability? Or were you just going to send me back anyway?”
“ I did nothing. You chose to come here ,” Fate reminded me gently.
“Does choice even matter when there is Fate?” I challenged.
“ Do not let Luck catch you speaking this way, ” Fate chided. “ And who are you to say that, Madame Potts! ”
She was being awfully forgiving for an all-powerful goddess. The rage inside me dimmed into fear, resentment … and grief.
“Do I have to leave?” The words escaped me, even though I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“ No, my sweet soul. ” Fate held my shoulders and directed me back to the system prompt.
“ It is your choice. You may, of course, choose to stay in Valaria. But —” I looked up at the goddess.
“ I cannot leave a gate between worlds open. ” Fate let go and took a step back.
“ Whatever you choose, I must close the way. ”
“I understand,” I said. I knew what I was going to choose.
“ Then I will leave you to decide on your own. But first— ” Her divine mana wrapped around my hands, and the words in Julian’s letter were made clear to me.
I love you, Miss Gerda Jones
Fate’s divine energy fell back into the Void. As it did, I thought I saw the shifting outline of others in the endless expanse.
I glanced at the prompt.
And made my choice.